It is a beautiful thing when passion and a career come together… That is where my story begins. I started in the wedding and event business 30 years ago when I took my first after-school job in my boyfriend’s father’s tuxedo store. It was love for the wedding business from the very beginning. I attended Parsons School of Design where I worked toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and ultimately decided to bring my creative juices back to the Midwest where I graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin at Madison (Go Badgers!) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Design and a Minor in Business. I paid my way through college designing and making custom bridal gowns and accessories while interning for some of the biggest designers in that business, and was awarded a senior scholarship thesis grant to explore the history and origins of bridal traditions in multiple cultures. My goal from the beginning – to own my own company within the world of weddings and build a team of unstoppable wedding ninjas that manage logistics and design challenges with professionalism, creativity, cat-like reflexes, and that special “LOLA sauce” that clients seeking a FUN and stress-free collaboration seek out and appreciate.

After college, I worked in all aspects of social event planning and personal styling. For me – A successful event is one where your guests feel excited, cherished, and engaged with their hosts and surroundings. My true passion is helping clients plan smart and creative events that say something about them as an individual, couple, business or association and find creative solutions to their individual challenges. Thinking big-picture about every aspect of the look, feel and flow of your event and incorporating small special and meaningful touches unique to your own personal experiences are my signature.

Over the past 25 years, I have managed projects in Chicago for national companies within the wedding space. I have coordinated events that demanded specific results for the involved businesses as well as large social events throughout Chicagoland. I am an editor at large for a national online wedding publication and have spent the bulk of my time and energy building relationships on behalf of my clients that span every aspect of the world of weddings and events. All of the professionals that provide goods and services for LOLA have a proven track record of excellence in product, delivery and customer service.

With my creative background, extensive management experience and many years dedicated to superior customer service, I have learned first hand that the team you build to help you navigate the intricacies of planning any event – no matter how big or small, can make the difference between happy memories and hindsight regrets. I truly hope you will let the LOLA Pro’s and our family of highly qualified creative partners help you create and execute an event that your family, friends, and colleagues will enjoy and cherish always.

In 2024 we celebrate my company’s 17-year anniversary, and my amazing team will have executed over 800 weddings and events for our wonderful clients. What a legacy of love and celebration… and it’s only the beginning! We are a pro-woman and pro-diversity company that passionately believes that ‘Love is Love’ and we are all better together than we can ever be as individuals. A strong sense of integrity and commitment is a part of every professional relationship we cultivate.

Personally, I live in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago with my husband and menagerie of foster failure cats and dogs. As certified SCUBA divers, we spend all our available time traveling the world seeking out new adventures under the sea and in beach bars sipping fruity drinks. I foster bottle baby kittens for a few local rescues so if you are in the market for a kitten I can help with that as well! I’m passionate about paying my good fortune in life and love forward and always love when my clients want to find ways to do the same in their weddings and events.

Hi, I’m Kristy. I’ve had the pleasure of being a “lady who LOLAs” since 2008. I have loved growing with this LOLA family and working with so many amazing clients and their families from a wonderful variety of backgrounds. I’ve done over 150 weddings and events as of January 2024, and it never gets old. I learn something with each event!

Prior to working with LOLA, I planned events in a corporate setting. That was a great foundation for moving to a full-time career as an event planner. I learned to anticipate needs, to juggle schedules, and the attitude to work until the job is done right.

Some fun facts about me:

• All emails I write are edited to reduce the number of exclamation points to an amount most people still consider excessive. I am, in fact, actually that excited.
• Most people are fooled into thinking I’m laid back because I’m very calm, but I’m actually very type-A.
• I can have a multi-hour conversation about vegetables.
• My husband and I were married in 2010 at Salvage One in a cozy winter wedding and now live in Logan Square.
• I am a mom to two boys, my oldest is a rescue Pitbull and the youngest is a human who is inexplicably blonde!
• Even if it’s the most traditional vows, hearing the emotion in someone voice as they make the commitment of marriage will always choke me up.

16 years in and I still get such a sense of fulfillment in helping couples find their own unique way of expressing their love and commitment.

Whether it’s black tie in a grand ballroom or cocktails and dancing to a jazz trio on a veranda, a wedding should be a celebration of the couple, their story and their dreams for the future. I love to help a couple decide what their wedding should look and feel like, then manage the millions of little details that will transform those dreams into a memorable experience for the couple and their guests.

Yes, bring on the details! Logistics and event execution are my specialty. My corporate and wedding experience combined has taught me to be calm and precise in event execution. I’m a pro at figuring out how all the moving pieces fit together and often find myself up at night running scenarios in my head – including the all-important (and hopefully unnecessary) strategies for what to do if something doesn’t go as planned. I’ve already covered every scenario, so you can wake on your wedding day confident and calm knowing I’ve got your back!

My ultimate goal? That my couples get to see their wedding vision to come to life and are able to be truly present for each other on their wedding day and focus on the reason for the event – their love and the start of their life together.

Whoever said “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” captured exactly how I feel about my experiences with LOLA. I can’t wait to help more couples find their happy beginnings!

How’s it goin? I’m Michelle – the only LOLA currently without a name twin because I’m 100% unique (so I tell myself). I’ve been a devoted member of the LOLA team since 2014 and have over 150 events under my belt – which seems to keep getting tighter, and there’s no one to blame for that but wedding cake (I prefer chocolate – thanks for asking). I know a lot of people fall into this job, but for me, it was always the end goal. I grew up in a household that was built around entertaining – candles were always lit for company to come over during the week, and St. Patrick’s Day was no joke. I knew the only true path to happiness for me would be to turn entertaining into a career, so I started my degree in Hospitality at Purdue University – Boiler Up! – and never looked back.

Honesty is the best policy and my number one motto. If we’re working together, you’ll never question my opinion on a matter, and I will always manage your expectations to make sure there are no surprises. I promise to make the planning process manageable and fun, no matter how much or how little we have to do in whatever amount of time you give me. I will never overwhelm you with choices, and promise to give you my truthful suggestions to help you make the right decisions for your day!

I love to be creative, and the more inspiration you give me, the more I can help you produce a day that is absolutely unique to you as a couple. I personally hate to mimic events that have already happened, and instead, I prefer to design an atmosphere that is based on something special to you – a favorite painting, grandma’s china pattern, the way your living room is designed, or even inspiration you may have found on travels you’ve taken together. I even promise to keep you and your style in mind while I’m on my travels, because I’m currently in the process of exploring the world. Don’t be surprised if at our design meetings I throw out an idea or two that may be head scratching – you’re totally welcome to say no, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep putting them out there until something different sticks!

On the day of your wedding, I promise to be as involved or as uninvolved as I need to be at any which moment of the day. Don’t be shocked if you hear me say “Let me do the worrying – you just have a glass of champagne!” because by this point, you’ve trusted me to put together a solid team of vendors that I have total confidence in to execute the day to the absolute fullest. That leads to a successful wedding day, allowing me to stay mellow, let the team do their thing, and keep you cool and collected. You get to worry about spending time with your nearest and dearest, and leave the wrangling of the masses to me. I even promise to threaten your wedding party with a lack of alcohol until they do what I need them to – which is a tactic that has yet to fail me thus far! And, if and when all the formalities are done, the dancing has subsided, and “Closing Time” by Semisonic has sounded at the end of your after party, you want to send me your most true selfie of you both eating the Shake Shack I left for you next to your hotel bed, I wouldn’t be opposed…

So, if you’re still reading this and you want to know a little more about me that’s not necessarily wedding related, you’ve skimmed to the right paragraph. I’ll be honest – the majority of my weekends are spent turning clients and colleagues into friends, but on the rare occasion I don’t have to send someone down an aisle, you can usually find me perusing the restaurant scene, whether that be in Chicago, or another city that may or may not already be on my radar or stamped in my passport. I’m a sucker for a good tartare, an extra dirty martini, and mint chocolate chip ice cream – I actually am convinced my 5-year-old self hates me for not having a tub of ice cream in my freezer at all times. Some other things not food related – I pretend that I like to work out, but it’s really just to counteract all of the wedding cake, I can tell a mean dad joke, I 100% believe that aliens exist whether it be in human form or other, I’m desperately awaiting a cover of “Ignition (Remix)” so I can go back to not feeling guilty about the love I have for that song, and I’m the President of a foundation – Jeanne’s Journey for Hope – which my big, Irish family has created in honor of my mother. It’s a way for me to take my love for events and put it towards my other passion of helping families who have been so deeply affected by cancer, like my own. And, to be honest, it’s another excuse for our family to throw a big, annual party where we can all be together and remember the coolest woman I have ever known and the person who first planted the words “wedding planner” into my head.

Finally, for those who are as unenthused about reading as I am – The SparkNotes: If you think you’re looking for a planner who will always tell you the truth, who will dare you to be different when it comes design, who isn’t afraid to boss your rowdy wedding party around to get the job done, who promises to tell a few dad jokes per meeting, and who will gladly swap restaurant and travel recommendations with you, then let’s make it happen – talk soon!