Today we’ve got a fabulous guest post by Camie Occasions. It’s a great Q & A session that will help you get to know one of our newest members of Wedding 101.
Q: Tell us a bit about Camie Occasions
A: Camie Occasions is a Nashville based Wedding Planning and Design Boutique creating
artistic event designs and custom planning solutions. We offer a wide variety of packages from Day Of and Partial Support to Full Service Planning and Design ensuring each bride’s individual needs and budget are met. Camie Occasions mission is to create Beautifully Designed, Meticulously Planned and Professionally Executed events!
Q: Tell our Wedding 101 readers a little bit about how you became an established wedding planner and what qualifications you have to bring your clients professional and creative services.
A: I can remember back when I was an undergraduate studying biology, I told my family that a profession in event planning and design is where my passion was. Of course being a science major, I was poorly prepared at that time and sounded like a confused college student. As Delta Gamma’s Vice President of Communications and Director of The Dance Refinery’s competitive cheer program, I got my feet wet with every event and planning opportunity available. Upon finishing my Bachelors of Science, I took a job as a laboratory manager at Indiana University where I promptly used my faculty discount to complete an Event’s Managements Degree at Indiana University. By this time, I had directed numerous weddings, fundraisers, large corporate trade shows and various other types of events which gave me the experience to understand that planning weddings was what I enjoyed most. A few years and many weddings later, I began working at Roche Diagnostics. My corporate family taught me invaluable business and marketing techniques and supported my aspiration to further my business management skills by funding a Masters Degree in Business.
I’ll give you one guess as to what my MBA thesis was…you got it, a business plan for Camie Occasions Event Planning and Design Boutique! And, as they say, the rest is history!
Q:When did your passion for event design begin?
A: I was eight years old as a flower girl for a family wedding and loved not only getting to wear a beautiful dress but helping make the decor for the event! I remember glueing pearls onto satin heart shaped isle runners with my mom, wrapping each hand made bouquet with floral tape and climbing up to hang the drapery over the reception serving table…I was hooked!
In college my friends joked that I was their version of “Monica” from Friends because everything always had to be planned, every detail perfected and each event properly documented with photos.
Q: What is your most memorable event?
A: During a casual ceremony in a rustic barn with intimate candle lighting, vintage Fenton glass and romantic red roses is the day I officiated the 50th Wedding Anniversary nuptials of my grandparents. This event will always hold a special place in my heart.
Q: What do you like to do outside of event planning?
A: I’m always a sucker for shopping, fashion, chic accessories, vintage embellishments and home decor. However I’m blessed and very lucky that as an event planner every day I get to explore my creativity with fashion, decor, design and yes there is shopping! When I’m not working with clients, I love:
- Being outdoors: backpacking, mountain biking, canoeing, white water rafting, diving, snorkeling, exploring, you name it
- Traveling
- Salsa Dancing
- Remembering it all through photography
My creative expression makes me feel energized and thus it comes out in my career, my clothing, and my play time!
Q:What is one of your favorite trends in the bridal industry currently?
A: Brooches bouquets! I’m not sure what I love more about them, the fact that they are fun and sparkly or that they make a wonderful keepsake after the wedding for the bride to decorate their house with by putting into a vase. And don’t worry, if you do not have upwards of $600- $800 to shell out for one, Camie Occasions can help you make your own for a fraction of the cost!
She can do it all! Cami is truly the total package. Love her!
Could NOT have had the amazing wedding I had without Camie- she was a lifesaver !