Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heather. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Heather, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Absolutely. It’s honestly why I started Epoch Co+—I just couldn’t get behind what the wedding industry was churning out.

Everyone talks about “timeless weddings,” but let’s be real: that word’s kind of weird. Weddings are always evolving. And tradition? That was created by people who are dead. So why are we still building weddings that feel like museum pieces—or worse, beige Instagram templates?

I kept seeing the same thing over and over: all white, green, blush, black. Minimal personality, maximum pressure to look like some celebrity’s wedding that already looks like everyone else’s. It felt soulless. Like we forgot that a wedding is supposed to reflect the couple, not a trend.

And beyond just the look of it, the structure of weddings has become just as templated. Welcome party. Rehearsal dinner. Ceremony. Cocktail hour. Dinner. Dancing. Sparkler send-off. Rinse and repeat. It’s all become so over-choreographed that there’s barely any room for real personality or joy. We throw that playbook out.

If you want a David Bowie-style concert with a side of wedding? We’ll help you make it epic. If you want a full festival weekend or a cozy dinner party with no dancing and no tosses—great. You don’t need beautiful place settings if that’s not your vibe. You don’t need to follow tradition just because it’s what people “do.”

Our job is to build the experience around you—your priorities, your people, your version of unforgettable.

That’s where we come in.
My background is in a scientific research lab, which might sound like an odd starting point for a creative career, but it gave me an obsessive eye for detail, process, and environment. Ashley, my business partner, comes from hospitality and gastronomy—she’s the queen of creating a warm, immersive vibe. Together, we approach every event like a living system: layered, intentional, and built around the people at the heart of it.

To us, timeless means: who are you, right now, in this chapter of your life? What do you love? What moves you? What’s your story, your style, your people? We want to know how you host, where you travel, what you eat, what makes you laugh—and then build an experience that reflects that. That’s what lasts. That’s what will still feel timeless 20 years from now—because it was real.

Our job isn’t to follow tradition. It’s to help you build your own.

Heather, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Before weddings, I worked in a fertility lab—an environment filled with high stakes, high emotion, and no room for error. That experience taught me how to hold space for people, manage delicate timelines, and stay clear-headed in complex situations. All of which translates directly into wedding planning.

Ashley, my business partner, comes from the hospitality world—she’s deeply rooted in food, wine, and the art of making people feel cared for and welcomed. She’s the one thinking about how a space feels, how it flows, how it tastes. I’m the one looking at the full picture and asking: how does this all work together?

We’re Texas-rooted, but we plan and design weddings all over the world.

I’m also a huge traveler outside of weddings—my husband and I have spent years exploring the world, and I’m constantly inspired by how different cultures gather, celebrate, and honor people. Many of our couples share that same spirit of curiosity and connection. Whether we’re producing a wedding in Texas or Spain, we love helping bring that inspiration to life in ways that feel deeply personal and rooted in story.

Design is a huge part of what we do—but only if it’s authentic. This industry is full of beautiful things, but beauty means nothing if it doesn’t feel true. We’ve never been drawn to the standard definition of “timeless”—the white, blush, black, and green that gets pushed on everyone. Have we done neutral weddings? Yes. But only when that palette actually reflected the couple. We’re not here to strip away color or personality to chase what’s trendy—or worse, what someone else thinks a wedding should look like.

We’ve been designing bold, colorful, unexpected weddings since day one. Not because we were trying to make a statement, but because that’s what resonated with us and our couples. If your inspiration is Wes Anderson wallpaper and David Bowie energy? We’re all in—and we’re designing around that.

Our design process starts by asking who you are right now. What pulls at your heartstrings? Where do you travel? What do you eat? What are your weird little hobbies or your favorite guilty pleasures? Instead of asking for a Pinterest board of other weddings, we ask for a board of you. The textures, tones, flavors, and energy that make up your world.

From there, we build something layered and immersive—rooted in your story, not someone else’s highlight reel we slapped your name on.
Everyone says they’re creating weddings that feel like “you,” but what sets us apart is how we get there. We don’t just look at pretty inspiration photos and guess—we guide our couples through a branding experience that helps us understand not just your aesthetic, but your personality, your priorities, and the kind of energy you want to bring to your wedding weekend. It’s strategic, emotional, and completely customized—and it works.

And that clarity? It becomes a filter for everything else. When family members start inserting opinions or traditions that don’t resonate, our couples are equipped to say, “This isn’t who we are—and that’s okay.” We’re not just building a look—we’re helping you build something you can stand in with confidence. We have their back!

We’re also there to navigate the tricky stuff (similar to the fertility days)—family dynamics, differing opinions, and the “too many voices” moments that weddings tend to attract. We’re not just planners; we’re protectors of the experience. When things get overwhelming, we’re the calm in the storm. And when the day arrives, we make sure your people walk away saying, “I didn’t know a wedding could feel like that.”

And yes, our weddings tend to resonate online—but we’re not designing for likes. We’re designing for those raw, joy-filled, live-out-loud moments that can’t be scripted.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Honestly? I wish someone would’ve told me that you don’t have to do it alone. This industry has no real barrier to entry—anyone can wake up one day, order some business cards, and call themselves a wedding planner. There are certification programs (Ashley earned an event management certificate through Texas A&M, and I completed mine through the New York Institute of Art and Design), but those courses didn’t come close to preparing us for what a wedding day actually demands.

I still remember pulling over in a parking lot before my first solo wedding and throwing up because I was so nervous. I had “aced” my coursework—but no amount of textbooks covered things like wrangling a fire marshal for candle clearance, or how to create a rain plan when the original planner ghosted. The biggest resource I didn’t know I needed? Connection.

I was lucky that someone I knew was stepping away from wedding planning and let me shadow her. Tagging along gave me a front-row seat to what this job really looks like—and it taught me that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to make the same rookie mistakes everyone else did. Make your own new ones, sure—but don’t repeat the ones people are happy to warn you about.

If you’re starting out, find someone you admire and see if you can assist them. Be a fly on the wall. Ask questions. Carry the bins. Offer coffee. There are so many planners who are willing to mentor if you just ask. That spirit of sharing and community is what helped me grow, and it’s still the most valuable thing I’ve found in this industry.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

We built our name on color, kindness, and creativity—before any of that was trendy.

Early on, while a lot of weddings were still neutral and minimal, we leaned hard into color. At the time it was more boho, but even then, we were doing design-forward weddings that felt vibrant, bold, and personal. We were known for our hands-on flatlays—what we called deconstructed floral flatlays—where we’d use individual blooms and petals from the couple’s actual floral palette to tell the story in a tactile, intentional way. We poured just as much care into the details as the big moments.

But honestly? What people seem to remember even more is us. We’ve been told time and time again that we’re the nicest planners vendors have worked with—and we take that as a serious compliment. We’re not pushovers; we know when to draw boundaries and take charge. But we believe in kindness. In bringing calm energy. In creating a wedding day environment that’s encouraging, positive, and solutions-focused—even when sh*t hits the fan (because let’s be real, human error is part of any live event).

We’ve also built this reputation with our clients for being the kind of planners they actually want at the party. We’re constantly being told “come dance with us!” or “grab a drink!”—and we have to lovingly remind them that we can’t get drunk at their wedding because we’re still producing the event and making sure nothing catches on fire. But it speaks to the trust, the intimacy, and the friendship that often forms through the process. They’re crying at the end of the night—not just because the wedding is over, but because they’re sad our time together is ending. That’s the kind of connection we’re here for.

Some planners are known for being intense or ruthless. And sure, their work might be beautiful. But our belief? You can create a beautiful, expertly executed wedding without being the “mean planner.” We’re here to lead with warmth, advocate fiercely for our clients, and make magic with our vendor team—not at their expense.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.epochcoevents.com
• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/epochcoevents

Image Credits

Anna Bek
Leslie Rodriguez Photography
The Drakes
Rachel Elaine Photography
The Brothers Martens
The Vaile Co, Perry Vaile
Heidi Elyse