Paula Ewers of Truly Ewers Events
Paula Ewers of Truly Ewers Events, who splits her base between Dallas and Atlanta, joins Kevin Cochran on the Texas Wedding Podcast for a rare cross-market perspective on the Texas wedding industry.
Paula talks through the real differences between the two cities, from vendor depth and mentorship culture to venue variety and client type, and walks through her path from WIPA Dallas secretary to president to immediate past president. She and Kevin also break down the Dixon wedding, a Georgian Terrace ceremony in Atlanta reimagined with an all-white carpeted reception floor and vendors flown in from Dallas, plus her timeline-first approach to planning that leaves brides with nothing left to decide three weeks out.
Follow Truly Ewers Events on Instagram, and hear more from the people shaping the Texas wedding market on the Texas Wedding Podcast.
Jordan Fatheree is the one who first recruited Paula onto the WIPA board, so pair this one with Jordan Fatheree's episode to hear his side of the Texas wedding market.
The Texas Wedding Podcast is hosted by Kevin Cochran of 718 Creative, a Texas wedding videographer.
Full Transcript (condensed)
Meet Paula Ewers
Kevin: We have Paula Ewers with Truly Ewers Events today. She's an incredible planner and designer up in Dallas who splits her base between time in Atlanta and Dallas.
Paula Ewers: With the season I'm in right now, the biggest thing has been the transition from president to immediate past president. It's not about the positioning, it's about your posture, coming from a servant's heart, doing things from a place that wants to see your industry succeed. I've realized how important it is to be the person behind the scenes helping whoever's in position now be their best self. It's not a competition between past president and current president, it's more about coming together and joining forces.
A Vendor's-Eye View: Dallas vs. Atlanta
Paula Ewers: Coming from Atlanta back to Texas, the biggest thing I realized is that Dallas has really been leading the game in a lot of areas, services like acrylic dance floors that you can't always get elsewhere. In Atlanta there's often only one person doing a specific service, and it's newer people overall, whereas Dallas has multiple people you can call for the same thing, and the ones who've been doing it for ten or twenty years are still showing up to WIPA events, still passing down what they know. That mentorship creates a standard for the people coming up behind them.
Client-wise, Atlanta gets a lot more transplants with no ties to the city, people who fly in, get married, and leave. Dallas has more locals mixed in. Atlanta doesn't have a lot of estate venues, so my Atlanta clients are mostly ballrooms and hotels, where Dallas gives me a little bit of everything.
I split my time between Dallas and Atlanta because of COVID, honestly. I was living in Dallas, moved to Atlanta, and during COVID neither city shut down, so I was flying back and forth so often I just moved back to Dallas and kept both markets open. Last year it was a 50-50 split. This year it's leaning more Dallas.
From WIPA Secretary to President
Paula Ewers: I went to a WIPA event in Atlanta before COVID and didn't even realize it was WIPA. Back in Dallas, Jordan Fatheree reached out to me, he was connected through Brian Green on a board called NSVWEP, and Jordan asked if I'd be interested in running for secretary. I told him I didn't even know what it entailed, I was brand new, hadn't even been to a Dallas event yet. I served as secretary for two years, through Jordan's term and into Tracy's, before becoming president myself.
What made me commit so much of myself to it was realizing these people are my family now, people I can lean on for anything. Going to the national level and realizing you're united with people in other cities over one shared thing made it feel like a home. My first inaugural speech, looking out at a room full of people I already knew, that's the moment it really hit me.
The Dixon Wedding: Reimagining the Georgian Terrace
Paula Ewers: The Dixons are a doctor and a nurse, a very sweet couple, with a lot of family and friends flying in to the Georgian Terrace in Atlanta. The bride fully trusted the process, whatever we drummed up, she was with it. The Georgian Terrace ceremony space is normally just a row of pillars, so we turned those pillars into a partition for draping instead, so guests walk in, turn left, and the space opens up.
For the reception, she carpeted the entire floor white, dance floor included, which the venue had never done before. I pulled in several Dallas vendors for this one on purpose, to mix things up: Center Stage handled the dance floor, welcome sign, and seating assignments, Belle Decor did the florals, and Storybird Designs did the stationery. I also swapped the standard oval reception chairs for a dramatic long-back chair to give the room a different dimension than the usual white-and-gold look.
Design Process and Timeline-First Philosophy
Paula Ewers: For full-service clients, we build a storyboard together and I keep refining it based on what they respond to. But if you ask me what I'm actually best at, it's logistics and timelines, not pure design. Design means constantly chasing trends and inspiration, and that's not what lights me up. What does light me up is a timeline someone else could pick up on wedding day and run with, no questions asked. I'll spend five to six hours on a single timeline to get there. My goal is for a bride to have zero decisions left to make at least three weeks out.
I always build in real downtime, an hour for the bridal party to just sit and enjoy each other, fifteen to twenty minutes for the couple to reconnect before they walk into their reception. That's when a dad says something sweet, or a mom fixes your dress one more time before you walk down. Those moments need space, they don't happen back to back.
Why She Does This: Be With Your People
Paula Ewers: I got into this industry because of my sister's baby shower. My parents have since passed away, and that room, everyone who was in it that day, can never be recreated. That's the whole reason I care so much about giving people real experiences and the space to slow down and actually look around at their people.
The Shout Out
Paula Ewers: I'll give a shout out to Fumi from Bell Decor. I work with her often, and she's always open to trying something different instead of repeating the same look. About a year or two ago at Notting Hill, she built a chandelier entirely out of hanging calla lilies, a total showstopper. The bride wasn't sure she could pull it off, and Fumi's team just said let's run with it. Those are the people you want in your corner.
Kevin: My shout out goes to Julian Leaver of Julian Leaver Events. He started a podcast a couple weeks before I did, Mind Over Matrimony, produced with The Media Socialites. It's rich enough that I usually finish an episode and immediately restart it to actually think through how to apply it.
Connect with Paula Truly Ewers Events: https://trulyewersevents.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trulyewers
Connect with Kevin // 718 Creative https://718creative.com | https://www.instagram.com/718.creative
Connect with the Podcast https://www.texasweddingpodcast.com | https://www.instagram.com/texasweddingpodcast
