Meet The Coordinators

Since 2006, The Invisible Hostess has evolved into a team that is passionate about dependable service, quality work, and positive relationships. We aren’t successful unless your wedding is successful. Get to know our Seattle wedding coordination team here, then give us a call. We’ll show you why we’re Seattle’s best.

KRISTINE PARRA

Lead Coordinator & Designer

JOCELYN LAWRENCE

Senior Coordinator

NATASHA ROGERS

Senior Coordinator

JESS RANKIN

Wedding Coordinator

SHEENA KALSO

Owner & Consulting Coordinator

HOPE BACKSTROM

Logistics Coordinator

GUILTY PLEASURE: Celebrity gossip blogs

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A FREE WEEKEND: A perfect mix of hiking and shopping.

FAVORITE DESSERT: Anything with marzipan or a traditional Filipino dessert, Ube.

FAVORITE APP: I like to keep it classic: Instagram

LOATHED CHORE: Replacing the salt and pepper shaker and the olive oil in the Misto.

HUMAN OR FUR BABIES: Our first rescue was Gizmo, Pekingese ring-bearer and hot-dog eater extraordinaire, who is now serving as doggie angel (RIP) to our family. Our new rescues are Cocker Spaniels Meegan & Howie. They may have their own Instagram, and I may have dubbed myself their social media mom-ager. 😉

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT: Un Bien. The hype is real.

BEST “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED” WEDDING STORY:

The bride left the rings in the taxi en route to the wedding venue. For two hours every taxi company was called, repeatedly, emails were sent, and luckily the cab driver finally got an email and rushed back from Tacoma.

REYNOLDS OR GOSLING? Was Reynolds, by a hair, but after the 2017 Golden Globes Gosling is back on top.

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS: I love being on a volleyball court playing or coaching, I love to scrapbook my obsession with pictures, I love watching and running a baseball team with my hubby.

GUILTY PLEASURE: The Bachelor, I know super cliché but secretly I have watched literally from day one!

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A FREE WEEKEND: During the summer months being by the water weather permitting or sitting in the bleachers at a Honkers baseball game! Winter time Netflix binging with the hubby!

FAVORITE DESSERT: Chocolate Ice Cream

FAVORITE APP: Photogrid—I am obsessed with pictures 🙂

LOATHED CHORE: Sweeping up all the dog hair in our house, literally everyday!

HUMAN OR FUR BABIES: Two fur babies, Cami and Snowflake

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT: I love me some Pho so I am going to have to go with Hot Pho in a small little strip mall near my house!

BEST “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED” WEDDING STORY: The Father of the Groom giving the Bride and Groom permission to start that evening for grand babies in his toast!

REYNOLDS OR GOSLING? This might be the toughest competition there is out there but I have to go with Gosling!

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS: Shopping for furniture and home decor (see Guilty Pleasure), purging my home and garage (see Guilty Pleasure), running, discovering new music, reading, plants.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Buying furniture and home decor

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A FREE WEEKEND: Adventuring with Madeline on one of the PNW islands followed in the evening with a babysitter for Madeline then dinner and drinks out with friends. Lazy Sunday morning with coffee and magazines in bed.

FAVORITE DESSERT: Soft-serve vanilla ice cream (SO plain, I know).

FAVORITE APP: My Fitness Pal

LOATHED CHORE: Putting folded laundry away

HUMAN OR FUR BABIES: Both! Madeline—my amazing mini-me; my French Bulldog-Boston Terrier mix, Wilson; and two dog-like cats, Leroy and Wrigley. And plants—LOTS of plant babies

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT: Fonda La Catrina in Georgetown

BEST “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED” WEDDING STORY: I was in the final prep for a wedding on one of the San Juan islands. The day before I headed out of town, I received a call from the caterer. One of the key elements of the food for the wedding was a roasted pig. The caterer was calling because the farm from which the pig was arriving was being raided by the FDA (as we were speaking) and we wouldn’t be able to get the pig, and not from any other farm on the island. The moment I got onto the island, we worked with the couple and the caterer for an alternate solution and were able to come up with a modified option that ended up being fantastic. Guests had no idea about the original pig plan and the couple embraced the story and talked about it during their speech. When the FDA is involved in your wedding, you have an awesome story to tell.

REYNOLDS OR GOSLING? Gosling—hands down.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Bachelor in Paradise (watching + following everyone on insta)

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A FREE WEEKEND: Backpacking in the wilderness Friday-Saturday, brunching hard on Sunday

FAVORITE DESSERT: Anything that is baked at home. Whether it’s brownies, grandma’s classic chocolate chip cookies, or a friends delicious apple pie (shout out to my homegirl Hannah at Pie Bird, THE BEST pies in Seattle). Nothing beats that homemade taste of love.

FAVORITE APP: All about the Gram.

LOATHED CHORE: Laundry. Loading. Sorting. Folding. All of it.

HUMAN OR FUR BABIES: Do nieces and nephews count? I have a lot of them. They feel like my own. (Can you tell we’re a Dawg family?)

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT: Fonté Cafe or Morsel (breakfast wins all day everyday).

BEST “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED” WEDDING STORY:

At the first wedding I worked as a day-of coordinator, long before The Invisible Hostess, the bride absolutely HATED the florals that were delivered. Like burst into tears when she saw the bouquets. For a moment she considered walking down the aisle with nothing. Her maid of honor was incredibly creative and pulled together some flowers from the venue to make at least the bouquets a little more what the bride wanted.

REYNOLDS OR GOSLING? Reynolds. Hands down.

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS: I enjoy consignment shopping for home decor, doodling and watercoloring characters, singing at church, being a chauffeur to my two kids, I get caught up in Oscar fever and love my Entertainment Weekly subscription.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Online Shopping. I love that literally everything can be delivered to my doorstep. And wine. I really like wine.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A FREE WEEKEND: Getting out of the house and seeing friends.

FAVORITE DESSERT: Essential Baking Whoopie Pies or Snohomish Pie Co. Apple Pie or Marionberry Pie

FAVORITE APP: I love making goofy Instastories on Instagram. I also enjoy chatting with my friends and family on Marco Polo. For quick and pretty graphics, I like Canva.

LOATHED CHORE: I don’t like making meals. My husband makes dinner and when he travels for work, we starve.

HUMAN OR FUR BABIES: Human babies all the way! I have two, Daphne and Lincoln, and they’re my joy (and also my insanity).

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT: I’ve never had a bad meal or night at Terra Plata on Capitol Hill.

BEST “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED” WEDDING STORY: About 15 minutes before a wedding started, the best man discovered he lost the wedding rings! We didn’t want the groom or bride to know just yet, so we all tried to play it cool. Every vendor and bridal party member started searching. We straight up missing-person-style combed the venue looking at the ground. I went up to the loft where the couple were hanging out and started poking around the room to see if the rings were tucked in furniture. The groom didn’t miss a beat and said, “He lost the rings didn’t he?” The jig was up. What is incredibly fortunate about the groom finding out is that he saw his best man empty his pockets on a counter, so we went to look through that pile and crumpled up inside a used napkin were the wedding rings. If I had gone up to that loft five minutes earlier to tidy up like I had planned, those rings would have been in the trash and possibly lost forever! Barf.

REYNOLDS OR GOSLING? It’s a real Sophie’s choice, but I’m going to go with Gosling.

Sheena’s Complete Bio

HOBBIES & INTERESTS:

Music! I love singing and playing around on the piano or the cello, as well as listening to almost any kind of music. I inherited a love of The Beatles from my dad, so you’ll often find me listening to them. I enjoy watching beauty videos on Youtube and listening to podcasts. I love gardening and tending to my various houseplants. I also enjoy photography, flower arranging, painting pottery, and scrapbooking!

Guilty Pleasure:

Grey’s Anatomy. I’ve watched it since it very first premiered on ABC back in 2005! I also really love shopping for shoes and accessories.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A WEEKEND:

I love spending time with my husband and our 8-year-old rescue cat, Figaro. We love to see movies, go exploring anywhere near water, and have game nights with friends. I also enjoy checking out the various local makers markets that take place on the weekends, especially the Tacoma Night Market!

FAVORITE DESSERT:

Ice cream! Especially the Valhalla Coffee, and Chocolate from Ice Cream Social in Tacoma.

FAVORITE APP:

Instagram. I love pictures and a good IG story!

LOATHED CHORE:

Pulling weeds or vacuuming.

HUMAN OR FUR BABIES:

Currently one fur baby, our tuxedo cat Figaro. He’s the sweetest and the dorkiest, and I’m convinced he was a dog in a previous life. We look forward to having human babies one day too!

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT:

Pasta Casalinga in Pike Place Market! The owner is Italian, and they home-make all of their pastas every morning! They use locally grown/caught ingredients, and the menu is often very PNW inspired. Go check them out!

BEST “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED!” WEDDING STORY:

The officiant’s car broke down in Puyallup two hours before the wedding. What’s worse, he had left his suit at his home near Bellevue, and the ceremony was in downtown Seattle! He ended up leaving his car in Puyallup, Ubering home to get his suit, and managed to get back to the venue JUST in time. I think we may have started the ceremony five minutes late. We were able to keep everyone from panicking, and the couple didn’t even know until after the ceremony was over!

REYNOLDS OR GOSLING: Reynolds. There’s just something about being able to laugh with your guy.