Who Runs the (Wedding) World? Erin Padgett!: How an ambitious Lake Norman native has built upon her passion for the wedding industry
Behind thick piles of manila folders organized by last name and wedding date, sits a petite, five-foot-tall, 95-pound woman with wide brown eyes and a smile that diminishes the stressfulness of her work environment. The small office on a two-lane road in Huntersville offers little space for three people to share, but none of the girls seem to mind, or even notice.
The woman behind all the work, Erin Padgett, grabs her Dr. Pepper and maneuvers through the office to a less-cluttered room used for meetings and creative thinking. The only thing showcased here are hundreds upon hundreds of thank you notes from past brides and grooms.
“I know it seems obsessive, but I can’t seem to throw any of them away,” Erin says as she lovingly tussles her office dog, Luna. “These notes telling me thank you are what motivated me along the way. They are why I’ve made it this far.”
Girl boss Erin Padgett runs the wedding world with her two businesses, Erin Padgett Events and Paige and Elliot, of which make up a notable chunk of the wedding industry in Lake Norman and the surrounding areas.
But how did she make it all happen? It’s a story of passion worth reading.
Erin Padgett Events
In just six years, 34-year-old Erin has revived the wedding industry in the Lake Norman area by building two small businesses to cater to local brides and grooms. She got started in 2013, when the business plan for Erin Padgett Events came about on a receipt at Five Guys while she and her husband Jonathon shared a greasy meal of burgers and fries.
Prior to starting her own company, Erin practiced event planning through Cabarrus Country Club in Concord, managing a variety of events including her favorite, weddings.
“I got to see golf tournaments and member events, but the weddings were always like ‘Ooh, I love this. I love the love!’,” says Erin. “My heart was there.”
Paige and Elliot
After four years of owning and running Erin Padgett Events with a small team behind her and growing success, Erin’s entrepreneurial spirit longed to make another one of her dreams come true.
In 2016, space for Paige and Elliot, a bridal boutique owned by the Padgetts, came to life in response to what Erin saw as a hole in the market. The design for Paige and Elliot originated as a plan to fill the gap between big-box, commercialized bridal boutiques in the area with something smaller and more intimate.
“I want it to feel like a smaller, family owned shop where brides can come in and feel comfortable like they are coming to their own home to look for a wedding dress,” says Erin, in explanation of her original vision for Paige and Elliot. The bridal boutique also ensures that Erin will remain in the wedding industry, where she feels she belongs, for years to come.
“So, in general for the wedding industry, wedding planners have a lifespan. So, where someone could open a bridal boutique or work at a bank or something and work your whole life, in the wedding industry as a planner, you kind of age out at a certain point,” says Erin. “I’m getting ready to be 35 so I knew there needed to be something else in the wedding industry that I really loved that could kind of sustain that over time.”
Relationship Building
But The Knot Hall of Fame award winner isn’t ready to give up her spot in the field just yet. She’s still got a lot of work to do and infinite knowledge to pass on to those rising up in the industry. Between her two small businesses, Erin is the manager of seven women with the majority of them being no older than 35-years-old. Working for Erin, however, feels like working with family according to all the young women beneath her.
“Working in a small, tight-knit atmosphere has allowed us to become closer friends as well as having that typical work relationship,” says 28-year-old Candace Sharpe, one of three lead planners at Erin Padgett Events. “Because we have that type of relationship, we are able to approach business in a more personal manner.”
Erin’s strong relations don’t begin and end with her employees. For most vendors involved in the local wedding industry, just mention of Erin’s name brings a familiar, knowing smile to the surface. Long time wedding florist, Barbara Dearborn, recalls recognizing a ‘staying power’ inside of Erin upon first meeting her years ago at a bridal show.
“The flip side to being around a little longer is that I’ve seen so many other planners come and go because they can’t keep up with the fast pace and stress that comes along with the business,” says Barbara.
In addition to her communication style and work ethic, a number of publishings in bridal magazines and blogs such as Wedding Lovely and The Carolina’s Magazine also speak to Erin’s credibility. Local magazine, Lake Norman Currents, celebrated her success in their 2016 issue entitled “Movers and Shakers” where writer Lori K. Tate simply stated, “Erin Padgett knows weddings.”
Erin’s expertise and ambition is admired by many who just want to know — how does she do it?
In an interview with Ben McDonald, financial advisor at Edward Jones, Erin tells all about how she manages two companies at the same time.
Future Plans
When asked about future plans for her businesses, Erin responds with a laugh, a sip from her Dr. Pepper and an animated shrug.
“For Erin Padgett Events, we have been so fortunate to look in 2020 and have such a great number of couples who are getting married which is wonderful and we love that but it runs a little bit like a well-oiled machine because it’s older,” she says. “We’re going into our seventh wedding season so the plan of it is just to kind of continue what we have, but continue to grow and learn in our experiences and what we can provide the brides.”
The busy girl boss likes to take her days one at-a-time, but does have significant plans in the book for an expansion of Paige and Elliot. With demand in the area for more affordable, yet unique wedding gowns increasing, the bridal shop will likely be moving to a larger space to accommodate more dresses, tuxes and accessories.
With the unforeseeable future ahead, one thing is for certain. You won’t see Erin Padgett sitting still for more than two minutes at a time. And you will always see her with a Dr. Pepper in hand, a big smile on her face and a wedding she is itching to plan.
To view some of her work, follow the links below:
3 Minute Interview Clip:
Mock Social Media Promotions
Annotated Bibliography
Elegant Safari Wedding Inspiration by Erin Padgett Events. (2016, February 22). Retrieved from https://weddinglovely.com/blog/elegant-safari-wedding-inspiration-by-erin-padgett-events/
McDonald, B. (2018, May 3). Balance of Running Two Companies at the Same Time- Erin Padgett. Retrieved September 26, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_vqxODoOoU.
Padgett, E. (2014, October 15). Day in the Life: Erin Padgett. Retrieved from https://plannerslounge.com/day-in-the-life-erin-padgett/
Tate, L. K. (2016, August). The Wedding Planner. Retrieved from http://www.lncurrents.com/pastissues/lnc0816.html
Erin Padgett/erin@erinpadgettevents.com/704–652–1319
Candace Sharpe/Candace@erinpadgettevents.com/479–597–8020
Barbara Dearborne/ftdfweddings@aol.com/704–975–2559
