The second stop in my tour was with Cindy Johnson at Platinum Events Group, also in Riverside. Cindy and I met for the first time at LPK’s grand opening party in 2008. I still remember chatting with her at that party and thinking to myself – how is it that we just met and I feel like we’ve known each other for years!

Cindy is a powerhouse of a woman – she’s ambitious, hard working and always seems to have something new on the go. Honestly I don’t think I could keep up with her!

Before starting Platinum Events Group (PEG) in 2004, Cindy worked in events at Princess Margaret Hospital. She had requests from friends and family to help plan their weddings and started out with Day of Coordination and the moved into Wedding Planning and eventually full Wedding Design. There were no courses available to teach wedding coordination, planning or design when she started so she taught herself. She told me that there are so many more options available now and in fact she will be teaching “Event Operations” for the event management certificate at Georgian College this fall.

When I asked Cindy to describe how she goes about designing a wedding I have to say I loved her answer. She designs using the 5 senses – Sight, Smell, Hearing, Touch, Taste. I’d never thought of an event that way but it makes total sense – no pun intended! Fashion is also a large driving factor for the style and look of a wedding so more often than not, Cindy uses the brides dress as a starting point when designing.

In the fall of 2009, Cindy launched Platinum Destinations (a Division of Platinum Events Group) and on March 1^st, 2011 announced a partnership with Celebrations Ltd., a company based in the Cayman Islands’ that specializes in weddings and events. Offering this collaborative effort to clients helps alleviate many of the challenges when planning a destination wedding. Something else that Cindy mentioned was that they “only recommend properties to which we have personally visited” – makes perfect sense to me! They also now have offices in both Anguilla and Grand Cayman.

In January of this year, Cindy launched Coordinating Details, a company that specializes in day of coordination. She felt that this was something most people wanted or needed and in her own words “just because you don’t have a large budget doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to the best vendors.” Coordinating details offers basic packages to keep their prices low.

Cindy has 2 talented wedding coordinators that work with her to produce all of the fabulous weddings and events that Platinum Events, Platinum Destinations and Coordinating Details are a part of. So if you’re looking for someone with a clear passion for weddings and design – look no further!

Platinum Events Group is located at 9 Davis Street, unit 300 in Toronto.

Photos by Corina V. Photography