I can’t recommend Rena enough as a wedding planner! From start to finish (and after!) we were supported and guided through the wedding process. Her professionalism and attention to detail is truly unmatched! Rena made it achievable to have the spooky museum wedding of our dreams without it being overwhelming. Wedding day went so incredibly smooth it was unreal, not an issue arose thanks to Rena’s organization. It’s clear Rena is passionate about making weddings unique for each couple she meets and allowing them to focus on the joy and excitement of starting their lives together rather than the chaos of an unorganized wedding day! We had the wedding beyond our wildest dreams thanks to her and she is the sweetest human being we are so lucky to have in our lives, even after wedding day :)

Brianna Gallo

10:01 PM (0 minutes ago)

to me
Rena Sweeney exceeded any expectations we could have had for a wedding planner.

We are from out of town and had already decided to have our wedding at the New Orleans Museum of Art—a venue which is not specifically tailored for weddings—and we knew this would pose many logistical challenges. After consulting several planners recommended by the venue, Rena stood out to us with her genuine approach and deep understanding of New Orleans' wedding industry during our preliminary discussions.

From the moment we signed the contract with Rena and Alchemy Events, we knew we made the right decision. At the beginning of our time working together, about 18 months before our wedding date, Rena gave us clear expectations about the timeline of the planning process and which vendors to prioritize booking. She took the time to get to know us as individuals, and suggested vendors who fit our personal needs (and our budget!).

As the wedding got closer, we met with Rena more frequently to finalize the details of our wedding. She was consistently available to talk to which was really comforting for us — although we live hundreds of miles away from NOLA and a lot of the details of the wedding felt out of our control, we never actually felt stressed because we knew how organized and thoughtful Rena would be. Even when one of our vendors had a scheduling problem which interrupted our anticipated flow of the wedding day, Rena advocated for us and accommodated us as best as possible.

The day of the wedding, Rena and her team worked incredibly hard to make sure that we had the best day possible — and it was amazing. At no point in the day did we feel like we needed to stress about vendors arriving or doing what they needed to, because Rena was taking care of it. She gave us the space to just enjoy our day but was there in a heartbeat when we needed her.

We cannot recommend Rena and Alchemy Events enough for their unparalleled service and dedication. They not only made our wedding day exceptional but also transformed the entire planning process into a stress-free and memorable journey.

I cannot say enough good things about Rena. She is amazing at what she does, and truly made my dream wedding a success. She was responsive, professional, provided great recommendations for my other vendors, and was always extremely insightful & helpful throughout the planning process (around 2plus years!). The day of my wedding she provided that calm energy I needed, especially when unexpected things happened, and was able to executive new suggestions from either me or my husband. She is the best of the best, and I highly recommend her for whatever wedding coordination anyone may need

If you are looking for a wedding planner in New Orleans, you can do no better than Rena Sweeney and Alchemy Events. We live in St. Louis, but were married in New Orleans. We knew planning a wedding on our own would be difficult enough, and it would be that much more complicated from 700 miles away. From the moment we spoke with Rena, we knew the process would be a breeze.

Alchemy Events has the experience, expertise, connections, and creativity to make your wedding uniquely, perfectly yours. Rena listened to our wants and needs, and skillfully brought those ideas to life. At the same time, she knew when and how to step in and guide us, either when we weren’t sure what we wanted, or when we thought we wanted things one way, but she saw a better way to make our vision a reality. She was conscious of our budget, and was able to recommend appropriate vendors that allowed us to execute our vision without sacrificing the important details.

On the wedding day, Rena and her team of coordinators worked tirelessly to deliver the most memorable day of our lives. To use the word stress-free would be an understatement. From set up to tear down, every detail was taken care of; and we were able to focus on ourselves, our guests, and most importantly, on each other.

We can’t imagine our wedding had we not retained the services of Alchemy Events. The value delivered far exceeded the cost, and couples would be wise to include them when budgeting for their special day.

Rena and her staff at Alchemy Events will go above and beyond your expectations. Rena began working with us a year before our wedding and it began with a consultation. She wanted to hear our vision and see how she could bring it to life. We talked with her for about an hour, sent over our engagement photos and it was a quick partnership from there. Through the planning process, Rena checked in regularly, came up with ideas, sent mood boards and asked for our input, connected us with vendors, and overall made the out of town planning process seamless. We even had a hiccup with the second line license and she was able to figure out an alternative smoothly. For day of planning, again Rena ensured everything was seamless. Our day was literal perfection and I know so much of that was due to Rena, her staff and the vendors she partnered us with. They got awesome behind the scenes pics too! We were able to actually enjoy our day and not stress because we had complete trust and faith in Rena and knew she had everything on lock.

If you have an event you need help planning, Alchemy Events is the best of the best. Rena has positive connections with so many vendors and professionals and is not afraid to stand ground for her clients if needed. She has such a sweet Southern nature with a badass, culturally-aware twist that is unmatched and she and her staff will not disappoint in planning any kind of event. We were scared we wouldn’t be able to find someone who vibed with us and our vision but Rena took our ideas to the next level and brought them to life.

Thank you Rena and Alchemy Events for joining our journey and making our day absolute perfection. Y’all will always hold a special place in our hearts and if we ever plan an event in New Orleans again, y’all will be first on our call list!

Rena was AMAZING! I don’t know what we would have done without her. From the very beginning, she was always the most pleasant person to work with. We planned a cultural fusion wedding incorporating traditions from Indian, traditional American and New Orleans weddings. Her knowledge of all three was impressive and she never questioned us when we proposed an idea that involved combining multiple cultures. She always found a way to make it happen. She was particularly helpful in the last couple of weeks leading up to the event. We had to completely change our transportation plans last minute and she was on top of it reaching out to vendors before we even knew of the problem. She even found me a licensed and insured babysitter for the wedding at 10pm the night before the wedding! She has a great reputation within in the New Orleans wedding community, with multiple vendors telling me (unprompted) how much they enjoyed working with her. That’s how you know someone works hard, is dependable, and a professional, when others in the industry compliment her work. She also worked with our budget and helped us find vendors within our price range and come up with creative solutions to help us stay close to our budget.

Rena also has a great design eye. I didn’t have a very specific vision of what I wanted the décor on the tables to look like and I felt comfortable allowing her to create the table arrangements herself. Everything turned out so much more beautiful than I ever could have imagined! When we were looking at different venues, she suggested ways we could design and plan things, which was very helpful to me.

Rena and her team allowed us to enjoy our wedding without stress. Whatever issues came up (problems with the bustle), Rena had a solution. She fielded questions from friends and family members and allowed us to point them in her direction. At the end of the event, even my father-in-law (who can always find a problem with everything) was very complimentary of her and her staff. We were so happy with our decision to hire Rena for our wedding. Best decision we made during the wedding planning process!

TL/DR Rena is amazing and I recommend her 100%

I started working with Rena after having difficulties with a previous planner. By the time I approached her, I already had 25% of the main wedding details like venue, hotel, and some vendors finalized (although I wish I had worked with her from the get go, then lots of red tape that we came across would have been a lot easier). When I first reached out to her, I was frantic, desperate, and extremely stressed. As most brides, I have a very demanding job, very tight budget, and absolutely no time. Planning a New Orleans wedding from New York City started to feel like an extremely daunting task.

As soon as Rena signed up, everything seemed to start falling into place. She took charge but also made sure that all my dreams and wishes came true, she listened to what my parents had to suggest, and what my husband needed, all while staying in my budget! She helped me make decisions by breaking everything down in the simplest of manner and she was extremely respectful of my time and schedule (even though she was planning MY wedding!). I'm not going to lie, my budget stretched like chewing gum, but that was mostly because I wanted what I wanted. Rena did an amazing job of always presenting me with all my options in a range of prices, and ultimately everything was my decision. Even when she found me very affordable vendors, they did a pretty amazing job and I have no complaints with any of them. There was one major issue where one of the biggest vendors quit a month before the wedding, I was in complete panic mode, but with Rena's help, we were able to find alternative options with whom I was extremely pleased.

Not only was Rena a wedding planning life saver, she went so much beyond that. There were times when the stress started getting to me and it started affecting my personal life, I remember calling her and asking her help in making some decisions that felt very difficult to make that were causing an impasse between my husband and me, or my parents and me, but she was able to walk me through the decision making process and give me guidance that made a real difference.

There were some day-of issues that I'm sure all weddings have. I think if we had gone through the sequence of events and what was important and what was okay to skip in case of time delays, we would have been slightly better off, but ultimately, all I remember from my wedding weekend is being extremely happy, laughing my butt off, and being the most carefree and relaxed bride I could be. I had complete trust in Rena and her ability to handle all the details, and she did not disappoint. As I mentioned earlier, I recommend her 100%, not just as a wedding planning service, but as a true partner in making your wedding dreams come true.

When Grace & I first started to plan our weddding, we knew the location and some of the primary vendors were already identified, so even though we were planning our wedding remotely, we thought it would be easy to do on our own... after a few weeks of trying to do it all on our own, we knew we needed help. After reaching out to several planners, Alchemy Events offered us the most inclusive options we had seen so we knew that would be the best choice. What we didn’t expect was how above and beyond Alchemy Events and Rena would go to make sure we had the wedding of our dreams. Rena is the best wedding planner out there, her hard work throughout the planning process and most importantly on the day of our wedding, was incredible. Rena and her team made sure that when our big day came, there wasn’t a single thing we needed to worry about. Of course, every wedding has its challenges, but Rena was always fast to respond and resolve before we even knew that there was an issue! Rena made us feel comfortable and confident that all of our wants and needs would be handled and executed exactly to our imagination. Her advice throughout the coordinating process was spot on, she had great tips and input that saved us a lot of money but also introduced ideas that we didn’t not think of but we’re worth every penny. While we came in thinking our wedding would be as we imagined, it ended up being ten times better! All thanks to Alchemy Events, every detail was perfect and the wedding was beautiful!! We will look back at our wedding as the best party we ever had, and Rena as the one that made it happen. We would absolutely recommend Alchemy Events for anyone else looking for passion, understanding, and attention to detail from their coordinator. If you want your vision to become a reality, Rena is the one with the skills to make that come true.

Why would you want to risk your special day to just anyone? Alchemy Events took exceptional care of us. Being in the hospitality industry, we like things to go smoothly and can be very specific on our wants and desires. Their team anticipated our every need. From start to finish Rena and her staff made our day the best day ever.

I cannot say enough positive things about working with Rena. Rena was able to take the few inspiration photos we provided and turn them into a wedding that had the exact feel that we wanted and a look that was so beautiful that we could not have imagined. Most importantly though, she was absolutely wonderful to work with throughout the *entire* process and removed the stress of wedding planning.

Rena was kind, professional, and a calming presence. I am sure that wedding planning can be stressful and frustrating, even for a wedding coordinator, but you would not know it by talking with Rena. No matter what, she was nothing but extremely pleasant, cheerful, understanding, and helpful.

We chose the full wedding planning package, which was an amazing deal. Although we were hesitant to spend money on a wedding planner in the beginning, I really feel like it saved money and stress in the long run, since Rena's expertise ensured that no mistakes were made and she was able to work out deals with vendors within our budget. Rena returned emails, phone calls, and text messages promptly. She was not worried about billing her time per call, email, etc. (other wedding planners I had considered required "scheduled phone calls" that would be billed).

Rena went above and beyond on the day of the wedding. If something went wrong, we did not know about it till after the wedding (she took care of it and let us enjoy the day). She offered her help throughout the day with items that went outside of the agreed upon scope of work and did not ask for additional compensation. She wrapped up all vendor contracts and made sure we were refunded for any work that was not done. If you're thinking about hiring a wedding or event coordinator to help out with full service planning or day-of planning, I highly recommend Rena. Our family will definitely be using her services for any other event for which we need assistance.