Megan Estrada
CEO & EVENT CONSULTANT
Megan Estrada is a seasoned wedding and event industry professional who has been in the event planning and hospitality industry for over 20 years. She has managed and arranged hundreds of events, including: weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, corporate events, bar/bat mitzvahs and non-for-profit fundraisers. In 2011, after spending years as a Director of Catering for luxury hotels, she decided to bring her experience and insider industry knowledge to the client and establish NSWE Events.
Megan prides herself on helping clients stay organized, keep within a budget and attain the wedding or event beyond their initial expectations. She believes that unique events require extra creativity, not necessarily expenditures. The goal is to produce the most creative and individual event within the conditions designated by the client.
Megan is an expert in contract negotiations with venues, caterers and vendors, providing ease to the process and enabling clients to include more of their wish list to their event. She approaches coordinating events professionally to provide a creative and logical method to the process.
In 2020, Megan Estrada established the NACE Covid-19 Task Force, in Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York, which worked with state and city government to create the reopening guidelines for the events industry. She is an events industry leader holding the position as National Advocacy Committee Chair for the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE).
To read more about Megan Estrada, Click Here.
Photo by Cristina G Photography
Sylwia Spirala
EVENT CONSULTANT
Sylwia’s calm and composed personality easily relates to brides, vendors, and parents. She is a seasoned event industry professional, having worked in various aspects of event planning for the past 10 years, including catering and decor with honorable mentions in Modern Luxury Weddings magazine for her event design. Sylwia’s love affair with events began over twenty years ago watching The Wedding Planner and thinking to herself, “That’s who I want to be when I grow up.” Fast forward to today, she is bringing her passion, creative design skills, and attention to detail to produce beautiful events with our clients.
Photo by Amy Aiello Photography
Natalie DeRoss
EVENT CONSULTANT
Natalie is a NSWE bride that fell in love with our process during the planning! As a Catering Director for 10 years, and a certified Event Planner, she brings a wealth of knowledge planning weddings, rehearsal dinners, birthday parties, anniversaries, corporate, non-profit, marketing, and association events. She is a Board Director and founding member of the WIPA (Wedding International Professional Association) Chicago Chapter. She comes from a large Italian family, where she was raised to ensure every family event went off without a hitch. She thrives on personal connection, and is all about the details. She is a caretaker by nature and does everything possible to ensure her NSWE clients take the time to breathe and enjoy the moments of their events.
Photo by Tamara Gruner Photography
Alexandra Martin
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Alexandra has spent the past 13 years immersed in all aspects of the wedding and event industries. From working for a luxury wedding planner in Atlanta, to designing and creating floral across the South-East, to an event producer for the largest caterer in Charleston, to Director of Sales for a décor company in Chicago, her expertise spans many critical facets of the event planning industry and across the country.
Her passion for professionalism, organization, and creativity are her strongest assets as the Director of Marketing for NSWE. She is a firm believer that weddings and events should be personal rather than pre-programmed, and loves to bring events to fruition that are a delightful reflection of her clients.
Photo by Amy Aiello Photography
Katie Kurtzner
EVENT COORDINATOR
Katie is a NSWE bride turned employee and native to the North Shore. After a 10 year career in the education world, Katie joined the team eager to assist in coordinating events for our clients. Her organization and attention to detail are her greatest strengths, which are essential in the wedding/event planning process. Katie also enjoys tapping into her creative side to enhance an event through graphic design, handwritten calligraphy and crafts, including invitations, place cards, custom signage, etc. She loves sharing her skills with the NSWE community.
Photo by Amy Aiello Photography
Jaclyn King
SENIOR EVENT ASSISTANT
Jaclyn has been managing events with NSWE for over 7 years. Jaclyn has supported lead planners on hundreds of weddings, birthdays, and events of all sizes to cultivate a vast portfolio of skills. In addition to assisting in the coordination of the NSWE’s local events, Jaclyn has traveled across the country to ensure that client needs are met even outside of NSWE’s home region. Jaclyn’s goal of every event is to ensure that the operations and schedule run smoothly. She loves to make sure the client’s expectations are exceeded with superior hospitality and service.
Photo by Amy Aiello Photography
Tara Coyle
EVENT ASSISTANT
Tara is a creative, collaborative, and energetic professional with an established career in public relations and event planning. From small and large-scale media relations to wedding and corporate event planning, Tara has a long history in client services. With experience in both Chicago, Illinois and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, she has worked across multiple markets. Tara has helped plan and execute multiple day weddings and events for high profile clientele and top tier brands. Tara is a people person at her core, and she loves connecting with her clients to create memorable experiences. With the assistance of the NSWE team, Tara recently planned her wedding, in 2021.
Photo by Amy Aiello Photography
