Layne & Stephen Wedding
Layne & Stephen - August 23, 2025
Venue: Appalachian View
Coordination: Wooded Wilds Events
Photography: Captured by Chloe
Ceremony Entertainment: Rudy’s Bluegrass Revue Trio
Catering: Gadabouts
Florals: Shady Grove Gardens
DJ: Ultimate Sound DJ
Rentals: Charmed Settings & Co.
Being a Biz Owner is TOUGH.
You know what comes SO naturally for me? All things event planning. I have been planning events for over a decade now. I started off as an Event Coordinator at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN back in 2015. I did EVERY and ANY type of event. Funnily enough, the only event I never planned back in my university days was a wedding. But I did plan my own if that counts… ;)
It was the best way for me to get to know event planning intimately. Graduations, luncheons, seminars, concerts, fundraising events, 5k’s, tournaments, you name it…I planned it. I’ve transformed gyms into ballrooms and even dressed as an old-timey Christmas caroler for the presidents Christmas party.
I was used to working with departments who wore the creative hat, and I simply executed whatever they were envisioning and made it all possible. Then a couple years later, I shifted gears and became the Event Director for the Admissions Department. Which meant I was now the one wearing the creative hat where planned all the events for prospective and accepted students on campus.
It was an incredible chapter in my life where I grew so much in my profession. Yes, I worked ALL the time, and it could be exhausting, but it prepared me so well for what the future held for me even though I never could have imagined it would eventually lead me to here. Being a full-time wedding planner / owner of my own business.
When COVID hit, I thought my event planning career was over. And for a couple years, it was. There was no work for me, no students on campus, and no events taking place anywhere. So I shifted gears and got into a different side of hospitality. My husband and I landed an incredible job where we got to manage an off-grid hot spring resort out in the middle of nowhere Idaho. Maple Grove Hot Springs.
Once that seasonal gig ended, we took full advantage of our free-time and began hiking long trails, doing the whole “van-life” thing, which eventually led us to move to Boone, NC where we spent the first 6 months living off-grid in our 17ft camper on an acre of land we purchased spontaneously out in Todd, NC.
Once Covid finally became “old news” and we got our hiking / traveling wiggles out, I was ready to get back into what I did best…events. But this time, I wanted to work for myself where I could be in control of my own schedule. So, I started Wooded Wilds Events. And boy was I in for it.
Success came ALARMINGLY fast. Before I knew it, I was booking weddings left and right. Turns out there was quite a need for more wedding planners in the High Country. I even took an online wedding planning course where I got certified so I can wrap my mind around the world of weddings. Event planning came easy and weddings felt like a cake walk compared to the type of events I used to plan and coordinate.
What did NOT come naturally to me was how to run my own business. The backend stuff to become a legitimate biz owner was incredibly intimidating and overwhelming for me. From creating contracts to becoming an LLC, filing taxes and building a website. I’ve come a long way in the last few years and learning how to juggle being both planner and business owner has been quite a learning experience.
When you are in the middle of peak wedding season, business end tasks definitely wind up taking the backburner. I am so grateful to have an “off-season” since all the neglect us wedding vendors have put towards our business can finally get some much-needed time and attention it deserves. So, get ready for a major revamp, I’ll have nothing but time on my hands as I finish growing this babe for the next 5 months and I’ve got some exciting things in store. Time to put on my “CEO” hat as I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of this whole “business owner” thing.
