Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Whitlock.
Hi Jen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
People often ask me why I started Wonderwall Event Co. three years ago– which officially began as Wonderwall Backdrops. I had a full-time career in healthcare marketing, two crazy boys, a husband, and a full life. But I had that proverbial itch that I wanted to scratch. So I started by crafting one floral backdrop in my family room… silk flower after silk flower… thousands of them. I wanted to create a photo moment that made people stop, look, and immediately pull out their phones. I added chiara arch backdrops, shimmer wall backdrops, and other flower walls, and the business quickly expanded when clients began asking for balloons and complete event setups. At some point, “backdrops” just didn’t describe us anymore, so Wonderwall Event Co. was born.
So here we are now, hundreds of installs down for custom event décor throughout Annapolis, Baltimore and the surrounding Maryland area. We’ve done everything from backyard celebrations and weddings to school events, galas, and large corporate installations. I’ve had the opportunity to work with organizations including Whole Foods Market, the University of Maryland, McCormick and Chick-fil-A, but I still get just as invested in the personal celebrations. Every event matters to the person hosting it, whether it’s a major brand activation or a child’s first birthday.
Building Wonderwall has involved a lot of learning as I go, saying yes before I had every detail figured out and occasionally wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into. But it has also shown me how much I love taking someone’s loose idea and turning it into something they couldn’t quite picture yet.
Sustainability has also become an important part of the business. I’m Maryland’s only certified balloon recycler, aligned with Balloon Mission (a non-profit) and their partnership with TerraCycle, and I’m always looking for practical ways to reduce waste while still creating décor that feels bold, fun, and memorable.
Wonderwall has now been named Best of Annapolis three years in a row, which still feels absolutely unreal. What started with a backdrop has become a full event décor company with a recognizable style, an incredible group of repeat clients, and a reputation for showing up, figuring it out and making the space feel completely different than it did when we arrived.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh, definitely not a smooth road. I’m pretty sure I have tested every shock in my work van running over business-related potholes and speed bumps.
When I started Wonderwall, I knew how to create. And I knew marketing. But I did not automatically know how to price my work, say no to the wrong jobs, manage inventory, write contracts, build a website, photograph installations, chase invoices, and load a cargo van like a professional Tetris player… you get the idea.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning that being good at the creative part isn’t enough. Wonderwall has grown because I’ve gotten much better at treating it like a business, not a really expensive hobby involving several thousand balloons.
There’s also a ridiculous amount that happens behind the pretty Instagram photo. Installations happen in heat advisories, a rain downpour, wind gusts of 40mph and occasionally even worse conditions that make you question your own safety. (Yes, we installed a balloon arch in a tornado— and it held for days.) I’ve had plans change at the last minute, venues throw curveballs, equipment misbehave and setups that looked far easier on paper than they did at 6 a.m. with a van full of décor.
But I think some of the harder lessons have made Wonderwall better. I’m much clearer now about what we do well, what our work is worth and what I’m willing to say no to. And I’ve learned that sometimes the difference between a disaster and a great event is 11 different attachment point options, two backup plans, and refusing to panic.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve always been the person who looks at something perfectly acceptable and thinks, “Okay, but what if we did THIS?” (Insert main reason why my husband didn’t like going with me on installs until recently… my toxic trait of “I can make it better” almost took him out.)
That is probably the most accurate explanation of how I ended up here.
Wonderwall grew very organically because I kept following that instinct. I’d do one event, see another possibility, try something I hadn’t done before and then think, “well, now I need to know how to do THAT.” There was never some grand five-year master plan. It was much more of a very enthusiastic series of “what ifs?”
What surprised me most was how quickly people started trusting me with their moments. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, celebrations they had been planning for months– things that truly meant something to them. Once I realized people weren’t simply hiring me to decorate a room, I started looking at the business differently.
I became obsessed with the reaction.
I want the host sneaking into the room before everyone arrives because they can’t wait to see it. I want guests pulling out their phones. I want the person who hired me looking around with that slightly stunned expression that says, “YES. You nailed it. This is what I was hoping for.”
And honestly, that’s still the part that hooks me.
Three years later, Wonderwall is bigger than anything I pictured at the beginning, but I’m still very much the person saying, “Hang on. I have an idea.”
Sadly, my family has learned that sentence usually means we’re going to need more storage.
How do you define success?
For me, success with Wonderwall isn’t a revenue number or how many events I can cram onto the calendar. I could be booked, busy, and miserable— and either insanely profitable or barely covering costs. It’s being able to look at the business and know it has a point of view.
I want people to see a setup and know it feels like Wonderwall before they ever see the name attached to it. That matters to me more than being the busiest person in the room.
I think the biggest measure of success is repeat clients and referrals. Someone coming back a year after their daughter’s bridal shower and saying, “Jen— I’m going to be a grandmom! Can you help with the shower?” That tells me I didn’t just make something pretty. I made the experience worth repeating.
And on a very practical level, success is having the freedom to be selective. To say yes to the projects that feel right, no to the ones that don’t, and to keep pushing myself creatively instead of turning Wonderwall into an assembly line.
If I’m still making things that make people stop, stare, and immediately reach for their phone, I’d say I’m doing pretty well.
Pricing:
- Backdrops and statement walls: pricing starts at $500
- Onsite balloon installations: pricing starts at $500
- 3′ tall marquee letters and numbers: pricing starts at $75 per marquee
- Grab-and-go balloon garlands: pricing starts at $100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wonderwalleventco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderwalleventco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WonderwallEventCo
