Honestly, my day to day, so I am with you now.
Hello.
I am going straight to the hairdressers and then I am driving down to, um, bays in Stoke to meet one of my couple's parents to show them the venue.
That's cool.
I'm driving down to like Guilford
this all in one day?
Yeah.
Oh,
menu tasting tonight,
oh, is Guilford nearing day? Is it that way?
it's like more south. You know, like the old, I say give like the Alton kind of area. Do you
Is that Essex, right?
No,
Alton.
left of
Oh, okay. Yeah.
below, like
Oh, I know what you mean. That's what Alton Towers is obviously, I presume.
yeah. That kind of area. That That
Yeah.
Then straight down to
Me you're like globetrotting today. Well, I'm actually driving to Windsor today, so
I might wave
Hi, uh, on the M 25.
near, yeah, on the N 25. We'll probably be stuck there at
exactly. When we want to go home, probably.
So I'm very glad to chat to you
Oh,
morning.
oh,
should we kick this bad boy
let's do it.
Hi, I'm Hannah
Haley.
and we are your winning planning experts.
Here does fill the tea on the inside of wedding planning and everything that goes with it,
Expect our honest opinions, the real juice on what happens on a wedding
with a few tips thrown in between.
and also just a chat between friends.
And of course, make sure you hit that subscribe button and let's get you word
in. Woo.
woo.
But, uh,
Hi.
at me, right? I, uh, I thought, do you know what? I've got another meeting tomorrow morning in Winchester.
Where's that?
all confused with me. We play, yeah.
Bloody hell.
Yeah. So that's even a little bit more left at Guilford.
Oh my goodness.
I thought, do you know what I'm not driving. So the last, I did a tasting in at where I'm going tonight,
Yeah.
and it took me like three hours to get
Well, it's traffic.
no, because it was like 8 30, 9 o'clock at night. But it's like roads close at
Oh yeah, I see what you mean. Oh.
thought, you know what, I'm gonna stay. So I thought, I'm gonna check, make sure I check in somewhere where I've got a swimming pool so I can go for a nice swim and a sauna
Oh, look at you.
I know. So I booked this, I went on this website, this hotel nearby, and it was like. 180 quid if it was just like room only or you could pay 120 quid and have this Prosecco overnight stay, it was called, so you get like a bottle of Prosecco breakfast, all these shenanigans. I was
my God.
might as well
Yeah. That's amazing.
I know and it
the dream.
hotels in the area. It was just typical
Yeah.
night if I'd booked a Thursday night, like all the hotels in the area, there was like, 'cause I would just stay at Travel Lodge or holiday
Yeah. Yeah.
if it's just, I'm literally gonna get back, go to sleep, get up, you know? Um, but they were like a hundred pounds and I was like, no. But if
No,
night, they were like 50 quid. I was like, this is a
that's so annoying. Oh, well that's good that you got that deal though.
I
You enjoy that, won't you? Oh,
make sure I
lovely.
all of my craziness, I'll see if I
Yeah,
you know what will happen. I'll end up being so tired after
you'll just go to sleep.
out.
You won't.
then I'll be like, oh my God, I need to leave for my next meeting
Oh no. The free breakfast.
and not the free, and I don't eat breakfast normally, but boy am I gonna take advantage.
definitely, why not? When in Rome?
But how have you been? I know
Yeah.
a crazy, busy girl
Yeah. No, it's been good. Been good week. Um, busy, just, um, I've had quite a few inquiries lately, which has been nice actually. So, um. So I know I said spoke before about how I was doing these like proposals now so that they're a little bit more in depth. So it does take me a bit longer to do, but I do enjoy doing it and I've actually noticed that I think people do
Respond to it
better to them. Um, I think it's a bit better for them to see visually rather than just sending out a quote. Because obviously,
yeah.
I send photos and everything normally,
Yeah.
we'll speak in a meeting and I'll show them my portfolio and stuff. But I think just sending it over like a bit of a presentation, it just looks better. Yeah. And.
them an idea of
Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
it's quite hard really with my job. 'cause it's a bit like, you can't really,
do that.
you
Yeah. Just trust me. I'll be good.
I actually had a first couple, they were actually just, um, booked actually, but actually asked to speak to one of my previous couples.
like a recommendation, uh, what'd you call it? Reference?
a big, it's a big investment and it's a big like
Yeah.
isn't it? Like we are basically controlling your day. So I think it's probably people get, and it's also normally like the first thing that you are book in and like I say, there's no bricks and mortar show. I don't have like a building show, like a venue, and I don't have a portfolio like
It's all like word of mouth, I suppose, isn't it really?
like obviously I can show photos of wedding days, but actually the photographer took that lovely photo. You don't know if that couple hated
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
I suppose. I, I mean, that is the main thing is I always do say to people, just go and look
Yeah, exactly.
my Google. I
So important. I actually got a letter, a card come through the other day. It was a thank you card from a couple that I did his wedding in, uh, January.
the jewel
Yeah, it was so nice. They sent me like a proper little card and a little, um, like thank you note inside and everything. It was like quite a long one. It's really nice. So yeah, it's really nice.
asked them for their photos?
Yes, they have sent me some,
'em.
well, they sent me a few, the photographer I've been in touch with, and she was like, oh, she's really busy at the moment. She'll send me some when she's not. So, um, because the ones they sent me,
It's one link.
you just want the link, mate.
I just want the link and actually is free advertising for them. But
Yeah, yeah. I don't even get me started or that.
know that I'm a top podcaster?
Yeah. I'm famous. Do you know how many people listen to me on my platform, talk shit?
I would've, I would've raved about you if you would've sent me those
Yeah, exactly. Because now you're gonna hear me moan about it. Um,
when I'm, when I,
when they send them to me finally when I'm 80 years old.
Yeah. Like, oh, I'm just so busy. Like, just forward me the link. Unless it's that they're gonna pick out
Yeah.
but just send me the whole album and I'll do it
Yeah, exactly. That's what I normally, that's what they normally do. I mean, to be fair, they're normally quite good. They'll just, like you say, you send me the link, like they do their couple, and then I just go through and pick the best ones that have got the flowers in.
Like you're not gonna be posting pictures of Nan
No, like, oh look, here's now enjoying a canna pay. Like no one, why not sending that?
really your
Actually, no, it's not really my vibe. Oh, dear. Yes, that's been good. Anyway, I've been, been busy with that. And then, um, I'm actually off to Windsor today because I'm, I'm doing a shift, uh, florist there called Lavender green Flowers, so I am really excited. so they do all the flowers for like Royal Ascot, Wimbledon, things like that. So hopefully I will be doing a lot of that in the summertime.
So I meant to message you. So, um, one of my couples just booked a venue and they're one of the recommended Flo,
Oh yeah.
so I will be in touch. Um, but I wondered if I could be like, am I am requesting Hailey Smith please, or Waller now?
Yeah. Haley Waller.
you've been Hay Waller
Yeah. Do you know what though? The only thing is, so we, we are doing a wedding together, aren't we? In June? Um, and that is the same date as asco,
Uh,
that, I don't think. Well, I won't be.
you were then gonna break it
Oh no, my God, no, by the way.
Just to let
No, I'm not.
gonna be
No, I'm no.
will be at
Yeah, sorry. The, uh,
Maybe you could help with some sort of prep
yeah, so I think,
they put, but if that's the day of Ascot, surely it
oh, it'll be, yeah. 'cause I think it's like over a few days, isn't it? It's not, or a week,
aren't
but yeah. This wedding that we're doing, it'll be a long, that's, it's quite a big setup, but anyway,
Oh
saying.
They're
Yeah,
time. don't think that would really affect us though.
no,
have a, have a look at. 'cause all my, um, that's American
yeah.
flying in
Coming to.
So, you know, you have to think about these things.
my God. Imagine if you'd had a wedding the other day when they shut Heathrow. 'cause that's like the main airport.
thing. I know. Did you actually see, so I actually saw so many news reports on like, I've had to miss my friend's wedding. Like, oh, it's so
saw this woman talking about how she's, she'd missed her dad's funeral,
Oh, it's
I was like, that's really sad.
Yeah, airports.
Awful.
guys, I have never planned destination weddings and I do not. I mean, I'll never say never. 'cause you never know what you know,
But imagine that and you're meant to be getting there.
I don't plan on ever doing destination wedding.
no.
Mm. Do you think a bit like that, like, so I know quite a few florists that like, oh yeah, it's fine because I just fly out there. I book an Airbnb. I use like a florists, like a, a local florists and then order it all into my Airbnb and do it there. But I just think surely that is like, you don't know the wholesaler,
Yeah, I think going, I've always liked the idea of to be, I'd love to freelance for a florist abroad doing a dis uh, destination wedding. I
I've done that.
would love that 'cause that's not my responsibility,
not,
but my anxiety if I had to do a wedding abroad, getting the flowers of stock
no.
We've sort of said before, you build up a rapport and a relationship with your suppliers here.
Yeah,
especially with flowers. I can just, I can WhatsApp the guy that in the, you know, in the wholesaler and say, look, I need this, or you've sent this in it and it's not right. You can't do that when you don't know someone. You're just gonna have to rely on the fact that they'll do it for you. And I guarantee that if you are not a local person, they're probably gonna be a bit funny with you anyway.
It's
Um,
culture and language
yeah.
like for you, like the heat is diff, it's a different kind of heat, so
Yeah. Yeah.
how to
You'd need to know how the Yeah, exactly. Which,
Yeah. And the language barrier is huge
oh, no.
in destiny, you know, if you can't
I don't think, I didn't, I wouldn't like it. And then, and then you've got as well as all of that, then you've got the fact that imagine if you were needed to get there yourself and then all your flights are delayed 'cause like there's been a fire here.
or
Yeah. It's just not okay. I mean I have like, like last night I had a really bad dream that um, 'cause it's Mother's Day this Sunday, so I'm gonna be really busy. Um, and obviously I have to order my flowers in and, I had a dream that I hadn't ordered them in, and it was, it was Mother and Sunday, and I was like, desperately going into all these shops. Like, and all they had was Maori JBAs. And that, that's literally,
bouquet. Here
I was like, oh my god, level five master florist, whatever they sp.
Oh, no.
Uh, so yeah, that's just, but yeah. So. Ah, that's not good. But, but yeah. So what else have I been doing this week? So, yeah, going to, sorry, going to Windsor today, doing that. Excited be a long day. And then I'm also working in London Friday, Saturday. And then Saturday night I'll be doing all of my orders
Jesus,
um, in the workshop. And then Sunday I'll be out delivering them all to lots of lovely mums.
into London yet or is it
Uh, no, it's not too bad. To be fair. I'm actually drive, obviously I'm driving to Windsor today. This is not far,
Bit
it's only an hour. Um,
It's not too
but, uh, Friday, Saturday I'll be getting the train, but hopefully it's not too bad. 'cause Saturday is okay 'cause it's like off peak.
Yeah,
but I, I don't, I don't find it too bad. Yeah. Oh, that was the, yeah, I did had to do that last time and it was pretty Ming and I'm not gonna lie, especially when you've been on your feet all day anyway. Um, but no, I'm excited.
in February we did a wedding. I dunno if I told you that. I dunno if I did. I'd, um, did a wedding and I finished, up a cheeky andos, hopped on the train, and it was ran.
Oh,
10:00 PM on a
mate. Well, you want to, yeah. Yeah. What, what's that about?
going on? There's me thinking I'm gonna get a little, get a little table seat, sit down, eat Nando, you know, it was rammed. So I had to stand, and then I had this like drunk family
Oh, now Graham,
There was like daughter, son, mums mum and dad.
what? Family?
and he kept trying to talk to me and
Oh, I hate that.
so I to keep taking 'em
Should pretend you don't speak English. No, not speak English.
No, no, no.
No, no, no.
Um, so yeah. Oh, that wasn't there. So,
Oh,
the end of the
that was actually last. So we went to see the wombats on uh, Wednesday. Oh my God. Honestly, the Wombles, they were incredible. It was so good. So we went to the O2 to see them and then, uh, they also had a couple of sport acts, a really good red rum club and everything, everything. Um, but honestly the wombats amazing. So I've like loved them since, I dunno, 2005 or something. But me and Richard were just having the time of our lives.
Yeah. You look like
Good. Yeah. Incredible.
loose.
let Liz, although we had a, so we had something to eat in the OTs, you know, it's like a, there's loads of restaurants and stuff, isn't there? And um, we found this little restaurant, it's like a meant to be Brazilian restaurant, right? This meal costs 80 quid. I had this thing called a flat iron chicken breast. And when, when they say flat iron, they're not joking. It was about paper, thin, little bit of chicken breasts with a tiny salad and a little bowl of chips, and then a drink.
And then Richard had like a burger and a drink, and that cost us 80 pounds.
ridiculous.
what the hell? So bad. Yeah. Sorry, I had to just bring that up because I was like, bloody hell.
I don't love a chain or I do love a Wagga Mamas,
Oh yeah.
better to just go places like
Yeah.
know where you get and the
Totally, totally.
going in London and you're going to like these like one-off places,
annoyed me. 'cause I,
joke.
gonna eat before we went and I was like, no, we'll get something out. You know, like make the, make an evening of it. Wish I hadn't now. I was bloody ripped off. But anyway, sorry.
we go.
And that was my week. Yeah, it was good. It was good. How was your week? I know you've been very busy.
So crazy. Yeah, so the corporate event kicks off next
Mental.
well, I'm going next Friday. It kicks off on the Sunday is like the pre-day, and then the, the actual event starts on the
So.
and it's then rolling for a
What is the actual event?
So it's like this humongous exhibition in Munich all to do with. So the company that I'm working with is like in the building kind of
Okay.
and they make these huge machinery.
Oh, well that's interesting. Yeah, no, it will.
I don't really know. I'm not gonna lie, I don't really know what they do, but they make this huge machinery. So I think it's that kind of thing. And people and customers come and look. So they've got a massive section of the, like when I say like when you look on the map, like the exhibition center is so big when you look on the map, it looks like they've got one tiny little bit of it. But the actual stand that they've got
It's huge.
three floors, a restaurant,
Bloody hell.
free meeting rooms. Like all of their machinery is gonna be laid out for people to see. So
That's really cool.
a lot of their staff are there and their sales teams and stuff, like when I say a lot of staff, like, like 70
Yeah.
um, they're all there and they invite their customers along to kind of, you know, schmooze 'em and,
Yeah, it sounds very similar to, um, so I went to something called a plant there. When I say plant it, I don't mean plants like flowers, I mean plant, like as in machineries, like diggers, trap machines.
you go. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. So there's, there was one. So I went, um. So I do a bit of work with my dad as well doing construction and groundwork and stuff,
Yeah.
okay. Hit, I don't, yeah, not anymore. I used to, but, um, so, and I went with him to this plant fair about a year ago, but that was a similar thing, but they had like these huge, um, stands where they had these, um, like massive bits of equipment and it was the same thing. They had like a, um, little building there and they would invite you in for a coffee or a glass of champagne or something and they'd be like, trying to get you to like, obviously buy.
be
Yeah, like massive. I mean, one of those things must be like, I don't know, near on. I would say they're probably like 700 grand, something like that. For one of these big
them.
that's, but, but it's big money, isn't it? Like if they can get one sale that's,
Yeah,
know, big, so,
So I'm, I'm there basically as looking after all the pe, like, so the customers and the, um, the, the staff essentially.
yeah.
all of their, um, accommodation bookings and local hotels. Um. rooms. So the, the four meeting rooms that we've got, L three meeting rooms,
Yeah.
Um, they are, I'm doing all the bookings for them for, for, for people, all of that. Like, they've all got matching shirts. So I've done all the sizes for that. So just basically anything that they need, like if someone's taken Ill like, and they need to let somebody know they need to leave, you know, all those kind of, it's just having a port of call that they can go to if they've got any issues. Um, so
Yeah, it's pretty good.
I'll be there doing that. It's actually not too bad once it gets to the event. I, I basically worked with this company before. They normally always hire me
Yeah,
but um, yeah, so it's just at the minute because it's just
it's all coming to a head.
for it and I'm still getting
Uh, it's
people adding
full on.
are, yeah, it's
And are you
It's
going with Chloe or is it just you?
No, just
Just you.
me. Yeah. Yeah. They just kind of, I basically white label to them. Um, so yeah, that's, that's what
Busy but exciting.
Busy. Yeah. And then I've also had, I had a site visit last week from one of my on the, so all of our, like on the day management, um, uh, site visits now kicking in because we do them about four months before the
Yeah.
um, yeah. Had one on Friday, which is good. So it was on their parents' private land. So went and had a look. Oh my god. They had the cutest cat, cutest. Cat. She, she was so
Do you know Lily loves a cat? She loves a cat.
I love, she actually listens to the podcast. My bride,
Oh yeah, this is one.
Jane,
is one clever and uh, on-trend Cat.
My cat listen, and she's right next to me right now. so yeah, no, it was really nice to, um, go and meet them and see what's happening and have a chat all about their day. So, very exciting. They're doing really well with
Oh
Um, we've also just taken on, um, a new coordinator to join the team or assistant
yeah.
that, you know, we don't, we don't throw
We, yeah,
there.
we're not giving out souls. Willy N.
Um, so she started this week. So it's just getting her set up and all the systems
Yeah.
and the, you know, all those kind of bits and bobs. Um, and then I had a consultation yesterday for a potential new couple for next year. Um, it was a funny one, really. She's just bless her. She's so, so lovely. But I think she's just at that point where it's like every, her family knows she's engaged. Her sister got married recently.
getting a lot of heat. Yeah.
they're like, you know, they want it to be like her sisters in that everybody turns up on the Friday, go home on Sunday, and then she stay, you know, everybody stays there and they all get fed and watered and then they've got the main wedding day. But to have that kind of concept, you, of it is hotels there, rather on venue out there that do it. But a lot of these venues where you dry high for the whole weekend, you have to get an external caterer
I see.
it kind of has boggled her brain. And I'm like, yeah, that's fine. 'cause you just hire the
Yeah,
they manage it. And that's, but that's kind of confused her a
I suppose she's,
separate.
like she's got something in her mind of how it might be, and she's just different, so
wants people to just be able to rock down to
Yeah, but it's not, yeah. Yeah.
But they also don't want, they also want a similar vibe to her sisters, but not too similar vibe to her sisters. And then
That's difficult, isn't it?
They're like, what is happening? And she's just like, whoa,
Oh, wow.
what's going on. And then she's kind of in that frame of mind where she's like, I'm so busy with work and stuff, but I don't know if I book a hotel will I need a planner. Because actually it will, they, you know, there's loads of stuff, you know, that they sort anyway. Um, you know, they come for the catering and the linen and the blah blah blahs. Um. Then, so actually is it, you know, if I get a dry high venue, I definitely need you, but if I get a hotel, do I not?
And I was like, by the sounds of
You need?
you need a plan.
You need me?
Yeah. You're gonna, and you know what? I know and I get it. And it's a big percentage. It's like we were saying earlier, it's having that kind of trust,
Yeah.
don't know, it's a big percentage of your budget, but the amount of my couples that are just like, it was the best investment because it is, even if you go for like a hotel where there's a lot of stuff. Know, include.
Yeah.
is still just sort in like,
It's,
guest management and just
there's loads of things that, that you have to do with a wedding and, um, but things that crop up, things that you didn't realize. And I think if you
it's
Yeah,
into it, isn't
totally.
ask me and I'm like, do you know what? It's even hard for me to
Just explain.
the little things. 'cause every wedding is so personal and so many different things happen, you know?
But you're just like an a, an. An extra pair of hands that you'd need. You need to have some that help. Yeah, that's it. It's that experience. Yeah, totally. Like you know what to look out for and you know the little things that might be missed as well.
exactly.
what your, your job is, so you are gonna see it and help with that, but yeah.
week. Had another weekend off, which was nice. Went to Norfolk, see the
Oh, did you?
which was good. So yeah,
Oh, nice.
and my sister-in-law's birthday,
That's nice.
went back for
How are they?
Yeah. All good. Everyone's good. Everyone's, yeah. Busy,
Busy people. Busy lives.
but I have to
Oh, here we go.
Oh, here we go. So you might have all seen this on
Oh,
Did you watch
oh, yeah,
like, Kaylee,
yeah, yeah. I did.
video.
I'd already watched it when you were like, watch. I was asking, so Richard, Richard.
it, I've watched the whole five minutes. So I, um, was on the way to Norfolk. And I was listening to a podcast. Um, never have I ever a podcast, which is Joel Dott and his
Yeah.
and. Um, you know what, I'm gonna bring it up on the podcast now. They haven't responded to my Instagram yet.
Mm.
they mention it on their podcast, I don't know, but if they do, then I will update you because obviously I don't wanna
Yeah,
and then they, you know
yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally.
we, we have a public platform too.
Yeah, we do.
We can say what
Yeah, we do. Girl.
So, um, it was basically, if anyone's not seen it, um, they were talking about weddings on their podcast. And they made a comment of, they were talking about how expensive things are and how, you know, if they got married now, what would it, would it be different? And they were like, you know, talking about how expensive things
Yeah.
like, uh, there was a comment of let, um, I think it's pretty safe to say that the wedding industry is fucking everyone over.
No.
it just instantly got my back
that is like as soon as someone says that, you're like, yeah, it's gonna be, there's gonna be problems now. There's gonna be problems.
especially when you work in the
Yeah.
But anyway,
Yeah. Exactly.
do you know what I mean? Like a few people have said to me like, no, we could probably say the same about whatever
Yeah. Yeah. Totally.
but I
Totally.
because I get that it's time consuming and there's a lot of
Yes.
I wouldn't.
you wouldn't
putting it out
exactly.
Um, so, and then it kind of went on to say this whole thing about how, which I'm hearing a lot, and do you know what? I was gonna raise it anyway before this. And it was like the cherry on the
Oh my God.
Because I've seen it so
Yeah.
lately where it's like, don't say the word wedding because
God.
be more
I've heard it loads lately as well, and it's so annoying. I just.
it's like
Yeah, but what annoys me is that you wouldn't say it about, I'm not being funny, but like you go into Tesco or whatever company's selling their chocolate, for example, in there and they put their prices up, you just pay it and you just do it. You don't care. Now they are, they are doing it to rip you off, right? Because they're like, generally,
We
well, we don't know, but I just feel like.
make chocolate. They've gotta
Yeah,
cocoa,
no, just in general. But like for example, the supermarket. Yeah. You don't quibble, you just do it and it's just, but then you've got somebody like you and like me, who have a particular set of skills like Liam Neeson and. And, uh, you know, we've trained, we've worked really hard for years to get to the point where we are. There's a lot of stuff that goes into it, and then we are charging for our experience and it's, you know, it is reflected in our cost.
It's got nothing to do with what we're doing. However, a wedding. It takes a lot more time, like we said before, than perhaps like me making a bouquet for a birthday is gonna be completely different to me making a bouquet for a wedding because a wedding, I've had to speak to you beforehand. I've had to order specific stock.
mm-hmm.
been backwards and forwards emails I've have to get it into open on time,
want a specific color
Yeah,
their
exactly.
that,
Uh,
know, like there's, there's more like.
there's just more to it. Whereas someone says, can I have a birthday bouquet? Yeah, florist choice. You put whatever you like in it. Just don't want any lilies.
yeah,
that's, that
yeah. You're so
it is completely different. So it's not gonna be a cost of a bi bouquet. My bouquets, everyday bouquets from 40 pounds. My bridal bouquets anything from a hundred pound nut upwards. But there, there's a lot more that goes into that and it's a lot more time.
time is money. And we've
Time is money.
and I think that, you know, and we have spoke about this on PO on the podcast before. And actually I had a message responding to my, um, video, which
Yeah,
um, nice. 'cause they said, you know, I used to think this about the wedding industry until I listened to your podcast. So I thought that's
that's good.
it's important that we keep
Yeah, totally.
this
Yes.
need to educate
Yeah.
And it's just the other, the other, um, flip side of it is you are completely right. It's like. You know, time is money and I, and I'm the same, I mean like this corporate company that I'm working, for example, paying exactly the same as my wedding clients. They, it's, no, it's no
And look at the work you're doing for it though.
Yeah,
is. Exactly. Yeah.
it like, I'm not, it's not like, oh yeah, it's just a wedding, so I'm gonna add some
Yeah.
people say. But it's also what people don't get, and I saw this the other day about a photographer and a makeup artist, right? what people under need to understand is, is. Our work. Yes, weddings happen seven days a week throughout the year, but majority of couples want May to
Yep.
on a Saturday. And when you work that out, that's about 20, 25 weddings. And what you also need to remember is like photographers, for example, might not physically be able to take more than that because they are a a, a soul
Yeah. So they can only attend one
One wedding
a week. Yeah.
wedding a
Yeah.
And also it's just the worker. You've gotta think all the editing and actually run it. A lot of, a lot of wedding suppliers only spend 50% of their time physically on the business. 50% of their time is run it, you know, the accounts and the
Yeah, exactly.
about
But you don't get paid for.
No, exactly. So actually physically, sometimes suppliers can only take on X amount of weddings a year because if you actually worked out the hours they work and spread it over the year, they're already working over the normal 40
Exactly. Totally.
families they
Yeah.
life. So actually when you get those, say you're working 25 days, if you take a normal salary that you need to earn and divide that by 25 weddings. That's what you need to charge. Because like Haley just said, when you're doing your marketing and stuff and sitting at home, you aren't getting paid. Me and Haley aren't getting paid right
No,
do this, but to us as a form of marketing, as a form of
exactly.
it's, you know, just we love doing it.
Yeah, we do.
when I'm now driving to fricking, God knows where
Yeah,
I'm not getting paid to do that. You know? And I think that's, that's my big point is A, the timing and B, we have to work out if we were only charging, if we were going, oh, well, yeah, you know, photographer 10 hours. You know, if you go and work in a normal job, you're on like 20 quid an hour. So times up by 10 is, is 200
Yeah.
Well, if you only can take on 20 weddings a year times that 2200 quid, well that's four grand a year. Who out
Is it working for that?
is living off four
Yeah, exactly.
Do you know what I
Totally. And do you know what it is? It's, I hear like obviously we hear a lot of people sort of saying how the wedding industry, um, it's like we're overcharging or whatever, but a couple of my friends have, um, like quite high up office jobs where they openly admit to me that they don't feel like they work as hard as I do perhaps, but they get paid a pretty penny for doing it. I mean,
working from
yeah.
a wash,
But like,
having got
yeah, like a lot of what we do is obviously it's like physical labor, but it's, it's, it's spread out. There's a lot of different, um, components that come together to, for us to do our job. So that's why it takes a long time to do a wedding or plan a wedding, but it's not just one day. I don't just sit down and that's my day or whatever. It's like, it's over weeks planning months sometimes.
Yeah.
Um, and, but they've said to me, you know, they, they can't believe like how little. I get paid for doing what I do.
Yeah.
it's ridiculous.
Yeah. It is your overall
yeah,
and it's also just that pressure of It's your business, you know, it is on your head. You have to keep,
Yeah, it all comes down to you. So they're like working for somebody. They're working for a company. They get paid like a lot of money to do what they do, but they, they're just like, they can't believe how little I get paid to do what I do in comparison to what they do. So like then it's nice to know that you feel PR appreciated, like people see that side of it. But I just think it's really, um.
Silly of someone on a public platform with a podcast that's as popular as theirs to come out and just slander the wedding industry because this is our, this is our livelihoods. Like it's, it's our jobs. Like this is how I feed my family and pay my mortgage. Like it's not some just silly little like hobby and I just charge those money for it 'cause I can, because you know, I don't need to rely on the income. Like this is my life, you know, I've.
do you know what that is? My point is that I think a lot of people think about wedding industry suppliers is that
Yeah,
husbands and we are just sitting at home playing with some
yeah,
wedding
exactly. It's hard work.
I also think there's this mentality because let's face it, right? A lot of people I've said it about, we've come. Had builders come around and get quotes, and I'm like, like plasterers. I'm like, Jesus, God. They charge a lot of money, but I'd never say it on a public forum, but I feel like people are just, I'm not
No.
I'm just saying behind closed
Yeah,
it to them or on a public
exactly.
like people think it's okay to say it to us or on public platforms because we're in the
Yeah. It's like they like think of us as like a hole. Yeah.
always pretty and nice. And I almost think there's this like,
They like poo poo it. But
in my video, like in my, on my Instagram, that I almost think it's like, shouldn't be earning money out of people's happiness and out of wedding. That's almost
what.
the mentality is, that we shouldn't be making money and we shouldn't
Yeah.
money because it's the wedding. It is
I mean, it really annoys me
rainbows and
because, yeah, totally. And also I find a big, a big part of like when I was starting my business, and even now sometimes, like you as a business owner, you feel like this guilt or like you, you feel awkward with what you're charging. Like a big part of it is like figuring out what you're gonna charge and then being confident with that. And that actually takes a long time to build up that confidence.
yeah.
you get comments like that and then you start thinking, oh, well am I, you know. But I'm not, you know, I've tra like, like we've trained for years, like we're talking like 10 years of like, my life has been to do what I do. I don't, I didn't just go to some, I dunno, weekend of flower arranging and now I'm like, oh, I'm a florist. You know, it's my career. This is my career that I've worked hard, hard for. It's,
it seriously. So take us
yeah, totally. Like it's a serious job. Like I honestly would, I would like to see anybody do what me and you do for a day. Like come and spend a day with us, like on a wedding day. You'd be shocked.
stop thinking about it, do you? Like I have ne I'm gonna message my couples today to just like dates for their diary. I'm going away and so I'm going away on holiday for a week and I've decided, um. We, so it's for our wedding anniversary and I decided, we had a night, an evening flight, and I was like, do you know what I'm gonna move it to the night before because I, um, I wanna make like the
Yeah.
have a full day. I wanna,
Yep. Yeah.
the airport, then wake up in the morning, then we've got the full
Love it.
instead of like getting that and it's just all a bit of a rush. So that then makes it eight days. Because we've gotta get to the airport and everything. And then I looked in my diary the other day and was like, oh the other, the day before my auntie and uncle are coming from America and we're going to Cambridge the day. So I was like, Hmm, that's another day. And I was like, really? I need a day That's just office to finish off. I was like, really need like 10 days off. And I feel
Yeah.
people. And when I come back, I fly back on the Friday and I'm gonna tell everyone that I'm back in the office from Saturday when actually I should. Most normal people would be like, I'm having two weeks
Yeah. See you later.
But I feel now, I'm like, no, I can't do that.
Yeah,
to tell
exactly.
weeks, even though they've got Chloe and we've
Yeah. But I understand.
to do
Yeah,
it being in a world where you feel bad to take two weeks off.
not, that's what I mean, it's, it is all, it's, it's mental. This is the sort of thing that we have to deal with those as.
Yeah.
Business owners, but also in the industry we're in.
I'll still be like, you know, Chloe, if you need to message me, message me.
Yeah. And also I feel like it's got worse because people want you to be so accessible nowadays. Like to, to as soon as they message you, they wanna like, I think it's become the way we are, that the, the way the world is now, everything is so easily accessible online. Like they expect to like message you, WhatsApp, you, and you get an instant reply.
yeah,
but you wouldn't, like, say if you message like a company, I dunno, a corporate company for example, you'd get an email back. I'm on, I'm on annual leave, like.
Yeah.
message you when I'm back.
in two
I could never imagine doing that. You know,
Yeah. We don't have an, if it's
I was even working on my honeymoon. I came home early from my honeymoon because I had a wedding, and I was so concerned about the flight delays that I just, it was easier for me to just say, let's just go, you know, cut my honeymoon. You know, that's, that's, it's sad.
dedication to the
but that's what I mean.
to pay for that
Yeah. And then you get like comments like this, like, oh, you know, you just.
And that, yeah, and that's what I said again in my video was it actually really upset me because it's genuinely like the, it's de it's demotivating to hear people think that
Yeah.
not true. And my other point is, I'm sure you'll agree with me on this. of all the wedding industry suppliers that you know, and we've worked with over the years, like a
Yeah.
do you know that's balling? Because I
one
anyone. I don't know anyone
exactly.
pound mansion driving the top of the range car living the life of luxury. Like literally, like
Nobody.
when I can think of some top, top, top people
Yeah, no, you're right.
have like
Just the humble wedding of life.
not like earning like a footballer
No.
And I think that's what people think.
I know. I agree. Yeah, I dunno. Anybody like that?
and I feel like we are here, we are here to say it's a myth. saying wedding does not mean it's more expensive.
doesn't,
Come on guys. Wake up.
it's just silly. Also, I dunno how you'd have to be a little bit naive to think that you are gonna have a wet, like a. Do you have someone do something for you for your wedding supply? Something, and it's not gonna be more work because a wedding is a big event. It's a big part. It's it's a big part of your life.
as a
Yeah. You've got, there's so many. Yeah. I was totally like, honestly, you just know it's you, you, you require a lot more, there's a lot more that goes into it than, than just the. Here's a for example, here's a bouquet. Get on with it. Like, you are gonna be really specific about what you want. You want this color, this flower? At least look this way. Here's my Pinterest board.
it. Hundred
Yeah. And so you should be, it's your big day. Like, totally.
inquiring with people like, I'm also not high maintenance, so you don't need to charge me wedding prices. That's what I've had that
But I just dunno. Who, what, what are you gonna do? Then? Go to someone and say, look, oh, I just need some flowers for, um, oh, uh, an event. Not say wedding. I don't understand what they expect,
are. That's what people are
but that what? That's just thick.
about
It's ignorant, isn't it? Like,
seen photographers comment and say they've actually left because they're so angry. Hair and makeup artists that have
that's mental.
because, and I don't blame them.
Yeah. I don't, to be honest with you,
it really hard to walk away on the day, but I think
I would,
to the people that
yeah.
to me
Thing with me, I'd have already done the, but then I would, I wouldn't be able to, because of what I do is a lot of work prep beforehand. They aren't gonna be like, it doesn't matter if it's a wedding or an event or whatever. It's this scale of work. So for me it doesn't really make a difference, but it would be more be like someone saying, look, can I have a, oh, I just wanna bouquet.
Can I have six bouquets for my friends at a funeral? But
I dunno.
somebody wanted to walk down the aisle with six bouquets in front of a coffin, it probably cost the same.
Well, that's what I mean. For me, it's not gonna make a difference because the work is, yeah, so, so actually, exactly. So that just proves, that just proves the point that if you say wedding or not, it doesn't matter because we go on the scale of the work. It's got nothing to do with what the event is,
Yeah,
so, ugh.
like for me, planning a party yes, is cheaper because they only need planning from like 7:00 PM until midnight with a couple of suppliers. But if they said to me, no, we want a three course sitdown meal in the daytime.
Yeah.
we want a drinks reception, canap paste three course sitdown meal, and then we want like a then an evening party with a band and we want evening pizza trucks and blah, blah, blah. They'd be paying me the same to plan that as a wedding, because that is the same concept. If they were like, Hannah, we want a party from 8:00 PM till midnight and we just want a pizza truck, and the same with a
Yeah.
came to me and said that it would be less money, you know?
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So it's, it's all relevant to what you want and the scale of the work. It's got nothing to do. Whether it's a wedding or anything else.
And on that note, I actually saw a post earlier today
Oh,
and she was saying that she got married this Saturday, so we're on Wednesday, this Saturday, and she hasn't booked a photographer and has said,
oh,
gonna regret it?
yeah.
I was obviously
Yeah, absolutely. You will.
it. there's people coming in like. Don't worry, we haven't booked one either. are just gonna get, phones are so good these
No.
mum's just gonna take a photo of
Oh God.
my friend's pictures. And look, don't get me wrong, some people did comment and say like some of the nicest photos that
I like from other people.
off a
Yeah.
is the odd, really good random shot that you like, oh, I
Yeah.
But it's never gonna
gonna be a photographer's skill,
when you wanna print it in
that's it. It's when you, exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Oh
wall.
gosh,
come on guys. Come
What world are we living in?
I invest the fricking money. But again, I also wanna highlight, and if you're listening to this and you're like, oh, well we wanna do a real, real, real budget wedding, like, great, but, and if you're finding things cheaper, you know, fine. But you can't be having a wedding unless you have a budget for it. Like I feel like people just expect, I feel like, do you know what? I felt like I thought this this morning. It's like competition of who can do a wedding, the cheapest at the
Yeah.
what I see in threads. It's like, well, I only spent this,
Get. Yeah, exactly. But I just, yeah,
probably portrays that.
true. It's true. It is true. I get really annoyed with people, like I just, I've, I'm honestly getting annoyed about it. I get inquiries and they'll be like, oh, you know, but I need it to be cheap because I've got so, like classic one, I've got loads of bridesmaids, so it needs to be cheaper. I'm like, well, that's not my problem.
it's not my problem. Don't I have list
Whether you have one or 10, it doesn't matter. It's still the same work per bouquet, so it's still gonna be the same. Why would just, am I supposed to feel sorry for you? 'cause you've got loads of bridesmaids.
No
not my problem. I, I'm a business. This is, you are asking for a product. It's this price. There's no wiggle room and I'm not gonna do it for you, just 'cause you are on a budget. That's not my problem. And I shouldn't have to feel bad about that. That's my rant. It really annoys me.
Mic drop.
Mic drop, boom.
need to realize that if they don't have the budget, they can't blame us. It's
Yeah, like it's our fault and that's your fault. 'cause you are in the wedding industry.
you are expensive, you're in
are ripping us off
you need to just rework your
your budget.
later, you know, in a couple of years
That's it. That's
up whatever,
it.
have less realistic, you know, have more realistic expectations. Go and elope to the town hall in Chelsea. You know, they are an amazing
Yeah.
Like we've proved this from stories that we've given over the podcast over the years and um, yeah, is our.
That's, that's our ran
education today
and we hope you've enjoyed.
it.
will. I think it's important though because it's clearly,
is
okay for people to just rock up on their podcast and, uh, slander us.
exactly if we get a comment back from 'em. What I will say is that she watched every single one of my Instagram videos and there was five minutes worth of them. So.
She was dedicated.
She did read
Yeah.
she sat there going, I'll piss off,
Yeah.
she's going, sh I
Core of of FD up.
you know, people are paying to go and see, uh, what's it called? Um, Oasis, what's it called? The thing is are huge. They're making
Ah,
sit in quibble that 'cause I think, well, there's a reason, you
yeah,
reason they're charging what they're charging. There's probably huge costs attached to it. You know, it is what it
yeah. Exactly.
It's probably taken over their lives right now and they hate each other,
Oh my God. Yeah.
job. Shall we go into the listeners' questions and messages?
Yeah, so I've got one here. Um, hey, love the podcast. Thank you very much and have been binging all the episodes since getting engaged in January. We are getting married in May, 2026, and we're debating having the speeches during the evening reception. We like the idea of everyone being involved as we're having more people in the evening than during the day. What sort of timings would you suggest for the day so that it still works? Our ceremony is at 2:00 PM Also, separate question.
We're trying to estimate how much money we should sh we should put behind the bar. We're doing a limited bar with wine, beer, soft drinks, and N percent alcohol and everything else people can pay for, but have no idea where to start with this.
Um, first up, we, I feel like someone had asked this before about speeches in the
Yeah,
and I feel like I said, I don't know if I would
so I, um, I quite like it, the idea of that because if you have got more guests coming in the evening and you want them to feel maybe more of a part of everything else, like those traditional bits that perhaps day guests sometimes miss out on, but they're still, you know, they're close but you couldn't, maybe, couldn't afford to have them for the day, things like that, I think maybe that's quite nice. It's just a little extra bit. I dunno, I just, I kind of liked it.
I thought it'd be quite, you know, everyone's together have a little like, tap on your glass and do a little speech and everyone's, and then you're dancing and party and I just thought it was quite cool.
work if you did it. So say you got your three course
yeah,
you've done that tea and
yeah,
up, all your evening guests have arrived. Then you go straight, then you stand on the stage or the dance floor area, go straight into your speeches, then
Then,
cutting. Then you
then first, yeah.
What wouldn't work is to just stop the party at
Then do it. Yeah. Like, like, like tap on the mic, like Hello, hello, hello.
yet. No,
Yeah.
not, it's not gonna work because I know they do
People won't listening. People won't listen. Sorry.
No, people won't listen. Nbb be off. They'll be out
Yeah.
There'll be, that would be a nightmare for
Regathering every, yeah.
everyone
That's true.
and people are gonna be heckling and they're not
That's it.
And you are also, don't forget as well, the people doing the speeches are gonna be really nervous. If anything, a lot of people wanna do it before earlier
Yeah, that's true.
they're gonna be nervous, they're gonna be thinking about it all day. The groom might get really drunk and then give a
Oh, no.
o'clock, you know? So I would say it could work at the end of the meal. And then the other thing I always say is always put things together where you need to round people up,
Yeah.
So. That's why I always do the cake cutting straight into the first dance. Never leave a gap because random people up is a nightmare and it takes time. So if you leave a, if you break that up, you know, the reason we do speech at the end of the mill is everyone's already sat down, they're already there. So it's
Everyone's together.
into speeches, but
Makes sense.
a nightmare.
Yeah, I can imagine it. Especially when there's outgoing forms.
Yeah. So I see what you are saying, hay. But yeah, that's what I would do is just before you, where you would round up people
Yeah. I like that though. That that's a good idea.
with the mic
Yeah,
Do your speeches straight into
and I, I think it's nice actually as well because everyone who's come to the evening is there and then you can kind of thank everybody for coming.
Yeah,
'cause I suppose normally like the evening guests come, maybe they don't get a thanks for coming. You know what I mean? I just,
yeah, yeah,
um, but yeah, also, so, um, she's also asked how much money she should put behind the bar.
I mean, we don't have a guest number, so that's really, really
Yeah. That is difficult.
I mean, to give you an, I
Like a ballpark
was talking about this with a bar company the other day, and they were saying, you know, for a hundred people, they were saying about three 4,000 pounds. Um, so,
bar.
doing beer, wine, beer, and soft. and everything else people can pay for. What I would say is it's really hard for us to put a cost on it.
Yeah.
Message me again with a bit more detail, and I'll help you try and help you answer it. But what I would say is that is a nightmare. Only either do an open but or don't. Because
like in between.
like, how are you gonna put a sign up for that wine, beer, and soft drinks free. But if you want a vodka, pay for
Yeah.
imagine if I'm getting around here and says, oh, I'll have a wine. And Richard says, I'll have a beer and I want a gin and tonic. And I go to the bar. How the hell are they,
Gonna
do you, oh, well
that through.
Eight pound for that gin, but the other two are free. Like it's just all a bit
Yeah,
The only thing I would suggest is to maybe have like a step, I mean, I dunno what your venue is or who's running the bar, but if it's a dry high venue, you could almost just leave bottles of wine and beer on
on the table. That's a good idea. Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking, I was literally just thinking about your wedding, how you could just go and help yourself to the
yeah.
stuff there,
a vodka or a
and then you went and you paid for it.
and
Yeah.
So you could just do
You just give them like a, I dunno, here's a, like for example, here's a bath full of drink. Once that's gone, you pay for it. Whatever. That's just, so this is the, we've budgeted for what's in this bath
Yeah.
then the rest of it, the bath,
Yeah. And
and then you go, yeah.
all
Yeah.
the thing is, I didn't wanna do, I hate open bars. Well, I maybe we'll get onto that another week, but I cannot stand at a fully open bar till the end of the night. And I also don't like it when it's like, oh, you put 500 by the bar and people are getting free drinks.
And then,
minute you go up and then you've got
yeah,
awkward. So
yeah.
do you know what? We are just gonna supply loads of wine and
And then buy it.
then if you want something
You buy it. Yeah. That's good.
it. So.
Hopefully that answers
suggest is, but again, like message me your
A bit more detail.
what your, yeah. What your venue is, whether, 'cause you might not be allowed to do that, but I would also think if it's a bar company that they would've explained to you like, we can't split. So maybe it's just an idea there's, they haven't spoke to the bar company yet. 'cause there's no way that they would like be like, oh yeah you can have wine and beer. But
Yes. How would you sort that out? How would you spread it?
Unless it is just that it's all their own stuff for
I was just thinking is it like a dry hire and they're like, they're supplying all the alcohol themselves or something?
yeah. Maybe they've already paid for a certain
Yeah.
of wine and beer and if, if someone comes to bar, they just give it to them and then
Yeah.
You could do it that, like you could do it almost like that way if they ask for it and then have a bar price list for everything else,
Mm. It just gets confusing, doesn't it? I dunno.
does. Yeah. But yeah, mess me your guess number and I'll give you a bit more of an estimate of cost, but also that's hard to do 'cause you've got wine and beer, like some of, at my wedding, some people didn't spend a penny and other people did because they were drinking
Yeah.
I think it just
Depends on what you're drinking.
so, yeah.
Well, hopefully that answers your questions and thanks for getting in touch and thank you for listening today
Thanks guys.
and you know that you can get in touch with us by following us online. It's at Let's Get You Word podcast and then you can also message us your questions. You can either DM us or you can send us an email to Let's Get you a [email protected]. We love to hear from you.
And don't feel bad for sending in multiple questions. Some people message like, oh, I've already asked a question before. I dunno if I can again.
I totally can. Yeah. We love it.
And also, guys, just please remember, I know it's like a serious note, but what we talked about today, you know, we kind of half joke about things, but it is really serious to us. And if you do hear people saying. When don't say wedding, it's more expensive. Just please direct them to this
Yeah. You know where to send them
know, just put 'em straight because this, it's really deflating for
and it's wrong.
kind of worry, like, it kind of half worries me that like, if everyone, I feel like the more big platforms like this one, you know, and right into them as well and
This is wrong. Yeah,
The more big platforms and the big people that, with the listeners and the, and the following out there are saying this, the more people are gonna start believing
yeah,
the
totally.
it, the more that that's just gonna massively affect our industry. And this is our livelihoods at the end
Yeah. So stand up for what's right.
We need to start like a
Yeah,
stand up
up from.
industry. Yes.
Yeah, and don't forget to like and subscribe.
yes, like a scrap people. See you
Bye.
week. Bye.