After years of planning events, I noticed the more that an industry professional was deemed an “expert” with regard to their hard skills, the less they seemed to value the expertise of lived experience, whether that be with their clients, their vendor teams, or even their own teams. “Upscale” became synonymous with “homogenous & exclusive”; there was a clear devaluing of the ways professionals with marginalized identities could bring a unique perspective to their client’s special day. Similarly, I noticed clients with marginalized identities were given cookie-cutter experiences that often missed the opportunity for their day to be as unique as they are.

I founded withMavens Events to shake up the wedding & events industry. I envision a world where event “expertise” goes beyond teachable skills & includes the ways lived experience influences how we approach our craft. No two relationships have the same love story, so why should they receive a one-size-fits-all approach to planning their big day?