For a very long time, most people have known me through Angel of Hearts Weddings and Events. And I'm enormously proud of that. I've spent 23 years helping couples plan celebrations. I have also planned many milestone events. My experience has included managing vendors, working with venues, building timelines, solving logistical problems, navigating family dynamics and handling the thousand things that have to happen behind the scenes before an event can look effortless. I still love a wonderful wedding. I still want to work with couples who value experience, trust and exceptional service. I still love it when I see a surprised birthday person or an anniversary celebration.
But weddings are only one place where everything I've learned has value. Before and throughout Angel of Hearts, I've spent decades in hospitality and events. I've worked with nonprofit organizations. I've produced fundraisers and special events. I've worked alongside caterers, venues, designers, photographers and hospitality teams. I've watched businesses serve clients brilliantly. I've also watched good businesses lose opportunities because of a broken process, poor communication or a customer experience nobody realized was broken. I've walked into events where everything was going according to plan. And I've walked into events where almost nothing was. In both situations, I've learned something.
After 40 years in hospitality, 23 of which as owner of an event planning business, I know how to look at an event, a client experience or a business, and see things other people sometimes miss. That is experience I intend to put to work in more ways.
For nonprofit organizations, that may mean stepping in as a contract event professional to plan and execute a gala, fundraiser, donor event or special celebration without requiring another permanent employee. For venues and hospitality businesses, it may mean looking at the customer journey, from the first inquiry through the sale, planning process and execution, and identifying where revenue, opportunity or goodwill may be slipping through the cracks. For organizations producing an important event, it may simply mean bringing in someone who already knows how to carry the logistics, vendors, timelines and execution so the internal team can concentrate on the work only they can do. And yes, for the right couple, it still means planning an extraordinary wedding.
I'm not walking away from weddings. I'm simply refusing to pretend that weddings are the only place 40 years of knowledge belongs. Sometimes experience gives you expertise. Sometimes it gives you perspective. And if you're fortunate, eventually it gives you the confidence to say: I know more. I can do more. And I'm ready to put more of it to work. So if you've always known Wendy Hartigan as the wedding planner, keep watching. There's considerably more to come.
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