Our Story
Cygnet Events and Design is a luxury wedding planning and design firm based in Chicago and the North Shore. Founded in 2012, we are firmly established as top wedding planners due to our high standards in taste, organization and communication.
Cygnet Events and Design focuses exclusively on weddings and wedding-adjacent events. We adore wedding planning and understand the demand for excellence and focus that our work entails. We are based in both Chicago and the North Shore, and we also excel at destination wedding planning.
With an experienced, passionate team of planners and designers in house, there is no event that is too large or too small. We love a challenge: give us your tented weddings, your multi-day events, your international elopements, your blended cultures, your avant-garde designs and your elegant restaurant gatherings. Every single event we plan has our signature touch of warmth and creativity, always with client and guest needs at top of mind. Flawless execution isn’t just the goal but the standard: our lead planners are present for every moment of your day before you arrive and long after the music stops. More than that, we are there for you as soon as we become your planning partners.
Cygnet’s dream couple one who takes risks; who doesn’t fixate on tradition or trend; who wants to make the most of their budget whatever the size; and who values creative collaboration with their planner. More than anything, a Cygnet couple is a couple who wants to host the celebration of a lifetime.
We hope you will reach out to tell us about your vision and learn more about how we can help you bring it to life. Our thorough, proprietary approach is informed by decades of collective experience and there is nothing else like it.
Event Design
with a purpose
Cygnet Events and Design is a mission-driven company that proudly supports conservation and animal rescue, along with a broader social justice platform. Since our inception we have been members of the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance, serving as board members and always striving to put the “chic” in eco-chic. We are One Tail at a Time and CRISP animal rescue monthly donors, and we also support with in-kind donations. We have even fostered several animals in our studio!
ORGANIZATIONS WE SUPPORT
AT THE TOP OF OUR FIELD
Our team has expertly planned hundreds of weddings. We are culturally competent, LGBTQ+-affirming, and ready to celebrate the uniqueness of each couple. Moreover, we are excellent at what we do. We know how to make a tented event on a hot day feel like a cool breeze. We know how to seamlessly blend cultures. We know how to win over the most traditional guest at the most nontraditional wedding. We’d love to show you what we can do for you.
meet the Team
Kate Reavey
Owner and Lead Planner
Kate founded the company in 2012 as a way to channel her love of design and her extensive hospitality background into something that would bring joy to others.
Both a big picture thinker and obsessively detail-oriented, she loves working with clients to figure out their needs and realize the vision for their events from start to finish. She thinks even the most minor details are exciting and loves figuring out event logistics. Clients and families consistently praise her organization, taste level, communication and ability to take charge of any situation. Kate eats, sleeps and breathes weddings; she feels lucky to be able to do what she loves for a living and she treasures the lasting relationships she builds with her couples.
A west suburban native who lived in Chicago for over 15 years before moving to the North Shore, Kate is intimately familiar with the entire Chicagoland area. She frequently travels to the East Coast and France, and has a strong working knowledge of the wedding industry in those areas as well as other popular destinations. When she isn’t working, she enjoys traveling, scuba diving, thrifting, fostering and volunteering with animals, and restoring her Tudor home. She can usually be found at home with her family and rescue dogs Hoagie and Lambchop.
kate@cygneteventsanddesign.com
(312) 504-1478
stephanie gibbs
Event consultant
Stephanie is an experienced events veteran, having produced over 400 weddings during her career.
Stephanie is a highly organized, detailed and driven planner who expertly produces every event. Prior to joining Cygnet, Stephanie led a high-volume, luxury wedding catering company and worked alongside a partner planner to establish herself as one of the top event producers in her competitive niche. Stephanie’s passion for weddings and design–along with her hospitality background–shines through in every wedding she plans. Her couples often praise her relentless work ethic and ability to leave no stone unturned. When Stephanie isn’t working, she enjoys vintage shopping, cooking from scratch, dancing and writing.
AMINAH BAZZELL-SMITH
COORDINATOR
Aminah is an experienced, compassionate event planner with some serious design credentials.
Aminah has been planning weddings in Chicago for nearly a decade, and first began working with Cygnet in her role as an event florist at renowned floral studio Asrai Garden. Her creative writing background results in impeccable communication of even the smallest details. Currently engaged, Aminah is planning her own wedding and she puts that same care and enthusiasm toward each and every couple she serves. Aminah is known for her kindness, organization and creativity; she loves helping Cygnet couples plan and execute their perfect day! When Aminah isn’t working, she loves pursuing her passion for beauty and aesthetics, caring for plants, watching reality TV and hanging with her cats Billie Holiday and Eartha Kitt.
Veasna Kim
COORDINATOR
Veasna is a wedding wizard, having spent 10 years in the Chicago special events industry.
A Public Relations and Hospitality Leadership major at DePaul, she applies that organizational and leadership knowledge to each event she manages. Veasna’s calm, collected presence is exactly what a couple needs on their wedding day, and she rallies vendor teams to deliver flawless results. Veasna’s favorite part of a wedding is when the couple gets a chance to relax and let loose once the formalities have wrapped up!
TAYLOR BURKE
COORDINATOR
Taylor is a couple’s dream come true. She is a triple threat, having worked not only as a wedding planner but a venue manager and corporate planner.
Taylor joined the Cygnet team in 2021, meeting the challenge of the post-pandemic reopening head on. Prior to that, she managed and planned events for a busy venue in her native Kansas City. Organization and communication are her strong suits, and she loves the opportunity to connect with couples and vendors as the big day approaches. Taylor loves building a personal relationship with her couples and advocating for them every step of the way. On wedding days, she can be found triple checking every detail and making sure that everyone in the wedding party and family know exactly what to do.
