Momentous Weddings, Events, & Designs: Meet Carissa!
This week, we are eager to introduce you to Carissa Melendez, owner of Momentous Weddings, Events, & Designs! Carissa has lots of experience in the wedding industry and has recently started her own planning business. Check out the full interview here to learn more about Carissa and her new company!
Ladybird: When did your passion for weddings begin, and what made you want a career as a wedding planner?
Carissa: I grew up loving “love.” My parents have always shown me the ultimate form of love. Throughout high school, I started developing a passion for clothing, art, and design. I went to UT and got into the Division of Textiles and Apparel, where I learned about fabrics and fibers, everything from the science of the fiber all the way up to the garments you can create. I really loved the idea of creating comfort for people. Through my program, I got to learn how to create garments for people. Then I started thinking about the business side of things. I thought, wouldn’t it be amazing to create garments and custom designs for people and be able to plan their wedding? I’ve always been a planner by nature and I got a lot of experience planning events at UT. After awhile, I realized wedding planning sounded really gratifying to me. I realized how important it was to have someone there on your wedding day to help you have this special, momentous occasion. I started my company with the goal of being able to take someone’s vision and bring it to life.
Ladybird: When did you start your business?
Carissa: I have been in the wedding industry for 5 years, but I started my business in June of 2019. You guys actually did the videography at my very first wedding. I offer wedding planning, event design, and garment design. So I’ve been at this for four months now. It has been a really fun and challenging four months.
Ladybird: What is your philosophy/mission for your company?
Carissa: No matter what the event, our goal is to create one of the most special days of your life. We want to bring your vision to life, but we also want you to feel happy, confident, and special. People have lots of momentous occasions throughout their life. I actually have two definitions for the word “momentous” on my website - I have the dictionary definition and my definition of what it means to me. “Momentous” to me is a meaningful moment in your life. My mission is to create a momentous experience for my couples.
Ladybird: What makes your company unique? Why should brides hire you?
Carissa: My company is different because we focus on the experience. I want to give you an experience that you will never forget. I want my couples to enjoy the process and really get to know me and my personality. I want them to know they are going to have fun and be well taken care of. When I think back to college and the five-year plan I had created, I knew I wanted to focus on the experience. I want people to have a momentous experience and to be able to look back and remember the experience they had with my company. I want to be present in my couple’s lives and be able to carry out their dreams.
Ladybird: You mentioned that you just started your company in June. What do you think has been one of the most important elements or things you’ve been focusing on as you’ve been developing your brand?
Carissa: One of the things I’ve been realizing is how important social media is. It sounds cliche because everyone is on social media, but what I’ve realized is that you don’t just post to post. You don’t post just to get likes or followers. You post your style and your work because you want to show people what your company is all about. You are trying to advertise to genuine future clientele, past clientele…you’re looking for quality over quantity. You want genuine likes, you want genuine clients. I try to be real with my posts and make them sound like me. I want to post things that showcase who I am so people can get to know me. I want people to feel a connection to me and feel comfortable because I am going to be with them planning for a while. Social media has become very valuable to me, but it has been one of the most challenging things to learn.
Ladybird: What is your favorite part of working in the wedding industry?
Carissa: My favorite part is getting to surround myself with something that I love every day. Each of my couples has shared a different, but beautiful kind of love - the kinds of love I aspire to have one day. Being in the industry, I’ve gotten to experience one love journey after another. I love getting to experience a new relationship and hear about how it happened. I love hearing the stories. I love watching people grow throughout the wedding planning process. What’s even more amazing is getting to see the couple even more in love than ever on their wedding day. Knowing that I could help their dream come true is one of the most gratifying and special feelings.
Ladybird: What do you think are some of the biggest mistakes that brides make?
Carissa: Some brides are very organized and very strong-willed. They have their style on point and they feel like they don’t need a planner. Even I didn’t see the point of a planner until I became one. Having a planner is so helpful. We have vendor connections. We can take a lot of stress off your plate. We can simplify the process, even for brides that have a strong vision and know exactly what they want. Another mistake brides make is opting out of having a rain plan. Some brides won’t have a back up plan or won’t want to reserve a tent, even if the planner is suggesting it ahead of time. Deposits for tents are usually refundable up to a certain date, depending on the company. As a planner, I always want to have a Plan B, but sometimes clients are resistant. If the weather ends up changing last minute, that makes our job a lot harder. Sometimes clients get upset with us, but it becomes extremely hard to get a tent at the last minute. If the weather is bad, we’re having to compete with other planners in town, other events, other restaurants, other businesses to get a tent. There are only so many companies that offer tents, and if you don’t reserve one in time, you may be out of luck. The bottom line is, rain plan is everything.
Ladybird: Do you have any stories you want to share from weddings you’ve worked?
Carissa: There was one wedding that I actually passed out at. The couple didn’t even know about it. It was at Addison Grove, and there were these big lizards, kind of like the ones from the movie “Holes.” I was setting up the welcome sign outside and one of the lizards jumped onto the sign and then right onto my chest! I screamed and just passed out. Thankfully, my assistant was right there when it happened and I woke up pretty quickly. I saw the lizard jump off me and I remember asking my assistant, “Did that lizard really just jump on me?!” She kept asking if I was okay and if I could make it through the wedding, and I told her I was totally fine. I think the lizard just freaked me out.
Ladybird: If you could give a couple just one piece of advice, what would it be?
Carissa: I would say that your wedding isn’t a show. Your wedding is a very special occasion, it’s a beautiful celebration of your love. You need to remember that this is something for you to experience together. It’s not about how much money you have to spend or what you can show your guests. It’s not about who had the best cake or the prettiest florals. At the end of the day, those are all details that help create the feeling, the environment, the mood of your wedding, but what matters is that you got married and had an experience you will never forget. You got to marry the person you love, surrounded by the people that you love, and you get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend. That’s what a wedding is.
Keep up with Carissa and follow her on social media!