Cathleen Holloway of Holloway Events
Cathleen Holloway of Holloway Events, a Houston-based luxury wedding planner and designer, joins Kevin Cochran on the Texas Wedding Podcast to talk about the wedding that started it all, the highs and lows of running a full-service planning business, and what it's actually like behind the scenes on a Texas wedding day.
Cathleen founded Holloway Events in 2018 after her own wedding, a black tie garden party at the Houston Zoo, was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. She and Kevin get into what clients never see: the frantic vendor emails, the diplomacy of managing a room full of type-A personalities, and the destination wedding in Zermatt, Switzerland where her team had to carry a truckload of china down a mountain because vehicles weren't allowed into town. They also cover a FedEx standoff in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, hot takes on content creators and NDA weddings, and what it's like running a growing business with four daughters, all five and under.
Follow Cathleen and Holloway Events on Instagram, and hear more about the Texas wedding market on the Texas Wedding Podcast.
Cathleen's shout out this episode goes to Gracie Byrd Jones, an Austin-based photographer who has her own episode of the podcast.
The Texas Wedding Podcast is hosted by Kevin Cochran of 718 Creative, a Texas wedding videographer.
Full Transcript (condensed)
Meet Cathleen Holloway of Holloway Events
Kevin: For anyone listening, can you introduce yourself?
Cathleen Holloway: I am Cathleen, or Kat, Holloway, and I'm the founder of Holloway Events.
Kevin: Do you have other nicknames besides Kat?
Cathleen Holloway: It's Cathleen or Kat, but it is not Katherine and it is not Kathy. I don't appreciate when people get your name wrong, especially in an email, when it's right there. If you're a vendor and you get my name wrong in an email, that's strike one. You've got a big hill to climb after that.
Kevin: If you're getting my name wrong in an email, why would I trust you with anything about my wedding?
Cathleen Holloway: Exactly. Or my clients. You don't get to talk to them if you get their name wrong, because I can't trust you with theirs either.
From Bridal Salon to Martha Stewart Weddings
Cathleen Holloway: I've loved weddings since I was nine. My fourth grade teacher invited me to her wedding on July 3rd, 1998, and I still remember it, butterfly clips in my hair, a dress from the children's collection at a store in Houston. I started collecting every Martha Stewart Weddings magazine after that, and then hid them in high school and college so boyfriends wouldn't think I was planning our wedding, which I secretly was.
I was working at a bridal store, on track to buy it from the founder, when my husband Winston pointed out we were basically two ships passing in the night with our schedules. Around the same time, brides kept telling me I should plan their weddings, while I was busy planning my own. Then Martha Stewart said yes, our wedding was going to be published. Right as we got the photos back, we got the approval, and another bride walked into the store and asked me to plan hers. I went home and told Winston I kind of wanted to. He said he'd always thought I should be a wedding planner.
So two weeks before my 30th birthday, I gave two weeks notice, which in hindsight, now that I'm a business owner, was pretty rough of me. I didn't want to still be working in retail once I turned 30. That's how Holloway Events started, all word of mouth, no advertising, eight or nine years ago now.
Building a Team That Doesn't Repeat Itself
Cathleen Holloway: I think a lot of planners in this market love the same florist, the same three photographers, and their weddings start to look repetitive because of it. When I was planning my own wedding, I wanted it to feel like Kathleen and Winston's wedding. Now I want every client's wedding to feel like a reflection of them. I don't call the same videographer every single time, even though it might be easier. Building the right team for each couple matters more than convenience, because everyone on site needs to actually like working with each other, or the day isn't fun for anyone, including the vendors.
What Clients Never See
Cathleen Holloway: We fight for our clients constantly, chasing vendors who aren't glued to a desk the way an attorney or accountant would be. We're sending the correct proposal after 87 emails where the vendor got it wrong, and we're never going to throw a vendor under the bus to the client. Planners are like a swan on the surface of the water, completely calm, and underneath, paddling like crazy. That's the job, making it look effortless when it isn't.
The Switzerland China Crisis
Cathleen Holloway: We were doing a wedding in Zermatt, Switzerland, a town that doesn't allow vehicles inside the city limits. We had this beautiful china flown in from London, and we couldn't get the U-Haul truck carrying it into town. My team ended up hiking down the mountain to the welcome lunch, got lost, and nearly rolled down the hillside trying to get the china there. Meanwhile I was walking with the bride, six months pregnant, getting texts from my team that they had no idea where they were, and the bride just asked if everything was okay. I told her everything was great, just checking in with the team. It all worked out, but that's the job, it's not always hearts and flowers, we just make it look like it is.
The Steamboat Springs FedEx Standoff
Cathleen Holloway: We had a wedding in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with a big decor piece, this large sphere, shipped in ahead of time. FedEx said it had already been delivered. It hadn't. We were banging on the FedEx door in town trying to track it down two days before the wedding. Thankfully it turned up in time. You plan for as much as you can, but you can't plan for FedEx losing your decor, so you're just praying at that point.
Hot Take: Content Creators at Weddings
Cathleen Holloway: My hot take is that I don't like content creators at weddings. It's not that they don't do good work, but I think a wedding should feel more sentimental than a TikTok, and we are hiring 718 Creative and an amazing photographer already. There are moments in life you should have to wait for, and I think this is one of them.
Kevin: Mine's more lukewarm. The really good content creators are incredible, I want them at every wedding. But a bad one alongside your other vendors will absolutely ruin shots and slow everything down. I think there are just too many content creators right now, and not all of them are good.
Hot Take: NDA Weddings Are More Fun
Kevin: My hot take is that NDA weddings are more fun.
Cathleen Holloway: That hurts. It hurts for planners because we're so proud of the work we do, and we want to shout it from the rooftops.
How the Business Grows
Cathleen Holloway: It's roughly a 60-40 split. About 60 percent is people asking who the top planners are and us being on that list. The other 40 percent is someone who went to a wedding we planned and loved it, even if we don't know them personally yet.
Saying Goodbye to Clients
Cathleen Holloway: Once the wedding's over, that's it, the relationship ends. It feels oddly like a breakup, even when it ends well. We spend 12 to 18 months getting as close to a couple as a therapist would, and then it's abruptly over and they're off on their honeymoon.
Motherhood and Four Girls, Five and Under
Cathleen Holloway: I have a five-year-old, a three-year-old, a two-year-old, and a three-month-old, and I still do weddings. My five-year-old told someone recently that mom's a yeller, in the middle of all our Christmas magic. I'm a yeller in my personal life, so that tracks. You have to raise your volume to be heard in a house with four girls that age. The high highs and low lows of this job are honestly a little addictive, I can't imagine going back to something like accounting after this.
The Shout Out
Cathleen Holloway: My shout out goes to Gracie Byrd Jones. She's a photographer based in Austin who travels anywhere, and she's a ray of sunshine. Her work is heirloom quality, not what you'd expect given how easy and kind she is to work with. She doesn't get in your way on a wedding day, and there's nobody else quite like her in this market.
Kevin: Mine goes to Lucy Struve. I know roughly how a photographer's work is going to turn out before I even see it, but Lucy still surprises me every time. She operates on a really high level.
Connect with Cathleen Holloway Events: https://hollowayevents.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollowayevents
Connect with Kevin // 718 Creative https://718creative.com | https://www.instagram.com/718.creative
Connect with the Podcast https://www.texasweddingpodcast.com | https://www.instagram.com/texasweddingpodcast
