Maria Erickson
Partner - Director of Sales
Maria grew up in a family of seven. In other words, every day was a production. At an early age, she knew she would be doing something with food, events, and planning. After earning her culinary and entrepreneurship degrees from Johnson & Wales University, Maria spent many years in the catering and event planning world. Inspired by her clients, Maria opened Plum & Ivy Events in 2014, where she developed a team of passionate and detailed event planners. Since then, Maria and her team have executed numerous events and weddings throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. Being a visionary, she is excited to marry the Plum & Ivy and Walden teams and create an event experience like no other, where all the moving parts behind an event can work seamlessly together.
Kalila Harris
Director of Planning
Kalila is by no uncertain terms a bit of a modern Renaissance [Wo]man. She’s been in the hospitality sector for years, having gotten her start waiting many a table and serving plenty of drinks. While earning two Bachelors degrees, one in Business and the other in Psychology, she fell in love with event planning working as the event coordinator for the local PBS affiliate in St. Louis. After working in a few different industries, Kalila has taken the long way back to her true passion of wedding planning and is using all of her skills to help her do what she does best, make her couples’ wedding dreams come true! Off the clock you can find Kalila experimenting with new recipes she found on New York Times Cooking, listening to a new audiobook or cuddled up with her Shih Tzu, Barry.
Hannah Landau
Senior Planner
With a passion for a good love story and an eye for detail, Hannah has always found herself right at home in the Event Planning industry. After graduating college early with a Bachelor's in Communication and years of event planning experience, she traded barn weddings in rural Virginia for big city weddings in New York City. Looking for a change of pace, Hannah moved to Chicago and immediately fell in love with the city. Her love for weddings is fueled by laughter overflowing from the bridal suite… and the occasional 10am Mr. Pibb. Hannah can always be found tearing up during the father/daughter dance or dancing alone in the corner during open dance. When she's not running around on-site, you’ll find Hannah planning her next beach getaway, consuming as much BRAVO tv as possible, or biking down by the lake!
Krystle Erler
Event Planner
As a Covid bride with 10 wedding guests, Krystle understands what it’s like when your big day is not what you envisioned… A year later, she was finally able to execute the wedding of her dreams and is ready to help you do the same! With a BA in Communications, a Certificate in Project Management and years of experience working in concert production and nonprofit event management, Krystle has the skills and passion necessary to manage events flawlessly. She thrives in a fast-paced environment, solves problems with a positive attitude and is prepared to keep your day running smoothly with a smile. Outside of events she enjoys cooking, traveling, music, watching tv, the Minnesota Vikings and playing with her Cavapoo puppy, Betty Draper!
Briscel Martinez
Event Planner
Briscel is California born & Chicago raised (okay, the suburbs of Chicago). She graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Communications and a minor in Radio Broadcasting in 2019. At a young age she was obsessed with That's So Raven on Disney Channel and it is safe to say that is where her passion and interest in anything and everything art and theatre related rooted from. Being able to work in event planning has always been a dream and now she gets to do it! Working at Walden and meeting so many different people has been the icing on the cake and she wouldn't want to have it any other way, When she is not helping make wedding dreams come true she is drinking an ice coffee, no matter the weather, online shopping, hanging out with family, friends and the cutest little Aussiedoodle pup named Punch, or simply re-watching The Office or The Real-Housewives.
Nick Lacasse
Executive Chef
Chef Nick Lacasse, a native Vermonter, has worked in kitchens since the age of 15. A graduate of New England Culinary Institute in the early 2000’s, he has worked under numerous James Beard Award winning chefs in Maine, Seattle, and Chicago. In 2007, Nick accepted his first Executive Chef position at The Drawing Room in Chicago’s Gold Coast. From there he went on to open and/or run other acclaimed Chicago restaurants; MFK, Aba, and Half Acre Beer company. Additionally, he has spent years in high end catering with Trotters To Go, J and L Catering, Real Kitchen Catering, among others.
Chef Nick lives in Lakeview with his wife Sarah, and two dogs Henri and Pearl.
Matt DiMare
Bar Manager
Matt has been behind the bar for over a decade, mixing drinks and pulling taps at a number of places from sticky dives to swanky cocktail lounges, a French bistro and Chicago's original craft brewery, and recently helped build and manage the largest draft cocktail program in the country. His passion for making cocktails actually started at a young age in the kitchen with his parents, learning the basics of blending flavors by perfecting simple southern Italian dishes. Later taking the same concepts used in the saucepan and applied it to a shaker tin. Matt's favorite thing to do behind the bar is create, getting hints and clues to your drinking tastes and preferences and making something unique and personalized on the fly and curating a special and intimate bar experience. Other passions include playing music, writing, drinking wine, and the greatest sports franchise of all time, The Chicago Bears.
Katie Rose Pattillo
Senior Event Coordinator
Katie's love for new places and meeting new people are at the heart of what drives her personally and professionally. A Texas native, she's had a passion for events since a young age. For the past decade, Katie has leveraged her "Jill of all trades" skill set to execute festivals of all shapes and sizes. Knowing big dreams require precise planning, Katie's unique mix of administrative acumen and innovative creativity allows her to successfully accomplish what has been imagined. She's most known for her anything is possible mentality, confidence amongst chaos, strategic, quick thinking, and the classic Katie Rose smile. When Katie is without a clipboard and radio, you can find her painting, traveling, coordinating an upcoming adventure, or everyone's favorite - sabering a champagne bottle!
Alyssa Gambacorta
Event Coordinator
A hopeless romantic at heart who has had a natural love for planning since she was a little girl! From the exact placement of a single votive candle to triple-checking your escort cards, Alyssa will go above and beyond to create the perfect day for you. With prior event and volunteer experience, Alyssa has taken part in planning not only weddings but festivals, fundraisers and fashion shows in upstate New York. Always looking for unique opportunities to challenge herself and push past boundaries, she moved to Chicago chasing her dreams! Some of her passions include writing poetry, travel, hosting trivia nights and forming new relationships. Alyssa’s goal is not only to give you a day to remember but to make this process smooth and enjoyable as you will truly get to experience the joys of planning a wedding. She can’t wait to hear about your vision and help bring it to life!
Ally Alford
Event Coordinator
Ally was born in San Antonio, Texas, but grew up in Naperville. At DePaul she pursued her dream job of wedding planning, graduating with a BA in Public Relations and Advertising with double minors in Event Planning & Business. She is personable and passionate which makes for a planner that is relatable, responsive, and always excited and energized. She takes pride in her organizational skills and is very detail-oriented. Her favorite part of the wedding day is when her couple sees all of the details coming together and can breathe, relax and actually enjoy the day! If she is not planning weddings, you can find her watching her favorite movies (which are most likely musicals), hanging out with her mom and sister, drinking Starbucks, or getting the best cocktails & food in the city (let her know if you need any good recs)!
Bob Krause
Partner - Corporate Relations
A funny thing happened to Bob during his travels as the national sales manager for a manufacturing company: He found his dream job. Well, sort of. Originally, Bob wanted to open a barbecue restaurant. But when he joined a catering company, It didn’t take long for Bob to realize his passion was the event planning side of the hospitality business. After over a decade, Bob still has the same passion for the event industry, which allows him to tap into his entrepreneurial and creative sides while always focusing on the experience from the client’s perspective.
Nick Schmuck
Partner - Food
Where do you go after being the saucier at one of the country’s top restaurants? If you’re Nick, you partner with two other chefs with equally impressive fine-dining resumes and open Real Kitchen, which specializes in preparing approachable, gourmet food made from scratch daily using the freshest ingredients. Its refined cuisine has been served at some of the city’s top social and corporate events. For Real Kitchen’s many fans, it’s a good thing Nick rethought entering medical school after earning a neuroscience degree and instead went to work at various restaurants across the country, before ending up at Chicago’s Charlie Trotter’s. At Walden, Nick continues to craft food that exceeds expectations creating memories in the process.
Maurizio Fiori
Partner - Beverage
For Maurizio, working in the hospitality industry is all about creating special memories for guests—whether it’s a major life event or simply an everyday occurrence. For the last decade, he’s been able to do just that while helping to launch a leading Chicago brewery and overseeing its two full-service taprooms. Prior to that, Maurizio owned and operated a music venue as well as a café and cocktail bar in Sardinia, Italy, where he is from. While the world of wine was his first love, he’s lately turned his professional attention to beer as, in his opinion, beer is the most democratic of drinks, offering something for everyone. When not serving guests a hoppy brew, Maurizio enjoys cooking simple Italian food, making Negroni’s and generally spending quality time with his wife and two young children at his Logan Square home.