Wedding and special events planner Megan Papageorge, pictured below, has been given an opportunity to start a new business venture thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Downtown Long Beach Alliance (DLBA). This year, the alliance launched a new business assistance program, the Woman Owned Business Accelerator, to help downtown women entrepreneurs launch new business concepts in the area.

 

Papageorge applied to the program and won the total lump sum grant available, which could have been split between as many as three winners. For the past four years, she has owned and operated Sweet Peach Planning, a solo business she started in her home in the East Village and later moved into Work Evolution Laboratories, a collaborative office space. In her first year, she planned one wedding. This year, she planned 50.

 

Papageorge compared her experience pitching her new business venture, a subscription service to help individuals plan their own weddings, to pitching on the hit TV show “Shark Tank.” “It was a really good process of taking the idea of something . . . and putting it onto paper and pictures,” Papageorge said. “I think even just that process of applying was helpful.”

 

Her concept is to create a service in which a box containing wedding planning tips, to-do lists and trinkets would be sent to subscribers each month.

 

“There are a ton of women out there who would love to hire a wedding planner but can’t afford it,” Papageorge said. It can also be difficult to schedule the 10 to 20 necessary meetings with wedding planners, she noted. The subscription service would be a more affordable and time-saving option, she explained.

 

“I would love to launch on my birthday, which is July 2,” Papageorge said. “The next six months [will consist of] just getting the product solidified, working on the branding and sort of a buzz around it, and then hopefully launching.”