Embracing Southern Charm with East Coast Efficiency: The Pennywell Events Experience

Alicia LaHaie
Apr 25
7 min read

As we begin to approach those long summer days with the New Orleans Festival season beginning and the wedding season’s end, I wanted to take a moment to just share a bit more about why Pennywell Events could be the best decision you make when planning your wedding. Join me, as I share how Pennywell Events blends the laid-back charm of The Big Easy with the hustle of New York City, and how our approach to wedding planning can create a celebration that is both meaningful and memorable.

How New Orleans shaped the future of Pennywell Events

Hello everyone, it’s Alicia, the founder and lead planner of Pennywell Events! I would love to share a bit of my background and how becoming the New Orleans wedding planner you know and trust with your big day got here and why it was always meant to be.

I grew up in the New Orleans area and was born into a family of self-starters, the type of people that seem to get bored if they sit for more than 5 minutes. Both of my parents are electricians and were local firefighters while I was growing up; my mom was actually the first female firefighter in Kenner. So there was always the buzz in our house to be actively doing something. In contrast to that, I noticed as a kid that the city was always very laissez faire about things, very laid back and never rushed. Don’t get me wrong, there are still things that have deadlines and due dates but you never really saw anyone walking around stressing about work or “crunch time”. Instead, there was the feeling of “it will get done and it will be good when it is” and it was always more about the quality of what people were doing than about the timing of it. And while this can be frustrating to anyone that did not grow up in this world, when they get to experience it for themselves the beauty of the heart and soul that the people of New Orleans put into everything that they put their minds to, it changes hearts worldwide. It really gave me a unique perspective, one that emphasizes quality over haste, a philosophy that would later become the cornerstone of Pennywell Events.

History of Living and Working in New York

In an interesting twist of fate, on a family vacation in August 2001 to New York City, I fell head over heels with The Big Apple. I told my mom on the way home that somehow, even if I had to be homeless, I would live in New York City one day. Smitten was an understatement. The hustle and bustle, the subway system, the pizza, it was all so different than anything I had ever lived or ever dreamed of. After college graduation with a Bachelors in Apparel Design and Merchandising, I moved with my then boyfriend to NYC, or at least close to it. To start, we lived with a cousin of his in New Jersey, which I am still convinced has some of the best pizza and bagels I’ve ever eaten, sorry New York. After a bit of time we moved to Queens, our first ever New York City apartment! Soon thereafter we got engaged! Sadly, we were only in that apartment for about 6 months before the recession of 2009 hit the city and Hard. Within weeks of us getting engaged, we had both lost our jobs and no one, not even McDonald’s was hiring. So, we moved back to New Orleans and collected ourselves. In less than a year we were able to move back with money saved up and at that point, the recession had moved south for the winter. Getting that second chance at taking on the city that I loved was everything for me. After working a number of temp jobs in everything from a marketing firm to a receptionist, I finally got in the door and was working for a fashion design company, designing for Target, K-Mart (bye, bye blue light special), and for an up-and-coming haute couture designer.

The biggest thing that I remember from working for every company from Simplicity Patterns to designing for Target and all those jobs in between, was the high demand and the expectation to have everything done as fast as possible and the importance of efficiency and adaptability. It was the mentality that if you slowed down for even a second that you would be run over and someone else would beat you to the next big project. There was never a moment to sit back and relax, even on the weekends it was expected that you had things that had to be done. The relentless pace of New York showed me first-hand the value of efficiency and the importance of meeting deadlines without compromising on quality.

Southern charm with an East Coast work ethic

Four years later, after getting married and feeling like I was in a great place with work but needed something more and mentally just needed even a weekend off, we decided to move back to Louisiana, anywhere in the state that would allow us to still do our jobs remotely or find a local company to continue our career paths. It was a good move for both of us because it gave me the chance to see that the fashion industry was not where I was supposed to be, it just wasn’t what I needed and it gave him the chance to expand his portfolio and take on new challenges.

As some of you know, when you are not in a major city like NYC, things move a bit slower and there aren’t bike messengers that will deliver something in an hour or less. The fashion company I was working for decided that the remote work and delayed shipping times were more than they had signed up for and so we parted ways. That gave me the chance to explore more of the wedding planning that I so enjoyed from my own wedding and found a local wedding planner that needed an assistant. I worked under her for about 3years and learned everything I could about vendor relationships and logistics of a wedding day. I was enjoying it for the learning ability and the chance to do more of what I loved. When that planner decided to steer away from doing weddings and focus more on interior design, she no longer needed me. But I was not ready to be done with weddings. So in 2015, I started Pennywell Events with a name that is a nod to both my mother, Penny, and myself, Alicia Penny, to harness not just the fiercely hardworking women that we both are but also to keep it from being directly named something with limitations and rather to focus on growth and sustainability. Pennywell Events is designed to thrive beyond myself with the ability to grow into something of a legacy in New Orleans, ensuring that future couples continue to benefit from its services of quality and passion.

How does all of this help you for your wedding planning journey?

At Pennywell Events, planning your wedding is about more than just ticking items off a checklist. To start, we set expectations for you for planning your wedding that will ensure that everything gets done in a timely manner with minimal stress but while also guiding you to slow down and take the time to appreciate and enjoy the journey of wedding planning and the special moments on your wedding day. For destination weddings in New Orleans, this means embracing the city's relaxed pace while ensuring that every detail is meticulously managed. I have worked with a lot of destination couples that did not grow up in a place where the city is literally called the Big Easy. Southern easy-going can sometimes frustrate those outside of the humidity heavy and laid-back approach of the southern day to day. But that can work to your advantage because every moment of your everyday life should not revolve around your wedding planning, but you need to have the time to still build the relationship that got you to this point and give you the chance to talk about something else when you go out to dinner. By focusing on creating meaningful experiences rather than rushing through tasks, our couples can enjoy a stress-free planning process. This approach not only enhances the wedding day but enriches the entire journey, leaving couples with cherished memories and a strong foundation for their future together.

Building a Future Beyond the Wedding

Our Couples are reminded to prioritize their relationship and future plans, making the wedding just one beautiful chapter in their shared story. I tell couples all the time, make plans for the future beyond the wedding so that when the wedding is over, you still have something to talk about together. When you get together with family, take the time to talk about everyday life, your hopes and dreams that don’t only revolve around the wedding. Having that southern easy-going approach to planning will give you those moments leading up to the wedding day that you will remember. But taking that same mentality of quality over to-do lists is something that will make sure your wedding day is the best day ever. We always make sure to get it all done, sometimes we even get planning done months earlier than needed because the way that we approach the journey to the wedding day is not about stress and anxiety, but about appreciating the time you have together over deciding details that will be easier decisions when you are not stressed.

Pennywell Events offers a wedding planning experience that is as unique and vibrant as the city of New Orleans itself. Under the guidance of Pennywell Events’ planners, couples can expect a seamless blend of Southern charm and East Coast efficiency, creating a celebration that is both meaningful and memorable. Whether you're planning a destination wedding or a local affair, Pennywell Events is dedicated to making your dream day a reality. Trust in our expertise and passion to guide you through this special journey, ensuring that every moment is cherished and celebrated.