Fourteen years ago, Christina Currie had a vision for creating something she knew was missing in the Barrington area—a premier, full-service event planning production company that reimagined the concept of party.

From that vision came the reality that is Christina Currie Events (CCE) today, and even Currie herself admits that the demand for her team’s expertise is above and beyond what she could have imagined.

CCE is not merely a “wedding planner,” although weddings have become one its signature successes. Currie and her crew can just as easily stage the corporate gatherings, sublime wedding anniversary gatherings, or even social and civic extravaganzas with 1,000 attendees.

Although the CCE productions stand for themselves—fun, elegant, sophisticated, and as layered as an exquisite wedding cake—clients might not see what it takes to produce the event. The moving parts are often the most significant elements, but the least understood.

So, CCE works diligently (and achieves) communicating the value of every intermediate step and strategy, however subtle, that gets their clients to the “finish” line.

First, each event has “the plan,” a specific set of written rules, parameters, goals, assets, challenges and timelines. It’s an unofficial Bible that Currie and her team use to construct the pathway to a perfect event.

Behind the scene is the universe in which CCE shrines. This is the unglamorous part of event planning—endless hours of implementing every detail from the designing the monogram or logo on all the stationery, to the inspiration board, to choosing wines, linens, tableware, floral, to measuring out floor space and how the flow of the event matches the venue.

The clients are trusting CCE to partner with the vendors that are best suited for their events. There are hours of phone calls and emails, communicating with everyone involved with the event. CCE has multiple team meetings with all the vendors and waitstaff before the big day. That process often takes nine months, and sometimes up to a year, to fully orchestrate.

During the planning, Currie and her team invest as much time assisting clients articulate and develop their vision and expectations as they do with vendors.

Currie is personally always making sure her clients feel confident that they are getting their money’s worth with CCE’s team.

The process begins with a set of intensive interviews at which Currie and her Event Designer Masumi Amin guide clients in shaping what expectations are for the event. How will the event reflect the client’s tastes?

Since graduating as a skilled interior designer from Michigan State in 2011, Masumi has been Christina’s full time aesthetic architect, though her love for the art flowered early. She routinely joined Currie at her vendor and product appointments as a teenager, and she especially became alive when she was able to pick out linens and decor.

Masumi and Currie, the “project manager,” have been working together during Masumi’s school and summer breaks since 2006.

Currie and her team often find the long organizing lead time produces lasting friendships with clients. Currie has talked last-second-jittery brides back down the aisle when they announced the nuptials are “off ” on the day of the wedding. “I’m not a marriage counselor. I prefer ‘marriage whisperer,’” Currie says with a laugh. “There have been more than few of those.”

Nicole Tardif, a University of Wisconsin-Madison grad, is the management team’s official chronicler. She’s a ten-year veteran of professional marketing and, as Creative Marketing Director, she fills up social media and every form of communication platform with CCE’s successes, including contributing to local charities.

What CCE now fulfills is one of Currie’s basic dreams: “The journey of planning should be just as thrilling and enjoyable as the event itself.”

That’s what Currie most hopes her clients understand about her contribution to their events. Even if you don’t see every turn of the gears, you will know she and her team are taking care of every detail.

That’s the vision Christina Currie had.

For more information about Christina Currie Events, call 224-558-1764 or visit christinacurrieevents.com.