Senior Event Planner

The Fortunate

Madison (WI)

Hybrid

USD 75,000 - 110,000

Full time

11 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance with employee share

Dental and vision coverage

15 days paid time off

8 paid company holidays

Paid company closure week after New Yr

One paid recovery day

401(k) with 4% employer match

Discretionary annual performance bonus

Job summary

The Fortunate in Wisconsin is seeking a Senior Event Planner to own day-to-day planning for substantial weddings and private events. You will connect planning, client needs, and partner inputs to deliver a well-run experience.

We expect 4–7+ years of substantive planning experience in weddings, hospitality, or high-touch private clients. You will lead complex work independently while collaborating with partners and maintaining high standards.

Qualifications

4–7+ years of substantive wedding/private-event planning experience.
Experience with complex weddings, multi-event weekends, luxury hospitality, destination work, or high-touch private clients is relevant.

Responsibilities

Day-to-day planning for assigned commissions
Master planning calendars and decision schedules
Client meetings, agendas, notes, and follow-through
Event budget administration and tracking
Venue and vendor research
Proposal and contract tracking
Tastings, walkthroughs, appointments, and planning meetings
Guest and hospitality logistics
Vendor communication throughout planning
Identification of unresolved decisions and dependencies
Internal handoff from planning into production
Final planning readiness before event week
Clear, composed client communication when plans change

Skills

Organizational skills

Vendor & venue fluency

Judgment under pressure

Decision-making & recommendations

Meeting leadership

Follow-through

Discretion with client info

Timelines management

Job description

The Senior Event Planner owns the day-to-day planning of substantial weddings and private events from an established scope through event week.

You will be the person who knows where the planning stands, what decision comes next, what the client needs from us, what we need from our partners, and what has to be resolved before the work moves into production.

Dave remains involved in the consequential creative and client decisions. Claire leads visual production. Arjun leads event operations. Your job is to connect those disciplines to an exceptionally well-run client planning experience.

This is not a coordinator position with a more senior title. We are looking for someone capable of independently leading complex planning work and earning the confidence of sophisticated clients and experienced event partners.

What you'll own.

Day-to-day planning for assigned commissions
Master planning calendars and decision schedules
Client meetings, agendas, notes, and follow-through
Event budget administration and tracking
Venue and vendor research
Proposal and contract tracking
Tastings, walkthroughs, appointments, and planning meetings
Guest and hospitality logistics
Vendor communication throughout planning
Identification of unresolved decisions and dependencies
Internal handoff from planning into production
Final planning readiness before event week
Clear, composed client communication when plans change

What you won't own alone.

You will not be expected to be the company's creative director, production department, salesperson, bookkeeper, and event-day crew simultaneously.

The Fortunate is intentionally structured around complementary disciplines. Dave retains overall event direction and principal client leadership. Claire owns visual-production considerations. Arjun owns production architecture and operational execution.

You should know when to make a decision yourself, when to make a recommendation, and when another discipline needs to enter the conversation.

What we're looking for.

We expect the strongest candidates will bring approximately 4–7+ years of substantive wedding, private-event, hospitality, or comparable planning experience. More important than a precise number of years is evidence that you have independently owned complicated work.

Experience with complex weddings, multi-event weekends, luxury hospitality, destination work, or high-touch private clients is particularly relevant.

Sophisticated organization
Vendor and venue fluency
Sound judgment under pressure
The ability to recommend rather than merely present options
Strong meeting leadership
Excellent follow-through
Discretion with private client information
Comfort working with demanding timelines and high expectations

The person who will do well here.

You like clients, but you don't confuse good service with saying yes to everything.

You can explain why something isn't working and offer a better alternative. You understand that being organized means more than maintaining a beautiful spreadsheet. You notice unresolved decisions before they become emergencies.

And when an event arrives, you want the hosts to experience it, not manage it.

Compensation.

In addition: $200 additional compensation per qualifying event day; business mileage reimbursed at the current IRS business mileage rate; $65/day meal and incidental allowance for qualifying travel events; company-provided laptop and phone.

Final compensation within the published range will reflect experience, demonstrated independent ownership, and the scope of responsibility the selected candidate is prepared to assume.

Professional development may include relevant conferences, industry organizations, CMP education, WIPA programming, or other approved development.

Medical insurance with 80% of the employee premium covered by The Fortunate
Dental and vision coverage available
15 days paid time off
8 paid company holidays
Paid company closure week after New Year's
One paid recovery day following qualifying event weekends
401(k) with 4% employer match after 90 days
Discretionary annual performance bonus

Schedule and travel.

This is an events position. Some evenings and weekends are fundamental to the work. Regional travel throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, and surrounding markets should be expected, with additional travel as commissions require.

The planning calendar should be humane and predictable wherever the nature of live events allows it. Event weekends are followed by designated recovery time rather than treating Monday morning as though Saturday never happened.

Success after one year.