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Nicole from Weddings by Paris - Part One - Industry Expert Interview


We are so ridiculously over the moon to have recently chatted with Melbourne based Wedding stylist, Nicole from Weddings by Paris, Nicole is an International Wedding super star, and is one seriously talented chick when it comes to Wedding Planning and Styling. Over the years she has had her work featured on some amazing platforms such as Paper and Lace, Hello May, Burnetts Boards as well as Style me Pretty.





We spoke with the super fun and talented babe Nicole about all things weddings. We asked her about the start process of her business journey, her passion for the industry, her views on industry education as well as her inside expert tips and tricks. We had so much we wanted to ask Nicole and have split this interview into two great blog posts.


 

Tell us a bit about yourself – (how you got into the industry, your background, where you started?)


Yes this is so cliche but do you remember the Wedding Planner movie? Well I watched that at the age of 14 and fell in love with the character played by Jennifer Lopez. Add the fond memories of watching wedding runway shows with my mother as a child and I had a pretty clear vision as to what I wanted to be when I grew up!

I completed my Events Diploma after high school so I could get started in the industry. At that same time I got a full time job working on conferences and a weekend job with Weddings of Desire. Working with Weddings of Desire was really what re-sparked my love of weddings from a teenager. Every weekend was another beautiful wedding. I found myself making the same comment after each one, "this is how I want my wedding to be". I was always taken away by the way she created her weddings and eventually wanted to really create weddings I could call my own. This happened to coincide with a move to another country (at that time New Zealand) so what better than to start my own business right from the start. Hello Weddings by Paris!


 

Weddings by Paris – totally love the name! Can you tell us how you came up with it?


I played around with other names for the business and while there are some great names out there I was worried that choosing something that sounded good at that point in time wouldn't have been as timeless as keeping it personal. Plus well how much more literal could it be... they are Weddings by Paris (me!)






Was there a defining moment when you knew that Wedding Planning and Styling was something you wanted to do and create a beautiful business from?


As soon as I started working with Weddings of Desire I quickly realized how amazing the job was. How you could really create some magic for people and make a huge difference for someone's most special day!


 

What makes you so passionate about the Wedding Industry?


I love the industry because it's mainly full of motivated and determined women. While of course there are men in the industry it is very heavily swayed for us females. I love the fact that I've worked weddings with suppliers who have had their babies strapped to their chest or that they've had little kiddies come to pack down to help them out. What a casual and lovely family orientated industry to be around. While of course it's amazing to be apart of the couples special day and bring their vision to life or create a vision for them. I think it's important to mention the suppliers in this industry because I tell you it's not easy. It takes most of your summer weekends, it requires early starts and late finishes, a lot of labour. It's definitely not for the faint-hearted. But because you get to work around so many people who are striving for the same end result and they work so hard for it it creates such a massive sense of accomplishment at the end!


 

What do you see is the biggest difference between New Zealand and Australia when it comes to the Wedding Industry?


I think the differences are very obvious in the sense that it comes down to resources and cost. But just like any comparison between a bigger and smaller country this is just the general theme. There is an abundance of suppliers over here in Melbourne. You want acrylic menus done there's about 10 businesses that can assist there. The styling decor to choose from OMG! I found that while working in New Zealand I would be putting together my style planner and would have to worry about checking if certain things were available to hire before showing my couple because most of the time I wasn't able to source those items within New Zealand. Cost, cost is always going to be a big issue. It does cost more to have a wedding in New Zealand however what I did find was that New Zealand brides were forced to be more savvy because of this. Which is great! I have however noticed over the last year since leaving New Zealand the items available for weddings have definitely stepped up a notch, there are some great businesses who have a massive range of hire items and some amazing stylists doing beautiful things with them. So while there are differences that you can see during the planning process I don't think that's stopping anyone from creating quality work. 


 

As an experienced Wedding Planner and Stylist do you have any inside tips or tricks that have helped you along the way?


Try to be as organised as possible with all your tools and equipment for the day of the wedding. I had a little toolbox I would always have with me full of those random things you don't think you'll need but end up needing. All the typical ones like safety pins, string, blu tack but then add in some styling items like gold and chalk pens, extra lighters (always extra lighters because I swear I don't think I ever come home with any of my lighters). 




Auckland Roof Top Elopement Featured on Paper and Lace

Creative Direction and Styling Weddings by Paris

Makeup and Hair Artist Olga Gill

Bridal Gown Natalie Chan

Glass Props Royal Laboratorie

Tableware Father Rabbit

Linen Insphire

Bride Amy Tomlinson

Groom Marco Sapich



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