ORANGE, Calif., Dec. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Casa De Lago Events (CDLE), an Orange County-based events company, is celebrating its ten-year anniversary this year. Founded in 2009 by brothers Tony and Charlie Jakstis, the full-service event planning company owns five venues throughout Southern California and specializes in planning and hosting weddings, anniversaries, corporate parties, Quinceañeras, Bar mitzvahs, and many other types of social events.
Since its founding, CDLE has grossed over twenty million dollars in revenue. The company has grown from just eight employees ten years ago, to nearly one hundred today. The company’s services include gourmet catering, bar hosting, events staffing, and facility rentals. CDLE will put on roughly 550 special events at its five venues this year alone.
CDLE owned venues currently include: Casa de Lago (Orange, CA), Chuck Jones (Costa Mesa, CA), Casa Bonita (Fullerton, CA), Los Caballeros Banquet Hall (Fountain Valley, CA), and Casa Bella (Anaheim, CA).
“When I think about where Casa De Lago Events is at today, I can’t help but think about where it all started and how far we’ve come,” said Co-Founder and CEO Tony Jakstis. “I want to thank my family and employees for being the foundation for all of the successes we’ve had together over the last ten years. I cannot wait to see what we do with the next ten.”
CDLE Co-Founders Tony and Charlie Jakstis grew up living on welfare in a large family with five brothers and sisters in Garden Grove, California. The siblings did not have much growing up, but always looked out for each other. Tony’s earliest memories are visiting his father in prison, acting out and getting in trouble in school, and dreaming of ways he could somehow improve the situation for himself and his family.
These circumstances led to Tony’s very first event and the eventual launching pad for Casa De Lago Events. During his senior year at Pacifica High School, Tony was disinvited to the prom by school administration. In response, he decided to throw an alternative event on the very same day as the school’s official prom.
To make the event successful, Tony passed out flyers, sold tickets in the park, and required signed parent permission slips to attend. At the event, there were chaperones, security, professional photography, a DJ, sponsors, food, prizes, and even a prom king and queen that were voted on by their peers. The event turned out to be a huge success, with most students choosing to attend the alternative prom. That success encouraged Tony to start planning real proms and events for other schools and clients, and from there, CDLE was born.
CDLE’s growth and achievements also enabled Tony Jakstis to found Operation Gift a Smile (OGS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk and disadvantaged youth who are in similar situations that he was, or even worse. Since its inception, OGS has donated nearly six hundred hand-assembled “Smile Packs”, which include a colorful backpack, custom fleece blanket, and small gift.
OGS also regularly gives away birthday bikes and plans and sponsors field outings, such as Angel’s games, Long Beach Aquarium visits, and more. This year, OGS also started the “Candy’s Chance” program, which helps qualified families move from a motel or shelter to permanent housing by paying for normal expenses incurred during the moving process, such as new furniture costs and the security deposit.
Watch Tony Jakstis share his personal story and talk about CDLE’s ten year anniversary here: https://vimeo.com/379367850/b0ef5baaa7
Contact: Tim Lineberger 714.875.4974 or tim@venturestrategic.com