About

The designer behind Ethereal Events

Ethereal Events is where the strange and beautiful gets built. Here's who is doing the building.

Portrait of Karissa McIntire, purple-haired designer and owner of Ethereal Events

Hi, I'm Karissa

Design is the reason people hire me

I named this business Ethereal because I wanted the events I design to feel unworldly. My fascination with the moon and the stars is in the name, the logo, and honestly most of my moodboards.

I studied fashion design and merchandising at Missouri State, and I've spent the last seven years in the wedding industry learning exactly how a day comes together and exactly where it falls apart. The fashion background means details are everything to me. The fabric on the table matters. The shadow the candle throws matters.

What I don't do is hand you a template. Every design starts from scratch, from the two of you, and gets built into something your guests photograph all night and cannot stop talking about a year later.

The honest version

Bolder, not safer

I love sci-fi, horror movies, Halloween, and loud music. I own more disco balls than any one person should. When a couple tells me an idea and then immediately apologizes for it, that's usually the exact idea we end up building the whole wedding around.

My proudest build so far is a full wedding inside Meow Wolf in Denver, black gown, neon rooms, surreal from the first look to the last dance. It got featured in Rock N' Roll Bride Magazine, and it happened because that couple refused to water down what they wanted.

That's the couple I do my best work for. If you want a wedding that follows the trends, I know some lovely planners. If you want one that looks like it landed from somewhere else entirely, keep reading.

Silhouette against a glowing purple crescent moon over the mountains

WHAT I PROMISE

WHOEVER YOU ARE, WHOEVER YOU LOVE

"Your vision isn't too much." The thing you're half-scared to say out loud is the thing I most want to hear. I never talk a couple down from their vision. I turn it all the way up.

On design

"Whoever you are, whoever you love, you're welcome here." Every couple gets vendors who celebrate them, a planner who protects them, and a day where they're safe to be all of who they are.

On belonging

"You stay a guest at your own wedding." On the day, every question routes to me instead of you. You get to be fully in it. I handle the rest, quietly, before it ever reaches you.

On the day itself

Karissa wearing a bold floral headpiece with pink feathers

Where I work

Fort Collins, Denver, and beyond

I'm based in Fort Collins, Colorado and work weddings across Denver and the Front Range. If your venue is somewhere stranger, good. I travel for the right build.

Whether you already know exactly what you want or you only have a feeling you can't name yet, I'd love to hear about it. The preconsultation takes a few minutes and helps me show up to our first call already knowing your world.

Start the preconsultation