Member Spotlight: Kate McClellan of Purple Clover Events

While Kate McClellan, owner and principal event planner of Purple Clover Events, plans events of all sorts, her favorite days are when she gets to help a couple plan and enjoy their wedding day. There's so much more involved in planning a wedding than lists and schedules, and it’s her goal to make sure all her clients can enjoy the process. At the end of the night, when all of those lists have been checked off and the dancing is coming to an end, she absolutely loves knowing that she was able to not only organize a wonderful wedding for the couple, but also give them the time to relax and enjoy their special day!

Family and friends are very important to Kate, and when she's not working, she can be found hanging out at Commerce Lake in the summer, or enjoying a glass of wine with friends in Royal Oak. She's been lucky enough to meet some amazing friends in the wedding industry through her involvement with local networking groups like NACE, ILEA, and has served as the State Coordinator for Michigan for the Association of Bridal Consultants. She was very honored to have been inducted in the Michigan Meetings and Events Hall of Fame in 2017 as the Special Events Planner of the Year, and has many awards and publications for her amazing weddings.  

What inspired you to enter the wedding industry?
My story is a bit different than most planners, as it wasn’t planning my own wedding that first drew me to the role. I graduated from college with a degree in Psychology and was initially perusing a masters in Social Work. I started to feel like I wanted to start something up on my own, but had no idea why, or what that could be. 

We had just finished planning a big family vacation and I realized I really enjoyed the planning process. I briefly considered the travel industry, but then decided that event planning was more my thing. For some reason I was more attracted to the social aspect of weddings (I think the psych degree comes into play there), and it just grew from there! I started with really focusing on educating myself on the roll, and networking with other industry professionals to start to grow the business. 

Why did you start Purple Clover Events?
Though I started the business for more selfish reasons, no entrepreneur can be successful if they don’t truly have a passion for what they're doing. For me, I love the moment when I’m sharing a tip or piece of advice that I know can change the success of an event or allows the process to be more enjoyable for the couple. The moment they say “Oh, I didn’t even think of that!” at a meeting, or “We couldn’t have done it without you!” at the end of the evening. Knowing that I’m able to allow couples and their family to actually enjoy their wedding day is definitely my "why"!

If you could change one thing about the weddings and special events industry, what would it be?
I think one of the biggest challenges that the industry has right now is that there's very little barrier to entry. While it's also one of the most appealing things for this side hustle culture, it also means there are a ton of non-professionals out there that aren't going through the steps to educate themselves about what their roll in a wedding could and should be. I know everyone needs to start somewhere, but it can be difficult for couples to distinguish the difference between a novice and a true professional, and it can be challenging to explain the difference in pricing for say a new photographer vs. one that’s been in the industry for 10 years. 

How does using Aisle Planner help you deliver the client experience you want to?
Aisle Planner has really been a game changer for me and how I’m able to run my business. Before signing up for AP four years ago, I had played around with a few other planning software programs, and found them to be clunky and more work than they were worth in the end. I'd always end up falling back on my Word docs and Excel budgets that required constant updating and weren’t user friendly to share with clients. 

When I first trialed Aisle Planner, I wasn’t very optimistic that it was going to be much different than all the others. I initially loved the look of it, it was much more organized and just overall prettier than all the other tools I had tried. I quickly realized that the features were much more user friendly and so much easier to collaborate with others on. In the past four years there have been constant upgrades and improvements, and feedback is always so well received. There are so many more ways that I can add additional tools and resources for my clients and I’m really excited to explore some of that this year!

What's your favorite Aisle Planner feature?
The feature I use the most is definitely the timeline tool. Regardless of my roll with the clients (month of coordination to full service) we’re always very involved in the timeline of the day. Creating a realistic timeline is so critical to the success of an event, and the timeline feature makes it super easy to communicate that with my team, clients, and other professionals involved in the event. 

I typically leave the access open for everyone to comment/adjust until about a month out from the wedding, and then I switch access to read only for everyone by our team. This way it ensures that any changes that need to be made from that point are discussed and/or shared with everyone, and there aren’t any big surprises in the days before. 

If you weren't the Owner + Principal Event Planner at Purple Clover Events, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?
Honestly, I really can’t imagine doing anything else! I'm still fascinated by the world of psychology and could see myself exploring that world a bit more. I did initially start college planning on going into marine biology. Before my senior year I had an internship at the New England Aquarium in Boston, and though I loved the job, it helped me realize that I didn’t want to be that far from home. The demand for marine biologists in Michigan isn’t that great, so it made me reevaluate my plans a bit.

What are three things you never show up without on event day?
Big picture items are Fat Max (my emergency kit), my iPad that has all the pertinent details of the wedding day, and comfy shoes! Fat Max is my Stanley tool kit that has anything and everything that could possibly be needed on the wedding day. I have a smaller crossbody bag that I keep with me that has the most common items needed at almost every wedding; safety pins, scissors, and Band-Aids. 

What’s your personal philosophy on becoming a great wedding and event planner?
It’s all about education, networking, and flexibility. Trends and styles are always changing and it’s so important to keep up to date on what’s happening in the industry. Being connected with others in the industry is the backbone of a wedding planner's service. We can’t help our clients create their dream wedding without knowing how to create their dream wedding team. Finally, even though we all want our timelines and checklists to be executed flawlessly, all good planners need to be prepared to throw all that out the window when things go off plan and stay calm while redirecting.  

What’s your trademark in the client or event experience?
In my first couple of years of business I had the tagline of “Be a guest at your wedding.” While I’ve stopped using that as an official tagline, the feeling or sentiment is still the same. My goal is to always make sure that my clients are able to enjoy the planning process and, of course, be able to enjoy their wedding day!

Is there anything you're particularly excited about working on this year?
I've been working on a new project that'll allow me to extend my reach and share my expertise with more engaged couples, and I’m really excited to bring that to light. It’s been challenging me to get out of my comfort zone, so it’s exciting and scary at the same time.

Want to see more from Kate? Check out her website purplecloverevents.com!