Harnessing The Power of Short Form Video Content For Your Wedding Business with The Wedding Duo

How does a husband-wife team build a wedding empire reaching over half a million people? Meet Dominic and Serena of The Wedding Duo, who've transformed their combined 30 years of experience into a thriving business that spans wedding planning, DJing, and viral content creation.

Their story begins unexpectedly – Dominic leveraged his stand-up comedy background to excel as a wedding DJ, while Serena built her career in event planning. Neither imagined their casual San Antonio side business would explode into a six-figure enterprise allowing them to relocate while maintaining operations from afar. When the pandemic halted weddings temporarily, they turned to TikTok out of sheer boredom. That spontaneous decision changed everything.

"Most brides are like 'Oh my god, I'm engaged, what the heck do I do now?'" Dominic explains. This simple insight drives their content philosophy – providing engaged couples with straightforward, judgment-free guidance through the wedding planning maze. Their viral videos featuring emotional ceremony entrance techniques have sparked industry trends, with couples specifically seeking them out for these signature touches. Their approach balances educational content with authentic personality, creating deep connections with followers who "feel like they already know them" before they even meet.

The duo shares fascinating insights about content creation for wedding professionals: the importance of showing your face consistently, capturing educational moments at venues, and balancing perfectionism with consistency. Their upcoming book "The Wedding Duo Way" promises to reveal how they've built their business model that allows them to operate as true owners rather than being trapped working in their business.

Want to transform your wedding business through authentic content creation? Listen now to discover how this remarkable team balances marriage, business partnership, and content creation while maintaining their genuine selves in a competitive industry.

Chapters

• 0:50 Welcome to the Wedding Duo
• 6:00 From Stand-up to Wedding DJ
• 10:56 Creating a Viral Wedding Brand
• 17:43 TikTok Strategy for Wedding Pros
• 25:31 Building a Personal Connection with Clients
• 29:42 The Wedding Duo Way Book Preview
• 32:46 Advice to Their Younger Selves

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:28

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Wedding Empires podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:31

My name is Ben and my name is Jack. We'd like to welcome today a husband and wife super team who have a combined 30 years experience in the wedding industry. We've got Serena, who's a wedding planner, and Dominic, who's a wedding DJ, and together they've created a brand that boasts over half a million people in terms of their audiences. Between running their San Antonio-based wedding company, traveling for events and creating wedding content, they have proven that you can take your side hustle to a six-figure income and more. They launched their podcast in 2022 and are looking to release their book, the Wedding Duo Way, in the fall of 2025. So big welcome to you guys. Dominic and Serena, thank you so much for having us. Yes, we're excited to be here.

Speaker 3: 1:19

We're coming from the other hemisphere.

Speaker 2: 1:21

It's 9 o'clock at night over in San Antonio.

Speaker 4: 1:25

Yeah, so we are in the other region of the world and it is in the late hours of the evening for us.

Speaker 2: 1:32

I said to Serena next time, bring a champagne, darling, you're more than welcome.

Speaker 1: 1:37

There should be a glass of wine on the table in front of you, Serena.

Speaker 4: 1:40

There should be at all times at this time of the night. Yes, absolutely, that's part of it.

Speaker 3: 1:45

Well, it was a good time. We just finished I'm coaching my youngest son and his soccer team, so we finished the game.

Speaker 2: 1:56

I'm son uh and his soccer team, so we finished the game.

Speaker 1: 1:57

I'm like let's go back it up, we gotta get back for the.

Speaker 4: 1:58

Yeah, I was just gonna say, ben, we need to change the name of this podcast to jack bowie encouraging people to drink. We need to talk. I think the wedding isn't it.

Speaker 2: 2:02

I don't know, I know it drives, drives us to drink, I guess. Um, there we go, take a big sip. Let's start the story, I guess, about how both of you entered the wedding industry.

Speaker 4: 2:14

Yeah, no, that's a great path.

Speaker 3: 2:16

Well, I was there first. I beat her by about five years. I was doing stand-up comedy in California at the time and I had a friend who had a DJ company and I told him sometimes at a corporate event at least in the States they'll have a hypnotist or a magician or a comedian. Just do kind of some entertainment for the on the one of the evenings. And I said if you're ever looking for a half hour clean comedy, I can do that. And he said I could use some help djing and I've always had a love for music and the hardest thing about a wedding dj is being comfortable talking on one of these things, right. So for me the tip of the spear for public speaking is stand-up comedy. Right, pretty close anyway for me. That was like already a shoe-in for me and the stars kind of aligned and I'm like, oh my God, this is a job I can do this for a living.

Speaker 3: 2:58

And then one of the vendors that I worked with one of the venues was looking for somebody to help with the catering and the events, and that's where I started.

Speaker 4: 3:05

So I started in a event services role as just kind of an assistant to the event manager and worked my way up to my own event management position, and that's where it all started. So it started in Northern California. The wedding duo did not come about for much longer, and that was when we moved to Texas.

Speaker 2: 3:23

So yeah, I want to know, were you already together before you sort of became this business duo?

Speaker 4: 3:29

Yes, yes, so that we were dating at the time that he introduced me to um, the gal that needed the help at her venue, um, but I knew, though we were pretty new yeah you know, yeah, exactly, and he's like you want to be in the wedding industry, here you go, so yeah don't screw this up I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go rogue off the script straight up and go dominic, how do you do clean stand-up comedy?

Speaker 1: 3:57

it's an art it could be done. It's it is the finest of the finest point of that artwork, I think.

Speaker 3: 4:02

So it can be done uh, very young comedians, without going on a sidetrack. It's very, it's low-hanging fruit to be really blue and dirty and tell raunchy jokes and they tell you, like, don't go down that road, because you can do that if you're established, but if you're new you got to work clean and I just kind of stayed in that lane and it worked really well for me. Wow I love this wear, don't get me wrong, I love it.

Speaker 1: 4:24

Absolute respect to you, dominic, for doing clean. Stand up, wow, wow. So to the both of you. What inspired you to combine your talents and create the wedding duo?

Speaker 4: 4:39

Yeah, so that's another interesting part of our journey. There was actually never an intention to become a husband and wife team and even to own our own business, honestly. So we had moved to Texas, was working a corporate job at the time and he started DJing again right when we got there, just for extra cash on the weekends, and so at that point we weren't really thinking big picture, but it kind of just blew up on us and I'm not just saying this, he's very good at his job and so it was easy for him to start attracting more business and people were booking him left and right. And then, with my experience in the planning, we just started to make it make sense, right, like I left my corporate position out of the planning team. It just starts kind of, like you said, a line for us in that way too, like it was just never something we set out to like. Let's start a business together.

Speaker 3: 5:28

It's a pretty good gig, though we attend parties for a living. I mean, you know there's worse jobs.

Speaker 4: 5:32

Together it's a pretty good gig, though we attend parties for a living. I mean, you know there's worse jobs. So true and together right, which is really fun and you haven't.

Speaker 1: 5:36

You haven't tried to murder each other yet at all. Like everything's good, no, no, that is not.

Speaker 4: 5:43

It's challenging. We do tell couples all the time that you know, ask us about being a husband and wife team, like how do you do it? Because it's not for every relationship. I will tell you that, like you really have to work at the marriage and being business partners because it can easily kind of you know, and sometimes the opposite is true.

Speaker 3: 6:01

I always forget when we work together. The guests don't always know we're married and I know there have been whispers like the dj is kind of handsy with the plan. I'm like, oh, I forget your hands, your hands, in your pockets there, dj. He's like he's all up in her face.

Speaker 1: 6:15

That'd be a great trick to play on on couples on the day.

Speaker 2: 6:20

Good job sorry, I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask, and it's not a stretch. I can see why you guys would be good at this, but what prompted you to kind of go into this sort of short form video side of things for your business?

Speaker 4: 6:32

yeah. So the short answer to that was covid. Covid was obviously, for the event industry, just major and we were sitting around the house going we had no events, you know, and we were like, what are we doing? A with our time and b we were just going a little nuts right, like we have all this time on our hands. So we started a TikTok account in 2020, 2019. I don't know whenever that happened, and that's where we started to just learn how much fun we had creating videos and started reaching people through these, either whether it be lip sync or dancing, or just Acting a fool. Acting a fool but being educational at the same time. That was really where we kind of fell in love with that piece of it.

Speaker 1: 7:21

So, guys, what platforms have you found the most effective for sharing your video content?

Speaker 3: 7:26

Yeah, it definitely is. Tiktok is where we really got the traction and took off, and that's still. We have about 503,000 followers on TikTok. We have 164 on Instagram and just over 100,000 on Facebook. But those were kind of later to the party. We focused on TikTok and then we just repurposed our videos over there and then suddenly they started to catch up too, because whatever people are, their preferred format is that, whether they're TikTokers or whenever they lay down at night, whatever they go to to start scrolling. I mean, if you're in the industry, you should be casting a wide net, right, try to get them wherever they're at. But TikTok is what started it all and that's really where we got our traction, for true.

Speaker 2: 8:07

I'm not good at TikTok, so I want to know what's the hack? What's your kind of process for creating engaging short form videos, particularly for TikTok?

Speaker 4: 8:16

TikTok is its own animal and people are intimidated by it.

Speaker 4: 8:20

I think a lot I do hear that often, yes, especially in the wedding industry because it's less curated, meaning like pretty pictures, something you can edit and make it look nice. There's a lot more rawness to the videos on TikTok and so you have to really be okay with showing certain sides of your personality and I, to be honest with you, am not as comfortable with it as he is. I am very fortunate to have my dancey monkey here that will do the videos and act a fool, because it's helpful, right. But to your question about kind of what works, you know we really have found that experimenting with what your audience wants to hear from you, right. Like you can look at trending stuff that's going on in the industry and mimic something that you see, maybe put your own twist on it, you know, and then give your own perspective, your own viewpoints. That's really been helpful for us is to find our way through inspiration from other people, honestly, and that's kind of what social media is about. It's like you're okay to be a copycat.

Speaker 3: 9:31

Well, and the wedding industry? They are, at least in the States. They're very lopsided on Instagram and the same thing. They're looking over the fence like what's going on over in TikTok? And I'm like we do the same, we do the same thing. We don't do anything different for TikTok than we do for Instagram. However, we'll do a video and it'll do really well on one of the formats and man on the other two, and then the opposite will happen on a different video. You think like oh, we got to figure it out. Like oh, my god, there, I mean we maybe x on the wall where it says bang head here, and you're like um, what's, what's more important is consistency, showing you know, we were doing them in the beginning, during COVID.

Speaker 4: 10:10

We were doing, you know, two, three videos a day. All the time, right, don't go back and look at those early videos, you know so you just need to show up frequently and be okay with it not being perfect. I guess is part of that too.

Speaker 1: 10:25

Guys, I've heard that obviously through all the the interviews that we've done, showing up frequently is is the key. So how do you guys still show up? Frequency and balance, running a business and traveling and events and creating content and maintaining a friendship and a marriage and all that sort of stuff like. How do you? How does the juggling monkey juggle all that?

Speaker 3: 10:46

we don't. It's all's all fake. Honestly, we fall apart half the time, yeah.

Speaker 3: 10:52

Well, one thing that we do, like the first part, is with the social media. I have a list on notes on my phone because we'll see a comment and somebody will say hey, can you do this song? If I do a song video, they'll be like oh, what about this one? What about this one? I write if it's a good one, I'll write it down or I'll get to it later and, just like all of your listeners, if you're a photographer, you know the top three questions that the brides are going to ask. So we have a list of just all these questions.

Speaker 3: 11:15

And when I'm sitting in the airport waiting to board a flight, when I'm walking into the venue, whenever there's time, I'm always like I should probably do a TikTok. Just take a minute, walk away, you know, throw it out there. And when I walk into a venue, my, my feelers are out. I'm like I'll see a cute guest book. I'll be like I'm gonna get a tiktok on that. I'll see a unique floor plan. I'm like, oh, let me go up on the balcony, shoot down and get a tiktok from up there. I mean, there's countless opportunities, but I think some people just walk by them and they don't think, oh well, because to me, if I see something cute, I'm like you know who needs to see that? Every bride planning their wedding needs to see that and they're, they'll just be like they will eat it up. You, you're at the fence, you know what they're gonna ask. The brides don't know. Most brides are like oh my god, I'm engaged, what the heck do I do now? Right, like they don't know.

Speaker 4: 11:59

Yeah, that changed our perspective when we decided like, wait, we're in the industry, we know these things. You feel like maybe you're saying something that's super obvious, but the brides don't. They love seeing inside, they love seeing. You know the behind the scenes and the little weird, cute nuances to weddings, right?

Speaker 2: 12:16

and we overthink it. We're like I have to do a tiktok, which means that I have to set aside time and write something, and think of something and set my lighting and it's such a good point, you do not.

Speaker 4: 12:27

You got to get over that piece, and that's hard because it took me a while too, especially as a woman. Right, it's like it's a little easier for him. He doesn't have to put on the makeup and do the hair. I still feel a little bit obligated to do that but, yeah, the eyebrows about what he I usually wear it out just to make it look professional but yeah, you do kind of have to like let go of a little bit of that perfectionism that I see a lot of us have.

Speaker 3: 12:54

We don't all have beautiful hair like you, Ben.

Speaker 1: 12:57

Why, why, thank you. I do put silver in it, mate, because it was going gray but I thought, bugger it. You can go gray, but you're going to go now under my terms. So, yeah, hey, under my terms. So, yeah, hey. So I'm gonna go rogue again because I'm good at that. You said that with these, with the videos, and, and people want to see more, the more raw and and the more, I guess, the raw and less well lit, well constructed, blah, blah, like proper video sort of thing. Are you finding that that that is a much better way to get people engaged when they see the true, they see the raw, as opposed to a nice constructed video?

Speaker 4: 13:32

I think it's a bad thing, especially if you are in one of the vendor categories that is heavy in aesthetics, like floral or videography photography to showcase your ability to create beautiful things right. But for us in particular, we're talking about the experiences for our beautiful things right. But for us, in particular, we're talking about the experiences for our brides, right. And so where we resonate with our clients is getting them to trust us because we know what we're talking and they don't care so much that we're in a pretty place, right.

Speaker 3: 14:03

But to your point, we do try to like. We do a lot of videos right here. We have good lighting set up. It's kind of a controlled environment, but it's nice to switch it up sometimes. Right, sometimes we'll sit on the porch if we're at events all the time, at events for sure airport, which is it's very weird to be like. You know they're sitting there talking to your phone and people walk by. I'm always like it's uh, tiktok, o'clock, don't, don't, don't judge me, I'm gonna try to do some video, but you just have to get over it, it to your it's. It can be kind of a it's hard not to like feel weird about it sometimes, but I'm a dork anyway, so I don't channel my inner dork yeah, I'm probably the same as so many other people.

Speaker 1: 14:37

I feel weird turning the phone on myself or turning the osmo on myself and just talking to it, because I'm like, oh, people are gonna think I'm mental.

Speaker 3: 14:45

But it's the way of the world though I know yeah, do you scroll on TikTok just as like a user?

Speaker 1: 14:52

No, I have a disdain for TikTok. Yeah, some people do, which I shouldn't, you know. But, with that said, I do have a TikTok account and I do have a whole lot of videos and stuff on there, but I don't post on there, I don't frequent it or anything like that.

Speaker 3: 15:09

Jack, stuff on there, but I don't post on there.

Speaker 2: 15:11

I don't frequent it or anything like that. So, jack, do you? Do you doom scroll? Yeah, I'm more of an instagram cat video kind of girl, but you know, the cat covered in a tiara, and this is my life, and you know, um, trips to italy, that sort of thing, um, that, that's more my vibe.

Speaker 3: 15:24

It seems to just, yeah, be constantly those two things well, when we, when we present to wedding professionals one thing that we always say about and it's not exclusive to TikTok, but if you scroll on TikTok at all, usually you see their face. Right, they spin the camera around and they show their face and, even if it's just the beginning, saying, oh my God, you got to see this guest book and I do that video. Then I flip my camera around, I'm like look at how cute this is, whatever the thing is. But tick, tock, like they learn, they learn who you are and before you even open your mouth, they know what you're going to say because they, like you, know they see us and they know what we're talking about. I mean, besides, we have our emblem in the background, but it's a, it's a thing, it's a hurdle you have to get over to be comfortable showing your face and that's all yeah like marketing branding, right.

Speaker 4: 16:04

I mean, we've kind of like taken it into that short form video by showing our faces at least in a portion of the video, so that, because somebody can like a video and not know who it's from you know what I mean, right? Like you can like a really pretty video but you don't relate that content to the person who created it. But if we're in them all the time then they're like oh, that's the wedding duo stuff. Oh, that's the guy that does the songs you know. So then they start to identify with what we're doing?

Speaker 1: 16:34

yeah, are you guys very conscious about having that educational aspect to your videos? Because when you scroll through videos I get a little bit concerned about the plight of humanity in 10, 20 years. When you look at what's actually what people are watching and what's blowing up, you go, my God, like, is this where we're headed?

Speaker 4: 16:54

It's terrifying. And we have three children, and so we're right at it, right when they're growing up in a world that looks very much different than ours. They get all their information and all their social time I mean, it's all revolves around their online lives, right? So we understand that and we really take a different approach when it comes to educating our audience, in that we really try to give suggestions. We never really want to be like overly opinionated or this is the right or wrong thing to do. We've always just kept kind of a. This is what we've seen work, this is our experience. So take it or leave it, right, because we do. We are mindful of the fact that brides have usually never done this before planned a wedding and they're impressionable. They feel, you know, stress and guilt if they can't afford something. You know all those emotions and we don't want to be contributing to that.

Speaker 3: 17:46

They're trying to navigate between their vision and their budget, right, and they don't always align. And so if you just watch the videos, everybody posts the videos from the really super bougie over the top weddings but for every one of those there's hundreds in the church hall or the VFW or the backyard of Papa's place that they mowed the back 40 or whatever. Like they're not all like that, but that's like pressure on the brides To at the back 40 or whatever. Like they're not all like that, but that's like pressure on the brides to your point. That's what they see right back in the day. You'd only see your cousin's wedding and you know how many weddings did you go to, but now they see them once.

Speaker 3: 18:16

Once the algorithm knows you're engaged, well, here they come.

Speaker 2: 18:18

Here comes the content yeah yep I'd like to know has there been one, one video that comes to mind that had a really significant impact on your business?

Speaker 4: 18:28

Yeah, actually we did a video where the bride it was a couple of ours and she had him insert her voice into the track that she walked down the aisle to. So she had something she said to her groom and before we made that big entrance where we opened the doors, she spoke over the students, over the instrumental part of the song, over the students over the instrumental part of the song. It was the most powerful, I mean emotional entrance, because she's talking and the groom didn't know what was happening. So you can see him just nobody did, nobody knew it was like a madonna concert.

Speaker 3: 19:02

You know coming yeah, it was very dramatic, very dramatic she said something like all right, any minute, babe, we made it, I'm about to come down the doors and walk into your life. And I was like, and it was just as he was holding it together, he was like he actually said, he actually said in the video he goes that's not fair, like that's really not fair, it's like yeah so that video did really well millions of views, yeah, and we got a lot of requests to do those kind of mashups for clients.

Speaker 4: 19:31

But, you know, and it kind of created a trend in the industry of inserting your voice into the song that you're going to walk down the aisle to. So we've seen it happen since then, which is really cool.

Speaker 3: 19:41

But I got another one, if I can add it in. So I'm married to a planner, right. So I feel like very comfortable in saying this. The planners are usually A-type and they're very much on schedule, right. That's their whole mission in life. We got to start on time because dinner's starting at this time, which is an event, right, that's what their job is. So they're very A-type and they're very like.

Speaker 3: 19:57

For me it was like okay, that's the parents song go, send the parents. That's the wedding party song go. That's the bride song go. And the bride was like the door's open it and anxiety for that moment. And the doors open and they go and they run up to the altar and I'm like wait, wait, wait. Like you picked this song for that reason, to get to the chorus and you didn't even get to the lyrics, let alone the chorus, because you ran up there. So I started doing videos saying let's just wait, like keep the doors closed, wait for that moment when the crescendo hits and then swing the doors open. I would say there's a reason why the music gets scary before the shark jumps out of the water, which is maybe not the best example, but my point is let that build. And then, oh my God, the bride's just latched onto that and I've done a thousand videos of suggesting songs for that exact moment, and that has really become a trend as well, and I'm so happy about it. Can everybody just wait a minute?

Speaker 2: 20:49

It reminds me of my wedding. I had my daughter I think she was four at the time and she was a flower girl and yeah, we practiced many times that we would walk slow and man, she just took off.

Speaker 4: 21:00

It was very funny, but yeah. I think I asked for the little ones. Yeah, yeah, I understand. Wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 1: 21:10

With all your videos that are going viral that are doing so well. Metrics is is such a big thing, so how do you guys track how things are going, what's what's gone berserk and how that's impacting your business?

Speaker 4: 21:23

yeah. So something we do again going back to consistency is that we do find that there are certain times a day that when we post, we get better engagement Later in the evening. It's kind of just common sense, like when people are off work and they're able to look at their phone more maybe. So we measure those types of things. We also find that the beginning of the video and I'm sure everybody's heard this is very important. Right, you want to really attract the user's attention quickly so that they stick with you as long as possible, because the longer they stay on that video, the more the platform is going to push it out to more people, and so we keep an eye on that. And then the length of the video total. We've gotten to a point now with our following where we feel pretty comfortable doing longer videos because we've built an audience. But initially we were trying to keep them to like under 30 seconds because people didn't know who we were as much. It's just easier to complete the full video if it's that short, so hard for me.

Speaker 4: 23:45

I'm like I got things to say it is hard for him.

Speaker 3: 23:48

We still. When she says long, 90 seconds. If I go over 90 seconds, she's editing something. She'll speed my voice up. I go. Why do I sound funny? Like because you have too much. You sped you up so I could get it all under 90 seconds, but you can do. You see there's 10 minute TikToks out there, but you better have something. Yes, there are you. You would have something really important to say.

Speaker 2: 24:12

So let's take it back to your business. What do you believe sets the wedding duo apart from other wedding businesses when?

Speaker 4: 24:21

people are considering booking the two of you. You know it's funny. You know how we were just talking about the like down-to-earth kind of you don't want to give brides the impression that, like something is wrong or right or, you know, give them suggestions instead of opinions. We attract a certain clientele. Maybe it's not necessarily has like a huge budget, but they'll budget for us, right. Like we connect so deeply with our clients, I think that it becomes just such a journey for us when we're planning with the couple over a year or however long it is, that when we finally show up at their wedding whether we're flying out of state or, you know, going a couple hours it really is this like momentous occasion for us to see them in person and that's become really wonderful and fulfilling for us.

Speaker 3: 25:09

Well, to the earlier point about showing your face, and people hate to do it. But in the olden days, the first call, at least with the DJ, it's a very personality-based decision, right? Photographers have a portfolio, caterers have a tasting. The DJ is like do we vibe, am I the guy? Do I get you right, your music taste? So it used to be like let's talk on the phone and see if I'm the guy for the job. But now, when I get on the phone, they always say I feel like I already know you because I've watched countless videos of yours. I'm like yeah, okay, it's almost like just sign here, right, because then it's just am I available? And is it in the budget? Because they're already a huge fan.

Speaker 3: 25:42

We'll go to wedding fairs and people show up like, oh my god, I follow. It's good for my ego. I'm a boy, it's fragile, so it's nice. But we've been recognized in airports, we've been recognized at the grocery store. It's really. It's. It's kind of freaky, but it's. I mean, like I said, it's really fun, but uh, but it's I mean, talk about good for business. We'll be at a wedding fair and people will say we came because we saw on your social media that you're going to be here. That's the only reason we're here. I'm like great. I mean, they don't even need a planner, they just came to see us, and next step will be what Best-selling authors here's hoping.

Speaker 4: 26:15

If we can not argue on that, so is the book done? No, probably 70%.

Speaker 1: 26:24

Then it needs to go through like editing and all that, can you give us a bit of a sneak peek of what everyone can expect?

Speaker 4: 26:32

So the Wedding to Away is actually a little bit more about how we built our San Antonio company, because we have a planning and TJ company in San Antonio. We don't actually live in San Antonio, so we live in Ohio, and so the book is a little bit more about how, in the wedding industry, we built a six figure business and then moved and we're basically absentee and we still are owners of this business, and how that's possible, you know, for everyone out there to do, and just how we went through the process of building a team and really owning the ownership role rather than working as you know the work.

Speaker 3: 27:12

We talked through how everybody, when they start to work for themselves, takes that leap of faith where they jump away from benefits or the security or the paycheck that they're getting at the other place Because it's a great weekend gig, right. If you're a photographer and you work the weekends, but you work at the bank Monday through Friday, nine to five, whatever it is, if you make that jump to being full-time, that's scary, right. But there's a lot of the book that we talk about our social media and our tricks and our things we do, how we edit, like the nuts and bolts Get yourself a ring light, get yourself a good lighting, if you're going to achieve something like that.

Speaker 4: 27:55

So we talk a lot about the nuts and bolts of that too, and just the things we've said here to show your face.

Speaker 2: 27:57

Show your face, showing my face right now. All right, it's a good start, ben yes I want to.

Speaker 1: 28:00

I want to hear the answer to your question, your famous question so, guys, at the end of, at the end of every podcast, I ask a question that I ask everyone. If if you guys, I guess you can you can both answer this each, if you like, because there is two of you. So if you walked outside now, run into an 18 year old version of yourself, what advice would you give yourself around life and business and that sort of thing, knowing what you know?

Speaker 3: 28:25

now, we'll go first yeah, you go first yeah, dominic, you go first yeah, I, you know, you look back, you know, and you always think like man, I was an idiot, right, I mean you just because I'm sure I'll look back at myself in 10 years. But like you were an idiot, like, look back there. But um, it's really hard when you're young to just really be your true self, you know, because you're always trying to fit the round peg in the square hole of whatever society wants you to be. And I've always been silly and over the top and energetic, and there's a lot of times where it's like you just have to suppress all that right. So I would almost tell myself, like it's coming, there's a job waiting for you that you could just just get behind that and ride that wave all the way to success.

Speaker 3: 29:07

You know and, but even then I'd be like just be. People will like you or they won't, but you can't be something you're not and that really our social media is like that, like we really try to be genuine and that's the best compliment I can give somebody If they're genuine. You know how you meet somebody and you're like I wonder if they're really like, because all that, whatever they're trying to impress you or something, I'm like just be yourself, be yourself. That's what I would tell my idiot younger self.

Speaker 1: 29:37

Awesome.

Speaker 3: 29:38

You've owned me. I've channeled my inner idiot for sure?

Speaker 4: 29:43

Yeah, you know, I think when I think about myself at that age and before some of our success or any success in life, there was a lot of pressure that I put on myself to figure it out right, like figure out who I was or what I was supposed to be doing or what job was going to complete me, and all those questions needed to be answered.

Speaker 4: 30:10

And I still don't have the answers, even at this stage in life, to a lot of them, right? But I would just tell myself to be present because I really feel like a lot of time goes by and we don't spend enough time just enjoying like, for example, like what we get to do for a living and be together at events and have fun with our clients and with our kids and our family, right, Like you can just spend a lot of time like focusing on what I need to do for the future instead of enjoying the present, and that's something I'm really trying to work on and I would like to have started earlier. So that's what I would tell her.

Speaker 3: 30:44

Have you answered it, Ben? What's yours Go?

Speaker 1: 30:49

Wow, for me I think it's a kind of a two-pronged answer. For me it's it's just be yourself and don't care what anyone else thinks, because everyone else's opinion of you doesn't matter. That's one half of it. The other half would be to master one thing and then move on to the next, and don't try to spread yourself too thin. So become, become the master of one thing and then and then continually move on to the next and build your skills that way instead of trying to, you know, be great at it.

Speaker 1: 31:16

Yeah that's a good one me jack, we haven't answered these questions, jack I see the pressures on us.

Speaker 2: 31:27

We're supposed to be all mine has nothing to do with wedding or business. It has to do with when I was 18, I thought I was fat and darling. You weren't fat, You're fat.

Speaker 4: 31:37

Finding out I could be that kind of fat again. See you on that one as a woman. Like, yeah, like if I could have that metabolism back, please, yes, oh dear.

Speaker 2: 31:47

All right, well, thanks, oh dear, all right, well, thanks, guys, it's been an absolute pleasure having you. I'm sure we've got lots of um other topics that we can. We can talk about even, you know, outside of video. Guys, if you want to check out the wedding duo, whether you're going to book them or buy their book, the website is theweddingduoco and you can, of course, find them on tiktok, instagram, all the platforms. Their username is theweddingduo. Thanks so much, dominic and Serena. It's been a pleasure getting to know you.

Speaker 4: 32:14

Pleasure chatting with you guys as well. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 32:17

Thanks guys. It's been awesome chatting to you as well.