I’m pretty excited to be sharing today’s vendor feature. I’ve been working closely with Emily of Lace and Brass Events for a few wedding seasons now, and she always does this incredible job of catering exactly to what her clients want from their event (big or small) and takes big steps to make those dreams happen. I asked her to weigh in on her business, life, and what things look and feel like right now for a lot of couples.

Can you summarize who you are and what you do into two sentences?

My name is Emily and I am a wedding + elopement planner who works with couples that love the outdoors! I’ve been married for almost 7 years and have two children. 

Nice and brief! I’d love to hear an extended version now.

I am the owner and lead planner of Lace & Brass Events, a business that I started in 2014. I live near Bayfield, Wisconsin and found that there was quite the wedding industry here, on Madeline Island, and throughout northern WI/MN. With a passion for wedding planning and years of wedding industry experience I took the leap and started LBE. I now have a team with three other coordinators, who are incredible women, working with me throughout northern WI/MN. 

Lace & Brass Events offers wedding planning, wedding coordination, decoration rentals and elopement/intimate ceremony packages. Our ideal clients are couples who love the outdoors and are madly in love with each other! Whether couples want to get married with 200 family and friends or elope just the two of them, we are so excited to work with them doing what THEY want to do. 

On a personal note, I have been married for almost 7 years and we have two children, 6 and 4. I love to laugh, all things outdoors, and to travel. My very favorite place that I’ve traveled is Banff, Alberta. I’ve had the incredible honor of planning an elopement there last year and another for 2021. 

If your business was built on three values, what would you say those are and why did you choose them?

1. Passion
2. Quality
3. Honesty 

Not only are we passionate about what we do here at Lace & Brass Events, but we love when the couples we work with are passionate as well. Passionate for each other and the wedding/elopement they are planning. We want to work with couples that are doing what THEY want to do. Which means, if they are planning a wedding with 100, 150, 200 guests we want them to WANT that! If they are eloping just the two of them or with 10-20 guests we want them to be passionate about that choice. 

Our work is about quality, not quantity. It’s easy for couples to feel like they have to do “all of the things” or go into decoration overload. We love working with couples who know what is most important to them and plan a meaningful, beautiful and intentional wedding/elopement. 

We are very honest with our couples and potential clients about what we offer. Even our website has everything laid out so there isn’t any question about our services and what we offer. Throughout the planning process we are there for our clients as a voice, leader and mentor. It’s our job to advise our couples – honestly and with integrity. 

What would you say is the number one feeling you want your clients to walk away with when working with you?

What seems like a simple emotion, is actually quite complex. I want them to be really happy about the wedding/elopement that they had. I want them to be really happy they hired Lace & Brass Events and happy with our services. 

What is the most important thing to you on somebody’s wedding day?

It is such a high goal of ours for our couples to feel relaxed and not stressed on their wedding day. We want them to fully enjoy their day while we take care of all the details and behind the scenes “things”. They should be able to laugh and smile all day, to cry happy tears, celebrate with each other and their family/friends if they’re present. We want them to leave that night on a beautiful wedding high thinking, “today was the best day”. 

What made you choose to start this career path?

Throughout high school and college I worked at a wedding venue with the in-house caterer. With multiple weddings every weekend I gained loads of experience with setting up weddings and the caterer/venue end of weddings. After college, I planned my own wedding (as well as some friends) and realized how much I loved it! When my husband and I moved to the Bayfield, Wisconsin area 8 years ago, I soon realized how much of a need there was for a local wedding planner. 

Are there any exciting projects/offerings in the future that people can look forward to seeing?

In the past 6 months we expanded our team from 2 to 4! Two of our assistants that have worked with us for the last few years have become coordinators. Because of this, we will now have the opportunity to work with more couples throughout northern WI + MN all year long. 

Are there any ways that you can help other couples who have to reschedule/find new vendors? (i.e. open dates, COVID related resources, etc)

We are starting to have couples approach us about our elopement/intimate ceremony packages now that their original plans have changed. They still want to get married this year like originally planned, but are just changing up those plans.

I highly recommend that if a couple still wants to get married this year that they elope/do a small ceremony with immediate family and then just postpone their reception. By doing this they can still get married while keeping themselves and their guests safe. 

Are there any parting words you want to leave us with?

(2020, Pandemic Reference)

For couples getting married this year: don’t make quick and emotional decisions. We fully acknowledge this is so stressful for you, but we strongly encourage you to take a few days to think about what is most important to you. Don’t feel like you have to cancel, but consider postponing or just postponing your reception. If you are remaining hopeful and want to continue as planned just take extra precautions like keeping your guests informed. Possibly consider reducing your guest count.  For fellow vendors/venues: we are absolutely going to make it through this tough time, and we will come out together as a stronger wedding industry community. Know that we are all in this together and are here to lean on if you need! 

Where do we find you next?

IG:  @laceandbrassevents
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/laceandbrassevents/
Website:  https://www.laceandbrassevents.com/