Highly recommended by her peers, Alice is very friendly and full of energy. She is an event coordinator who appeals to everyone, young and old, brides and mothers; Alice communicates well with everybody. "We create the event you want," is her slogan. First, she listens carefully; then, she will make her suggestions, recommending only event professionals that will fit your style, budget, and overall theme. "By the time the wedding rolls around, the other professionals and I will work together and give everything to make sure the wedding is a success," she told me. "Sometimes I feel like "grace under fire," but this is why we are here. We will not push our agenda during a celebration, rather pull the strings in the background and go with the flow."

During her college years, Alice was offered a job as a professional corporate event coordinator, which she pursued for several years. However, the best training as event coordinator and travel consultant were the five years she spent planning special events for the world's most prestigious cruise line: Seabourn.  Three of their smaller ships are luxury charters that can be rented by organizations or individuals. The highlight of this time was an Easter cruise she planned for Oprah, her family, and friends.

While Alice has been planning weddings since 2002, she founded Grisez Event Design, LLC in 2005. To be always on top of her profession, she attends workshops and seminars and is a member of prominent event organizations. No client request is impossible, even when the wedding planning time has to be cut down from a year to three months. This really happened when one of her brides unexpectedly became pregnant. Since Alice is a relatively new mom, the two women talked not only about wedding planning, but also what goes on in the pregnancy from month to month. They became such good friends that Alice and her family were invited to the baby shower. "This story is really about the relationship that has formed between us as a result of planning the wedding and continues now with the birth of their first child," she told me.

The day I visited her for this interview in early November 2005, she was very exited. The new wine country estate in Healdsburg, Chateau Felice, just had asked her to be their exclusive event planner.