"None of them exhibited the professionalism and left me feeling as comfortable to hand over the reigns as Shar did."
— Kristin B.
The Women Behind Citygirl
Built on belief.Designed to feel.
15+ years. 500+ celebrations. One conviction — that every event should make every person in the room feel like they were exactly where they were supposed to be.
The Story
How a sales job
How a sales job
changed everything.
I graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a double major in Marketing and Entrepreneurship — two degrees that, in hindsight, were always pointing me toward building something of my own. But before I trusted that instinct, I did what most people do: I got a job. A good one, actually. Sales. I was organized, I was driven, and I was good at it.
But somewhere between the pipelines and the pitch decks, I kept coming back to the same feeling — that I was spending my days moving things around rather than making anything. One afternoon, passing an Excel spreadsheet from one person to another, it hit me with unusual clarity: there has got to be more to work than this.
"I didn't just want to push papers around. I wanted to build something that made people feel something. And I already knew what that was."
I had been planning events on the side for years — quietly, almost accidentally. Friends asked me to help. Then friends of friends. I had a way of seeing how an experience could feel before it existed, and an obsession with making sure every single detail earned its place. At 24, I gave my notice.
Citygirl Events started as a wedding and event planning company. Over time it became something more — a design house, a community, a philosophy about what celebrations can be when you treat every guest as someone who deserves to leave feeling genuinely moved. That's still the whole point.
Today I run Citygirl alongside the most talented team I've ever worked with — including our Senior Event Planner Alexis Hutson, and the women of the Citygirl Collective who together create experiences that no one vendor could create alone. I'm also a wife, a mom to a four-year-old daughter and a baby boy, and someone who still believes that work should feel like something worth getting out of bed for.
See our work
By the Numbers
15 years of
15 years of
showing up.
500+Events produced
15+Years in business
2009Founded in Chicago
6+National press features
The Journey
How we got
How we got
here.
2009
Events by Sharokina is born.
Sharokina leaves her sales career at 24 with one conviction: celebrations should feel like something real. She opens her doors as Events by Sharokina, and the first clients arrive through word of mouth — and keep coming.
2010
A new name. A first home.
The brand becomes Citygirl Events — a name that felt more like what it was becoming. The team moves into their first official office space at 407 S. Dearborn, Suite 600J, and things start to feel real.
2011
Lincoln Park becomes home.
Citygirl finds its neighborhood — settling into 639 W. Diversey Parkway in Lincoln Park, the address that would become synonymous with the brand and remains home to this day.
2014
The press starts calling.
Citygirl's work begins appearing in national and regional publications. People Magazine, Elle Decor, and Martha Stewart Weddings take notice. Chicago Style Weddings follows.
2017
TV Feature
Lifetime's Married at First Sight.
Sharokina is featured as the lead wedding planner on Lifetime's hit show, Season 5 — filmed right here in Chicago. The national audience validates what her clients already knew.
2018
Alexis joins the team.
Alexis Hutson brings her background in nonprofit events, marketing, and design to Citygirl — expanding the team's creative capacity and bringing a fresh perspective to every client experience.
2025
New
Alexis rejoins. The Collective launches.
Alexis Hutson returns to the Citygirl team as Senior Event Planner and launches The Wedding Party Edit. Simultaneously, Lauren Cornille of elleAndrée Floral, Gigi Mager of Gigi Mager Studio, and Suzi Mijailovic of Weddings 826 join as Collective partners. One vision. Built together.
2026
Still building.
500+ events in. The work is better than ever. And there's still nothing quite like the moment a couple walks into a room we designed for them and completely loses their words.
What We Believe
The philosophy behind
The philosophy behind
every Citygirl event.
Events aren't just logistics. They're stories. They engage every sense and when they're designed with intention, they make every person in the room feel like they were exactly where they were supposed to be.
01
Planning and design go hand in hand.
A well-coordinated event is only extraordinary if the design matches in excellence. We never separate the two. Every timeline has an aesthetic vision behind it. Every design decision has a logistical plan beneath it.
02
Your story, not a template.
We get to know our clients — what they love, what they don't, who they are. Your event shouldn't look like anyone else's because it isn't anyone else's.
03
Every guest deserves to feel it.
We design for the whole room. Every single person in attendance should leave feeling exhilarated they were part of something real. That's the bar we set for every event we touch.
04
No ego. Pure creative bliss.
Planning your wedding should feel like the best creative collaboration of your life. We bring our expertise so you can bring your joy. Together we build something neither of us could have built alone.
"
My daughter asks me what I do for work. I tell her I make people's happiest days happen. She thinks that's the best job in the world. Honestly? After 15 years, so do I.
Sharokina Pazand — Founder & CEO, Citygirl Events
As Seen In
When the work
When the work
gets recognized.
People MagazineNational feature on Chicago's most celebrated event design.
Elle DecorRecognized for editorial design sensibility and visual excellence.
Martha Stewart WeddingsFeatured for timeless, considered wedding design in Chicago.
Chicago Style WeddingsChicago's leading wedding publication, multiple features.
ABC 7 ChicagoLocal television features on events and entrepreneurship.
WGN RadioFeatured for Citygirl's approach to luxury event design.
TV
Lifetime's Married at First Sight — Season 5, Chicago. Sharokina Pazand featured as lead wedding planner. Known for designing seamless, deeply personal celebrations — even under the pressure of a camera crew.
The Team
The people who
The people who
make it happen.
Founder & CEO
Founder
Sharokina Pazand.
Founder & CEO, Citygirl EventsSharokina is the creative director, the strategist, and the anchor of every Citygirl event. With a double major in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from UIC and 15 years of building one of Chicago's most recognized event and design houses, she brings a rare combination of production precision and genuine warmth to every client relationship.
Clients consistently describe their first call with Sharokina as feeling like talking to someone they've known for years. That's not a coincidence — it's the whole approach.
PeopleElle DecorMartha Stewart WeddingsLifetime TVABC 7 Chicago
Senior Event Planner
Senior Event Planner
Alexis Hutson
Senior Event Planner · The Wedding Party EditAlexis is a lead event planner at Citygirl who works directly with clients from the very first conversation. With over 10 years in the nonprofit sector and 6+ years in event planning, marketing, and design, she thrives at the intersection of strategy and creativity.
She is also the heart of The Wedding Party Edit — Citygirl's dedicated service for MOHs and wedding parties. Having been in more wedding parties than she can count, Alexis has built her expertise around the people who support the couple, and the service to match.
Her clients describe working with Alexis as feeling seen, connected, and completely taken care of. She builds strong relationships, tells compelling stories through events, and crafts moments that matter to every person in the room.
Learn about The Wedding Party Edit
The Citygirl Collective
The dream team
The dream team
is already built.
Beyond the Citygirl team, our hand-selected Collective of Chicago's most design-forward women entrepreneurs means your florist, stationer, and bridal stylist are already working together before you walk in the room. One meeting. One vision. Zero ego.
Meet the full Collective
Lauren Cornille
elleAndrée Floral
Gigi Mager
Gigi Mager Studio
Suzi Mijailovic
Weddings 826
You've read the story
Now let's write
Now let's write
yours.
We've been doing this since 2009. Every event in our portfolio was trusted to us by someone who believed we'd make it extraordinary. We'd love to do the same for you.
Get in Touch