2008 Woodie Awards
The ultimate party girl
Miami sophomore Shannon Meter knows how to throw a good time
Erin Bowen
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Features
Shannon Meter is as memorable as her parties.
Soft-spoken yet armed with sarcasm, she is the queen of details. The Miami University sophomore's planner is highly organized. Events are coordinated by color. The books on her desk are organized by height. She is always impeccably dressed and never fails to greet a stranger with a warm hello.
Yet, beneath the carefully groomed exterior is the mind of an entrepreneur. Meter is the co-founder of an event planning business called Party Perfectors. Formed the summer before her sophomore year of high school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Meter and friends Lizzy Schofding and Carolyn Adamo, both of who attend Michigan State University, came up with the idea on a whim.
Asked to help at a pig roast thrown by a family for whom Schofding babysat, the girls caught on quickly and began to formulate their own ideas to plan more parties.
"Some representatives from Better Homes & Gardens were actually there and told us to keep going with our party planning," Meter said.
The idea snowballed.
The girls created monogrammed polo shirts, business cards and advertised in their local church paper, forming contact after contact until now, four and a half years later, the threesome has planned more than 300 parties.
Before each event, Meter and her co-workers meet with the host or hostess to discuss details.
"We assess what they need in terms of food, silverware and such," Meter said.
On the day of the event, Meter arrives two to three hours early to set up, work with the caterer or finish food preparation. Once the event is underway Meter is constantly on the go, serving, cleaning, handling the needs of guests, even running to the store if supplies become low. Afterward, the Party Perfectors have the dirty job of cleanup.
"We make the house look like the party never even happened," Meter said.
This past summer, Meter and her co-workers were hired to assist with a wedding.
Soft-spoken yet armed with sarcasm, she is the queen of details. The Miami University sophomore's planner is highly organized. Events are coordinated by color. The books on her desk are organized by height. She is always impeccably dressed and never fails to greet a stranger with a warm hello.
Yet, beneath the carefully groomed exterior is the mind of an entrepreneur. Meter is the co-founder of an event planning business called Party Perfectors. Formed the summer before her sophomore year of high school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Meter and friends Lizzy Schofding and Carolyn Adamo, both of who attend Michigan State University, came up with the idea on a whim.
Asked to help at a pig roast thrown by a family for whom Schofding babysat, the girls caught on quickly and began to formulate their own ideas to plan more parties.
"Some representatives from Better Homes & Gardens were actually there and told us to keep going with our party planning," Meter said.
The idea snowballed.
The girls created monogrammed polo shirts, business cards and advertised in their local church paper, forming contact after contact until now, four and a half years later, the threesome has planned more than 300 parties.
Before each event, Meter and her co-workers meet with the host or hostess to discuss details.
"We assess what they need in terms of food, silverware and such," Meter said.
On the day of the event, Meter arrives two to three hours early to set up, work with the caterer or finish food preparation. Once the event is underway Meter is constantly on the go, serving, cleaning, handling the needs of guests, even running to the store if supplies become low. Afterward, the Party Perfectors have the dirty job of cleanup.
"We make the house look like the party never even happened," Meter said.
This past summer, Meter and her co-workers were hired to assist with a wedding.
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