Erickson Event Design turns behind-the-scenes planning into memorable gatherings, from milestone birthdays and family celebrations to weddings and intimate events across Kitsap County.
For Loren Erickson, event planning is about much more than creating a beautiful setting.
Walk into the light-filled Bainbridge Island studio she shares with photographer Fiona Margo, and the tables, decorations and carefully chosen details might suggest otherwise. But Erickson says those visible elements are only part of what clients are paying for.
“People think, ‘Oh, pretty decorations and tables and balloons, and it’s just for the pictures,’” she said. “But the best events make everyone feel like they’re seen and they belong, and everyone is at ease. To do that, there’s so much work that happens in the background — a lot of it is invisible, happening behind the scenes for it to feel that way.”
That behind-the-scenes work is at the heart of Erickson Event Design, the boutique planning business she launched in spring 2025.
Erickson brings experience planning large corporate events, a network of local vendors and an understanding of how to make an event feel personal without requiring the host to manage every detail. Her business focuses not only on weddings but on the many other occasions people want to celebrate: milestone birthdays, showers, family gatherings, retirements and other moments that bring people together.
For Erickson, the opportunity was in helping people celebrate those occasions without having to spend the celebration working.
Finding an opportunity
The idea for Erickson Event Design developed gradually.
Erickson had planned her own wedding and her children’s birthday parties, and friends and other parents began encouraging her to turn her organizational skills into a business. At the same time, she noticed a gap in the local market.
“There’s so much focus and opportunity around weddings, but I feel that there are so many other wonderful milestones in life beyond the wedding,” she said.
When she began planning some of those events herself, she found that it could be difficult to find professional help.
“When I was planning some of these things, it was hard to find someone with the capacity to help me, because weddings are just such a large production and folks do have to dedicate their time to that,” she said.
That left room for a planner who could help with everything from a child’s birthday party to a family member’s 80th birthday.
The business initially grew through word of mouth. Her children’s birthdays led to requests from other parents, followed by family events and other celebrations.
“I just started sort of having an unofficial portfolio,” she said, “and then I put actual dedicated branding around it, and thought more about where I could fill in — because there are so many other wonderful planners in the community as well.”
There was no single moment when Erickson knew it was time to launch.
“The timing is never going to feel perfect, but I finally thought, why not?” she said.
From corporate events to family milestones
Erickson’s professional background gave her a foundation for the new business.
She spent much of her career in enterprise technology, producing large-scale corporate events including Dreamforce. Those events required coordinating executive experiences, industry audiences, client programs, vendors and countless logistical details.
That experience now informs how she approaches much smaller gatherings.
“Having come from a corporate event planning background, I was able to learn the ropes in a tech setting of managing all those things behind the scenes, and now I get to apply them to fun life moments,” she said.
One of the biggest differences is the personal connection.
“From a logistics standpoint, yes — you’re not worrying about how you’re going to fit 40,000 people into a conference center,” she said. “But you get closer to the people you’re working for, so there’s a different type of emotional connection. I want a core memory formed, and in that way it feels a lot higher stakes.”
That personal connection is also central to how Erickson describes the value of hiring an event planner.
“The luxury of event planning is being able to give people their presence back,” she said.
Selling time, not just design
Erickson’s clients range roughly from their mid-20s to their 70s, with a clientele that is predominantly women.
Many know what they want their event to feel like but don’t want to handle the logistics required to make it happen.
“Oftentimes it is: I want to gather, I want to have this special moment, but I do not want to be in the weeds of it,” she said. “I have this high-level vision — can you bring it to life for me?”
Others come to her with a much more specific plan and primarily need help executing it.
Either way, Erickson sees the service as a way to take some of the work off the host.
“The invisible load is real, and if I can take some of that off of people’s plates and let them intentionally celebrate and be present in the moment with their loved ones, that’s so rewarding,” she said.
That philosophy carries into how she works with clients on budgets.
Reconciling a client’s vision with what they want to spend is, Erickson said, “always the toughest part.”
Rather than trying to make every element equally elaborate, she works with clients to identify what matters most to them and concentrate the budget there.
For one recent first birthday, for example, family members were traveling from around the country, making photographs particularly important.
“So we focused on making sure there was a really nice backdrop with balloons and a photographer to make sure those family portraits could get captured,” she said.
“It really is usually picking the top few things the client wants to focus in on, and then finding other areas where you don’t have to put as much budget behind.”
The approach begins with getting to know the client.
“It’s really getting to know the person and what matters to them, what they want to feel, and building the event around that,” she said. “People might leave different events with the same type of feeling, but how you got there will be different based on the individual.”
Building the business behind the scenes
For an event planner, relationships with vendors are essential.
“Oh, they’re everything,” Erickson said.
Her network includes caterers, photographers, bakers, rental companies and other event professionals. But knowing vendors is only part of the equation. Erickson has learned which vendors are best suited to particular types of events and client needs.
“Knowing which caterer is the one when you’re doing a kid’s birthday versus a larger-scale wedding, or if you have a lot of dietary restrictions — those might be different people I’m working with,” she said. “Same with photographers: some love doing the family little-kid moments, and others are dedicated to weddings.”
Those relationships become even more important as events become larger or more complicated.
“That’s when you’re lucky to be able to lean into your vendor relationships, because they can own their pieces for the event,” Erickson said. “When you have that trust built, it makes it easier to be more hands off.”
Her knowledge of local vendors has also led to another part of the business: curated guides for people looking for local event resources.
After repeatedly seeing parents ask questions such as where to find a baker or which venue would work for a particular gathering, Erickson began compiling recommendations.
“Now you don’t have to spend hours searching or asking ChatGPT,” she said.
Creating space for smaller celebrations
Erickson’s partnership with Margo is another example of how she is building the business around what she sees as a local need.
Margo’s Studio Margo provides a small, flexible setting, while Erickson brings the event planning and design expertise.
“She has this beautiful space, fantastic location, and I bring in the event expertise and planning,” Erickson said.
The studio can accommodate about 25 people with vendors, offering an alternative to restaurants, recreation halls or larger event venues.
“Many of our gathering venues for smaller groups are a restaurant or a parks and rec hall, which are all great,” Erickson said. “But sometimes for those really special milestone moments, you want something a little more elevated that doesn’t need a full 150-person venue.”
The indoor space also offers a practical advantage in the Pacific Northwest.
“We’ve gotten rain in August,” Erickson said.
Holiday dinner bookings are already coming in, with Erickson handling the setup and teardown so clients can focus on their guests.
“We set it up, we tear down. They just get to enjoy being with their people,” she said.
Erickson sees the interest in smaller gatherings as part of a broader change in how people think about celebrating.
“There is this new wave and trend of gathering more intimately,” she said. “If anything, maybe this stems from COVID and people realizing that belonging and community are really important.”
Her events also take place in private homes and at venues such as Kiana Lodge, depending on the occasion and number of guests.
The process is designed to be consistent: an initial conversation about logistics, guest count and timing; an inspiration mood board; refinement with the client; vendor sourcing; and, finally, setup, on-site management and teardown.
Erickson also maintains her own inventory of rental pieces, allowing her to bring distinctive elements into events without starting from scratch each time.
Looking ahead
Erickson wants to continue growing the company throughout Kitsap County while maintaining the personal approach that shaped its beginnings.
“I’d love to grow into an event brand that’s seen as a go-to resource for gathering in Kitsap County — whether that be an intimate event or a larger-scale wedding — and being a collaborator and bringing the community together,” she said.
The local connection matters to her. Erickson grew up in the area, and building a business here gives her an opportunity to contribute to the community that helped shape her.
“To be able to give back positively to a place that made me who I am feels good,” she said.
Ultimately, though, Erickson’s message is simple: people don’t need a major milestone to justify getting together.
“You don’t need a huge excuse to gather,” she said. “Don’t wait for the big anniversary or the big birthday. Find a random Saturday in September and do a golden hour dinner with your closest friends and family, and make that special. The little ones are worth just as much.”
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