Hey there! I’m Ria, a wedding planner from the heart of the Finger Lakes region in NY. I fell into the wedding industry a little by accident. The story starts approximately 6 years ago when friends and family started getting married and the invitations were prolific in my mailbox. I’d been fascinated by weddings as long as I can remember, so when a close friend asked me to be involved in her wedding as the ceremony coordinator, I was thrilled. In her wedding, I got my first taste of directing a rehearsal & ceremony. I got my first sigh of relief with the first successful ceremony processional. Basking in the satisfaction of that experience, I offered to assist another friend “when the time came for her.” She remembered that offer when her boyfriend proposed, which brought me to my second wedding. This wedding occurred at a time when I was working as a barista and in the middle of considering what I’d like my long-term career path to become. With the satisfaction of giving my friends the ability to be in the moment at their weddings, the idea of merging my need for a career and my love for planning and coordinating weddings took root. Radiant Events was born in May 2016 and I got a real life crash course on the wedding industry and business ownership. In the months that followed, I took a course to become a Certified Wedding Planner and booked my first official Radiant wedding for the summer of 2017.

A few weddings into that 2017 season, I worked with an attractive and single photographer. After the next several months of strictly professional communication, I invited him to a New Years Eve contra dance as my partner (not date!). However, he read into the invitation a little farther than I intended and asked me out just after midnight. We dated for the next 9.5 months through the busyness of wedding season. On September 16th he proposed. Our wedding followed 6 months later on March 16, 2019, and, if I’ve counted correctly, it was the 25th wedding of which I’ve been involved with the planning and/or coordination process. The experience of being a bride has brought a new perspective and passion to my work as a planner. I’ve gained a deeper sense of how sacred a wedding is, as the beginning of a marriage and the moment that marks that lifelong commitment. My greatest privilege in the work I do is to allow my clients the ability to step fully into their moment while the details of the celebration are attended to. I fully believe that weddings are a day to be honored and treasured.