Have your reviews on every page of your website. Don't just have a reviews page. I'm Becca Poutney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger and you're listening to the Wedding Pros who Are Ready to Grow podcast. I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies and real life examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you love, then you're in the right place. Let's get going with today's episode. Today I'm chatting with Amanda, owner of Amanda's Ceremonies, based in Essex. Amanda loves to create feel good wedding ceremonies for her couples. I first met Amanda in 2021 when she attended mine and Kelly's first ever wedding business retreat.
This year, Amanda made the decision to fly out to Las Vegas and experience wedding MBA with me. So I've invited her onto the podcast today to share her experiences with you. Amanda, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Becca. It's lovely to be here with you. It's such a pleasure to have you. I'm so excited. Now we have to let everyone into a secret. We were actually on the same flight to Las Vegas. So we had a great conversation halfway between England and Las Vegas on an airplane. How fun was that?
I know, that was good. It was a first, obviously. And obviously first flight to Las Vegas for me. One of many firsts on that whole trip, in fact. Yeah. And we're going to have a conversation about lots of those, I'm sure. Now, before we get to Las Vegas, which is obviously what we're going to spend a lot of time talking about. I like my listeners to get to know the person I'm talking to. So take me back through your wedding business journey.
How did you end up in this wonderful world of weddings? Well, it's. Everybody tells me it's quite a good story and I've also learned about stories that sell since working with people like you. And so this story has done the round and it's quite good. But it's quite a nice story. I don't mind talking about it though. I was originally in teaching. I've been teaching over 30 years. I was doing really well. I was a senior manager, high accountability, all those sorts of things. I thrived on it.
I was just thinking maybe it's time to retire. And at that time I was spending a lot of time with my older brother. We used to talk about and I used to say that he was Saying, don't retire. There's so much you can do. And I really didn't know what else I could do, what transferable skills I had, you know, all those sorts of things. And he always said, no, there'll be something. There's something you can do. You might want to do this and that. So we had these deep and meaningful conversations.
Then all of a sudden, he died, basically. And I hadn't really lost a close relative before, and there was a lot of responsibility on me at the time to deal with various things, even though I'm from a big family. And I just thought it was going to be the worst day of my life, you know, the funeral. And my parents said, oh, you know, we should get a celebrant. Because my brother wasn't religious. And like most people, I had never heard of a celebrant. And I didn't. I said, what? What?
And they said, a celebrant. So I looked it up, and I was like, yeah, that sounds good. I decided I wanted to do the eulogy. I contacted the celebrant because the funeral was, like, a long way away from home. So I was in email contact with him, and he just seemed a really nice guy. And, you know, I thought, wow, this is unusual for somebody doing a funeral. And basically, we did the funeral, I did the eulogy. He was great, and it was just so inspirational.
And it sounds a really odd thing to say, but if you can enjoy anything that it was like that. And I just thought, like, maybe this is what I should be doing, you know, because it was linked into my brother, and he always said, there's so much you can do, Amanda. So first I thought it might be a bit grief, so I let it sit for a while, and then I decided to go for it. Basically, I spoke to family and friends, and I thought about the skills I had. You know, I was used to public speaking.
I was used to doing assemblies in front of kids, you know, and that's quite a tough crowd. And I spoke to family and friends, and they all thought I should go for it. So I decided to train and carry on. And you have absolutely no regrets, I'm sure. So talk to us about how you got your first clients, because often on this podcast, I talk to people, and they found success, and they've got this great business that they love.
But what people really want to know when they're starting out is, well, how do I get those first people? Where do I find my first work? So do you remember back to getting your first ceremonies it was typically of. What I called my luck at that time. But as soon as I decided to retire and in teaching, you have to retire, you know, have to give your resignation in quite a way ahead of time. Covid hit. So I'm starting a celebrant business and there's no wedding.
And I also did funerals, but I didn't really want to get into that, although I did volunteer my services to some funeral directors. So I had to start my business where there was no business because there were no weddings. And nobody, if you remember, it was such a strange time. Nobody knew what was going to happen. And it was. The whole world was in this state of flux and it was just a really weird time. And so I just thought, well, what can I do? So I started contacting venues that I liked.
I looked at venues that I thought I would want to work as a supplier. I started emailing them, I started putting stuff out on Facebook. And it was actually a blessing in disguise because I had no knowledge of business. I had, you know, teaching was my thing. And yes, you know, I'm an academic, I'm intelligent, I'm literate. But Facebook was new to me. Instagram, everything business related was new. Was like doing a degree all over again.
And so it gave me time to learn and, you know, try things out and just see how it would work, you know, and even things like, you know, doing a tax return, just every single aspect that if you're in business you just take for granted, that it's easy to do was freaking me out. You know, it was a massive hurdle to me, basically. And people, if I tell that to people, they say it really surprises them now.
And when I talk to people now, because I've worked with people like you and Kelly, they think I've been in business forever, you know, that I've been doing it for years because I've just acquired so much knowledge from my own learning and from you guys as well. So I think I got my first couple from a recommendation from a venue.
And that was really bizarre because I'd contacted a lot of venues, some I got nothing from, but I just kept going because, you know, there was nothing to do all day, nobody to talk to. So it was just like, okay, invest the time now. And what happened, I think was registrars were having problems once weddings started again.
And a venue I had contacted that had said, you know, once things get back into flow, we'll have a meeting, contacted me and said, look, we've got this huge gap now because we have couples that can't get registrars that have booked dates with us, and we need somebody. So I was like, okay, that's not the ideal reason to want me, but hey, you know, what an opportunity. So I let in and yeah, I got my first couple then.
And I didn't tell them they were my first couple, you know, because you think, well, they might not book me. So, you know, and that's how it started. Really fascinating. And you know what's really interesting, Amanda, is actually quite a lot of my clients that I work with who started in Covid are doing really well.
And I think that's because they had that time, just like you said, to really think through their decisions, to learn to think through their pricing, to not make the mistakes and get caught up in this business and to actually think things through from the beginning. And I know that you put a real emphasis on education, obviously being a teacher previously as well, but also your own continued education. Why do you think that has been so crucial to your business? Yeah, I think it has been crucial.
And also I think going through that as a business owner or as anybody just made you really resilient as well. Well, so you just, you know, when people ghosted you, it was just like, okay, you know, that's just how it is. But in terms of educating, you know, when I was in. When I was in education, I really hated having to learn things and having to do refresher courses, and it was like, I'm too old. I don't, you know, I've been in education long enough. I don't want to learn anything new.
And then I don't even know how it happened. But once I started doing this, I always want to be the best I can be at anything I do. And that's. That came a lot from my dad. You know, he was like, either do it 150 or don't bother. You know, it's a waste of time. So it was like, I have to do this. Well, I have to get to grips with everything I need. So, yes, I was learning massively and I made some right, typical mistakes. I just tried to learn everything and anything.
I got to the point where I was, you know, subscribing to these view that. These things on Facebook that were like, you know, 10 easy steps to brilliant marketing. And, you know, all this sort of stuff from Americans, Australians, aliens, every global aspect of the world I wanted to know about. And I ended up with my printer just saying, enough. You know, I had.
I printed all this stuff that I never read, and the Biggest lesson I learned at that time was just be selective and make sure you learn what you need now, you know. So, okay, first of all, let's, let's talk about a website because that's key. That's like your shop window. And let's do social media because it's free advertising. You know, learn about the other things later as and when you need them because otherwise it's just, it's just overwhelming. It's so, so true.
Not all education is created equal. And actually sometimes we can end up doing so much education that we don't actually do any action in our business either. So I think that's a really helpful way to put it. Okay, so let's talk about Las Vegas because you made the decision this year to come out to Las Vegas and attend wedding mba. So the first thing I want to know is what made you think, yeah, I'm going to go to that, and why did you come? Well, since.
Since I've become a celebrant and those things have, you know, those not so nice things have happened to me in my life and I'm a bit older now. I just, you know, I've got this real. And I know it sounds corny and I've always had this attitude and I always used to tell my A level students, you know, travel, life's too short, but I never really did it myself.
And I just thought, you know, all these things are telling you to just really go for it and, you know, just do things and do things you've never done before because life is short, you know, And I have like a new mantra now, my own personal mantra, which I can tell you about if you want, which helps me decide about situations like this. Oh, tell us, what is it? Okay, well, I told, I told some fellow wedding pros and they just looked at me in shock and said, oh, that's awful.
And then one of them said, no, actually, that's really motivating. So I can't take credit for this. And I've no idea where I saw it, but it's basically so Now I'm hashtag 19summers. Okay? So what you do is you think about. And it is a bit morbid, but honestly, it's so motivating, especially as you get older. I love summer. Summer. Summer is my best time of year. I'm not a winter person.
So you think about, and this is a weird bit, how many summers, realistically you think you have left to experience. Okay, so I'm now 61. So it started out last year's hashtag 20summers. We're now down to 19. And that's quite frightening if I think, oh, you know, I've only got 19 summers in me, possibly, definitely to travel for sure. Anything else we don't know. So you just think, yeah, grasp every opportunity, you know, take every moment. And also, who knows how many summers you have?
Anyway, that's just a, that's just a conservative guess. And so it's like every year that goes down one. So whenever you're thinking, oh, I don't know whether I should, you know, can I afford it? It's just like, you know what, just do it. And the other thing was I'd seen all your stuff from the previous year on Instagram and I was thinking, when I was thinking, oh, I wish I was there, that looks amazing, what an experience. And so I think it was probably in the back of my mind to do it.
And then it was probably a day like this, you know, a really rainy, miserable day. And I was just scrolling through Instagram and you had said, like, you put something out there, like, if you're still interested in going, I'll send all the stuff. And I was like, yes, let's just do it. Because I don't want to sit here in November next year in this horrible weather. I just want to go and do life, you know, and it was just like, it wasn't that big a decision.
And as soon as I made the decision, before I'd even booked anything, I think I booked the ticket with you really quickly on purpose. So it was like, we've done it now. You're not going to go back on this. You going, that's it. Get your head into that place that tells you that you are going and you need to, you know, do your research and prepare. So it was, it was almost like a no brainer really.
But I think so many people sit in that headspace though, the opposite headspace, which is, I don't want to sit here in November next year and not be experiencing that. But actually I don't want to do it. So I will be sitting there in November. So I love the attitude that you're like, no, actually I'm just going to go. Because I think actually taking that step and booking the ticket is the hardest part.
I know just from my own experience, when we were out in Vegas this year, we talked about doing the Grand Canyon helicopter and we looked at the prices and we looked at the prices again and we were going, it's quite expensive, shall we just do it? And we deliberated about it for ages, and we actually only booked it less than five days before we flew. But do you think I have any regrets about doing that? Absolutely not. As soon as I'd gone, yeah, actually, I'm just going to do it.
We had the best time. It's the best experience. I'm never going to forget it. I have absolutely no regrets about spending that money. And I think it's the same thing. You book the ticket and I'm sure you have no regrets about going out to Las Vegas, and we'll hear more about that soon. But sometimes that's the hardest bit, making the decision to do something. But then once you've done it, actually, or you look back and think, well, I'm really glad I did do this, because it's been incredible.
So for anyone, anyone that doesn't know what wedding MBA is, now you've been. Because it's really hard to explain to people. I try and explain to people who are listening, who've never been to anything like that before in a kind of short way, what on earth is it? Okay, so it's like nothing you've ever experienced. First of all, it's massive. Like, the building is massive. The number of people is not overwhelming. As long as you go into it with the right mindset.
So you can look at the publicity and it's saying over 6,000 attendees, and you can say, oh, wow, that's too much. Or you can say, wow, that's great. What a great opportunity this will be. And just go into it, eyes open. So you get to the conference center. You always think it, because it's a new country that is going to be difficult to get there and hard to, you know, all the logistics are on your. That's what you're worrying about. How do I get there? What time should I be there?
What should I be wearing? And you get there and go up the escalators and then, bam, it hits you. It's hundreds of people. It's really buzzing. There's music, there's a really good vibe. There's lots of people laughing, chatting, hugging each other. You know, I haven't seen you for ages, this sort of stuff. And there's nothing there that's really, you know, overwhelming or threatening. It's overwhelming in a nice way because it's like, wow, this is really.
I thought, you know, normally education conferences are really serious and, may I say boring, you know, and you don't get any of that. You get some mouldy little bacon roll as you go in, and it's just the opposite. It's like going to like this, like the glamour of a circus or a show, you know, but it is serious and it is quite intense. But everything is designed to make it easy for you. And the speakers are all so diverse in, you know, summer. They're usually really funny.
You know, it's not all okay, this is a wedding industry, this is a wedding business. This is what we must do and how we should do it. You know, it's very entertaining and it's just an incredible opportunity because even the, even just people watching when you're sat, you know, when you're sat outside the meeting rooms, there's a big corridor and people are walking past and they're chatting and they're taking photos, you know, for their social media.
And you just learn from the second you book the ticket. You're already learning even before you get there. And just by watching, you learn a lot as well. So I think it's really important to just in any aspect, just always be comfortable in being out of your comfort zone. But actually, do you know that me thinking I was going to be out of my comfort zone was all in my mind because there were just hundreds and thousands of people there just like me and, and less experienced to me as well.
You know, there were people there that were just starting out as a celebrant or in their business. Lots of people. It was the first time they'd been to the wedding mba and yeah, it was just like a really nice walking into, looking into a really nice kaleidoscope, different colors, sounds, experiences like. I know you're laughing because you can see me waving my hands around, but it's really hard to describe it without moving, nor moving your hand around because it was such a dynamic thing.
It's so true. And I'm laughing and I'm smiling because just when you describe it, it takes me back that moment of being there, it kind of gives me those. That kind of tingly feeling because you're so right in what you're explaining. And I can envisage myself going up those escalators.
And I remember the first time I went last year, just being blown away by how many other people like us there are and how there's people from all walks of life all over the world loving weddings as much as we do and wanting to learn about educating about weddings as much as we do.
And I think sometimes in England there's so little for us in person and sometimes we feel like it's a very small, closed industry and it's like the doors were blown off and there's suddenly this huge world of wedding industry out there that we haven't even touched yet. And that's. I don't know if that resonates with you, but that's how I felt when I first went. 100%. 100%. And it's nice going with somebody like you in terms of, you know, okay, so I got the ticket with you and.
But then I could say, oh, who's going that I know, you know, and that was nice. Although I'm not like, normally, I'm not usually like that. I don't really need, you know, have a buddy. But it was such a new experience just being in Vegas and doing the whole thing. I thought, well, yeah, it'd be nice. And so, as you know, I hooked up with Vicky and we stayed at the same hotel, which was nice to have somebody else, you know, in the same hotel share the experiences.
And then we became in the process of booking and discussing what we were going to do and, you know, what information we were confused about. We developed deeper friendship as well, which was nice. And I think it was nice for both of us to have each other there. But once we got there, we were just, okay. We'd already decided we were going to different talks and which talks we both wanted to do, so maybe we could do one for the other and share the information.
And so there's just so many benefits of going. And I think I have this thing with celebrant, and I have to be careful how I say this, but for me, as a celebrant, the most important thing I've done is, yes, I'm in a group, I'm in a fellowship of celebrants, and the only people in there are celebrant. But the most important shift for me in terms of knowledge, experiences, opportunities, has been joining just wedding industry group and strictly celebrant groups. When I've looked at.
I actually joined one and it was the worst thing I did. I left. And so for me, it's really important to be with people that are doing other things. Florists, cake makers, marketers. Because you can't understand from just your perspective the full scope of the wedding industry and the opportunity and understanding other people's problems, like cake makers, venue owners, makes you so more savvy and wiser in how you operate.
And my stereotypical wedding celebrant, in my mind, there are a few that are like me, but many I really can't relate to in the same way. And I think that's, that's really a shame that they, they have the idea. So if there's any celebrants listening to this, you know, the best tip I can give you for your business is go into other groups, go and experience things where it's not just celebrant, you know, and, and also, I don't even think my personality is like a lot of other celebrants.
You know, some are really out there, I'm not, and some are the opposite. And on this continuum, I'm sort of in the middle and I can be really out there and I can be more sort of restrained. Generally I'm sort of in the middle and I think either celebrate, most of celebrants I meet are either really sort of restrained or they're totally out there. And both of those points on the continuum I don't really relate to, you know, and I may be wrong. So feel free.
Any celebrants out there, come and shoot me down because I'd love to hear from you. But that is my opinion. So great doing this because it really reinforced that for me. I totally agree with you.
And I think actually any sector of the industry, whether you're a photographer, a florist, a cake maker, a celebrant, a venue, don't stick in your own lane, you should be going and mixing with all the other people in our industry because that's what makes our industry so wonderful, that we're all working together on this one goal, which is someone's incredible wedding, but yet we're all bringing something different to the table.
Now, you talked about Vicky and going out there with her and you mentioned that at times there were talks that you both wanted to go to at the same time. And at wedding, mba, there are a lot of talks, talks, a lot of talks happening at the same time as each other. And it always feels frustrating when two people are talking at the same time and you want to go and see them both because you can't. So talk about the education, some of the education you went to.
What were some of the things you brought back with you to the uk? What were some of the highlights or the things you learned in some of the sessions you did attend. Having said what I just said, this is, this is sort of quite funny that I'm going to say this now, but it is important.
What I didn't expect was that there are, there's lots of general talks you can go to about marketing reviews, things like that, which were brilliant, you know, late latest trends, tick Tock all those sorts of things. But there are specific talks for your, you know, your business. So there were specific celebrant talk and obviously in America they're officiant, they're not celebrant. And they were really useful because one thing you miss is because celebrants don't do a lot of stuff like this.
There aren't a lot of celebrants out there speaking about it. They just tend to do their stuff. And so that was really useful. And even though, you know, I was listening to one guy and he was talking about the regional variations in America, America for prices of celebrant even that was really. Because at first I thought, well, why do I need to know this? And I thought, no, actually this is really interesting.
One, because I'm a destination celebrant and two, just to understand that, you know, this doesn't just happen in the UK and in America there's massive differences between state and prices like you. So I decided to make sure I went to the celebrant talk and in the back of my mind I was thinking, oh well, if they're a bit boring, you know, I can always not go to the others. But actually they were brilliant. And some of the celebrants out there were quite, you know, famous, well known.
There was a guy who'd married Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, you know, and, and he was great to talk to him. You wouldn't ever know that. It was just that. I read it in his notes later on. But you just. When I was talking about learning, learning, learning. I had this thing that I, when I went to the mba, I had to go to everything, every second had to be totally maximized and that's just unworkable. You know, you're just so tired. You're tired because it's a new experience.
You're tired because of the travel. And so you have to factor that in when you're planning what you're going to go and listen to and who you're going to go and listen to. That's really important. So I went to some general talk. There wasn't any talk I went to, but I thought, it's of no use to me. They were all really useful. And sometimes when the speaker started I thought, oh, I'm not sure this is right for me. I don't really warm to this speaker.
But within a couple of minutes they'd always won me over and there were some that were hilarious. So obviously, you know, I saw your talk, which was amazing and even Though I've heard you talk before, there were new things in there. So when you say about, you know, couples, they look at you on 3.8 different sites on average. I often. I used to post on all the different sites, and then I decided just to focus on one or two, and that made me rethink things a little bit.
And something you said that everybody else said was, have your reviews on every page of your website. Don't just have a reviews page. And I'm like, redoing my website now. So that was okay. And that was the one thing, you know, that was. Of all the things that I heard repeated, the thing about the reviews was the one that everybody said, that's interesting. Yeah. And some people actually said, don't have a review page. Just have it scattered across your website.
And other people said, you can still have your page, but definitely have it, you know, have. Have the words coming across, you know, your landing page, all that sort of stuff. So that was interesting that everybody said that. I. I saw Lovella Brides Nari who did TikTok Boom. And that was interesting because she had a lot of problems with her presentation and the sound, which is a nightmare for any speaker, and she dealt with that really well.
But she was like, I'm going to go through this really quick, hard and fast. Don't bother taking notes. It's all on the QR code. And everybody was like, oh, wow, you know, this is a bit hard. But actually, she did go through everything really quickly, but it was really useful. And you needed not to be writing. You needed to be watching and listening. And then there was Reni Darlow, who talked about Master Law Marketing. And she's a really big shot in America, apparently.
You know, she's like a celebrity. She was really good. And there's this whole, you know, sort of when she came to stage, it was all like, you know, it was like Oprah Winfrey had stepped up or something. And you sort of think, oh, okay, this is America. This is a bit corny. I'm not sure this is me. But then when she started talking, she was so good, and she was just really clear and down to earth, and it was great. And there was some woman who was hilarious. Shannon Tarrant, her name was.
And do you know of her? Have you seen her? I did. I met her out there, actually. I think I'm going to try and get her on the podcast. So give us something that she. She said that was funny. She was just like, Rebel Wilson. That's it. One of the first things she said. She said, oh, you know, and she swore and she said. And then she said, I'm amazed they've even let me speak because normally nobody lets me sweep because I swear so much and I say naughty things. And then it just.
And so she had everyone in stitches. And she did swear at this. She said, I'll try not to. And every time she did, she said, oh, you know, there's me again. And she was just. Whatever she said, it didn't matter because she was just pure entertainment. But what she said was brilliant. And she was talking about public, publicizing monetarizing reviews and how you do that. And she was saying, you know, that people are looking when they look at your reviews, they're looking for recency, consistency.
You know, the stuff she was saying was really clear and easy and, you know, named it. If you're in a team, people want to know about named employees in the review. So when they come and see you, if you say, oh, you know, this is Pete, he's going to show you around, they can make that connection. Oh, that was a guy that was someone in review was raving about. She said, and that gives you cred before you've even done anything because people relate to the people, people they've read about.
She was, you know, talking so much about it and how you get reviews, even from the first day that they sign a contract with you, you sort of drip feed into the contract that, you know, they're expected to do review, but you do it in a really nice way. And she was just so good, you know, I did managing social media. So all the talks really were about marketing and social media, but the trends one was really good. That was useful. I always love the trends talk.
The trends talk is one of my favorite talks at Wedding mba. It's one of the ones I actually went and sat through because I do find it fascinating to see what's coming out of the States. Sometimes they're ahead of us on the trend, sometimes they're behind us. But often you think you see things in that talk where I did last year, and I think that's never coming here.
And then six months later I wake up and see emperor and I think, oh, goodness me, my favorite thing in that talk was the Tower of Brussels sprout. 100%, 100%. I've got a photo of that and I'm going to. I'm like, this is the trends are good for your social media media. So I haven't gone there yet, but I am going to go there on Instagram with them. And also, again, like I say, don't just be a celebrant, be a wedding industry pro. So when I talk to my couples, they're like, oh, I did.
You know, I want to decorate the backdrop. And I can say, well, you know what? This is really in for 2025. And they're like, wow, you know, this person knows what they're talking about. And we've got such good value because this celebrant is telling us, you know, what's in trend, what might look good on our table. And it just adds so much value, which is what it's all about. I love hearing from you, Amanda, because you in.
In a few minutes, you have covered so many different educational topics, and it just shows people the vastness of what you learn in those few days in Las Vegas and the quality of it. And one of the reasons I love Wedding MBA and I will keep shouting about it and I love speaking at it, is because they really focus on the quality of education. And I have been to a lot of conferences and I've spoken at a lot of conferences where there's a lot of boring speakers, uninteresting speakers, speakers.
Speakers that teach you stuff you don't want to know. And despite the fact that they have so many speakers at Wedding mba, they put a real emphasis on having the best. And they really do have the best wedding educators from across the world speaking there.
And I think it really shows, and it really shines through that if you go to a conference like that where they focus on the educators and who they're having and they're careful about who they pick, you therefore get a much higher level of education. 100%. 100%. And everything was really. It wasn't in your face, do this or do that at all. But there was no waffle. You know, it was like, this is what works. And the way you can do it is this.
And this is a really funny thing that happened to me when I did this. You know, it wasn't like, this works, do this, do this. 1.2. And it's really. It's a really simple thing, but just having that QR code right at the start of the talk, so you've got all the slides, means you can totally focus on what's going on and not have to worry about writing notes and all those sorts of things. And I remember Rennie Darlow, when she was talking about marketing, was.
And I was thinking this in the back of my mind, but I hadn't done anything. And she said, you know, like, make yourself accountable. Go out there today, now, after this talk and do one thing in terms of networking and put it on social media, something that's going to move your business forward. Just go and do it today. If you take nothing else from this talk, you need to go and do that. So I, I thought, okay, yeah, what can I do?
And I thought, well, I'm good at talking to people, so I'm going to go and interview. I'm going to go to the exhibition, the Exhibitors, which is a whole nother story of learning, and I'm going to go and find people that I think my couples would want to know about and interview them. And, you know, it was such good fun because I said, I met a few people and I said, can I do an interview with you? And they were like, what now? You know, And I said, yeah, it's fine.
You know, I'm just going to, I'm going to ask you these three questions because I might be able to link into you. I'm destination celebrant. I'll put you on Instagram. And they were like, oh, I don't normally do things, things like this. And I was, okay, you'll be fine. And that was really good for me as well, because I was suddenly the expert with them because I'm confident of speaking. And I said, look, these are the questions. We'll just run through them.
I said, we'll record it and if you don't like it, we don't have to, I won't use it, or we can do it again. And everyone I interviewed, about three people, and they all nailed it on the first take. It was great. But I had a really funny one with a woman who was on the Bahamas stand, you know, tourist board. And I said, you know, this is great. Would you do an interview? And she said, what? What, me? And I said, yeah. And she said, oh, I can't, I can't, I'll get somebody else.
And I said, no, no, no, you've just spoken to me for five minutes. And what you said was brilliant. You just have to say that again. And she's like, no, I have to get ready. I have to come back in an hour. I said, okay. I said, but look, you don't have to do. You just don't have to do this if you don't want to. I said, no, no, no, I do, I do, but come back in an hour. So I went back in an hour and she, she said, well, an hour gone. I'm not ready. I've not had time to prepare. And I said, don't.
Everything you said to me, if I'd recorded that I'd been put. You don't have to prepare. I said, I'll make it easy. And if, you know, you struggle to say something, I'll give you a prompt. No, no, no, no, no. Come back in a couple of hours. So I went back again and I said, it's me. And she had that look in her face, and we were laughing. I said, look, if you don't want to do it, just tell me. It's fine. I've interviewed a few people. It's not a problem.
No, no, no, I do, I do, but can you come back tomorrow? Honestly? So the next day I thought, oh, it's turning into such a pain. So I went back and guess what? She wasn't there. And I said, oh, is so and so here? To the other woman, they said, oh, no, no, she. She was only due to be on the stand for yesterday. Oh, no. So she never did it. She never did it. So I never. So unlucky. Bahamas. You missed out there. I'm sure they can cope, though.
But the really funny thing was I subscribed to a newsletter, probably from Instagram, and it's a guy in America who does wedding ceremony music. And his newsletter letters are brilliant. They're full of good ideas, downloads, everything. And on his email, he has a little photo of himself, you know, like you do on your business email. And so every time he sends an email, I see a little picture of him, and on the bottom, there's a picture of him. So I didn't, you know, put two and two together.
And I'm walking around this floor with hundreds of exhibitors, and I saw him. He was there. I just saw his face and it was so crazy. And I thought, so funny. So I went up to him and I said, I know you. And he said, we've never met. And I said, oh, yes, we have. So we had this whole conversation about how he emailed me every week, and then he did a really good interview as well, which is really nice.
So I think, you know, I read lots of things and people were saying, oh, you know, on Instagram, I met my goal. My goal was to network with five really important people every day. And, you know, there was lots of people had goals before they got there, which is great. But for me, I thought, I'm not going to do that, because that's another level of expectation on me, and I'd just rather do that organically.
And the Great thing About the wedding MBA is that you come from England because it's 80, 90% Americans, and you have a little sticker that says international. So people are like, oh, where are you from? What part of the world are you from? And the Americans love an English accent. Oh, they love it. Everybody wants to talk to you. So that's another really good thing to think about.
You are when you go to the wedding mba, yes, you're like all the other wedding professionals, but you're very different. You're a rare breed to Americans, and they love to talk to you. You're like the fountain of all knowledge of England. Yeah. You get to be a little mini English celebrity for the week because people love talking to us. I think it's interesting talking about your two different experiences there at the Expo.
There's two big learnings that I think people listening to this can take away. The first one with the lady who kept saying, come back, come back. I think that's something that a lot of business owners do. They say, oh, I just need to be ready for that. I can't do that yet. I can't put my prices up yet. I can't offer this yet. I can't go live on Facebook yet. And we keep pushing it back and pushing it back.
And, you know, I know a great book that I wrote myself called Done is Better Than Perfect, and it's the perfect example of that, where she should have just done it because it would have been great and she would have got the promotion and she would have been really pleased with herself for doing it, but actually she just pushed it and pushed it and pushed it and annoyed you, probably because you have to keep going back and then it never actually happened.
And so I think that's a lesson to everyone, like, stop pushing these things back. Just get on and do it. It will be fine. It won't be as bad as you think it is. And the second lesson, which I love talking about, is from your second guy with this photo on the email, how often I'm saying to people, put your face out there. Make sure people know the face behind the business. Make sure your face is on social media. Put your face on your stories, put your face in your emails. And it worked.
It worked for that guy because you saw him and he recognized you. And people recognized me all week because they'd seen my face all over social media, too. And so, yeah, I think there's two really great lessons there in your stories from the Expo. Stop putting things off and hiding away and not doing it. Number one. And number two, be brave. Brave. Put your face out there and get yourself in front of people because it works and people will recognize you. People buy from people.
That's how marketing works. Okay, There was a personal highlight for you, Amanda. I know as well that we haven't even touched on yet. And we've been talking for ages. And that was. I entered the biggest room in Las Vegas to go and sit and get my chair ready for the trends talk, which is one of the biggest talks that happens at NBA. And I wanted to be there. And I sat in my seat and I looked up on the stage and I thought, I think that's Amanda on the stage. What on earth is she doing up there?
So, Amanda, tell everyone what happened and how did you end up being on the stage? Well, on the first day, I went to one of the celebrant talks, and this guy that had married Britney Spears and all that, at the time, I didn't know that. He was just a really nice guy. And everybody knew him. Reverend Cliff. His name is Cliff Hunt Monk.
And he said, look, he interrupted a talk and he said, I just want to run this by you, but a couple met here a couple of years ago on the monorail on the way to the conference for the first time. And because they were both on their own, they started talking to each other. And hey, guess what? They fell in love. And they haven't a ceremony in Vegas, but they wanted to have a ceremony here as well on the stage because it was, you know, integral to them meeting and falling in love.
You know, it's everything to them. And what I thought would be nice is if we could get all the celebrants up there maybe behind the curtain as a surprise. And at a certain point in the ceremony when we announce them as, you know, husband and wife, we all do that together. And everyone was like, yeah, definitely. And he said, like, I think we'll probably be able behind a curtain then. I'm not sure how it's going to work, and it might not happen, but I'll get back to this was on the Tuesday.
He said, I'll get back to you before then, but if you don't hear from me, we'll probably, like do a rehearsal or something on Thursday, 10 minutes before. So I hadn't heard anything. And the other celebrants were, oh, wow, you know, this is good. And we were saying, what should we wear? And everyone said, oh, you know, just like a surprise. We're going to be behind the curtains. So just, you know, Casual, this sort of stuff. So. Oh, and that was the worst thing.
So I thought it wasn't going to happen because I hadn't heard anything. And then I was waiting to go into that talk and I could see all the celebrants gathering near the stage. And I said, oh, doing this. And they said, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're doing the rehearsal. And I said, oh, okay, okay. So I'm there in, like, jeans and just a shirt, and there were a few people dressed quite casually there.
And I thought, okay, this is okay, because, you know, it's just a bit of a thing, A funny thing, really. So we go on stage and we're starting the rehearsal and there's all these. These people coming in. And like you say, there's hundreds of people walking in, not knowing what's going on, and the bride and groom are nowhere to be seen. And then he said, right, actually, you're going to do it. You're going to stand on the stage for the whole ceremony. And I'm looking at my jeans thinking, oh.
And I was like, okay, just go with it. And then he said, and all the shortest people are going to stand right at the front. And it was like, oh, no. Double whammy. Just don't. Yeah, like, dress aside. Which I was mortified about. It was just surreal. It was a really surreal thing because I didn't know where they were the couple were going to come from. And they came from the back of the room. And, you know, that room was huge. It was massive.
So they're walking down this aisle and there's people walking past them, walking around them, and people stopping in their track and then they came up on the stage and I just. I don't know what was going through my mind. It was just so surreal. Looking at the people, everyone like you, I couldn't see you because obviously people were miles back. Everyone, Everyone. Nobody knew it was going to happen beforehand apart from us.
So people are just getting their books out, pens out, sorting their bags, all of a sudden, looking up at the stage and we're up there thinking, we know what's going to happen, and you don't know. And it was just incredible. It was. And he. Afterwards, he said. He got really. When we went backstage, afterwards, backstage, look at me, movie star vibe. We went backstage with the Rev. He said, guys, that I. I didn't expect that.
I've done so many ceremonies for important people, but I got really emotional. And I did as well, because when I. Because I was up front, I could see everything quite close up. And when they were exchanging rings and doing their vows, their hands were shaking so much. And it was really lovely because it was like, this isn't a joke. This to them. This is probably more important than the 10 minute ceremony they've just had. And it, yeah, it was just an incredible experience.
And you know, who would have ever thought that would have happened before I got to Vegas or four years ago when I was starting my business? You know, I never thought. And I was just thinking, wow, this is this whole thing. And the whole experience for me on my journey is just the real. You couldn't write it. You definitely couldn't write it. I couldn't believe it when I saw you up there. And now you can say I've been part of a wedding ceremony in Las Vegas alongside a celebrity officiant.
Because that's exactly what you did. And I know that you loved it. And I think it was such an experience. And again, it's that done is better than perfect because you could have gone, oh, I'm not wearing the right thing. Oh, I won't do it. Oh, I don't want to turn up. What if it doesn't happen and not been part of it? But again, like this kind of the theme of this whole episode has been no regret. Right? You're glad you did it.
And as well, although I was like, I'd never wear this sort of outfit for a ceremony. This is going to be awful. And the photos would be, oh, you know, I thought, do you know what, Ms. Vegas? Anything goes in Vegas. You know, you get married by Elvis. Anything goes. That is true. Anything does go in Las Vegas.
Which is going to bring me on to what want to talk to you about next before we finish this episode, Amanda, which is we've talked a lot about wedding mba, but also this was your first time, I believe, visiting Las Vegas. So if anyone's thinking about going to Wedding MBA Las Vegas or just going there on holiday, like, what were some of your personal highlights of Las Vegas itself? I didn't know whether I would like it or not. And I have cousins in America.
They were telling me certain things, people were telling me certain things. And friends said, oh, I think you'll like it or I think will do your head in, you know. So I had all these different things and I thought, okay, let's see. You know, I didn't, I took all the, I listened and I just thought, you know, let's see. Because nobody knows you better than you, so. And I actually thought, I probably, I probably like bits, but I probably overall won't like it. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it.
And it's crazy, but not in the way that you expect it to be. Like, you hear all sorts of things about Sin City and, you know, scantily clad women in harassing you on the pavements and prancing around. And, yeah, that does happen. But one, it's not as bad as you hear, and two, it doesn't happen as often. And it certainly doesn't happen if you're in certain places. You know, it's very rare and there is just not nowhere else on the planet like it that there isn't.
It's. People say it's like Disneyland and it is, but it isn't. Everything is huge. Everything is. It's not tackling, you know, it's a millionaire's playground. So people say, oh, Las Vegas is cheap. It's all about gambling. It's tacky. It's more than that. It's much more than that. It's about luxury, high end experiences. You get a peek into how the rich and famous live. You know, you can walk around Caesar's Palace. You might bump. I think Usher stays at Caesar's Palace Hotel.
You might bump into Usher. I know people that have been there and bumped into celebrities. It's. You get to see how these people live, where they stay, you know, what they experience. And everybody's so friendly. Everybody's really friendly. And it feels very safe when you're on the Strip. When I travel as a solo female traveler, when it gets dark, I tend not to go out because it's just not safe. And one night Vicki couldn't go out. And again, it was like, just still go out.
You wanted to go to Ole Red, go. You know, Vicki can't come, you'll be fine, go. So I went and it was packed and I had to sit at the bar amongst all these men to eat. And it was very, you know, it was a tight squeeze and there was some quite nice cowboys in there, actually, I have to say. But everyone was very well behaved. And I went up to Terrace, I met these Spanish guys. I was chatting to them for ages. And then I looked out because I thought, oh, this night is too young to go home.
And I looked out and it was packed. There were hundreds of couples walking along the Strip across the bridges. And I thought, well, that's perfectly safe for me to be out there wandering around on my own. And so I went and I spent two hours, and it must have been probably from 11 till about 2 in the morning, just wandering around. Everywhere was busy. You know, there was police around, but not in your face. You could walk through the hotels. I felt really safe.
And so whatever you think about Vegas is probably wrong. So just until you know. It's like, until you've experienced it, you can't really comment about it. You can say what you think, and everyone's entitled to opinion. But I think in life, you should go to Vegas at least once. Yeah, I agree with you, actually. I definitely agree with you. And what's interesting to me, obviously, that was the second time I'd been. And I'd been last November, and.
And yet I still did so many things that I hadn't done the year before, because there's just so much to experience. And I've already got a list of things that if I happen to go back again next year, that I still want to do, that I didn't have time to do because there is just so much. And it's interesting you talk about the safety, because I always feel really safe there. And after my last trip, I was reflecting on why that is, and I realized it's because you have to feel safe there.
There's millions and bazillions of pounds in these casinos going round and round and round, and the security has to be top notch because they need to protect their money. And actually, it is really safe for that very reason on the whole, in most places on the Strip, because, you know, they want to look after their millions. They need to look after their staff that are working in these casinos and dealing with all these different people. And everyone is super friendly as well.
So there is definitely now a little special place for Las Vegas in my heart, which sounds bonkers because I am quite a conservative kind of person. But it's not what people think it is, actually. There is so much more. There is so much more to it. Okay, Amanda, before I let you go, if people are listening to this and thinking, this sounds bonkers, this sounds crazy, but maybe I'd like to have a little taste of what they're talking about. And they're thinking maybe 20, 25 is a year for them.
So you go to Las Vegas and go and experience wedding mba. As a wedding business owner in the uk, what would you say to them? Why do you think it's worth them considering doing that? Because you'll learn a lot. And when you learn a lot about, you learn a lot about yourself, and that makes you a better person. That makes you a better business owner. And you learn a lot about the wedding industry and about how it works in other.
In other countries, their values and the way they do things, which obviously, on a very practical level is always useful. You make great connections. You end up with more followers on Instagram of all these connections you make, but that's good because you can tag them into what you're doing. And holistically, you know, emotionally, practically, spiritually, whatever aspect of you you look. Look at, it's a good experience.
And you learn a lot, you learn a lot about yourself and it motivates you, it motivates you personally to do more things like that. You surprise yourself with assumptions you had made about Vegas and about how you would fit in and how it would work for you. They all get blown out of the window in a really positive way. And so you think, you know, I'm not going to make these assumptions anymore. I'm just going to go and do these things. And as you say, done is better than perfect, you know, and.
And it's just the transformation that you go through and the change in you once you come back is incredible. Whether you decide to go again or not, that's totally irrelevant. It's just that first experience is huge. And whether you go back or whether you want to go back as a speaker, which you can do, obviously, which you've done, and whether you go back with a different agenda or mindset, all that is secondary really.
It's just the transformation for you and your business that it triggers and the motivation as well, well, it's. It's impossible to describe. And for me, you know, I'm all about moving my business forward. I'm always motivated, disciplined, open to ideas. But even for me, it brought about. This massive shift and it's re energizing. That's what I always find when I come back.
It re energizes me to be amongst people and to be amongst new ideas and to be amongst creative thoughts and it gives me fresh ideas and fresh perspective. And I think the other thing is, and I don't know if you reflected on this, Amanda, but I say to people it will set you apart here in the uk. UK as well. So for me to say I am the only European speaker at the wedding mba, of all those speakers is huge for you.
You were the only celebrant in the whole of the UK that probably this is one we don't know about, that took the initiative, traveled to Las Vegas, learned that stuff, wedded someone on the stage while you were there. And even in our market, that sets you apart because it goes, yeah, this is how serious I am about my business. I know what I'm talking about because I'm the celebrant that left this country to fly across the world to better my business 100%. And you really feel that?
I mean, I'm quite a confident person, as you might have noticed, but you eat, you get even more confidence by doing something like this. And also you just. When I first came back, I was so driven to tell everybody how brilliant it was and that they should go, you know, and even in my fellowship of celebrants, which is very conservative, I undered about putting about the wedding that I did. And I thought, yeah, do you know what to say to people? Look, you know, there's a whole world out there.
And I was hoping that someone in that group might have DM DM'd me and said, wow, tell me more about this conference. They haven't as yet, which I'm not sort of surprised about, to be honest. But you know, there's that whole thing where you want to tell everybody to go and tell them how good it is. And even if it's not Vegas, just go to a conference abroad, a wedding business conference abroad, whether it's America, Canada, wherever, because, you know, it is a real feather in your cap.
But much, much more than that. You'll just, you'll evolve so much more and it will take your business steps further ahead and in ways that you don't think. And you'll make great connections, you know, like the guy from Disney World, Florida, you know, Matt Tanner, he was just hilarious. And we now follow each other on Instagram, you know, and I'm looking at the weddings he's doing and we talked about me doing weddings there.
And it may never happen, but the seed is there, we know each other and that's how things develop. You know, you've got to put yourself out there 100%. And now you know why I came back last year. I wanted to tell everyone to come with me because you just want everyone else to experience it as well. And if you are thinking of going next year, I did check and my discount code, which is my name, Becca, does work on this year's ticket.
So if you are thinking of going, go and check out the wedding MBA website. I'll put my links in the show notes and use that discount code. Becca. It's just my name and it gives you quite a good discount on the tickets. Amanda, we've talked for ages. So before we end, I always end my podcast with the same question. So I'm going To pose that to you now, and it's this. What's. What's one thing you wish you'd known sooner in your own wedding business?
I thought about this, and there are so many things, but there's one thing which is really holistic and overriding. And on the surface, it's really simple, but the layers run deep. And the one thing I'd wish I'd have known was that it would all turn out okay. Because when I first started out, I didn't know anything about. I knew I had been trained well even before I started training. It was, where is this going? What's going to happen? How do I manage this?
And then obviously learning about business, Business. If I'd have known it was going to turn out as well as it has, and trust me, it could be better, but relatively, it's good, I would have been braver. I mean, I'm brave now because of it, but I would have been braver. I would have put myself out there more much earlier on, and that would have been better. But, you know, it's all part of the process.
And I. I found this quote, so normalize standing in awe of possibility instead of in fear of uncertainty. That's fantastic. And when I first started out, that was it, the fear of uncertainty. I was standing in the fear of uncertainty rather than I should have been standing in the aura of possibility. And that's exactly it.
Because if I'd have thought, yeah, this is definitely going to work, I'm going to be good at it, and had that sort of confidence and assertiveness from day one, I think things would have progressed a lot quicker. I still would have made mistakes, but you know you're going to make mistakes when you start your own business. But I think it just would have served me better. I agree. And sometimes it's us that gets in our own way more than anything else. Amanda, this has been such a fun conversation.
I'm sure people can hear our enthusiasm just chatting again together about this event. If people want to find out more about you, about your business, connect with you, or even talk to you more about your experiences in Vegas, where's the best place for them to find you? I'm on all social media, Instagram. I'm amandaseremonies, and my website is amandaseremonies.com and Facebook. I'm Amanda's Beautiful Ceremony Ceremonies, and that's my business name, Amanda's Beautiful Ceremony.
So probably website or Instagram is where it's better to find me. And you can book a call if Becca puts my details on here. You can just DM me for a chat about the wedding MBA or anything. Amazing. I will put all of your details in the show notes for people to check out and they can go and have a look on your Instagram and see some of those interviews you did as well, because I've seen some of those have been posted. You can see your pictures.
Anna, I know that you would be more than happy to chat to anyone, anyone who's looking to grow their business, grow their celebrancy business, or just find out more about Las Vegas. Amanda, it's been so fun. It was so fun to be with you in Vegas. It's so fun to reflect on the experience. Thank you so much and I hope to see you again somewhere very soon. Thank you. It's been great. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to go to the wedding mba.
It's been a game changer and I've loved talking to you today, so thank you. Such a fantastic conversation with Amanda. I just love how much joy we both have on our face when we're having the conversation about this event. And what's been amazing for me this year is last year I experienced it pretty much on my own. And what I love is that this year some UK wedding pros and venues took the initiative, came out to Vegas with me, and now they're experiencing the same thing.
So perhaps that could be you next year. If you're listening to this and thinking even just a small little bit, like, I want a taste of what they're talking about, reach out to me. I'll be very honest with you. We'll chat, I'll tell you about what it entails, and maybe you too could be on the podcast talking about your experience in Vegas in 2025. I'll see you next time.