Happy Thanksgiving from Calluna Events!

Happy Thanksgiving to our clients, vendors, friends, and community! We are incredibly appreciative and honored for your love, support, partnership, and trust over the years!

We happily embrace the holiday as an opportunity to create space to gather with loved ones, to nourish our bodies with good food and drink, to rest, to set intentions for the coming chapters, and reflect on everything that helped us arrive to this moment.

This year our team took a moment of purposeful pause to reflect on the year behind us and share what we are wholeheartedly grateful for. We hope you join us in celebration this season and we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving from our family at Calluna Events to yours!

Heather Dwight

It’s my favorite time of year when we pause and reflect on where we’ve been in our annual Thanksgiving blog post. I’m humbled and honored to say we are wrapping up our 20th season in business! Which means next year we will celebrate our 20th anniversary! I am inspired and grateful to be able to go to work each day and do something I love and am passionate about. I feel so fortunate to work for and create for our clients alongside this wonderful wedding community.

I’m grateful for our clients who choose Calluna, the creative partners and venues we are fortunate to work so closely with and who continually entrust their clients with us. I am particularly grateful for our clients from this year. Once again, we were fortunate to help plan, design and be a part of some incredible weddings and visions, where we were able to collaborate and be creative in ways we never have. I am grateful for our clients’ trust in us and our ability to constantly grow and expand our offerings.

I am more that ever in awe of and humbled by our team. Our two full time planners, Lindsay and Gabby are the heart and soul of Calluna, my right hands, who work tirelessly and who have such positive enthusiasm for our couples. And our extended team, Kristen, Gina, Melanie, Francesca, Kira and Keira were constants at weddings this summer – planning with couples and assisting our Leads to ensure all of our weddings went smoothly. Wedding planning is sometimes a thankless job, a job that mostly happens behind the scenes, and they truly work above and beyond for our couples and our vendor partners. Our team not only ensures our couples vision come to life and their wedding dreams happen, but that it happens seamlessly, with calm and grace. And their work allows me to expand Calluna in exciting projects. I consider them all friends and love the impact they’ve had on my life and my business.

Two of our Lead Planners got married themselves this year! Melanie Robertz married her longtime sweetheart Erik and Gina Yeon married Micah! And we recently learned that Gina and Micah are expecting their first baby. I’m so thrilled for the growing families in the Calluna Crew!

I’m also continue to be so grateful for travel, as it’s one of my greatest joys in life and a source of inspiration. This time last year our family took at trip to Bentonville, AR with dear friends to go mountain biking and it was a memorable trip! Also, this year I was fortunate to travel to Sicily and Montenegro for Engage! which were inspiring, educational and filled my heart! I planned weddings across Colorado and Wyoming as well as took several road trips with my family in the mountains of Colorado to ski, bike and enjoy the mountains.

I am forever grateful for the love and support of my family and my friends, especially my husband, Brandon, our daughter Maggie and son Grey. I’m grateful for the mother-daughter trip I took with Maggie to NYC this fall to show her the big apple for the first time. It was a core memory for sure! I am so grateful where we live in Colorado – for fresh air, sunshine, being outside in the mountains.

Lindsay Hayden

Wow! It’s wild to think that it’s time to write this again – the year went by so quickly! This year, I have a few things that I’m thankful for. To start, this year, my incredible parents celebrated their 40 wedding anniversary (on Sunday!) and back in October, they invited my husband, my brother, his fiancé and myself for a week of incredible food, amazing wine and a lot of family time in Napa, California. The trip came on the heels of the 2023 wedding season and it was the most beautiful week relaxing, eating, playing games, and drinking wine with my five favorite people. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have parents who are not only healthy and avid travelers but also prioritize family above all else. Having just celebrated my one-year anniversary with Ken, their enduring love serves as a daily reminder that the foundations of marriage and family are the most significant aspects of life. While marriage may present its challenges, the experiences shared with my parents prove that while it may not always be easy, it’s certainly always worth it.

I am filled with gratitude for my husband, who dedicated the majority of this year to returning to school, a venture he undertook after more than 20 years. His goal is to advance his career and ensure the long-term success of our family. Observing his work ethic and determination has been truly inspiring, and I am immensely thankful for his hard work. I couldn’t be prouder of him.

Finally, I am so thankful that I am getting a sister-in-law and got to help my best friend (my brother!) design the most stunning engagement ring and plan an incredible proposal for his now fiancé, Keira (who now also lends her weekends to helping the Calluna Crew produce spectacular celebrations)! It was the most special weekend celebrating them and I can’t wait for all the celebrations to come. She is the perfect addition to our family and even though it feels like she’s been a part of our family since the beginning, we can’t wait to “officially” welcome her when they get married!

It’s been an exciting year – filled with travel, beautiful weddings, watching my friends get married but it hasn’t come without it’s hard times too As always, I’m immensely grateful for my health, the health of those around me and our safety at times when so many others can’t say the same.

I’m excited to see what 2024 has in store!

Photo Credit: Nate Shepard Photography

Gabby Gray

This season of reflection holds a special place in my heart each year. In the whirlwind of our industry, it’s easy to overlook the beauty that surrounds us. As I take a moment to look back, I am profoundly grateful to have joined the Calluna Crew this year. The Colorado wedding scene is an incredibly collaborative community of vendors, and I feel truly blessed to be a part of it.

This time of reflection has illuminated the incredible support system that surrounds me. To have individuals who consistently uplift and cheer for you is nothing short of amazing. As my husband and I wrap up our second year in Colorado, I find inspiration in the community we’ve built and feel an overwhelming sense of love from those in our lives. Expressing the depth of gratitude for the friends and family we’ve found here, and the growth in both my personal and professional life, is a challenge.

2023, you’ve been a year of remarkable growth, love, and learning. I eagerly anticipate what the future holds and am excited for the next chapter of this incredible journey.

Photo Credit (L): Carrie King Photography

Melanie Robertz

It’s often difficult to distill gratitude down to single paragraph (when in reflection, I’m rarely known for brevity!), but hosting our wedding this year was such a poignant example of the deep and profound gratitude I have for my community.

I’m infinitely grateful to my vendor team who helped bring my dream wedding day (truly!) to life. As a wedding planner who has been in the industry for quite some time, being on the “other side” as a bride this year has been an explosion of emotions – but notably humbling and enlightening. It was remarkable to be on the receiving end of the countless acts of service from our incomparable vendors – I was then and continue to be blown away for how much care, attention, professionalism, creativity and warmth each person provided through the entire planning process and wedding day. It’s the gift that will forever keep giving, and thank you will never be enough. It was such a joy to have my dear Calluna Crew celebrating with me on this very special – a group of strong women I’m so deeply honored to be a part of and have shaped the person I’ve become over the last decade.

In a year of fierce evolution and transformation I find myself reveling in gratitude for my tight knit circle of loved ones that selflessly give unwavering love, support, (hype!) and, above all, keep me grounded. I’m so grateful to my new husband (!!! –– will that term every feel normal?!) for being my true north. How lucky am I to have found a life partner in Erik. I will never miss a chance to acknowledge our immense privilege of safety, health and stability. And – my days wouldn’t be nearly as bright without round-the-clock cuddles from the sweetest pup, Teddy.

It’s true what they say: These are the days. Sending warm love and light to each of you in the year ahead!

Photo credit Alp & Isle

Gina Yeon

“The anticipation of what lies ahead echoes the sentiment: ‘The best is yet to come.’ Over the past few years, this phrase has become a guiding light in my life. I am overwhelmed with gratitude when I reflect on this year, a chapter filled with profound moments.

One of the more memorable moments: standing on the opposite end of the aisle was a humbling, thrilling, and beautiful experience. It only deepened my appreciation for our events community. Marrying my best friend, surrounded by loved ones and supported by an exceptional vendor community, made our wedding so special, and one I will never forget.

To cap it off, we’re embarking on our most significant adventure yet—we’re expecting a baby! As I prepare for motherhood, my gratitude extends to the remarkable women in my life. I’m so thankful for my own mom, witnessing my friends embrace motherhood alongside me, and the trailblazing moms, sisters, aunts, grandmas, and friends who’ve set the bar high.

Condensing the numerous blessings of this year is a challenge, but I want to highlight these key moments. Wishing everyone a joyous Thanksgiving and a delightful holiday season! Cheers to the memories made, and the (best) ones yet to come!”

Photo Credit: Amanda Berube

Kristen Kennedy

2023 has been an epic year, and I am grateful for so many things this year:

For all of the clients that continue to trust me with their wedding visions. I was HONORED to produce one of my best friend’s weddings in California and to be the day-of planner for Mel and Erik. In 2024, you’ll catch me at my bucket list venue in Cabo for a very special couple and in Napa for my best friend’s wedding.

For taking a chance and starting a new chapter in San Francisco. Can anybody say Calluna, California?!

For my family, my friends, and all of the wonderful people I continue to meet.

For the privilege to travel the world. 2023 was my busiest year of travel yet, and I explored the world from Ireland to Jackson Hole to Mexico City!

And of course, for my health and ability to experience beautiful nature every single day.

Keira Nalty

I am thankful for so much this year. I am thankful for amazing friends and family, some of which I’m lucky enough to say fall in both categories. This year has been a whirlwind of attending friend’s weddings, getting to see other’s big days become a reality with Calluna, chasing around my sweet nephew, traveling for work and for fun, seeing designs come to life, and most exciting of all – getting engaged! I am so thankful to be able to look back on this year and know all the exciting things that the future holds because of it. I couldn’t be more thankful to get to start planning a wedding with the love of my life. And as always I am thankful everyday for our favorite fuzzy best friends: Mikko and Miles.