Emily Sullivan
Lead Planner
Emily Sullivan is the owner and visionary behind Emily Sullivan Events, a boutique wedding planning firm rooted in New Orleans and serving the South. With nearly two decades of experience, she is known for creating celebrations that feel personal, intentional and seamlessly executed.
Hospitality is at the heart of everything she does. Whether she’s planning a wedding weekend or gathering friends around a table, Emily believes the most meaningful moments happen when people feel cared for and completely at ease. That same philosophy carries through her work—guiding clients with clarity, anticipating needs before they arise, and ensuring every detail feels thoughtful.
Since founding her business in 2006, Emily has become a trusted name in the industry, known for her calm presence, strong relationships with vendors, and ability to navigate even the most complex logistics with ease. Her experience has also led her to educate and speak within the industry, including engagements with NACE, Wedding MBA, ILEA, Catersource, and The Special Event. She has been recognized as one of BizBash’s Top 500 Most Influential Event Professionals in the United States.
At this stage in her career, Emily is intentional about the weddings she takes on—focusing on clients she connects with and celebrations that feel genuine and lasting.
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Outside of work, she spends her time traveling with her two sons, Lake and Taylor, working their way through all 50 states together and spending time at her tiny house in the country.
Likes: Dislikes:
Dim Sum Pity Parties
Coffee Watermelon
The Beach Cancer
Getting up Early
Uptown Parades
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Chelle (pronounced Shelly) is a long time member of the ESC Team. She assists the team on multiple items throughout planning including hotel management and securing permits. She also oversees many of the day-to-day operations in the office and makes sure that our teams are prepared on site for each event. Chelle is super crafty and makes umbrellas, cake pulls, etc for many ESE clients.
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Chelle is also an accomplished vocalist and has performed with many bands throughout the city in the last 20 years. She loves the city of New Orleans and its traditions, food and music. One of her fondest memories is reigning as Empress XVI of the Krewe of Caesar in 1995.
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Likes: Dislikes:
Chocolate Oysters
Wedding Cake Cleaning House
Saints Football Snakes
Cooking
My cats
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Chelle Maxwell, Head of Operations/Asst. Wedding Planner
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"Emily and her team are bananas. The very concept of how they approach weddings is unbelievable. From the decor to having everything on time, it's remarkable how these people are still with their heads on straight. A fantastic team to work with that only produces high quality!"
- Jorge (Cinematographer)
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"Emily is absolutely AMAZING! I feel like there is nothing she can't do! She makes you feel like you're the only bride she's working with and always makes herself available if you need her. She knows what she's doing and she will be 100% honest with you about it all. She definitely becomes more than a planner to you and makes you feel extremely comfortable to go to her with just about anything. I really could not say anything negative about my experience with Emily and if weddings were a regular thing, I would most definitely be working with her for all them!"
-Rachel (Bride)
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"As a business owner it is such a pleasure to work with Emily Sullivan Events. Emily and her team understand that as coordinators you have to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people. They do an incredible job of being what people need at the appropriate time. Inevitably something is bound to go wrong, but Emily and her team always finds a way to not only solve the problem but make it look like there was never anything wrong in the first place. She takes a common sense approach to events where everything that’s planned or coordinated “makes sense” in a way that leaves you wondering why people do things any other way. I can’t stress enough how this takes the pressure off of both vendor partners as well as the clients themselves. ESE is truly one of the best of the business hands down."
- James (Musician)