Your vision, fully produced.So you can focus on the goal, and enjoy the result.

Corporate and nonprofit event production across the greater Chicagoland area. Galas, conferences, sales kickoffs, holiday parties, golf outings, and donor events — everything except wedding days. I handle the vendors, the budget, the timeline, and the day itself.

Poised at the intersection of business and pleasure.

Two words, chosen carefully

The name isn't decoration

Everything about how I work is in the two words on the sign.

boutiqueadjective

Curated rather than mass-produced. Personal, high-touch service. Small and independently run, by choice.

You get me. Not a junior coordinator you meet for the first time the week of your event.

poisedadjective

Still, but ready to move. Calm and confident. Prepared, and waiting for the moment to arrive.

Which is exactly what a well-run event looks like from the outside, and exactly what it takes behind the scenes to get there.

Sitting poised at the intersection of business and pleasure means holding both at once: the budget and the beauty, the run of show and the room full of people enjoying themselves.

How we'd work together

Three ways in

Every event is different, and so is how much of it you want to hand off. Most clients land in the middle: I take the production weight, they keep the vision.

Event ManagementYou've planned it. I run it.

You've made the decisions and booked the vendors. I build the timeline, confirm every detail, manage the run of show, and handle the day on site so nothing slips through.

Best for teams with internal capacity who need execution.

ProductionMy most common partnership.

I take the heavy lift: sourcing and managing vendors, directing design, holding the budget, building the timeline, and running the event itself. You stay focused on your guests, your donors, or your team.

Best for stretched teams with a real event to pull off.

Full ProductionConcept through follow-up.

Everything from the first idea to the post-event wrap: concept and design, full vendor and budget management, sponsorship and exhibitor logistics, on-site production, and what comes after.

Best for flagship events where the stakes are high.

The work

What I produce

Everything except wedding days. If your organization is putting something in a room and it matters, it's in my world.

Galas & benefits Conferences Sales kickoffs Donor dinners Golf outings Holiday parties Awards nights Corporate offsites Team retreats Product launches Grand openings Member meetings
Who you'd be working with

Hi, I'm Ariana

I've spent years producing events that carry real weight. The kind where the budget is someone's whole year of fundraising, or the room is full of people a company flew in from four states, and everything has to land.

Most recently that's included a two-day professional conference with sponsors, exhibitors, presenters, and an awards program running alongside it. I know what the weeks before an event like that actually feel like.

And what I kept seeing was the same gap. An organization has something important to pull off, and one already-stretched person is quietly drowning trying to produce it on top of their real job. The development director who should be with donors is chasing a caterer. The office manager with a full role is somehow also planning the holiday party. The event happens, and it's fine, and nobody who made it happen got to enjoy it.

Cherry St. exists to be the person they hand it to. I take the whole production — the vendors, the budget, the timeline, the thousand details, and the day itself — so the people whose event it is can be present for it.

I work with a network of local vendors I know and trust. When I recommend a room or a caterer, it's because I've been in that room and eaten that food, not because I found them online.

  • Six-plus years in eventsEvent planning and production experience across many industries.
  • PMP certifiedProject Management Professional. Budgets held, timelines kept.
  • Business degreeMarquette University.
  • Nonprofit fluencyYears working inside mission-driven organizations, not just for them.
  • Local rootsBorn and raised in the Northwest Suburbs, with a real appreciation for and vested interest in the small businesses that make these events happen.
Let's talk

Tell me what you're planning

Whether you have a date and a budget or just a vague sense that something needs to happen in the spring, I'm glad to talk it through.

Or reach out directly:

cherrystbtq@gmail.com 630.396.0173

Serving the greater Chicagoland area.

Most events book three to nine months out. Conferences and large galas are often planned a year ahead. If yours is further out than feels normal, that's a good sign, not a problem.