Wedding Planner Profile: Carly Rae Weddings
PHOTO BY ROBIN SASSI
It’s no secret that I love to follow west coast planners for design inspiration. Carly Williams has been on my radar for years —based in Long Beach, CA— and the Carly Rae Weddings team has worked at some of LA’s coolest venues. Not to mention, some pretty awesome destination weddings, in over 20 cities, including Seattle, New York, Quebec, and Sydney.
Not surprisingly, Carly’s work has been featured dozens of times, including People Magazine, Style Me Pretty, Pop Sugar, Green Wedding Shoes and US Weekly.
With clients coming from across the globe to work with Carly, her goal is to make them comfortable, relaxed, and at peace as they prepare to step into their forever.
She’s a great follow on Instagram, for fresh and honest takes on what’s happening in out industry.
Read more in her interview below:
What was your career path leading up to launching your business, Carly Rae Weddings?
CW: Carly Rae Weddings was founded in 2010 when I had just graduated college. The recession had just hit and I had no way to find work. Thankfully, I had some random nanny jobs and a temp job at a medical records company to make ends meet prior to the start of being in the event industry.
What do you love about wedding and event days?
CW: I love event days because it’s getting to orchestrate all the vendors and décor and see it all come together. It’s always so much fun to see the couple and the family get to the ‘finish line’ of the planning process, and see it all come together and see all the people they love in the same room.
Why do you feel couples need planning or coordination?
CW: The same reason you need someone to birth a baby. You need someone to help you with all the details, in my opinion, because why invest that type of time, energy, and money into a day and be the one working it? You absolutely need help. It’s in the top vendors you need!
PHOTOS BY MK SADLER
Do you have a specialty?
CW: I specialize in full planning and partial planning events, in both high luxury venues and private homes. Both destination and locally.
How did you go about building a team? What has that been like?
CW: It depends on what you want out of your business. Do you want a team or do you want to do it solo and bring in freelancers per event contract? I know planners who do both of these and it’s really great to note that in this business you can choose whichever path works for the direction you are headed in!
How did you incorporate more design services in to your business?
CW: By showcasing my work on my website and social platforms. Show what you want to book.
Where do you look to for inspiration?
CW: It always depends! I try to look outside of the wedding industry for inspiration because it can be really overwhelming day in and day out looking at wedding blogs!
PHOTOS BY TIDA SVY
What has been the bright side of COVID and how it effected weddings, or are there any lessons learned that you would like to share after two strange years?
CW: There is a bright side and a dark side to the last few years. I think the brightest thing I’ve seen has been seeing couples finally get
married! Seeing them hug their loved ones and dance together has been a highlight.
What trends did you love this last season? Or for next year?
CW: Last year there was a lot of dried florals and I think that is going to transfer over to this year!
Was there any education or training after you launched that has been invaluable?
CW: Freelance. Helping other vendors on my weekends off has taught me valuable lessons and confirmed things I was doing correctly.
What would you like new planners to know?
CW: It takes time to get the clients you want, so give yourself some time and grace. Pricing yourself low is not the way to go. It brings all the value down to the industry and propitiates that seasoned vendors should lower their rates. We work far too hard to work for pennies!