Kara Stutzman and Brianna Sumey met while helping friends out, polishing silverware at a Pippin Hill event. They hit it off, but left not exchanging numbers. Fast forward a few months and they meet again, both having secured jobs with Pippin Hill — Bri in sales and Kara on the event management team. They worked at the trailblazing venue for five years, producing over 300 weddings.
 
Tallying up priceless experience in venue sales, operations, catering management and all of the wedding planning ins and outs, the duo teamed up and acquired Amore Events in 2019. Bri and Kara plan and execute every wedding together (essentially, couples receive two dedicated planners) and both are currently engaged themselves. Bubbly and warm, Kara is the logistics mind, crossing all of the T’s and dotting the I’s while Bri is the social butterfly design mind.
 
“All of those beautiful wedding photos on our Instagram page that draw couples to Amore — that’s Bri’s doing,” says Kara.
 
They balance and complement each other, letting their personalities shine through and aligning with couples organically. A method they say tends to attract Type-A couples that value organization.
 
“We love a list and we love structure,” says Bri. “We want our couples to know that we’re real people and we get the emotions, financials and planning that goes into a wedding.”
 
Bri and Kara custom-designed their own Amore Events planning portal, breaking down the year-long process into four easy-to-digest phases. First, financials and expectations or figuring out what elements are most important and where to allocate funds. Next, vendor selection.
 
“We reach out to 5 to 10 vendors for each category and hand our couples a creative team on a silver platter,” says Kara.
 
The third phase is design and details, covering florals, tabletops, timelines and menu tastings. This is the creative nitty-gritty. Finally, extras and execution. Kara and Bri ensure everything is logistically sound, checking in with every vendor and then executing the big day.
 
“We didn’t just wake up one day and want to be wedding planners. We worked our way toward that goal,” says Kara. “We have a business mind. We have your back. We’re going to make this one of the most fun and enjoyable processes and days of your life.”