Most people don’t expect their wedding planner to have a background in Environmental Science or to have spent years as a Health Inspector and OSHA Compliance Officer. From inspecting commercial kitchens in Nashville to ensuring OSHA compliance at job sites in North Carolina, I’ve spent my career obsessing over the details that keep people safe. Now, I’m bringing that same rigor to one of the most important days of your life.
At DIY Bride Rentals, we believe your wedding deserves more than just pretty décor. Your event deserves a full Circle of Support. Shown in our commitment to maintain commercially sanitized, reusable inventory or our mission to facilitate a safe, inclusive space for every couple (including those in the LGBTQ+ community), we’re here to prove that the most memorable weddings are built on a foundation of integrity and care.
For me, the transition from inspector to planner wasn’t a career change—it was a calling and continuation.
Ensuring Everyone Goes Home Happy & Whole
Before moving to the beautiful Piedmont region of North Carolina, I spent two years as an Environmental Health Specialist (i.e. a Health Inspector) for the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Government. During that time, I inspected everything from pools and schools to commercial kitchens and food trucks. I audited complex HACCP plans for multi-level fine dining restaurants and lectured local food truck operators on proper sanitation and hygiene.
Working in the Food and Public Facilities Division, I saw it all. Roaches in dishwashing machines? Check. Roaches in water pitchers? Check. Roaches in fridges — you know what, I saw a lot of roaches.
But I realized the true “pest” was never the insect. It was a lack of proper training and education. My entire career has been dedicated to closing this knowledge gap.
After my time working at public health department, I transitioned into a role as an OSHA Compliance Officer. For nearly two years, my job was to ensure that employees went home at the end of the day with the same number of body parts they arrived with. It was a high-stakes environment where lapses in education and planning had lasting consequences.
Why does this matter for your wedding?
I understand risk. When I help you choose a caterer or vet a venue, I’m not just reviewing the menu. I’m looking out for the safety of your guests. In the world of event planning, logistics can be chaotic. Tents need to be properly anchored, electrical lines need to be safe, and every vendor needs to operate under professional standards.
Every piece of inventory in The Stash — from our coupe dinner plates to our gold flatware — is cleaned to health-inspection standards before it arrives at your venue. That’s not a marketing promise. It’s a protocol. And it’s something no other wedding rental company in Charlotte claims because none of them have a former health inspector on their team.
I want to bring a high-grade of inspector oversight to your celebration to make sure your day runs exactly as planned, instead of writing citations.
The Heart of the Operation
While you’ll mostly see my face on the front lines, DIY Bride Rentals is a true wife-and-wife endeavor. My partner and co-owner, Elisha, is the brain behind every design decision.
By day, Elisha serves our community as a Breast Cancer Nurse, and that same spirit of meticulous care and advocacy is the heartbeat of our business. As our Design Architect, she is responsible for the structural design of your event space, the arrangement of every collection, and the editorial eye that turns a room full of rental pieces into something that feels completely, intentionally yours.
While I protect the day, Elisha makes it unforgettable.
Our Story & And How It Shapes Everything We Do
Our partnership is built on more than shared resources. It is built on shared history.
4 years into dating, Elisha and I made the move to Charlotte in 2024, drawn by the proximity to the mountains and the beach, and we are absolutely loving everything the Piedmont has to offer (minus those Palmetto bug creatures). Both of us navigated the deeply personal experience of coming out within the last three years.
In November 2025, we officially became wives. It was the best day of our lives. However, I want to be honest with you about something: the planning process wasn’t perfect.
We encountered vendors who weren’t unprofessional and unsupportive of our celebration. We dealt with the fear, uncertainty, and quiet devastation that swells when the people you are paying to celebrate you don’t actually want to. We know what it feels like to walk into a vendor meeting and wonder whether you’ll be treated like everyone else.
That experience is not separate from this business. It is the reason for it.
That is why we built the Circle of Support.
At DIY Bride Rentals, our circle is a safe space for every couple, every love story, and every aesthetic. We have been where you are. We’ve had the families and vendors who stood by us, and we’ve had the ones who didn’t. We are not neutral on inclusion. We are actively for you.
When you book with us, you are not just getting a rental studio. You are getting two people who will show up for your day (and for you!) the same way we wish someone had shown up for ours.
The Next Chapter: Education and Integrity
While my B.S. in Environmental Science gave me the technical foundation for sustainability, I believe in constant growth. I am currently enrolled in the Meeting and Event Planning Certificate Program at UNC Charlotte to bridge the years of hospitality-adjacent experience with formal training to ensure every event we plan is technically as well as aesthetically excellent.
You’ll also notice that The Stash is designed around sustainability. Our inventory is reusable, commercially sanitized, and returned after every event to eliminate the waste cycle of single-use wedding décor. That isn’t a trend. It’s an intentional choice. As an environmentalist, I can’t ignore the footprint of the event industry. By building a rental model around high-quality, reusable pieces, we are closing the loop on waste while opening the door to a higher standard of elegance.
Rent the Aesthetic. Skip the post-wedding clutter. Keep your budget for the honeymoon.
Join the Circle
Whether you’re planning an intimate microwedding for 30 of your closest people or a full reception for 80, you deserve a team that sees the whole picture. You need a team that understands food safety, structural integrity, and inclusive design.
We are so excited to bring a safer, greener, and more intentional way of celebrating to Charlotte, North Carolina. Come take our style quiz and let’s build your perfect day together.\
Interested in microwedding tips & tricks? Follow our YouTube channel to join our community of intentional couples.
Zepher Barber, Co-Founder and Event Planner, DIY Bride Rentals | Charlotte, NC | diybriderentals.com