New Partnership Spotlight: Sammy Larkin with Ackin Events
We’re excited to share our new partnership that has bloomed with Sammy Larkin, the Owner of Ackin Events
a little bit about ackin events
“Ackin Events is a Minnesota wedding planning company built for a specific kind of couple: the ones who already think in details. We work with Type-A clients across the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota who know what they want, or can get there fast when given the right options, and who need a planning partner who matches that energy instead of asking them to relax and hand it all over.”
Sammy Larkin
Owner & Lead Event Planner
what makes Ackin Events’ approach to wedding planning unique?
“That's really the difference. Most planners promise to simplify things for you. We don't. We go further than you already have. Whether a couple books Full Service Planning, Partial Planning, or Wedding Management, every one of our final four months looks the same: a details meeting, a timeline meeting, a decor walkthrough item by item, an in-person venue walkthrough, and a final check the week before. For our Wedding Management clients, that four-month window is also when we begin working with them entirely, well ahead of the six-to-eight-week window most planners offer for a comparable package. No matter which tier a couple starts with, the standard is the same: your only job on wedding day is to get married.”
what inspired sammy to start ackin events?
“Honestly, I never set out to be a wedding planner specifically. I wanted to work in events, whether that be sports organizations, parks and rec, or corporate events. I applied over and over and none of it worked out. Meanwhile I was doing weddings for friends and family as favors, just to take stress off people I cared about, and I loved every one of them. I just hadn't put together yet that this could be the job.
The moment that actually started Ackin Events was a rejection. I made it to the final round for an event coordinator role at my own mom's company, and I didn't get it. That one stung enough for both of us that I went home and built the website that day. It wasn't a calm, calculated business plan. It was closer to "fine, if nobody's going to give me a job doing this, I'll do it myself." The path into it wasn't the one I expected, but the evidence, and the love, had been there the whole time.”
When sammy is not brining wedding visions to life, you can find her …
“Mostly I'm chasing my husband and daughter around. We're big on recreational leagues as a family: bowling, softball in the summer, bags in there too. And if you ever need a tiebreaker on our next vacation, it's Disney. Every time.”
What’s sammy’s go-to hype song?
“Honestly, anything with a good beat will do it. Lately it's "Bittersweet" by Issy Cross, the Tiësto Hardcore Remix. That one goes on and I'm instantly ready to go.”
hot take: what’s one wedding song that’s officially overplayed?
“I grew up a music kid, so I genuinely love all of it, and one of my favorite parts of any wedding is cleaning up decor at the end of the night with a great dance floor still going in the background. That said: "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars. Great song. But it's basically become the default opener to get people out on the floor, and I hear it at almost every single wedding.”
