One doesnӪt keep a company going for 25 years without being open to adaptation. Fortunately, Ren̩ Hue has made a career of doing just that.
Hue started Brookfield-based Murmuration in 1996 as a high-end custom greeting card line, which has since grown into what she calls “a boutique couture invitation and event design firm.”
“I always gravitated towards vintage images” when putting the cards together, she said. “Things that featured really detailed engravings and some really amazing images.”
Hue was using a vendor in Long Island City to produce the cards, and one day an engineer there suggested she expand a line of products.
“Within three months I had an entire custom line ”” birth announcements, wedding invitations and so on,” she said. “That”™s what pretty much launched the business.”
A trip to the annual National Stationery Show at Manhattan”™s Jacob Javits Center led to a connection with Neiman Marcus, “which treated me like I was Hallmark ”” they were highlighting my portfolio to various clients and outlets.”
Her first client through Neiman was a certain British singer/songwriter known as Elton John. “I did custom stationery and holiday cards for him and (husband) David Furnish for eight years,” Hue recalled. “And that was exactly the type of client I was hoping to appeal to.”
That in turn led to a host of other celebrities (Maya Angelou, Norman Lear, Shakira) and major corporations (Deloitte, Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase), which Hue said left her head spinning.
“When I entered this business, I did not expect it to grow as quickly as it did,” she laughed. “But growing it into a full-service event-planning business has really proven to be my forte. I like to say that we provide a unified thread, from invitations all the way through to the end of the event, including thank you cards.”
Hue”™s journey began at Manhattan”™s Fashion Institute of Technology, with an eye toward becoming a professional illustrator. But with that being taken over by photography at the time, she instead underwent her first evolution by landing a job as a hostess at a restaurant.
And not just any restaurant, but Armonk”™s fabled Wampus Lake Quality Inn. “Service there was much more personalized than at a big chain,” she noted. Aware of Hue”™s background the owner “figured I could draw” and put her in charge of designing promotions and weekly newspaper ads.
“Then my love for planning weddings came out, so he decided I should be the director of catering and event planning,” she said.
Unfortunately, the inn was destroyed by a fire, leading to a move to what is now the Renaissance Westchester Hotel. “Being at the inn had given me a lot of clout and creative expression,” she said. “But I went from seven dining rooms of various sizes, up to one that could seat 400, to more of a cookie-cutter approach.”
That was an adaptation too far, so Hue ultimately joined the high-end Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, where she honed her skills as an event designer. “I found out that I loved the design aspect so much that I wanted to pursue it on a personal level,” she said.
Murmuration made its own mark by building a streamlined process that begins with a consultation ”” generally done six to eight months before the event ”” followed by a design proposal, including estimated expenses and projected timeline. All events are custom designed ”” again, Hue disdains “the cookie cutter approach” ”” with memorable results meant to impress clients and guests alike.
Having taken some time off to tend to newborn twins, Hue returned to full duty about two years ago, getting Murmuration”™s web redesigned and taking a refreshed approach to marketing “to the correct demographics.”
“This is a niche business that appeals to a very niche market,” she said. “It”™s high-end, labor-intensive product that requires the appropriate curation of elements.
“But we saw that we needed to appeal to the TikTok audience as well ”” younger people who were getting engaged, but also older people who might be entering a second marriage.”
And then came Covid-19.
“Obviously with social distancing it”™s become more difficult to promote social events,” she said. “But that”™s when we pivoted again, to Events Ensembles.”
Those smaller, “out-of-the-box” packages are again created specifically for each customer, promoting events that can be held at the home or a small restaurant via invitations and such features as printed candles and soaps. Following the same consultation process, Murmuration drops off all the accoutrements beforehand in order to meet today”™s “touch-free” standards.
“It involves the same art of planning ”” just on a smaller scale,” Hue said. “We”™re still trying to convey a spirit. Everything we do is still a reflection of ”˜you”™.”
Even with so many weddings being postponed ”” including one of her own daughters ”” Hue expressed confidence that, post-pandemic, the business will rebound as never before.
“People can”™t wait to celebrate,” she said. “But in the meantime, I think they have come to have more reverence for life and realize how much they took for granted before.”
