We’re thrilled to introduce you to A Monique Affair (AMA), a San Francisco Bay Area-based wedding and event planning collective that specializes in effortless and colorful elegance. Founded by Chanda Daniels, a trailblazer in the marriage equality movement, AMA is committed to celebrating all love stories. With over 45 years of combined experience, this talented team of designers, planners, and producers have been crafting heartfelt and unique weddings, corporate events, and milestone celebrations since 1999. Whether you’re planning a wedding or a special event, AMA is dedicated to creating a highly creative, comfortable, and elegant experience that reflects your love story. In this Q&A, we dive into the vision and passion behind A Monique Affair and explore how they make every event unforgettable.
Let’s dive right in. What sets you apart from others in the industry?
A Monique Affair was founded on the belief that all love deserves to be celebrated. In fact, we’ve been celebrating marriage equality since 1999. Our founder, Chanda Daniels, is a celebrated industry leader on the topic of marriage equality and inclusion. You belong here. Weddings belong to everyone.
How do you show you are LGBTQ+ inclusive and affirming to your potential and current clients?
We ensure that we have LGBTQ+ couples front and center. Chanda, our founder, has been known for so long as the person who was inclusive before it was a thing. She makes sure that her values are front and center on display. Once couples hear the history (and trials) of A Monique Affair, they know for certain that our company will take care of them.
What are 3 tips you could give our readers for planning their engagement, wedding or honeymoon?
1) Completely finalize your guest list so you can see realistically what size venue you need.
2) Realistically talk about your entire wedding budget to see what feels comfortable to you, then head back to the guest list to make any changes if necessary.
3) Lay out your expectations very candidly to ensure it aligns with your budget. In this industry, there are no cutting corners. You truly get what you pay for.
Can you share any unique or customizable offerings that couples can incorporate into their wedding experience?
If investment allows, highly customized wedding welcome bags/boxes are highly underrated! You can get really creative (even thematic) and set your own budget.
How do you handle unexpected challenges or last-minute changes on the wedding day?
Chanda makes sure her team has the confidence to handle whatever comes up. The calmness you may sense in her, comes with 25 years experience in the industry. Confidence is knowing you have the resources to handle anything that comes your way with poise and efficiency.
Could you walk us through the process of working with you, from initial consultation to the wedding day itself?
Let’s Connect — Here we learn a little more about you, your story, values and any details that will aid in designing a celebration unique to you. After hearing your story, we recommend the best venue and photographer that fits your vision and investment.
Curation & Design — We will have in-depth conversations about the overall look and feel of your day so that we can give you and your guests the best experience possible. Afterward, we create a custom detailed design proposal to bring your vision to life. The best creative partners will be secured for your wedding to ensure all of the details from the approved design proposal fit your celebration perfectly. During the design phase, we will also secure and book your remaining creative partners.
Planning — All of the planned details will start to come together. We will have meetings scheduled to ensure the timeline is being met and any alterations necessary are made.
Final Prep — Approximately five to six weeks before your celebration day, we will begin the final planning stages of producing the wedding/event day timeline, following up with your creative partners and do final site walks.
Celebrate — The team will be there to manage your creative partners, logistically coordinate the flow of the day and ensure your set-up and vision is met. A Monique Affair follows the same planning foundation, but you will be working with a designated planner.
What accommodations do you have for different wedding sizes, themes, or cultural traditions?
Every wedding that we work with is a completely customized experience, we listen to what our clients want and then we plan accordingly.
How do you collaborate with other vendors to ensure seamless coordination on the wedding day?
We are in constant communication with the vendors as soon as we bring them to the wedding creative team. We chat throughout each phase listed above as we want them to be great for your event. We provide them with everything they need: timelines, floor plans, walk-throughs, and a hot meal on wedding day! (lol)
Do you have any insider tips or recommendations for couples planning their wedding that you’ve learned from your experience in the industry?
Weddings are a huge investment. The images you see on Pinterest, Instagram, your favorite inspirational blogs, and magazines are all big-time investments that cost a pretty penny. Do what’s best for you, but be sure to not shame others if their life experience is different. Priorities differ from couple to couple and while some may be ready to spend their life savings on this event, others want to stay within a very specific budget, and that’s okay. We can all show up in this wedding space without judgment.
Learn More About A Monique Affair ↓
Love is Colorful. Bold and Exciting. Love is worth celebrating!
A Monique Affair is all about effortless and colorful elegance. We are a collective of designers, planners, and producers who are dedicated to creating heartfelt and unique events.
We are a full-service wedding, corporate, and milestone event planning and execution firm serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Our professionally trained event team has been celebrating colorful love for over 45 years combined!
AMA was founded on the belief that all love deserves to be celebrated. In fact, we’ve been celebrating marriage equality since 1999. Our founder, Chanda Daniels, is a celebrated industry leader on the topic of marriage equality and inclusion. You belong here. Weddings belong to everyone.
Tell us your colorful love story and we’ll help you curate a highly creative, comfortable, elegant, and unique event. We’ll be beside you as you select your design aesthetic, choose creative partners, and host one of the best events of your life. We’ll be by your side throughout the entire planning process.
Equally Wed Pro Certified LGBTQ+ Inclusive (individual)
