Larissa Goldenberg,
Bridal Consultant ABC™

Member Association of Bridal Consultants

Larissa immigrated to the United States in 1979. With a degree in Arts and Photography and a gift for public relations, she was looking for a job that would allow her creativity and talent to bloom. While dreaming of one day running her own business, she worked as a waitress, a chef, bartender and a manager (in that order) in a large banquet facility, making Larissa specially equipped to assist her clients in planning the menus and other things for their special event. During this time she also discovered her love for seeing beautiful brides and grooms on the happiest day of their lives and thus an idea was born.

Working in the banquet facility gave Larissa all the tools she would need to make any event a success. In 1981, she became the spokeswoman for Troyka Restaurant where she had already begun designing sweet tables and seafood displays for various events. To this day her displays are frequently requested and highly recommended. Five years later, in 1986, she offered her services as a part-time, freelance consultant to DBL's first client.

In the next several years her sweet tables became well known in Chicago and beyond. She continued her professional education by attending the annual National Restaurant and Fancy Food Shows and Bridal and Wedding Expos. She reviewed every issue of Gourmet Food , Chef 's magazine, Balloons and Flowers and other similar publications. Her list of vendors grew to a considerable size and qualifications for choosing them became more and more demanding as her expectations reached immeasurable heights.

Larissa's approach for any party, whether for sixty or six hundred people, is always thoughtful and artistic. The combination of her love and understanding of different flowers and decorative linens, colors and textures, her impressive list of professional and reliable vendors, her ability to find a middle ground between the varying tastes of all family members involved, insured the success of every party she planned for her clients.

By 1997, Larissa's clientele had grown so large it was no longer feasible to continue her business, as most consultants do, out of her home and she took the next big step in expanding DBL. She proudly opened the doors to the official home of Design by Larissa at 834 East Rand Road Suite #4 in Mount Prospect, Illinois where she and her staff continue to serve her clients to the best of their ability.

DBL 's list of clients includes a famous fashion designer, the agent for the Ultimate Fighters' World Champion, doctors, attorneys and many others. Warmth and personal attention to each and every one has earned the company respect from every client who's ever walked through the door.

By 2000 she had created countless successful events in many different locations nationwide. In 2003, one of Larissa's clients, a Journalist for 7 days newspaper, wrote an article about Larissa and her business in order to thank her for a beautifully arranged Wedding she'd planned for him and his fiancé. Most of her clients keep in touch to this day and continue to use Design by Larissa for anniversaries, birthday parties, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, or Weddings for the now adult children of couples whose wedding she'd planned many years ago. She had also been a member of a Bridal Panel for WEVA meeting (Wedding and Event Photography Association ) in Chicago together with other Bridal consultants and editor of Modern Bride magazine, which was attended by more then 300+ members.

Larissa always continues to educate herself in the customs of many different ethnic groups since each has it's own taste in food and musical requirements. Her clientele include Ukrainian, Jewish, Italian, Russian, Polish, Greek, Armenian, Slovenian, Irish and many others. To further her education, Larissa attended the School of Bridal Consultants and Professional Career Development Institute and after graduation became "officially" a Bridal Consultant and a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants. At the end of 2003, Larissa then enrolled in a one-year course from which she graduated with honors in 2 months becoming a Professional Bridal Consultant tm . In 2002, she was asked to plan her first destination wedding, which is an idea that is gaining more and more popularity in the recent years. Being a member of such a large association (4300 members around the world) would be very helpful in planning a wedding in say, Japan, Italy, or other countries, since Larissa could work in conjunction with another member in the country where the event was to take place.

At the end of 2005, Larissa received an email from a producer for Women's Entertainment Cable network, inquiring about a special, "once in a lifetime/dream come true" event that Larissa was planning in the beginning of 2006. The producer was interested in filming a fabulous wedding, if Larissa had any, for their new show "Platinum Weddings". The network was planning to air the show July of 2006. One of our clients in Las Vegas, a fashion designer and owner of Lana Fuchs Couture,LLC was planning a Renewal of the Vows ceremony and her son's Bar Mitzvah on March 11, 2006 which coincided perfectly with the dates requested by the network. She graciously agreed to let them film the three-day event. Robin Leach, who was in attendance at the event, also provided commentary for the event. On July 30, 2006 the episode "Lana and Victor" , Platinum Weddings had aired and 26 six more time after that nationally as well as internationally. . Included in the show was interview with Larissa; designers of the floral company she hired for the event; a few of the 41 vendors she had flown in for the event, including nationwide renowned "Frost Lighting"; twenty-eight musicians and singers, including Russian, Spanish and Italian singers from New York, Miami, Boston and LA; seven dancers and MC's from one of the best DJ Companies in Chicago; and of course the event itself. In the beginning of 2007 Larissa has earned a new designation as an Accredited Bridal Consultant tm , one of the 27 world wide in 27 countries, where Association of Bridal Consultants has a chapter.

Design by Larissa has created many special events and gala's within a budget ranging anywhere from five thousand to over one million dollars. We have designed and ordered varying specialty linens from India and China, accessories for décor and giveaways and unique extras for many events. We are specialists in themed weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Birthdays parties, and much more. Sometimes Larissa will do hours of research for an event just to satisfy the special wish of a little girl or boy's dream and this is what makes us different.

Larissa is also an editorial contributor to "Chicago Wedding Resource" in "Your Personal Bridal Consultant" /Ask Larissa " column from 2006. Larissa has given some morning TV's shows interview's as well as being interviewed by Celebrity Chef Connection host Debbie Hall.

Each event is extraordinary for Larissa and her staff, because it is unique and so are our clients. We pride ourselves on individual and personalized attention to each and every client, thus our motto is "each client is Royalty and is treated as such...."