Luxury isn't found in extravagance. It's found in intention.
Meet the Founder
My love for this industry started at our kitchen table; helping my mom plan our annual cookie swaps and Halloween bashes, and on the couch watching Say Yes to the Dress and Martha Stewart together every weekend.
UVA didn't have a hospitality program, I found my way into the industry sideways. A retail job introduced me to the daughter of a Charlottesville wedding planner who was growing her team, and I jumped at the chance to work wedding days with her across Charlottesville and Central Virginia. As a bridal attendant, I worked closely with brides, bridal parties, photographers, makeup artists, and videographers, making sure everyone felt happy, comfortable, and taken care of. That's where I first learned what unreasonable hospitality really means, and the weight of being trusted with someone's dream day.
After finishing my master's in education, I moved to Northern Virginia to teach, but I kept driving back to Charlottesville nearly every weekend to keep working weddings. Eventually the pull became impossible to ignore. I left teaching to go all-in on the industry I'd loved since I was a kid, which led me to Purple Onion Catering, where I spent four years as a Senior Event Designer, planning weddings and luxury events at some of the region's most premier venues.
Working within catering sharpened everything I do: how to design a space that actually functions for the day you've envisioned, how logistics and hospitality have to work in lockstep, and how to anticipate the hundred small things that make a celebration feel effortless. Additionally, it gave me the opportunity to work alongside nearly every kind of planner and vendor in this industry. I've seen what genuine care for a client looks like, and I've seen what it looks like when that care is missing. I built Riegle Events around never letting a client feel like the latter.
What I wanted, in the end, was something smaller and more personal: a planning experience where you're not one of over a hundred clients on my calendar, but the only client I'm thinking about that week. That's why I started Riegle Events.
My Philosophy
My approach comes down to three things:
Hospitality first- From our very first conversation to your last dance, I want every interaction with me to feel warm, thoughtful, and easy, because that's exactly how your wedding day should feel too.
Intentional design- Every decision is guided by your story, not a template. What matters to your guests, what matters to you, and what you want people to remember.
Collaborative leadership- I help curate a vendor team that communicates openly and works together seamlessly, so nothing falls through the cracks and no one is guessing what anyone else is doing.
When I'm not deep in a seating chart or at a design meeting, you can find me hiking with my dog, Maxine, or cooking for my friends and family.
"Phoebe really took the time to listen to us during our meetings and make sure our day was ours."
— Bethany & Sam