Valley & Oak Events

Valley & Oak Events Event design, Planning & Consulting

In 90 days: I became my own boss, again. I made a new routine. I wallowed in despair and I found joy in the unknown but ...
05/14/2026

In 90 days:
I became my own boss, again.
I made a new routine.
I wallowed in despair and I found joy in the unknown but self-controlled future. To feel the pride in knowing I’m at the very least in the correct niche of the hospitality industry after a client meeting, is something I’d like to bottle up & use as a daily spritz. To have found time for projects and visions and fun I was kicking down the road for a hopeful-future-use & to revel in the space created, has been energizing.
I’ve always said I don’t believe the new year is in the dead of winter, it’s in the spring because it aligns with the burst of life that happens both in nature & in my attitude. Watching it all come back to life is doing the same inside me. Knowing anything is possible with a bit of warmth.

In a book I just finished, there was a line that stuck: “Life is a series of choices. All we can do is make the best decision we can at every turn, hope for the best and deal with the consequences.”
How perfectly fitting of a reminder to accept the choices made & to celebrate what comes along. Is life going the way it was ‘planned’ a decade ago, nope. But there’s so much life left to come, no point in squandering it.

I have no clue if hashtags work anymore or what ai is looking for, but if this found its way to you and it hit a tiny bit of your feels; please let me know. There’s power in community, in all realms.

💚✨ love & light, K

Happy birthdaaaayyy Momma!! This will be the best year yet & I’m so glad you get to celebrate a new decade and 40 YEARS ...
05/03/2026

Happy birthdaaaayyy Momma!! This will be the best year yet & I’m so glad you get to celebrate a new decade and 40 YEARS with dad on a much earned vacation. 🛳️✈️🏞️🇳🇱
Although I’m a tad jealous of the 3 weeks in Europe, you both deserve it for putting up with each other for so long. Love you Both! 💚

When your vendors are not able to do the job they are hired for - you’re wasting your money. Not just the photo & video ...
03/12/2026

When your vendors are not able to do the job they are hired for - you’re wasting your money.
Not just the photo & video teams but the dj, the beauty team, the rental company, the florist, even the catering & bar teams…. If they aren’t able to focus on their own tasks, you’re not getting the FULL VALUE of their services and that’s just silly.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it.
HIRE THE WEDDING PLANNER. Have a day that is managed appropriately so you can soak up the love surrounding you and receive the full value of your vendors.

Venue & bar:
Floral & rentals:
Photo:
Video:
Catering:
DJ: .everywhere
Planning & production:

Michigan wedding
Grand Rapids wedding planner
West Michigan wedding
Wedding planning in Michigan

The other day someone shared the highest compliment with me. A couple from this past season was out to dinner and began ...
02/17/2026

The other day someone shared the highest compliment with me. A couple from this past season was out to dinner and began yapping with their server. The server is family of someone I worked with, so her ears perked when the venue of the wedding came up. She loosely mentioned her connection and the couple began raving about the experience. But it wasn’t just the views, the food, the dancing… it was about ME personally.
They exclaimed how comfortable they felt throughout the planning process. How they felt heard & understood on their values and expectations. How at the end of day they got to be present and soak up the joy & love surrounding them for the day.
That I had made their experience absolutely perfect.

She didn’t know it, but in that exact moment - I needed to hear that. To revive the breath in why I continue to do. My value isn’t tied to a location or name. It’s ME. My knowledge, my experience & my heart that attracts couples to invite me into their bubble to celebrate them.
The other highest compliment I can ever receive is a referral. If you know anyone freshly engaged and in the planning trenches, please share my name with them. I would be so honored.

A little growth in my mindset and heart was unexpected, but much needed. Man this sunshine is doing more than just confusing my flowers - it’s warming my soul too. 💚

Planning:
Venue:
Photo:
Video: .visuals
Catering & Bar:
Rentals: &
Entertainment:

Grand Rapids wedding planner, West Michigan wedding planner, wedding coordination Grand Rapids, wedding planning West Michigan.

All of the flashing back to 2016 got me thinking about the life that could’ve been, that I WANTED. In the last 18 months...
02/03/2026

All of the flashing back to 2016 got me thinking about the life that could’ve been, that I WANTED. In the last 18 months, I feel like I completely lost myself; all the stamina as an independent & almost lost my family to a role I *thought* was perfect. And it would be perfect…. for 10 years ago me.
The me with wayyy different responsibilities.
Current me tried to fit into a mold I was no longer meant for and while it’s bittersweet to leave - I’m so looking forward to what’s ahead.
Of course, I’m feeling a taaaadd bit lost. Just in what tf am I actually supposed to do first kind of way or how tf do I compete with all of the new out there - but I am also feeling SO inspired to revive this space just for ME and the experiences I’ve had the honor to be a part of. There will always be a young new face, but life is the best educator there is.
Hoping that sharing this will hold me accountable to get back to the life I created and empower me to keep changing the dream when it doesn’t align with actual life. 💚

A 2023 beauty:
Venue:
Floral: .floral
Photo:
Rentals:

Grand Rapids wedding planner, West Michigan wedding planner, wedding coordination Grand Rapids, wedding planning West Michigan.

In receiving the results of the dept employee survey, I’ve felt… annoyed. One of the final questions asked ‘what can you...
09/24/2025

In receiving the results of the dept employee survey, I’ve felt… annoyed. One of the final questions asked ‘what can your director (ie: me) do better for the dept?’ And of the dozen or so answers only the last one stuck with me. It merely said “quite literally everything”… Oh, thank you…SUPERrrrrrrr helpful in actually helping me be a better leader/manager/director. But then in scrolling photos of last month, these images kept standing out.
That person doesn’t know quite literally anything about what this role takes. The moving parts, the constant running lists and budgets and conversations happening to create THIS kind of magic on a pretty consistent basis. The attention to detail, the forethought of potential outcomes, the wading through opinions and attitudes and family dramas, the timeline to keep all moving seamlessly. That person doesn’t know I am actually working to be kind when under pressure on a big day. Or that I’m vividly aware I have RBF and try all day to keep my face neutral so I don’t look mad when it’s just my face. That person has quite literally nothing to do with my experiences and knowledge that lead me here. That person will not be the reason I feel annoyed today.

This day was magically lovely, thanks in all parts to:


Special thanks to for the overheads & chauffeur services.

“Asking for feedback is a different kind of strength. When you’ve done everything you know how to do and someone comes b...
08/28/2025

“Asking for feedback is a different kind of strength. When you’ve done everything you know how to do and someone comes back to say you still missed the mark.” Heard this on a podcast from a top tier event planner. It brought me solace to know that I’m not alone in some of the feelings I have.
I’ve been struggling to share here…. I don’t feel I have 1) the headspace/time & 2) the ownership over the events being held lately. The weddings aren’t under the V&O name specifically but I’m using my brain power still. The membership events feel sort of private but oh-so-fun that I WANT to share. I’ve felt like an un-finished project; an unfinished sentence or story.
BUT I recently asked my team for feedback & it lifted such a weight off my shoulders. I thought I was working so hard and no one was noticing, but the response was so positive & building that it made me annoyed I didn’t ask sooner! I’ve realized that I NEED this space to write out what’s in my head & heart. That it feels like such a big sigh to just let it all out. Who am I trying to impress or uphold a front for?! Myself really. But I’m beginning to see that doesn’t help me grow and learn, so buckle up - brain & heart dumps are coming back to life here.

A sneaky peek at the Easter design I’ve been plotting for what feels like months. Excited to piece it all together today...
04/17/2025

A sneaky peek at the Easter design I’ve been plotting for what feels like months. Excited to piece it all together today & tomorrow! Serving over 1100 guests between Saturday & Sunday. 💐🐰🐣🪻🌼🪴🍄🪺


There’s a house I drive by often that has a lemon tree in the kitchen window. The house was picked up by its foundation ...
04/11/2025

There’s a house I drive by often that has a lemon tree in the kitchen window. The house was picked up by its foundation and moved a block over last fall to make way for some new apt building, but the tree stayed in the window. I thought ‘wow, this person has faith in their contractors for a quick return back to their house!’.. along with ‘dang that must be a healthy tree to leave it for such a long window!’

For the longest time I haveenvied this person. The patience, the skill, the pretentiousness of it. Then today as I was driving past the house, it hit me… they’re still not back in the house & the lemon tree is still going strong!
Two things went through my mind. 1) their contractor must blow to not have them back in yet. 2) All this time. It cannot be a real lemon tree. I’m an idiot.
The realization I’ve been envying a really good FAKE lemon tree, has me realizing it’s the equivalent of social media…. Pointedly timed with all the ‘spring break: day 12’ posts.
Nothing here is real. It’s all really pretty sure, but created to make someone, somewhere jealous of it, to pine after the same things that ‘are attainable if you just work harder!’

I love seeing joy my friends have, but I hate feeling bad about myself after. The constant thought of “how come they can do that” or the “I bust butt too and just don’t get it” thoughts.
But I think I’m done with it all. The caring that I can’t keep up with the Jones’ and worrying what people will think if I just SHOW UP as myself & not the curated versions. There’s no reason the most current version isn’t already great. Faking it is exhausting anyways.

This isn’t meant as a dig at anyone for being excited to share their fun. It’s purely jealousy & realizing I no longer have space for that in my head.

Thanks for reading my long-winded ah-ha moment paired with a very irrelevant, but incredibly gorgeous day from last Oct.

This below freezing spring break week has me dreaminggggg of summer. Cannot wait to feel the sun on my skin again.
04/09/2025

This below freezing spring break week has me dreaminggggg of summer. Cannot wait to feel the sun on my skin again.

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