Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Turner.
Hi Kate, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My love for celebration started really early. I was raised with the idea that life’s moments — big or small — deserve to be honored, and I found joy in the details from the very beginning: pouring lemonade at my roadside stand as a kid, styling Halloween costumes down to the perfect veil, flipping through old issues of Martha Stewart Weddings and dreaming up celebrations of my own. That instinct to blend hospitality with a beautifully curated tabletop never really left me, and it’s what led me to launch Kate & Co. Events in 2012.
What started as a passion project has grown into a full-service luxury planning and design studio. Along the way, I also launched Marinelle Event Co., which focuses on production and décor — custom builds and installations — so we could carry a vision all the way through, not just plan it but physically bring it to life.
Today, our team works on weddings and multi-day celebrations across the country and internationally, and I’m proud that the work has been recognized in places like Vogue, BRIDES, and Martha Stewart Weddings. But honestly, none of that is what drives me day to day. What matters most is still that moment when a client sees their vision realized — that’s the whole reason I started this in the first place.
I’ve also found so much meaning in giving back to the industry through Landlocked Luxury, where I co-host an annual conference and mentor other wedding professionals. And at the end of the day, my favorite celebrations are still the ones happening at home, with my husband Adam and our three sons.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been a straight line, no. One of the biggest struggles was learning to ‘right size’ the business — figuring out that we couldn’t be everything to everyone. Early on, I tried to offer it all, including things like day-of coordination, and eventually I realized there’s really no such thing as ‘day of’ when it comes to weddings. The work starts months before and trying to offer that kind of stripped-down service alongside full design and production just wasn’t sustainable. There’s no version of that model that actually works for the level of care I wanted to provide.
The real turning point came in 2017. After years of fertility struggles, we welcomed our oldest son, and that moment made something click for me. I realized I had to stop letting the business run me, stop trying to be everything for everyone, and instead really niche down into what we do best. It took about a year to untangle everything: honing our offerings, resizing the team, being intentional about who we serve and how.
Then post-COVID, we had to make similar adjustments all over again. The industry shifted and we had to recalibrate once more. But we survived both of those seasons, and honestly, each one made the business stronger and clearer than it was before.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At Kate & Co. Events, we specialize in full-service luxury wedding planning and design — highly personalized, design-forward celebrations, often multi-day weekends rather than a single event. We take a hospitality-first approach, which means we’re not just managing logistics, we’re thinking about how a guest feels the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. That’s really the throughline in everything we do.
I’m also the owner of Marinelle Event Co., our production and décor company, which lets us carry a vision all the way through; from the concept and mood board to the actual physical build. A lot of planners hand off design and production to outside vendors; we do it in-house, which gives us a level of control and cohesion that’s hard to replicate otherwise.
We’re known for immersive wedding weekends and ambitious tented productions, transforming private estates and open landscapes into fully realized worlds. And because of the ‘right sizing’ lesson I mentioned earlier, we intentionally take on a limited number of events each year. That’s not a limitation, that’s the point. It’s what lets every event we do feel deeply personal and completely unforgettable, instead of one of twenty on our calendar that season.
What I’m most proud of isn’t really the press or the recognition, though I’m grateful for it. It’s that our clients often say the process felt as good as the wedding day itself. In an industry that can be really stressful for couples, that’s the thing I care about most.
As for what sets us apart, I think it’s the combination of design and hospitality under one roof, paired with the fact that we deliberately stay small enough to know every detail of every event personally. We’re not trying to be the biggest name in the room. We’re trying to be the right fit for a smaller number of clients who want that level of care.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson has probably been that saying no is just as important as saying yes. For a long time, I thought being the best at what I did meant being able to do it all. Every service, every client, every request. But the truth is, the more I tried to be everything to everyone, the less exceptional any single thing became.
Once I learned to niche down, to really define what we do best and say no to the rest, everything got better. The work got better, the team got healthier, and honestly, I got to be more present for my own family too. It sounds simple, but it took me years, and a few hard resets, to actually believe it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kateandcollc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateandcompany/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kateandcollc
