If you’re dreaming of a luxurious, epic wedding that you and your guests will be talking about for years to come, you need to know NJoy Weddings & Events. From weekend-long celebrations at a private estate to something uniquely you (like getting married on an ice rink), their team brings wedding dreams to life.
Nancy Jeffries-Dwyer, the Founder, Chief Event Officer, and Creative Director of NJoy Weddings & Events, sat down with Vermont Weddings to share how she got her start in the business over 30 years ago, and after planning hundreds of weddings, what her favorite moment is.
How did you get into wedding planning?
While working toward my Bachelor’s degree in Fashion & Design at Ryerson University in Toronto, I modeled wedding gowns on the weekends at the Robert Simpson department store. The combination of my degree, modeling, and weddings inspired me to work in the industry and eventually begin my own wedding planning business.
How would you describe your style?
We create fashion forward weddings for modern romantics. Our style is timeless and epitomizes classic design principles, elegantly presented, with luxury and romance front of mind.
What inspires your work?
As a designer I’m inspired by everyday things in the world around me: line, form, shape, color, movement, flow, balance. These constants are evident in the great designers who I most admire: Givenchy, Chanel, and Dior to name a few. Classic and timeless!
As a planner, I am appropriately obsessed about details, timelines, order, and structure in order to create peace and calm in what could otherwise be chaos with hundreds of wedding planning details.
Any special tips for couples for choosing / working with a wedding planner?
It’s critical for a couple and a wedding planner to “click” and to have great chemistry. Each party needs to understand the other’s role in the relationship. Ultimately the couple needs to have great trust in who they are hiring. For my team, this begins with one-on-one conversations with the couple to discover who they are as individuals, as a couple, and how they fit into their collective family.
What’s your favorite moment during a wedding?
That’s easy, as it always brings a tear to my eye…When I’m standing with the bride and her dad, or both parents, fluffing her gown, just before they process down the aisle. This is such a “real moment” of love, anticipation, the past, and the future all together in one single moment. It’s pure magic!
What’s your favorite thing to do in VT?
Well, given that we haven’t gone anywhere or seen anyone in so long…I’d love to host an immense family reunion at a private estate home on a lake with views of the mountains. We’d have lots of activities for “kids” of all ages like old fashioned campfires and singalongs, boating, games, and lots and lots of stories.
If you weren’t a wedding planner, what would you do?
I would definitely be a producer of some variety. I’ve produced countless stage productions: major fashion shows, epic Gala fundraising events, and full length Broadway musicals (at least 15). I co-founded the Stowe Theatre Guild in 1995, have taught junior choir, and served on several Boards in support of the Arts.
I’m known for being the person to ask if “you want something done, and done well,” and I absolutely love production – from conceptualizing to engagement to execution. Every step along the way fills me with great satisfaction!
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
My husband says I have a great sense of humor. When the inevitable pressures arise during a planning experience it’s important to remember to laugh, and to inspire those around you to do the same!
Thank you, Nancy! Learn more about NJoy Weddings & Events in the vendor guide.
