About Us
Alchemy – A Seemingly Magical Process of Transformation or Creation
Alchemy Events is a New Orleans wedding planning and design company led by Rena Sweeney, with 26 years of experience creating weddings and events in NOLA and around the world. From destination weddings and intimate celebrations to large-scale, multi-day multicultural weddings, Alchemy Events brings expertise, global perspective and highly personalized planning to every event.
We specialize exclusively in full-service planning and design — guiding you from the very first vision through the final detail, rather than stepping in only for day-of or month-of coordination.
For 26 years, we’ve designed, planned, and executed weddings, along with nonprofit, corporate, and social events, for clients seeking something truly one-of-a-kind. Whether it’s a classic, elevated look or a non-traditional celebration that pushes the envelope, Alchemy Events produces events unlike any other — often incorporating breathtaking production elements and custom-made installation pieces. We only accept a limited number of clients each year, so every client gets the attention they deserve. Each client also receives a dedicated event website and client portal with checklists, floor plans, design boards, budgeting tools, a guest list manager & more.
Owner Rena Sweeney is an expert in multicultural and belief-specific weddings, including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Assyrian, Celtic, Japanese, and Lebanese ceremonies. She’s equally experienced with LGBTQ+ couples and accommodating specific needs. Her extensive work with nonprofit and corporate events means she understands the unique challenges those organizations face as well.
Rena Sweeney
I’ve been creating exceptional wedding and event experiences in New Orleans and around the world for over two decades. Nothing is more exciting than crafting a magical event that perfectly embodies who my clients are & giving their guests the experience of a lifetime!
I get to know every client intimately, because your day should feel like you — whether that’s an out-of-the-box design or something more traditional with a few unexpected “wow” moments. I want you to dream big; my job is to make it real, and stress-free.
I love working with corporate & nonprofit clients too, my favorites being my partnership with the Humane Society of Louisiana , whose Board of Directors I am on, and Krewe du Pooch, a non-profit Mardi Gras dog parade put on by the city of Mandeville benefiting animal rescue groups.
In recent years, I’ve also served as Creative Director for a wedding magazine covering the southern United States, alongside running Alchemy Events. I host Alchemy Event Academy as well, bringing industry partners together for education, networking, and a beautiful photo shoot during each session.
Events have been my professional life and my passion since the very beginning. I love helping others, and I’d love to help you tell your story as your guests celebrate your unique union. Embrace who you are, and let’s make some magic!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do wedding planners limit how often I can communicate whether it be via phone, email or text? What about after business hours?
Yes, many wedding planners do limit communication. However, at Alchemy Events, the more communication, the better! Our clients are free to contact us as much as you’d like! Additionally, as we work with clients around the world, differences in time zones are often a factor. We also know that clients are often not able to discuss personal matters during the workday so we are flexible to meet our clients needs, whatever they may be.
I’m interested in having an event in New Orleans but don’t live there. Am I able to ship items ahead of time and have you receive them, then ship them back after our event? How do we handle selecting our vendors?
Yes, shipping items is something we handle for our out-of-town clients frequently. When it comes to vendor selection, we are always able to do live video site visits at venues or take you around New Orleans if you’d like to make a trip during your planning process. We will work together to coordinate your schedule with your vendors and once we have that confirmed, our clients typically book their travel. Alternatively, some clients we don’t meet in person until they come into town for their event, so we are comfortable working either way.
Do destination wedding planners charge travel fees?
Travel fees are dependent on location, amount of travel & staffing required for your event. Alchemy Events always tries to avoid charging travel fees, but it is sometimes necessary especially for events we produce outside the United States.
Will an associate wedding planner work with me or the company owner?
Yes! I am personally on-site, hands-on with each event I produce and while I have staff that work alongside me, I am always the lead on each and every event that Alchemy Events produces! I don’t pass you along to an associate planner, show up as you walk down the aisle or leave you in an associate’s hands after the first dance, I am there from start to finish of the planning process and wedding day itself.
How many weddings does a luxury full service wedding planner do in a year?
I am dedicated to giving you the experience of a lifetime! I never book more than one event per weekend or two events per month, ensuring you are my sole focus! Our max is 6-8 events per year.
How do wedding planner payments work?
The industry standard is a 50% payment at the time of booking with the final balance being due a few weeks prior to the event. Payments toward your final balance may be made at any time or set up to automatically process via our private, secure system in the client portal.
Do wedding planners charge less for an elopement or small micro wedding?
No, pricing is based on the quantity of work involved. We have had events for less than 100 guests that have rivaled much larger events in terms of budget, number of vendors, details involved, staffing needed to flip a space, etc. so the number of guests is not always a factor.
How do wedding planners determine their pricing?
According to Minted’s 2019 large scale study, modern couples now spend an average of 528 hours of planning on their wedding! Consider if you are planning something more elaborate or are having a multi-day affair how many more hours it takes. Additionally, full service planners are often putting more detail into it than you might realize. Thus, the commitment involved along with our level & years of expertise are factored into our pricing. Additionally, Alchemy Events gets to know our clients on an intimate level to customize each wedding to the specific couple, so we are also offering a level of service not provided by most others in our field. With all of this in mind, we offer a free phone consultation to each potential client to get an idea of the level of service that will be involved & then send you a customized proposal as a starting point. Most couples should expect to pay around 10-15% of their budget on planning & design services industry-wide. Given my 26 years of experience, Alchemy Events’ planning & design fee is 15% of your overall budget. Considering that you are paying someone to work for you for a year or more, entrusting your budget, emotions & every aspect of one of the largest investments you’ll ever make in your life, it’s an investment worth taking seriously!
How much does an Indian wedding cost?
There have not been any large scale studies on South Asian wedding costs in the United States, however vendors typically report couples spending $100,000 – $300,000 nationally. In our experience, Indian weddings in New Orleans typically have a starting price of $150,000 with luxury multi-day large guest count weddings easily topping $1 million dollars. The number of events, days and guests all factor into how much it costs. Things that many Desi couples opt to include like paying for guest rooms, transportation, hospitality suites & outside catering fees are typically things that increase the budget.
What vendors do Indian weddings in New Orleans?
While we have thriving Desi and Middle Eastern communities, we unfortunately are not able to source all of our Indian or other multicultural wedding vendors locally. We have many catering options, however, we often bring in vendors from out of state to handle entertainment such as DJ’s, dhol, tabla, dabke or other dance groups and culturally specific decor items.
Do you plan weddings that combine multicultural or religious traditions?
Yes, we are the premier experts in planning multicultural weddings, especially in New Orleans. Most of our clients come to us with that in mind. We have worked with couples who had Jewish-Christian, Muslim-Hindu, Jain-Catholic and many other multicultural and religious combinations.
Do you plan weddings in Europe?
Yes, Alchemy Events plans weddings worldwide, with our specialty being central Europe in areas including Prague, Czech Republic as well as France, Poland, Austria, Germany, Iceland, Ireland and England. We currently split our time between the United States and Prague.
What is the best wedding venue in New Orleans?
The best wedding venue in New Orleans depends on your guest count and other factors such as budget and programming. Having a fully seated dinner with food stations, photo booth or other activities as well as a dance floor, stage and other elements takes considerably more space than a traditional New Orleans reception which only has seating for 30% of the guest list. Some of our clients favorite venues include the New Orleans Museum of Art, Race & Religious and the Pharmacy Museum. For large scale Indian weddings at a hotel, our clients favorite choices are typically the Four Seasons or the Hilton Riverside.
What is the best time of year to get married in New Orleans?
The most popular times to get married in New Orleans are March and October simply due to the beautiful weather. The months surrounding those times are also popular, with summer weddings typically needing to primarily happen indoors due to the heat.
Do you plan micro weddings and elopements or only full scale weddings?
Yes, Alchemy Events plans weddings of all sizes. While we do have a minimum spend, we have had the pleasure of working with incredible weddings and elopements that were small scale. In fact, those have been some of our favorites because the level of detail you can execute for 35 people is vastly different than for 400 people. Brides may come to us with an idea they saw online or on Pinterest and it isn’t always feasible to execute for large scale guestlists without exceptional expense. Thus, a small guestlist sometimes allows for luxury wedding experience that you may not have been able to provide to a larger group of guests.