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The Preferred List: A Wedding Vendor Podcast
The Preferred List is a podcast that pulls back the curtain on the wedding industry, featuring honest conversations with the pros behind the scenes. From planners to photographers to DJs and florists, we dive into the real stories, lessons, and moments that make weddings unforgettable — and what it really takes to earn a spot on the list.
The Preferred List: A Wedding Vendor Podcast
Episode 25 Why Hiring Your Planner First Can Save Your Wedding: Blake Events
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A planner who never meant to be a planner built a 15-person team and now steers 170+ weddings a year—and she’s here to tell you exactly how. Taryn of Blake Events takes us behind the curtain to show why calm leadership, clear systems, and honest budgeting matter more than trends, and how to protect your day from the hidden pitfalls couples rarely see coming.
We trace her leap from corporate marketing to full-time planning after a life-altering health scare, the slingshot effect of 2021’s boom, and the SOP-driven growth that makes excellence repeatable across a large team. Taryn breaks down planning tiers—why “day-of” is a myth, how 90-day coordination rescues overwhelmed couples, why partial planning is the true sweet spot, and when full service becomes the stress-free choice. She explains how to align design with budget and venue constraints, using tight visual references and clear language to avoid misinterpretation.
Then we get real about vendor lists, contracts, and pricing. You’ll learn how to vet beyond five-star reviews, why some venue lists are pay-to-play, and what a seasoned planner knows about staff turnover, access rules, and delivery windows that drive up labor costs. We talk transparent pricing on vendor sites, qualifying leads, and why averages on the internet mislead more than they help. If you’ve ever felt “venue poor,” or wondered whether to book the band, video, or floral statement first, this conversation hands you a framework to set a drop-dead number, rank priorities, and make tradeoffs with confidence.
We keep the tone candid and warm—boss without being bossy—so you leave with practical tools and a clear head. If you’re a couple wanting less stress and fewer surprises, or a budding planner seeking a realistic roadmap, this one’s for you. Enjoy the stories, steal the systems, and if it helped, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a quick review to tell us your biggest wedding planning question.
https://www.blakeevents.com/
https://www.instagram.com/blakeeventco/
Meet Taryn At Hazelwood Weddings
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the Preferred List, a podcast about the people behind the best what it is. I'm James, a wedding filmmaker. I've spent years in the industry working alongside incredible vendors, and this show is all about real conversations with the ones who make it happen. Whether you're a vendor or a couple, you'll get honest insight, good stories, and maybe a little inspiration along the way. Let's meet today's wedding vendor.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, how are you?
SPEAKER_01Good. I'm so glad to have you on, and y'all don't know this. I'm just so glad to have you on, and I'm excited to pick your brain on all things planning, coordination, and all and all of that. But before we do, we're here at Hazelwood Weddings. Hazelwood Weddings is a modern wedding venue in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, specializing in weddings, microwedings, and opened with easy access to Gettysburg or Microspurg and Elsewhere. Built specifically for weddings, and you'll find an intentional variety of bright open spaces, the natural light, and surrounded by stunning woodland views. Hazelwood is the perfect backdrop for your day and an even better backdrop for your photos. And I know you know Kate very well. It's just such a joy to be around. And um the space here is just I mean, it's it's so nice.
SPEAKER_03It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's one of our favorite places.
SPEAKER_01And I read the like bathed in natural light, and like you can see from our camera over here, you can see the natural light that hits into this uh space here, the reception space. Um, but Taryn, thanks for being on.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm I'm really excited.
From Accidental Gig To First Client
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So Taryn, you run Blake Events. Correct. And um I know you work very closely with Kate here at Hazelwood. Um, but take me back to where Blake Events started for you.
SPEAKER_03So um it's actually funny because I feel like when people meet wedding planners, the story that you typically hear over and over is that, oh, I got into this because I really loved planning my own wedding. And that is not my story. I fell into this completely by accident. So um I actually spent my entire 20s um climbing the corporate ladder. And I worked for, I was the director of marketing for two multimillion dollar firms, um, heavily focused on that career. But by nature of doing that job since I was 21 or 22, people would always say, Oh, you do marketing. Can you help me with this event? Or, you know, I'd get the phone call. I'm working on this for my job, but I don't really know what I'm doing. Could you help me? Yeah. I was like, sure, why not? Um, one of my husband's coworkers at the time was getting married. And the closer they got to their wedding, the more they realized their venue wasn't necessarily going to do all the things that they thought they were going to do, um, which still happens to this.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say that's probably still the case a lot of places.
SPEAKER_03Um and so somehow my name was thrown out there of like, hey, could your, you know, could your fiance at the time actually come and help us? And I said, sure, I I can figure something out. Um, so I went and coordinated, we're gonna put that loosely, coordinated their wedding. Um, and just so happened to be sitting at a guest table with another couple who was engaged. And they looked at us over dinner and said, Whatever you did for them, could you do for us?
SPEAKER_01I love that.
SPEAKER_03And I was like, sure. Um, you know, at the time we were almost newly married, you know, saving for a house, all those things. And I thought, well, I could make, you know, some extra money. So they were my first official client. Uh, I charged them$250 and I bought my own hotel room.
SPEAKER_01So Which just probably spent all the two.
SPEAKER_03But you know, in this industry, I feel like you get what you pay for, and they probably got that at the time. Uh because I was, we know, we were guessing along the way. Um, but that's really where my career started. Um, I connected with an amazing, uh, well-known DJ, actually, DJ Kopeck. At that very first wedding, he is now the official DJ for Under Armour and the Baltimore Ravens. You can catch him in the purchase. Casual.
SPEAKER_02You know, casual, yeah.
Health Scare, Leap, And Scale
SPEAKER_03Um, he was on Ellen during the COVID shutdown. Like his career has blossomed. But the chance encounter with him, um, and then connecting me with a couple other couples as we went, started a very slow growth over the next few years. And it was just me. Um, and then it was, you know, me and a family member, me and a best friend. Um and we I grew super organically, doing maybe nine or 10 weddings every year, really just earning my stripes, figuring things out. Um, and people didn't ever really realize that I wasn't doing it full time. It was like my lives were very separate. Uh, and even to this day, when people find out that I've only been full-time since 2021, like it's mind-blowing. Um, but in 2018, uh, I actually was surprised waking up one morning and I found myself in a Forbes feature of seven entrepreneurs that were revolutionizing the event industry. And that was pretty much the catalyst for what turned my career.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So when I say that I really ended up here by accident, I mean it was it was accident, it was a lot of hard work, a little bit of luck. Yeah. Um, but yeah, that that set things in motion.
SPEAKER_01It's so cool to see like what was a seemingly innocent, like, hey, could you help us to that next, like seemingly innocent, like, oh hey, that what you did here, like, could you do that for us? And now here you are with like a full team, yeah, been full-time for like four years now, yeah. Um, but been doing like events uh for several other years. Uh, how much has changed over that that time frame?
SPEAKER_03A lot has changed. So back, you know, when I was just doing this as a side gig, like I said, I was really focused on my full-time career. Um, I had two kids, I got married, we had moved a few times, um, and you know, 10 weddings a year up until that point. And then in 2019, I actually had some pretty serious health issues and came home one day and told my husband that I was never going to step foot in a cubicle ever again.
SPEAKER_01Um, it's some perspective and it just shifted for you.
SPEAKER_03And you know, the fear was gone. I feel like there's so many people who want to become an entrepreneur or work for themselves or try something new, and we're all just stuck in that fear of what if? You know, what's gonna happen when we get to, you know, the other side? We get both feet out the door. Um, and at that point, I didn't care. And I knew that I was really good at what I was doing and the potential was there. And so we put a plan in motion, and I, you know, decided to quit my job in 2020. Perfect timing, not the year to do that. Um, but I I used that period really as the slingshot. So bookings were down in 2020, but we all know what happened in 2021 when things went wild, and I was really primed and ready to run. And so we went from, like I said, nine to ten weddings a year, just me, maybe an assistant, to at our biggest. Um, we have a team of 15 right now, and we'll do about 170, 180 events every season.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. In four years.
Hiring For Heart, Training For Skill
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's amazing. Um the gro I'm like, I'm thinking of like four different questions all at the same time, but uh 15 people. How do you find how do you find the right people? Because you it's and I'm I'm asking that from a place of like, it's you're never gonna find a Terran. I have a Danielle though, who's practically so um Danielle's the the close second, but like there's never gonna be a Terran who's the one that was at that first wedding, at that second wedding, starting to see the the stuff working, got the connections and got it to where it is, and have the love and passion for Blake events that you do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But you gotta like if you're gonna grow, like you gotta spread out and delegate, and you can only do so many weddings or so many events yourself.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like, how do you find the Danielles of the world who give Danielle a huge shout out?
SPEAKER_03I know, right? She'll she'll love that. Um, she much prefers to be the person behind the scenes and was really glad that I didn't make her come along today.
SPEAKER_01She's totally cut off.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um hiring is a process, I will say that. And, you know, it's when people, I think everybody sort of gets to that point in their business when you start to think about do I want to bring somebody else onto my team or do I want to keep doing this as a solopreneur? And it's truly not as easy as just adding another body onto your team. Um I really am grateful that I had the corporate background that I did because I run this business like I ran a$10 million corporate marketing department. We have, you know, standard operating procedures. We have all of the software, everything is documented. Um got a lot of good SOPs. It's you know, but it's the only way that things work when you grow as big as we grow, because I think the biggest thing is I have to be repeatable. But I personally can't be at every event. Yeah. But my processes and the way that we run the business and the way that we treat our clients and the things that we do for our vendors are all things that can be repeatable. And that's really what I focus on. I can teach anybody how to plan a really, really good wedding. I can't change who you are as a person. So I hire for a great personality, someone who's a go-getter, somebody who, you know, believes in the power of the team, um, you know, who really sees that overall mission and it's just a genuinely good human. And I can teach you the rest.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_03So that's really what I look for.
Mindset, Risk, And Nonlinear Growth
SPEAKER_01Was there, I'm just like thinking back to the 2018, 2019 you, or maybe even the 2020 you that like took the bet on yourself and you know, you're like, you know, I'm gonna do this. Did you feel like you made that move? Because I'm sure there's people listening, vendors that are like, I don't know if I'm ready for full time, like, I don't know if I'm gonna, am I gonna flop? Like, did you have like the market research done to show, like, hey, if I went full time, I could do more and make up the extra that I needed to make financially, or was it like you just were so passionate about it? You're like, I'm just gonna figure it out.
SPEAKER_03Probably a little bit of both. I mean, I ran the numbers as much as you can run the numbers, but this industry is one of ups and downs, you know, and and you don't really know what's gonna come, but I knew I wasn't gonna quit at that point. Yeah. Um, and I think for me, you know, you can either try something and fail and redirect, which I still fail all the time in this business. And it's all just a series of redirections to, you know, the next success, or you can live the rest of your life wondering what if. And I was just really at a point in my life where I didn't want to do the what if anymore. And I was ready to jump in and see what I could do. And it's been the best decision that I've ever made. And I if there's one thing I could say to any vendor listening, if you still have a foot in a corporate world, but that thought is always in the back of your mind, just try it. Just get a mentor, you know, find, you know, great masterminds or whatever you want to be a part of. Um, there is space for you. The industry is saturated, but there's plenty of work to go around. You just have to work for it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. What what's one of the bigger things that you took? Because it sounds like you have experience from your corporate-type job that helps you run events successfully. What are the things that you took from that corporate job to help you? I know you had systems and stuff, but just like almost more of like the the day-to-day, like actually putting the event on.
Why Weddings: Problem Solving And People
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, so I worked in two very male-driven industries. Um, I worked in the insurance industry and the construction industry, always in a marketing role, but still very male-driven industries. And I'm not knocking on any of the dudes out there, but if you've spent a lot of time around lifelong construction workers, um, you learn a little bit of a tenacity, you know, and and grit. Um, not much scares me. I'm not afraid to take risks and take chances. Um and I think I just I came into it with a really good understanding that it was never going to look or feel linear because my career wasn't linear in any way. You know, there were peaks and valleys there. And I got to see that from a corporate level that those businesses, you know, did this. I couldn't come into this and think that my business was always gonna do this.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's up and up, yeah.
SPEAKER_03It doesn't exist, it's not real. Um, so just you know, having a, I think a realistic expectation of what it was gonna look like, but also watching other entrepreneurs in this space and out of this space. How did they move? What were they doing? Where were they putting themselves? Um, and just you know, I like to say my team works in the day today. I'm working three years ahead of now of right now. You know, that's where my brain is.
SPEAKER_01You're just you're a business-minded person.
SPEAKER_03I am. It's wild. Um, I would have never ever in a million years if people would have said, You're gonna own a wedding planning business one day.
SPEAKER_01I would not not only that though, you're also like you're sitting here saying, and I believe it, I'm I'm bought in. You're like, I'm looking three years ahead, and you have a full team who's counting on you to do that.
SPEAKER_03Oh, there is no pressure like knowing you are paying someone else's bills. Yeah. I mean, that's a if you're you're scared to make the leap into having to pay your own bills, try paying five other people's full time and you know, the rest are part-time, but it's a lot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but still, it's a huge, a huge commitment for them to now be betting on you to come through. Um what is it about weddings, like planning day of coordination? Like, what is it about weddings that you just love enough to be like, let's let's be doing this, but like be doing it at the scale that you're doing it on?
Then Vs Now: Budgets And Trends
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, and it's funny because early on, I probably wouldn't have given you the same answer that I would give you now. Um I love the fact that I I feel like everything that I've done in my career, I'm always building something, right? Whether it be, you know, building this business or, you know, putting all of the pieces together for a wedding. I love problem solving. And that's what weddings are. It's a whole lot of problems that need to be to be solved. Um, even if it feels very smooth, it's still puzzle pieces. Behind the scenes, yeah. Puzzle pieces in the background. Um, so I love that. I love that every day is different. I truly, the things that I have done in my career or experienced, you would never believe. Um, I don't get bored, I get to travel, and then it's the people, you know, and I'm sure everybody says, oh, it's the people we've raised, you know, they're listening sometimes it's not the people, okay? Sometimes the people are the ones that make you consider getting out of this business. Um but in our role, I think, specifically, and probably with things, you know, that you get to do in video and and photographers for sure, we're the ones that are really let into those more intimate pieces of our clients' lives. And that's the part that that surprised the hell out of me when I got into this business. Sorry, am I allowed to curse on your podcast? Okay. Um, you know, couples who were planning their wedding while one of them, you know, was diagnosed with cancer. Or, you know, a couple who, you know, they lose a a parent, sometimes two right before their wedding, and we're helping them navigate that process. Um, people who welcome babies or, you know, just whatever it is. Um, we've really been brought into people's lives in a way that I never expected. And those are the ones that I'll never forget.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, it's it's an interesting concept, and I I think about it all the time. It's like we're jumping in to a family dynamic or a friend dynamic or both. And we're like just inserted into that at one of the biggest days of that couple's lives. It's so interesting.
SPEAKER_03And it's, you know, this concept that, you know, I think when people think of weddings, they think this is the happiest day of their life. And it very well might be, but it can also come with a lot of sadness, yeah. Or, you know, dealing with grief or whatever it might be that that's sort of right alongside of that happiness. Um, and it's those are just things that I never thought I would experience until I got into this industry, sort of in the depths that we are.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. How how different, and maybe not like the first or second one, but how different were those early weddings that you planned and coordinated for compared to like what you're doing now?
SPEAKER_03I'm sure they were a shit show. I mean, if we're being honest. Um, you know, I'm glad that I've seen this industry from absolutely every angle, right? Um, I've done, you know, the full DIY very small events where, you know, I was charging$250. Now, you know, we're working on weddings that are tipping up. We're edging closer to the half million dollar mark every year that goes on. Um, you know, and I'm making a ton more money doing it too. But um I've been able to see it from all sides and kind of watch my career grow through every level of the industry, but very different, very different price points, um, different expectations, expectations of the market in general have changed the, you know, the way that social media uh just influences the wedding industry and different trends. I mean, none of that existed when I did this 15 years ago.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, that's gotta be like a shock. I mean, if you if there was a way to like plot back and then plot back here, it'd be like, whoa, that's just so different.
SPEAKER_03This is why I call myself the grandma of the wedding industry, because I'm like, I've I've been around so long. I remember when like I'm telling you, like we weren't putting things on TikTok. Um yeah, but it's fun.
Planner Packages Demystified
SPEAKER_01How you said something about expectations. I'm curious if you could just unpack like what how have those expectations are on you or or from the couple, uh other vendors.
SPEAKER_03I mean, weddings are always a high stakes event. You know, it's it's funny when I talk to people about my job, I'm like, you do realize I get one day to get this right. Yeah. You know, like if if if I used to make a mistake corporately, we could try again. Um, we don't get to try again in what we do. So it's it's always been very high stakes. But I think as weddings have gotten more expensive, weddings have gotten more commercialized, weddings have gotten, you know, to a point where, you know, they are being shared across social media. They are, um, you know, people are trying to get featured, vendors themselves are looking for the next big break, you know. Um, it's just become a lot more high stakes and the expectations have gone up a lot.
SPEAKER_01Like on us. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. On the wedding vendors, I think as a whole. I know.
SPEAKER_01I said cool, and I'm like, that's probably not cool. No.
SPEAKER_03But I love it. Because then at the end of the day, you're like, we freaking nailed it. Yeah. You know, it's great. It's so fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Some some of the pressure on the back end leads you to maybe a different sort of satisfaction of like stamp of approval. Like that went well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Even under the pressure, like it went well.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I'm glad that I'm not cutting my teeth as a wedding vendor right now. I'm glad that I had time to learn and grow. Uh, because nothing I don't stress on wedding days. And people say that south all the time. They're like, you guys are never worried.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, Yeah, don't need to be.
SPEAKER_03Nope. I've lived this. Grandma's got it.
SPEAKER_01I'm not going to be able to think of you other than a wedding grandma.
SPEAKER_03I'm going to get a shirt now that says grandma's got it, and I'm just going to wear it on the wedding.
SPEAKER_01Grandma's got it. The best thing to come out of this podcast. Grandma's got it. GGI. Just let me in on the merch. If you get if you get a cut of the merch, just let me in. I just want a couple shirts. I love it. Uh GGI. Um, can you explain uh part of it being like the different services that you guys offer, but even just like breaking down. I love asking planners like to just explain the different things. Like they have coordinating, planning, full service planning. The venue is like, oh, well, couple, we have uh coordination. It's like, well, the venue owner being around to turn the lights on and off is not let's maybe not call that coordination. So if like like give us the breakdown on like the stuff that you guys do, but also like just give us a general breakdown, help us like all understand the things.
Why Hire A Planner First
SPEAKER_03It's probably one of the harder things in this industry because every planner does things a little bit differently. We personally don't offer day of coordination. I don't want to learn everything there is to learn about your wedding in 24 hours. I'm not doing that to myself. Um, so I would say big buckets for Blake events are 90-day coordination, partial planning, and full service. 90-day coordination, I'm gonna set you up with everything that you need to plan your wedding on your own. You're gonna get a budget spreadsheet, you're gonna get uh vendor recommendations, you're gonna get a planning to do list. So you're gonna have all of those resources to do the planning on your own. And then we're gonna come in 90 days out and really tie up all of the loose ends and make sure that your wedding day comes to life the way that you want it. Um, it's great for couples who feel really confident in the planning process. Maybe you're at a venue where they have a lot of, you Know on-site inclusions. There's venues now that do have, you know, in-house catering, in-house florists, all that good stuff. Um, partial planning, we're gonna come along beside you for the entirety of your journey. So we're not planning your wedding for you, but we're planning your wedding with you. We are going to talk through every vendor category. We're gonna break down that budget, we're gonna figure out is this realistic or not realistic? Um, you know, we're gonna talk through here's five different florist proposals. Here's what I see as a planner versus what you see as a couple, which is usually just the price tag, um, and how this is actually gonna shake out on your wedding day. Um, and so it's kind of lather, rinse, repeat that process, but you have us to be your guide, to be your scapegoat, to be whatever you need us to be as you are planning your wedding. And then of course, we're gonna come in at the end and make sure that it all goes the way it's supposed to. Full service, um, highest tier package, that's the one where we are going to plan your wedding start to finish. Obviously, with your input, um, with your budget in mind, you still get a say in everything that we're doing. It's not like we take control and you just show up on your wedding day, although I've done that once and it was awesome. Um you know, we're gonna have the conversations, but the couple, you don't have to set up a wedding, you know, email address because you're not the one sending the inquiries and chasing down vendors and worrying about when your payments are due or, you know, figuring out design details. We're gonna do it all on your behalf. Um, and then, you know, you're gonna show up and have this beautiful wedding day that you didn't have to stress one bit over. So that's our process. Um every planner has a little bit of a different iteration. And I think one of the benefits of working with us is that we've done 700 weddings at this point. I can make you a package, anything that you want, right? If if you want a 90-day coordination package, but you want to add design services and you want to talk to me three different times throughout your planning journey, I'll set, I'll I'll give you that collection, right? Yeah. I'm gonna do whatever makes you feel like it's the perfect thing for you, as long as it still works for us. Because at the end of the day, I think, you know, I never want to forget that we are the experts in this and we know what's gonna work. Um, so as long as we can find a happy medium between the two, I'm also super flexible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, there's a level of trust that you need to have as the couple to the vendor. And if they give you that trust, then you're able to do what you're setting out to do.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Biggest thing, I mean, no matter what package any couple wants, my my bit of advice when it comes to planning is hire your planner first. Especially if you think you're gonna want a partial or a full service package. Hire your planner first. I think a lot of people think that they need to hire the planner first so that you could talk through the vision or the budget. And yeah, those are big things. You wanna hire your planner first because we're the ones that know all of the ins and outs of the industry.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I can tell you who's considering closing their business, who has not been performing well in the past 12 months, who, you know, what venue has staff that turns over every 30 days because nobody wants to work there. I mean, I've there are venues that we've worked at that I have had four or five different point of contacts in a year of planning there. Couples don't want that. Yeah. Um, you know, there's just all these different things that we get to see because we're living it day in and day out, that I'm not afraid to tell my client, right? You are paying me for my insight and advice.
SPEAKER_01For sure.
SPEAKER_03I want to save you a headache down the line and I want to save me a headache down the line.
SPEAKER_01Well, and the headache that you would get is gonna come back on Blake Events eventually.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I'm gonna have to deal with it.
SPEAKER_01But I'm just saying I'm just saying, like, if if you're not gonna say, hey, go book this photographer unless you are willing to stake Blake Events on that photographer doing the job that they say that they're gonna do and the way that they're gonna do it.
Vetting Vendors Beyond Five-Star Reviews
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And it's wild, I think, things that couples just don't think about, you know, like there are venues and vendors that exist that have perfect five-star reviews online. But I've seen the contracts and I know it's because there's a clause in there that says that no matter what happens, the couple's not allowed to leave a negative review.
SPEAKER_02Uh uh.
SPEAKER_03Uh-huh. There's vendors who does that, you know, the tenants. Who does that? Become a Blake Events client, and I'll tell you.
SPEAKER_01Um there are I'm gonna become a client just to figure out who and it's when I see things like that.
SPEAKER_03Oh, trust me, I've got a I've got a file folder in the cloud that I'm like, we're gonna kill.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if you're a vendor, you shouldn't be needing that in your contract.
SPEAKER_03I don't know that it could legally be upheld. Probably not. But I think it scares couples enough. Oh, for sure. That because there's there's like a a monetary charge attached to it that you sign off on in the contract.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh, yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_03Um their vendors, you know, if there's a problem, they'll be paid back in full to take a negative review review down. So couples are seeing, you know, sunshine and rainbows when you're looking at reviews, yeah, but that's not the real story.
SPEAKER_01Because that's even like what I've heard from a lot of people on the podcast is like, hey, check the reviews, see what people are saying about them. Is there like is there a way? And I know the answer is like to get a planner, but even for the couples that are out there, like, well, we've already like planned half our wedding, we're just trying to put the pieces together with a couple more vendors. Like, how can we make sure that we're not getting the behind the scenes not so great vendor? Like, how do they navigate that?
SPEAKER_03I would not, I mean, obviously check review sites. Go into you know, regional Facebook groups, just search and see if your vendor's been name-dropped in there. Reddit is also a huge one, especially as you go up in budget. Um, there are specific, you know, it's called big budget brides, and there's other things on Reddit. Um, there's a lot of people who get name dropped in there if there are problems. But a lot of it too, if you have a vendor that's already on your team that you really trust, go to them. Ask your photographer, ask your videographer, ask your venue if you love that person, you know, who does a great job. Some people are gonna be an open book, some people might not. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
SPEAKER_03It doesn't hurt to ask.
SPEAKER_01And I like I said before, I'm not gonna say a person, even as a a lowly videographer, because we usually are booked like way later than a lot of other people, but I'm not gonna say, like a DJ, for example, even to a friend of mine that I don't absolutely love and that I don't think can put on a crazy good party.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because as a vendor, like you you do you stake a little bit of your reputation on these people that you're putting out there. So if there is a list as a couple, you have to imagine that the list is curated in a very specific way.
SPEAKER_0390% of the time. Okay. Some lists are pay to play.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Not all are based on true experience. Some are pay to play. I've been on the recipient of those emails that say, you know, hey, we're a new venue and we're trying to curate a vendor list. Do you want to pay$250 to be on it? No. You don't know me. Yeah. That could be terrible. Um planner lists, I would say, are pretty legit. And again, I'm not trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom.
SPEAKER_01No, but I think it's really important for couples to know this going in so they're not like duped. Yeah. That'd be the worst thing.
Building A Trusted Vendor List
SPEAKER_03It's the part of the industry that I feel like people just don't want to stick their neck out on the line and talk about it. But I've been around forever. You know what I mean? Like I think these are the conversations that we do need to have.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, grandma's got it.
SPEAKER_03Grandma's got it. Because on the flip side, you know, your planner is also gonna be the person that is going to give you the best of the best. You know, I might know all the crap stuff that goes on in the industry, but I can also tell you, you know, the venues that are tried and true and are going to take care of everything that you need. The vendors who I don't have to worry, they are gonna show up on that wedding day. I don't care what's happening.
SPEAKER_01Hardly any questions.
SPEAKER_03So you're gonna get the best, but we're also gonna be very real with you.
SPEAKER_01It almost reminds me of like the iceberg. Yeah. Like below the surface, you got all the stuff, all the kind of crap that you've like worked through. It's like, okay, we know that, but we have the very nice, like top layer that just is like cream of the crop. Yeah. How do you personally get that list? If it's a list or if it's just a like, I know these people for whatever reason here that I've worked with them probably before, but how are you getting those people um kind of curated on on your list that you're sharing with couples?
SPEAKER_03So 99.9% of our list is people that we have personally worked with. I will leave that other 0.1% for people who come very highly recommended if they fill, you know, sort of a niche that I don't have covered. Um, you know, and that could be a little bit of anything. Um, you know, I might see another planner, planner friend of mine who works with a vendor that I think, oh my gosh, you know, I I don't have anybody who's this specific style or this specific.
SPEAKER_01Can even just be like a style of florals that maybe your go-to people just don't really do that as much. Just to give someone an example of what that might be.
Which Package Fits Which Couple
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So it might be, I'm even thinking, you know, from a photo or video perspective, if I start to see somebody who's editing something in a different way, and I think, oh, must, you know, one of my clients might really love that, but I don't have anybody on my list right now that does that. That does that. I will reach out to the planner friend or whomever and get their personal recommendation. So I at least feel good enough about putting that name out there. Um, but yeah, everybody else is a tried and true. And my list turns pretty often. So, I mean, just two weekends ago, one of my planners was actually here, worked with a DJ for the first time, and immediately messaged me afterwards and said, Great company, responsive, printed our schedule, had the whole thing, would definitely recommend. Um, so they go on the list. Alternately, had an experience this past weekend where somebody wasn't so great and actually said, Don't ever invite me back to this venue. Okay, right off the list you go.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you self-selected.
SPEAKER_03Yes, you did. You've removed yourself from the equation.
SPEAKER_01But it seems like you're having personally good experiences. You know they're gonna show up for the couple.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Um 90% of this industry is phenomenal.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But just like any other industry, you're gonna have, you know, the 10% that are the bad eggs, but you don't want to be the couple that's hinging your wedding day on on ending up with that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Could you give me a breakdown? Um, kind of going back a little bit to the different types of planning services that you have. If a couple is listening, or even a vendor is listening who doesn't know much about planning, what types of couples thrive with the 90-day? What types of couples thrive with like the partial planning and then like the full planning?
SPEAKER_03Partial planning, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna jump ahead and start there because partial planning is the sweet spot. Partial planning can work for any couple, in my opinion. Um, it's the one that is going to, you know, again, give you a guided resource the entire way through your planning. Um, you're gonna get to pick our brains on absolutely everything. You're probably going to end up saving money, making great decisions, feeling super confident, not being stressed. Um, and it's gonna really let you in the driver's seat still as the couple. If you're one that's like, I want to plan my wedding, partial planning is the space for you. 90 day is, I would say, for the couples who decide that they want a planner further along in the process, or you know, you have a venue that is a little bit more all-inclusive of the things that you're looking for, or a lot of times, I would say if you work in this industry, but most people who work in this industry actually do hire us for higher level packages because they know they know they wanted. Yeah. Um, so 90 day, again, if if you're if you really didn't think you needed somebody and then you get to that point and you're like, uh, I really do, 90 days better than nothing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03For for sure.
SPEAKER_01Because you're also getting in all of these, like the day of stuff.
SPEAKER_03Correct. Everything for, you know, day of. Full service we find, you know, for our couples who are just really busy, you know. We work with a lot of attorneys, we work with a lot of doctors, um, or people who are just like, you know what, we don't we want to enjoy all the good stuff. And I don't want to do any of the other stuff. I don't want to answer emails, I don't want to do, you know, the vendor interviews, I don't want to track my payments, I don't want to do any of that. Um so we do it for them and it is a very, you know, white glove experience. But that's not gonna be the best fit for a lot of couples. Um, it certainly is for some, but the partial planning is that is where I would funnel people all day long. I even say I'm a terrible salesperson because I will talk people out of the service to get into partial planning if that's what I think is gonna fit them better. Just, you know, picking up on cues of how involved they want to be.
The 90-Day Panic And Timeline Tetris
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Cause I think that's it seems like that's the linchpin more than anything between the partial and full is like, do you want to do a lot or do you want to do nothing? The 90 day to me feels like uh either a oops, we're in over a head and we need some help, or it's just like, I just think we want to have this a little bit more organized than what we have it. Um I'm thinking of the couple that is in that like oh, we're in over ahead. What is what are normally the things that they're underestimating in the planning process or that get overlooked until it's like late now and it's like, oh gosh, we need to figure this out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I think people get really excited about the idea of, you know, getting on Instagram and Pinterest and finding vendors they love and even getting vendors under contract. You know, that that's the fun stuff. Those are the dopamine hits when you're like, found a great photographer, you know, booked this, you're you're checking things off the to-do list. Then as we start to creep closer to the wedding day, that's when, you know, the family dynamics come into play. You are now also juggling, you know, all of your RSVPs and who's in the hotel block and where, you know, who needs transportation to different places. And now your venue's reaching out and saying, we need COIs for all of your vendors. And now your vendors aren't being responsive because it's October and they're in busy season and you are not their top priority at the moment, like you were when they needed you to sign a contract.
SPEAKER_01You're not the next stop wedding for a lot of them.
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, you have, you know, all of your bridesmaids, all of your groomsmen, whomever, they need to get their outfits. Everyone's in alterations. Um again, venues like how many tables do you want? Do your centerpieces line up? What size linens do you need? Do you have enough place settings ordered? Do we have overages done? Where's your schedule for the day? Photo and video are arguing because their timelines don't line up. Now you just found out that your hair and makeup team only has two hours to get everybody ready based on when your photographer wants to start, but we also don't have your flowers on, you know, on site for you to do your solo pictures yet. Do you see how this can start to feel overwhelming?
SPEAKER_00You're making me feel overwhelmed already married.
SPEAKER_03That's literally what's going to happen inside of the couple's head when they are being hit from 15 different directions and they're like, I've never put this together before.
SPEAKER_01And imagine, just to give you another little plug, imagine you're the bride, you're sitting there getting your hair makeup done, and all of this is hitting you in that moment as opposed to like, you know, a week before, two weeks before. You could literally be sitting in the chair and then getting all of what you just said fed to you, like, well, what do you want to do?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And listen, some people don't care. And if you are that human, I applaud you because I don't have that level of chill. Um, but I think it's also, you know, it's that expectation of what do you want to take on and how do you want it to feel? Yeah. Right. If you're doing this one time, do you want to feel stressed out? Do you want your mom to feel stressed out? Yeah. Do you want, you know, everybody to have to work on your wedding day? Or do you want to spend all of this money and time and actually enjoy the day that you've planned? Yeah. And that's, you know, that's what your planner does. It's it's not just coming in and setting up and breaking down. It is the peace of mind throughout the process. And being the one that's going to handle all of the problems, you know, we've had vendors, not our recommended vendors, but vendors cancel the morning of the wedding. Benefit of having a big team is I have 10 other people who get on the horn and you know start making phone calls. Yeah. And we have always been able to replace people. Your mom's not going to know how to do that, right? Like she just doesn't have the contacts to do that. The venue coordinator.
SPEAKER_01And even if she did, like she shouldn't be worrying about that.
Design Process And Decision Clarity
SPEAKER_03She shouldn't be worrying about it. But also the vendors aren't going to be answering the phone. And, you know, venue coordinators, I'm going to say this loosely because it's not all, most aren't on site when that happens. They're certainly not in a hotel if you're off-site getting ready somewhere. They're not at your church. Um, you're you're a sitting duck if you don't have someone who's your personal advocate on your wedding day.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Uh how how do you help couples? Maybe they have a super strong vision or or an idea of what they want, maybe they don't, but how do you help them kind of like work through that process and refine to kind of, you know, they you probably want them to have a day that's special to them. Yeah. But how are you helping them like refine that?
SPEAKER_03So all kind of depends. Um based on package as well. So like partial planning, full service, we're gonna be involved in all of those discussions. Um, we will do a full design process with clients where we start, you know, from the the big picture of just tell me your dream aesthetic. What do you like? Uh those type of things, down to you know, the individual. This is exactly, you know, a mock-up of a menu card. This is the napkin ring, this is the linen we're selecting, all that stuff. Um but a lot of it too is is working through not only what you like, but how does it work in your venue? How's it gonna work with your budget? How's it gonna work with the vendors that you've hired? Because styles, you know, stylistically everybody's a little bit different. Um and and what's even available from you know a supply standpoint that you're looking for. Um so we kind of we look at it holistically and help people narrow down and also have the conversations of, you know, is this something that you like right now, or is this something that you're still going to like 18 months from now when we get to your wedding day, when you've seen it play out on Pinterest 400 times over?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It I think it's so challenging too, like you said, with the social media side of things, because you see, I mean, if without it, they might think of four different ideas of what they could have in that like broad picture with the internet, it's like unlimited.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And you could literally put stuff into Chat GPT, like I like this and that, and this and that, and this and that, what should my stuff be? And it's just like there's just so many options.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it can be very overwhelming.
SPEAKER_01For sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, very overwhelming. And it's also, I think, to visually, and then you know, everyone's gonna have a different interpretation of the words that you say to them. You know, if you describe your wedding as elegant, romantic, whimsical, what that means to one person is gonna be totally different than what it means to the next. So if anyone is trying to kind of go down that design road on their own, I would say have very clear visual as well as a written description. That's what we put in all of our design decks, and don't show somebody 35 pictures of something. I need three.
Leading Vendors Without Micromanaging
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03Because that's gonna narrow a vision and not leave things open to interpretation because nobody can see what's in here, you know, of what you're seeing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I love that. That's great advice. Um, it's it's really fun to see how you're able to like take the vision, run with it, mold it, and shape it into like a unique day for the couples that you get to work with. And I'd imagine that like they're they're just so different across the board. Um, you end up working with a ton of different vendors. It sounds like often they're, you know, a part of the team in the sense that like they work the same weddings with you, you know, throughout the season. But there's still like a unique pairing of all of those different vendors that are together for that specific wedding day. Um, how are you like keeping everyone on the same page? How are you keeping everything moving and running smoothly and and just like there's gotta be different personalities and all of that too?
SPEAKER_03All of my planners definitely have different personalities, but I think the one thing that I lead with every time we have a group meeting, you know, we do team trainings every year. Like we have really perfected the art of being the boss without being bossy. We lead with kindness. I'm a goofball. So, like, if if I'm working a wedding with you, I'm busting through those doors in the morning, like sub photographers, like we're having a grand old time. Like, this is it's grandma gets a day out. Um so Grandma, they let you out. They let me out. Um, some of my other planners are a little bit more like locked in, you know, until ceremony's over. Um, but it's it's just about you. Know, I don't want to micromanage people. I don't want to babysit you. You're a vendor being paid to show up and do your job. You're also an adult. Yes. As long as you're doing that, we're good. I will give you the shirt off my back. It might make it awkward, but I would do that at a wedding. Yeah. If I had to, if it's ultimately going to make the couple's day better.
SPEAKER_01For sure.
SPEAKER_03I believe that, you know, if professionals have been hired, we need to step back and let them do their job. My planners know we stay in our lane. I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm just going to make sure that my timeline we got milestone moments we need to hit, right? And if something goes chaotic, which often happens on a wedding day, right? They're not perfect. We we sell this idea of perfect, but they're not perfect. Um you figure out how to pivot and make it work by working together.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, and most times everybody else that's there feels the same way. So it it can be really easy. And I love that we have our tried and true OGs that, you know, we've known for a decade. Um, but I also love that we get to meet new vendors every year and kind of add, you know, add people into the group. Um, because it's really just about assembling, you know, a great team who's amazing at their jobs who really want to be there for the couple on their wedding day.
Pricing Transparency And Conversion
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah. There's been plenty of times where I'm like, dude, I I know it can get overwhelming. And if you do enough weddings, it can feel if you're a vendor, you can feel like, okay, I've got to do another one. But it's like once you're there, you can lock in, just enjoy whatever your job is there for the couple. Um, I it's just gonna be a better experience, and you're gonna be more fun to work with, honestly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I wanna crack open the can and talk about money if you're cool with that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, it's kind of this like weird taboo. We don't really talk about it, or um, it's like, do you put your pricing on your website? Do you not put your pricing on your website? Like, just give me your thoughts on pricing and like what should vendors be doing to help couples with their pricing. Give me your thoughts and we'll kind of like dive in from there.
SPEAKER_03I know that you know, there's schools of thought on both sides. I can tell you from a planner perspective, if I don't know you as a vendor, but I'm going out and doing research in a certain area. We get booked all over the place. So if I'm looking in, you know, North Carolina for a photographer that has a certain style, aesthetic, whatever, and I go to your website, unless you are a slam dunk, perfect fit, couldn't imagine going anywhere else. If you don't have pricing, I'm bouncing. I'm moving on because there's gonna be 10 others just like you that do a pricing on their website that I can very quickly and easily narrow down the scope of the job that I'm doing for my client, and I'm still gonna find them somebody amazing. I'm not gonna waste their time, my time jumping through hoops, you know, to try to find something unless you're a slam dunk. Um that's why I said you the the market is saturated. There's room for everybody, but we have to make it easy to book us. Um, I think I've found really as you go up in budget level, you know, when we're looking into like luxury, ultra luxury, we're not gonna see a lot of pricing on those websites. It's just kind of how the market works at that point. And a lot of it is percentage-based, or it's all so custom that it's really hard to put a price. For anybody else, I feel like even a starting price is insanely helpful to planners, to couples. Give them the benchmark that we're jumping off from. Um, give a range. You know, my website, I have a range for each of the three major planning packages. There's a range so that you at least know, is this worth your time to inquire with us? If we're in your ballpark or if we're not. Um so I think it's helpful for people and also for vendors, it's like it doesn't lock you into anything. Yeah. It still gives you, if somebody wants something that's that's really custom, you can still customize and charge what you need to charge. If you have to travel or, you know, whatever, charge what you need to charge.
SPEAKER_01I think the biggest uh point for little or no pricing is the idea of like not explaining the value, but trying to get across the value of your service or product. But it sounds like from what you're saying, and even I'm agreeing with it too, is like that's good. And I think it's helpful to explain the value to couples, um, you know, specifically for video. Like couples are kind of like, oh, we have a little bit of extra. Let's try to find a videographer. Some couples are like gung-ho about it. Um, but if you're able to make it at all easier by putting something out there, it seems like that might be the move.
Budget Myths, Averages, And Tradeoffs
SPEAKER_03And I I would I would challenge vendors on two different schools of thought here. And this is me putting on my mentor vendor coaching hat because I do that too. Um one is your website is your storefront. If you are not conveying your value enough through what the couple is is seeing on there, having your pricing or not having your pricing is not gonna make a difference. Interesting. You need to convey that value anyway. And two, I would say, are you leaving pricing off of your website because you're scared you're not gonna get leads? Because I think at the end of the day, yeah, sometimes it's that, right? You just want to see what you can get in because you wanna see if you can flip that data, convert it into something. Um working with 170 couples a year, I can tell you it's not all that often that if somebody has a$1,500 budget, you're gonna bring them up to your$6,000 price tag.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, so you might as well just, you know, let them know before let the leads come in that are actually wanting, you know, qualified. I I would say that loosely, um you know, to spend that much on your service because there's a vendor for everybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_03You know, there's there are still planners charging$250. There are planners charging four times what I charge. Um you're gonna find the right fit. I just think we need to make our couples' lives easier.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I and to your point, there's gonna probably be 10 or more of each like kind of budget range, too. And so if you can narrow yourself into the actual budget that you have for that vendor category, your life's gonna be a lot easier. You'll probably be on a lot less calls. Cause I would still say, even if there is pricing or or whatever there might be on the website, like you still want to get on a call, find out who they are, see their personality and everything like that. But that's really interesting. Uh, those two takes that you had, because I feel like it is nice to see the inquiries come in as a vendor. It's nice to see the inquiries come in, but if they're all going to be low budget, what's the point?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so how how are you helping couples figure out, and maybe it's just like advice for those that are listening now? Like, what's the best advice you have for them to figure out what their budget is and figure out like how do we spend it in a way that fits us best?
SPEAKER_03Um, don't believe anything you read on the internet. That's the first one. Every time I see those, they're like, oh, the average, there's no average anything. Yeah. Right? Like they're giving you this number with zero detail.
SPEAKER_01And no context.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, nothing. You don't know if it was 30 people in someone's backyard, which by the way, backyard weddings are not necessarily cheaper. Um, or it's a hundred-person wedding at a venue. Are you in downtown Philadelphia? Are you know, are we in Key West, Florida? Are we planning? It is wild to me. And those numbers aren't real. But those numbers are, I think, what couples start to base their planning off of. And then they end up so disappointed. I we also we joke internally on our team that we are like the professional buzzkill because we're the ones that the couples come to us and tell us the hopes and dreams and dollar amounts, and we have to tell you that it's not realistic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, and sometimes you are probably the buzzkill for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It is. And sometimes it wins us business because people are like, damn, you are the first person to actually be honest. Yeah. And other times people, I mean, they want the wool pulled over their eyes. We're not believing it until you know they have to. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it's so tough because it's like you have to almost figure out a big number, like the top number. Yep. And then you're trying to fit the stuff that you have maybe already like kind of looked up then, or maybe you're starting to search.
SPEAKER_03Um people go venue poor all the time because they jump into the venue. And I'm like, you have a$20,000 budget, but you spent 10 grand on your venue. The the math doesn't math. Even girl math can't math that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um because you're only gonna use it once.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01But it's like that is that's such a good uh take. You can be venue poor.
Venue-Poor Traps And Hidden Costs
SPEAKER_03Yeah, 100%. Because people think, oh, I need to get into my venue, it's gonna be my biggest cost. Not necessarily.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely not. A band is going to run you more than most of the venues that you're going to look at.
SPEAKER_01I wanted the band so bad. Yeah. But then I looked at the cost and I was like, it's just not gonna work.
SPEAKER_03It's crazy.
SPEAKER_01Um but I think it's good to have that, like, as much as I would have loved to have a live band. I don't think my wife, Christina, cared too much on that topic. But as much as I wanted a live band, I looked into it. We knew what we were trying to spend, roughly, and it just wasn't gonna work.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I think the biggest thing that people again, couples can do is come up with that sort of drop-dead number. And I'll say that to people, you know, especially, you know, sometimes we have parents who are paying and they're like, oh, whatever. We don't know, we're just gonna see what it costs. And I'll throw out a number. I'm like,$100,000. And I just see what the reaction is. And you don't even have to say it out loud. I can immediately see on your face that that was too high. Yeah, you know. Um, give me the drop dead number and then let's work backwards from that because there's also so many little things. Are you priorities? Do we want lush, huge, lavish floral? Great. You might not be able to have the band, you know. Um, is a videographer a non-negotiable for you? Great. We might be pulling back, you know, some of the orders or or the bar options on this side if we need to make that fit. Um, or we have to look at increasing the budget, or who can we cut from your guest count? There's ways to be creative and get what people want most times, but unless the money is truly unlimited, you have to be prepared for some sort of a concession in there. But there's not one, you know, blog post, article from, you know, whatever major publication, online calculator. There's nothing that you can plug your individual wedding budget into that's going to give you realistic, accurate numbers for the wedding you see in your head.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. I could not agree more. Cause there's just so much that goes into what you see in your head, but also what you're seeing online. It's like you see the lush florals and you're like, oh, I could probably do that for a couple thousand bucks. It's like times 10.
Slowing Down To Reduce Stress
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Or, I mean, a lot of times the venue is the driver of a lot of those extra costs that again, couples haven't done this before. So they don't know you want to book a beautiful museum as your wedding venue. That museum doesn't open to vendors until they close for the day. And then you all have an assigned dock time. So now, you know, your lush florals have to all be brought in inspected, because you can't bring, you know, depending on the museum or the arboretum or whatever you're going into, we have to do personal inspections at the docks of all of the floral coming in because you can't introduce bugs into the space. Nobody thinks of that. Um, that all now has to be done in a two-hour time frame. So, guess what just took, you know, your$10,000 floral bill to a$15,000 floral bill is labor and staffing. All those little parts and pieces that, again, from the beginning, I'm gonna look at and go, oh, you're gonna have to supplement hair and makeup teams because we only have a three-hour window. You're gonna have to supplement floral because you know, we don't have a lot of setup time. Those are the different things that you're not gonna find on a checklist somewhere.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Or even like you said, if you put all that information in, you're not gonna get a good straightforward answer that's gonna be specific to your venue, your location, and all the stuff that you have going on.
SPEAKER_03And no wonder couples are overwhelmed and confused and it feels, you know, crazy because it is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because it is. And and I think we can do a little bit to help, at least um, from our kind of different categories. You're kind of in a in a more overarching kind of category. But um, I'm always like, just let me know. Like, if you have questions that aren't video related and you just want to throw it at someone, like, I'm here. Just throw it at me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and if I can help, I can help. But uh, do you have any tips for couples to just try to like decrease that stress, decrease the overwhelm that they might experience when they're planning their wedding?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um slow is smooth, is is something that I often say is it's okay to pause in your planning, do some research, take it slow. I think sometimes people get engaged and they just they want to jump into touring venues right away. You got to talk budget first. We need to know who's contributing and how much they're contributing. Then we need to, you know, talk about your guest count. That's gonna be a huge driver of how much you're spending, where you can book all the things that you need. Um then, you know, we start to piece out other priorities, what's really important. We tour venues, we start to compare all in costs, you know, the venue and the catering, the venue and where your rentals are coming from, um, those different parts and pieces. Nothing says that you have to book them all individually. You can develop a short list in your major vendor categories and start playing with those numbers, you know. Okay, if we book this venue, then we really can't get the photographer, you know, that we wanted. But if we go with this venue, we can get the photographer and the band that we wanted.
SPEAKER_01Um you can kind of like puzzle piece it almost once you have the big number.
SPEAKER_03There's no rush. Yeah. There's really there's no rush to it. And I think sometimes, again, it's like that initial excitement or you don't want to lose a date, which I get, you know, I get that that's a big thing, but that is a ripple effect for the rest of your wedding and the rest of you know your budget specifically.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I think that's great advice. Um, if you had one final like parting wisdom for the like young budding planner that's like just getting started, like they maybe have done their friend's wedding or maybe they're going to do like their sister's wedding or something. What would be the the advice for them?
Real Talk For New Planners
SPEAKER_03It's gonna get harder before it gets easier. I think is I'm I'm like the I'm the realistic grandma. Um, you know, it the career path is never going to feel easy. And I think if it does start to feel easy, then you have to wonder are you challenging yourself? You know, and and are you trying to take your career to another level? Um, it's a really hard industry to be in, but just setting the expectation that some days you are gonna feel like you were getting kicked in the teeth and other days you were gonna feel like you just, you know, climbed a mountain. Um but that's that's what it is. But I don't I don't think anybody at the end of the day is ever gonna look back and regret it. Oh just hang in there. Yeah, it's gonna be hard. And people are gonna yell at you, and it's okay. It's not you, it's a them problem. It's not a you problem. I've been yelled at so many times.
SPEAKER_01Um that's why you're so chill. Yeah, I am.
SPEAKER_03I'm like, whatever. I haven't heard it before.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, well, I have appreciated you being on, Taryn, and um, it's just been such a cool conversation, and you have like so much history and so much experience. Um, and it's just been cool to like pick your brain. And I hope everyone listening has gotten as much as I've gotten out of this conversation. Um, where can people find and and follow along with your company?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we are we're on all the socials like everybody else. Um, Instagram, probably the biggest for all of the you know behind the scenes, latest and greatest weddings, um lake events.com, obviously. And you know, biggest thing is we work absolutely anywhere. So no matter where you are listening to this podcast, we'll go to Spain next year. Um that's really exciting. So yeah, take us wherever you're at. We'll have a great time.
Where To Find Blake Events
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love that. And um, thanks for all of your wisdom and everyone tuning in. Thank you guys for listening. Um, hope you guys enjoyed this episode of the podcast. And make sure if you're listening on YouTube, if you're watching on YouTube, make sure you're like liking and subscribing, channel things. It helps tremendously if you guys could share. Um even just leave us a review over on wherever you're listening to the podcast. Um, love to hear how you're liking these episodes. And uh yeah, we'll have plenty more episodes like this one. Um, and we'll catch you guys next time on the preferred list.