Whether she is decking a grand hall for a wedding reception of 200 guests, or creating a cozy atmosphere for an intimate family get-together, Cheryl Ann Francique is quite at home.The 49-year-old owner of her home-based business, Creative Decor and Event Rentals, certainly knows how to invoke a "wow" from her customers, but it took her a while before she discovered her "true" passion.As a vocalist in the old school group, Vouge, Francique sang at shows and was a regular at the Rolls Royce International Discotheque, which was then located on Abercromby Street in Port-of-Spain. She and her sister even did back-up vocals for Brother Valentino."He wanted to take us on tour, but my mother wasn't for it. She never liked the idea of us being out at night. 'Sing in church,' she would tell us," Francique chuckled.After living abroad for a while, the mother of two eventually returned home and dabbled in quite a few career choices, among them marketing, importing wine, and as an administrative assistant. But it was during the wine launch at the Senior Common Room at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus in 2007, that Creative Decor and Event Rentals was born."One of the table cloths that we had rented got a cigarette burn and I had to pay in excess of $100 to replace it."I felt that that was ridiculous, and at that point I decided to get into this type of business, and not for the money, but for the quality of work."
With an eye and a flair for mixing and matching, everything just fell into place for her."I love keeping a nice home."Friends often tell me, 'you do such a nice job of putting things together'," she beamed. And her professional background came in quite handy too."I love quality work. I love customer satisfaction, so I find out exactly what my customers want, what they are looking for, and I work from there."I get swatches that would blend and match, all in keeping with what they have in mind," Francique explained, adding that she ensures she keeps up with current trends."This is a business in which you have to keep updating yourself on the latest trends," she disclosed.And although she is usually a one-man-show, she knows when it's time to get help."I do all my sewing myself, and when I'm doing a job I like to take my time to ensure that everything is perfect. If it's a really big function, though, I'll hire somebody to assist me for the day."In addition to decorating, she creates centrepieces, as well as decorated keepsake toast glasses for brides and grooms.Francique said she was not heavily into planning events for others, but admitted that she did sometimes function as a planning consultant."I offer advice sometimes, but only if its necessary. And most times, especially for weddings, it takes some strain off the bride."
But planning events for herself is another story. She recently took a decision to marry business with philantrophy. She will host regular fund-raising brunches, from which part of the proceeds will be donated to an individual in need."Each time I have a brunch a different decor will be displayed to promote my business to the public."I will be liaising with a friend of mine, who is a welfare officer, to supply me with the name of an individual to receive the donation."The reason for giving back is because it is very easy to become unfortunate or displaced in society. People need to be more aware of the level of poverty, strain and stress individuals experience on a daily basis, a lot of which we take for granted," she concluded.
• For more information, contact Cheryl Ann Francique at
735-3634 or 291-6763.
