By Kayla Sosa
From decorations, to catering, to choreography and planning, husband and wife Jose Juarez-Aguilar and Diana Maceda do it all.
Maceda’s Events started unofficially through word of mouth. Maceda’s friends and family members noticed over the years how good she was at decorating her home and how good she could cook. Each year, Maceda and Juarez-Aguilar throw a birthday party for their son, and people would ask her advice on decorating tips or how to plan for their parties.
“Since I was a little girl, I always thought I could run my own business in order to make a living but I did not know what kind of business it would be,” Maceda said. “I usually dreamt about having my own company where I could develop my creativity and own ideas. Little by little, I realized I was good at designing and organizing. That idea was supported when I heard people say I had a good taste to decorate my house. With that mind, I started giving people little advice on how to decorate their family gatherings and how to organize their events.”
Someone even told Maceda and Juarez-Aguilar that they were so good at dancing salsa, they wanted them to teach them. That’s when they knew they had to start a business. In 2009, they started contracting their services as a small business.
Now, officially an LLC, the couple has a handful of clients at a time, sometimes having to be at multiple events in one day.
Juarez-Aguilar said he would describe Maceda as the owner, the visionary, the director, and himself as the “manager.” Many of the services Maceda does herself, like cooking Mexican dishes, putting together decorations and arranging flower bouquets. The couple together plan the events, give choreography lessons and can fill the role of Master and Mistress of Ceremonies. While Maceda may do a lot of the planning, it’s Juarez-Aguilar’s job to execute the work and make sure it happens.
“What makes us different is we can give you everything you want if you give us at least two weeks,” Maceda said. “It doesn’t matter what color you want, what kind of fabric you want, what kind of design you want, we can give it to you. Just give us time.”
Having done this work for a decade, the Maceda and Juarez-Aguilar have connections to other entrepreneurs and small businesses to provide even more services: Italian food, Chinese food, Guatemalan food, security, photography, videography and more.
“Our goal is to help other small businesses grow by offering their services to our clients so that we can make our community better,” Juarez-Aguilar said. “We help each other and we all win.”
Maceda’s Events caters to all kinds of events: wedding ceremonies and receptions, birthday parties, graduation parties, quinceañeras, holiday parties, office meetings, and more.
Juarez-Aguilar said right now about 70 percent of their clients are Hispanic.
“As a business, we would like to expand our possibilities and offer our services not only to Hispanic people, but also to… (all) races,” Maceda said.
The couple has expanded to offer their services to surrounding cities in West Michigan, and not just Grand Rapids. They have bookings as far out as 2021.
“Your events become ours,” Maceda said. “You can leave everything in our hands.”
To find out more information, visit the Maceda’s Events Facebook Page.
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