Can I share something with you beyond “A Note from the CEO” at the beginning of the year? Okay good.
We had our quarterly manager’s retreat this week and we took a deep dive into what really sets Hitch Studio apart now that we are wedding planners and event designers who just bought a rental and balloon business. All five of us on the leadership team came for a full day of gifts, breakfast, brainstorming, and big ideas.
Three years ago, when I was making my Traction goals (has anyone else read Traction? I LOVE this book!), the process encourages you to set 1-year goals (in 90-day increments), 3-year goals and 10-year goals.
I wrote this exact sentence:
Office environment and size goal: Bigger space with windows, showroom, garage door, more storage with storefront and chandeliers in the windows.
It happened. All of it! That’s the power of goal-setting and revisiting those goals often. On January 26, 2026, we open our doors to Hitch Studio Rentals! We are located in downtown Brookings, South Dakota, at 406 Main Avenue in a big building with windows, a garage door, more storage…and chandeliers in the windows!
I’m even the nerd who made a vision board for it:
Vision:
Actual:
Believe me, buying a rental business, re-branding it, re-locating it, and combining event rentals with our current wedding planning services was a tough mountain to climb. But it’s worth celebrating because we did it!! Speaking of celebrations, we’ll be rescheduling our Grand Opening Tours and Ribbon Cutting for later this spring. Stay tuned.
Another reason to celebrate? On February 6, 2026, Hitch Studio will turn 12. Twelve years of growth as a woman-owned business specializing in full-service wedding planning, event design, venue management, wedding invitations, balloon design, and premium event rentals, serving hundreds of couples and clients across South Dakota, Minnesota, and the greater Midwest!
That’s really what sets Hitch Studio apart. We are your go-to for all of those services under one roof!
Last week, we took all of our existing ideas, new ideas, and big dreams, and met with Dusty Blue Learning Co. (Ashley Haar is an amazing consultant who helped us align two businesses coming together!) to start us down the path of writing a new mission statement, vision statement, and core values. We already had them written for Hitch Studio wedding planning, but I can’t wait to reveal the NEW statements as combined services in 2026! So many new things!!
As the CEO, what that planning session really made me focus on was:
Why Hitch Studio Is Different
Some wedding planning companies specialize in only one service or only have one wedding planner or event designer on staff. Hitch Studio specializes in ALL of this:
- Wedding Planning
- Event Design & Styling
- Venue Management
- Event Rentals
- Balloon Installations
- Custom Wedding Invitations
- Officiating
- Wedding Day Designer Guide (checklist and wedding planner book)
We are a team of friendly, accommodating leaders and detail-oriented creatives who care deeply about the connections and experiences behind the scenes. When we say “connections”, we mean it. We love getting to really know you, your fiancé, your vendors, and your family. We want to connect with you. We love getting real with you — and love when you’re real with us — so we can create a wedding or event that feels perfectly like you! When we say “experiences”, we want you to feel loved, calm, and completely full of joy, knowing you didn’t miss out on time with family and friends. We want your guests (event or wedding) to feel welcomed and ready to celebrate, appreciating all the details you thought of! We create events that feel like the highlight of the room — and the highlight of your story.
Ooooh. Did I just write some version our new vision statement?
Beyond that, what REALLY sets Hitch Studio apart? Isn’t a wedding planning company a wedding planning company? We vote no.
Here are 7 reasons why Hitch Studio is the best wedding planner in SD:
- Hitch Studio offers five designers in one—with wedding planning, design, rentals, faux florals, and balloons all under one roof. That didn’t happen overnight. That came from years of listening, refining, and building systems that actually serve people well.
- Table décor is included (yes, FREE!) in our design packages because design shouldn’t feel like a series of add-ons. It should feel thoughtful, complete, and generous.
- We offer an elevated experience beyond the wedding day itself—through custom stationery design, officiating services, and our Wedding Day Designer checklist and guidebook. Those layers exist because we love the details, not just the end result.
- Our entire wedding planning team is certified in wedding planning and venue management. We believe professionalism matters. Leadership matters. Experience matters. You’re trusting us with one of the most meaningful days of their lives! It’s important that we’re certified!
- Meeting with us is fun! It’s why we’ve developed friendly worksheets and a specialized process that consistently delivers more than expected. That process didn’t come from rushing—it came from refining what works. Check out our Welcome Kit to get started!
- We proudly serve Sioux Falls and all of South Dakota, and Southwest Minnesota, with a special place in our heart for rural communities. These are our people. This is our place.
- We also quietly capture behind-the-scenes photos on wedding days, gifting couples a gallery of moments they didn’t even know were happening. It’s the best give we can think to give you!
We took all of this information and redesigned our Welcome Kit! It highlights how each of our four levels of wedding planning can help you with:
- Vendor coordination
- Timeline creation
- Floorplan design
- Ceremony & reception flow
- Rehearsal coordination
- Wedding day management
- Your table décor, room design, ceiling installations, statement backdrops, head table design, balloon installations, and event styling
- Our wedding planners’ time on-site
Have we done a wedding in California before? Yes. Have we done weddings in the Black Hills and Brainerd, MN and Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN? Yes. And we LOVED them!! If we’re going to travel, please hire us for your wedding in Greece. But our sweet spot is serving South Dakota and southwest Minnesota.
Full-Service Wedding Planning and Event Design in South Dakota & the Midwest
We serve couples throughout these towns (and have joined most of these Chambers of Commerce! If you’re planning an event, you can you’re supporting local, because we’re a member of your local Chamber!):
- Brookings, SD
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Madison, SD
- DeSmet, SD
- Watertown, SD
- Aberdeen, SD
- Mitchell, SD
- Marshall, MN (and also Alexandria, Canby, and Nisswa Minnesota and beyond!)
- And more!
Event Design
When people hire Hitch Studio I feel like the biggest selling point is that we bring all your décor, set it all up, take it all down, and pack it back up at the end of the night! You get to enjoy (so d your family and friends!) and then you get to relax and go home. For corporate events, the biggest selling point is that your staff truly gets to enjoy the event because they aren’t the ones collecting chargers, setting out desserts, decorating tables, picking up balloon bouquets, setting up a stage, or making sure the photo backdrop is perfect. That’s all on us.
We aren’t exacly “event planners”. We don’t line up speakers, coordinate PowerPoints, staff the registration desk, or plan your event. We DO design your event, though! We can provide all of these services for your gala, fundraiser, holiday party, retreat, meeting, conference, workshop, or banquet:
- Tablescape design (including centerpieces, linen rentals and napkin rentals if needed!)
- Stage backdrops (let’s highlight the speaker you invested in to share your message!)
- Statement-piece décor in your event (maybe you want to highlight your new service or piece of equipment?)
- Ceiling installations (lights, fabric, hanging greenery, lighting, etc.!)
- Balloon installations (at your entrance or photo backdrop or other amazing space!)
- Lounge and specialty layouts (need soft-sided furniture?)
Premium Event Rentals & Balloon Installations
Let’s talk about how and why we bought a rental and balloon business (previously Party Depot). This has been a HUGE part of how we’re operating differently and growing our team since the purchase on November 3, 2025.
We felt like offering event rentals and balloons was a natural extension to what we were already doing — elevating designed spaces with a Hitch touch. So, what does this new division all include?
Hitch Studio Rentals offers one of the most expansive and curated rental inventories in the region, featuring:
- Arches & backdrops (like arbors and curtains)
- Tables & chairs (rectangles, rounds, and even kid-sized tables)
- Chargers & dishes (white dishes with eight different colored charger options for your place settings)
- Tabletop décor (vases, faux flowers, battery-lit candles, lanterns, candelabras, boxes, and more!)
- Accent pieces (bar cart, standing mirror, settees (those little loveseat couches), welcome boxes, welcome signs, easels, etc.)
- Dance floors (black, white, wood, or black and white, wood and white)
- Specialty Linens (SO many to pick from!)
- Balloon garlands, columns bouquets
From the CEO: Planted
Wow, let’s bring this full-circle because this is a lot. As you can tell, in our beginning-of-the-year manager’s retreat, we talked about goals, leadership, differentiators, consultants for mission + vision, services (new and old)…celebrations, new building, and a little bit of hope.
My word of the year is PLANTED. Have you heard of setting an intentional word of the year? I highly recommend it. I’ve been setting my words to align and guide me for seven years. So, here it comes. Why the word “planted” means so much to me this year:
Planted doesn’t come with instant gratification or overnight wins. Planted is quiet confidence and trust — knowing I HAVE to grow this year (Ahhhh!). It’s choosing to stay rooted when it would have been far easier to abandon ship out of discomfort. (Yes, delayed construction, cancelled ribbon cutting events, shifting timelines, big financial decisions, business loans due, the leap of buying a rental business, the emotional weight of growth paired with the exhaustion of waiting — I’m talking about you. Yes, you.)
“Planted” means I’m trusting that what’s happening beneath the surface matters just as much as what’s visible above ground. So, that’s why I felt so strongly about hiring a consultant to guide us in the new journey of combining businesses and why we leased a new building. It was a LOT of new. In nature, nothing blooms the moment it’s planted. Roots stretch first. They anchor. They strengthen. Growth happens downward before it ever reaches up.
The retreat (and every quarterly meeting after this) means I’ll be growing myself, the team, the vision…and the hope that delays are not denials.
You might not believe this, but when I was at home looking for a necklace that I bought for my son’s teacher for a Christmas gift, I was digging in the bag I thought it was in — and this other necklace came tumbling out. Planted found me.
Then, less than a week later, I was in student mass at my son’s Catholic school when the student started reading this passage:
Planted found me again. It keeps finding me. That’s how I know I chose the right word this year.
If you’re reading this and you feel like you’re climbing a mountain with no clear view of the top (like I was), please know this: being planted does not mean you’re stuck. It means you’re positioned. Roots before results. Stability before scale. Hope before harvest.
There you have it. That’s my 2026 new year message. I hope you’ve learned more about Hitch Studio, my leadership style, our journey to bring you wedding planning, event design, a rental collection, venue management, and balloon artistry and why each is so important for us to deliver you the best experience.
I want you to know we’re doing all of this for you — our beloved customer!! We wouldn’t have made it 12 years without you. Thank you from the bottom of our supportive, compassionate, warm, friendly, knowledgeable, relationship-building hearts! (Those were all words we brainstormed together that we thought described Hitch!)
I just know that our mission and vision statement (coming soon!) — and your experience with us will feel that way too.
If you’re newly engaged, planning a corporate event, managing a venue you want help with, or dreaming up a celebration that deserves to feel extraordinary, Hitch Studio’s will bring clarity, creativity, and calm to your planning process.
We can’t wait to serve you from our new location with our new services!!
Cheers to being planted and ready to grow.
— Renee Bauman
CEO, Hitch Studio