When asked why she thinks she was voted one of HerNashville’s most “women-friendly” businesses, Lavish Events owner Tara Stouder-Milam hesitates momentarily before wisely surmising,

“The majority of my clients are women, and I do whatever I can to make them feel at ease and to make their dreams come true.”

After speaking with this savvy entrepreneur, it’s easy to see why dreams are coming true both Tara’s life and in the lives of those she touches.

“People in Nashville love to get married.”

While any young woman in Nashville can attest to this, Tara Stouder-Milam knows this first-hand. As owner of Lavish Events, Tara has been coordinating weddings and other events for the past two years. After spending only a few minutes with her, it’s obvious why brides-to-be love her. She’s vibrant and sweet. She talks candidly about her experiences, and it’s evident she genuinely loves her job.

What does she love about her job? “Everything!” She glows as she continues, “I’ve never felt rewarded or fulfilled by any job that I’ve ever had other than this job. I’m a very creative person, and just the act of creating, especially such a magical event is rewarding. With any event you walk into — a room with candles lit, tables set, flowers — it’s just … an ambiance; it’s a feeling that you get. I love creating that for people. For brides, I love seeing the emotion on the day of the wedding. It just makes everything worth it.”

And making it worth it is important, seeing as she gave up a high-paying desk job more than three years ago to pursue her current career. “It all started because of my husband,” she claims. Tara’s husband (also an entrepreneur who owns the Schakolad Chocolate Factory in Cool Springs) recognized how discontented she was and encouraged her to quit her job to pursue something that would make her happy. “When you are a creative person, I think that a job in sales in a cubicle can really kill you,” Tara says. “In some ways, it can really just suffocate you and suffocate your creativity.”

After leaving Corporate America, Tara took courses in marketing, public relations and special events along with a four-month long bridal consulting course. Afterwards, she worked for six months without pay at a flower shop where she gained invaluable experience meeting vendors and learning the trade.

Her hard work paid off. Tara now plays host to an event nearly every weekend. She’s careful, however, to not compromise her success and spread herself too thin. By never taking on more than one event per weekend, she is able to give her very best to each client. “There are a lot of planners — especially wedding planners — who take on two, three weddings per weekend. I’ve even heard of one planner having five weddings in one weekend,” she says. “That’s just not the way I like to practice business. I feel like I’m representing my company, and it’s my face and my personality and my experience that I’m giving to the bride. I want to be the person there on their wedding day directing things and being there for them.”

Perhaps it’s her concentrated attention to one event at a time that clients find compelling. However, Tara also has a strong attention to detail that’s invaluable for any event.
As a mother of two and a third on the way, Tara knows a thing or two about multi-tasking. That knowledge makes her more than readily equipped to handle any unplanned mishaps — something she says you can count on. “Something always happens. My mantra is, ‘There’s always a solution.’”

This take-charge attitude is what has carried Tara to the top of her game. Though the transition from Corporate America to entrepreneurship was what Tara called “terrifying” at times, she looks at the past few years of her life as a learning experience. “I’ve learned that I’m capable. I think I’m a stronger person for just doing it on my own. It’s just much more rewarding,” she reflects. “Every event is a learning experience, and every event is going to teach you something new.”

With a growing family, an expanding business and a personal passion for her vocation, Tara is confident about her current stage in life and the role she is privileged to play in the lives of others. “A really good friend of mine [who’s] a floral designer and I—we like to say that we’re ‘joy spreaders’ because that’s kind of what we do—we make joyful moments happen for people.

“When you see a bride about to walk down the aisle—that seems to be the most dramatic moment—when they come out and they see everyone standing and the groom at the end,” Tara continues. “Usually, they start to tear up, and it’s a really beautiful thing; and it’s nice that I help facilitate that.”

In the end, Tara just feels grateful for the opportunities she’s had since the conception of her business several years ago. “Overall, I’ve been very blessed. God is good,” she says. “From quitting my job until this moment right here, it just seems like the whole thing has been very graced.”

Lavish Links
tara@mylavishevent.com
www.mylavishevent.com
615-400-9791