Without saying a word, we see you. We feel you in a time of uncertainty and damn near chaos across the globe and we are checking on you to give you a place to let it out or just know that you are in good company with other who are in the same boat. It can be exhausting to be the glue and the consistency that so many others rely on while we ourselves don’t have the answers to some of these big questions. When will our daily lives be normal again and in turn, when can we return to planning weddings?

Photo by AVH Photography, elopement in Northern California

Many planners, photographers and other wedding pro’s have shifted to promoting micro weddings and elopements or offering a custom experience for couples who decide to move forward with their date minus the big reception. It’s a tough call for so many couples as they had always imagined walking down the aisle surrounded by all of their friends and family members then dancing the night away - these visions simply don’t include masks or social distancing. So what is the answer during these times?

Stay current on your state and local gathering guidance so that you are working with the most up to date facts when clients or vendors have questions. Be a calm, collected and compassionate resource as clients navigate this process and offer the best version of what you can within the limitations of the COVID-19 guidelines. Beyond fulfilling your client’s wishes please be sure to think clearly about your business stance on what you will or will not do so that you can confidently press pause on events that are not permitted or cleared. Otherwise are you willing to operate during the stay at home orders or work events over the recommended guest count? Are there ways that you can pivot or customize your package to keep you and your staff safe?

In California, we certainly are nearing a point that stay at home orders could return and progress into Stage 3 re-opening would halt. With the increase in cases and the face mask requirements many of our fall couples have opted to push their event into 2021 - however where does this leave the spring 2020 couples who postponed to fall 2020? It’s simply heartbreaking all around.

If you need advice from other planners or are hoping to find resources please visit our free private Facebook Group “ Wedding Planner Mastermind Group” and introduce yourself!

Around here we give a slight eye roll when we see the newest guru pop up with another course claiming to give you the ONE secret to making six figures in your business. Even for brand new planners - the more the merrier. Without hesitation I would tell you that any business that is even remotely near six to seven figures is doing more than just ONE top secret thing because success is a balanced ratio of several actions/systems/offerings and strategies to get to that milestone.

Recently, I participated in a survey of wedding planners nationally in a well known group who I respect so much. I too was disheartened to see the lower end of the net profits of what planners are taking home in our industry and I would love to see these numbers go up of course! Are we bringing enough home to cover taxes, overhead, staffing, marketing, insurance and so many other important elements to running a successful business? In 2018, I personally learned a lot about overhead and keeping expenses down. I learned first hand that I spent way too much on rent, staffing and cough cough - Starbucks* :)

Now, we don’t want to price fix or tell people what to charge but what I think we can do is help planners at every level avoid going through pitfalls that kill profitability in a service based business. My frustration in wedding planning education at large is that we only talk to the brand new planners or those who are serving a luxury market and are transitioning into course offerings/retreats or adding additional streams of income (florals. rentals, education etc.)

The Wedding Planner Mastermind Group was created for planners who have been in business a minimum of 5 years and who are planning full time with intentions to grow and scale their companies into more than a side hustle income. Topics like workflows, CRM tools (Aisle Planner, Honeybook, Dubsado etc.) Accounting/Bookkeeping, Staffing, Sales processes and more are super important conversations that we need to keep at the forefront of our industry rather than only focusing on styled shoots & Instagram feeds.

So what would I say to planners who are desperately wanting to take their profitability to the next level? I’d say pull up a chair because it is not a one stop action - its multi-faceted and let’s not try to re-create the wheel when we have so many accomplished industry leaders who can share wisdom in specific areas. Let’s shine a very bright light on that awkward elephant and bring it all into the light. I don’t think we talk enough about the real nitty gritty of business ownership like payroll, self employment taxes, contracts & risk management, labor laws and human resources that can have a ripple effect if you aren’t paying attention to federal and state laws.

If you missed our Finances over Feelings strategy session, drop a comment below with your email address and I’d be happy to send you a copy of the PDF file. Hope we’ll see you over in our Mastermind Group on Facebook.!

- Happy Planning!
Veronica