VanGorp was the first of her friends to get married and she put her formal training in interior design to work planning the wedding. With help from her sister Tara Gavey (trained in hotel and restaurant management), she was able to plan an unforgettable event. VanGorp and Gavey continued helping family and friends with their weddings and soon the two of them were decorating the weddings of friends-of-friends and thus Wish Designs was born.
“We jumped in with both feet,” says VanGorp.
Word of their quality services spread in their tight-knit Elgin County community and the business continued to grow. In 2010 VanGorp gave up her full-time job and took over the company on her own as Gavey stepped back to focus on her young family.
Now in its seventh year of operation Wish Designs’ season runs from January to November and VanGorp decorates anywhere from 20 to 35 weddings a year. In addition to weddings, Wish Designs is also available for corporate, charity and family events. The company works within a 40 minute radius of Springfield catering to clients as far as Aylmer, Shedden, St. Thomas, Delhi and Woodstock.
Wish Designs’ number one service is decorating. It has a collection of linens, backdrops, ceiling features, chairs and centre pieces available for rent. The company works with brides and grooms to create a vision of what they want their wedding day to look like and then it handles all set-up and dismantling as required by the event venue. Examples of the company’s past work can be found on its website http://www.wishdesigns.ca/index.htm.
Four years ago Wish Designs expanded into on-site coordinating and bartending. VanGorp found that many clients were looking for help on the day of their wedding and that many of the venues she worked with did not provide this service. If required, Wish Designs will now stay on-site during the wedding and reception ensuring that everything runs smoothly and that every last detail is taken care of.
"Whatever the client wants we try to make it happen,” says VanGorp. “Working with local brides and using local talent to make their dreams come true is what Wish Designs is all about.”
VanGorp is passionate about promoting local business and believes that Springfield is a perfect location for her business to thrive. Over the past several years a cluster of wedding-related businesses have sprung up in the area and Wish Designs works in conjunction with all of them. Two caterers, a photographer, three churches, a cake decorator and a brand new event venue, the Malahide Community Place, are all located within the small village.
When VanGorp started her business she was able to take advantage of family name recognition in the community and surrounding areas (her father-in-law is a well known local business owner) but now she is being recognized in her own right for the work that Wish Designs does in the community. It is important to VanGorp to give back in any way that she can. She is a great supporter of Pearce Williams Christian Retreat Centre in Fingal, Springfield Brewers Fastball Association, and other local charities where she can use her decorating talents for their events when needed.
“I started my life in East Elgin, moved away and came back. I really feel like this is home and I am very proud of it,” she says.
VanGorp is passionate about promoting local business and believes that Springfield is a perfect location for her business to thrive. Over the past several years a cluster of wedding-related businesses have sprung up in the area and Wish Designs works in conjunction with all of them. Two caterers, a photographer, three churches, a cake decorator and a brand new event venue, the Malahide Community Place, are all located within the small village.
When VanGorp started her business she was able to take advantage of family name recognition in the community and surrounding areas (her father-in-law is a well known local business owner) but now she is being recognized in her own right for the work that Wish Designs does in the community. It is important to VanGorp to give back in any way that she can. She is a great supporter of Pearce Williams Christian Retreat Centre in Fingal, Springfield Brewers Fastball Association, and other local charities where she can use her decorating talents for their events when needed.
“I started my life in East Elgin, moved away and came back. I really feel like this is home and I am very proud of it,” she says.
