Some weddings are beautiful. Others stay with you for years.
Not because of the flowers, the tablescape or even the dress, but because of how they made you feel. The warmth of walking into a room that somehow already felt familiar. The soundtrack that instantly transported you back to a favourite holiday. The late-night party that felt more like your favourite bar than a wedding reception.
The tiny details that no one notices individually, but together create an atmosphere guests remember long after the day itself.
For Emily King, founder of In Awe Weddings & Events, that's the difference between planning a wedding and designing an experience. It's an approach that's quietly reshaping luxury wedding planning. While much of the industry remains focused on creating weddings based on Pinterest inspiration, Emily begins somewhere entirely different: with emotion. "I established very early on that my focus wasn't going to be solely design-led," she tells me. "It was always going to be about atmosphere and experience first."
Even the name In Awe Weddings & Events wasn't chosen because it sounded elegant. It was chosen because it described a feeling. “I wanted the brand to capture being totally overwhelmed with love, admiration or joy for something or someone. To me the term 'In Awe' perfectly encapsulates the love of a couple getting married, the love and support of their guests attending, the way you want an event to make someone feel and ultimately how we want our clients to feel about our expertise, experience and knowledge.”
That conviction has a clear origin. Before founding In Awe Weddings & Events, Emily spent years working in high-end hospitality and wedding catering while also performing professionally as a singer. “I wanted to start a planning and design business that solely focused on what I believe makes a great atmosphere. Industry-leading entertainment, incredible catering and immersive production/intentional personal design. My distinct advantage as a wedding planner is my expertise and hands-on experience in these areas.”
Designing for all five senses
Ask Emily about wedding design and she'll barely mention palettes. Instead, she talks about what can be heard, seen, smelt, touched and tasted.
Long before flowers are chosen or stationery is commissioned, she's mapping out something much more experiential. "We don't just create visuals," she explains. "We create an experience-led design guide that walks clients through every stage of the celebration.
It's a subtle shift in thinking, but one that changes everything. Essentially, we are designing the atmosphere of the whole event and how that shifts and changes throughout the guest experience. Only once that emotional blueprint exists does the visual design begin to take shape.
Understanding the couple on a deeper level comes first and Pinterest boards become references rather than instructions. Emily asks about what they love from fashion, architecture, restaurants, music, and favourite travel destinations. To their heritage, how they entertain friends in their home, and the moments that defined their relationship so far.
These answers rarely lead where couples expect. One Italian wedding was inspired almost entirely by the couple's love of Soho House interiors and The Hoxton Hotel. Rather than recreating Tuscany as Tuscany, Emily recreated the feeling of home. "The whole welcome party was designed around that aesthetic. It looked incredible, but more importantly, it felt like them." That's where memorable weddings are born. Not from copying an image, but from translating someone's personality into a design and experience.
"There will always be Pinterest, and its a great tool for inspiration" Emily says. "But authenticity comes from being inspired by the couple."
The sense couples forget most
Perhaps the most surprising sense Emily believes couples overlook isn't sight or sound.
It's touch. "People assume touch is just what guests physically pick up, but it's also about comfort. Are the chairs comfortable enough to sit through dinner? Is the room too hot? Too cold? Is the lighting right?"
It's one of those observations that feels obvious the moment someone says it. Beautiful candlelit dinners may look romantic on Pinterest, but if guests are struggling to read the menu, are too warm, too cold or uncomfortable in their seats, the atmosphere quickly begins to disappear.
"If guests aren't comfortable, they can't enjoy everything else you've worked so hard to create."
The planning no one ever sees
Behind every seemingly effortless wedding is an extraordinary amount of planning. In Awe Weddings & Events full-service process is divided into six stages: planning, research, design, logistics, suppliers and delivery.
One of the first things every client receives is a detailed month-by-month planning timeline, meticulously outlines the process, considering the couples priorities, exactly when decisions will be made and how the entire journey will unfold.
"They can see the entire journey from the start, so they're not constantly wondering, 'When do we book the florist?' or 'When do we do the table plan?' It removes so much overwhelm from the planning process and allows my clients to feel confident from the outset and totally in control."
From there comes tailored supplier research, venue logistics, transport planning, CAD drawings, guest travel guides, production schedules and countless layers of operational and administrative planning that guests, and the couple, never even notice. "Our role is to absorb all of that complexity."
By the wedding day, every supplier has been briefed, every contingency has been considered and every detail has been meticulously planned. "The couple become guests at their own wedding."
It's a phrase Emily returns to often, and perhaps it's the simplest definition of what a luxury planner really provides. "We're there to manage the atmosphere, solve any problems discreetly, and ensure every element is executed as we have planned"
That commitment to complete oversight is precisely why, full planning & design, from beginning to end, is now the only way In Awe Weddings & Events works.
The brief that pushed everything further
Every planner has a project that tests the limits of what's possible. For Emily, it was a four-day wedding at Euridge Manor.
‘The couple based in Australia wanted an outdoor ceremony in January, despite freezing temperatures, along with a surprise celebrity performance that came with a festival level amount of production. For the ceremony we built a heated glasshouse marquee that allowed guests to experience the surrounding countryside whilst remaining protected from rain, wind and even snowfall.
We secured the band to perform exclusively for the wedding and completely concealed the experience from guests. Using draping, truss mechanics and detailed CAD design, we transformed Euridge Manor's ballroom into two entirely separate environments.
Later that evening, guests sat down to dinner with no idea that an entirely separate Quentin Tarantino-inspired afterparty had been built behind a concealed drape. The surprise? Boy George and Culture Club.
It's also why Emily limits In Awe Weddings & Events to just five to seven weddings each year, many spanning several days with huge logistics such as weddings on private estates.
"Private estate marquee weddings are essentially building an entire venue from scratch," she explains. "Everything has to be considered—from power and water to kitchens, flooring, parking and back-of-house operations. Done well, guests never realise any of that exists."
The most meaningful details don't always cost the most
One of Emily's favourite ideas cost almost nothing. Before the wedding, every guest was asked to submit a song that reminded them of the couple or held personal meaning.
Those songs were quietly woven into the dinner playlist, table by table. "It didn't cost anything," Emily says. "But the time and effort we put into the idea was so worth it."
It’s a perfect example of her philosophy that luxury is created in the tiniest of considered details and not simply with pure opulence and extravagance.
The Impact Of Social Media On Weddings
For someone whose work is undeniably beautiful, Emily has a surprisingly balanced view of Instagram and Pinterest. She's not worried about inspiration. She's worried about misinformation.
"The biggest negative is that it creates unrealistic expectations."
Many of the weddings that go viral involve specialist suppliers, huge production teams and substantial budgets but that context often disappears online.
“Part of our role is helping couples understand where their budget will have the greatest impact and providing honest advice to set expectations about what things actually cost.”
She laughs as she compares the many ‘average wedding budget’ articles
to average handbag prices. "It's like writing an article about the average cost of a handbag. One person buys designer another buys highstreet. They're both handbags, but they're not remotely comparable." For Emily, honesty isn't about limiting creativity. It's about helping couples invest in the things that matter most and getting more value out of their budget.
Smaller guest lists, bigger experiences
Among the biggest shifts Emily has seen over the last few years isn't aesthetic. It's emotional. "The desire for everything to feel personalised has increased enormously."
Couples are becoming more intentional about who they invite, choosing to celebrate with the people who genuinely know them rather than inviting everyone out of obligation. "It creates a completely different atmosphere."
Smaller celebrations allow couples to invest more in each guest and therefore a more bespoke, elevated experience. But, more importantly, they create rooms full of people who share share a genuine connection with the couple getting married. "The celebration just feels more meaningful."
The industry, she says, has evolved alongside this demand. "More companies are offering completely bespoke solutions and there are very few creative limitations now."
Destination weddings and multi-day celebrations continue to grow too. "There is no other moment in your life when everyone you love is together in the same place."
The details couples never regret
After planning countless weddings, Emily has noticed the same reflections time and again. Brides who skip an evening outfit often wish they hadn't. "Once you've worn your main dress all day, changing into something more comfortable lets you properly enjoy the party."
Couples who decide against videography almost always regret it. "Photos say a thousand words. Video says a million."
Perhaps the most unexpected observation comes from the grooms. "They're always glad they spent money on flowers." Initially, floral design rarely tops their priority list. But once they see the transformation, it's often the flowers that find their way into the grooms speeches.
Advice before you book anyone
For couples just beginning their planning journey, Emily's advice is refreshingly grounded. Spend time discussing the kind of celebration you genuinely want to create before speaking to suppliers.
Have an honest conversation about budget, not necessarily an exact figure, but a realistic understanding of what you're comfortable investing. Then enquire with a small number of planners whose style, values and approach genuinely align with your own.
"The more clarity you can bring to those first conversations, the more valuable our initial guidance becomes."
The era of the afterparty
If there's one trend Emily is wholeheartedly embracing, it's the rise of the afterparty. "It's our era," she laughs.
What was once an afterthought has become one of the most anticipated parts of the celebration, with couples creating immersive spaces that transport guests into an entirely different world. "Taking guests from evening to night in a totally new, iconic space is the cherry on top of any guest experience."
One recent wedding transformed into a pink, Pikes-inspired Ibiza nightclub complete with a bespoke bar, disco touches, streamers and a DJ set from Gok Wan. It perfectly captures the philosophy behind In Awe Weddings & Events. Not simply creating beautiful weddings, but creating experiences that linger long after the final song has played.
Because, as Emily says, "Emotion is what solidifies memory”
See more information about In Awe Weddings and Events on their Directory Profile Here.
