Austin Wedding Planner

Today on the blog, I’m chatting with Kay Brown-Hayden of Hayden & Co. Events, an Austin wedding planner. She’s on a mission to help brides go from stressed and overwhelmed to enjoying their engagement and wedding day!

Meet Kay! The founder and lead planner of Hayden & Co. Events. In addition to running her wedding planning business, she been married for 9 wonderful years with an energetic and lovable 5- year-old son. Oh, and she has one American pit bull name Onyx – we can’t forget him!

Hayden & Co. Events- Austin Wedding Planner

How did you get into wedding planning?

My passion was birthed from an awful engagement experience – my own. Being a military soldier, I was away from familial support systems, and quite honestly, it was a lonely process. Through the 12 month journey, I struggled with finding vendors who complimented my personality and who understood my vision.

On my wedding day, I wore both the Bride & Planner hat, it was exhausting and unfortunately, I don’t have many memories from the day that I enjoyed!

After my experience, I saw a need to provide brides with not only organizational expertise, but to ensure that I can provide the emotional support that can help couples tackle difficult & unforeseen circumstances around budgets, bridal party or vendor communication.

What types of services does a wedding planner provide?

Honestly – every bride deserves to have a wedding planner in their corner even if it’s just to manage the wedding day activities, but what one should consider is how much or little support they’d prefer throughout their engagement & special day.

What should a couple look for when hiring a wedding planner?

I want couples to consider vetting a planner whose personality is complementary to their preferred approach to wedding planning. While most believe planners with type A personalities work best (yes, they’re pretty awesome), I want them also consider the planner’s engagement process, preferred communication, and generally how the planner makes them feel.

For Couples Who’d Like To Host An Incredible Wedding Experience and Soak Up the Goodness of Being Engaged Without All the Stress. – Kay

What types of tasks does a wedding planner take care of?

In addition to vendor recommendations – a few are but not limited to scheduling vendor appointments, creating a wedding day timeline, conducting ceremony rehearsal & providing checklists to help manage time & engagement expectations.

Hayden & Co Events - Austin Wedding Planner

When should a couple book a wedding planner?

The earlier, the better! Planners have a vast network for connecting couples with the perfect vendor and a knowledge base to keep them from making costly mistakes.

What makes your services unique?

Our Savvy couples will experience sophisticated yet approachable services that will make them feel cared for and a priority.

We gift couples the freedom to lavish themselves in an amazing engagement journey & experience an authentic and memorable event!

How do you approach wedding design with your couples?

We’ll have a very transparent conversation about what their day means to them and the feeling they’d love to evoke when guests enter the room. Color & theme are important, but we’ll also discuss aspects that will help their friends and family to engage in the celebration and make lasting memories.

Is it beneficial to hire a wedding planner if the venue provides a venue coordinator? Great question! While we value & appreciate onsite coordinators, our duties go beyond the scope of the venue management.

We work for the COUPLE. We have their best interest at heart at all times. As their wedding planner, we’ll work closely with the couple & vendors PRIOR to the wedding to fully understand the vision, and work alongside them to make it a reality.

It is also our role to manage the setup and timeline of other contracted vendors such as the photographer, ﬂorist, DJ, etc. This is not a job carried out by a site coordinator – they ensure onsite responsibilities as it pertains to the VENUE, not the bride & groom, or scheduled activities for the day.