This is part of our ongoing blog segment we are doing at D. Jones Photography. David and I hand pick some of our favorite vendors, meet them at their workplace or favorite space and ask them some questions about the industry and life in Houston. It’s our way of giving back to the industry and also letting our readers meet some awesome vendors whom they may not have heard of before, or who work behind the scenes. To view additional vendor interviews follow this link to Keeping up with the Joneses.
As a part of our ongoing series, here is the Q & A from the Belle of the Ball girls!
To view some of the events we have worked with them on please check out this link.
Christine Hoffer
What inspires you?
I am inspired by my clients. I love talking to them, getting to know them and finding out what they love, what they feel passionate about and what makes them happy. I like to take all that and figure out how to incorporate it into their wedding. I love for the guests attending to see the personalities and passions of the bride and groom in the details of the wedding.
Where are you going on your next vacation?
Cabo, Mexico (my happy place)
What is your favorite local place to shop?
I have so many favorites – here are a few:
Clothing – Muse Boutique and Neiman’s
Home – Area and Indulge
A Little Bit of Everything – Kuhl-Linscomb
What is your favorite local restaurant?
Casual – Dolce Vita
Fine Dining – Da Marco
What do you do for fun?
Travel, Cook, Entertain with Friends, Adventures with my husband and daughters
Natalie Narula Laskowski
Where are you going on your next vacation?
My next vacation is to St. Paul de Vence, France; Marrakesh, Morocco; & Florence, Italy.
Describe your dream wedding:
Having already had my dream wedding, it would seem that it would be hard to say. But working in this industry we are surrounded with new ideas and inspirations everyday! If I were to have my dream wedding again, I would have 75 guests, a fantastic band, go over the top on florals and linens, have more food & champagne that people could stand, and have ice bars everywhere!! And at the end of the night I would have had an orchestra play “All You Need Is Love,” like they did in the film Love Actually!!
What is your favorite local restaurant?
Dolce Vita.
Valerie Eissler
How did you get into the wedding/event business?
Event Planning was actually my degree from college. I knew from a very young age that I loved “parties!” I was always an organized child growing up and then took that into grade school and college. When I discovered Event Planning was something I could do for a living it was a no brainer what I wanted to do the rest of my career driven life. I planned events throughout college and then after graduation took a job with a Country Club in Austin, Texas planning weddings, social and corporate functions. At that point I knew I was in an industry made for me. Now after six years planning weddings and events I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I’m doing something that I love and am so passionate about; what more could you ask for in a job?
Where are you going on your next vacation?
My husband and I are taking a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for an entire week! We have not had a vacation like this since our honeymoon four years ago. I won’t go into the full Eissler “Honeymoon” story, but I will say it was an event we will never forget and can certainly laugh about now. With the rain cloud that followed our cruise ship the entire week to the friendly 80 year olds who dominated our ship population to the third world ports of call, needless to say the Eissler’s are in need of a do-over! 
Marissa Eubank
Where is your happy place?
My happy place is Seaside, Florida. I have been going there every summer since I was five. It is this small town outside of Destin, and it is absolutely perfect. The beach is beautiful with its white powder sugar sand, and each cottage has a white picket fence. When you’re there, you can’t help but smile because everything is just so wonderful. Besides it being so aesthetically pleasing, for me personally it is a place where some of the best memories are with my family, and that’s the main reason I love it there so much.
How did you get into the wedding/event business?
I originally thought I wanted to be a journalist, but I quickly realized that I just wasn’t cut out for it. I just couldn’t ask the hard questions like “How does it feel that you lost the biggest game of the season?” I am more the person that asks, “Are you OK? Do you need anything?” which lends itself to event planning. My best friend always watched those wedding shows on TV, and one day she told me that she thought I would be a good wedding planner, so that got me thinking about it. I was my sorority’s recruitment chairmen, and I truly loved planning and organizing each event for Rush, and I had a knack for it. I realized then that event planning was what I wanted to do for my career
Alia Rdissi
How did you get into the wedding/event business?
Five years ago, I was working as a project manager for Bayer Corporation. I loved that my job required organization, attention to detail, and skill in managing schedules and budgets, but I felt that it had neither enough interpersonal interaction nor enough of a creative component. While planning my own wedding in January 2006, I realized that event planning encompasses all 3 of those things: project management, creativity, and constant interaction with clients and vendors. Soon after that, an opportunity opened up at Belle of the Ball, and three years later, I’m continuing to get out of bed excited every morning to enjoy those three aspects of my new career.
What is your favorite thing about Houston?
Growing up in the Northeast, Houston was quite different from everything I had known or been used to. The Northeast is small – You can drive 5 hours and drive across 5 states. Texas is huge – You can drive 5 hours and drive across 2 cities. During my 10 years here, I’ve grown to fall in love with Houston, and there are so many things I love about it. The affordability of housing and general amenities like groceries and restaurants, the friendliness of its people, and the access to almost every activity you could ever want to do – museums, theater, ballet, beautiful parks, and a myriad of shopping options – make it such a fun place to live and work. I especially love that Houston is always striving to be fresh and relevant, and that makes it a very invigorating place to be. I find myself missing the city when I’m gone, and have recently noted that while I once missed home when I first moved to Houston, I find myself missing Houston when I return home to the Northeast. Houston has always treated me so well, and I’m so proud to be here.
