The Wedding and Event Institute is a division of Wedding and Events Training and was founded by Kylie Carlson in 2004.

About Us

Kylie was in the event industry herself for over 15 years and learned from the ground up while living in Chicago. Interning for a small event company her passion was ignited and she spent two years travelling from event to event across America learning from some of the best in the industry. From large colorful productions to small intimate weddings she soaked up every bit of knowledge she could before taking those first tentative steps on her own. She decided it was time to see what the London Event Industry had to offer and that was where she started her own business with very little in her pocket other than a confidence in her abilities.

Her company grew quickly and specialized in themed events, which was still fairly unique back then. Very quickly the need to have an in-house production company to cope with the demand became apparent. With the planning division well and truly established Kylie threw herself into the design side of things with a passion and soon had one of the biggest prop companies in London. With venues such as The Dorchester, The Ritz and Savoy as her clients she was soon designing events for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman during one of their trips to London.

It quickly became obvious to Kylie though that it was America that led the way as far as the events industry was concerned. For her to stay current and on trend she needed to return to America on a regular basis to feed her mind and soul on everything that was weddings and events. And it is this love affair with the American Events Industry that has led her to now spend nearly half of each year in Southern California.

In 2003 Kylie made the decision to sell the business and move to Australia with her new husband where she became the Event Director for Hayman Island, a 5 Star Resort in Tropical Queensland. When this contract came to an end Kylie decided it was time to give something back to the industry that had given her so much. With a wealth of knowledge in planning and design as well as running a highly successful business she identified a need in the wedding and events industry for a dedicated form of education led by industry professionals.

At the time there were many companies and associations offering education within the events industry, but most were not dedicated training companies. They were mainly wedding or event planners also offering training on the side. There wasn’t a place for students to go that offered courses within a dedicated training environment where the students and quality of the course material was the main concern. And that was where WEI came in.
From the very beginning WEI has aligned itself with some fantastic industry professionals to bring you the most comprehensive courses covering every aspect of planning, styling and designing an event whether it be wedding, corporate or social. Knowing that this is only half the battle WEI then put together some partnerships with a fantastic array of business mentors to ensure that once the skills of the trade are learnt as successful business will then follow. WEI are proud to include the fabulous ‘Party Goddess’ herself Marley Majcher as one of the lead mentors.

WEI are active members of both LERN and the United States Distance Learning Association ensuring that the highest standards are achieved in course quality. We also regularly attend many industry events here in America (click here to read more) to continue expansion of our existing knowledgebase and to be inspired by the new and upcoming trends. Brainstorming and networking with industry peers @ the Event Planners Association and WIPA also helps to fill in the gaps.

Add to this a comprehensive suite of planning and design tools, business templates and industry instructors all available to help and support both during and after your course has been completed, and you have a winning formula. We never simply wave goodbye at the end of your journey with WEI. Weddings and Events are our Raison D'être and our students our Pièce de résistance.