Pepperdine alumna Kristin Banta dedicated her adult life to helping couples make the most important day of their lives unique. Banta has taken her wedding planning profession to a new level with a recent foray into television.
On Valentine’s Day, Banta starred in “The Ring Leader,” a TV special on Bravo about how she helps a couple bring their dreams to life. The TV special showcased Banta’s out-of-the-box style. She seeks out inspiring factors that will distinguish couples’ weddings from the norm. “I want to show the less traditional point of view. That is what the show is all about. I want to share the less traditional, artistic and unique side. That is what represents my brand,” Banta said.
Banta hopes the TV special will be turned into a series.
Banta said she finds wedding planning beautiful and enjoyable. “I love to be behind the scene and enjoy watching the events develop and the space transform. I look toward surprise and like to keep the guests guessing,” she said. She constantly looks for something special for each wedding, be it an unexpected venue, an extra tall wedding cake or a different texture or feeling to fit the happy couple.
Banta didn’t always want to be a wedding planner. Graduating from Seaver College in 1994, she majored in theatre arts and worked on stage and behind the scenes. She understood lighting and the art of making a venue beautiful. She planned on working behind the scenes for the music world until someone suggested she should plan a wedding. Using these aesthetic and event-planning skills, the first wedding that she planned became a success. “If I feel like I don’t connect with traditional weddings; I can’t be the only person,” Banta said.
With that idea in mind, the Kristin Banta brand started.
The life of a wedding planner isn’t what the movies always show. “There is no typical day,” Banta said. Each day, Banta and her staff are crafting a vision with clients, location scouting or pouring over color swatches and fabric samples. Sometimes what is supposed to be planned for a day gets completely thrown out and the new “plan” is completely spontaneous. Banta emphasized the amount of work goes into PR and advertising as well. The Kristin Banta brand is constantly submitting weddings to publications. The brand needs to share the image that they have for weddings out to the public.
Banta recognized that oftentimes, couples get too caught up in the wedding and not enough in the marriage. She advised future brides and grooms to keep the deeper meaning of the wedding in mind. “Whatever age, it is important to know who you are. This celebration is rooted in something much greater. Uphold in the greatest sense the idea of marriage and what it represents.”
