Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP #246: Behind the Scenes with Ricardo Tomas a Wedding Planning OG: 21 Years of Making Dreams Come True

• Sophia Yvette

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What makes Ricardo Tomas with Ricardo Tomas Weddings  a good neighbor?

Ever wondered what it takes to create a truly memorable wedding day? Meet Ricardo Tomas, a wedding planning veteran with 21 years of experience who's seen it all—from intimate ceremonies to grand cultural celebrations.

Ricardo pulls back the curtain on one of the biggest wedding planning myths: the idea of a "perfect day." With refreshing honesty, he explains why minor hiccups are inevitable and why having a professional by your side is invaluable. "If you're trying to skimp on budget, there's probably other places you can do that," he advises, suggesting that a wedding planner provides the safety net couples need when unexpected challenges arise.

The conversation takes us through Ricardo's fascinating journey, from taking his first wedding planning course in Dallas to becoming what he playfully calls an "OG" in the industry. His approach is notably inclusive—working with couples across all budgets, ethnicities, and lifestyles, with particular expertise in same-sex weddings and cultural celebrations. 

What truly sets this episode apart is Ricardo's reflection on how the pandemic transformed the wedding industry. Guest counts became more intimate, spending more intentional, and priorities clearer. "What it comes down to is the couple," he emphasizes, noting how COVID-19 reminded everyone about what truly matters on a wedding day. The episode culminates with a heartwarming story about two widowed seniors who found love through dating apps, reinforcing Ricardo's belief that "love has no boundaries" and there is "no age limit for love."

Ready to discover the secrets of wedding planning from a true industry expert? Listen now, and if you're planning your own special day, remember Ricardo's advice about finding vendors: "You want to connect with that person... because I'm going to be with you from now until your wedding."

To learn more about Ricardo Tomas Weddings go to:

https://rtomaswed.com/

Ricardo Tomas Weddings

214-908-3830


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a wedding planner? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, ricardo Tomas, with Ricardo Tomas Weddings. Ricardo, how are you today?

Speaker 3:

I'm fantastic. How are you today, Sophia?

Speaker 2:

I'm doing fantastic also, so we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Can you tell us a bit about your company?

Speaker 3:

Yes, so I'm a full service wedding planning and coordination service for clients and I've been doing this for 21 years this month, so I'm what do you call them? The OGs of the wedding business. So yeah, I pretty much know it from front to back.

Speaker 2:

Amazing, and how did you originally get into this business?

Speaker 3:

Amazing, and how did wanted something a little bit more challenging and creative, and so I decided I want to step into the wedding world, and so I took a wedding course a 40 hour wedding course here in Dallas, and at the end of the week I was like I think I can do this, I think I was meant to do this. So that's here we are now, 21 years later.

Speaker 2:

Wow, and so, having so much time in this industry, what is the most common myth or misconception you typically come across?

Speaker 3:

You know, the biggest thing is most people think they don't need a wedding planner or coordinator for their wedding. They think that you know it's going to be the most perfect day. Um, and that's one thing that I do challenge and not challenge, but also let my clients know that we can plan for a semi-perfect day, but it may not be the most perfect day, and so for people to think it's going to be that perfect day, it's, it's, it's it's it's a little delusional. So no one has a perfect day. There's just a few, maybe minor little hiccups, but it's something that I can never predict, or the clients can never predict, so you never know what can happen. So not having a wedding planner is not really good. If you're trying to skimp on budget, there's probably other places you can do that, but it's a better safeguard and a nice safety net to have someone by your side.

Speaker 2:

I would agree. And so, ricardo, who are your target customers and, in terms of marketing, how do you attract them?

Speaker 3:

Yes, so I am on a network of's called wedding wire and on the knot on the website or you know, when you're looking search engines, and because I've been in this business for now 21 years, it's now a lot of referrals, uh word of mouth, and so that's how I get a lot of my clients who are looking for me and who my clients are pretty much anybody who's getting married, and I don't. I don't tell anybody that there has to be so much spending. It's basically, you know, I take every ethnic, every lifestyle type of client. I have a really good niche in the same sex market and I do a lot of cultural weddings. So those are my two target couple clients and then, pretty much, like I said, anybody who who's doing a great wedding, like you need a planner, no matter what.

Speaker 2:

And outside of work. What do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3:

You know, I like to what I call disconnect from the world, and so for me, as funny as it seems, I like to go exercise and work out, and for me that's my stress relief, and I pretty much put my phone away in a locker, opposed to some people that I see on their phones at the gym sitting, just like doing nothing but like texting while they're on machines and I'm like you're just wasting time. So for me that is my time to disconnect and not take any phone calls, no emails, for at least a good hour and a half. For me that's very therapeutic and very relaxing. For me it's like reading a book. It takes me to a different place. So I get to like, like I said, just air out things maybe that are stressing me out and it's just my way of like getting back and recharging for the next hour to come.

Speaker 2:

Amazing. Well, let's go ahead and switch gears for us. Yeah, can you describe a hardship or life challenge you overcame and how it made you a better and stronger person today? What comes to mind for you?

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, I've been thinking about things like this. For me it's something that we all went through, which is the pandemic, you know, because that was something that everyone went through at the exact same time and nobody had the answers. And it was interesting that some of my fellow planners reached out to me and said, hey, what are you doing with your clients? And I even had clients ask me what are we going to do? I said, you know what, we just have to pull through this together. We're going to learn together, see what happens. And it has made me a little bit and made also the clients a little bit more conscious about their spending and where they spend. So, whereas weddings were probably, like you know, up to 500 guests count, now, you know, the guest counts are going to be a little bit more intimate, more meaningful for the clients, you know, based on their budgets. So I would say, you know, the pandemic changed a lot of things people's mindsets on what's truly the important thing that's going to happen.

Speaker 3:

It's pretty much marrying each other and that's that's the goal of each wedding. It supersedes all the. You know we all love the flowers. You know who loves beautiful when you walk into the room. The big cake, like all those things are great, but what it comes down to is the flowers. You know who loves beautiful when you walk into the room. The big cake, like all those things are great, but what it comes down to is the couple, and that, to me, has changed since COVID, and so people are a little more focused on those important aspects.

Speaker 2:

Wow. So, Ricardo, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about Ricardo Tomas weddings.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So one thing that I always tell my clients is like it's important when they're hiring all their vendors like from a planner, through photography, through DJ is you want to connect with that person. So, whether you know, before COVID it was in person I used to do a lot of coffee consultations, so to speak, at you know local coffee shops, but because of Zoom, because of COVID, zoom became like the new thing. So now when I meet with my clients and I said, okay, you know, I know you probably have to interview other wedding planners or vendors, but you have to have that connection with somebody across the screen. If you don't have that connection, then I'm probably not the right fit for you, because you know I'm going to be with you from now until your wedding, and that could be a full year.

Speaker 3:

I've had engagements up to two years, so you might have me for two years. So if there's things that bother you the way you know, whatever I say, or if there's red flags, then maybe I'm not the person for you. But if you're like comfortable, you're like okay, if this is the way you're going to be on our wedding day, we like someone calm, cool, collected, which it really pretty much truly is who I am. Like. I am like this even on the wedding day. Like you think I'm like upset or something, but no, I'm. I'm in a zone, um, and I'm focused and um, yeah, that's one thing I you know.

Speaker 3:

Like I said, tell my clients is like, you know you want to connect with me, um, because I'm going to be with you all day of your wedding, so we are connected by the hips. You know, I'm going to be handholding you and your fiance through the whole planning process. So I want us to have fun and I will. You know, with my 21 years experience, I will give you my best knowledge of things. So I'll give you my opinions, and it's up to you because you are the financial providers, so it's up to you to have to make that final decision. But I'm going to give you, you know, some of the best quality points and the do's and the don'ts of a wedding and what could happen if you go this direction or this direction. So I'm always like the voice of reason, so to speak.

Speaker 2:

So, Ricardo, being in the wedding industry, I have to ask you do you believe in true love?

Speaker 3:

I do, I do, and it's funny you ask that because I think tomorrow actually and it's funny that you're asking me this I'm going to be celebrating two years that I did this couple's wedding. I'll tell you a quick short story is they were both widowed, so that tells you age wise. So they're both, you know, in their very mature ages, age-wise. So they're both, you know, in their very mature ages. And they both found love on dating apps, even after being married for years and widowed. And I was like, oh my gosh, if true love truly happens at this stage in your life, I want to do, I want to be this as well. And they were very, they were my inspiration.

Speaker 3:

So, like you asked me at the beginning, who are my clients, they're my inspiration. So, like you asked me at the beginning who are my clients, I don't discriminate also with age. Like I've had young, you know, brides and grooms and grooms and grooms, and I've had more mature couples, and so there is no age limit for love, love has no boundaries. And so that wedding will always go down in history as one of my favorite weddings. And so that wedding will always go down in history as one of my favorite weddings, and also because both of their children. You know they both had children at that age in their life who each of them, walked down the aisle, so their grandchildren and their children were part of their wedding. So it was absolutely beautiful and it was at the Dallas Arboretum and it was a gorgeous spring day like tomorrow. It'll be two years tomorrow and I'll never forget that wedding.

Speaker 2:

It was always embedded in my head. Well, that sounds like such a beautiful experience and I agree with you 100%. I think you can find the one at any age, just when the time is right. The time is right, and only God can tell us that.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

So, ricardo, where can our listeners go to learn more about Ricardo Tomas Weddings?

Speaker 3:

Yes, so my website is rtomaswed and that's R-T-O-M-A-S-W-E-Dcom On Instagram, it's also rtomaswed, so it's's really easy. So my website and my Instagram are the same handle. And also, if you go to WeddingWire or the Knot and you go to the reviews, I have over 150 reviews and they're all up to date. So if you really want to get to know me that's how it's just to read what everybody's raving about my services.

Speaker 2:

Well, Ricardo, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much. It was great speaking with you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show. Go to gnpfriscocom. That's gnpfriscocom, or call 469-221-9345.