Hannah Rose Events

Hannah Rose Events owner Hannah Dubit never imagined she’d land in the wedding industry. She was earning her masters degree in Counter Terrorism in Israel when danger levels sent her back to Virginia. Tapping her roots in food and beverage, she began working with Red Pump Kitchen followed by a three-year run in wedding sales with Pippin Hill before moving into director of sales and event planner roles at Exchange Events.
 
Along the way, Hannah secured strong vendor connections and gathered behind-the-scenes C’ville venue knowhow. She launched her boutique Charlottesville planning service in 2021.
 
“I have inside knowledge about what it takes to set up and that has really shaped my planning style,” she says. “I’m really big on logistics and getting vendor teams and planning teams in order before we start on the pretty details.”
 
Hannah gets to know her couples through an onboarding call and a quirky series of questions — tell me about your pets, favorite foods, what you do on the weekend. She loves asking couples their favorite thing about their partner, collecting unexpected and sweet responses such as “She’s incredibly beautiful, but she’s so much more. She’s so smart and strong and independent.”
 
During the planning process, she says, it’s important to enjoy being engaged. Go out on date nights, turn off wedding planning for a minute here and there. Don’t turn the whole engagement period into the wedding planning period.
 
To help reduce planning stress, Hannah gets to know her clients and hones her intuition to provide customized support. For couples that are easily overwhelmed, she narrows decisions down to option A and option B. For hands-on clients that bring DIY and creative ideas to the table, Hannah tackles logistics and puts design boards together. Her brides, who often become lifelong friends, know her as supportive, proactive and organized.
 
“I have no limit to communication with my clients — texts, emails, phone calls,” she says. “Being available is really important to me.”
 
Guest experience is an essential component that sometimes gets overlooked by couples, Hannah adds. “It’s an important aspect of my planning style. I bring up to my couples how their guests will flow from moment to moment and we create an intentional timeline.”
 
She recommends building in fun, personalized experiences to fill any downtime. Offer a cigar bar or bourbon bar or maybe a customized post-dinner coffee bar. Dance floor and photo booth props that speak to the couple’s hobbies are always a hit.
 
“Little things that guests can interact with that make the event more memorable will make the evening stand out as one of a kind and truly yours,” Hannah says.
 
And don’t forget to add in that 10 minutes between cocktail hour and the reception to pause without the planner and photographer to breathe and look at each other and say “wow, we’re married.”