Cater+Event Schedule 2027

Guests rarely remember the menu. They remember how the room made them feel. In this session, luxury event designer and author Akeshi Akinseye shares The Felt Journey, her framework for engineering emotion across the five moments of any event: arrival and anticipation, welcome and recognition, the core experience, the signature moment, and the send-off. Drawing on 15 years designing high-end celebrations around the world, Akeshi shows caterers and event pros how to audit each touchpoint, find where the experience quietly leaks, and elevate the moments that turn a beautiful event into one clients rave about, refer, and rebook. Attendees leave with a practical, repeatable way to design how their events feel, not just how they run.