Meet Autumn Washington | Wedding Planner & Florist for the Lucillian!

We had the good fortune of connecting with Autumn Washington and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Autumn, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Growing up in Michigan, I was raised in a family that celebrated absolutely everything! Celebrations were hardly ever weather dependent or dependent on the day of the week, or time of year. My family would find any reason to celebrate. Often that meant cooking and inviting over the whole family, extended family and even the neighbors for dinner. My mother was an avid party thrower…. literally, the hostess with the mostest! In fact, she went into labor with me at a Christmas Eve party she was hosting at our home in Detroit. I was born the next day, December 26th!

When I graduated from college, I had earned a degree in Communication & Public Relations and a second degree in Interior Design, but then I was offered a job with The Knot before graduation. And I took it! This opened many doors for me! My tenure with The Knot introduced me to a new world of weddings and wedding planning. Anything from hosting events for Tim Gunn from Project Runway to meeting with Marcy Blum or Jung Lee, planning The Knot Gala– all of it was life changing. And truly, it made me fall head over heels in love with the industry of the ultimate service, planning weddings with the highest touch of design and logistical integrity across the globe.

Lavender by Autumn is a firm that focuses on the forgotten realm of wedding planning, Month of Coordination. But- because after 15 years of experience in wedding planning – we know that “month of coordination”, doesn’t exist. And neither does “Day Of”, frankly – we don’t even mention “Day of Coordination” in my world. So, we’ve coined the term, “Wedding Day Execution”. Lavender by Autumn also offers sustainable floristry. Both avenues of floral design and high touch coordination allow our clients to experience the best of both worlds without having to go over their ideal spend. We believe that there’s a mid-market within the industry of weddings and that market is what we call our “Pottery Barn” brides. Brides who love to host, can afford our offerings, has great design taste, wants to for sure plan their own wedding, – But – has little to zero interest in actually executing their wedding or managing the final production details. We created “Lavender by Autumn”, with them in mind – we consider them our “Pottery Barn” brides.

I’ve been blessed with many opportunities throughout my life. One of my greatest memories to date is getting a DM (IG) from the one and only, Lynn Easton. If you know, you know – Lynn is THEE best wedding planner to grace the earth….yes, I still love Marcy and Jung, but Lynn is my girl! She was kind enough to connect with me, when no one knew who I was. Lynn & I created a friendship only one would dream of. After connecting with Lynn, she encouraged me to create a name brand, Autumn Washington Events. Lynn encouraged me to embrace my name, and Autumn Washington Events was born! Autumn Washington Events, was created for our “Hermes” brides. It is simply is a different planning perspective and offering. Autumn Washington Events offers a planning approach so sophisticated and so directional, only the ultra wealthy 1% of the 1%, would understand and appreciate it. We consider our offering of full service wedding planning to be world class wedding planning!

While Lavender by Autumn focuses on mid market wedding planning in Atlanta, Traverse City, Detroit, New York and London; Autumn Washington Events has no bounds and will travel to the depths of our clients’ highest dreams and most insane locations! Locations that will go unmentioned and weddings that only exist for those in attendance, to the world they will be unknown as most of our clients are incredibly discreet, no photos will ever be published from most of them.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The action of wedding planning is an art!

It’s a true art.

Most planners have developed their signature systems and processes, and we’ve followed suit. I believe I mentioned this already, but we consider ourselves to be “world class wedding planners”, that’s a bold statement, but – we understand the value of our services and we understand that our services are desirable.

I would say everything about our firm, sets us apart from other wedding firms across the globe. Rather it’s our extraordinary design panache or our elite approach to logistics. While many are minimalist, we are not. We believe that more is more! And that means more details and more layers of luxury, at every turn…from the overall guest experience, culinary offerings, entertainment, paper goods, etc.

Growing both firms was not an easy task, at all! I’ve learned to be diligent, I’ve learned to stay really intentional with my walk with Christ, I’ve learned to do the hard things (the things that scare you the most), and I’ve learned to show up! Sometimes showing up is the hardest part! The wedding industry can be incredibly overwhelming if you’re not fully accustomed to “celebrity like” treatment, and networking can be a pain, lol! But – I’ve learned to embrace all of the roses and thorns that comes with the industry of ultra luxury weddings and high touch hospitality.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would invite them to my home here in Atlanta.

My home is my sanctuary!

My partner( “Mr. Billionaire”) and I are currently renovating his childhood home and it’s coming together beautifully. It’s a beautiful home with modern touches and “old” bones. It’s a perfect balance of classic meets modern.

Perfectly positioned for entertaining! We’d began by entertaining our guests at home for wining and dining, playing a round of golf at one of our favorite golf courses, grabbing dinner at Marcel followed by game of tonk or spades back at my home, accompanied by a bottle of my favorite red wine from Caymus Vineyards! Rather than a full week trip, I’d rather only have my guests stay at my home for 2 days, max! As I mentioned earlier, my home is my sanctuary, lol! No one is allowed to stay more than 2 days. But – I’d definitely reserve a suite for them at The Waldorf Astoria and invite them to dinner at Oreatha’s.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Black Golf Television! Battiste Broadus, the founder introduced me to golf. Through the game of golf, I’ve been able to learn life changing skills and valuable lessons. Lessons that allowed our firm to produce a wedding for the Callaway family. (Callaway Golf).

Crystal Blake, the ultimate ride or die!! Crystal is more than a girls’, girl! She’s a badass mom, knows how to handle business and produces events of the highest quality!

Lynn Easton, Lynn introduced me to ultra luxury and invited me into her world of multi-million dollar weddings, and I haven’t looked back.

I love reading! My parents purchased a home with a huge library directly off of our foyer. I use books to prop up my laptop, decorate my home, etc. Literature is a part of my being! A few of my favorites are :

– The Bible
– The Richest Man in Babylon
– Anything written by Mindy Weiss.
– Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

All of these books helped my career, tremendously!

Website: https://lavenderbyautumn.com

Instagram: @lavenderbyautumn

Other: Thank you!