{"id":62158,"date":"2011-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/fashion-merchandising-alumna-knows-how-to-get-the-party-started\/"},"modified":"2011-06-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T00:00:00","slug":"fashion-merchandising-alumna-knows-how-to-get-the-party-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2011\/06\/fashion-merchandising-alumna-knows-how-to-get-the-party-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Fashion Merchandising alumna knows how to get the party started"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 1, 2011 -When figuring out the key to making your summer party a big success, the first thing to look at is your guest list.<\/p>\n


\n\tThat\u2019s the first major piece to any successful gathering, said party-planning guru and 溏心vlog免费B站 alumna Stephanie Frazier Grimm.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cYou want to pick people from different aspects of your life,\u201d said Frazier Grimm, a 2002 graduate in textiles, fashion merchandising and design. \u201cThat always keeps the conversation going, helping to keep conversation fresh and active. That\u2019s what gets guests talking to each other, which is what a party is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSince starting Couture Parties in 2008, Frazier Grimm has established herself as an expert on such issues. What began with planning social gatherings in Newport during the summer season has become a small business with nationwide reach. Frazier Grimm has earned praise for her work from none other than Martha Stewart, and has planned personal parties for Hollywood celebrities like Jennie Garth (Beverly Hills, 90210) and Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl).<\/p>\n


\nNot that planning for the rich and famous has gone to her head.


\n\u201cWe all put our pants on the same way,\u201d Frazier Grimm said. \u201cWorking with celebrities is not what drives me to be bigger and better. I am so grateful for the opportunities, but I work hard for them. I want every event that I plan to work well.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWhether I am working on a $150 kids party, or a $1 million wedding, I love the creative aspect of designing for a party,\u201d Frazier Grimm said. \u201cSome planners are there to coordinate things the day of an event. Not me. I want to be involved in the process. I want to know the personalities of the people hosting the party; how they met, their grandmother\u2019s name, their favorite recipes.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nShe once planned a wedding for fellow 溏心vlog免费B站 alumni during which the pillow for the ring bearer had Rhody the Ram on it.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIncorporating those subtle details can turn a party into a lifelong memory,\u201d Frazier Grimm said.<\/p>\n


\n\tDespite the national reach of her business \u2013 which has been featured regularly in publications like People and US Weekly \u2013 Frazier Grimm operated out of her own home until last fall, when she opened shop on Thames Street in Newport.


\n\tLast summer, Couture Parties was featured in a national magazine for one of its events, so Frazier Grimm went to a local Stop and Shop to buy a few copies of the magazine. When the young cashier asked why she was buying multiple copies, Frazier Grimm pointed to the profile of her company. The girl was impressed.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cShe said, \u2018You can live in Newport and plan parties in California? Really?\u2019\u201d Frazier Grimm said. \u201cI told her, \u2018Look at Facebook. That was started in a college dorm. It\u2019s all in how you network and get your name out there.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe formula has worked more than once for Frazier Grimm. Couture Parties is actually her second start-up, following her highly successful baby clothing line Mama and Bambino, which she started in 2005 because of compliments she received after making clothes for her son, Carter, when he was an infant. Within a couple years, her designs were being sought by celebrities like Katie Holmes, Brooke Shields, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angela Basset.<\/p>\n


\nFrazier Grimm sold Mama and Bambino in 2007 while she was pregnant with her second child, but she stayed on with the company as creative director. <\/p>\n


\n\tHome with her two young children, she got the itch for a new venture, planning occasional parties in Newport. This was the birth of Couture Parties, which saw its reputation grow thanks to Frazier Grimm\u2019s social media efforts, particularly with her blog and Twitter feed, @CoutureParties.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI was never a writer growing up, but it comes easier for me when writing for the blog,\u201d Frazier Grimm said. \u201cI write how I talk, and I write from the heart. When I talk about dresses, if it looks frilly, I am going to say it looks frilly. By keeping it simple, I think it helps make me more approachable.\u201d


\n\tMashable.com has picked up Frazier Grimm\u2019s blog entries, and she is a known entity in the blogosphere. In 2010, she started an offshoot of Couture Parties, Get The Party Started, which are pre-assembled, themed party packs for children. She also plans to write a do-it-yourself party planning book, so she is not slowing down any time soon.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI get up each day and I am excited for the next project,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to make my business bigger. When you are passionate about something, you want it to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\n溏心vlog免费B站 alumna Stephanie Frazier Grimm (\u201902) is the owner of Newport-based Couture Parties.<\/p>\n


\nWhether it is a New York state-of-mind dinner party, a waterfront wedding or a Sopranos-themed social gathering, 溏心vlog免费B站 alumna Stephanie Frazier Grimm has a knack for detail that has made Couture Parties a nationally recognized company.

\nPhotos courtesy of Stephanie Frazier Grimm<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 1, 2011 -When figuring out the key to making your summer party a big success, the first thing to look at is your guest list. That\u2019s the first major piece to any successful gathering, said party-planning guru and 溏心vlog免费B站 alumna Stephanie Frazier Grimm. \u201cYou want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}