+ How long have you been in the planning business?

Our Creative Director has worked in event planning roles since 2013 and has brought her expertise to the wedding and elopement world since 2016. Our Tapestry team has a combined thirty-five years of retreat, catering, waiting, events, and customer service experience. We are also outdoor enthusiasts whose passions span every season. We know how to guide others in the great outdoors with confidence and love making that accessible and available to others in our PNW home.

+ How many couples do you take on in a year?

Rather than taking on an unlimited volume of weddings each season, I limit my calendar to up to 15 weddings per year. This gives us the time and mental clarity to craft unique experiences tailored to each of our Tapestry couples. My quality-over-quantity approach has led to the honor of ranking 5-stars on Google with almost 100 reviews and the incredible feedback of our couples season-after-season who benefit from the personalization, connection, and passion we bring to our relationships in this space. We do not take on more than two projects in a week and often average one project every 10 days during busy season. We take at least one weekend off per month and like to keep our work-life-travel balance in a happy place so that we can be 100% present for each of our amazing couples.

+ What other perks come with being a Tapestry couple?

Where do we start? Once you come on board, you’re a part of the Tapestry family. You will get access to our Planning Portal, which has the tools to house the entirety of your planning process. We mean it: drop the Google Sheets and quit writing down lists of ideas that inevitably get lost. There’s a place for all of it in the portal so that you, your partner, and your planner can remain on the same page. This portal takes our decades of combined event experience and puts everything you need to know all in one place, which will save you time in the planning process that you can instead spend with your loved ones. We will reach out on social media and via email with vendors, ideas, and resources we think you will like. These are the extra special touches that make your day unique. And in addition to being your fully-equipped planning guides, we also become your friends. We have honest check-ins with our couples so that we can tailor the planning process to your life. We are here to guide you through the tough conversations and challenging decisions that can come up when planning for this day. We lead this journey from a heart-centered space.

+ What does the team dynamic look like at Tapestry?

The Tapestry team is proudly comprised of Lead Planners, Associate Planners, and Admin and Marketing Specialists. Your planning team will be comprised of a Lead Planner to guide you through the first 70% of your wedding planning experience, then augmented with a proportional amount of support staff to help carry out day-of coordination. All members of our team have a combination of 3+ years coordinating Tapestry weddings, site-specific expertise at our preferred venues, and/or Wedding Planning Certification credentials. Our experienced, capable team dynamic allows us to be agile with custom event staffing, a high level of care, and confidence in delivering what we promise to our clients. We take a lot of pride in taking care of our couples and invite you to check out our About Us > The Team page to get to know the folks that make up a complete Tapestry experience!

+ What does values-based, mindful wedding planning mean?

We see the traditional wedding world operating with an underlying set of assumptions: the way things are supposed to be, the way things have been done, the ways things are expected to pass. Nine times out of ten, there is an assumed format for wedding events that fits nicely into the box of how we're used to ceremonies looking and feeling. Behind that format, there's a tried, true, and often tired formula that makes building your marriage event feel prescribed and, at times, misaligned with the rest of your life and relationship.

We do not believe that you are an interchangeable variable in an event hosting formula. We believe that you sit at the center of an event building ecosystem.

We believe in and have created a system of wedding planning that is built around your stated values. We lead mindful inquiry about what matters most to you and support you in declaring those values unapologetically. We develop a budget, a planning strategy, and a vision that integrates your values into a planning path to your celebration. We host emotionally intelligent conversations and help guide you through decisions that fit with your priorities as an individual and a couple. And we place these skills in an intelligent and adaptive project management system that helps you understand how your event ecosystem will come together. We know this is possible because we’re doing it today.

+ Why is your pricing model different for partial planning as compared to full planning?

As we approach a decade of professional wedding planning, we have worked with an incredibly diverse array of couples with distinct needs. We find that couples who are the best fit for partial planning tend to be folks who want to own parts of the process, want a clear division of labor, and are great at independently achieving planning deliverables. From a planner, they want someone to guide them on what decisions to make and when; they want an experienced sounding board for ideas; and they want a professional to put time-tested guardrails on their experience. As a result, partial planners tend to benefit from a project management style that promises distinct outcomes from their planning team. That is why our partial planning package offers a list of outcomes at a predictable, formula-driven price point. If partial planning is your fit, know that there is always room to customize with a la carte services as we dig into your needs and the scope of work.

Couples that are the best fit for full planning want support in all areas concerning their celebration. Full planning couples want a planner who is a proactive project manager, comprehensive leader, effective investment manager, and available collaborator. From a planner, they want a professional who will guide and manage every aspect of their event and create the best outcomes and efficiencies across the board. We know that the resources required from your team in a full planning capacity scale with your investment, and that there is truly no “one size fits all” for full planning. That is why our full planning fee is charged as a percentage of your total investment in the celebration. This approach allows us to proportionally match our time, energy, and resources with the scope of your project and deliver on an impactful, custom-fit full planning experience.

+ When you say “full planning + destination services are priced as a percentage of your total event budget”, what does that mean?

Let’s start here: we are your fiercest advocates for bringing in your event on budget. We will never encourage you to invest beyond your values and your means. Because we are helping you manage your budget, we will ensure that there are no surprises when it comes to your investments or our rate. We will help you vet, plan, and manage your investments in your venue, your vendors, your rentals, your professional services, and anything else required to carry off your event successfully. These investments make up your total event budget.

Because we scale our our time, energy, and resource investment to your needs in full planning, we charge a percentage of your budget as our planning fee. For a full planning or destination package, our rate is created as follows: 12% of your professional event budget up to $100,000, then 10% of your professional event budget above $100,000. The minimum for our full planning package is $8,000 and the minimum for our destination package is $12,000. Any travel fees or additional head count fees are placed on top of that rate.

+ Do you charge a travel fee?

We do, and here’s why: All of our couples have a unique location for their celebration. We love that our couples defy the one-size-fits-all archetype of weddings. So just like we customize your planning process, so too do we customize your travel fee to make sure it’s an exact fit for the adventure required. For estimate purposes, you can calculate about $2.50 per mile for travel from Seattle to any location in the Pacific Northwest. This fee covers gas, mileage, food, and accommodations when required. Out of state and international travel is calculated on a case-by-case basis.

+ How do you staff for events?

We are SO LUCKY to have a team of experienced, talented, service-minded planners and coordinators who lend their skills to our couples season after season. Because of the brilliant minds and hands behind us, we staff our events proportional to your total guest count. You base package comes with an Event Lead and an Assistant Coordniator included. In your proposal, you will see a line item for "Additional Guest Count (over 60 guests)". We aim for a staff:guest ratio of 1:25, and this fee allow us to staff up for your event with the talented, experienced crew we develop and retain season after season. This directly translates into a better client, guest, and vendor team experience for all! In addition to our planners and coordinators on staff, we have incredible administrative support throughout the year that provides the latest and greatest in vendor referrals, planning portal updates, special research projects, and quality planning products.

+ Do you offer payment plans?

We sure do! Payment plans make the world go ’round. We typically split our total fee up into three installments. That said, we are open and flexible to other arrangements on a case-by-case basis.

+ What if we want to upgrade packages later?

Let’s do it! We love spending more time and deepening our relationships with our couples. During our consultation, we will discover which package fits your needs right now. If, further down the line, you decide you want more support, then we are here for you. We can easily upgrade your original package or add on services a la carte for a perfectly supportive planning experience.

+ Can we discuss our venue selection in the Homie Hook-Up package, even if you don't recommend them?

Great question! If you want a little extra support in the venue search, we can add on 1-2 meetings a la carte on top of your Homie Hook-up package to advise on your venue search and selection. Just note: we will not be vetting, scouting, touring, or otherwise facilitating the venue/location contract in the partial planning package. By choosing that package, you are choosing to select your venue and go under contract before the Homie Hook-up package inclusions begin.

+ How do we book you for our wedding?

Love the enthusiasm! Make sure you put a consultation on the calendar so we can get to know you, your vision, and your values. After the consultation, we will send you a proposal where you can place your deposit, sign the contract, and start your journey to marriage. Find the link in the email we sent you to book your consultation with your planner!