This Week in Weddings

Wedding planners are a great source of wedding referrals and can be a perfect conduit to repeat business. But how do you get on a wedding planner's preferred list? And even more importantly, how do you stay on that list? In this week's episode of This Week In Weddings, we're chatting with a seasoned wedding planner about that things to do to make yourself stand out in a planner's eyes. And, of course, Kimberly can't help but add her own two cents about the topic as well!

About our guest:

Saundra is the owner of planning forever events, an event planning business based in Evansville, Indiana. For the last 16 years, she is known to create weddings and celebrations that become treasured memories forever, usually, with large liquor and bar tabs.

She entered the event planning world with many years of business experience under her cap; such as, corporate event planning for doctors and selling advertising/media campaigns to all ranges of businesses. Real-world business experience, managing expectations, budgeting, marketing, and strong sales skills, has helped her maintain her longevity. 

Saundra never dreamed of being a wedding planner. Instead, she fell into this crazy event world through luck and has stuck it out through grit and creating collaboration with other wedding professionals to produce outstanding events.

Ten years ago, Saundra was invited to speak at an intimate event planning conference. With her extensive background in sales training from her advertising job and a passion for the subject of selling to clients, Saundra developed the Get Real Sales Coach seminars to teach other industry professionals “How to Close the Deal”. 

She has brought her no-nonsense, straight-forward delivery to stages across the country, including Australia, at conferences such as the Association of Bridal Consultants, The Special Event, NACE, privately funded conferences, and her own workshops. Currently, she has elected to pull back from speaking engagements and applauds her friends and peers that are on the speaking circuit.

Saundra could go on and on about her published articles, but really, she knows no one really cares. She is, however, proud that for the past 13 years, she has worked for a local ABC morning lifestyle show, producing and delivering wedding content for live TV and co-anchoring special events such as the Royal Wedding.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Saundra's experience in the wedding industry
• How to best reach out to a wedding planner for the first time (and what not to do)
• What will get you on a wedding planner's shit list
• Tips for working with planners and their clients

Want to connect with Saundra?

• Online: https://www.planningforever.com/
• Instagram: @planningforever

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.

Weddings are expensive, and most couples go into the planning process with absolutely no idea how much what they want actually costs in the real world. As wedding vendors, how can we communicate clearly with couples about wedding costs and why we charge what we do? In this week's episode of This Week In Weddings, we're chatting with wedding planner Mary Wright Shah about some best practices for clearly communicating costs and budgets throughout the planning process. Whether you're a wedding planner or represent another vendor category, this week's episode will give you some real takeaways for talking about numbers with couples.

About our guest:

Considered one of the top wedding planners in the country and founder of Diamond Affairs Weddings & Special Events, Mary Wright Shah is dedicated to providing the highest level of service, detailed perfection and flawless execution of her events.  With over 20 year’s experience in hospitality, consulting, planning, designing and producing luxury weddings and social events in the country and around the world, she is one of the most respected and sought-after wedding planners. Mary and the Diamond Affairs team have the ability to go well beyond the traditional roll of a wedding planner, they offer an extensive knowledge in design, access to world-class locations, venues and vendor relationships.  

Mary is known for her heightened attention to detail to texture and interiors. By layering the details, she creates a one-of-a kind experience for her brides and their guests. With her leadership even the most complex wedding is able to unfold with style and perfection. Her wonderful relationships with the best creative partners in the country allow clients to put together the perfect team of professionals to create the event of their dreams and exceed all expectations.

A devoted wife and mother of three boys, Mary loves style, inspiring food and wine, traveling and especially great interior design. She continues to invest in her ability to innovate and enjoys coming up with new trendsetting ideas with her current and future weddings & events.  

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Mary's twenty years of wedding industry experience
• Pre-qualifying clients prior to meetings so that no one's time is wasted
• Tips for clearly communicating prices and how vendors can better explain their pricing and policies to clients
• A wedding planner's perspective when it comes to getting proposals from vendors that are above a client's budget

Want to connect with Mary?

• Online: http://www.diamondaffairs.com/
• Instagram: @diamondaffairs

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.

We communicate every single hour of every single day, but have you ever given thought to how the words that we use shape people's perception of you? In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with wedding planner Renée Dalo about language and how the choice of words can either empower or diminish each of us as entrepreneurs.

About our guest:

Wedding planning wasn’t always in the cards for Renée Dalo. Instead, what started out as a seemingly one-time favor for a friend evolved into a thriving side-hustle to her acting career. When it was her turn to walk down the aisle, she flipped the script and discovered that the wedding industry was truly where she belonged. Shortly after her “I do’s,” she started Moxie Bright Events, a boutique wedding planning company, and never looked back.  It wasn’t long before fellow industry pros were looking to her for advice. With over 12 years of experience under her belt, Renée turned her knowledge towards the advancement of the industry as a whole and launched her top-notch educational resources for event pros. In addition to her self-guided Wedding Management e-course, Renée was the co-host of the popular B2B podcast, Rock Your Wedding Biz, and is currently the host of a new weekly podcast, Talk with Renee Dalo.  Renée is a fan favorite on the speaker circuit, taking the stage at conferences across the country, including Wedding MBA, Creative at Heart, Let’s Plan Conference, and Tide Talk LA. She is recognized across the industry, having earned a coveted spot on Honeybook’s 20 On The Rise list, and she contributes frequently to industry publications. She currently serves as the Vice President of WIPA Southern California and has also held leadership roles in The Association of Bridal Consultants and The Rising Tide Society.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Renee's background in theatre and how she shifted into the wedding industry
• How many words the average person speaks in one day
• How the words we use, particularly for women, affect how people perceive us
• How apologizing when there's nothing to be sorry about and using words like "just" and "actually" can reduce your power and undermine your confidence
• Simple steps you can take to reframe your language
• "Playing Big" by Tara Mohr
• Just Not Sorry Google plug-in
• Grammarly
• Podcast - Talk with Renee Dalo

Want to connect with Renee?

• Online: http://moxiebrightevents.com/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moxiebrightevent
• Instagram: @moxiebrightevents

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.

Breaking into speaking as an industry expert is no easy feat, but making it to the main stage of a national conference is an achievement of a select few. In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with public relations expert Meghan Ely about getting into the national conference speaking circuit. From why to do it to how much it pays, we're digging in deep to making it on the main stage.

About our guest:

OFD Consulting owner, Meghan Ely, combines in-the-trenches event experience with a love of wedding PR to empower her clients to take their businesses to new heights.

A long-time industry speaker and writer, she is a WeddingPro educator with The Knot and WeddingWire, as well as a regular contributor to Wedding Planner Magazine, Wedding Business Magazine, Catersource and SpecialEvents.com.

Meghan represents clients globally and has earned them coverage with the New York Times, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot, Refinery 29, Forbes and Real Simple, among other outlets. Her team’s publicity efforts are regularly honored by the Public Relations Society of America.  Special Events also has honored her as one of the top 25 young professionals in the event industry.

Most recently, Meghan launched WeddingIndustrySpeakers.com, a go-to resource for in-demand event industry educators.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Meghan got her first speaking opportunity at a national conference
• Reasons for wanting to become a speaker at national conferences
• The first steps to take when trying to get into the speaking circuit
• How conferences typically pay speakers and how much you can expect to make as a wedding industry speaker
• Meghan's webinar about Creating Your Own Speaker's Platfrom

Want to connect with Meghan?

• Online: https://ofdconsulting.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ofdconsulting
• Instagram: @ofdconsulting

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.

In this casual episode of the This Week in Weddings podcast, Kimberly and Annie chat about being a guest on a podcast. From the "why" you'd want to be on a podcast to the "how" to pitch to a podcast, they're sharing their best advice for those who might want to break into this media, including a few tips for being a great guest once you are selected for a podcast.

If you have a thriving business, you certainly have to juggle multiple clients at one time. But, how can you make each client feel like they're the only one? Or... better yet, do you even WANT them to feel like they're the only one? In this week's episode, we're chatting with wedding planner Alisha Chadee about creating a cozy (and crazy) courtship with your clients throughout the time you're working with them.

About our guest:

Alisha has a project management background in learning and development, plus 5+ years of experience coordinating corporate events and the director of education for WIPA Toronto. She’s developed a proven planning process for couples who want to know how to create magic on their wedding day. (But not throw money off yachts like they’re in a rap music video.) She thinks in floor plans, endorses moving if you find a spider in your house, and has an oyster obsession.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Alisha and her business partner got into the wedding industry
• How Alisha pre-screens clients before signing them to make sure they are a good fit
• How Alisha uses social media to show her clients who she is and what she's all about
• How they track client info and preferences, so they know tiny details of their clients
• When she "friends" clients on social media
• The systems she has in place to give clients information 

Want to connect with Alisha?

• Online: http://eventsbywhim.ca/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EventsByWhim
• Instagram: @eventsbywhim

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.

Burnout in the wedding industry is real! And if you've been in business for any period of time, you've likely had periods of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or just beat down. But what do you do when you have a period of hating your business? In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with wedding photographer Erin Youngren about her own experience and how she made shifts to get back to a business she loves.

About our guest:

Jeff and Erin Youngren are the husband and wife wedding photography team known as The Youngrens. For over a decade now, their deeply emotional style has led them across the U.S. and around the world to photograph wonderful couples they love. Along with The Youngrens, Jeff and Erin also own and manage two other photography brands that photograph weddings and commercial work, plus they coach photographers and run their podcast Creative Rising, a show about what it’s really like to run a photography business. Even as the owners of three brands with a regular team of ten photographers plus a full-time staff of editors, designers, and studio managers, they’ve developed highly effective business models and marketing systems to make sure that their business fulfills the vision for their life, instead of their life being run by their business. Their mission is to help other photographers do the same - build life-giving businesses they love instead of burned out businesses they don’t.

When Jeff and Erin aren’t shooting, traveling, speaking, or podcasting, they’re hanging out with their greatest adventure of all, their son, James, in their home of San Diego, CA.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Erin got started in the wedding industry with her husband
• The circumstances that led Erin and her husband to stop loving their business
• The mind shift changes Erin had to make in order to turn around her feelings about her business
• Why the wedding industry is full of burnout
• How working with a business coach has helped Erin and her husband improve their business and perspective

Want to connect with Erin?

• Online: theyoungrens.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/theyoungrens
• Instagram: @theyoungrens

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by Honeybook.

If you grow your business larger than a company of one, you may find yourself in a situation where you've hired an employee that might not be a good fit. The theory goes that you should hire slowly and fire quickly, but if you need to let someone go, do you know how to do it most effectively? In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with two wedding industry veterans who reflect on their experience firing an employee and how they did it completely wrong.

About our guest:

Courtney and Dana are a sister duo based in the Raleigh NC area. They have been in the event industry for almost 13 years and run C and D Events, The Bradford, and Bushel and Peck Florals. Because they are not busy enough - they have recently launched Hustle and Gather - their inspirational/business coaching division designed to inspire and normalize the crazy that comes with entrepreneurship. They laugh and bicker in equal measures and still choose to vacation together! Their dream sister trip is to drink their way through Italy - sans children and husbands! 

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Courtney and Dana got into the wedding industry
• Courtney and Dana's hiring journey, going from just the two of them to full time employees and part-time contractors
• How and when they knew the employee wasn't a good representation of their company
• How they communicated the change of employment with the employee, and how they wish they'd done it differently 

Want to connect with Courtney and Dana?

• C & D Events: http://www.canddevents.com / IG: @canddevents
• The Bradford: http://www.thebradfordnc.com / IG: @TheBradfordNC
• Bushel and Peck: http://www.bandpdesigns.com / IG: @BushelandPeckWeddings
• Hustle and Gather: IG: @HustleandGather

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by the OFD Collective.

Understanding millennials has been a challenging endeavor for anyone in older generations. And just as we think we understand them, another generation is in the mix! Known as GenZ, this group was born between 1995 and 2015, and the oldest of this group will be the next round of wedding clients. Do you know what makes this group tick, how to communicate with them, and what their hot buttons are? In this week's episode of This Week In Weddings, we're chatting all about Generation Z and what we need to know.

About our guest:

Brittny Drye is the founder and editor-in-chief of Love Inc., the leading equality-minded wedding blog and print publication. Her inclusive efforts have been celebrated by the New York Times, Forbes, The Advocate, OUT Magazine, Refinery29, NY Daily News, Cosmopolitan, and more. She is a founding member of the Aisle Society, a member of the 2018-19 North American Advisory Board for the International Academy of Wedding & Events and a 2019 Knot Pro Educator. 

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Brittny's background in the wedding industry
• GenZ's thoughts on gender and gender identity
• The racial makeup of this generation
• Communication styles of this younger generation
• What GenZ is looking for when it comes to their weddings

Want to connect with Brittny?

• Online: https://loveincmag.com/ 
• Instagram: @loveincmag
• Pinterest 
• Facebook
• Twitter

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by the OFD Collective.

Without sales, you don't have a business, but what are some new, creative strategies for building your business and getting more sales? In this week's episode of This Week In Weddings, we're chatting about  ways to think outside the box when it comes to sales and expanding your network that are often overlooked.

About our guest:

Erica Taylor Haskins is a Founding Partner of New York City-based event production company Tinsel Experiential Design, formerly known as Tinsel & Twine. 

Tinsel is committed to redefining luxury events through the execution of imaginative, immersive experiences for private clients and for brands like Mercedes-Benz, Spotify, L'Oreal, and Condé Nast. Tinsel has proudly produced events at iconic institutions like The New York Public Library, The Guggenheim Museum, The Rainbow Room, and One World Observatory. The team’s work has been featured in Vogue, WWD, Forbes, and Town & Country, with the company named recently as one of the Top 50 Event Designers in North America. Before Tinsel, Erica worked in account management and business development on a number of advertising agency teams across consumer, technology, and media verticals. With this professional experience, Erica’s expertise lies in her ability to manage in-house and vendor teams throughout the lifecycle of any project. Her experience has also given her a deep understanding of how to leverage authentic relationships to reach target audiences. She brings an intimate knowledge of the creative process, a practiced degree of diplomacy, grace under fire, and an instinct for mutually beneficial business partnerships to Tinsel. Beyond Tinsel, Erica is the Northeast Regional Coordinator for The Jackie Robinson Foundation, a national non-profit organization founded to perpetuate the icon’s legacy through scholarship, leadership, and service. She was honored as one of JRF’s “42 Under 40” distinguished alumni. Erica is committed to sharing her business journey with other aspiring entrepreneurs. She is also extremely passionate about attending Broadway shows, enjoying naptime with her french bulldog (Mayhem, May for short), writing to Congress daily, travel to soak in blue waters, blue skies, red meat, and red wine.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Erica's background in the event industry
• Ways to expand your network using some of your favorite past clients
• Finding the connectors in your network for expanding your circle
• Asking for introductions to key people
• How LinkedIn can be an under utilized resource for networking
• Personalized gifting for wooing potential clients

Want to connect with Erica?

• Online: http://tinseldesign.com/
• Instagram: @tinseldesignnyc

This episode of This Week In Weddings is sponsored by the OFD Collective.