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Anne Michelle Forbes (Photo by Kenzi Flinchum)
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Anne Michelle Forbes and Christine Haines Greenberg (Photo by Jordan Hanna / Wicked Lady)
When Anne Michelle Forbes walked into Urban Set Bride in Church Hill accompanying her best friend on a wedding dress shopping trip in January 2020, she had no idea she was also setting off a career-altering chain of events. While her bestie bonded with the perfect dress, Forbes bonded with the boutique’s co-owner, Christine Haines Greenberg. Though Forbes has a background in theater and interior design, she jumped at the opportunity to join the wedding planning team when a job at Greenberg's other business, The Hive Wedding Collective, became available a year later.
After Forbes had worked at The Hive for nearly five years, the two event coordinators sat down together in November 2025 to discuss Greenberg stepping back from the company and a future with Forbes at the helm. Then, in January, it became official — with an already well-established foundation to guide the way, The Hive has embarked on an new era under Forbes’ ownership.
Richmond Bride: What is The Hive Wedding Collective?
Anne Michelle Forbes: We’re a wedding planning and design team that predominantly serves Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. However, we’ve expanded a lot, which is exciting — I’m actually doing my first New York City wedding this year. Notably, our four-person team structure sets us apart. While many other companies have a singular figurehead, we nourish and tend to our strong team dynamic.
RB: What planning services do you offer?
Forbes: We have three planning packages, with transparent pricing on our website, in addition to a la carte options like venue scouting. Generally, I suggest folks book our full planning package, where we typically work with you for 12 to 18 months. While it might not feel instinctual to spend more money, the more expensive package tends to save couples money in the long run. That’s because we’re present as a touchstone to keep things on track along the process. You don’t want to end up, for example, spending $40,000 on a venue early on when your max budget is $60,000, and you’re left scrambling with other vendors — we can help mitigate those kinds of problems early and keep your budget on target.
RB: How does your theater and interior design background influence your approach to wedding planning?
Forbes: Theater is a high-budget production where a lot of people are working within their own areas of expertise to make a big, beautiful event. When you’re doing a play or a musical, there are actors, a stage manager, a set designer, costume designers — everyone is working together to make the production happen, and that parallels the wedding industry in many ways.
As for interior design, that arena taught me how colors and lighting interact to create the mood of a space. My training taught me how to effectively design a space to be both beautiful and functional, concepts that I apply every day as a wedding planner.
RB: What is an unexpected piece of advice you have for engaged couples?
Forbes: Take some time to enjoy a period of being engaged before you immediately jump into planning. Along with that, have conversations early on about who’s contributing to the event and the overall budget, so you have clarity from the outset.
RB: What is your vision for the future of The Hive?
Forbes: Diversity and representation were always at the forefront of [Greenberg’s] vision regarding the couples and vendors we work with, as well as employees we hire. We pride ourselves on being a diverse team in terms of ethnicity and race, but also sexuality. We believe our team should be fully representative of the couples we want to work with. ... I’m Filipino and also queer, and it’s important to me that we further the foundation set by Christine.
I’m also excited about ushering in a new generation. I’m on the cusp of millennial and Gen Z with my age, so I love the idea of welcoming Gen Z into the wedding space. ... I want to plan weddings that feel authentic to the couple and do what feels comfortable to them, instead of forcing them into a box.
