Elise Marchetti.

Why a restaurant manager makes a good planner

Ten years of Friday nights in Brooklyn.

I grew up in Kingston, spent a decade managing restaurants in Brooklyn — including opening two — and moved back upriver in 2016. A friend asked me to plan her barn wedding. It went well enough that it became a business the following year.

The studio is named for the two trees at the end of my road. I still run the day with a restaurant manager's clipboard, and I still believe the best parties are the ones where nobody can see the work.

• Kingston, NYGrew up here
• Brooklyn, 2006–2016Restaurant management
• 2017Juniper & Vale
• TodayEighteen weddings a year, one dog

On the day: calm, early, slightly wry, and the first to notice the cake is in the sun.