Tag: event professional blog

4 Wedding Planner Pet Peeves – Friendors Consultancy

Our industry is full of so many different talents – musicians, florists, photographers, designers, planners, etc, and we each are so into our specific art in the event industry that sometimes we may not think about the other professionals we’re working alongside and how their experience might be entirely different than ours. The florist may not be thinking about the DJs job and the DJ might not even make small talk with the caterers in order to know their struggles and triumphs. Of course we all work together but we don’t work together in a traditional sense – which means we may not entirely understand each other’s art.

Since there’s a little wall there, we’re here to share some insights into each specific vendors world – their pet peeves, and we are starting with Wedding Planners.

Here are 4 Pet Peeves of wedding planners.

1. When you don’t reply within 24 hours. Wedding planners know that however you treat them is how you are going to treat their clients they send to you. When you don’t reply immediately or take more than 24 business hours to get back to them, you’re losing brownie points and most likely a lot of business. They want to reply to their clients right away so reply to them right away.

2. Ignoring the schedule. Wedding planners and coordinators spend tremendous amounts of time on the day of schedule – don’t decide to make changes yourself or that you’re just not going to look at it (skimming it once doesn’t count). Don’t extend bridal portraits into the beginning of dinner or hair and makeup into the first look time. Just like…don’t.

3. When you don’t credit them in your posts. Wedding planners are so often left behind when it comes to crediting the talent on social platforms. The makeup artist will tag the photographer and florist, the venue will tag the caterer and designer, and the photographer will tag the clients. Somehow the wedding planner gets lost in that shuffle. Make sure you tag the planner in every post from the wedding. Every post. The day wouldn’t be smooth without them so do your due diligence in crediting where credit is due.

4. When you drink on the job. This should be a no brainer but for some reason we still have to include this one. We see it way too often and so do planners and it peeves them. Oh, it really peeves them.

Coming soon, 3 DJ Pet Peeves.

Florists, do you have any pet peeves? How about you, Venue Owners?

Reach out to share your experiences with us. Schellie@FarOutGalaxy.com

4 Ways To Get Motivated About The Industry Again – Friendors Consultancy

Feeling jaded, burnt out? We know how it feels and we’re here to tell you that it’s normal to encounter boredom many years into your career – we think most people, regardless of what industry they are in, can get stuck doing things a certain way and get bored or burnt out on something they in actuality love, without realizing. (if you’re encountering these feelings too early on in your career, maybe you should reconsider your path instead of looking for ways to get motivated?)

You know you’re a die hard wedding and party fan, you know you love the industry, but are just a little worn out after years of wedding and event seasons – that’s okay. We’re sure Britney Spears has days where she doesn’t want to go on stage because she’s not feeling it. But you know what she does? She battles through like a Diva and loves every minute of it, finding new ways to enjoy it, and falls in love with performing over and over again – just like you do (and can do) with your business.

So, here are 4 simple ways to get you motivated about this incredible industry again.

  1. Go to a conference – they excite like no other. The classes (if you choose wisely from the line ups) are totally beneficial and educational, get you pumped like a mofo, and have you coming home with so many new ideas. But it doesn’t stop there (man, I swear). They also have PARTIES at these conferences. And guess what? These parties are for YOU. Yes, that’s right – after a lifetime of making other peoples parties bomb ass, you get a bomb ass one for you and all your Friendors. After watching everyone else drink and have fun event after event after event (times almost every weekend of the year), you get to grab yourself a few cocktails and shake your cute lil thang. And when you’re dancing like a wild child in the middle of the dance floor or talking with an entrepreneur you admire that you got to meet after class, you remember why you began in the party industry to begin with – you love events and want everyone to have this heart exploding feeling you feel right in this moment. Going to your own party makes you appreciate all parties.
  2. Attend a wedding without any expectations. This one is a little difficult because it’s mostly in our heads. We all get caught up with wanting every wedding to be the prettiest wedding ever, the one wedding that makes us go viral online and makes the phone start ringing so much that you have to hire a team of receptionists (the dream!). We want these things so badly that we forget about the couples and create expectations in our head and are let down by our own fault, instead of appreciating each love story for what it is – beautiful. We challenge you (and ourselves!!) to go to a wedding without any expectations. Don’t be sad if a couple spends 500 on flowers instead of 5,000. Don’t think DIY means ugly (we’ve found it to usually mean the opposite because artists do DIY weddings often). Don’t think about how you would have done it if it were yours. It’s not yours – it’s theirs and it’s perfect and you should just enjoy the honor of being a part of it.
  3. Do something just for you at the wedding. We know we just told you that it’s all about the couple and to drop your expectations at the door, but if you’re feeling down – go in with plans to do something just for you to make you enjoy the night. We once told a DJ who was tiring of playing the same top 40’s music every weekend to choose a song he really dug before each wedding, whether it was one the crowd would know or not, and make plans to play it. Just for himself. Mix it in some fun way to make it about the crowd so they enjoy it too. It will rejuvenate you to go in and get something you want out of an event and to see other people digging it.
  4. Personal projects are where it’s at. By personal projects, we mean a couple of things. We mean personal as in nothing to do with your career personal, and personal as in a decision to make your career more fun personal. Styled shoots are a great form of personal projects – the kind that make your career more fun which makes your personal life better. It’s your chance to do what you would do if it were yours (it’s okay to have those thoughts, just not at every wedding!). You’re tired of seeing the same style weddings every weekend? Design something you want and get it published and put it on your website. You sell what you show so if you show what you want, your personal life gets better because you enjoy your weddings more. And don’t stress over it – these personal projects aren’t things you have to do and you shouldn’t treat them like work, even if it helps your work life. They’re projects. Fun art projects.

Until next time, click here to read more Friendor Tips.

XOXO