Studio VI wedding planners opens in Dixon

DIXON – At an age when most girls are thinking Barbie dolls and tea parties, Terrinaka Weltle was thinking high-profile social gatherings.

Weltle is the owner of Anytime Elegance, a wedding rentals company based in Rockford. She and her husband, Marcus, are in the process of opening Studio VI at 609 W. Third St., where their wares will be on display.

Monday was the soft opening.

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Terrinaka and Marcus Weltle, owners of Studio VI in Dixon, stand inside their new venue, which offers a cozy space for small gatherings and a kitchen for catering. (Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@shawmedia.com)

Terrinaka was pointed toward her professional calling in life while sound asleep some 36 years ago, growing up in Chicago.

“The Lord gave me a dream that I designed a wedding, and now that I’m older, I can identify the people in this wedding,” she said. “It was for Beyonce and Jay-Z. At the age of 5, I didn’t know these people existed. It was in New York. The wedding was amazing. It was over the top. I knew then this was a gift that God had given me. It wouldn’t go away.

“At home, I find myself strategically placing things, and it’s the designer in me coming out.”

The Weltles opened Anytime Elegance in 2018 as a wedding rental business, but wanted to have a site where they not only could show off those goods, but also host small events. Initially, the thought was to have that building be close to Anytime Elegance

When a suitable site could not be found, Terrinaka got on Marketplace and expanded the search. That led her to Dixon, and the building on Third Street.

“I ended up coming out here, visiting the space, and it was everything that I could be asking for,” she said.

The finishing touches are being put in for a kitchen area, to accommodate small gatherings such as birthday parties, baby showers and anniversary parties. The Weltles have done several of these outings in the past, but weddings are what they have their sights on.

“We love to cater to the wedding industry,” she said. “That’s the main thing – to saturate the wedding industry. The ultimate goal is to become one of the top 10 chosen banquet halls. I started Studio VI so people can have an idea of what I do and I can have a central location. I want to have something small and intimate, where people can enjoy friends and family worry-free.

“Me and my husband, we’re very involved in what we do. We want our clients to be a guest at their own celebration.”

The only wedding the Weltles have coordinated thus far is their own, in 2019. They had 120 guests, and it went off without a hitch.

“That went amazing,” Terrinaka said. “When the guests came, they actually thought that the venue provided all of the centerpieces and table decor, but I actually did it myself.”

Anytime Elegance has been listed on two wedding coordination websites, The Knot and WeddingWire, since June. The Weltles have gotten a lot of inquiries, despite the wedding industry slowdown thanks to COVID-19.

“I can only imagine, once it opens up, the number of inquiries that are going to turn into clients,” she said.

“With the pandemic, a lot of people have postponed weddings,” Marcus added. “Once we get back to the old normal, it should start to open up, and there’s going to be a lot of people that need service.”

Marcus is confident Studio VI is going to take off, due in large part to what his wife brings to the table. She has coordinated smaller events for family and close friends, but is now looking to take on bigger projects: weddings.

“It’s 100% Terri’s personal touch,” Marcus said. “She’s 100% detail oriented, from all the way down to which way the napkin is turned. It’s a labor of love for her. She’ll take the clients’ suggestions, the clients’ wants and the clients’ color choices, and she’ll talk through and get what they want. She absorbs that and pours herself into that.

“One hundred percent of what sets us apart is Terri and Terri’s eye for design and love for the business.”

Studio VI is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; and from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday at 609 W. Third St. in Dixon. Appointments for Monday and Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. can be made at anytimeelegance.com or 815-378-0969.