Interview with Mary-Rose de Vries, WeOrganize.lu

Chronicle.lu caught up with Mary-Rose de Vries, the entrepreneur behind the WeOrganize.lu brand which was affected quite considerably by the pandemic in that face-to-face events, particularly those indoors, could not take place for the best part of two years thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chronicle.lu: Could you please tell us about the origins of WeOrganize.lu? When was it created? What inspired the idea?

Mary-Rose: Being half Dutch and half American-Filipino, I have enjoyed travelling around the world ever since I was a small child, with my parents (mostly due to my father's work), and I have lived in many different countries, growing up and studying in the Netherlands and Luxembourg. With a very international background, I speak seven languages and have now started learning Italian. After a 20-year career in Banking & Finance and taking care of our young daughter, several years ago I started my own Events Management business, WeOrganize.lu, where I organised team building events for companies and special cooking classes, Corporate parties, wine-tasting events, special anniversaries, wedding receptions, many fundraising events for different associations, different fairs, etc., and I also specialised in organising events in Tuscany and Amsterdam. One of my favourite places is Tuscany, and I love organising events, socialising, learning about different cultures, helping people, and I love animals too. My passion for organising events and contact with people led me to create WeOrganize.lu.

Chronicle.lu: How has WeOrganize.lu developed / evolved over the years? Did you have to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, how? For example, did you switch to different formats? What worked, what didn't work?

Mary-Rose: I started out with small events like children’s parties, teambuilding events, private parties and later on I evolved to fairs, fundraising events, corporate events, special anniversaries, wedding receptions, etc. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I unfortunately could not organise events apart from an outside Christmas Fair last year and a few outside Crafts, Hobby, Charity and Small Business Fairs and one wine-tasting event where people had to come at different time slots as only a few could be in one room at the same time. I could have organised some social online events or training events like I have done with different clubs to be able to have more events, but I wanted to take the time for my family, plus home-schooling was quite challenging.

Chronicle.lu: Has it become easier to organise events again now that most restrictions have been lifted in Luxembourg? Have you personally seen a reluctance among the public to return to in-person events or do most people appear to be happy to be able to attend such events again?

Mary-Rose: Now that the restrictions have been lifted, I have started to organise more events. Most people seem to be happy going out again and attending events.

Chronicle.lu: Please tell us a bit more about your upcoming events, which are quite different from one another.

Mary-Rose: Don’t miss WeOrganize’s monthly Crafts Fair on Sunday 1 May at the Youth hostel of Echternach where you will meet many talented people (https://fb.me/e/1p9heJCD6). And on Tuesday 3 May, WeOrganize will be organising an event with StylizedU’s personal styling coach, Neha Bhandari, at the lovely boutique of Les Sûtras in Galerie Beaumont. I have organised something similar when I was the Events Director and 2nd VP on the American Women's Club of Luxembourg (AWCL)’s board several years ago (https://fb.me/e/1OmU2xbjl). Another interesting event, specially for parents will be held on Wednesday 18 May at the Aalschoul in Munsbach, [about] Positive Parenting and how not to pass on your trauma onto your children. This will be the first coaching event organised by WeOrganize, given by two professional coaches, Cherine Makram and Anne Louise Littlejohn (https://fb.me/e/3abttVmrY).

Mary-Rose has also very recently started another business called VVEvents (www.vvevents.lu) specialised in Corporate Events, where she partners up with Nancy Villegas from The Party Ville.