Why Wedding Businesses are the Best Businesses

This is The Wedding Pro Academy podcast. In this podcast, I'm going to talk about why wedding businesses are the best businesses. But, first, I wanna give you a little bit of backstory about myself. Like, how I even got into weddings because it was totally accidental. Like, I did not think I didn't plan on becoming a wedding planner, which is the wedding business that I run.

It just sort of happened. But what I did know always, like, in my bones from the time that I was probably I don't know, like, forever. Like, feels like since I was 8 years old. I knew that I was meant to be an entrepreneur, that I was meant to have my own business, and I was going to do pretty much whatever it took to make that happen. And so, like, after college, I wound up at a marketing firm, being a creative director, doing graphics and marketing and stuff like that.

It was an awesome job. It was a great experience, but I felt like I sort of peeked out of that really quickly, and it wasn't very long before I started feeling this itch to, like, do my own thing. It was fucking hard, like, listening to somebody else tell you exactly what you needed to do all the time when you had other ideas about what you should do. Somebody else taking the credit for all the hard work you were putting in. Like, you didn't I didn't have any say in any final decisions and I just had to live with that.

And that is what it's like when you are an employee working for, you know, a job, a regular job. And I I was a good employee, but I secretly did not like being told what to do or how to do things or not get the credit that I thought I deserved for the work and time that I was putting in. And I was more than willing to work hard, you know, to work my ass off for shit, but I wanted to then get the credit for that hard work that I put in. And there's just no way you're gonna get that if you're working for somebody else. And after a certain amount of years, that just got so old for me.

So I just knew I had to start my own business. I always wanted it. It just seems so intimidating and, like, so scary. And, like, how do you start a business? Like, that all felt so big and really, like, such a huge thing to undertake, and I would sorta test it out.

I, like, tried different businesses on the side. I thought, I need to try so that I could build enough money to surpass what I was making at my corporate job before I would quit my actual job. And so I tried creating a graphic design business on the side, which made good money, but not enough not enough to where I could feel confident that it would support the lifestyle that I wanted. And then, I tried my hands at a funeral design business. I know that don't fucking laugh at me because that is what, you know, it's just my story.

Okay? And it was a great idea at the time because I had been to my grandma's funeral, my grandpa's funeral, and I realized that at every funeral, there are relatives that are throwing together these crappy crappy, like, kinko copied, like, you know, programs and posters with pictures that are cut out by hand and, like, taped on for somebody's memorial. And I just think that people who have died deserve a better send off than that. And I created this beautifully designed poster and program and prayer cards and all this stuff for my family's funerals and people loved it. So, I decided I'm gonna make a business out of this.

I built a website. I got actual printed copies of samples. I went to every single funeral home within driving distance and I talked to them about what I was selling and I got them to put all my stuff into their, you know, what do you call them? Like, where they meet with people to talk about their funerals. Oh my gosh.

This is so embarrassing. But, yeah. I went all in on it, and I actually got some business out of it. But, what I realized very quickly is that people who are planning businesses don't have money to spend. People do not put aside money for their funeral, usually.

And so, I just couldn't make it work with that business because my customer didn't have money to spend with me. Even though they wanted it, like, of course, they wanted it. They just couldn't afford it. Or they didn't see, like, it as enough value that they wanted to spend their money on it. So, yeah, that didn't work.

Then what happened is that I got engaged to the love of my life who I'm still married to, and I planned my own wedding. And because I'm, like, just a creative person in general, I went nuts with it. I loved it so much. It was so fun. It was, like, my dream.

And I planned this, like, elaborate super fun crazy wedding, and people started telling me, like, how awesome it was. And, like, then I had people requesting me to help them with their weddings. And before I knew it, I was like, oh, this is it. I'm gonna start a wedding planning business. So, you know, having had experience with all these other businesses that failed, I already knew how to build a website.

I knew how to, like, create a business card and go door to door and talk to people and, like, get interest. So I that's what I did. I started a wedding planning business. I got my first clients off of Craigslist. Yep.

Craigslist. And then it just kinda took off from there, but it it was like so much easier than any of the other businesses that I started. And not because I wasn't good at those other things or that I didn't provide enough value. It was, like, for other reasons. It's because my customer didn't have money to spend or, like, it wasn't a consistent revenue that was coming in.

But weddings did provide that. Okay. So, that was a lot. But, I just wanted you to know that story because it made it really clear for me that the wedding industry is very lucrative and a great place to start a business, like any business. Okay.

So, now, I'm gonna go into why wedding businesses are the best business businesses to have. I have 6 points here, and I really stand by all of them. They are, like, the best business to start. If you're thinking about starting a business and if you are already in the mode of, like, trying to grow your wedding business, take this as your sign from the universe that you are on the right track. So number 1, they're fun. Like, wedding businesses are so fun. They're so great.

Like, they are one of those, like, jobs that just are super rewarding. Every time you go to work, you get to feel that warm and fuzzy feeling that everybody feels when they're at a wedding. There's just so much love and joy at weddings. You get reminded about what life is all about and like the beauty in the connection that you have with your spouse, even though you're there planning a wedding or you know, photographing a wedding, you get reconnected see your own spouse just being there and get reminded about how special life is. So and not only that, but wedding parties are, like, so much fun.

Weddings weddings are just fun. That's just a given. Everybody knows that. Working in weddings is fun too. Number 2, wedding businesses are perfect for creative people.

If you are a creative person like I am, like many of us are, you like being creative and being a little wild, like, you have a style about you and you're, like, dying to express it in some way, a wedding business is the best place. You could be creative with photography, with with wedding planning, with design, with videography, with linens, with doing signage, with creating tablescapes. There's so many places, florists, like, so many places to be creative in weddings, and you could go wild with it. The more creative you are, in fact, if you're really good at it, like, the more money you'll make. So the more creative, the better.

It's not frowned upon. You can go as nuts as you want. Being creative is the perfect place to be if you are starting a business and you're a creative person. A wedding business is really gonna be ideal for you. Number 3.

And this is what I was kinda saying earlier, but the customer, which is the bride and groom, the couple, they already have money put aside to spend with you. This is such a big one, guys. Like, I can't tell you this is the make or break a lot of times between what allows a business to flourish is that if your customer has money that they want to spend with you. So couples generally will put aside 1,000 of dollars for their wedding. They don't really know how they're gonna allocate it out.

They're just like, I have $60,000 to spend on my wedding. I need I know I need a photographer. I know I need a wedding planner. I know I need a venue blah blah blah, but each of the things that they want is gonna come from this pot of money that they already have put aside, so you don't have to convince them that they they need to find money to spend. They already have the money put aside and they want to spend it.

You just need to show them that you're valuable, that they want what you need, that you can give them an experience or, you know, that they are looking for. And if you can do that, they will spend their money with you. It's like that easy. Your customer has money to spend with you and that that's why wedding businesses are the best. Okay.

Number 4. The wedding industry is just a group of really cool, weird, super fun people. It is an awesome community. People are so freaking nice. Everybody is looking to help out everybody else.

We are super close knit. Everybody is really, really friendly, and it's a bunch of people that are just like you starting businesses. So get in with your community early and make connections. Join your local wedding association. Like, this is how you meet people who are going through the same kind of hardships and growth spurts as you are and you get to make these bonds that will become friendships that last for life.

It's just an amazing community to be a part of. Number 5, there is an endless supply of new weddings. There's an endless supply of opportunities for you to make money. I just googled this this morning. 2,300,000 people Get married a year.

That is a lot of weddings Like so many there's so many people that are getting married and they are looking for help with this, you know, this once in a lifetime super special moment. And that that means that there's gonna be lots of places where you can book weddings. And there's gonna be tons of weddings for everyone. You're not like scrounging for weddings. I'm not ever thinking like, she took that wedding from me or there she has 5 weddings.

Like, I so, therefore, there's none left for me. Like, no. There's there's hundreds of weddings. My people will find me. There's always gonna be new weddings. More and more people get engaged every day. There's tons of weddings. So an endless supply of opportunities for new weddings to come your way. That is, I mean, that is why wedding businesses are the best. And this is my last one, but there are just tons of opportunities in the wedding industry all around.

You could do so many different jobs. Like, you could build so many different kinds of businesses. You could be an officiant, a photographer, you could start a photo booth, you could do favors, live stream, you know, where you come in and take a video of the wedding and then post it live on YouTube or on a private website and family and friends that couldn't be there can then see the wedding and be a part of it. That is like a huge one that's up and coming that I've started booking so many of, and we pay them a lot of money. They literally come in for 1 hour, put up a live stream, and then then send it to their friends and family, so they can be there even though they're not literally there.

What else? You could be a florist, a musician. You could do lighting, rentals. You could be a wedding planner. You could be a videographer.

You would do social media for weddings. This is like another new one that I've been seeing a lot of where somebody comes in with their freaking iPhone and they just take clips of everything. And then, they send a couple reels and stories and behind the scenes stuff, so that they can post it on their social media after their wedding. And, they don't have to walk around with their phone taking video. There is like money in that.

You could do catering, bartending and bar services, cake designs, specialty desserts, parking valet. You could do large sign rentals, invitations and graphics like bar signs. You could do this is weird but fancy toilet rentals. I have a company that I use exclusively that we rent fancy air conditioned portable toilet rentals for weddings and they make a lot of money. That is an, you know, an opportunity that somebody snatched up that is making tons of money right now.

There are so many ways to make money in the wedding industry, and finding a niche or a space within it is like really the opportunities are endless. So, that if that wasn't enough, like, reason, I don't know what's gonna sell you because it's just wedding businesses are they're just the best. It is a great space to be in. And if if you're in the process of building a wedding business, like, kudos to you. Keep going because it is going to be awesome.

And if you're thinking about it, like, stop hesitating right now and then just jump in. A wedding business is going to be so rewarding. It's so fun. It's it's got unlimited opportunities, and it's extremely financially lucrative, too. So, if you are on this route, I am rooting for you too, and I'm so excited to share all of my knowledge about wedding businesses and business in general as we move through the wedding pro academy podcast. Bye for now.