Conversations with Heather Van Halen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Van Halen.

Hi Heather, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started Van Halen Events officially in 2016. I am the appitamey of the bride who got married and made a career out of it. I did not know this industry existed until I got married!
My first wedding landed on my lap when I dabbled on the side doing wedding hair and a 2016 bride hired me to do her wedding hair. She was struggling with the planning so offered to switch roles. I became the planner and she hired someone else to do her hair!
I was referral base only for about 6 years. I did 5-10 weddings a year during that time. Had my two kiddos and stayed home with them full time, while just taking a few weddings here and there!

Enter 2024 – I got my website up in 2023 and was gearing up to give the full time gig a shot. I planned for 2024 to still be a slow year. I went into 2024 with 4 events, figuring id book the few more I usually did. My son had one more year of Pre school – I said I would wait till he was in Kindergarten before going full time. January 2024 I did my first wedding of that year and by the close of 2024 I did 34 events! It was a rapid growth and as the booking came in February – April I jumped all the way in and said let’s do this!!
In 2025 we did just over 50 events. My team grew from me and my husband to a team of 8!
We started only doing weddings and in 2025 we grew to corporate! Exploring the corporate world brought us amazing clients! From Hospitals, Car Rallies, Award Ceremonies and Non profits!
We went from mostly event management to full design and full planning! Add in my love for working with my hands and designing things – we added our custom fabrication side of the company as well!
It’s been a crazy 2 years since going full time and we are excited to see where 2026 takes us!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Most defiantly has not been a smooth ride! Imposter syndrome comes knocking everyday! Growing pains when you’re the owner of the company is hard! Adapting to needs of so many clients and industry needs is hard! Always wondering if you’re doing it right or if the risk is worth the reward!
It’s paid off so far and I’ve always just tried to stay true myself and my team!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an event planner and designer!
We provide custom experiences to make each event for our client truly their own! We design, plan and execute everything from a single day event to multi day events! From lower guests counts of 400 to higher guests counts of over 500.
What are we known for….. I think people would say we are known for thinking outside the box. Always trying to push the boundaries when we can. And always having a damn good time!!
We are always most proud that vendors enjoy working with us and they refer us to their clients. This industry is filled with so many people – relationships are a huge part of this industry! So we are always proud of when someone has a good time working with us!

I can’t say what sets apart from others – we just do our thing! We are really authentic, transparent, direct(sometimes to blunt) but we attract clients that really rely on our expertise and lean into that with full trust. We don’t take that lightly and hold that to the highest standard!
Id say our super charming personalities set us apart! That good time we always promise doesn’t hurt either!

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Yikes! there are a lot!
I don’t think I can think of just one! We did a lot of camping growing up! A lot of trips to Vegas! Played a lot of basketball!
My dad always went BIG for the holidays! 4th of July – we had the best firework display! Christmas – Our house was always in the newspaper. Halloween – all the black lights and fog machines with the COOLEST troll mask!
I could probably blame him for my need to always go big or go home!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://VanHalenEvents.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanhalenevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HVanHalenEvents/

Image Credits
Table Setting pictures & Heather Photo – Nick Neumann Photo
Sports Picture – MSW Photos
Aston Martin – taken by me