Meet Chloe Salatino Payne, Amy Reeves | Wedding Planner & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chloe Salatino Payne, Amy Reeves and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chloe, Amy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We had so many thoughts when laying the foundation for A&C Events, and were delighted to find that each potential risk went easily by the wayside when discussing our dreams and goals for the vision we shared. It was such an exciting time in our lives and it felt like everything clicked together effortlessly and was pointing us towards going for it from the moment the idea conceptualized. We were acquaintances that both had different specialized skillsets which gave us the confidence that we could create a new type of work environment that would allow us to excel in a less rigid way than seemed to exist in the corporate world/or working for the current bosses and organizations we were involved in. The idea of opening our own wedding planning company initially started due to our needs that weren’t being met career-wise, and our shared passions. When you find a person whose bar is as high as your own and the energy is equally met, you can’t deny that something special is happening, and we are so grateful that life allowed us to find each other because our partnership and rate of growth is all due to the shared love and commitment we have for each other and our clients. What we could never have imagined was the community we would build so quickly. We didn’t know that our business would expand to include coordinators who we get the absolute pleasure of mentoring and working alongside with. But with each move we have made, the next step has seemed to magically reveal itself to us and makes perfect sense. We wanted to cultivate an environment where two young women could thrive, be respected, be flexible and intuitive, and trust each other to lift the other up and take leaps together. What we have built is so much more than that and better than we ever imagined.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We as wedding designers are always evolving in our own tastes, and each of our base styles get to be challenged and expanded with each new client. We are so deeply inspired by our clients visions and we are continually driven to create something special for each wedding that has just the slightest touch of our own signatures. We are so proud of our range, and lack of ego that allows us to truly create with our couples in mind and produce events that we simply couldn’t have come up with ourselves! What genuinely sets Amy and I apart is that along with having unique couples commissioning our work, we are a team rather than an individual, so many of our designs end up being collaborative! It is very important to us that we allow other design vendors as well, like wedding florists, to have a voice in the day to bring out the most spectacular end result, showcasing everyone’s talents. Collaboration is key to our success and ability to sustain in an ever evolving creative field. With all of that recognized, what we are SO excited for, as a company that founded immediately prior to the pandemic (Sept, 2019), is that we have been able to see our visions for weddings come to life, and they are only getting more dynamic and thoughtful. We had so much unanticipated time to hone our skills during the lock down and throughout the period of time that events were impossible to hold, and it gave us a step up that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, albeit difficult. Fast forward to today where weddings and events feel so much more important than they ever did pre pandemic. Being able to celebrate love and produce unforgettable days is such a damn honor. We committed to building our brand despite uncertainty, and are so proud of ourselves for sticking to our vision and grateful for our clients who have trusted us. We have learned so much about communication, how to read between the lines of what people are trying to say, and ultimately how to create a vision for someone who was unsure of what that really meant. We want our brand legacy to be that we love what we do to the point of obsession and that we lift others up along with us as we continue to grow and create with A&C Events.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
So much credit goes to both of our dads for being such supportive and consistent people in our lives, we both feel incredibly lucky to be so encouraged and believed in by them. On a more wedding oriented note, growing up Amy’s biggest role model in the industry was Randy Fenoli. His energy and commitment to providing an unforgettable experience tailored to each of his clients was so inspiring, he made difficult decisions seem effortless and fabulous!! Chloe’s initial interest in the wedding and design industry, was watching J-LO in the iconic 2001 hit, The Wedding Planner!! Seeing a woman who was beloved for being bossy was a core memory for me as a little girl who wanted to direct the world- the design element was just a plus. In all seriousness, both of us have wanted to serve others since we’ve been little girls, and we are so inspired by other people’s love. Planning weddings feels like a fairytale for both of us.

Website: www.amyandchloeevents.com

Instagram: @amyandchloeevents

Image Credits
For Amy & Chloe picture, those were both taken by @jennifernoellephotography, the 2nd (bride in hate with pink flowers being kissed by partner with gaugues) and 5th (gray plate table scape with bleached florals and teal candles) were all taken by @jennifernoellephotography. The 1st photo and 6th photo (sparkly short dress with husband) and (white plate tablescape with terracotta nametag and pink tumblers) is @jesslivingphoto, and the 3rd and 4th photos (couple in green house) and (white tablescape with figs and pomegranates) were taken by @nickddkphoto.