We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carina Blanton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carina below.

Carina, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

As a wedding planner, I really do feel that all of the weddings I work on and relationships that I build with couples are meaningful in their own way. There are certainly visions, personalities, and particular design aesthetics that I find myself more naturally inclined to, but every single wedding – and the planning process that comes with it – offers something special and unique. There are weddings that I hold especially close to my heart and I’m so lucky to continue those relationships beyond the work – not because they were “better” or “more meaningful” than other weddings, but because I particularly bonded with those couples.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Carina Blanton and I’m the owner of Raleigh Weddings, a wedding planning and design company based in Raleigh, North Carolina! I first fell in love with the wedding planning process when I was planning my own wedding – which is the same story you’ll hear from a lot of people in the industry – I just wanted to live in wedding world forever! In addition to my newfound adoration of wedding design and logistics, I came from a healthcare background which I think prepared me for handling wedding day emergencies and providing the best guest experience there is to offer. It also instilled a love of “getting my hands dirty”, so to speak – so I REALLY love to be as hands-on as possible. Whether that’s folding two hundred napkins or hitting twenty five thousand steps on a wedding day (typical for me!), you’ll find me grinding to ensure that the wedding day goes off without a hitch. At least, not one that anyone is aware of.

Raleigh Weddings currently offers a full service wedding planning package as well as a wedding management package – so there’s something for everyone, whether you need a guide through the whole process or you’ve got it wrapped up but just need someone to execute it all. While based in Raleigh, we’re happy to travel anywhere in the world to create a day that’s the most true to our incredible couples.

One of the most important things to me when it comes to planning wedding days is authenticity; if the celebration doesn’t reflect the couple and their unique personalities and love story, then it doesn’t stand out. On the flip side, you will not find me shying away transparency or sharing my true thoughts with couples. My focus is always on providing personalized, thoughtful guidance and designing with timeless, intentional details.

A wedding day is about so much more than how many people show up and whether you do a plated meal or a buffet; it’s about the newlyweds and their awesome new journey into marriage. I’m unbelievably and incredibly blessed to be a part of these days, and couldn’t be happier to do what I do.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

It sounds so corny, but it’s true: the mission driving everything I do is just love. There are many powerful things in this world, but I will forever believe that love is the most powerful of all. That’s something worth celebrating. The goal is always to ensure my couples are able to be present on their wedding days. This is one of the most incredible days of their lives. They don’t need to be worrying about where Uncle Ted is or when their toasts are. They just need to enjoy.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The creative part of the wedding planning process, the design – it’s probably my favorite part of the whole thing. The first rewarding part of the design comes when you take the client’s vision, create the ideas and design based on that, and present it to them. It’s always a “YES! That’s exactly what I was wanting!” moment, which is so special. The second rewarding part is seeing it all actually come to life on the big day. Seeing the reception design that I’ve had brewing in my head for months, watching the flowers get delivered on the morning of, hearing my couples say their vows… now that is something TRULY awesome.

Contact Info:

• Website: raleighncweddings.com
• Instagram: raleigh.weddings
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088034151609

Image Credits
Julianne Key (July Photo) Villamor Photography Megan Nicole Photography Timeless Carolinas