Meet Renee Smith of Atlanta Wedding Events in Greater Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Renee Smith.

Renee, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When COVID 19 appeared with a vengeance, my son and his wife decided to shelter in place with their two children. My son, Chris, works at CHOA and felt it was best for him and his family to remain sheltered in place with the exception of his hospital schedule. I thought about how many of these healthcare workers had families at home and how concerning this was for them to bravely do the job that needed to be done on the front line while trying to keep their families safe on the home front. Like many others, the question became, “what can I do to help”? I felt that these healthcare professionals could perhaps use a meal.

Another friend in my Bunko group had the same idea for a different hospital. We collected some money from our Bunko group and both delivered to two different local Emergency Room hospitals. I thanked the individuals on Facebook and WOW, did it grow from there! Multiple people immediately and generously responded to see what they could also do to help. I reached out to Diane at Dough Rae Me Cookies to see if she might be interested in helping and she more than generously offered to donate her beautiful and delicious cookies to the front line workers. My friend Julie with Unique Floral Expressions, immediately jumped on board as well and donated beautiful floral arrangements for individuals and larger arrangements for common areas in the hospitals. But we still needed substantial food. In the spirit of supporting local businesses, I reached out to several small catering companies but unfortunately, many had to let their employees go due to the COVID 19 shutdown. I then called John at Bradley’s Bar & Grill and couldn’t finish my sentence before he enthusiastically said YES, he was in! My friends Louise and Suzi immediately went to work, making snack baskets for the workers. My friend Lisa, Julie, Susan C, Peggy and Susan T jumped in right away with fundraising efforts that made it all happen.

We were fortunate enough to contact several hospitals in the greater Atlanta area and deliver food, cookies, snacks and flowers to both day and night shift employees. We were met with such gratitude and thankfulness. All the while, we were thanking them, the true heroes! Without the generosity of SO many amazing people, this would not have touched almost 1,000 front line workers. We were honored to be a small part of such brave giants!

While we were un-gathered, we were so passionately and spiritually connected!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Fortunately, it was quite the opposite of struggles. The money continued to pour in and the deliveries became out new job since our businesses were at a standstill.

Please tell us about Atlanta Wedding Events.
I am a wedding planner and couldn’t be more honored and humbled to be chosen for the best day of my bride’s lives!

I truly LOVE what I do and try and treat every single bride as she is my own daughter. We are fortunate enough to work only by referrals. My staff definitely sets me apart! I have the very best team around to make each wedding weekend a success!

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
The wedding business is going to go through many, many changes. It has already started. The future will tell what it will end up like but I believe the days of 350 wedding guests on a dance floor might be gone for a while. What a time to have more intimate weddings, though! Cup half full!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @atlweddingevents
• Facebook: Atlanta Wedding Events

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