Anne Michelle Forbes (left) is taking over ownership of The Hive Wedding Collective from founder Christine Haines Greenberg. (Photos courtesy The Hive Wedding Collective)
It’s a match made in heaven between a Richmond wedding planner and her former employer.
Christine Haines Greenberg, who founded The Hive Wedding Collective in 2011, recently sold the wedding planning business to employee Anne Michelle Forbes.
After closing on the recent purchase of the company, Forbes now serves as the Hive’s owner and creative director.
Greenberg, 40, started the company as Wood Grain & Lace Events, shortly after graduating from VCU. In 2014, she also opened Church Hill bridal shop Urban Set Bride, which she continues to run at 602 N. 29th St.
The planning company rebranded to The Hive Wedding Collective at the beginning of 2018. It handles weddings primarily in D.C., Maryland and Virginia and has a focus on LGBTQ+ weddings, though it handles all types of clients and couples. It also does planning for corporate and birthday events.
Based in the Richmond area, its wedding planners often serve more as independent contractors, handling their own clients and contracts and often working virtually and in the field, Greenberg said.
Planning packages for clients typically range from around $4,000 to starting from $10,000, according to its website.
Greenberg said that in 2023, she took a step back from taking her own clients, focusing on the operations of both the Hive and Urban Set Bride.
Between the bridal shop, being a mother of two and also having a small business consulting firm, Haines said she began in recent years to consider handing leadership of the Hive to someone else.
“I was just starting to realize … it may be worth passing the reins to someone who has the experience to lead the company into the next generation,” she said. “A lot of wedding planners end up fizzling out or fail to adapt to a changing environment, and I didn’t want that to happen.”
That idea led Greenberg to approaching Forbes about taking ownership. Forbes, 31, moved to Richmond in 2012 and has worked at the Hive since 2021. Forbes has an interior design background, as well as being a professional actor and vocalist on stages across Richmond.
In the five years she’s worked at the Hive, Forbes has helped execute dozens of weddings for the company, and specializes in both multicultural and LGBTQ+ weddings.
The full-time team at The Hive Wedding Collective, from left: Anne Michelle Forbes, Aris Kelly, Heather Clarke and Melissa Vine.
Greenberg said that as she considered stepping down from ownership of the Hive, she felt Forbes would be the right woman for the job, adding that though Forbes hadn’t had experience in the wedding industry prior to coming to the Hive, she jumped into the role comfortably right away.
“Anne Michelle is someone who treats this company as her own and is really empathetic and ready to learn without a lot of ego,” she said. “She takes a lot of pride in caring for other people which is why she’s such a great wedding planner … there was no doubt in my mind that she was the best choice for this new chapter.”
Though they’d had some conversations about it prior, Forbes said Greenberg approached her officially in November with the offer for her to purchase the company. The purchase closed in recent weeks; terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
Greenberg said she will serve as a mentor for the company, and plans to still service one or two clients per year in wedding planning as she continues to run both her bridal shop and consulting firm.
As for Forbes, she told BizSense she’s excited to “breathe new life” into the company, particularly as a business owner on the younger, Gen Z/Millennial generation cusp.
“I definitely want to take in the trends and the changes in the wedding industry that are happening,” she said, noting that she’s seen couples start to trend away from more traditional weddings toward more unconventional ideas.
Forbes will oversee a team of three other planners, all of whom remain on following the change in ownership. One of the company’s senior planners, Ciera Pope, will retire from the role in May after 12 years with the Hive.
Forbes said she plans to hire one or two additional planners in 2027.
