At age five she was setting tables, making place cards and putting together centrepieces for the family dinner. Some career callings just can’t be ignored.
Amey Mejak doesn’t like to sit still. When she’s not coordinating office furniture design at her day job, she is climbing up and down ladders painstakingly assembling fairy lights, only to have to cut them down the next day; spray painting 500 miniature farm figurines white; or hand cutting individual strips of ribbon, weaving them into theme colours, then stringing them from hall ceilings.
Such is the life of a party stylist.
Pack a Perfect Party is the name of her event styling business, and after launching it in October last year, she’s not had a weekend spare.
“It was only a matter of time for me to do this. Out of high school I got an education degree to try and play it safe career-wise, as I didn’t really understand how you could make a living from a passion for colour, pattern, nature, light, and celebrations. I knew event coordinator roles existed, but I didn’t want to be doing cookie cutter weddings. I eventually moved into interior design fields, and after observing how the fabulously creative people around me worked, I needed to have a go at the space myself,” Amey says.
The business concept is as per its name – Amey puts together all the party necessities – bouquets, table settings, stationery, after receiving a brief, or she takes the full reins and coordinates everything herself, including the set up and removal.
“Mostly people are time-poor, tired, and don’t want to have to think about all the intricacies of an upcoming birthday party, wedding, baby shower, or anniversary, but they still want to celebrate it. So they give me the theme, I work to the brief, with the promise to blow their mind. That’s my point of difference. I work meticulously towards the grand reveal – I need to see them in awe and surprise of the space I’ve created.”
Her ‘mind blowing’ promise has seen her style an Indian-themed birthday complete with pink elephant centrepieces, turn a $5 Kmart teacup and saucer set into an in-demand mother’s day gift, and, transform a $100 hired community hall into a romantic wedding reception venue, which also had to be eccentric.
So what makes the sore back (from the climbing and balancing on ladders), the paper cuts (from the stationery), and the rose-pricked fingers (from floristry briefs) worth it?
“I love the challenge of looking at every day materials and turning them into something beautiful, in a completely different light. The most rewarding thing though is the stages past the initial reveal – when guests begin to notice all the little things – the individual layers of creativity and attention to detail. Those small things really are what makes an event pop,” Amey says.
You can check out Amey’s works at www.facebook.com/PackAPerfectParty or follow her on instagram: packaperfectparty, or you can give her a call too: 0408 785 307.
