Some years back, Elizabeth Felsheim’s roommate asked if she would help plan her wedding. Felsheim, then just out of college, said she always loved planning parties and organizing events, and planning her friend’s wedding sounded “like a lot of fun.”
As others learned about her planning skills, requests for assistance started coming in. “I just had this awesome opportunity to step into these moments with couples and help them plan their big day,” she said.
“Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley recently interviewed Felsheim, owner of Divinely Designed Events since 2018, about helping Catholic couples prepare for one of the biggest days in their lives.
Wedding planning should be fun, Felsheim said. Her goal is to remove stress and offer resources so the couple can “stay focused on enriching their relationship and … just knowing that the day is going to run smoothly, so that they can focus (on) what I think is the most important part, and that’s the sacrament.”
“We don’t want to forget to prepare our souls as we’re planning what the tables are going to look like, or what caterer we’re going to have,” Felsheim said. “So, I really want to give that gift to couples, that they can enter into the sacramental preparation.”
Felsheim, a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace in Edina, said Divinely Designed Events offers help with both elements: the spiritual and the practical. Felsheim said she wants to “hear about their day” and the couple’s “big goals,” but “I always help them to turn things back to the sacrament and to turn things back to the Mass and focus most of the time on that.”
After “this amazing sacrament we’ve just celebrated,” she said, “now we’re going to celebrate with food and with dancing and with speeches and with this gathering of people.”
Felsheim said she plans weddings “in a Catholic context, with brides and grooms that I can walk with and pray for and pray with as we’re preparing for the sacrament.” Rather than get stuck in the culture of wedding trends, she wants to help couples see “what the world’s telling you, and we’re just going to strip that away and focus on what’s the most important.”
Felsheim is now preparing for her own wedding. “It’s so fun to see the person God has called me to marry and meet that person, but then to plan this together and create this opportunity for all of our friends and family to come together and celebrate with us,” Felsheim said.
During the interview, Conley asked Felsheim for tips on being a good wedding guest, and how to encourage and support newly married couples in their life of “following after Jesus.” To hear her response, which also includes faith-related gifts she suggests, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. June 9 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. June 10 and 2 p.m. June 11.
To learn more about Felsheim’s business, visit divinelydesignedevents.com.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Sister Carolyn Puccio, delegate for consecrated life for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who shares memories from her 63 years of religious life; and Dr. Gary and Mary Williams, married for 52 years, and parents of Bishop Joseph Williams, who discuss married life ahead of the annual Archdiocesan Marriage Day June 10, which will include Mass, renewal of vows and a brief reception.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
