Tag: vendor relationships

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 199 – What Belly Dancing Taught Vanessa Domenech About Wedding Planning

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Vanessa Domenech shares her best advice for growing a wedding planning business

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As the founder of a successful dance company, Vanessa Domenech was used to big productions and showcasing her personality. So when she decided to transition away from dancing, she needed a career that fueled her creativity — a career where she could be herself. 

So she returned to the places where she thrived, and she became a wedding planner. After all, as a belly dancer and Bollywood-style dancer, Vanessa was immersed in the world of events, especially South Asian weddings. So she used her connections, her business know-how, and her unique personality to build a successful wedding business. 

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Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 176 – Be the Quarterback of the Wedding with Mark Allan Groleau

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Mark Allan Groleau on Wedding Industry insider Podcast

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How do you become the wedding planner that vendors want to work with? 

We asked officiant extraordinaire Mark Allan Groleau, and he’s got a straightforward answer that can elevate every wedding you plan. 

This week on Wedding Industry Insider, Mark’s got the real deal on how to treat your vendor team as a true team – and what part you play as the planner. Mark Allan Groleau is the founder of Unboring!Wedding, which helps wedding officiants create and deliver incredible ceremonies. 

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Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 130 – Kristin Banta on Design, Point of View, and Taking Risks

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In a market saturated with wedding planners and designers, how can you stand out and land your dream clients?

According to Kristin Banta, it’s your point of view. This is your intrinsic way of seeing the world that makes your contributions and work unique.

Kristin Banta is the CEO and Creative Director of Kristin Banta Events. She has served high-end wedding clients, Hollywood elite, and renowned companies to create events that are immersive and unforgettable experiences.

We are extra excited to talk with Kristin, because she was our second guest ever on Wedding Industry Insider exactly 7 years ago. And as the landscape of wedding planning has changed, her insight is more valuable than ever.

Kristin is a master of design, so this is a must-listen if you want to offer full design as part of your planning services. But even if that’s not your niche, she’s got great encouragement and advice to make sure your point of view shines through your work.

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Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 104: Stick Your Foot in the Door Before it Shuts – with Megan Gillikin

By Eddie Babbage on

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Imagine that you not only quit your job but also took out a small business loan. In addition to that, you’ve only been married for 3 weeks. And then you learn the business you bought is basically sinking. What do you do? Today’s guest made a choice:

“I decided that I was committed to figuring it out, even though the fear of failure and the fear of unknown and the fear of never getting out from underneath the reputation – those fears were super, super strong.”

Megan Gillikin is the founder and owner of The Planner’s Vault, an educational resource and community-based network for wedding planners. She is also the host of the Weddings for Real podcast as well as an industry educator and speaker. Additionally, she is the owner of A Southern Soiree, a wedding and event planning company that she rebranded and revitalized after purchasing it in 2010.

In this episode, Megan shares about the lessons she gained from purchasing and rebranding an existing wedding planning business. Specifically, she talks about how she uses the experience to now help other wedding planners achieve their business goals.

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Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 099: Kelly Ann Peck Talks You Through Connection-Building Sales Tactics

By Eddie Babbage on

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It’s a lesson learned during the pandemic that still rings true.

Today’s world may be digital, but you can’t underestimate in-person interactions in building relationships.

Kelly Ann Peck is the founder of Emerson Reese Creative, which provides business sales coaching for creative entrepreneurs and event professionals. With over 23 years of event industry and sales experience, Kelly’s track record includes generating over 15 million in sales and working with over 400 couples. She also produces the annual Strategic Business Planning Retreat and is a speaker at this year’s The Signature CEO Conference. 

In this episode, Kelly pinpoints the intersection of sales and special events to share her key connection-building methods. In particular, she emphasizes the value of figuring out what works best for you as well as drawing inspiration from what you enjoy doing.

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Timeline Genius

How to Use the Assign Feature to Create Tailored Timelines for Vendors, Venues, or Clients

By Eddie Babbage on

Wish you could create tailored timelines for specific vendors, venues, clients, or even bridal party members? The great news is that with Timeline Genius you can!

So you can go from spending hours creating individual timelines for collaborators or clients (nobody has time for that!) to using the Assign Feature to easily produce tailored timelines.

Additionally, whenever you make edits, your timelines update in real-time. So, if you make an adjustment to your main timeline, it will similarly reflect any changes in all of your tailored timelines. 

As a result, you can make individualized timelines for anyone you wish! 

Just check out the way the Assign Feature supports timeline creation and how you can use it in your planning.

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Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 088: Lynne Reznick Brings the Heart of an Educator to Crafting the Client Experience

By Eddie Babbage on

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When we think of weddings, we often think first of the wedding planner. Yet we know that many other vendors likewise contribute to the smooth production of a wedding. In this respect, collaboration is not only key to overall success but also reveals insight from other industry professionals. For example, another person who plays a critical role in how a couple will experience their wedding is the photographer.

And the vantage point of an experienced photographer – regarding what helps planners succeed and best supports couples – is exactly what we’re exploring today.

So, be sure to tune in for this podcast episode!

Lynne Reznick is the owner of Lynne Reznick Photography, a wedding photography company serving couples across New England and Upstate New York. As a former high school history teacher, Lynne draws on her educator’s heart and love of photography as she captures each couple’s unique story.  In addition to launching an online course for wedding professionals, she is a featured speaker at Wedding MBA. Her work has also been showcased in numerous publications, including Rangefinder, The Knot, and Amber & Muse. 

In this episode, Lynne talks about the way that she uses education to serve couples and to cultivate better client experiences.

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Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 084: Alison Laesser-Keck and Bryan Keck On the Driving Force of Hospitality

By Eddie Babbage on

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For this planning-duo couple, a background in hospitality reinforced deeply held beliefs in the value of service and of kindness. In fact, it led to developing the confidence that allowed them to make critical decisions for their company that ultimately paid off.

Want to hear how you can apply these principles to your own wedding planning business?

Be sure to tune in to this podcast episode!

Alison Laesser-Keck and Bryan Keck are the owners of Alison Bryan Destinations, a high-end wedding planning company. Alison serves as Event Producer & Creative Director while Bryan manages operations as Director of Events & Travel. In addition to their extensive hospitality experience, they have produced weddings globally since 2008. For their work, Alison Bryan Destinations is named one of the best wedding planners in the world by Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, BRIDES, and Over The Moon.

In this episode, Alison and Bryan share the way that they approach wedding planning from a place of being all-in. Specifically, they address the way that serving others and treating everyone with kindness leads to choosing couples who trust them to take the risks that create an elevated experience. Above all, they share why hospitality is their driving force. 

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Wedding Industry Biz

The Value of Using Digital Storage Options to Capture Event Memories

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Easily Commemorate Every Wedding

As a planner, one of the most important elements of helping couples is making sure that everything from their Wedding Day gets commemorated. After all, they are going to want to look back on the memories of their special day and even share it with their family and friends.

This generally means two things. First, you help them with hiring an amazing photographer to capture all of the day’s beautiful photos. Secondly, you help them with hiring a phenomenal videographer so all of the day’s moments are always remembered.

But there’s another emotional component of the wedding that oftentimes gets forgotten when it comes to commemorating them forever… and that’s the cards that are received from all of the guests. Many of these cards include personal and sentimental messages from family and friends, but what does the couple do with these cards? Do they get stored in a shoebox? A drawer? A folder? In an era of never-ending new technology, isn’t there a way to save these digitally?

Well, now there is, and it’s E-Bration! Based on our own wedding experience, we created this perfect digital solution!

E-Bration is an online platform that saves the memories of every card and message collected from important life event celebrations.

And when it comes to important celebrations, weddings are right at the top of the list!

Why it Helps to Offer Your Clients Digital Solutions

So, how can E-Bration help you and your clients? There are two ways that you can offer couples this digital card storage solution.

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