Florist & Planner Panel Discussion from WedWork and CHI thee WED

On June 2, 2026, CHI thee WED partnered with WedWork for a Florist and Planner Panel Discussion at Wildman BT. When it came to our attention that florists in the Chicago wedding industry wanted to connect with wedding planners in a more meaningful way, we jumped at the chance to help facilitate a postive environment for good conversations and open discussion.

It seems that florists and planners, while working together at almost every wedding, have wanted to engage in healthy conversations about how both vendor types can support eachother while also supporting the wedding couples AND still having creative autonomy.

Michelle Vergara, owner of CHI thee WED, acted at the moderator for the event and the panel included three florists and three wedding planners. Having a variety of panelists that work with clients in different capacities on the wedding day (or through the wedding process) was important to us so we tried to create some variety when choosing the panelists and questions throughout the event.

Our florist panelists were Michaela Mantarian of Michaela Mantarian Floral Design Co, Nichole Johnston of XO Design Co and Kate Masiak of The Flower Girl Company. Our wedding planner panelists consisted of Amber Sanders of Events with Ambiance, Jennifer Price of Event Shoppe Chicago and Alison Grossman of Designed and Detailed.

We huge thank you to our amazing sponors for supporting this event and sharing it throughout the Chicago wedding indsutry!