Professional Excellence as a Wedding Planner

I shared this quote last July and I wanted to share it again because I really feel that every wedding and event planner should print this out and tape it to the wall above their desk:

Just because an event went well does not mean it was well-managed. We have been living on luck for too long. Those who do not consciously and constantly raise their level of knowledge and skills will eventually find themselves in the boardroom or courtroom trying to justify due diligence incompetence.
- Julia Rutherford Silvers, CSEP

A wedding or event is not solely about the look. In fact, that is not even the most important part.  If the gears behind the scenes aren't running smoothly and the nuts and bolts aren't in place, then all you have is a pretty wedding in photos and chaos ensuing under the surface.

There are very few quality books available for event planners, but I would definitely recommend Julia's book, Professional Event Coordination from the Wiley Event Management Series.  It is pricier than most of the other books available to wedding planners, but you get what you pay for and the content is worth it.

The B-List :: Wedding Blogger Conference

After teaching two of the Blogging Bootcamps this past week - one on Tuesday in Chicago and one on Thursday in Seattle - I wrapped it up by taking a red-eye flight from Seattle to New York for an event called The B-List.  This was a small conference of about twenty-ish wedding bloggers and was hosted by Vane of Brooklyn Bride and Anne Chertoff of From I Will to I Do.  Vane and Anne put so much work into planning this and I was so impressed with how it all came together.  On top of that, it was a gorgeous weekend in New York, so that made it even better.

Saturday morning kicked off with all of us getting together and discussing how we've seen the wedding blogging industry grow over the past few years and some of the challenges that have come with this new bridal media outlet.  It's crazy to think that only a handful of bridal blogs existed when I started writing the Blue Orchid Designs blog in 2006 and now there are hundreds, if not thousands for engaged couples to choose from as they plan their weddings.

The event was held at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn.  It is a fun and funky venue and is great spot for a non-traditional wedding. I love the candles on the wall near the entrance:

And the water in between each area or pod:

Here is another fun shot with the cute shoes reflecting in the water below:

After lunch, there was a vendor meet and greet that Vane and Anne had arranged, where we got to mix and mingle with some amazing wedding professionals.

After that, we headed over to Michele Preli's (the editor-in-chief of Brides.com) home for a wine-tasting produced by Swirl Events.

From left to right: Bee from Weddingbee, me, Rebekah from Elizabeth Anne Designs, Maria from Ritzy Bee, Anne Chertoff of From I Will to I Do and Michelle Preli from Brides.com:

More of the ladies during the wine tasting. Left to right: Luzel from iDIY, Emily from OnceWed, Jen from Green Wedding Shoes, Anne from Perfect Bound, and Rebekah from Elizabeth Anne Designs:

Darci from With This Ring and Janie from The Bride's Cafe:

Anne Chertoff, Maria from Ritzy Bee and me:

And a final group shot of everyone with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background:

not in order: Kristina from 100 Layer Cake, Vané from Brooklyn Bride, Ami and Rebekah from Elizabeth Anne Designs, Anne from From “I Will” to “I Do”, Jen from Green Wedding Shoes, Luzel from iDiY, Emily from Once Wed Blog, Anne from Perfect Bound, Kelly from Santa Barbara Wedding Chic, Janice from The Bridal Wishlist, Janie from The Bride’s Cafe, Courtney from The Little White Book, Amanda from Vintage Glam Weddings, Bee from Weddingbee, Christy from What Junebug Loves!, Darci from With This Ring, Nole from Oh So Beautiful Paper, and Maria from {ritzy bee blog}.

Thanks again to Vane and Anne for spending so much time and energy pulling this off! I had such a great time and look forward to seeing how The B-List conference grows in the future.

I'll be recapping more of the event over the next few days on the Blue Orchid Designs blog, so be sure to check it out as I'll be sharing some cool products and services included in our swag bags that can help your clients.



Photos at the Galapagos Art Space and the group photo are by Jenny Ebert. I can't remember who shot the ones at the wine tasting, so please let me know so I can give proper credit! The B-List logo and graphics were designed by the uber talented Erica from Thoughtful Day.

Motivational Monday :: Don't Bunt

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.
- David Ogilvy

Motivational Monday :: Become Valuable

"Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value."
- Albert Einstein

Meet the Planners :: Ashley Baber

Name: Ashley Baber

Location: Atlanta and Virginia

Company Name: Ashley Baber Weddings

Number of Years in Business: 6

Website: ashleybaberweddings.com

Blog: ashleybaberweddings.blogspot.com

How did you get started in wedding planning? 
I credit my wedding planning career to fate. I have a science degree and was headed in quite a different direction in my life as I started planning my own wedding. I truly fell in love with the process and transitioned careers to learn all I could about the industry. I was so fortunate to make great contacts and gain referrals quickly to start my own business.

If you had to start over what one thing would you do differently? 
I would take more time to establish my niche before starting. I would have more of a plan in place for who I wanted our consistent client base to be and would have specifically targeted those brides.

What's your favorite item in your emergency kit? 
I use safety pins, scissors and Shout Wipes at every wedding. I also love tape for a number of things including taping loose cards to gifts as we load them up at the end of each wedding. It ensures the bride and groom will know who they need to thank for which gifts.

What is the best piece of business advice you've ever received? 
I have such supportive friends, family and colleagues that have really encouraged me every step of the way which has helped so much. However, I love the advice I got from a friend and make-up artist to "never wear cheap shoes" and use this quote from Aristotle as my business motto: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."

Which two people (past or present) would you have as guests at a dinner party and why? 
I would have both of my grandmothers who truly have made me the woman I am today. Neither of them lived to see me as a successful, married woman and I miss them so much. They were both the strong, Southern woman I strive to be. I don't ever recall ever spending time with the two of them together and I think it would be an absolute hoot!

What are your favorite blogs besides thesmartplanner.com? 
Snippet and Ink and Elizabeth Anne Designs.

Easy Way to Track Business Purchases

Keeping your receipts organized for accounting is generally a headache for any right-brained creative person.  One simple way to help you itemize more quickly when your data entry rolls around (whether you do it yourself or outsource to a bookkeeper) is to write the gist of the purchase on your receipts as soon as you get them. 

It looks something like this: After a lunch with Sally Photography, keep your receipt. At the top of the receipt, jott down these facts:

• Date (a quick and consistent way to do this is to use the six digit format, no slashes. Ex: 040609 would be April 6, 2009). You can also circle the date, but writing it will make the data entry process much faster later on.
• What the purchase was for.  Ex: networking lunch with Sally Photography.
• If you have more than one person working for your company, initial the receipts so that you know at a glance who made the purchase.
  

And that's it. It took less than 15 seconds of your time, is free, and will save you the time and hassle of trying to remember what the purchase was for later on and how it should be entered for your accountant.

What tricks do you use to keep your accounting processes organized?

Motivational Monday :: Success + Opportunities

Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.
- David Rockefeller

Grace

Today - Easter - is a day to reflect on grace.  Not just spiritual or religious grace, but also the grace we extend to and receive from others.  Life is too short to keep tally marks, either against someone who has wronged you or against yourself (and we do tend to be most unforgiving of ourselves). 

Below is a clip of the famed candlestick scene from Les Miserables.  It's about five minutes long and is a reminder that a mistake or error in judgment doesn't have to be the end of the world or the end of a relationship - professional or personal. The slate has been wiped clean and that isn't a one time deal - grace allows it to be wiped clean as many times as necessary.

What messy and marked up slates are you holding on to? Let them go. There is freedom in forgiveness.

Room to Breathe :: The Time to Relax

The time to relax is when you don't have time for it.
- Sidney J Harris

Policies and Customer Service

In The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch shares a story of going to Disney World as a 12 year old.  He and his sister saved their money to buy their parents a gift at the park.  They settled on salt and pepper shakers of some Disney characters, paid the $10 price tag and left the store.  In their excitement, they dropped the bag and the gift shattered.

Seeing Randy and his sister burst in tears, a kind person told them to bring the set back and exchange it.  Unsure of how this would work, since it was legitimately their own fault that it broke, they returned to the store and honestly explained the situation to the clerk.  The clerk smiled at them, exchanged the broken salt and pepper set for a brand new one at no charge and sent the kids on their way. 

Randy and his sister later explained the entire experience to their parents.  His parents were so impressed by how the staff at Disney World had treated their children, that they remained loyal customers for life.  Beyond taking simple family vacations, his parents would coordinate trips for their ESL students, bringing busloads of them to Disney World on student trips.  By Randy's calculations, a $10 salt and pepper shaker turned into his parents spending over $100,000 with the Disney brand over the years.

Later in life, Randy worked as a consultant to Disney on various projects. He'd ask executives the question: “If I sent a child into one of your stores with a broken salt and pepper shaker today, would your policies allow your workers to be kind enough to replace it?” and then sit back as they squirmed, knowing the answer: "probably not".

Policies and rules exist for a reason.  A game has rules so that people can work and compete towards a common goal.  If it didn't, chaos and confusion would ensue.  A company has policies for similar reasons - they allow a company to run efficiently and enable employees to work towards a common goal or outcome.  Too often, however, the rules become etched in stone and employees end up becoming slaves to a tool that is meant to serve the company.

Remarkable customer service is never one size fits all.  It consists of listening to the needs and desires of your clients and flexing with each situation.  Yes, it is true that some people think they are the exception to everything.  Yes, it is true that some people will take a mile if you give them an inch.  It is also true that you cannot give away everything for free.  On the flip side, letting your policies be flexible and eating $10 can result in $100,000 opportunities. 

When stubborn adherence to a policy wins out over customer service, your company is in trouble. You can chalk it up to sticking to your "principles", but if your principles value rules and policies over people and customer satisfaction, you may want to reconsider why you have them in the first place.  As they saying goes, "people won't remember what you said, they'll remember how you made them feel."  How do your policies and customer service make people feel?

You can follow your policies to the letter of the law, and your company can still be successful on some level.  Or you can choose to say yes when your rules tell you to say no, and be successful AND remarkable.

The choice, and the chance at limitless opportunities, are both yours. Are you losing "$100,000 clients" over $10?

Blogging Bootcamp Updates

I am so excited for the Blogging Bootcamps that will be taking place across the country this year!  Two weeks ago, I was in Columbus with a great group of wedding professionals from five different states. You can click here to read a recap from Emilie Duncan, one of the planners who helped bring the workshop to Ohio.

Here are some quick housekeeping notes on the workshops, in case you don't follow me on Twitter to get the updates:

*The early bird rate for the workshops is $150 and is available up until 30 days prior to each workshop.  After that, the rate increases to $175.  This helps us get accurate numbers and ensures we have enough attendees to not have to cancel the workshop in that city.  If you plan on attending any of the workshops, don't wait until the last minute to sign up!  You'll save money by signing up early and you'll help us stay organized in our planning.  Win/win all around.

*As of today, there are only four seats left for the Chicago Blogging Bootcamp on Tuesday, April 21st.

*The workshop location for Atlanta has changed to The Bridal Bar.  You can find more details and register here.  That workshop is coming up on Wednesday, May 6th.

*The next day, May 7th, I'll be in Orlando for the Blogging Bootcamp, and that location has changed to the Celebration Hotel.  You can register for that one here.  Orlando is the only workshop in Florida on the calendar right now and there are no plans to add more in that area at this point.

*You can find a list of all the workshops at The Smart Planner Workshops website. There are 20 on the calendar (four are still in the detail confirmation stages: Los Angeles, San Diego, Scottsdale and Dallas) and we are not adding more at this point. 

If you have any questions about the workshops, please send an email to workshops{at}thesmartplanner.com.  That is the fastest and best way to reach us!



Photo courtesy Emilie Duncan's blog and several people's iphones.

Meet the Planners :: Heather Hamilton-Sims

Name: Heather Hamilton-Sims

Location: Houston, Texas

Company Name: Simply Jubilee Events, Inc.

Number of Years in Business: 4

Website: simplyjubilee.com

Blog: simplymanage.wordpress.com

How did you get started in wedding planning?
After planning corporate events for 10 years for a telecommunications company, I started designing, planning and coordinating weddings and social events for close family and friends. Once mergers and acquisitions resulted in the elimination of my position in the corporate world, my family encouraged me to take that leap of faith and establish my own event planning firm. Simply Jubilee Events was created in 2005 and has grown to design, plan and manage events in Texas and Louisiana.

If you had to start over what one thing would you do differently? 
If I had to start over and do one thing differently, I would most likely make better marketing decisions and not be talked into things I didn’t need. When I first started I posted my website on every outlet possible and accepted any and every event. I would be more selective on how I promote my company.

What’s your favorite item in your emergency kit?
My favorite item in my emergency kit is eye lash glue. You never know when a teary bride will cause her eyelashes to fall off.

What is the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received?
Create a company that can be run successfully in your absence and create a brand that is recognized.

Which two people (past or present) would you have as guests at a dinner party and why?
I would like to have Candice Olsen from HGTV’s Devine Designs and Oprah Winfrey. Candice creates breath taking interior designs that are beyond the ordinary. Her color palettes are trendsetting and I would love to brainstorm with her on how to translate those palettes into impeccable wedding. Oprah would be my other dinner guest, simply because she is Oprah. But really, I would like to discuss her best practices in creating, maintaining and expanding her empire.

What are your three favorite blogs besides thesmartplanner.com?
LotusHaus, Simple and Modern Weddings, and Dynamite Weddings.

How to Avoid Financial Pitfalls :: Part 3

Written by guest expert Tim Gill of The White Box of Wedding Design.

3. Charge what you’re worth.

There are many different factors that go into determining your pricing. In addition to your fixed expenses that we discussed earlier in this series, you obviously need to consider all expenses you will incur directly from a specific client. This is why having set package prices can be somewhat difficult. Every wedding is different and the level of your involvement can change just the same. If you do choose to offer package pricing, you may want to note that the prices are “starting at” $X amount.

Time is Money

You are running a business and you know there are never enough hours in the day. Phone calls, emails, driving to meetings, tastings, desperate brides calling at 1:00 in the morning . . . or in my case, spending a week trying to get your email up and running when it goes down. What are you worth per hour? Don’t settle on $20 or even $30 per hour. I believe a solid wedding planning professional is worth at least $50 to $100 per hour. By the time you subtract your overhead and direct expenses, you should land at an hourly rate that makes you proud to be doing what you do.

Take your average wedding and calculate the hours you put into it. Multiply this by your “hourly rate” and you have just found a general price to work from. If this price you come up with is many times over the price you currently charge, then one of two things is happening: Either you have been charging less than you’re worth, or you are spending too many hours on a single wedding.

For example, if you charge $500 for a Wedding Day Management package (also commonly referred to as a “DOC” package) and end up spending 25 hours on it, you are only “grossing” $20 per hour. Once you apply a proportionate amount of your monthly expenses toward this contract, you are left with even less. You also need to account for fuel costs, travel time, the latte you drank at your meeting, etc.

Adding on Services

If you are going to offer a service that another vendor in the industry offers, don’t undercut the other vendor’s price by a wide margin. For example, your bride wants to have a candy buffet and can either hire you to do it or a specialty vendor in your area who does these as well. Unless you throw in the buffet to seal the deal on a very large contract, don’t charge less than it’s worth. If your client trusts you, they will hire you to do the buffet if your quote is the same, or even slightly higher, than the other vendor.

Opportunity Cost

What are you giving up so that you can take on this client? If you book a client for minimal services on the busiest weekend of the summer, chances are you are going to have to pass on a potentially larger contract for that weekend down the road. Also consider your family and personal life. If you have a long string of weddings in a given month, you may want to leave an open weekend for the sake of your own sanity. Money certainly isn’t everything.

By applying these principles to your business, my hope is that you will have a better grasp on where your money is coming from and where it is going. This is the ultimate balance you need to control in order to have a profitable wedding planning business.

How to Avoid Financial Pitfalls :: Part 2

Written by guest expert Tim Gill of The White Box of Wedding Design.

2.  Monthly expenses DO add up!

As you manage and consider your business expenses, it’s very easy to let a lot of small, routine charges turn into a large, monthly overhead (the ongoing and indirect costs of doing business). Constant Contact may only be $30 per month, but when you start looking at all of these minimal expenses, they can really add up. Consider your cell phone, internet, fax line, magazines. A lot of these subscriptions are necessary for doing business, but is there anything you can cut out of your monthly budget? If not, that’s okay. Just be sure that you are aware of what your monthly expenses are so that you can properly determine your pricing and goals. Consider where your advertising dollars are going as well. Saundra, of planning…forever events covered this topic very well in her guest posts on calculating your advertising investments.

Also, be aware of taking things on prematurely. For example, don’t feel the need to sign up for a credit card terminal just because a few brides asked if you take plastic. The extra costs necessary to take that on are not worth only a few credit card sales. Instead, you may want to consider offering PayPal as an alternative payment method for your clients, which ties the expense directly to the client, rather than creating another ongoing bill. Terrica of Fabuluxe Inc explains how to do this in simple terms here.

How to Avoid Financial Pitfalls :: Part 1

Written by guest expert Tim Gill of The White Box of Wedding Design.

Avoiding Three Major Financial Pitfalls in the Wedding Planning Industry

As CFO of The White Box of Wedding Design, it is my responsibility to make sure every dollar is being spent as wisely as possible and every contract is maximized while maintaining our goal of meeting the exact and specified needs of our clients. I’ve learned a few things along the way and would like to pass this advice along to you so that you may learn from this, rather than experience these financial pitfalls yourself. So let’s dive in!

1. Keep your business accounts separate from your personal accounts.

I know this may seem like a very obvious point, but set up your business in a way that allows for clear differences between business expenses and personal expenses. The first thing you want to do is have a separate checking account for your business. In order to obtain this, the bank will need either your Assumed Name Certificate (“doing business as” or "DBA" for a sole proprietorship) or the Articles of Organization (for an LLC).

Deposit any money that you have designated as profit from your business up to this point into the account as a starting balance. In the beginning, if you need to “borrow” money from yourself to build your business, that’s okay. Just make sure you consider it a “loan” in your mind and establish a plan to pay yourself back.

Beyond paying back these “loans” you should also be making a profit! Always have enough money in your business account to continue your operations and pay your bills, but don’t forget to pay yourself as well.

Motivational Monday :: Interrupted by Action

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
- Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)

Meet the Planners :: Wendy Robinson

Name: Wendy Robinson

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Company Name: Sacred Moment Weddings

Number of Years in Business: 4

Website: sacredmomentweddings.com

Blog: sacredmomentblog.com

How did you get started in wedding planning?
Although the first wedding I planned was in 1988, I've been an accounting professional for 25 years. Growing up and during my college days, whenever there was a party or event to plan, I always had my nose in it! Eventually I would take over the entire operation . . . with no arguments from the others involved. It wasn't until a conversation about work and life that my husband and I had on our honeymoon in 2004, did I realize how much I loved to plan parties and events. Although I thought about changing careers when I was in my late twenties, I studied business management and accounting in school . . . not flowers and event management. Accounting was and has been a successful career path for me and how I paid my bills. But after that conversation, I decided to go for it and spent the next year on my business plan. A year later I launched Sacred Moment Weddings.

If you had to start over what one thing would you do differently?
I would have spent more time on my brand and identifying my target market. I learned the hard way that the marketing and advertising strategy for “Planner Susie” may not work for me. I did what I thought everyone else was doing and lost a lot of money in the process. Eventually I learned how to identify “my bride” and how to get her business. But even “that” is an ever changing thing because what my bride wants may change from season to season. Now I’ve learned to adapt and change my services with what my target customers want.

What's your favorite item in your emergency kit?
Hands down, my diaper strength safety pins. I’ve had more blown bustles than I can count!

What is the best piece of business advice you've ever received?
To stay true to myself! Even though I was told early on to stay true to myself and to find my niche, I didn’t realize its importance until recently.

Which two people (past or present) would you have as guests at a dinner party and why?
That’s easy . . . my mom and dad. They have both passed on and I miss them very much. I would love to sit down to dinner with the two of them for two reasons: One, to tell them how much I miss them and think of them often. And two, to introduce them to the great man that I married! My mom would adore him because he is so good to me. And my dad, who loves history as much as my husband does, would kidnap him often for history documentary marathons.

What are your three favorite blogs besides thesmartplanner.com?
For business - Sean Low’s The Business of Being Creative
For inspiration - Janie Medley’s The Bride's Café
For entertaining with style - Jennifer Sbranti’s Hostess with the Mostess