Raleigh Wedding Planners

We want our clients to feel like a guest at their own event. Our ultimate goal is for our clients to walk away from their special day floating on cloud nine convinced everything went off without a hitch (because we made sure they didn’t know about any unforeseen hitches!) We truly love what we do and are grateful to be a part of each and every couples special day!

OWNER/SENIOR CERTIFIED WEDDING PLANNER

Nicole Conder


Nicole is a Senior Certified Wedding Planner with 10+ years of experience designing, planning, creating, and implementing unique and personal events for brides and other clients throughout the US. Her dedication and zeal for serving all brides and clients alike permeates the entire Premier Party Planners team. Nicole was born and raised in the hospitality industry, which has enabled her to bring a lifetime of expertise to wedding and event planning. After graduating from UNC Wilmington with degrees in Communication Studies and French, she started her career as an intern with another Raleigh-based wedding planning firm. Premier Party Planners was born in 2010, shortly after her internship ended, as she began planning weddings for her own clients. Since starting Premier Party Planners, Nicole and her team have delivered first class weddings and events for clients throughout North Carolina and abroad, including a number of destination weddings. Our philosophy is that every client should feel like a guest at their own event, and she and her team are dedicated to providing total customization, complete commitment, an affordable price, and unparalleled peace of mind to each client they serve.

My passion is for wedding planning, and I did not get into the business after ‘falling in love with planning my own wedding.’ Instead, I put in a lot of time and effort learning about the industry before opening Premier. My heart is for serving my brides, grooms, and their families, and I understand how important the wedding day is for them. Each wedding is unique and special, and as the planner, I have been entrusted with a big responsibility. I take that responsibility very seriously.” 

CERTIFIED WEDDING PLANNER & DESIGN SPECIALIST

Tara Ruffier


Tara developed her love for planning at an early age, and through her studies at Kent State University’s Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising, her passion for the industry only grew. After her internship in New York City where she worked with several companies planning and coordinating runway shows, she quickly realized something was missing from her career. It wasn’t until moving to North Carolina and meeting Nicole, did she find her true calling. After working as an assistant coordinator and learning various “tricks of the trade,” Tara became a Certified Wedding Planner and began taking on her own clients in 2015.

“I am absolutely in LOVE with weddings, from the dress and ceremony, to the flowers and reception. To look at a couple and see them enjoying themselves on their special day is just the best, and to know I had a hand in the process is truly the most gratifying thing in the world.”

Wedding Planner

Melanie Turner


Melanie discovered her love of wedding planning and creating unforgettable events after planning her own wedding in March of 2017. She then moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to follow and support her husband in pursuing his NFL career. It was there in the French Quarter where she met the ladies of WINK Design & Events. She continued to work with WINK under their many years of experience in planning large and memorable events for the next two years. In that time she was even able to attend The Special Event (TSE), an event conference that educates and celebrates the industry, where she was able to learn from renowned planners from around the world. Upon returning to North Carolina in 2019, Melanie returned to her alma mater and was hired as a Banquet Manager at the Carolina Country Club at UNC Chapel Hill where she learned how to execute events through a much different lens. After two years of managing a catering team, Melanie missed the spark of event planning and was overjoyed to see that Premier Party Planners was hiring! In 2020 Melanie began assisting the Premier team and quickly grew into a lead coordinator and is excited to execute her own events!

CERTIFIED WEDDING PLANNER

Elizabeth

Elizabeth has been working in the events industry for 6+ years. She graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Management and International Business. She then began her career working for a local Raleigh Tech company on the marketing events team. It was there that she was able to gain remarkable mentorship for creating, planning, and executing world class events around the US and abroad. Her love for planning events grew from there. She began working in the wedding industry in 2017 to expand her events knowledge. Elizabeth brings an organized, detailed, and styled eye to all events that she plans. Her favorite part of planning weddings is to understand the Bride’s vision and be able to bring it to life for her wedding day.