I once volunteered to throw my best friend’s wedding at my apartment. It’ll be small, she promised. Very DIY, she vowed. You will barely notice that we’re here, she swore. Confidently, I told my husband Andrew that I probably wouldn’t even need to take a day off from work.
“I’ll just grab some flowers from the flower market the morning of. I think the rest is being handled,” I remarked casually over dinner. He sighed. I’m always fearless. He is always right.
As the Amazon and Etsy boxes piled up in my living room, Andrew watched me with smug eyes over his laptop, saying nothing. “It’s going to be great!” I insisted. “Just a few rentals, we just need to move all of our furniture out, just for a few days.”
Cut to the morning of—I’m on a 10 foot ladder, dangling over our balcony on the East River, installing a bespoke floral arch on the rented pipe and drape, while trying to figure out why the catering has been delivered to the wrong address. Andrew was there to hand me floral shears and a Blood Mary. He knew an “I told you so” was de trop at this point. The wedding was amazing. I was exhausted.
I’m Brenna Gilbert, your cruise director. I throw events for a living. I’ve spent the last 20 years traveling the world, planning events and unreal brand experiences in 15 countries across 4 continents— bringing brands to life for customers in wild and immersive ways. Why was it hard to bring 40 people together in my apartment?
Between coordinating one-off vendors, Etsy purchases from Latvia, opening 1,000,000 Amazon candles in shrink wrapped plastic, there had to be a better way. I was tired of how expensive it was, how shabby the offer is (have you been to a baby shower lately), and how time consuming it can be to throw an event if you don’t have the resources of a global event planner behind you.
That’s why we launched Feste. We want to bring the joy, ease, and je ne sais quoi of great hosting to all our guests, because getting together should be fun.
Our shop and lovefeste.com help our guests do more than set a beautiful table. Because for us, it’s about the feeling, the attitude, the vibe. It’s all about setting the scene. We create that multi-sensory je ne sais quoi, from what’s in the glass to the rules of the game, through curated tabletop, hand-picked vintage, perfect gifts, and amazing finds you won't find anywhere else. And with a family of great hosts at the heart of the brand, we’re always eager to lend a helping hand.
Love, Brenna & Andrew
