Listen to the Podcast About Erika O’Brien Events
Podcast Summary
Welcome to an exciting summary of a recent interview with Erika O’Brien, the founder and lead planner of Erika O’Brien Events, which took place on Felix and Fingers. Hosted by Spencer Shepard, this interview offers insight into the world of wedding planning, offering advice to newly engaged couples.
Erika O’Brien Events is a Tampa-based wedding planning and design company known for its calm and hospitable approach to event planning. Erika takes pride in delivering tailormade celebrations that resonate with the personal taste and interests of her clients. Her intention is to help couples feel cared for rather than overwhelmed, and ensure they enjoy every moment of their special day.
Accomplishing this begins with understanding the needs of brides and grooms-to-be. This can start with either securing a venue or hiring a wedding planner. Both steps mark significant milestones in the plan. However, those unsure about where to begin might benefit from engaging a planner to guide them through the entire process, including venue selection.
It also emerged that venues are chosen according to budget, expected guest count, and preferred style. Whether couples desire a posh hotel function, a country club affair, a beach wedding, or even a museum setting, Erika’s vast network allows her to suggest the perfect venues to match each couple’s unique vision.
Her work isn’t just confined to the Tampa area, Erika has extensive knowledge of venues throughout St. Pete, Clearwater, and the whole of central and Florida. As such, Erika O’Brien Events is more than capable of assisting every couple, regardless of their venue preferences.
Erika’s ability to alleviate the wedding planning stress and provide direction to couples highlights the level of professionalism and care at Erika O’Brien Events. This interview not only puts the spotlight on Erika O’Brien Events but also serves as a practical guide for couples starting on their wedding planning journey.
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Erika O’Brien Events
This interview was provided by
Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Felix And Fingers (00:24)
Hello everyone, welcome to another day of eventful endeavors. I am gonna be your host Spencer. Today we are joined by Erika O’Brien. She is the founder and lead planner of Erika O’Brien Events, a Tampa based wedding planning and design company. Erika is known for her calm, hospitality driven approach to weddings, helping couples create celebrations that feel intentional, personal, and completely true to them.
Through thoughtful planning, clear guidance, and a deeply supportive process, she helps couples move through the wedding experience feeling cared for rather than overwhelmed so when the day finally arrives, they can simply be present and enjoy each moment. Erika, welcome to the show.
Erika O’Brien (01:03)
Thank you so much for having me Spencer. really excited to be here.
Felix And Fingers (01:07)
Our pleasure, our pleasure. So I guess the first thing I want to ask you, Erika, is people that are watching our audience, I know as a recent married person myself, like I didn’t know what the first step was. So if someone’s even interested into the wedding planning side of things, do you have any tips? Like what’s the first thing they should do? Should they contact the venue? Should they look for a wedding planner and assistance? Kind of like what’s the first step for a newly engaged couple to look at?
Erika O’Brien (01:28)
Yeah, I think I see a lot of both. think either starting with venue or planner is great. Venue obviously is great to get that booked and you really can’t do anything without having the venue and the date booked and then everything else you can kind of start doing. I’d say a lot of people do the venue first kind of on their own and then we’ll do once they kind of see
how overwhelming that process is, then they’re trying to feel like, maybe I should get a planner to help me with the rest of it. I see that happen a lot, but I do have a lot of full planning clients that will book me first and kind of know that they want that guidance with finding the venue. So it kind of, I think, depends a lot on the person. Like if you’re really not sure where to begin, the planners is the best way, because we will help.
guide you through that whole process of getting the venue and then all of your other vendors. But definitely either venue or planners, the best path to start.
Felix And Fingers (02:25)
And you’re primarily working at a Tampa. So do you have a lot of venues that you recommend out of that area as well?
Erika O’Brien (02:31)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So when I, when a client comes to me and wants help finding the venue, we kind of talk about obviously budget, like how much are they wanting to spend, amount of guests, and then kind of like what style they’re looking for. Do they, know, do they want a hotel, country club, beach, museum, you know, kind of what are the vibes that they’re looking for? If they don’t know, then I always just kind of like recommend some of my favorites, but we, kind of talk about
What are things that are important for them to be in a venue? And then from there, I know I have a bunch of venues that I work at all the time that I like recommending and know will fit for their guest count or budget. And then if they’re looking for something different, I’m always happy to do more research. I’m very familiar with all the venues in Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater, but I’ve obviously been to other venues in Orlando, all of central Florida, kind of all over Florida, really.
Felix And Fingers (03:25)
So it’s good for them to at least have a few menus in mind, but if they are confused or unsure about what menus to look at, you guys can also help them, at least with some ideas and recommended venues and vendors.
Erika O’Brien (03:35)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I definitely have clients that are like, I don’t know anything about venues, but I’m kind of looking for, you know, like I want an outdoor ceremony, but indoor reception or anything like that. You any ideas of what they kind of want for the day is good.
Felix And Fingers (03:39)
Anything, right?
Mm-hmm.
What are some trends? Like are you noticing people are wanting more outdoor, more indoor style themes? Like what’s, what have you been noticing lately that’s been popular?
Erika O’Brien (03:59)
Yeah, I think in Florida it’s nice. I’d say outdoor weddings are, especially outdoor ceremonies at least, are very common because we have really nice weather most of the year. I mean, I don’t do many weddings in the summer in general. think most planners would agree with that. It’s too hot, rainy, hurricane season. I’ve done sometimes indoors, but it just gets complicated, I think, with the hurricanes.
Felix And Fingers (04:05)
Sure.
It’s too hot. Yeah.
Erika O’Brien (04:22)
Yeah, I’d say a lot of people like outdoor ceremonies because there are a lot of venues with really pretty gardens. Beaches are always popular. And there’s, you know, just makes for really nice scenery. I think also people kind of have ideas for how they want to decorate the reception. But for ceremony, they want it just that natural beauty. So doing something in a garden is, you know, just helps you not have to.
add much decor. I’d say outdoor ceremonies are really popular. And then usually the reception is inside, which I think outdoor receptions are beautiful too, but there’s also more elements to that with wind and just kind of all the decor and stuff you have to think differently for if you’re doing that outside.
Felix And Fingers (05:06)
A lot of unexpected things can arise, especially with Florida weather, you never know.
Erika O’Brien (05:11)
Yeah, definitely.
Felix And Fingers (05:13)
Are there any things where let’s say they find that a new couple has found the venue, they’re looking into wedding planners now, is there anything they should avoid? Like something you should probably never try to do? I know for example, obviously you don’t want to book things like last second, but what’s an obvious thing you’re like, hey, try not to do this if you’re talking to a new couple perhaps.
Erika O’Brien (05:32)
That’s a good question. I think just in the planning process in general and when it comes to booking vendors, I always tell my… because I have different packages and different kind of levels that I help them with and so… but I’m always giving them some sort of at least some sort of guidance for booking vendors. I think the best advice I can give is to book vendors that you trust.
And I think that is hard when, they’re booking these strangers and they’re paying them lots of money to be a part of a special day. But I think it’s important for couples to have like a consultation with them, either person, video call, something that helps them create that connection. Look at their work, look at their reviews, make sure that you feel that you can really trust this person. Cause I think I I’ve seen it in my couples and other couples just with other vendors.
that when they don’t trust them, even if that person does really good work, if there’s anything for whatever reason that they don’t trust them, there’s always that fear and that doubt and insecurity that creates a lot of stress surrounding the wedding day. So I think hiring good vendors that you know you can trust and you don’t have to worry. And I will say booking a planner that you trust.
helps with that a lot because we will help you book vendors that we know and love and trust. So it’s, I think it’s nice for a couple for us to be able to say, this person’s going to do an amazing job. They’re amazing. You have nothing to worry about.
Felix And Fingers (07:01)
Is there, so that’s a great point, building trust, but sometimes it is hard to know whether you’re talking to, I was gonna say culinary, but I guess like a food vendor. Why can’t I think of the proper term right now? Catering, thank you, oh my gosh. Catering or music or a DJ or a planner or a coordinator, which is also something I need to circle back to in a second, but when you’re talking to those people, sometimes it’s hard to gauge. I guess I have a two-part question. Number one, is it important for the couple to have chemistry with the planner?
Erika O’Brien (07:12)
Yeah, caterers. Yeah, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (07:30)
It’s great to have that, you know, this person sounds confident, but like, are there maybe perhaps like some red flags to be aware of, like when you’re talking to a catering company or a coordinator or a planner, like to look out for like, if they kind of, if this feels off, like maybe listen to that, like what’s something to kind of be on the look for.
Erika O’Brien (07:46)
Yeah, yeah, I think it’s, I think it’s important for them to have that connection with all their vendors. for, you know, with like catering, for example, they’re not really going to meet the whole catering team. ⁓ and with that, kind of more just matters. Like, do you like their food? do know they’re going to provide good service? ⁓ but definitely for vendors like planners.
Felix And Fingers (07:55)
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Erika O’Brien (08:08)
Photographers, I tell my couples, we’re gonna be around you all day. Your photographer is very much gonna be your personal paparazzi all day, so you wanna make sure you like them. You don’t wanna be annoyed by them. You want them to make you feel comfortable. And so a lot of times, couples have not been in that position where they’re being photographed all day long, and some people get very overwhelmed by that, and I think the whole day itself can be very overwhelming.
Felix And Fingers (08:12)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Erika O’Brien (08:33)
So you definitely wanna be surrounded by people that make you feel very calm, relaxed, comfortable, excited. It’s good to have photographers that kind of help bring up the energy, keep you excited, that makes for better pictures in general, and just kind of helps you be more calm. So I think for couples to trust their gut and their instincts, just how they feel on those calls or meetings with those vendors.
just making sure that they do feel some sort of connection. Cause you are ultimately hiring a stranger, but planners and photographers, especially, you want there to be at least some sort of kind of friendship or familiarity or just comfortableness. For other vendors, I mean, it’s kind of hard to say red flags. I always say, just go with your gut. I think people can really tell easily if someone’s just not giving.
good vibes, if they’re maybe just telling you something that they think you want to hear. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I think the best is to just go with your gut.
Felix And Fingers (09:35)
Have you ever been able to advise perhaps like another for example, if you’ve had a client where they’re like, hey, we have this, we’re hiring this photographer, but we don’t know much. Have you been in a situation where you’re like, you know what, based on what I’m hearing, I might try to look at other options.
Erika O’Brien (09:47)
Yeah, I definitely have, I have like a list of preferred vendors that I tell my clients, these are amazing vendors. I’ve worked with them a million times. I know you can trust them. They’re going to do good work. They’re going to provide all their products or services or whatever it is. and then, yeah, I have had some couples that, for example, if they hire me for coordination, they’ve kind of already hired most of their vendors. and I actually had one.
I don’t know, a year or so ago where they had hired a company that I had heard not great things about. I hadn’t personally worked with them, but I had a friend that had worked with them that there had been a lot of drama and they were kind of like scamming some clients. And so I told my clients, I was like, hey, I would highly recommend you find a way, like send me their contract. I will help you find a way, get out of this contract and get your money back.
Felix And Fingers (10:38)
You counsel them out of that problem. That’s
awesome. Yeah.
Erika O’Brien (10:40)
Yeah,
yeah, and I will help you find a new company to replace them, but you definitely don’t want to be using these people. So yeah, I am always looking out for my clients. I want the best for them. But it’s always tough when they work with a client or with a vendor that I haven’t heard of because I’m like, I can’t really vouch for them. I don’t know if they’re good or not. You know, we always hope for the best. And I always look through the contracts and make sure there aren’t any red flags there.
Felix And Fingers (10:59)
Right.
Erika O’Brien (11:06)
and kind of try to look through reviews, but it is hard. There’s a lot of vendors, but that’s why I always love working with different vendors to kind of try to get to know which ones are good to work with and which ones are reliable.
Felix And Fingers (11:18)
Yeah, that’s great that you care about the detail too, because I know some people, you know, they might say, I’ve worked with them, but like the fact that you’re going through the actual contracts to make sure, again, it’s another way that makes you, it sounds like that you kind of stand out as a, an ordinary planner, but a planner that actually cares with detail. We did just mention trends for a second. ⁓ Now,
Erika O’Brien (11:31)
Hahaha
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (11:36)
You talk a lot about hospitality and experience of like, does it actually look like, excuse me, hospitality and experience on site, but what does that actually look like from your perspective when you’re at a wedding? What does it mean when you’re trying to create a wedding that feels intentional rather than just trendy? Because yeah, trends are cool, but sometimes they’re not everything.
Erika O’Brien (11:53)
Right, yeah, I think I always try to help my clients just tell them to do what they want. And you know, get a lot of clients that want to do what’s trendier. It’s especially, it’s harder and harder now with TikTok and Instagram and all the, everyone’s seeing constantly what everyone else is doing. And I think there’s a lot of cool trends and you know, if couples want to do that, say absolutely, that’s really fun. People are doing that for a reason. That’s popular for a reason. Like you should absolutely do it.
But it’s kind of one of those things where they should be doing it if they want that for their wedding and not just because it’s popular but I do like to focus more on the hospitality and the experience and not only just for my couples but for their guests, you know, I always tell them ultimately this is your wedding you should do what’s fun for you what you know, what food do you guys want to have at your wedding? What music do you want to dance to but
you know, they’re spending a lot of money on a really fun party for all of their friends and family. And I think most of them do and should care about the experience for their guests. So, yeah, I like to kind of think about the whole flow of the event. What is the, you know, the flow from when the guest arrives? Are they going to be waiting out in the heat? Do we have water waiting for them? Is there bathrooms nearby? What is the whole flow from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception?
making sure that there’s constantly things that for the guests that whatever they may need, you know, are they going to be waiting long at the bar? If there’s a certain amount of, you know, if there’s over 200 guests, we’ll definitely need two or more bars. Just kind of constantly thinking through all of the logistics of everything to make sure that people are comfortable at all times and are getting lots of delicious food and drinks at all times and are being able to have fun and dance and
Felix And Fingers (13:32)
Yes.
Erika O’Brien (13:42)
So yeah, when I’m talking through the timeline with my clients, if there’s something that I think maybe logistically doesn’t work, I’ll tell my clients, ultimately it’s up to you, but I think that might provide not a great experience for you guys or your guests. So yeah, I definitely like to think about that. I do have a background in hospitality and worked in the hotel industry for a while, so I look at that and I know what it’s like to be a guest at a
hotel or wedding or anything. I like to always think about those things and ensure that it’s a good experience for everyone.
Felix And Fingers (14:16)
That’s incredible. I think if you’re listening out there, like I think you, if I could tell you one thing as a recent marriage person, completely recently married person, it is so huge when your planner or coordinator thinks about those things, because some do not. Some just go, oh, we’re doing the ceremony here and they’re arriving at 12. Like I don’t have to worry about anything else. And that’s not the case. Like you said, is there water? Is there going to be a delay? Like there’s so many little nuanced things. And as
Erika O’Brien (14:29)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Felix And Fingers (14:41)
a person who wants to just enjoy or as a client who just wants to enjoy their wedding, if you can mitigate those costs, it just makes things so much better because a lot of people don’t realize that there’s stuff that are constantly going on, fires being put out. And I always feel like a good wedding planner is like a great waiter because they’re there, they’re happy, they get the job done, but they’re also like gone. You know, like they’re a phantom, like they’re there when they need to be there and they’re out of the range when they’re not to be there. And the food’s hot when it just, it flows.
Erika O’Brien (14:52)
Yeah.
Right.
Felix And Fingers (15:05)
You have no idea what they might have been doing in the back, that’s good. That’s the whole point is the illusion that everything’s going smooth at all times. ⁓
Erika O’Brien (15:05)
Yeah.
Yeah,
yeah, you definitely don’t want to be seeing the planner running around all the time. I like to try to stay hidden as much as possible. yeah.
Felix And Fingers (15:19)
hidden and calm, which is something that I wanted to give you kudos
for. For our listeners who don’t know, me and Erika were together at a wedding. can’t say enough praises, but she was so calm. And to me, that is like such a sign of a true professional because things are always going on at weddings, private events, you name it, wherever you’re working. But like, I always think of one of the tall tale signs of a real professional is can they stay calm under pressure, relaxed because it’s contagious. And even if there is panic, the client doesn’t need to know. You know what I mean? Like they just need to stay calm. ⁓
Erika O’Brien (15:36)
Yeah.
Right, yeah. Yeah, I appreciate
that. Yeah, thank you.
Felix And Fingers (15:49)
Of course,
something that confused me when I was first getting into this whole wedding industry as a performer is I don’t know if everyone knows the difference. So if you can explain this, I think that’d be great. The difference between a coordinator and a planner and a day of coordinator. These are three big things that I think people need to understand.
Erika O’Brien (15:55)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, absolutely. I think it is unfortunately very confusing. I think there’s probably a lot longer history in it than I totally know or understand. But I think it’s confusing because everyone uses them differently. Everyone kind of uses all of those terms interchangeably. ⁓ The way I like to explain it, think day of coordinator was used to be very common. I think
Felix And Fingers (16:21)
Yes.
Erika O’Brien (16:29)
Most planners would agree that we’re kind of trying to do away with that term because a day of coordinator isn’t, it’s not, it’s not really realistic. Like a person couldn’t come in the day of know everything that’s going on, know all of the vendors be able to execute a wedding. Well, in, in one day, I think the idea of that, that came from just being the person to, for, you know, the clients would plan.
the whole wedding themselves and then there would be a person on the day of to kind of execute the wedding and help make sure everything goes well. But we kind of now just have the terms coordinator and planner. So coordinator really is that kind of like, and again, there’s still a lot of terms with day of coordinator, month of coordinator. I’ve even stopped using month of coordinator because when I am doing coordination for my couples, I’m still helping them more than a month out.
but I think ultimately coordinator is more just someone who is, is not doing all of the planning. The couple is booking all of their vendors and communication with all of their vendors for, you know, the year, year and a half, however long that they’re engaged. And then the coordinator kind of comes in and that’s where it’s confusing because it’s different for every. Every planner coordinator kind of does it differently. I personally kind of stepped in three months before.
and start contacting all of the vendors, confirming details like when are they going to arrive, just kind of, I think coordination is taking all of the work that the couple has done, all the plans and confirming everything, making sure, okay, this vendor is going to be here at this time, this vendor is going to do this, just making sure that everything is good and set and in place and the wedding is going to happen the way that the couple planned for it to happen.
Planner really is with the, and again, that’s also there’s kind of, most planners have like partial planning, full planning. So it’s just different levels of service really, but it’s helping the clients through that, booking the vendors, being in communication with the vendors, helping them with, know, some planners, including myself, do design. So there’s kind of different levels, but I’d say you can just think of.
A planner is someone who is doing more of the planning of the wedding and the coordinator is kind of stepping in a little bit closer to the wedding to help coordinate the wedding.
Felix And Fingers (18:50)
Are you, when someone hires you, know there’s different packages, which you mentioned a little bit earlier. Are you typically being hired as the planner and the coordinator? Cause I know when we were together, you were kind of doing both.
Erika O’Brien (18:54)
Yeah.
Yeah, so I so that that wedding that we did I they had hired me just as kind of like a month of coordinator So that was my my coordination package that they had hired me for So they had booked all their vendors they had signed all the contracts done all of the planning before and then we kind of had just a few meetings a few months leading up to the wedding to You know, that’s when I kind of got in touch with you guys and all other vendors confirming when everyone was gonna be arriving making sure everyone
Felix And Fingers (19:12)
Great.
Erika O’Brien (19:27)
bringing what they had and just kind of confirming everything on the contract to make sure everything was set. So I mean, I call myself a wedding planner, but I have like a coordination package that people can do if they don’t want that partial or full planning.
Felix And Fingers (19:40)
And on those days, you are typically the main point of contact usually before the event, correct?
Erika O’Brien (19:46)
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. No matter, no matter what the package coordination or planning, I am there the day of I’m the main point of contact. I’m who all vendors should be in touch with to, to get in contact.
Felix And Fingers (19:56)
You’re there for the whole overall
planning process, essentially.
Erika O’Brien (20:00)
On the day of, yeah. No matter what, yeah, I’m always there the full day of the wedding, yeah.
Felix And Fingers (20:01)
Yes.
One of the things that I want our listeners to know is, especially if you are looking at a planner or coordinator, my biggest piece of advice is pick one that communicates consistently. That was my only thing I wish I could recommend to all the new couples that are going to engage. Especially if you are over communicator like me, I mean, think you kind of want to be on your wedding day. Some people are more relaxed than I am. get that. I mean, that’s the one thing I wish I could. And I feel like you have that skill as well, where it’s like, obviously we all have personalized, but
Erika O’Brien (20:16)
Definitely.
Felix And Fingers (20:33)
a real good professional planner will get back to you quickly and communicate efficiently because the last thing you want is a planner or coordinator who you’re like, haven’t heard back in five days and our wedding’s in a week and da da da da da. I mean that’s to me was one of my red flags I tell people, I’m like make sure they communicate consistently. If they’re constantly sorry, sorry I got distracted, run, run away as fast as you can.
Erika O’Brien (20:38)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, communication is definitely a big thing and it’s always, think among all vendors it’s very important, but I think that’s why a planner is so important to help you through that whole process because I would say for a lot of other vendors the communication is hard. unfortunately, mean fortunately for them are very busy, but kind of unfortunately for the couples.
It can often be very tricky. know like I’m constantly following up with vendors trying to get answers, trying to get contracts and all those things. it’s unfortunate, but it is kind of just how it is. A lot of vendors, even great vendors, they’re just, they’re busy. They’re doing a lot of things. It is very hard to have that communication. And obviously any vendor that has better communication is someone I would prefer to work with.
Felix And Fingers (21:27)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Erika O’Brien (21:40)
For a planner especially, they have to have that good communication with the couples, with all of the vendors. And yeah, just being in constant communication. In the planning process as well as on the day of the wedding, I think that’s important to be in constant communication with vendors. If things get delayed, if something’s happening, I always think it’s very important to tell all the vendors, like, hey, this is going on right now.
the ceremony’s getting a little delayed or dinner’s getting a little delayed or this is what’s happening. So yeah, I think in most parts of life, communication is very important.
Felix And Fingers (22:13)
Are these the same skills for example? like, is this the strategy that you use to keep everything on schedule? I know when we were together, you had this awesome iPad that just had like everything mapped out for the timeline. I was like, thank you. This is so nice. But hey, is that how you kind of handle those unforeseen challenges during an event or like, what is your approach to those last second changes or requests that happened the day of the wedding?
Erika O’Brien (22:34)
Yeah, there’s a few things that I do to try to mitigate that. I definitely try to build lots of cushion into the timeline. So especially with transportation, that’s something that’s very tricky and you really just can’t know exactly how long you know with traffic and lots of others. There’s just so many factors that are unreliable and you just can’t really determine. So I do try to lots of cushion.
Felix And Fingers (22:42)
Ooh, that’s good.
Yes.
Erika O’Brien (23:00)
into the timeline, know, my couples will sometimes be like, why does this dance say it’s five minutes? I’m like, well, obviously, you the song is only two to three minutes, but we say five minutes because there’s the intro, there’s people clapping, there’s, you know, there’s just things that happen. So I always give a little cushion. kind of, for things that are really only like two to three minutes, I usually say are going to take five minutes for things that are maybe five, six, seven minutes, I say are going to take 10 minutes. ⁓ For, you know, for transportation, there’s more cushion built in.
Felix And Fingers (23:11)
Hmm.
Absolutely.
Erika O’Brien (23:27)
We, I, yeah, I definitely just try to kind of help build that cushion into the timeline. So that thing, if things do run a little bit behind, we’re not super behind and we’re usually still right on time. on the day of as well, I kind of try to always be in that constant communication with vendors, always like prepping them, you know, being in touch with the musicians or the DJ, like, okay, we’re about to do this. when we’re about to start speeches, I go around to anyone giving the speech and the bride and groom or the couple and tell them, Hey,
We’re about to start speech. Make sure you’re ready. Make sure your parents are there. Kind of just always in communication. Yeah, a lot of prepping so that when it’s time we can go ahead and get started and we’re not waiting around. Yeah, definitely.
Felix And Fingers (24:01)
A lot of prepping. Yeah.
You’re good to go. That’s the secret sauce. No, I think that’s amazing.
It’s so nice, especially when you are like the groom or the bride, like you’re kind of in the moment, but when your coordinator does show up and go, hey, just heads up, like to me, it’s all good stuff. It’s never annoying because it’s like, great, now I’m ready versus, you where is the coordinator? What are we doing next? You know, blah, blah, blah. That prep goes a long, way. Well, how long, what’s your availability, I guess, right now? Like how far in advance are you booked? Is there…
Erika O’Brien (24:28)
Yeah, absolutely.
Felix And Fingers (24:34)
A prime booking time for Erik O’Brien events.
Erika O’Brien (24:37)
Yeah, I’m pretty booked for the rest of this year, but I do still have a little bit of availability towards the end of the year. I’ve started already kind of booking into spring, yeah, early spring of 2027. I don’t think I have anything yet for fall or winter of 2027, so that’s pretty wide open. But yeah, I’d say like some of those coordination clients will kind of book a little bit closer to, but I have started getting more
Felix And Fingers (24:47)
2027. Wow. That’s wild.
Erika O’Brien (25:03)
full and partial weddings that do technically book like a year, year and a half out. I don’t like really booking anything more than a year and a half out just because it’s very, you know, there’s a lot can happen in that time. But yeah, about year, year and a half is a great time to book.
Felix And Fingers (25:10)
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Okay, well now we can switch to just more sort of fun. I don’t want call it a speed round question, but just like fun questions. for example, what’s something, you you work at weddings all the time, like, and you also got married at a very young age. So I’m curious, what, with your perspective now, would you go back and do things differently with your own wedding? Number one, and number two, what is something that still gets you emotional at these weddings? If there is anything.
Erika O’Brien (25:32)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, with going back and doing something differently. mean, that’s, I mean, if I were to get married now, I would definitely do something differently. But yeah, I got married eight years ago. So it was definitely a different time back then. And I was, I was very young. was, I was 18, 19 when I was planning my wedding. I was doing that largely with my mom, which I loved, but I think I would, I always give the advice for.
Felix And Fingers (25:56)
Yeah.
Wow.
Erika O’Brien (26:07)
the couple to do it more together. Not that you can’t have involvement from your parents, especially if they’re helping to pay, but I do wish I had gotten my husband more involved, because he wanted to be involved. And I always love to see that when both couples, like they want to be doing all the planning. I see a lot of grooms actually that love to help with the planning. And I always like to see that, because it’s both of their days. know, everyone talks about, oh, it’s the bride’s day, surprise day. It’s both of your days.
Felix And Fingers (26:18)
Sure.
Erika O’Brien (26:37)
you’re getting married, it’s your day. So I love seeing that involvement from both people. So I do, I feel bad my husband knows, but I do wish that I had kind of let him into more of the planning. So we’re actually planning our 10 year of our renewal right now and kind of planning it together. yeah, that’ll be fun.
Felix And Fingers (26:53)
cool! That’s beautiful.
Erika O’Brien (26:56)
No, I I loved our wedding. It was perfect for where we were at at the time, but it was a long time ago. So I’d probably do things differently, but for things that can be, I am a very emotional person. So yeah, I cry at almost every wedding. Definitely vows always get me. I love hearing the vows. Those are always so emotional and beautiful. And just when they’re like raw, I love that.
Felix And Fingers (27:07)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Erika O’Brien (27:21)
There’s so many things that I love about weddings and the wedding industry, but I obviously love the love. So anytime that that is like so clearly shown is a beautiful moment. Oftentimes the parent dances or even their first dance and speeches, all of those kind of like very personal raw moments get me emotional for sure.
Felix And Fingers (27:40)
Is there, I guess, is there a moment or some sort of moment that has happened where you just like reminds you, because obviously, you know, this is a it’s not an easy field to be in, that’s for sure a lot of stress, a lot of stuff to keep, you know, in your mind juggling constantly. Is there is there something that makes you feel fulfilled as a planner that you’re just like, man, I love this job. I something reminds you of I love what I get what I get to do this for a living.
Erika O’Brien (27:54)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of things and I always try to think about them when I am having those kind of rougher days or lots of stress and you know, people always ask me, how do you do it with all the stress? I think it’s like any job, it’s not gonna be perfect. It is very stressful. There are moments that I’m like, why am I doing this again? And am I good at this? Should I be doing this? There’s always, yeah, there’s a lot of that.
Felix And Fingers (28:10)
longer days. Yes, ⁓
Right.
Sure, Yes, yes, imposter syndrome.
Erika O’Brien (28:32)
But no, I just love it. I love building those connections with my couples. I love seeing all of their ideas come to fruition. think room reveals are one of my favorite moments too. When I let them come in and see the reception room for the first time and all these ideas and thoughts that they’ve had for so long and all the planning and time and stress and everything that has gone into it for them.
for them to kind of see it and just you kind of see all the like the stress and the relief fall off their shoulders and they’re just so excited and happy and I think there’s just a lot of stress and emotions with the whole planning process. So for them to kind of be able to get to the wedding day and kind of realize that a lot of the little things that they were dealing with doesn’t really matter and they’re ultimately almost always just so excited to be there and to be marrying their person.
Felix And Fingers (29:01)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Erika O’Brien (29:23)
That always makes it worth it for me. I’m definitely a very cliche, hopeless romantic. I love love and all the rom-coms. So getting to be surrounded by that and seeing people have so much fun with all their friends and family. I know a lot of my friends and family’s weddings that I have been to as a guest have been some of the best days of my life. And so getting to know that those people are experiencing that as well.
Felix And Fingers (29:37)
Mm-hmm.
Erika O’Brien (29:47)
and helping create that experience for them is so worth it. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (29:48)
bright. hmm. Yeah, that sounds
really fulfilling and awesome. Well, I know you’re on social media. It’s the same. I believe it’s the same handle. So you got TikTok, Facebook, Instagram. It’s all in for just Erik O’Brien events.
Erika O’Brien (29:55)
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, just Erika O’Brien events, Erika with a K, so E-R-I-K-A-O-B-R-I-E-N events. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (30:12)
in.
What is the easiest way? What’s the best way to a couple, you know, hey, you’re more interested in learning more about Erik O’Brien events. Should they go onto their website? Should they fill out a questionnaire? What’s the best way then to contact you?
Erika O’Brien (30:25)
Yeah, definitely to go on my website and I say to peruse my website because I have a lot of information on there. I have a little bit about all of my packages and my pricing all on there. I like to be very transparent because I know people are kind of like price shopping a lot. But I have a lot of really helpful information about my processes, about me, pictures of a lot of weddings that I’ve done.
So I think it’s really good to go onto my website, look at all of that, and then I do have an inquiry form on there where they can put in all of their information, and that’s definitely the best way for me to get in contact with them.
Felix And Fingers (30:57)
Great. And to celebrate, know since you’re being a guest on our podcast, you guys are offering a 10 % off of any wedding planning package.
Erika O’Brien (31:05)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for anyone listening, just if you inquire through my website, let me know that you listen to this podcast and if you book, you’ll get 10 % off of any package you book.
Felix And Fingers (31:15)
That sounds awesome. Well, Erika, it has been an absolute pleasure. For listeners, definitely look up Erika O’Brien Events. That’s one of the things I would tell all of my friends that are newly engaged. If you can, get help. It makes things so much easier, especially professional that can help you enjoy the process versus dreading it. That’s the one thing. I had a beautiful wedding, get me wrong, but I wish I had a planner, to be honest. ⁓ yeah, any other shout outs you want to include or plug at the end of our show today?
Erika O’Brien (31:16)
Yeah.
Yeah.
no, I don’t think so. Thank you so much for having me. It was so fun working with you at that wedding and it was great to be on here. Thank you so much.
Felix And Fingers (31:42)
All right, our pleasure.
Awesome.
You’re very welcome, Erika. Thanks for being on the show and our friends will see you on the next episode of Eventful Endeavors Goodbye.
Erika O’Brien (31:54)
Bye.
