June 15, 2024

A story of how two wedding planners chose to launch their own story so they could keep telling yours…

Today Hali and I are celebrating the brand that we have been working on – Forevermore Weddings! We are LIVE! And honestly, we are now trying to coach ourselves with the same advice we give our couples during the wedding planning process… take a breath, remember to smile, it’s GO TIME.

We are so thrilled to be able to share this adventure along with you. Hali and I have almost 10 years of wedding industry experience between us, but we actually met each other while we were students at Prince George High School in Prince George, VA! These days you will find us balancing motherhood, dogs, our “week day” jobs, and now running Forevermore Weddings!

This Is Us…

Hali thrives when she’s managing a variety of interests and responsibilities. Whether it’s hobbies, jobs, or a mix of both, she feels most at ease when she’s multitasking. Weddings have become Hali’s ultimate creative outlet. They provide her with the perfect canvas to express her creativity and organizational skills. By day, Hali works as a professional development specialist at VCU. Her expertise in education contributes to her ability to orchestrate meaningful wedding experiences. In 2020, she planned her own wedding, and this experience ignited her desire to stay connected with the wedding industry. Around this time, she reconnected with a high school classmate in need of support with their wedding coordination company. This connection allowed Hali to dive deeper into the world of weddings. Over the past few years, Hali has immersed herself in Virginia’s wedding industry.

After majoring in Animal Science at Virginia Tech, I have spent the majority of my working life in and out of horse barns, with a few years working in veterinary hospitals. These jobs taught me how to take individualized care of other’s beloved animals while still helping to manage the businesses as a whole. I was always the crafty friend with a touch of OCD (or as the joke runs, “CDO,” because I have to have it in alphabetical order). Since college, I have been blessed with the opportunity to unofficially coordinate many friends’ weddings both as a bridesmaid and as the Matron of the Ceremony. After having my youngest child in 2021 it was a natural progression for me to move into the wedding industry professionally.

So Now What?!

Hali and I both learned the wedding planning ropes from our mentor and fellow wedding industry guru, Kendall with Mahogany Hill Weddings. For the time being, Mahogany Hills will be moving out of the planning side of the business for Kendall to focus on some other goals. We are SO excited for this part of the MHW journey!

Hali and I also knew that we weren’t done working with couples as wedding coordinators and so Forevermore Weddings was born. We basically proposed to each other (which let’s be honest, business partners and married partners go through a very similar process in their conception and execution). This is how my email went to Hali when we first started our business plan…

These are the names I came up with at 11 pm last night (full disclosure given haha):

River City Weddings

Golden Hour Planning 

*something* Ever After

Forevermore Events 

That’s where I stopped because Taylor Swift wouldn’t shut up in my brain. 

–

Lelia 

I guess Taylor Swift gets to take the credit again, because Forevermore won out in the polls! I designed our logo with a circle to symbolize the endless love we see in our couples, framed by dogwood blooms – Virginia’s state flower. For the last couple of months, Hali and I have been using all of our knowledge and connections in this space to be able to present our brand to you.

Over the last few years, we have helped run some beautiful weddings, witnessed some fantastic photoshoots, created and executed gorgeous themes. After working with so many fabulous couples we found that we were more than ready to launch Forevermore! We are opening our doors NOW to start accepting couples for the 2025 wedding season so let us know if you want Hali and I to help you on your special day!

We feel genuinely so lucky to work with our lovely clients. So cheers to our adventure so far, we can’t wait to keep manifesting the unique love story with each of you *forevermore.*

XO- Lelia

Photo credits: Piper Anne Photography, Timeless PV, Katherine Zell Photography, James Carroll Photography, Photos by KMac, Becca Zinn Photography