Meet Kristeen LaBrot-Widmyer | Wedding Planner & Event Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristeen LaBrot-Widmyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristeen, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Absolutely! I used to work every single day at all hours. I had no set boundaries around the times that I met with clients. About 7 years ago, I set weekday office hours and started offering 2 days a months for weekend meetings. That simple change really helped my mindset where I didn’t feel so burned out.

What should our readers know about your business?
My bio:

Kristeen LaBrot-Widmyer is a luxury wedding planner based in Southern California. Equipped with a strong sense of style, she loves mixing bold and unique designs with traditional elements. Having planned over 200 weddings, she’s mastered the art of creating unique events. The couples she works with love her relaxed approach when guiding the planning and design process, creating a fun and stress-free experience.

For over 20 years, she’s planned intimate social affairs, including celebrity weddings, as well as large-scale events for clients in the entertainment industry. Her work has been featured on prestigious wedding blogs such as Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes and Inside Weddings and also by magazines including California Wedding Day, The Knot, Town & Country, US Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter. She is a 4-time winner of “Best Wedding Planner: Los Angeles” in California Wedding Day’s Best of Awards (2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019).

Kristeen received her degree in Advertising and Art History from the University of Florida. She lives in Valley Village with her husband Dennis, her son Weston and her 3 cats: Oliver, Max and Murphy. In 2020, she took on the role of Creative Director at The Animal Pad, an all-breed dog rescue that focuses on saving dogs from high kill shelters and the streets of Mexico.

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I do graphic design as well so I feel that helps keep my event design cohesive.

I started as an assistant production manager at an advertising/marketing agency. I moved over to the account services side – part of my job function was event planning. I was there for about 3.5 years. I then took a job at ProjectWedding/Wedding Bee as their Community Coordinator. My main function was to talk about weddings all day on their forums. Because I had event planning experience and because sort of a “wedding expert,” brides started asking if I would plan their weddings. It had never really crossed my mind! That was almost 15 years ago.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I moved to downtown LA from Florida in 2004. This was before there was a grocery store and before LA Live so things have changed so much! I loved going to The Golden Gopher and The Falls. The rotating lounge at the top of the Bonaventure hotel is a fun spot. Perch is great. I volunteered at MOCA for a few years – it’s small but it’s still a great museum.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my Shoutout to Sarah Pugh of Vintage Heart Events. I’m having another baby in a few months and she’s teaming up with me on future events so I can spend more time with my family. She’s also amazing at helping me stick to my boundaries.

Website: www.kristeenlabrotevents.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kristeenlabrot

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kristeenlabrot

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kristeenlabrotevents

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kristeen-labrot-events-valley-village

Image Credits
Jordan Voth (unicorn) Westlund Photography (fireplace, hands, lighting) Next Exit Photography (last 2 – couple and tent)