Boca Grande Weds celebrates 25 years of wedding planning

Planning and organizing such an event would be an exhausting venture for many people. For Camille, it was a rush. “I loved working with Bayard Sharp. He trusted me. He had the most wonderful sense of humor and a sense of adventure, like no one I have ever known in my life. We spent a year-and-a-half planning that party, and we had a wonderful time. It was probably one of the greatest experiences, not just in my career, but also in my personal life.”

When we look back on our lives, we often marvel at how things come full circle. For Camille Williams, life is filled with synchronicity.

Camille is the owner of Boca Grande Weds, a leading wedding planner business on the island. Boca Grande Weds is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, and to cap off this milestone, it was recently featured in Vogue magazine. 

Camille wasn’t always a wedding planner. She started as a special education teacher working with deaf children and was inspired to go into this field when she was attending … wait for it … a wedding.

“I always wanted to be an educator,” explained Camille. “When I was a senior in high school, I attended a wedding of two young deaf people. I was so impressed by how they could exchange their vows. There were a lot of deaf people at their reception. The groom was playing college football and was so loved by his teammates, and I thought, this is for me.”

It’s been a long road from teaching special education in St. Louis, Missouri to running a top wedding planning business in Boca Grande that was featured in Vogue.

“We didn’t know that Vogue would feature the wedding. Vogue jumped on it because the bride’s fashion was so beautiful. The bride is the granddaughter of Julie O’Donnell, a lifelong friend of mine. It was such an honor to help with her wedding, as I went to her parents’ wedding 37 years ago. It was a very special situation for me.”

See what we mean about synchronicity? 

Born and raised in St. Louis, Camille earned her degree in special education. “I taught small children, 3- to 7-year-old deaf children. You have to be a good listener because, at that point, a deaf child can become very frustrated when trying to communicate. They’re learning their skills at that age. They have so much to learn both in lip-reading and signing. As every good teacher of the deaf does, I became very good at reading signals and body language. I became a very good listener.”

This ability to listen and read signals has served Camille well throughout her life and business. “In my business, for us to bring to fruition the vision of a bride, her groom and her mother, you have to be a good listener. When we do a wedding, it’s about our brides. It’s not a Camille wedding; it’s the bride’s wedding.”

Camille feels that her career choices had mostly to do with the timing of her life. “I did transition into another world, because working with deaf children was a very emotional world. I would have stayed with it if I had started in my late twenties. I became very attached to all these little children I was teaching.”

Even though Camille left teaching, being a mentor, teacher and surrogate mother has been a theme that has followed her through her entire life.

Another theme has been the hospitality business, which came about naturally.

“In St. Louis they know my family as restaurateurs. When I left teaching, I started a catering business which segued into an event company. I sold this business when we moved to Boca Grande. I started coming here in 1986 and then became a homeowner in 1991.”

Camille took a few years off after selling her companies but missed her work, so she began doing weddings in 1997.

“And then Bayard Sharp, who owned The Gasparilla Inn, asked me to do the Millennium party for The Gasparilla Inn on December 31,1999.That launched my career.”

The Millennium party at The Gasparilla Inn included all the bells and whistles and was for over 500 attendees. “We tented an area where the beach cottages were when it was just a piece of unused property. We put up enormous tents and had cocktails, dinner and fireworks at midnight. It was a huge event.”

Planning and organizing such an event would be an exhausting venture for many people. For Camille, it was a rush. “I loved working with Bayard Sharp. He trusted me. He had the most wonderful sense of humor and a sense of adventure, like no one I have ever known in my life. We spent a year-and-a-half planning that party, and we had a wonderful time. It was probably one of the greatest experiences, not just in my career, but also in my personal life.”

Camille is a widow and, when asked if she had any children, said, “No, but I have wonderful deaf children.” She has filled her life with people she nurtures, from her students to the people who work for her at Boca Grande Weds.

Camille and her partner summer in their homes in North Haven, Maine and Walloon Lake, Michigan.

“I have a wonderful partner who is terrific and very supportive. Before I met him, he was a resident here; his name is Peter Scott-Hanson.”

Camille’s focus is on her business and mentoring her team, including Lindsey McKelvy and Kellie Hughes. “It’s an exciting time for us. I am now creative director; Lindsey is our lead planner, and Kellie is our wonderful recent addition and has been with us for almost two years.”

While Camille is involved in designing and setting up the preliminary meetings with clients, her focus is on nurturing her team. “They’re doing the heavy lifting, and I’m hovering from above, helping however I can. There’s something about being a woman in business, being able to mentor other young women, helping them, and giving them a leg up going forward in life. They’re both so good at what they do; it’s a joy for me.”