We were lucky to catch up with JoAnn Moore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, JoAnn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

I Saved a Wedding by giving my couple permission to cancel their wedding.

My job brings me joy and I have a great deal of imagination. But sometimes my job isn’t easy or fun when I need to help my couples make hard decisions. Let me explain; I was hired to put together a wedding very quickly, giving me only six weeks to plan. The family explained to me that the couple needed to get married as the brides father’s health was deteriorating due to cancer. They were aware he would not be on this earth much longer and provided me with their vision for their wedding celebration. I went to work immediately.

The couple agreed to have a small gathering of close family and friends on their mountain home property for the wedding ceremony and then would like to buy out their favorite restaurant for their reception. The pieces were falling into place quickly, hiring musicians, a florist, photographer, and other important vendors. Two weeks before the wedding we all met at the reception location and the brides father was present for this meeting. It was clear to me that he was getting worst quickly. Shortly after that meeting, I was told the father was now in hospice care. Still, the couple insisted he would make it to the wedding and walk his daughter down the aisle. I knew better and knew they were not thinking clearly.

I arranged to have a private call with the mother of the bride and the bride the Tuesday before the Saturday wedding. I had explained to them that I had reached out to all their vendors and everyone is willing to move the date for a year to allow the family to focus on the task at hand, the brides father. I explained I did not see or feel any joy in the upcoming wedding, which is a very important element in any wedding. The bride cried and the mother asked if she could call me the next day. Of course I agreed.

Early the next day the mother of the bride called and thanked me. She didn’t know what to do or how to get through this challening time. She confessed to me she was planning not to attend her daughters wedding because she was not comfortable leaving her husband’s side. She thanked me for giving them “permission” to postpone the wedding which made the decision very easy for the couple. Sadly, the bride’s father passed away that Friday, which would have been the night before the wedding.

Six months later I reached out to the couple and they were now ready to refocus on their wedding celebration. It did not take place on the same weekend of what their original wedding. They decided to move the date a few weeks earlier. It was an amazing and beautiful wedding celebration. The happiness and joy filled the day. The presents of the bride’s father was felt that day by everyone.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a Luxury Wedding, Design, and Event Planner and I absolutely love my job. I wasn’t always an award-winning Colorado and Northern Nevada/Lake Tahoe Region luxury wedding and event planner. A creative path that I took got me to where I am today. I wasn’t always planning full-service luxury weddings and events. When I was a young girl, I was told: “when opportunity knocks, open the door.” With successes as a young track runner and gymnast, and with my passion and talent for dancing, I grabbed hold of the creativity in body movement, and I did it all, including – ballet, tap, and jazz. I was given the opportunity to teach dance to children, which lasted twenty-six years. Dancing allowed me to expand my creativity by designing elegant and dramatic costumes and producing over the top shows. I received many accolades from my peers, my students, and their parents for thinking outside the box. Even after an excellent performance, my imagination soared, thinking of ways to make my productions even grander and elaborate.

Out of a desire to help others, I entered the medical field and worked as a Respiratory Therapist in Cardiopulmonary for twenty years, all while still teaching dance. I enjoyed my work and the challenges that came with it. I volunteered at the local Senior Center, teaching and helping senior citizens with ways to stay healthy and active by moving to the music.

My jump into the event world started by volunteering for local community events, local productions, festivals, and other events. I was hired to assist with moving the Town of Vail’s annual Fourth of July Parade from average to extraordinary, being asked to return year after year for 29 years. The now-famous parade is the most popular event in the community. During all of these fantastic opportunities from planning, designing, and organizing elaborate events, I was privileged to work with a variety of organizations. A local producer of an event I assisted with asked me to plan her son’s wedding because she noticed my “organization skills, imagination, and an eye for details” like no one she had ever worked with. I eagerly embraced this challenge without hesitation. Once I found my true passion and drive for planning elite weddings and events, I never looked back!

I found that I have an extraordinary drive to be challenged continuously. My drive originated from my upbringing that developed my “true grit–fireball” approach to challenges. My father was very old school and had low expectations for me, emanating from a misinterpretation of women’s roles in general. He believed a woman’s role should not include a career nor include independence or success. This was a condition I could not accept, and I always pushed the envelope. To frame this positively, my father’s archaic beliefs helped challenge me to excel at what I believe to be “my own way” to a good life, which then manifested in a great blessing when I discovered my passion for providing luxury wedding planning services. Transitioning from working with “sick hearts” in the medical field to “lovesick hearts” as a professional, luxury wedding planner was an epiphany and the best leap of faith I ever took.

Now, surpassing thirty years of planning full-service elite weddings for couples whose love stories move me to tears, I continue to strive for excellence and uniqueness by creating the most amazing “happily-ever-after” for my clients. Aside from local and destination weddings and honeymoon planning, I also plan social festivities, birthday and anniversary celebrations, as well as corporate gatherings.

I’m a proud mother of five children and wife to my fire chief husband, my biggest supporter, and inspiration. My family has always encouraged me to fulfill my passion for creativity in the full service luxury and destination weddings, design, and event planning world.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Living and working in a Colorado Resort Town, where the community is small and everyone seems to know everyone. It’s also expected for community members to volunteer to make community events successful and brings visitors to the resort. I am a big believer of volunteer work. I started by volunteering working with the community’s July 4th parade. I came up with the fun themes and organized the entrees, and used my creative mojo to produce an amazing event year after year.

My talent for creativity and organization was noticed and I was asked to assist a local couple plan their wedding. This was the first wedding I had ever planned besides my own. I knew after working with the couple and having a very successful outcome that this was what I wanted to do. My style in the beginning was very basic as I grew with each event. I read everything I could get my hands on, went to conferences and worked to achieve various designations in my industry. I’m a Master Wedding Planner, Certified Green Wedding Planner, and a Certified Autism Travel Professional, to name a few. I’ve written a book, “Laughing All the Way to the Altar” and I now speak at conferences and webinars as often as I can. My philosophy is “knowledge is not to be hoarded, but to be given to each other. This strengths the our industry which helps us all.”

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started out working in Cardio-Pulmonary in a local hospital, having gone to school to become a Respiratory Therapist. I did enjoy working in the medical field and helping others. When I moved from California to the mountains in Colorado, the local hospital did not have any full time jobs available. I worked part time and on call as much as I could. This change in my schedule was actually a blessing. The extra time gave me the opportunity to volunteer by working with event producers and I discovered other talents. It was with the opportunities that came my way, I was able to start my business as a Wedding and Event Planner. You could say I went from working with sick hearts to working with love-sick hearts. I still enjoy every day of my job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joannmooreweddings.com/
• Instagram: @j.m.weddings
• Facebook: joannmoore
• Linkedin: joannmooreweddings

Image Credits
Frances Marron Photography Kent Pettit Photography Toni Axelrod Photography Jesse Starr Photography