Today we’d like to introduce you to Akalia Amada and Melinda Jeudi. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Akalia K. Amada and Melinda F. Jeudi are the co-owners and dynamic team who comprises Highly Favored Events. Rightfully so, we call ourselves your Dream Designers hoping to help you make your most memorable moments an unforgettable occasion.
After both of our parents migrated to Poinciana, FL from up north, we all became natives of over 20 years and instantly became best friends. We both attended, some of elementary, and all of both middle and high school later earning our diplomas in the top 20 percent of our class at Poinciana High School. After high school, we decided to branch out of our little community to the big city of Miami. There, we attended separate universities while still remaining very close and best friends.
Akalia attended Florida International University and later earned her Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Human Resource Management at the University of Phoenix. While doing so, Melinda earned her Bachelor of Arts in Criminology with minors in Military Science and Public Relations at the University of Miami. While in college, Melinda decided to join the Armed Forces and is currently a Military Police Major in the United States Army Reserve. Both of our extensive business knowledge and exceptional organizational skills lead us down a great career path and now to the event planning industry.
Inspired by Melinda’s passion for serving and commitment to please and Akalia’s love for planning and attention to detail, we decided to join the event planning industry. From our teenage years through young adulthood, we have both organized various social events for family, friends, and classmates, including barbecues, baby showers, going away parties, school events, and most importantly Akalia’s wedding.
With nothing but her faith in God, Melinda asked her best friend, Akalia to join her and Highly Favored Events was formed. With her military mindset, you can always count on her to put the mission first. With our combined creativity and multitasking skills, we will serve in executing your vision and ensuring you receive what you deserve. Aiming to transform the event planning industry one event at a time, please allow us to assist in designing your dream day into an epic celebration!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not always been that easy for us, but I can truly say we have been blessed thus far. Before we embarked on this journey together it was important to us that we did our research regarding the event planning industry. Did we need startup capital? Did we need to take out a business loan? Were we going to have to invest in supplies? How would we charge?
As you can see, we truly had a lot of questions to answer. We both decided not only to do our own research but to reach out to a successful, well-established event planner to get a better perspective as a business owner. From that, we learned what we could, but the real learning curve came when we started our own journey.
One struggle we encountered was outsourcing trustworthy vendors to work with. Sometimes, the people we partnered with were either unreliable or the work presented on social media was not what was given to us the day of the event. I remember one instance when both occurred when the sweets vendor we hired was over an hour and a half late for the drop-off time and once she arrived, the products we ordered were nowhere near the caliber of work she initially presented to us.
Of course, we advocated for our client and got her money back. Another time, the sweets vendor claimed they had the wrong date in their calendar even though the invoice given to us for our client to pay had the correct event date on it. Again, we made sure and got all our client’s money back and the vendor threw in a free cake, but our client politely declined.
Not only have we struggled with unprofessional vendors but also difficult clients. Sometimes clients expect to see results immediately and although we always aim to please we have to keep the expectations realistic. There have also been instances where we have to deal with an individual who may not always just “Trust the process” sort to speak.
They want to see how everything will look right away but we always just reassure the clients we are professionals and will bring their vision to life. We always exceed their expectations. There were other times we have had some clients who do not always pay attention to requirements for rentals and forget to include the cash deposit at the time of delivery. This is a time we would refer back to the rental agreement. Issues no longer arise once this occurs.
I think the most important challenge we have overcome is our income and charging our clients accordingly. As entrepreneurs, it is important to give value to your time spent on the work you create. We refuse to work for free, but our prices are very affordable.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Highly Favored Events?
Highly Favored Events is a business jointly owned by Akalia K. Amada and Melinda F. Jeudi. As our name suggests, we have come together to create a premier event planning firm that is sought after by many while putting God first in all that we do, hence the name of Highly Favored Events.
From our earlier years, we’ve always had a great knack for creating unforgettable occasions for our family, friends, and loved ones. Time has passed and our ability to conceptualize an idea and bring it to life has grown tremendously. I believe our faith in God sets Highly Favored Events apart from others. It’s shown in our business names and how we interact with vendors and clients.
Highly Favored Events specializes in designing the following events:
- Weddings
- Bridal Showers
- Baby Showers
- Graduation Parties
- Birthday Parties
- Holiday Parties
- Retirement Celebrations
- Anniversaries
- Corporate Events
- Fashion Shows
- Grand Openings
- Fundraising Galas
The event planning industry is full of people and organizations telling you what you need and have to do to make your event perfect. On the contrary, at Highly Favored Events we know this day is about YOU! As your Dream Designers, we take the time to hear your vision and ideas and bring it to life. We understand that every person and event is distinct and will hold your event as close to our hearts as it is to yours.
That is why we cannot charge the same price for each event because each event is truly distinct. We are fully committed to making your day an amazing experience and with our ability, talents, and resources we will make sure your event is truly unique and one-of-a-kind. Please allow Highly Favored Events to design your next event, taking your event from ordinary to extraordinary.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What we love best is the true diversity and inclusion in the city of Orlando.
We are both of Caribbean descent (Akalia’s parents are from Trinidad and Melinda’s parents are from Haiti) so for us, it is important that our city reflects the people living in it. In Orlando and Kissimmee, we have many options to buy food and products that reflect our culture. It’s nice to go into a Caribbean grocery store or restaurant and buy products or food that can be found on either island.
Every year there is also a festival where all Caribbean cultures come together and party for a week straight called Orlando Carnival. Many well-known Soca, Dancehall, and Reggae artists come into town and host parties and concerts. We are so proud to be a part of a city that truly embraces and embodies the culture.
As far as dislikes, we have no complaints besides traffic. This can cause delays with various vendors getting to the venue on time. The cities of Orlando and Kissimmee have embraced our business and we have made many prosperous connections with other business owners.
Contact Info:
- Email: highlyfavoredeventsonline@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/highly_favored_events?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighlyFavoredEventsOnline/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCEEcXL_5YK_YZPX3zJKQRGA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/highly-favored-events-orlando-2
