Gosh – it sure did feel good to be able to present the 2022 Taranaki Weddings Industry Awards live and in person after a 2-year break.
Back in 2020 we were forced to first of all postpone the Industry Awards and then to cancel the event all together, due to increases in Alert Levels, and event number restrictions. In true Taranaki Weddings style, we came up with a plan C and hosted the awards online for the first (and hopefully the last) time. However, in 2021, due to the ongoing challenges our Industry and the greater local business community continued to suffer, we made the difficult decision not to hold the Taranaki Weddings Industry Awards in 2021.
We were absolutely stoked to be back in 2022 and while this years awards were on a smaller scale than previous years – they were, without a doubt, a sign that the incredibly resilient Taranaki Wedding Community is slowly but surely overcoming the challenges the past 2 ½ years have presented and rebuilding back to what looks to be an incredibly busy season ahead.
The Taranaki Weddings Industry Awards began as a desire to give our local Wedding Vendors something to strive towards – to raise the bar in terms of customer service and product and service delivery. After years of watching Wedding Vendors give up their weekends, their summers, their holidays and often missing important milestones of their own in favour of helping someone elses dreams come true, we at Taranaki Weddings felt it was time to showcase and celebrate our dedicated and talented Wedding Community.
The Taranaki Weddings Industry Awards are unlike any other awards of their kind in the country. They are tailored to recognize and celebrate the Vendors who are actively working in the Taranaki Region – and Winners are determined by client nominations and public voting. Our nomination and voting system is set up to insure that nominations can only be received from clients and voting cannot be stacked against one vendor. Nominations and votes are combined to determine winners and a Highly Recommended Business in different categories and an overall winner.
This year 102 valid nominations were received and accepted across 11 categories for a total of 31 businesses, and a total of 7910 votes were received. We were honoured to award winners and highly recommended businesses in 11 categories and an overall winner – Taranaki’s FAVOURITE Wedding Vendor.
Category winners each receive 3 months free advertising on the Taranaki Weddings Directory and our overall winner wins a full year of free Advertising at our Top Tier inclusive of access to our events.
Florist Category Winner – Forage Crest. Highly Recommended – Pineapple Sage.
Catering & Bar Services Category Winner – ABC Catering. Highly Recommended – The Shaker Tin.
Celebrant Category Winner – Tracey Zehnder Celebrant. Highly Recommended – Erin Alice Marriage Celebrant.
Entertainment Category Winner – Seismic Events. Highly Recommended – Flash Mob Entertainment.
Health & Beauty Category Winner – Hair by Kate. Highly Recommended – Makeup by Annalee.
Planning & Stylists Category Winner – Elizabeth Jean Weddings.
Wedding Cake Category Winner – A Love of Cakes by Annette. Highly Recommended – Cakes by Peanut.
Photos & Video Category Winner – Natalie Waugh Photography. Highly Recommended – Amanda Ritchie Photography.
Hire Services Category Winner – Dobsons Marquee & Events. Highly Recommended – Stellar Events
Transport Category Winner – Rides 4 Brides. Highly Recommended – Withers Coachlines.
Venue Category Winner – Okurukuru Winery. Highly Recommended – Pukekura Function Centre.
The winner of Taranaki’s Favourite Wedding Vendor for 2022 and a years free advertising on the Taranaki Weddings Directory – Natalie Waugh Photographer.
Congratulations Natalie – you are a much loved and much respected member of the Taranaki Weddings Community and I’m beyond delighted to have announced you as our overall winner tonight. It’s been a pleasure and honour to watch you grow and develop as a photographer and a business woman over the past 8 years that you’ve been a client of Taranaki Weddings and we’re so excited for you as you enter your next chapter! Congratulations!
To all our nominees, highly recommended businesses and winners – we thank you for your support of these awards and wish you hearty congratulations. The last 3 season have been challenging and you should all be incredibly proud to not all have survived them – but be thriving. Thank you all for coming to the 2022 Taranaki Weddings Industry Awards Celebration – we can’t wait to be back in full force in 2023.
Mrs TW x