Hello Wedding Belles,
As you know I love to write, blogging is an amazing way to share your experiences and thoughts with your friends and colleagues, I do also hope that I can bring a little insight to the world of weddings and empower some of you to take control of those overwhelming wedding plans and turn you into project managers of the future (!) Ok so maybe you just want to make sure that what you are planning you get right, or maybe just know how to get started. I’m here to help, as your friendly wedding & event planner next door – actually I’m probably a nightmare to live next to, all those early starts and shower singing …
Anyway I digress, as the Summer is winding down many of you are either thinking ‘thank goodness I can take a breath now’ or ‘Oh gosh I really need to get planning as my wedding is now LESS THAN A YEAR AWAY!’. Either way I hope that this new series of blogs can inspire some, encourage others and most of all give you a great big snapshot of my life as a wedding planner – after all lots of people want to know what we really do (it’s not all cake tasting and clipboards you know).
A is for Attitude
No I don’t mean the backchat that my not so little girls are starting to experiment with as they progress to teenager life 🙂 I’m talking about attitude to the role of being a wedding planner. This is something that I feel is either within you or not, that drive, the thrill of helping, the buzz of the stress and responsibility – it’s not for the feint hearted but it is massively rewarding.
When I first started planning weddings I did what most new planners do, I booked onto a training course. I learned all the basics and decided that yes this was the job for me, after all being a PA and running a hotel HAD to give me the skills I needed yes?
Now whilst the basics of planning weddings and events can be taught – such as risk assessments of the venue, what suppliers are expected or required, how to draw up a spreadsheet etc. What cannot be taught is how to speak to people, how to gain trust, how to always feel confident in your role even though many do not believe your job is a ‘real’ one. You see I believe you have to be a certain type of person to be able to manage someones’ most precious day. You have to have nerves of steel, know how to judge suppliers, understand how your couple want to work and be prepared to approach every wedding slightly different each time. Your attitude to each wedding must be ‘I am determined to do all in my power to make sure this day is perfect for my client’ and this is despite stressful situations, late nights, long days, quiet periods where there are no enquiries and emotional clients who just need some support but might be unable to show it.
My role is not a 9-5 job, I work weekends, I meet clients in the evenings, I am flying off to different countries to help a client out. It can be stressful but I now don’t feel that, I’m lucky to have been running my business for a long time, but in the beginning I found it hard to adapt. I guess now my attitude has changed – I feel honoured, blessed and lucky to have so many peoples trust in me and my talents – that I enjoy the moments, relish the experiences and jump into the challenges with both feet.
After all I could not trade my life for a day in the office selling PPI.
If you would like to follow my new blog series, which will be out twice a week, please click the ‘follow’ button below. Feel free to share this series and do get in touch if you would like to know more about working with me, I love to meet new people and chat lots!
See you next week – Love, Marie x
http://www.isabellaweddings.co.uk
The Wedding Expert - 