Before starting Crain + Co., Meagan had previously planned events in college and worked as a catering sales manager and an event planner for a non-profit art museum. She describes these experiences as being “absolutely invaluable” as they helped her to establish her own business and to serve her clients well. According to Meagan, a Crain & Co. event is characterized by stunning and timeless designs, seamless and stress-free planning, and a carefully curated event day flow.

Meagan shared some invaluable advice for newly engaged couples just getting started with their wedding planning. We’re going to go ahead and put it in boldface type because there are just so many gems here :

First, enjoy being engaged… spread the good news and celebrate! This is a once in a lifetime moment and there’s no reason to rush it. Before getting too caught up in the “to do’s” and logistics, come up with a realistic budget with your family and discuss your priorities so you can allocate your budget appropriately. Based on your budget you can move forward with choosing your venue and then vendors. Lastly, choose a venue that matches your aesthetic. It’s really hard to turn a rustic estate into a modern warehouse wedding.

We asked Meagan a few more fun questions to help Desert Dove readers get to know her and her business a little better.

What do you love most about being an event planner?

I love working as a collective team and helping lead the way. I always tell our clients that a planner is like the captain of their wedding ship. All creative vendors have really important jobs to do and, as the planner, we collectively bring all the efforts together to create a memorable, beautiful, successful event day. I also love being a planner because we get to be with our couples throughout their entire wedding journey. We get to plan and design with them for many months and then we get to experience them enjoying every minute of the celebration as they embark on their new marriage. We’re really honored to get to know them and their families and take part in such a huge day in their lives.

How would you describe the style of your work?

Fresh, clean and classic with a modern edge. Personality wise, I always say we are detail-oriented, but laid back. There’s almost never a problem that doesn’t have a solution!

Tell us about something that makes a wedding extra fun for you.

Honestly, the longer I do this the more I realize how much I love the reason why we have weddings in the first place… to celebrate marriage. I also love when clients are intentional about their design choices. We can design all the pretty things, but being able to connect them personally to the client to help tell their “love” story and clue guests into their personalities is really special.

What is the most unique, interesting, or special wedding experience you’ve had?

Every wedding has a special component that makes it memorable for us, but a couple years ago we did two sisters’ weddings about nine months a part. Both weddings were held at their childhood home and their dad put a lot of time and sweat into transforming a pasture into a huge reception lawn. It was really special to get to know their families while creating different wedding experiences for each couple.

Also, I love the Tucson community and am so thankful to get to see some of our past couples at current client’s weddings.

What is your dream holiday or adventure?

I’d love to spend some time in Greece or Croatia. My husband and I also have hopes of a long vacation (sans kiddos) where we get to stay in one of the cute bungalows over the ocean in Bali or somewhere else spectacular.

Tell us something about you that might surprise your clients if they knew.

I’m an introvert and I love to be behind the scenes and never in front of them. I also have an irrational fear of monkeys.

Located in Tucson, AZ, Crain + Co. Events provides full service planning and design as well as wedding day management. Their focus is on creating custom designs and facilitating flawless logistics. 

Our first post of 2021 is extra sweet! Today we’re getting to know Jamie Pacheco of Jamie-Cakes, a bakery boutique in Tucson, AZ. A wedding cake artist for over 10 years, Jamie works with each couple to create a cake that is truly theirs, reflecting their vision and personality, while capturing the unique look and feel of their event.

Jamie worked for many years at a “desk job” in federal and state government and felt she was never fully able to tap into her creative side. She’d had a lifelong love of baking and began making cakes and cupcakes for friends and family. As her bakery business grew and grew, she eventually turned her side hustle into a full time career! We interviewed Jamie to find out a little more about her business, her delicious creations, and her work in the Tucson wedding industry.

How would you describe the style of your work?

If you look at my gallery of creations on my website, you’ll see I don’t necessarily stick to one particular style of cake. I really like to work with my couples to make a creation that is unique to them and their wedding. I love meeting new couples and working together to create the cake of their dreams.

Tell us about something that makes a wedding extra fun for you.

I just love to try new things. So when a couple gives me creative liberty over the design of their cake, I have fun experimenting with new and/or trendy styles.

What is the most unique, interesting, or special wedding experience you’ve had?

Living in Arizona, we’re blessed with this beautiful desert landscape and climate. But the desert also brings things we don’t necessarily want at our weddings sometimes… critters of the 4-legged variety! I was recently setting up a wedding cake at a beautiful outdoor venue that was set in the midst of our lovely desert. With a pond in the area as well, a family of about 10 javelina decided that it looked like a nice watering hole to visit. Fortunately their visit was short and they went along their way!

Brag a little about your proudest moment as a wedding professional.

I have built my business from the ground up. When I started going on 11 years ago now, it was from scratch. I had to build a name and reputation for myself in this industry over the years. In the very beginning I didn’t have an advertising budget, so I had a free ad on Craigslist! Now I’m so very fortunate to have a much healthier advertising budget to spread around to local wedding magazines, etc.

What is your dream holiday or adventure?

My husband and I have always wanted to visit Italy! We actually had a vacation in the works to Italy in 2020 but then COVID happened and that has been put on hold. In the meantime, we’ve been stocking up on Italian wines to get us through.

Tell us something you never leave home without?

A snack! Because you don’t want to cross my path when I’m hangry!

Tell us something about you that might surprise your clients if they knew.

For my birthday, I always choose cheesecake over cake! Not that I don’t love cake! It’s probably just because I have an endless supply of cake on hand any given day and cheesecake is a special treat that I only indulge in a few times a year.

What is a TV show or movie that you could watch on repeat forever?

National Treasure! When it was available on Netflix, I literally had it playing in the background almost every day. My family is so happy it’s not available on Netflix anymore! I’m also a big fan of anything zombie apocalypse, so The Walking Dead is another favorite of mine.

Jamie-Cakes Bakery Boutique is located in Tucson, Arizona. Jamie strives to provide a memorable “experience” for her couples, from their initial encounter to delivery of the cake. 

Emily and Katie named their boutique to honor the memory of their beloved best friend, Genna, who had been been there for that first special shopping trip and whose life had tragically and unexpectedly ended; she will forever be part of the dream they brought to fruition. We interviewed Emily and Katie to find out a little more about one of Tucson’s premier bridal salons and about the two of them as well.

What do you love most about owning a bridal boutique?

There are so many things we love about our job, but the most satisfying part of our job is building a woman’s confidence. There is no greater joy in our career than seeing our brides FEEL beautiful. Every woman deserves to feel beautiful and getting to help brides feel that in a wedding dress is so rewarding!

How would you describe your shop’s style?

Our boutique and wedding gowns tend to be more on the classic, romantic side, and very girly and feminine! Our goal was to make our boutique aesthetic timeless and like a women’s dream closet.

Tell us about something that makes your job extra fun?

We enjoy when our brides incorporate a family heirloom into their bridal look. We have been able to help a bride find a gown that complements a 100 year-old lace veil, as well as having a piece of mom’s/grandma’s wedding gown incorporated into another bride’s wedding dress or veil. It is so special to hear about the meanings behind these special treasures.

What is the most unique, interesting, or special experience you’ve had in the boutique?

We received a call from a nurse that used to work with Katie at TMC (she was a tech for TMC children’s ER unit). She was in search of a wedding dress for her aunt whose health was declining quickly and wanted to know if we had and recommendations for her to find an inexpensive dress for a small wedding that would be in just a couple days. They were calling us from Dress Barn and she said it did not feel right having her aunt purchase a simple flower sundress to get married to the love of her life. They wanted this to be a monumental and exciting, last memory for her. Her aunt was extremely sick from the chemo and was having a hard time working up the energy to try dresses on. We immediately told her we would love the opportunity to help and to not even worry about the cost because at the end of the day, being able to provide this amazing memory for her was all the payment we needed.

Her family called us shortly after her wedding to let us know she had passed just a few weeks after. They wanted to thank us for everything because they said seeing her try on the dress she selected was the first time they had seen her smile in a long time and she felt so beautiful on her wedding day. Helping her feel like a beautiful woman on her wedding day, was one of the greatest gifts we have ever gotten to feel.

What is your dream holiday or adventure?

We LOVE to travel! Experiencing new food, traditions, and culture is hands-down our favorite thing.

What’s something you never leave home without?

Our kids!

Tell us something about you that might surprise your clients if they knew?

Many of our clients think we are joking when we tell them we are twin sisters. We don’t look that much alike, so they usually laugh and we have to reiterate that we are serious.

What is a TV show or movie that you could watch on repeat forever?

We have different opinions on this! Emily is definitely a reality show fan, so anything Housewives, Bachelor, Bravo shows, the list goes on and on. Katie LOVES crime shows, like CSI!

J Bridal Boutique is located at 2840 East Skyline Drive, Suite 150 in Tucson. J Bridal is Arizona’s Premiere Bridal Boutique for the feminine and fashionable bride. They offer brides a unique one-on-one experience with a professional stylist to assist with finding their perfect wedding day look.