The Wedding Industry Awards Questions & My Answers
I recently entered into The Wedding Industry Awards 2022. (Update… Eeeeeeek! I actually Won! – ‘Best Newcomer 2022’!!!) Upon entry I was asked some Questions about myself and my business and I though you Lovelies might be interested in the answers too… so here they are!
What is your Company Ethos?
To be a Couples’ ‘Fairy WedMother’… taking the stress away, to allow them to actually ENJOY their day!
Describe your style and approach to being a wedding planner.
My friends and colleagues call me the ‘Queen of Spreadsheets’. I like to plan a Wedding in such detail that everyone knows what and where they should be at all times… and if they don’t know, it’s all documented on a full detailed timeline ready at hand to remind them!
I aim to plan it so well that I’m almost not needed as it should run itself!
However, I also know that a Wedding Coordinator is SO much more than a perfectly planned spreadsheet. The need for a On-The-Day Coordinator couldn’t be more apparent to me… the amount of jobs I undertake on a Wedding Day… which vary at every wedding… no two are the same! I have my full emergency kit to hand, with plasters, hair ties, stain remover, scissors… you name it… it’s in there, I promise! I’m basically their Personal Assistant, running around, fetching shoes, coralling guests for group photos, ticking off shot lists… and more often than not… helping the Bride go for a wee! The sheer variety of jobs… some days I’m a florist or tailor, other days I’m a chauffeur or maybe a photographers assistant!
I practically become one of the Bridal Party… I’m there for all the appointments… and the meltdowns. I’m there the night prior for Set-Up, first up in the morning for all the Bridal Prep, last one standing at the end of the night and back again the morning after to assist with the clear-down! I aim to immerse myself into their family… so I know that Auntie Doris will need a chair to watch the First Dance as she can’t manage for long on her feet, and that the Bride’s mum is a crier so plenty tissues on hand, not to mention Uncle Roger who only drinks Guiness… so we need to make sure the bar has plenty in advance! The hugs and thank you’s from every family member once the whole wedding is over is definitely one part that means the world to me.
How many weddings do you supply each calendar year, on average?
This is my very first year of having my own Business! As ‘Mrs T – The Wedding Taylor’ I have Coordinated 6 Weddings in my first year and Consulted on 39! (2 of which took place this year).
How did you come to be a wedding planner and what motivates you to be involved in the wedding industry?
I’ve ALWAYS been interested in Weddings, it has always been a dream in the back of my mind to play some part in planning such a big day in a couple’s life. Weddings FASCINATE me… the colours, the flowers, the dresses, EVERYTHING! It’s all the little details that make a Wedding Day so special and I am obsessed with them!!
I especially love anything DIY, such an easy way to add that extra touch to your wedding day, and cheap too! It’s also a good bonding time for Bridal parties to sit and make things together whilst also making memories! (mainly of getting covered in PVA glue and damaging your manicure! But still lots of fun!) I spend my whole life reading Bridal Magazines (like Belle Bridal & BRIDES), watching Wedding Films and making boards on Pinterest!!! I eat, sleep and breathe Weddings!!
I have a Degree in Criminology and a Masters in Psychology so this is certainly not the route that I had planned! I started working at my current venue 9 years ago, as a student during the Summer and for Christmas, and the Wedding life took ahold! I worked my way up from Waitressing to Supervisor, we worked long hours but I loved every minute of it (maybe not every minute… we did sometimes work until 3am!). But seeing the guests enjoying this day that the Bride & Groom has designed for them, even having a dance with them now and again, it was all worth it!
I was actually due to leave my job to go and work in a Prison as a Psychology Assistant… I had a start date and was about to hand in my notice when I got a phone call saying that the job was no longer available because the Prison had outsources the Psychology Department to an Agency. I cried my eyes out… it was the job I’d been working for 4 years to get, I was GUTTED. The very same day, the Wedding Coordinator handed in her notice… and they asked me if I wanted to fill her role! I was very grateful and a little shocked to be offered the position … I couldn’t believe it! (I think they saw how OBSESSED I was with weddings!). So I’ve been a Coordinator for 6 years, and in my Senior Coordinator position for almost 4 years now. Some things are just meant to be!
During Lockdown I decided to start my own Wedding Blog… I have blogger friends and they kept telling me to go for it! I believe I have a good chunk of wedding knowledge stored in my little noggin’ so wanted start it as a space to share some of my ‘words of wedding wisdom’ (or as I call them: W.O.W.W.) with Brides & Grooms everywhere!
It went so well that people started asking me for Wedding Consultations! As I’d already previously done Coordination outside of my Venue over the years I was also getting recommended by those previous couples to new couples and therefore started getting requests for this too. I recently added Planning to the mix as well… and my little business just took off from there!
Year 1 for ‘The Wedding Taylor’ couldn’t have been more exciting!
Which elements of being a wedding planner do you find the most difficult and what do you do to overcome this?
Sometimes it’s definitely difficult to help Brides ‘get out of their own way’… and stop stressing (usually not helped by some family/friend/bridesmaid drama!) I will always take the time to listen to any worries or fears that they have and make notes of the things that are stressing them out the most… any key factors, for example, maybe a certain bridesmaid, who I then promise will be kept a keen eye on on the day!
I find the best way is not only constant reassurance but also to remind them how much time and MONEY they have spent planning this Wedding… so when the day comes round… they best bloody enjoy it!!!… otherwise… what a waste!!!. This little bit of tough love always seems to give them a little (mental) slap ands brings them back to reality!
What do you do that makes you different from your competitors?
I am different from my Competitors in that I started from the Front Lines…waitressing at Weddings! I’ve seen and know the logistical side, elements that are usually overlooked by many… like how the wine is actually served, things that irritate guests like having no condiments ready and prepped for their kids’ meals… the tiny details that, more often than not, get forgotten. I’ve already done the long hours so I’m totally used to being the first one there and the last to leave… I stay for the FULL day until the guests are in bed/taxi’s, not just once the Cake has been cut!
How do you keep up to date with changing trends in the wedding industry?
Not only am I constantly on Social Media engaging with Brides to be and asking them about their Weddings, I also scour shelves for EVERY Wedding magazine I can get my hands on… (which has been slightly harder this year) my collection is HUGE! I attend Open Days at Venues and head to every Wedding Fayre/Show that I can! I ask Suppliers how I can help them on Wedding Days so I can always improve my services more and more… and ask them for their industry knowledge, as they always know the new ‘thing’ in their area of expertise! I’m always keen to hear their new ideas…I’ve just had a Voicemail Guest Book at a Wedding which was very cool… plus I asked the Videographer if we could incoporate the guests messages into their Wedding Video… how amazing will that be!
What was the most valuable thing you learned in your last year of business?
The one thing I’ve definitely learned is to believe in myself and my abilities… I am GOOD at my job because I LOVE IT. I talked about doing this for so long and almost didn’t try. I am so proud of myself for finally taking the leap… and I think it’s really good to talk positively about yourself… no one else is going to put their faith in you and trust you with the biggest day of their lives if you don’t have faith in yourself! Positivity is not just key for the Couple… but for their Suppliers too! I’ve learned that staying positive for your Couple, can literally carry them through a Global Pandemic… they put their whole trust in you… so you’ve got to earn it, keep it and radiate it!
Describe the major challenges your business faced due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and how you attempted to overcome them.
The Pandemic actually started my Business really… as it was created in Lockdown. It also created more of a need for Wedding Consultancy, as due to the many changes, couples were always keen to have someone check their plans for them, or just to speak to someone for reassurance!
It was certainly VERY difficult with all the constant changes… First of all, all the date changes, it was an absolutely nightmare trying to assist couples with moving their Weddings, trying to find suppliers… as many of them were unavailable on their new date, or had different time slots free. Secondly the changes to the guidance… sometimes we didn’t know if we were moving to 30 or staying at 15… a lot of the changes were last minute and took a lot of effort to amend quickly! I found that the best thing to do was to watch/read every bit of wedding news I could get my hands on and absolutely STALK the #WhatAboutWeddingsCampaign – they were BRILLIANT and as an industry, we can’t thank them enough!
The pandemic also caused a lot more stress, panic and pure anxiety for most couples not knowing whether their Wedding would even go ahead… and if it did, with how many of their loved ones present? This was definitely difficult to reassure people, because we had the same amount of information as them, so had no idea either! The best way was definitely to retain a positive attitude for them and keep their Wedding Planning journey fun & exciting… whilst also working on a Plan B (not to mention Plans C,D,E…. all the way to Z!) for them. I kept reminding them that it’s not just about enjoying the Wedding day itself, but also enjoying the entire lead up to it… the Wedding is just one day… but the planning is months/years in the making! I told them that if they’d made the decision not to postpone, to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the planning, and believe that that day would go ahead – we can deal with it later if it doesn’t… but if it DOES go ahead on that day… you would be so upset that you’d let the planning journey be tarnished… because you only plan on doing it once!
Well Lovelies, I hope you enjoyed reading my answers and I hope it’s given you more of a sense of me and how much I really do ADORE my job!
Let me know if there’s any other questions that you would like the answer to!
Lots of Love,
Mrs T x
