Once upon a dream: UT student Laurel Lovitt makes dreams come true for children through her princess parties

Laurel Lovitt is making her dreams of being a princess and the dreams of children come true.

Her business, Laurel’s Princess Parties, was launched in May 2013 and has substantially grown since then.

Within the first six months of the business, Lovitt performed at 33 parties.

In 2014, there were over 330 appearances made by her and the performers, which included parties, workshops and events.

The third-year marketing major said, “We are still teaching them how to be a princess, we are still instilling all of those aspects, except for the fact that we have changed princesses.�?

At parties, Lovitt hosts “princess training,�? which includes teaching proper posture, how to curtsy and bow and why manners are important. There are also games, story-time and tiara-making.

Lovitt said the company performs an entire entertainment package. The performers sing, dress up in custom costumes, wigs and full makeup art.

There are five performers total at Laurel’s Princess Parties and they each play their own character and princesses established from fables. Lovitt said they are looking to add more performers to their royal court —males and females.

Erin Momany, a second-year math education major, is one of the performers and describes her job as “princessing.�?

“It will be like ‘oh what are you doing on Saturday’ and it’s ‘oh I’m princessing from 1 to 2 and then I have a meeting,’�? Momany said. “It’s like the best job ever and it’s really fun being best friends with my boss too.�?

“At first it was very hard being able to trust someone else with the message and with the kids,�? Lovitt said. “Over time I have gained so much trust and confidence with these girls and they’ve done an exceptional job and always give 100 percent, 110.�?

Lovitt said the teamwork between the women she works with is “wonderful�? and “unique.�?

“They have great voices, but one thing we have in common is we truly love kids and we love to create the magic for them,�? Lovitt said. “It’s really cool how we all can come together and it’s very hard to find other girls like that because they have to sing, they have to be good with kids, be quick on their feet.�?

The company includes a cast of characters that perform at various events and parties.

“The original fable of the ‘Snow Queen’ has impacted us tremendously now that the light has been shed upon it because we do anywhere from 5 to 10 a weekend,�? Lovitt said.

Lovitt said she loves to play the Snow Queen’s sister ‘Ana’ and they perform them differently from the fables.

“The Snow Queen, we make a version that is really outspoken and really funny that plays well with Ana,�? Lovitt said. “If we didn’t, we would have more groups than we have now that are afraid of us. I’ve walked into a room of 5-year-olds that wouldn’t talk to me for the first half hour because they were afraid of my powers.�?

The real power of being a princess comes from the ability to adapt to circumstances and still act proper.

“There’s two types of parties, the deer in headlights that you have to crack within the first ten minutes, or the ones that are so enthusiastic and ready and are about to have fun,�? she said.

Lovitt said a lot of the parties are gender neutral.

“A lot of parties have boys. We teach them how to be princes,�? she said. “We really touch on burping and why you don’t do that kind of stuff, and how to treat a lady and the kids love it.�?

The kids and the magical fun are the reasons Lovitt said she stays motivated.

“We get drained, completely drained, but it’s the smiles,�? Lovitt said. “It’s the kids and the joy that we bring to them.�?

For Lovitt, she said since she lives on her own, finding her balance is “mentally very, very hard.�?

Lovitt said she is “creating everything from nothing.�?

“I literally have nothing to go off of. I had to create everything from scratch. It’s been a lot of work and with living on my own, work is priority number one, to be able to support myself and support the girls,�? she said.

Lovitt said she has 90-day plans that include what type of events the performers will do, how many parties they will reach and what type of promotions they plan to have.

They also set goals for how many likes they want to get on Facebook, when the launch of new princesses are and when they will have new costumes.

Lovitt said the performers travel outside of Toledo to cities like Ann Arbor, Troy, Findlay, Wauseon and Archbold.

Lovitt said the ‘winter sisters,’ the ‘Snow Queen’ and ‘Ana’, performed at the Walleye game on Nov. 8.

“The Walleye game was a thrill,�? Lovitt said. “It was sold out at 8,600 people and I was able to sing the national anthem on national television as the Snow Queen at the event.�?

Lovitt said the princesses also performed at two tea parties and met 2,000 children in five hours’ time.

“It was absolutely crazy,�? Lovitt said. “The line to meet us was wrapped around the entire arena which is a mile around.�?

Lovitt said “Festival Feast,�? a buffet style dinner and entertainment, at the Lights Before Christmas was “absolutely wonderful.�?

The princesses met over 200 families between two nights. Lovitt said the princesses were able to have a lot of quality time with each child which is something they “absolutely love.�?

On Jan. 10, the princesses made an appearance at the Appliance Center in Maumee. Lovitt said 400 families attended to meet the ‘winter sisters.’

Upcoming events include a Toledo Walleye game on Feb. 22 and Chick-Fil-A on Airport Highway on Feb. 24 from 6-8 p.m.

Lovitt said The Toledo Zoo booked Laurel’s Princess Parties for the second year at the Spring Alive program on Feb. 28 and March 1. At the event Lovitt said they will launch new characters, Jake and Tinkerbell.

Lovitt said her family has been supportive of her dream from the beginning.

“There’s never been a doubt,�? she said. “They’re like ‘OK keep dreaming and going farther’ and ‘OK what’s your next dream.’�?

Lovitt said that her business isn’t about making money; it’s about creating an experience for the kids.

“In society, they are not able to dream anymore for some reason because they are so focused on technology, they just don’t play,�? Lovitt said. “We want to give them an hour of our time to play, to just have a good time to empower them to know that they can dream and those dreams can become reality and that’s our mission to empower children and their dreams.�?