It all started in July 2001, when Jung Lee, a real estate project manager, and Josh Brooks, a marketing manager for a dot-com, got hitched at The Metropolitan Club in Manhattan. Lee, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, couldn’t find a wedding planner she was happy with, and ended up orchestrating the event herself. Less than a year later, the couple quit their day jobs and launched Fete.
Today they’re among the city’s premiere wedding planners, producing 15 to 20 lavish events each year, with an average budget of $250,000. We caught up with the 33-year-old Korean-born entrepreneur in her Park Avenue office to talk about table settings, working with her husband and her least favorite wedding tradition.
At what point did you think to yourself, “There’s a real business here?”
When I started looking at planners for my own wedding and couldn’t find anyone I could relate to. Many of the women I met were much older, and most of them weren’t even married. I knew if I felt that way there were other brides out there feeling the same way.
How did you persuade your husband, who dreaded picking out china patterns, to start a wedding business?
He recognized that we’d stumbled upon a viable business. A wedding is your ultimate last supper, if you will. It’s how people will remember you, and yet it was such a mom-and-pop industry. We both wondered why it wasn’t being done better.
What’s it like working with your husband?
People always say, “How could you possibly work with your husband?” but I couldn’t be doing this if Josh weren’t my partner, because it’s so intense. I rarely see him day to day, so it’s when we’re home, face-to-face, that we can talk about what we thought about this event and that band, and how we might make it better next time.
Do you ever get frustrated with each other?
He gets frustrated with me. We’re both business people, but the way we do business is a little different. He’s a Wharton MBA, so he thinks strategy, whereas I’m more creative. I decide what the flowers are going to look like, what the ceremony space is going to look like. Yesterday I did a walk-through at the Chelsea Art Museum for a wedding we’re doing and he calls me and says, “You’ve been there for 3½ hours. What’s the problem?” For him it’s like, you see the space, you get it. But for me, I have to be there walking around with my measuring tape, trying to feel out how the space is going to work.
What’s a typical workday like for you?
It’s a host of things. I might spend part of my morning designing a “save the date” card, or I could be looking at fabrics for tablecloths. I might have a meeting to talk about music for the ceremony, or a tasting where I’ll talk about different wines for each course. Every day is different.
How do you begin working with each couple?
I start by finding out everything I can about them. I want to know things like, where do you go on vacation, what are your favorite restaurants, how is your apartment decorated, what kinds of things do you like to do together – even your family background. It gives me a feel for who the couple is. Once we’ve decided on the space and the date, I’ll make a collage of my ideas, almost like a storyboard of fabric swatches and tear sheets – anything I think will help tell this couple’s story. From that point on, the creative process begins.
Where do you get your wedding ideas?
I have a journal, so I’m constantly sketching things. I also flip through magazines – not wedding magazines, but typically interior magazines, architectural magazines and art books.
What’s your biggest wedding pet peeve?
The bouquet toss. I just think if you’re in your late 20s or mid-30s and you ask all of your single friends to go out in the middle of the dance floor to try and catch the bouquet – well, it’s just not the nicest thing to do.