Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melissa Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

Being within the wedding industry for almost a decade, I have seen many new trends come and go throughout the years, but one trend I have seen that I believe is here to stay is hosting a multi-day of festivities for your wedding. In 2023, we hosted the most international weddings we have ever hosted within the same year. Each international wedding we have hosted this year, chose to celebrate with their guests for 2-3 days versus their one wedding day.

We have hosted numerous Welcome Parties and other activities for our couples guests to enjoy before celebrating their wedding day. We really enjoy curating an entire weekend experience for our couples as it allows them to spend more time with their family and friends in addition to allowing us to personalize their love story through an entire weekend. Some concerns of having a multi-day wedding weekend can be the expense of having to pay more, however, it is worth it when your guests are traveling across country to celebrate your big day. This trend has been going on for decades, however, through the years the experiences have definitely evolved.

We highly recommend doing a multi-day wedding weekend at a destination your family and friends will be able to cherish for the rest of their lives.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I absolutely enjoy planning weddings and events! As the CEO and Owner of B Astonished Events, I believe my passion for professional planning and design of events started with unique celebrations I planned for my birthday and other special occasions in high school and college for family and friends.

I received my Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Maryland with a double major in Criminal Justice and Communications. My responsibilities, along with being an active basketball player, included managing, planning and coordinating all resources related to the Club Basketball program and my sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. These memorable experiences led me to pursue and complete my Master’s degree in Sports Industry Management (Business Management) from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

The personal satisfaction culminating from these lifetime memorable events had a significant impact in the creation and vision for B Astonished Events. Over the past decade, I have incorporated invaluable life experiences gleaned from my leadership, passion, creativity, detail-orientation, commitment and honesty into a myriad of beautiful experiences provided by the B Astonished Events Team for our clientele.

As an experienced designer and planner, I really thrive on my couples feeling that their wedding is a one-of-a-kind and true expression of who they are so that their love story is the essence of the event. My favorite part of a wedding day is seeing the design come to life and our clients’ reaction to their room reveal.

Balancing my passion is time well spent with my husband Blair and raising two young boys, Braylen and Bryson. If I am not planning one of our lavish events, you can find me traveling the world, enhancing my closet accessories or enjoying a sweet cocktail with my friends.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to create life-long memories for our clients that they will cherish forever. Being a wedding planner and designer, I manage multiple vendors throughout the planning process and being able to create their personal love story into each wedding without mimicking another wedding, is special to me. I’m very big on how can I create the couples personal love story and favorite things to do into their wedding day!

A lot of times, we find ways to be creative through their tablescapes, entertainment or escort walls to tell a story for their wedding day. I love seeing my couples happy and witnessing their wedding day unfold in front of their eyes on their big day.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time I had to pivot in business was in 2020 when Covid started to affect the wedding industry. Venues were closing down and it was being mandated by the state that there was no longer allowed groups of 10 or more for events.

It was a very tough time for the wedding industry and weddings still had to take place. I pivoted and created a wedding series called “Just the Two of Us” which allowed couples to still get married in outdoor settings around the DC, MD, VA area with no more than 10 total guests and I included a package with a photographer (Terri Baskin), Videographer (Blair Williams Productions) and a Florist (Pretty Petals Florals). We booked over 15 couples during this time and it was the most beautiful thing to see for couples to be able to still have an intimate ceremony with professional photos/video and pretty florals.

As time progressed and venues started to open back up with restrictions of guest count, we started to use indoor venues as an option as well. It was the perfect pivot to still allow couples to get married during the 2020-2021 wedding season.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bastonishedevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bastonishedevents/

Image Credits
Photographer: Terri Baskin Wedding Images: https://gianlucaadovasio.it