Getting to Know Nimati Shuhaibar

After meeting the lovely Nimati Shuhaibar and seeing how passionate she is about her work, we were certainly very interested to know more about her and Polkadots & Ribbons...
 
How did Polka Dots & Ribbons start?
Where do I start! I have a background in PR, love children, creating events and I am a huge believer in enhancing parent-child bonding – the combination of these together made Polkadots & Ribbons. The aim is to provide an added value service whereby each event is tailored specifically for the client allowing them the opportunity to be unique and express themselves within their specified budgets. Polkadots & Ribbons is not your typical events company. The combination of services that we offer is a new concept to the UAE. We specialize in birthday parties, baby showers, parent-child bonding sessions & work with organizations to create unique children related events, handling everything from concept generation to PR. As you can see Polkadots & Ribbons incorporates more than meets the eye.
 
What do you like most about your work?
Creating something from scratch, which is unique to the client each time around, seeing people enjoy themselves and putting a smile on their face. Also, I am a big kid at heart and Polkadots & Ribbons allows me to bring out my inner-child.
 
What is the most challenging part about your work?
Holding myself back from eating all the food on the display tables at the events!
 
What inspires you when planning for a new event?
My clients! At Polkadots & Ribbons we do not have ‘standard’ packages - each event is completely tailored and bespoke to the personality of the person we are throwing it for. We take his or her character, the venue and the ideas just start to fall into place from there.
 
What’s the secret to a successful party?
Good friends, good food and good planning!
 
For party themes, who gets the final say: kids or parents?
Both! The event needs to incorporate the personalities and requirements of both the parents and kids. Usually, we end up creating mini-sections for both, however in all honesty I tend to secretly side with the kids myself.
 
How does an average day in the life of an event planner look like?
It’s absolute chaos…and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There are no set hours in this industry, I’m out of the house by 9am for meetings, sample tasting, venue sourcing etc., and usually work up-to 1 am the next day.
 
What was your dream job as a kid?
When I was growing up my dream was to become an Egyptologist!! But I guess Party planning is more fun than digging in the sand all day.   
 
As a person who gets involved with lots of desserts! What’s your favorite?
This is a tough one. I have a very sweet tooth so I am constantly eating desserts and lots of them! But if I had to choose right now I would say ‘carrot cake’!
 
Girls’ Night Out or Girls’ Night In?
I am always out and about so I would pick a Girls night in for sure! Good friends, junk food and a movie would always be my first choice.
 
Tell us more about your personal style?
I love fashion and adding personal touches to what I wear, but you certainly won’t find me first in line, rushing off to buy the latest collections. I simply buy what I like, and piece different things together at home - I wouldn't say I have a set style – it varies depending on the day and how creative I am feeling. I am obsessed with pastel colors, print and LeiVanKash Jewellery at the moment!
 
What’s in your bag?
Today I have: Two phones, a camera, my make-up bag, an Ipad, a bag of sweets and ironically enough a big bunch of ribbons.