Here Is Your Wedding Day Superhero

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If you’re planning a wedding in the greater D.C. area and you’re getting the sense that you don’t want to… you know, plan this whole thing yourself, but you want to avoid the rabbit hole of super traditional wedding planners, well. We’ve got you covered. Frankly, you can save yourself five minutes and just stop reading now and go hire Lula Mae Events, because she is APW people through and through. I mean, I’ll tell you all about how fantastic Lula Mae’s Meigh McNamee-Mahaffey is, but fair warning: It might result in a few minutes of tearing up at your desk and wondering how in the hell you’re crying over a sponsored post. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here is the deal: Lula Mae Events is the wedding planning biz of Meigh McNamee-Mahaffey, one of APW’s OG-est readers (and real wedding graduates), who has seven years of planning and coordinating spectacular weddings for APW couples under her belt and even more years of experience working in events in general. She has logistics on lock and is a walking knowledge base of event experience. But, first and foremost, she is warm, friendly, hilarious, and, above all, here for the truly important stuff. (Hint: It’s not all those details.)

As she told us:

Sure, I’m a logistical badass, but I’m also here for the feels! I love the metaphorical pants off all my couples and work my hardest to give them gorgeous, authentic, stress-free weddings. I think clients can tell I genuinely care about them, and that helps them feel like their wedding is in safe hands. In a lot of ways, my whole job boils down to getting between my clients and stress. You almost never get all the people you love in one room; my job is to give you time to enjoy it! All of the details I take on are ones clients no longer have to worry about, and that seems to really help them be present and enjoy their wedding day.

Did anyone else just let out a deep breath they didn’t know they were holding in? Take it from someone who’s been there, that no matter how much your family and friends care about you and your wedding, and will help out on it, there’s nothing that can replace the actual manual labor and important emotional support of someone who is an honest-to-god professional.

Having a planner or coordinator as good as Meigh of Lula Mae Events is like having a therapist (so if you’re in D.C. than for love you all be hiring Lula Mae Events itself). It’s a person you can count on because you are paying them to be there as a consummate, caring professional, come hell or high water.

And, fun fact, Meigh has an M.A. in Folklore Studies, and she literally wrote her thesis on wedding traditions, which means she deeply understands navigating the planning process on a whole other level beyond logistics, y’all.

Okay, so now that I’m gotten off my soapbox about how important it is to have that person, let me tell you a little bit more about Meigh the person, because she’s so cool, it’s really no wonder Lula Mae Events and APW readers have been in a seven-year-long love affair:

When a business is mostly just you, your brain, and your hands, you are your “brand.” So, who I am as a person—a queer lady business owner, nerd, married, cis-lady, working mama, sartorial adventurer, logistical badass, glitter-lover, member of the resistance, maker, cat person who loves doggos, dry-witted extrovert, Slytherin (don’t hate ;), beloved kook—is all relevant to why people hire me. Yes, I can make sure you’re on time and your napkin folds are on point, but more importantly I think people like working with someone whose Venn diagram of interests and identities overlaps with theirs.

And when APW readers and Lula Mae Events overlap it is pure freaking magic you guys:

Real talk, I don’t think I could do this job without APW clients. Cool as hell, wildly interesting people with concrete wedding priorities? YASSS. 😍 APW readers already know how they want the day to feel, and we combine that with my expertise to make that feeling happen with minimum drama. (Well, the bad kind of drama. DRAMA ELEGANZA kind of drama, we can do.) Like, just this year I’ve had APW readers come at me with themes like, “’80s Miami Drug Dealer Mansion Meets Jurassic Park, with Sparkle” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream/Lush Forgotten Garden with Lights and Shiny Stuff plus Drag Queens.” These are actual real weddings I get to do, are you serious!? Best. Job. Ever.

(And don’t you worry, we are tracking the aforementioned weddings for publication ASAP.)

So how exactly can Lula Mae Events help you out on your 🎉😍😂👑💫🥂🔥🎉 extravaganza? Answer: in a whole bunch of ways (that work with a whole bunch of budgets). And because Meigh’s got a few extra spots on her calendar in April and December this year, she’s offering readers a 15% discount on Month-of Coordination and Partial Planning for weddings occurring in those months.

CONSULTATION: $75 per HOUR
Meg applies the benefit of her professional experience to whatever is stressing you via a phone call. Troubling table seating solved, design dilemmas deciphered, timelines structured, hands held, advice advised.

MONTH-OF COORDINATION: $1,450
For when you’ve got it all planned but need someone to run the show so you can go enjoy yourselves. (We say this is both allowed and encouraged.) This package includes lots of things (especially when you consider it’s less than $1,500 for a whole month of having your back).

**APW READER FAVORITE—LIMITED AVAILABILITY** PARTIAL PLANNING: STARTING AT $2,600
(This pricing is for a one-day event; custom pricing is available for wedding weekends or multi-day events.) Meigh has found that a lot of couples want to do “some” work on their wedding so that they feel ownership, but not so much that they’re overwhelmed. Partial planning includes all the month-of coordinating helpfulness and then some. Contact Meigh for more info and to come up with a plan of attack customized just for you.

**ONE SPOT LEFT** FULL PLANNING: STARTING AT $6,000
This is for folks who don’t have the time/energy/interest to plan a wedding, and just want to enjoy their wedding day with zero hassle, Meigh takes on a few full-planning clients each year, and all packages and pricing are customized for exactly what you need.

MAKE STUFF!: STARTING AT $75 per HOUR
Got some DIY projects you don’t want to tackle alone? Meigh’s your girl. She’ll provide instruction and supplies, you provide the person-power, and together you can get all those ideas off of your Pinterest board and into reality.

MAKE FLORAL STUFF!: STARTING AT $300
Want to DIY your wedding florals but don’t know where to begin? This package includes a design meeting with a trip to the flower market, instruction and non-floral materials, and transport of the finished items to the venue.