GET TO KNOW YOUR WEDDING PRO®
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTIONS - PART 6
*Please forgive any spelling or typographical errors. Episodes listed in the order they were recorded.
Grace MacLeod, Wedding Officiant
Well, thank you so much for checking out the Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast. We're doing video form now. We've been doing it for the last couple of weeks. I'm very excited to have Grace MacLeod joining me. We connected in the wedding vendors, Facebook page. And she has a wedding officiant, which is great. I think it's awesome to just get as many different vendor types as we can on here and wedding officiant. I think you're so important, especially right now where that's kind of, all we're doing is, is. Their ceremonies, but grace, thank you so much for joining us. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Okay. Well, as I said, I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I've actually been at a ceremony officiant for decades, but just moving into the wedding space and also here in this Seattle Pacific Northwest area. So this kind of networking is gold in any industry. And especially when we can't. See each other as much. So thank you so much reading. I live on Bainbridge Island and I'm an officiant. I'm also a personal growth and spiritual coach and I lead retreats and workshops and they do a ton of relationship coaching. So for couples, I do the pre let's really make sure we're on the same page. Let's get really clear what we want for our ceremony. And then let's do some support sessions. So this can last a lifetime that you want it to. So that's a really satisfying part of my work. I also do lots of other things. Being an entrepreneur, especially in today's economy, I've had to learn to be really creative. So maybe we'll get into that a little bit. That's the nugget right there. It was great. Yeah, no, I was actually just talking with my wife, Dorothy, about this last night, about how. Like you said with the networking and just how tight our community is. And it's, it's so important. It just, and especially right now with everyone trying to, you know, I do these podcasts and I do my best mate weddings podcast, where we're talking with round tables with people. And it just, I think people really enjoy feeling like they can connect right now because it's so hard to like, make those connections being at home. And, and it's so important, like you were saying about doing the counseling. Cause I do think I came one of the past long time ago, episodes we did at the podcast. Ray van Winkle, who is a wedding officiant kind of extraordinary. He came on and said, cause I said, you know, what's the deal. People nowadays think weddings are so passe, these big weddings, you know what, what's the deal? And he said, No matter what it is. It's so important to have something that two people, you know, male, female, whatever it is. Planning together to, to, you know, join families and beliefs and cultures and finance decisions and all this different stuff. And the wedding is a great way. You can do that. Other ways, obviously to buy the wedding is a really great way to just kind of meld all that. So how, how did you get involved? I was looking through your website. I mean, tremendous life experience. I don't even. Really even know where to start. So. Why don't you direct me to where we should start here. Well, that's what I was going to ask you. I don't know if you'd like me to talk about what I do in the wedding officiating or give my background. Cause that will kind of make it a little bit more contexted I think we should can text it. Okay. So I've been a lifelong nomad. I didn't expect this. All I want to do is get married and live in the house with a white picket fence and none of that's happened. And there's been something about my life purpose that I am guided to very, very specific places on the planet. And it's always a date with destiny. There's always some people there that either need to work with me. Or I need to connect with, and there's something about the place itself and. I got my degree in social work and I was going to try and change the social fabric that was all messed up and saw how hard that was. And when I was quite young, I got involved in yoga. And got the whole concept of transforming from the inside out. And I was home. I just said, this is my way. So I actually quit my career and went and lived in a yoga center for 15 years. And help grow it into one of the biggest ones in the planet. And I became a teacher there. And my teaching has always been experiential and it's always been about growing yourself, know yourself, be the best person you can be. And then you bring that into everything, into your relationships, your work. You're whatever, but if I'd come from the world of kind of therapeutic understanding and talk therapy and everything, and this was all about having experiences. If you have an experience, you'll get your own knowing your own truth. So my whole teaching facilitating career has been about providing experiences and engaging people to participate. And it's always involved ceremony. I mean, the very, very first time I went to this yoga center, we all gathered in the big room and the very first thing they do is they light a candle and waving incense sticks. And it's like, well, this is a little weird. I've never done this before. And I was surprised how it would just settle me down and get me connected. And we were explained, it was explained. This little candle represents the light in everybody. The incense represents the ethers and let's just take in a breath and chat a word called home and. I could feel not only me, but everybody settle. So my work is breath based on the breath coach and pretty much everywhere we go. I see people aren't breathing and they're not very connected. And yet, especially for weddings, it's all about love. And it's all, like you said, it's about bringing together not only to individuals, but to whole histories, to family lineages, all that. Tells two cultures. So I, I am a metaphysician. I would say I work with energy and I helped bring that, which she feels disconnected and separate. And bring it together, especially in the energy of love. So weddings are just so natural for me. It's so interesting. Talking about the, your yoga background. I used to love yoga. I used to go when I met Dorothy, I think I was going, you know, six or seven times a week. Couldn't get enough event. And then once I started the business, I was just like, I'm such a workaholic. You know, I said, well, man, that's a lot of time that we could be anybody, but it is itself. It's just so great to not only for the, for the mental and the physical, I just, you know, my body never felt better, you know, my back and, and every, you know, I've so much. Whatever, just from carrying the camera for, you know, 15. Yes. What is it about all that, but you, I mean, to spend 15 years, you know, building all that, what, what did you enjoy so much about kind of that lifestyle? Well, we were a tribe. We were a community. We started with 10. We grew to 15 that's when I got involved and we grew to 350 and we lived this as a lifestyle. We ran a business and grew it into a multimillion dollar success story. And we lived the yoga lifestyle. So we got up in the morning and general yoga and our breathing and our centering. And then we brought all of that into our work life. And then we played together and sports and everything, and the whole world came to us. So I had felt very early on that I was meant to serve the world. But I didn't know how that was going to happen. And they re they came to us and we started out as this little hippie Asher I'm in the back list and grew into this very high quality. You know, wellness center. So I just, I was like a fish to water. And then when I learned these very ancient breathing practices that are so simple, I could just feel my purpose coming alive. And then to give, like I said, to give people experiences and watch them shift from that disconnected, stressed out. Lonely, whatever down into this, you could see it in their faces. Even after one day or one yoga session, you could see the stress come off their faces. You could see them breathing. And then when they would take that home into their lives, it was so impactful. So I loved it. However, it was an infrastructure, it was basically a call like they all are, and I outgrew it and I learned that I know how to connect directly to the source and I don't need any rules telling me how to do it. And plus it was. It was kind of informed by that. And I was just doing it. So I just took a quantum leap and left and walked away from my work and my family and my sense of place. And when I lived in Hawaii. Which was amazing and I'd felt this intuition go find this, but find it in nature. So there's no more beautiful place in nature than Hawaii. And brought it all with me and started doing my own private practice. And Hawaii is such a ceremonial culture. I mean, there isn't anything they do without offering a lay or doing a chant or doing a hula, or even when they come to each other's houses, they bring. Some food it's like, I. From the abundance of my life. And I share what I have with you, even if it's a pineapple. So I went from one kind of. Ceremonial culture into another one. And, and. And the wedding industry there is amazing. And everyone I met was in the wedding industry. So I started officiating out there and it was lovely. But I had to get, come back to the mainland to take care of my elderly mom. So that was short lived, but. Where was the community you were living there? Where was that? It was, it started in Pennsylvania and went to Massachusetts. It's Kripalu, yoga and health center. It's not as well known out here, but it's the biggest one in the East second SLN or it's really huge. So anyway, That was my foundation. And then when I left. The people that I knew in the executive world wanted what we had. And so I started bringing us all to corporations and taking the high rollers. Out of their corner suites and into their yoga outfits. Helping them really start to live and lead from the heart. So that was very satisfying. Well that's. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's so necessary when you know, all these trying to, I mean, I'm sure I'm sure it's big money, you know, to do all that. And I'm sure it's a great experience, you know? It is. And it worked really, really well in the 80s when everything was booming. And then when the economy tanked, it all kind of went away and now it's having a wonderful resurgence. Just to get to how I got here after Hawaii, I went back East and then I got guided to come to Seattle. And I had only been here once. I was like, Seattle. Wait a sec. Just trust. You're meant to be there. So I actually ended up over in Fauntleroy Cove in West Seattle. Probably not very far from you. Rented a little apartment on the beach. And I didn't know the area at all, but I had my corporate clients downtown. And I love the area, but I didn't know anybody. And I have a really, really strong connection with nature. It's just always been there. And I would notice in the mornings that I would get woken up by this weird bird call that I didn't recognize. And I would make me go outside and it's like, what? And it's just massive, big bald Eagle. And I started to pay attention. It was every morning, almost at the same time. And I saw that he flew over from Blake Island and it was raiding the tree above where I lived. And I said, this is not an accident. This is a companion, a totem, whatever you call it. So I started calling and like equally guy and I said, okay, I'll have an Eagle for a friend. I don't have any friends yet. And I talked to him and I just know the whole symbolism of Eagles and everything. However, then winter came and I am not a great person at all. I love the sun and got really, actually really low and down and so closed in. So I just kind of lost my way and I was like, okay, I've got my work, but what the hell am I doing here? And I don't know. And I thought just go out and be in nature. You know, that's what you coach everybody to do. Go be with what is, and I went for a walk in the Cove. And I was on my way down and I came back and I saw something floating in the edge of the water. And I thought it was a creative soul stick and I reached down. And this came out of the water. And I swear at that very moment, my ego went by and I felt this message lift up, rise up, come on up over the clouds. Remember who you are. You're here to serve. You're a vessel of love and grace in the world. Get on your horse and do what you do. So, this has been my ceremony companion for the last 25 years. And I've used it in every, I do space blessings and home blessings, and I bless babies and I bless people that are dying. And so I've been using it in my weddings for the couples that wanted, if they don't want it, it's fine. And it's surprising how evocative it is just to wave this thing. Tell a story. And, and I blessed the couple and the wedding party and the guests and the zoom families. And it's just a very sweet way to bring the spirit of nature into, and it's, it works in a spiritual wedding and in a secular wedding, just nature works for everybody. So I really wanted to share my ego. Better with you. And this has been, it's been a lovely thing to bring to my weddings. That's awesome. So you said when you were back in Hawaii and you got involved in, in, in the wedding industry, what was it? Like having, you know, cause I, I was in like news and I worked in TV. And so for me, like the weddings was, it was totally a different, like I didn't have a lot of friends, they got married and stuff. Like I had no contacts. What was it like having, you know, lived. On the East coast, you got to Hawaii and then you're kind of thrust into this wedding world. What was that like? It's kind of stunning. I mean, there's brides everywhere and people dressed up on the beach with the wind blowing and everything's going on. And the most beautiful ones was when a true Hawaiian was the officiant and they'd have the conch shell and they'd be there Chan doing chanting or Hulu or whatever. So I would find myself in tears just seeing them on the beach or whatever. And it just so happened that the people that I connected with the very first people through our videographer couple that moved from Chicago and started their own little video company on Maui. And. Been thriving until now. So they actually asked me to officiate for some friends of theirs. And I got started in the, all the, the wedding planners and all of the beautiful resorts. They're just designed for the great big fancy, you know, destination weddings. It's interesting. There's so much for a big wedding. That goes into all the logistics and the rehearse, not that the rehearsal, but the outfits and the party that I noticed that there was a lot of [unknown] going on and not a lot of focus on the ceremony. And I, that's why I liked the authentic ones when people would fly their own officiant, Janoff, and uncle Bob, or aunt Sally. It wasn't so great. But the vendors were phenomenal, just so committed to really making inquiry. It's not always easy to do an outdoor wedding when the wind's blowing and everything. So I really came to respect the photographers and the videographers and the indicators and the flower people. And. It's a big deal to pull something off. So I was loving it and I thought I'd stay on. That would be my life. And then like, put me back here. And rebuilding it again here. It's the same thing. It's like, I want you guys. I know you're there. You've been here for a long time. I don't know how to get the couples to know me other than to have you guys, you know me. So this is why this is great. That's interesting. Yeah. I didn't even think about how devastated the Hawaiian wedding industry must be. It's heartbreaking. I mean, it's. It's. I would even say it's like 50% of the tourism. Oh yeah. Is the weddings and they're all not doing a thing. Cause nobody can come. So they're having a rough time. Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah. Cause I know that there's, you know, and even just, you know, people trying to fly in and do it, you know, especially the people that are living there. Yeah. It's gotta be. Yeah, you can't, you can't, you have to stay in quarantine for two weeks just to get onto the Island. So. So when you, when you're doing these wedding ceremonies, what, whether you try to focus on what's kinda your, your drive. Okay. Because I'm a relationship person. It's all about getting to know the couple. So because of this, we've mostly been meeting online. I haven't told you how I ended up getting started here, but I will at some point. So we're doing, you know, it's interesting, some young couples they're like, okay, well we'll just meet once and that's enough. And then we'll have our ceremony. It's like, not if you want it to be your ceremony. I mean, I can pull something out of my. Pack for you, but it's not going to be your ceremony. So it's, and I'm sure most efficient that are really in this to do a good job. Say the same thing. I really get to know them. And I asked them just like, you're doing, tell me about your life. Tell me how you met. Tell me what's really important to you. And really listen, what kind of ceremony do you want? And they're like, Oh, well, you know, it's just, you know, our friends can't be their family can't be there. So I was like, no, you're getting married is this is actually a metaphysical joining of your lives, make it your own. So they'll tell me. And often they don't have a clue. They don't, they've never been married before, especially the young couples. So that's where I get to offer them. Well, we have this ritual and that ritual, and we have this prayer and we have this music and we have this thing that your, your dearly beloved can participate in. And once I offer them the suggestions, I can see them lighting up. It's like, Oh, that sounds neat. That sounds like us. So I give them the suggestions and then they give me kind of who they are and something in my creative juices, I'm a workshop retreat designer. It just starts to turn on. And it's the most satisfying part. I start to feel a piece of music or I think about a specific ritual or a reading. So there's a lot of back and forth. It's surprising. Some people think, why do. The officiant charge, what they do. It's like you have no idea how much planning if you really want to do it. Well, And I can feel the relationship building and it actually gets them talking, Oh, we were really never even discussed that. And, and, you know, do you want family involved? No, I don't want my mother involved or, Oh my God. Don't bring on uncle Joe into it or yes, we do. And. How to do that. And then there's the whole disappointment about not getting to have people there. And I've found some really sweet ways. One of the really sweet, there was one, couple that were so disappointed. They could only have their immediate family. So the mom was my contact and I said, do you know the names of all the bridesmaids? There's gonna be 10 bridesmaids Jen's group Crimson and who needed to be here? That can't be here. And without the couple knowing we got a list and everybody that was there read off five of the names of the people that they had. And the couple were in tears. And I said, just calling their name, brings them here. Just opened everybody's hearts and grandma was from, from New York, was on zoom and she was crying. So there's lots of ways in my I'm a heart person. So the more I can settle people in once we get there. And I often will start with a little chat and then we do a centric. I have people close their eyes, if they're willing and just take some breaths. This is your moment. All the plannings done really be here and be present and enjoy this. It goes by really fast. And so settle them in. And then I often will talk to the guests as well and talk about their role and how important it is. So that creative back and forth is really satisfying. And then I do write it out. I've never read my, my script. I always just memorize it. Cause it feels like I can connect more with the couple. And I also say let's change it in the moment. If it doesn't sound right. And you said, wait a minute, I want her to read my vows for as well. I thought I was going to end. It gets a little glitchy sometimes, and it doesn't matter. It makes it more human. So that's the gist of it. Yeah. Cause it's interesting. Cause I do think there is sometimes that misconception that people think, Oh, they're going to hire the sushi at versus seeing they're using like a family member. It's not going to be as personal or it's not going to be as you know, as much about us or it's going to be better. I mean, I know, obviously talking with you and the other officiants. I know, like you said, you, you almost do more work to make sure I would say so. You know, I mean, how do you, how do you make sure? Is it just, like you said, through meeting with them? I mean, how do you make sure that kind of there. Is it just your ability to get to know them that they're kind of desires and everything are seeing in their ceremonies. Yeah. I asked him right out. It's like, I'll show you what language comes out of my mouth in response to what you've told me. And you just say, absolutely not. Don't say the word God, or don't be too Lulu or are we just need a really grounded or we need it fun. And I just take my cues from them. And like I said, quite often, especially with younger people, they don't know because I don't know what the options are, but if I prompt, it really brings and I just asked them lots and lots of questions, you know? Do you. Did you like to be heartfelt? You like it to be meaningful? Do you have a special prayer? Do you have something from your childhood that would be meaningful to bring into the ceremony? Was there somebody that you want to mention? So. Because I've been experience designer for so long. I have a huge volume of ideas and options, and then we just bring it down and try and keep it within the 25 30 minutes because the guests start to get starry eyed after that. And, and then make sure that, you know, if they want help writing their vows, I often, quite often they want me to lead them in with the traditional I Joe, take you Sally, blah, blah, blah. And then they have their own vows and I'll help them with those if they want. And then kick the elements that really are meaningful to them. So we did, we had an Irish couple, the Grimm was from Northern Ireland and the fibers from here and they were, they needed their license so that they could immigrate back to Northern Ireland. It was just them and immediate family and the groom's parents on zoom. And we did a handfasting ceremony, which is from Ireland where you take the ribbons three colored ribbons, one for the groom, one for the bride and one for love or marriage and your braid them together. And then there's this sweet little ritual that you. Tie their hands. And it's actually what the marriage used to be back in the kill. That was it. Once your hands are tied, you were married. So we did that for them. And then I I'm. And I put little Eagle feathers on the bottom of the ribbons and like, that was my gift to them. So I always feel like there's a way to find that unique thing. For that couple, that really makes it theirs. It's so funny, you were talking about how they still, a lot of couples still want you to kind of lead them in with the vows. It's so funny to me, how people get really freaked out by that. All I got to write my own vows or, Oh, I got a light. They get, they get real, like panic attack about it. And we have one last week. I can midday. Allotment and they. Rex the groom had come down and he had said, yeah, we just, yeah, we didn't have time to write. 'em in. That's fine. You're all good. And so they had been injured during the ceremony, the officiant, like, well, you know, kind of did the thing and they say, well, you know, did you guys want to. Yeah, I know you guys didn't write, like write your vows, but did you have anything you wanted to share? And they both said just amazing stuff. Exactly. You get so in your head about like, well, we have to like write down this perfect thing. And I was like, that was absolutely perfect. What you guys said. Don't worry about, you know, was it written in some dumb book? You know, I have the time or whatever, like it was beautiful. I thought, yeah. And actually that's because my whole thing is to help people drop out of their heads and be in their heart. I said, you already love each other. You're already, you've already made the commitment in your heart. You are already married. This is just the public ceremony. So just sit with a piece of paper if you want to ahead of time. And I really even give them some. You know, I have this little talk I gave about vows. And the in fact, when we make a promise and we make a commitment, we're not only doing it for ourselves and for each other. But when it's being witnessed by our family, it actually bonds us because the, the. The art of observing changes, that, which we observe. And there's this wonderful quote that when we commit, we invoke the power of Providence and all the support that we can't even imagine comes in. So I helped them understand why it's so important. But then to get them to drop down in their hearts and go slow. And again, just like you, if they haven't written it, it's just like take your beloved tan, look in their eyes and remember what made you fall in love with them. And what's the best of you that you'd like to give them today. You know, you're going to falter. We all do. And you want your marriage to be there, to hold you so that when you do, you've got each other to pick yourself up and dust off, but this is the promise of the best of you and seeing the best in them. So just say that, and it's lovely when it's spontaneous. I like that. Yeah. How much. I felt like last year. We were heading. And a lot of our couples were really kind of burnt out by like day of, or especially like during the day, like really kind of burnt out just because everything. And so I've said since March, since kind of doing these, you know, with everything going on. My hope is that once weddings opened back up, you know, like they are and hopefully, yeah, hopefully more here. That people having had a lot of that take in the way, we'll be able to hopefully focus more on what they want versus like, you know, well, my mom wants this or my dad or their mom or their, you know, are my sister or my whatever. And so. Just to be not so wrapped up in all that stuff. Do you get what I'm saying? What, what. Absolutely. That's actually, I become kind of their mother there when they. Take me and my real commitment is to. This is, to me, it's a sacred act. It's it's like invoking all those blessings. When you say I take you and we want all of that with us. So even if you want to light hearted ceremony, my intention is to help you own this. And have it be so yours that, and they all come up to me afterwards with tears in their eyes. It's like, wow, that was so much better than I could've imagined. And it felt so great. And I don't even start until I feel, and I'll often actually offer a wellness session. Even for the whole wedding party. The day of, or even the day before it was like, let's do a little yoga, let's go for a walk in the woods. Let's do some breathing because this is going to go by in a flash and you're going to have missed it. So it's kind of almost like a requirement of mine that if you want me. I am going to settle you and help you and get you in your body and in your heart. So that it it's a real deal. It's not just words and some rope. Cause I've actually had friends. Who've gotten married and they're like, huh, I don't even think I was in my body. I was just so flustered. And I'm like, what a shame? What kind of marriage can you have when your wedding is not even there? So it's hard. It's hard. I felt that I know I've always said this to her on the podcast. That one of my good friends got married. And we did the video and. You know, people just, you get so stretched. It's hard, you know? Or then you want to be there and you kind of remember, I mean, even now I kind of remember like, You know, glimpses of our ceremony. It's, I mean, it's hard, you know, there, there is a lot of, well, it is, except that it's, it's who I am and I, I require it wherever I go. So if you don't want that, then don't hire me. And whether it's in a corporate boardroom or with a couple that can hardly sit in the same room together, or a parent and a child, it's like, we are going to center because there's no experience without it. So we can just slow the engines down. Yes, I know. We've got a. Wedding planner over there and a caterer and a venue that are like now, now it's took, it only takes 30 seconds. It's a street breasts and we can do this. It doesn't have to be a great big thing. So it's kind of my mandate. I want you to have an incredible experience that just gives you chills. And it's easy for us to get there, even with all the stress going on. If you'll let me help you. Cause this is my skill. This is what I have to share. So. So you also do counseling, right? Like. And so do you, I'm sure you have worked with couples that are you. A little tense. Yeah. Do you find that that helps you. No, I don't know. I mean, Where you're helping people get married. You're helping people, you know, after that, maybe aren't as happy, you know, how do you, but obviously you want everybody to ultimately be happy. So does that help kind of shape. Everything. Just kind of seen both sides of the, of the picture. Well, if I, if I can enroll them and doing a session with me before they get married, it's, it's amazing. The change it makes. Because they, they learn these practices and my work is all about, let me help you have a connection with yourself. Let me help you get in here. So that you're here. And then when you're relating to your partner, it's really you, it's all of you, the good, the bad and the ugly, but really centered. And then you two, and then I have them practice listening to each other, communicating saying what they want and need from that place. And they're like, I didn't know we could do this. Wow. I just had a couple come and she came first and she'd been married before and she wanted to come and clear all the other programming about getting married. And so we did that, but she revealed I'm a little concerned that. I may not have a match here. It's like you're getting married in a month. And. Better to know now than not. So I asked him to come and it turned out there was this wealth and this richness and this depth in him, but he'd never shared with her. So then I said, you guys, please come once together. And they were both in tears. It was like they were falling in love with each other all over again, and discovering that they had a commonality that they didn't even know. So to me, that's life changing. If a couple can give that to themselves. And then some people will come after. It's like, well, the honeymoon's over and we're not talking and the Spark's gone. And so we start there. I've had a couple that I've worked with. They were on the verge of divorce and she came individually and kept asking him and he wouldn't come and he wouldn't come big executive. And she finally said, you either work with grace or I leave. He worked with me and they came and did a couples retreat. And after they've been married 25 years, it's like they fell back in love again. So it's really satisfying. If couples are willing to go there and especially at the beginning, if they're willing to create that foundation, it can make all the difference. Yeah, it's so tough. Yeah. Dorothy, my wife ass. 1 million questions that everyone knows who she is. Okay. Hey, I got a wedding. Okay. Yeah. What's the thing. And what's the images, Amelia, you know, sometimes you're like, you know, you can never lie about anything, right? Like I could never have like, Anything secret going on? Cause it would be. It would be out in a second, but, but her feedback is always a lot with, you know, people we meet or stuff sometimes is she's always amazed at how not many questions. A lot of people ask or just how, like a lot of people just kind of like. I will hang out with friends air or like other couples and like people just kind of like talk at each other. Oh, really, you know, Are, you know, trying to get to know or get involved. And so I think that goes back to what you were saying, where you have these couples, like, you know, maybe the guy just is a little closed off or didn't, you know, no one ever made that connection between them. But did. Do you, does that resonate with you? What I'm saying? Just with people more now, I don't know if it's like people nowadays are people, whatever, but. Always as long as I've been in this world. Blows my mind, how disconnected people are and how superficial. It's like yakety yak, yak, yak, surface stops, surface talk, you know, talk about work. Talk about the weather. Talk about sports, which is fine. But not true presence. And this is my lifeblood. I feel a little insane when I can't get connection. So I don't really bother much. But that's my skill. I've crafted it over decades and it's not that hard. It takes two willing participants and they need to learn and it's nobody's fault. It's not taught, you know, we aren't taught how to be present, how to really listen, how to authentically share what really matters to us. But the richness that it brings, if you can. I mean, anytime I go to any kind of dinner party or cocktail. I'm over here. Okay. Let's have a share and let's talk and people are dying for it. They just don't know how to get in. And they, or they don't know how. So for a couple to learn that to me, that's like the putting the oxygen mask on. Yeah. We'll hang out with some people. And know, like she'll ask. That'd be, I it's like they've never even talked about. I mean, just I'm even talking to us, like dumb stuff, like, Oh, we're looking at. Like we're trying to buy a house or we're trying to get a new job or trying to do whatever. And I'm like, you would just think that no one's ever asked them about this ever. And they're just like, I want to talk about everything because they're just not used to. I just think of, like I said, it's a lot more talking that. Exactly. Absolutely. That's rampant in our world and that's been, my calling is to help people shift. So. Yeah, we had a, one of the DJs we had on a little while ago, Ben. Meadow. He, you know, when we got done with this thing, he was like, Huh, man. That's a lie. You know, I could talk for like 50 minutes and try to like, I said well, but it's good. You know, that's how you get, like you said, the whole week before we were recording. You know, you don't get these kinds of conversations in the 10 minutes. You see people at the wedding. No, there's so much other stuff going on, you know? Yeah. And for potential couples this, I mean, they can come to my website and I have all blog articles. I'm a writer. I have one video that the videographers in Maui made for my consulting work, but it's, this is a way for people to check me out and does feel, you know, who is this woman and how does she work? And is she a match for us? And. Again, I've noticed that. Even older couples that are, this is not their first rodeo. They don't always know what they want. But when I say, well, let's find out what really matters to you and I'll, we'll talk and I'll see them light up. And I'll go. Okay. What was that? Tom, what, what was that? And I, and I flush it out or what was that Jane? And they're like, Oh, that's important to you. Well, I don't know if I like that. And then we just keep working with it until we have this wonderful combo. And they both like, yes, this works for us. And sometimes it's delicate. It's like, like a sentence. Like, I don't want momma up there, but I want my mom, so what are we going to do now? And so we have a relationship. Well, you have to work that out. And so it's very satisfying. Do you ever have, like, we'll have. A couple of friends or we'll know people and we'll be like, Always say, like, I can't even imagine like what they talk about when people are like, when they're do you ever meet you? I have evil. You're like, what do they do? The fill the day when they're just sitting around with, you know what I mean? Like, well, to be honest, it's why marriage doesn't last. Because it's more lonely to be in a home where someone who you either don't talk to or don't connect with, we all want to feel gotten. We all want to feel heard. And understood and validated and empathized with, I don't care who you are when I meet somebody in a sec. Oh. So that's important to you. Wow. I get that. That's really important to you. Gosh, you haven't been getting that. That must feel awful. And it's like the tears start. And it's because it's been what I've been trained in. I just do it naturally, but I'm. Blown away how little people know how to do that. And so the marriage is just like two ships and they go like this or they argue or whatever, put each other down and. So my, my whole life's work is about bringing more and more love. To humanity and planet earth. So to have a couple that can start off on that page and really invest in those practices throughout their marriage. I think it's a fantastic way to live. And I keep, I tell my couples now. That to choose love, especially committed love during this time in the whole world is falling apart, I think is one of the bravest things to do. And I think it's one of the greatest contributions, because if you've ever met a couple that are really solid and really have a good. Relationship. When they're looking out side by side, like this. They're making a contribution. It's like this can exist. Two people can really respect each other and really honor each other and really care for each other. And when other people are around them, I feel like that's a gift and a blessing. So I always appreciate anybody who's willing to take on a lifetime commitment. I don't want me to get you in trouble here, but if you ever had any couples that are either the year working with them, or, you know, counseling that Mia before the wedding, and you're like, Oh no, about this one. I've had my concerns. There was one couple where we were, hadn't got to the hiring stage yet. And I actually said, no, I just said it very diplomatically, but I, I just said, you know, I'm not sure this is really what you're looking for. And. I don't even know if I said, I'm not sure you're ready, but that's how I felt. But we were able to get out of it before it even began. And then there has been a couple recently where I taught cheese. I, and I, and so I just said, I just strongly encourage you to invest in really. Building your skills. And again, because of my approach, I talked to them about, especially relationship is the greatest transformational incubator. You will have. You are going to see yourself in your partner. You're going to trigger each other. That's the deal. It's not a fantasy. So learn how to have a growth inducing relationship. That's the point, and you will keep evolving and sometimes one will shoot forward and you'll feel like you're on different pages. You must keep growing. Inside of yourself to be able to find each other up the road, if you want this thing to last. So I do a fair bit of talking about all that and I can feel the couples that are there and they don't want to go there. And I like. I'm going to bring in as many blessings as I can possibly bring it in on the day off. God bless you. Good luck. And then I never hear from them again. So I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. But you wanted to talk about how you got involved in the Seattle, specifically the wedding industry? I think before, before we let you got one minute. So I been here for a while and I, I think I mentioned that I, I sometimes get gigs to get myself known in the community. Cause my private practice just takes time to build trust and everything. So I'd been here, I think about three years. And I got this bizarre idea to be an Uber driver because we didn't have Uber on Bainbridge yet. And the whole world comes here. Networking heaven. I get them in my car for five minutes, hand out my business card, zap them all with love and send them on their way. And it was quite a humbling experience. Wait a minute. I don't know. Transformational goddess. I'm not supposed to be driving a cab, but I just knew it was right. And I started it and it was so fun. It was, people were so happy to have me. I went around to all the shops and the restaurants and the, and they were so grateful. They called me Uber, grace, and they call me and say, we've got customers for you. Get over here. And. So I basically built it here on the Island. But the interesting thing was I noticed, especially in the summer season, 50% of my riders were wedding people. And wedding parties running guests. And I was driving them to all the venues and going in and networking with all those people saying, Hey, I'm going to Phish you out with. Why am I driving the wedding guests? Why am I not officiating? I thought, I don't even know if it needs to be weddings. I just want to do ceremonial thing. It's my passion. I don't know how I could get started. But I just start doing my intention, setting magic. And I pick up this woman and she's new to Bainbridge. I say, Oh, are we treating you well? And she said, yeah, I just got invited to be part of a women's sailing team is going to go in this race to Alaska. Is this gnarly 700 mile race to catch can with no motor. And I'm going to be part of the team and we're called team sale, like a girl. And I went, Oh my God, I'm supposed to support these women. I know that inside passage, it's one of my Holy places. I totally am about empowering women. I want to be sailor. I said Richard cards, you gave me your card. And I said, I don't know what's happening, but I think I'm supposed to do something for you ladies. I drove around with her card in my car for two weeks going, okay, what's going on? The captain posts on Facebook, we're going in the race to Alaska. We need a boat. Blesser. Does anybody know a boat? Blesser? I'm sitting on my couch and I stood up. And I wrote to her, I said, you don't know me, but I just met your teammate in my Uber car. Can I bless your boat. And we talked on the phone, she said, I don't know what a boat blessing is. I just know we're all terrified. We're leaving our kids and their families. And. What can you do for us? I said, well, I would bring in the big guns for something like this. Holy mother of God or whoever she said, carte blanche, do what you want. I said, you sure? She said, absolutely just come. So I start thinking about it and I get how great though art is my favorite hand from when I was a child in the church and as Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill. And if you haven't heard it, it is mind boggling. So I get that and I get my Eagle feather and a few other chance and all of my little elements of nature and my Cedar and my Sage. And I go down to the dock and there's 50 people there. Here. They don't know me. I'm going to pull out all the stops and do my thing. And we got on the boat and I said, are you really willing to let me do this? They said, absolutely. And they were all circled around and explain to the. Guests that I was going to bring in the big guns and here we go. And I put on Vince Gill on my little speaker. And everybody started singing and women were all crying and hugging each other. And I was like, okay, we're in. And then we did another chance. And we did this beautiful ritual with the elements to bring in all the abundance. And then I had the kids come on and they had Cedar bows and they blessed the whole boat. And. And then we circled everybody up and send our prayers with them. It was so moving and I had taken such a huge risk. I thought, okay, people are gonna think I'm a wacko, but this is what I know to do. And I think these women need it and I've been called. So I'm going to just end. They loved it. And they went off and won the whole race. They've never won. No women's race had ever no women's team had ever won and I'm like, yes. I had a part in that. And it was so wonderful. I, I want to do this in our community, so I became their coach and they did it again the next year and do another ceremony. And I started to feel like, okay, what next. And a year later Washington state ferries puts on this announcement. I was home. I was listening to the news. We're going to have a special event on Valentine's day. Anybody that writes in on our Facebook page that wants to get married can get married on the Sherry on Valentine's day. First 10 couples go. I write in and say, I don't want to get married. Can I officiate? They write back? Absolutely. The captain's can't do it anymore. Over two weeks. They're like, well, now we have 30 couples. Can you do 30 couples? I'm like, Oh, I don't know. I've never done that many couples. So I start asking around to King County. Recorder's office and Kitsap County. Nobody knows. And I finally get to Bainbridge courthouse and I say, who can help me? And they said, well, our judge does the weddings. She'll call you. She said there's nothing in the ceremony that needs to be different, but you're going to have 30 licenses to fill out. Are you sure you can do that as well? I don't know. In 30 minutes. Ferry ride. Turned out by the time we got to Valentine's day, it was eight couples. They were all vowel renewals, no licenses. And again, I said, can I do my thing? And I have an Eagle feather, and he said, do what you want. Just get it done before we get to the other side. And I showed up and all the TV stations were there. Radio was there, newspapers were there. So I had my sweet little eight couples all in the bow inside looking out at the city and me with all my feathers and everything. And all the cameras and their own front of me between me and the couples. I'm like, I'm sorry, this isn't happening. And they push back. They said we were invited, this is a whole promo for the fairies. That's why it's happening. I said, well, actually this is a vow renewal. These people are renewing their marriage vows. That's what's happening. Could you please step back? And they did. And I just said, okay, a couple of you and me, we're doing this. And again, it was just fantastic. And all of the ferry writers were there and people cried and laughed. And I was just so lit up. I was just saying, I want this so badly. And then COVID happened. And the lockdown and the judge said, look, people still need to get married. Do you want these weddings? And she's just been following the kits at weddings to me. Does she was, and now it's kind of stopping a little bit, but then when I heard, so that was the story and it was just, it all came just like the sailing women. And so now I've done several over here. But when I listened to the other officiants, they sounded so busy and I was like, wow. That are turning people away. And I thought, I wish they knew I was here cause I've been over here already and meager. So it could be that it's going to go down now with the weather change, but. I'm here. Okay. Yeah, we'll get you a mic community. That's great. Yeah. So I've loved doing them and. Oh for more. Well, this has been delightful. I'm so glad that you reached out and that we. Like I said, it's always nice. We've had a couple of the podcasts lately have been people that I know that I've said, Hey, Ray, I want to come on or whatever. And so it's so nice to get a new voice again. And the new, just a new personality and a new vendor, the feature. So thank you so much. If people want to learn more about you and you're officiating and everything, where would you have them check out? It's all on my website, which is just my name. It's Grace McLeod. And the cloud is spelled M-Sci L E O D. Dot com and I have a weddings and blessing ceremony page on there and all my blog. Links are there. And my contact information is there. I also have a Facebook page. It's a graceful weddings and blessing ceremonies. And then I have another page for my coaching work, which is graceful living, coaching classes and retreats. So. Moved over to Instagram yet, but I guess that's supposed to be part of it. Huh? I was gonna say, yeah, I was going to say after I got to take a photo that I always post on my story and I was going to ask if you had an Instagram, I didn't see one. So we'll know. That's your next step. I'm not very tech sophisticated. And that's one thing that I'm curious about is how much I know there's wedding wire. It's very expensive to advertise there. There's Yelp. There's all sorts of. Ways to connect and I could use some coaching and all of that, but. Well, if you wanna, if you want to invest in that, Emma. An evil spirit that I would suggest Yelp. That would be, that would be great. Suspect with Yelp. So we don't need. I've hated them in the past. I tried to do something else and they pursued me for three years. Yeah. I couldn't get them to stop. So terrifying. Yeah, no, we don't need to get too much into it on the pocket. Yeah, I would. You know, whether you, whether you wire. Wire by the, you know, the, not a wedding pro and all that. They're kind of all. Still questionable where it's two companies under the same wine, but yeah, we have, yeah, we have with buck, but yeah. Anyway. Thank you so much again. Really exciting. I have another one that he's coming up later today and then another one on a Tuesday with a photographer. So it's good energy coming in with you and we'll get a couple of new voices the next couple of weeks I'm here. And I'm very excited about that as well. And if you want to get some yoga back in your life, I'm your girl. So let me help you. I'd be glad to do cause there's there's ways to do little five minute. It doesn't have to be the whole hour and a half. And it can make such a difference even right in your studio there we'll do it. Yeah. If you're like grace and you're interested in coming on the podcast and you can go to bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest.
Anne Timss and Kat St. John
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I'm so excited today. It's a Friday. We have Anne and Kat joining us. We had had Amy and Bronwen on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, kind of doing the two for one, Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® Anne's been on before and Kat's joined us on the best made weddings podcasts and so we figured let's get Kat on the, let's get Anne back on you guys. I know Kat how the anniversary this week and you guys were in Portland getting and tattoos and lots of fun stuff. So I think there'll be plenty of fun stories today. So Anne, why don't you say hi again and then we'll go to Kat and then we'll get into this fun episode.
(00:50):
Hey guys. Hi. Anne Timss here. Glad to be here, Reid. Thanks for having us.
(00:56):
Okay. Who are you since you're new to the, Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® franchise.
(00:59):
I am Kat St. John makeup artist in Seattle area that has been around for about 12 years.
(01:07):
Awesome. so you guys have had quite quite the week. Why don't you just walk me through what you guys had a big, like a friendship milestone anniversary is kind of what's going on here.
(01:18):
So every year Kat and I well we start four years ago, right? Four years ago, it was like four years ago. We were in Portland just having like a rad weekend in Portland. We were like, let's go to Portland. Kat's like, I want to get a tattoo. We're like, we're going to shop tax free. We're going to eat good food. And we stumbled upon a pawn. We stumbled upon this tattoo shop called artwork rebels. And we quickly looked online, looked at all their stuff and Kat was like, I'm going to get a tattoo. So we went in and Kat got a rod tattoo and then I was like, ah, screw it. I'll get another tattoo. And while we were sitting there, it wasn't while we were sitting there. Yeah. Face tattoo. And I remember looking on, cause like Facebook will remind you, like, Hey, on this day, what, however many years ago you became friends with. So and so, and just so happened, like that was the day that Anna and I became Facebook friends that year before it was like, today's your friend of nursery with Kat st. John. And we were like, you know what, it's officially a thing now. So we've done this every single year. We repeat this trip and we you know, it's really nice to read. I have to say that our friend aversary coincides with the Nordstrom anniversary sale.
(02:37):
Are they still doing that this year with everything going on?
(02:42):
Yeah. Okay. You're frozen. Well, they delayed it, they delayed it this year because of the pandemic. So typically we're there in July. And that's usually when anniversary is so no, but they postponed it and so we kind of postponed our friendiversary to anniversary as well.
(03:00):
Gotcha. Gotcha. So you guys are both makeup artists, you know, in Seattle, the greater area. How did you guys get to know each other in the first place?
(03:11):
We met on nine. It's true. We did. And then we met in person at a Derby match at the rat's nest in person. Yeah. I should've, I should've taken you up on that drink offer. Cause I did not know the beauty of Darryl's yet. And she was like, we're going to Darryl's I'm like, that's fine. We're going to go home. And now I'm like, Oh, gem. I know we met in person and yeah, I tried to get her and her husband to go out with us. We went to that. Have you ever been to Darrell's or eat it's on Aurora, like North Seattle
(03:45):
Spend much time on Aurora. I'm not that I'm not working now, but when I worked to key 13, that would be on the roar. I quite a bit covering, you know, the news stories, but not so much.
(03:55):
Yeah. Well Darryl's, this is just an iconic dive bar and we went so we went there and Kat didn't go, but then we started hanging out after that and yeah, that's where we met, but I joke my mom was like, we met online.
(04:07):
Was it like a cutthroat you know, where you guys were both makeup artists or was it like, Hey, welcome in like, you know, let's have fun where you guys like, I I'm famously not friends with any videographers. I'm kidding. But you know what I mean? Like, was it, was it a rivalry or were you guys just, Hey, come on in.
(04:24):
No, I think one of the beautiful thing about how this friendship kind of evolved is that we have always been of the mindset that there's enough work to go around and we need to be supportive of each other. And we're in a really hard industry. That's tough when you're all alone. And so yeah, I think that that's actually kind of the foundation of our friendship was because of that being supportive. We all do different work. We have different styles. Like it's not, it's just crazy to be that competitive. Yeah, we definitely are. Yeah. We're, we're not in that sort of a center mindset. It was never like that. It was just, and as a matter of fact, I, I used to fall. I used to work or no, this photographer that Kat used to work with and I would see her poster work online and I would always see that CA had done the makeup and I was like that girl's got a really cool name. And then I loved her work and the things that they would do together. So I was always like, I want to be friends with Kat st. John and who this person is and look at us now,
(05:30):
I guess I'm a terrible interviewer. I didn't ask what tattoos did you guys get down in Portland?
(05:36):
I got an I'll go first. Cause Kat's, story's longer. I got an all seeing eye tattoo as kind of like my boyfriend always jokes. When I go to get a new tattoo, he was like, he going to get my name, but not put on you now. Like he's, I think he's pretty much joking and I'm always like, no way, I'm not getting your name on me, but this there's a lot of symbolism in this with, you know, with him. So it's like a in honor of, or, you know, a thoughtfulness for him. So yeah, I like it. It's cool. I'll see. I, with the, you know, with the thing you see on the dollar bill and in the conspiracy movies and whatnot.
(06:12):
Yeah. It's like national treasure, right. Or a DaVinci code or that right? Davinci code.
(06:16):
Yeah. My boyfriend's are Freemason.
(06:21):
I can't. What about you?
(06:23):
Okay. So I have a thing with hands and I love she's laughing already. I'm just going to tell a story. I'm not like, okay. One of the things that I always laugh about is when people get like tattoos with writing on them and like they don't proofread it. Well, if you go talk to a hand, make sure that you count how many fingers are on it because I posted this. So my I'm going to pull up my sleeve. It's a, it's a hand holding a Rose and he does beautiful work is very traditional. So I posted a story of my tattoo online and actually Anne's boyfriend was the one that pointed out. He's like, your hand has five fingers. Right. And I was like, yeah, it does. And I was like, one, two, three, four, five Oh six. My hand has six fingers.
(07:12):
And I just started laughing. I was like, this is the most ridiculous thing. So I call it the, and it's even funnier that the tattoo artists re posted my story. And I was like, Oh, Hey, by the way, did you notice that there's six fingers? And he was like, shit. And he felt so bad. He's like, sit for you. I'm so sorry. It's so easy to fix. And I was like, it's okay. Still like you, cause he's adorable. And we just love him. Jeff is great. But I kinda love that it has six fingers. I don't think I'm going to change it. And especially because I have a roller skating clam and I have an Audrey too from little shop of horrors, like I don't really take things too seriously anyways, so it's kind of perfect. But yeah, so that's what I got. I got a handle, six fingers holding your word.
(07:56):
That's awesome. Ah, yeah, I haven't gotten a tattoo since I used to be a lot heavier. And so like, you know, they always say like, if you get tattoos and then like you get old in your skin, like, I was the opposite where I was a lot heavier and then like, all my tattoos have worked better for years now because like all my skin, you know, compressed, but I am kind of terrified during these not the biggest fan I will share. I'm on my one side of my back. I have like the iron maiden killers, Eddie, like the zombie with like, and yeah. And so when Dorothy and I started dating and then she didn't know that, you know, I hadn't, I don't know, like I have my leg and so, but she hadn't seen. And so like the first night, like we're kind of, you know, on the couch getting a little you know, hanging out and she was like, Oh my God, like you have this like back infection, like what's going on? You know? And I was like, Oh no. It's like but yeah, that was, that was the end of that. And we've, I've never gotten any more tattoos ever.
(08:52):
Oh my gosh, I love that you have Eddie. Okay. That makes me laugh so hard because one of my girlfriends really quick story, she was dating this guy. He was a huge metal head. We all used to hang out with and he was like, Hey babe, can you put some lotion on my back? And she's like, okay, like she had no idea. You got a tattoo and he takes off his shirt and it's like a whole back piece of Dee Snider, like own. And she's like, what is, what is this Dee Snider? Is there anyways? It's like, ridiculous. Funny, but Eddie on your back, that's actually incredible
(09:34):
Trying to like, do the, I thought you were saying trying to get the lotion cause yeah. When you get them right. And you're trying to like sell, you know, and you tried to figure out like, well, how far can I do this without needing someone to come in and help. So totally. Yeah. And tell a story. I'll show it off here. If you tell a story real quick, tell a story about like, just vamp while I'm getting, I was getting my thing off. Oh my gosh.
(10:01):
Oh yeah.
(10:04):
So she was like, she was like, what is going on? But that's incredible. That's incredible. That was my, that was my college years. So I like it. So you guys share a studio space, right? You guys work together, love, love working together. How did you guys get involved in all that and getting together?
(10:26):
Well, we like going to what Kat said, you know, our friendship is really at the heart of it is about, you know what our beliefs and like, you know, in this artist, community and wanting to support artists. And so we talked about like, we're getting so busy, we're getting these requests all the time. And then we were just like handing them over to random artists, which is great. You know, you want to pass, work over to people. And what the problem was is like, for both of us, we'd pass, work over to people. And then this microphone's taking the dive and then I would send somebody, I didn't know, off to a job. And then I would get like they would go do it. And then the client would call me back, even though this person didn't work for me.
(11:12):
And they'd be like, yeah, that lady you sent over here, like she was terrible. And I was like, yeah, this isn't going to work. So we talked about starting an agency together to like support artists and, you know, create a small business for herself and support this community. And, you know, you could tell about like when you started, how little support you had. Yeah. I mean, and, and so on the other side of that, for me as a freelancer, I didn't, I was in retail. I didn't have any of that counter experience. I literally went to school for interior design and have an art background and I just makeup was something that I just kind of fell into. And I really loved, and I actually not to toot my horn. I was like, I was really good at it. Color makes to me and I kind of do makeup.
(11:55):
Like I paint in layers in any case, it was really hard to get going. And a lot of people were not supportive. People were just, they didn't want to talk about rates or what kind of work they did. I would, I'd constantly try to make coffee dates and people would blow me off or I'd get stood up. And it was just really tough trying to get in to the industry and just know how to appropriately charge, like all these people get so mad about these people undercutting and not charging appropriately. It's like, yeah, well, if you guys were nice and actually talk to people, then we might not have this problem. So you know, I think with that mindset, I just was like, I think it'd be really great to have a foundation for people that want to get their feet wet and also teach them their value, like how much their value is. Like they are worth so much more than they think and giving them support and feedback. That's really feedback, not just being a jerk or making fun of people because when you, this industry, people hear about it and they'll talk. And so it's just kind of creating like a safe place for people to learn and grow in and make mistakes, but still be supported and to learn from it. So
(13:03):
Well, you do, you do think it's pretty hard, both of you guys starting out and trying to do it on your own and specifically in, in makeup and, and trying to, you know, you said it's, it's just not as friendly of a place. Is that still the way it is? Is it
(13:17):
Absolutely. I came up, I had a different, you know, I came from a many, many years and working in retail cosmetics, I, you know, worked my way up into like high level management positions. So I had a lot of connections and experience and those kinds of things, but the, you know, what I would reach out for like, you know, ask somebody in the industry, you know, something that I didn't know, like, you know, you know, there's, there's many things to learn. I was often, you know, it would often be people just very defensive or not wanting to tell you, or, you know, it's just like, Oh, you're giving my proprietary information away. And it was like that. And it was definitely more so for Kat because the artists that are on our team, you know, had experienced that with in the community.
(14:04):
Yeah. I think that makeup artists and community in Seattle is, you know, like many of the creative communities and not, probably not just Seattle, but you know, all over the place that it's just, it should be more supportive and it's not, it's, there's so much work. It just drives me nuts. I'm like, you know, you know, I'll have to shut the door on people. Let's all support each other because there's a lot of work out there. I think there's this fear of scarcity that people have and it's like flight, you know? And like, they're just kind of really, they don't want to like give away any information because you're a threat. And it's just so crazy to me that people feel like they own their clients. I, a person that will be like, I can't do this job, but let me find you something, somebody appropriate for it. And I will all find somebody that would be a really good fit. I match them up and I take care of my client. I think that's being a good artist. That's, you know, keeping a good working relationship with people. And I think that's why I've had some of the relationships I've had for so long. But also just, you know, creating a community that way, like knowing that you it's like there's people that need that work. Why just say, no, you should be able to help anyone. Yeah. If other artists,
(15:14):
Well, I'm definitely guilty of that too. You know, where I feel like, you know, you have a lot of these like repeat clients. Like we do little stuff all the time and you do are, I feel like if they call me, you know, the one time, like I'm not available or whatever, and they go with someone else, then, you know, I I'm guilty of that. Right. You feel like you've lost that like, well, crap that was, you know, thousands of dollars now over the course of, at you. So it's hard. I mean, I get are glad that you guys feel like you're in the position. Cause that is hard. It's hard to get to that position. I think a lot of people feel on both sides of that. Right. Don't really feel, try to navigate that the right way. You know what I mean? It's tough. So
(15:54):
Do I get it? I feel like I mean, I feel like any, you know, any client you lose because they decided to, you know, work with the person who jumped in for you, you know, you, if you, if you are positive and professional and kind, you know, I think that the community, the commercial industry, it's tiny, they'll see that. Or, you know, the wedding community sees that. And another opportunity is going to land on your plate, but when you're, you know, not supportive and you know, it just, it's a small community and that, you know, it's, it's everybody sees it. So we want to be positive. We want to support and grow.
(16:31):
It is, it is. It's funny. Were you guys both, you know, have really, you know, unique names, right? I mean, it's, it's definitely something where, you know, I think I remember when I was starting out and, you know, you're like seeing the wedding ends and who's working and I'm like, Oh, this, and like, Tim, how that you pronounced that, you know, like you had seen this Kat st. John, and it's funny now how you guys, you know, blood found each other and, you know, found, and like you guys do the podcast together in the studio and then found this, and we're all here today. And it's just weird to think back like six, seven years ago. And I was getting into everything and trying to figure out like, you know, who are the heavy hitters, right. Or who's working all the time, you know, who do I see all the time? It is funny that we've all kind of wound up in the same spot today, you know? Yeah.
(17:12):
It's great. And that's, you know, that's what we're talking about is like, there's, you know, we're, we're all now so busy there's room for other people to come up and, you know, take all the smaller jobs and take the work over flow and grow their careers and, you know, great earthquake businesses and then pay that forward when it's time.
(17:31):
One thing I did want to talk about today, and then we're going to get into some fun stories and things. I don't even know where all this, the regulation stuff is. Now. I know that you guys were on, you know, these, these Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® ones are supposed to be a little more evergreen just in terms of getting to know vendors, but right. With everything going on with the regulations, how is that affecting you guys in the change? I know in the last like week, week and a half with the right, the mass being on, or you guys know more than I do. So whoever wants to take that,
(18:00):
Well, certainly hard to do your job with your client wearing a mask the whole time. Yeah. but you know, we can't, this is not what this decision is not. And what's frustrating about this decision is that it's not black or white. It's a very gray ruling. And I actually called Inslee's office and laid into someone on the phone requesting that they actually speak to people that are in the fields that they're making decisions for, because this decision is stupid. Either take away, make up completely, or let us continue doing our jobs when we're all covered in pee. Cause like we are in full PPE, so we are protected you know, against other people and we are protecting them. So it's just, it's a little frustrating, but we're working around it. We're making it work. We can't cancel our clients.
(18:55):
There's no, you know, if, if it's Lee was like, Oh, it's done, you can't do makeup anymore that we could do. We could like cancel our clients, but we can't. And so it's it's a lot of maneuvering, but we're making it work. So yeah, it's frustrating, you know, it's like that comparison, you know, that, that starts stepping in. It's like, you know, when, when it was first announced, I was like, get outta here. [inaudible] Like, I'm, I'm over this. Like, you know, again, we've done so much stuff. I feel like the wedding industry has just been beaten to the ground. Like we've tried to get around this. Like there's really no financial assistance. Like at this point for any, you know, creatives that are trying to struggle. Cause let's be real, you know, there really just isn't. And and when this comes out and I'm like, but so my client has to wear a mask the full time they get their makeup done for their wedding, but yeah, I can go get my teeth cleaned.
(19:50):
I don't have to wear, I'm asked for that. And that's the same thing. It's even closer distance, you know, I'm not like, you know, no Sonos with my, with my clients. I can have an arms length and you know, and, and do my job. So it's really frustrating. We are just working through and making it work and, you know, getting through the technicalities of it. So to say, I do work out of state a lot. So what about a state? I don't care. I don't care. Washington says, you know, sorry, but that's, you know, I work in Oregon and California doing a little bit, so, so those States roll into that, you know, that I have that part of it, but when we're here yeah. It's a, we're not happy about it.
(20:26):
Yeah. It's cause I I'm even right now I've had that the live events coalition either they're want me, we're putting together venues or submitting some videos and stuff to try to, they want to put together like a montage to get receptions, you know, open back up and I'm sitting there and I'm like, okay. But yeah, but we just like, I don't this like two competing things, so we're trying to open up receptions, but then also now like makeup in this can't work or like what, you know what I mean? And I'm like, this is two very different sides of the same coin, you know? It just seems like, okay, well, I don't know if they're going to do that, if this is right. Or it's just very odd, it's very odd. Or it feels like it's, you know, we finally got where 30 people didn't include vendors. Like the same time you guys lost, like whatever. And so you're like, again, you know, it's okay. One land and then a huge loss. So it just seems, it doesn't seem consistent.
(21:17):
It's not consistent, you know, now, and then not to keep going. But you know, the next attack was the agricultural tourism industry, AKA pumpkin farms and corn mazes. I mean, there's just like I I'm Ken and I both have the same opinion that like whoever's creating all these you know, rules and regulations. They are absolutely not consulting the industries of which they're in. So we're, I'm, we're all for being safe and wearing a mask and PPE and getting rid of this virus and moving forward and getting back to normal. But this is just, you know, it just feels like they're kicking us when we're down.
(21:50):
Yeah. Amazing. We got to work. I mean, I've had a lot of clients asking me about stuff and I'm just saying, you know, we're not the, you know, I can't police you guys unless, you know, if Inslee's going to pay me, you know, the money to sit home. But if it's not, it's tough. It's a really, it's not a good situation right now. The further we've gotten. I agree. So now that we've gotten that out, I did want to touch on that. So I mean, you got fun stories. We've got funny stories, bride stores, where do you want to start? And where do we want to kind of kick this into gear?
(22:21):
You should start with the worst wedding of all time. Kat C Hawks and bologna sandwiches. Yes. Go see hucks.
(22:29):
So what's a, what's the story behind this?
(22:32):
Oh my gosh. So Kat, we always like, people are like, you guys have got some stories cause we've done so many weddings together. She'll like this one takes the cake. Like, yeah. So the first of all, you know, people listening, don't do theme weddings. That's our opinion just don't do them. They just, they're not timeless. I know everybody in this state for the most part loves them some Seahawks, but we had this wedding over in Eastern Washington. That was a mix of Seahawks. Oh. And police police lives remember blue light blue line, the blue line. So every table had like Seahawks names on it. And everybody, you know, are you sad to Marshawn? You know, you want Marshawn's table and no, you know, I'm on this table, but that's not where the drama, the drama was that you're getting a little PTSD a little, well, I think also we need to stress that, like, if you don't want to be making baloney sandwiches for your entire wedding party and your guests, you want to eat bologna sandwiches, get a planner, get a day off.
(23:35):
Like don't, don't do that. It was just a fricking mess in that room. We were in we're so tiny. There was like 10 people in this cramped room. And I actually feel like I wasn't, I was, I was fine with everything happening. I think that it was just more like I was emotionally drained afterwards. It was like, yeah, purposed. It was, we had a bride who go ahead that also ties into the whole getting a planner thing down. Yeah. But you go ahead. Yeah. So we had this bride who had a very, very broken up challenged family. They all hated each other. They were all, all this crazy in fighting on all sides of the family. The door, like get this bride ready. We're like doing her makeup, doing her makeup. Someone's doing her hair at the same time because she had to get up like 45 times through the whole process.
(24:30):
The groomsmen are knocking on the door. Where's the bologna for the sandwiches. The bride has to get up and go get baloney sandwiches. So the grim can have like, you know, sandwiches. And then we get her back down. Then all of a sudden the groom comes in and talk about some fight. Her grandmother picked with the biological mom and it was just a wretched show. And at the very end we get this, I'm a mother of the groom who comes in. She's the one who got like basically emotionally attacked at this wedding. And we finally get her sitting down and she's just been crying the whole time. And, and we get our makeup done and Kat and I left that wedding in silence. It's not often that we get into a car and like, don't talk. But I think we drove for like 45 minutes.
(25:15):
Oh yeah. We just both were like, I don't know what just happened. Same. We drove from any ad back to Leavenworth, to our friend Britas house who had a bottle of wine waiting for us where we told her this story. And this is my mom. This is always my moral of the story is like, don't have a theme wedding. Cause they're just, I think they're tacky. But you know, kill me for saying that and too, or don't have a theme wedding that's tacky. I shouldn't say that there are cool theme weddings and to hire a planner that all that drama could have been avoided. I think what was even more messed up about the whole situation was like Anna and I are sitting there listening. It's like a play by play. Oh yeah. It was like Sally Jesse dramatic thing. And then like the person would barge in and you were like, Oh, ready? You're like, Oh drama. And the mom I share. And so I was like her counselor. I was like sitting there. I'm like, I'm like holding her hand. She's like, thank you so much. And she ends up hugging me at the end. And I'm just like, I don't know. I'm emotionally drained. This is insane. I have to go. But yeah, that's where a planner is really nice to different rooms.
(26:28):
Well, I think it kills me just to just, you know, when people are bugging, you know, the brides and stuff and trying to do we have the wedding last summer and like, we're like getting her dress on and God bless her. And I, the bridesmaid goes up and she goes now so how are we getting, like, can I get a ride? Like, do you think we should Uber? Like, do you think we should like, can I leave my car here? And I'm like, I'm like the bride is getting her dress on. Like, why are we talking about, why are you asking about getting an Uber ride? Like did the reception, you know what I mean? Like, can you just figure this out on your own for 18 seconds? I was like, what is happening here?
(27:05):
Yeah, yeah, no, God bless our planners. I mean, you know, I don't know if you know this for you, but like, you know, obviously when someone's getting married, they're going to have a venue and a photographer and then makeup artists and you know, all the other Kater and things like that. And then whenever people ask me, well, what other vendors should I get? I'm like a planner and a videographer. Like, those are like your no negotiables. Like you should have those, like for all the reasons. So
(27:30):
A lot of venues now, or you know, making, you have to have one or a day of at least, I mean, which is nice. A lot of the more, you know, the higher end ones. Do you guys, do you guys work together a lot? I mean, is that nice? Is that like a treat or, cause I know you guys obviously do your own thing and then come, is it talking about, is it a tree to be able to kind of pair up like that?
(27:50):
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think too well this year it hasn't happened as much, but yeah, it's, I can only speak for myself. I'm sure it's probably the same for you. And it's just, when you have a person that you know, their work, you know, it's good. You can walk in, you don't have to like police people or, you know, tell them like, Oh, don't do that. Or like always have like your ear open. Like you just know you can go in and do your job and not have to worry about that. Like more than its weight in gold. And absolutely I don't have an in helping me as much, but I know that for myself, if I have other people that I know and I trust I hope I'm that for you. And because I use RCR and, but yeah, I think it is, and we don't have an office. I think people don't take into consideration. Like we don't go somewhere every day. We don't have an office so full, but you get to socialize with, and there's a lot of coming and going. So you don't have a lot of, I mean, I connect with my clients, but I think it's really cool to have a team where you get to see each other and you kinda, you know, you can also like stitch and bitch afterwards, you know, you have sure. And it's, it's nice, you know, it is nice.
(29:03):
That's one thing that's not yet taken. I think, especially with all the stay at home and everything now is how isolated this for a lot of you know, wedding vendors and, you know, work from home people and being like, well, you know, I was used to this before, but now it's like, I never go anywhere, you know?
(29:21):
Yeah, no, totally. I was going to say, yeah, I've we haven't had as many weddings, like traditional weddings this year and I'm very elopement heavy. And Kat's very like private client, heavy boot war and things like that. And so we haven't had as many opportunities to work together this year, but one thing that CA has been like such a value, which goes to what you were saying, like you, you can trust that work. And you know, it can happen is like with everything moving around, like my schedule has gotten a little bit bananas and I've had one bride move and another bike move and those kinds of things. And I couldn't do one of them just because of the logistics. And I'm like, Hey, you know what? I can't do it. But Kat can step in for me. And Kat has stepped in and led some weddings that I contracted.
(30:02):
So one of them has got a great story. Yes. Funny story. Ms. Perky. Yeah. I love the perky sisters and gets these amazing clients that are sisters that all end up getting married. Bam, bam, bam. Like all in a row. So Karen she was like, so what's the weirdest thing that you've ever had happened like right before a wedding. Cause we were talking like, she was like, Hey, is there anything I need to know? And I was like, don't go hiking with a sports bra that has six different strengths that cross in the back. Cause I'm not going to cover that up for you. I mean, I can, but it'll cost you cause it takes a long time. And when I've told her, you know, I told her a couple of horror stories about tan lines. And so I was just kind of going and going through everything.
(30:50):
And she said, yes. So how about like, you're the groom knocking out his two front teeth the week before the wedding day. And I was like, Oh, you shut up right now. And she was like, I will not. And she took her phone and showed me and he knocked out his two front teeth the week before the wedding and they managed to save the teeth and they saw, they saw an oral surgeon and they sewed it back in. It was insane, but I was bachelor party, bachelor party. He was wrestling and he fell face forward wrestling with his friend and he knocked out his two front teeth when he was drunk. So was that a permanent fix or a temporary? This, so that back in, well, one of the teeth did take that they sewed back in, but they had to give him an implant.
(31:37):
So he literally implant like right before the wedding day. Yeah. I just, I still, to this day, I, on the wedding day I was laughing so hard. She was like, his teeth look real well. Can I have a little followup story for that? Ooh. So, so so Karen perky has a sister named Lauren. They're both getting married this year and I have Lauren's wedding coming up. And yesterday I did her trial in our studio and I told her, I'd be talking about this on the podcast. And like, Oh, now I'm definitely talking about this on the podcast. So she told me, she was like, yeah, my brother-in-law knocked his teeth out. I was like, I heard. And I said Kat. And they were like, totally laughing about it. She's like, yeah. She's like, my husband broke his leg three days ago or my, my fiance broke his leg three days ago. They are doing an adventure elopement.
(32:32):
So hiking up somewhere, trying to get NACA.
(32:37):
What happened? He like, I think, Oh, he was on a bike, he was riding a bike and he crashed and he broke his leg. So, so I was like, wow. Yeah, this really runs in your family. And she's like, Oh no, it does. It absolutely. Does my dad broke something on, on his, on my parents' wedding date too well. And their parents are still together. I'm assuming. So that's like a sign of good luck. Exactly. It's totally fine. Good luck.
(33:09):
People need to be careful. I'll tell you. We we have a bride that she like tore her ACL or something or like really messed up. This was a couple years ago and it was so bad that we, like, we just, we didn't do any getting ready. Like they just wanted us for the first look. And so she couldn't like, she could not do the first look like, you know, we had to like get her down and then, you know, we can not do like the walk down because she's like hobbling, but then she was in a brace. And then but during the reception there had, you know, they drank so much and whatever, and she's like sitting there like jumping up and down and then like how we're looking at her dad. And I'm like, I do not know how she's going to walk tomorrow. Like she could barely walk today. Right. And now obviously everything's getting into, and I'm like, man, this is going to be a really, really bad, you know, tomorrow, wake up and be like, Oh my God. Now I really can't walk. You know,
(34:04):
That's crazy. It is amazing what a wedding dress will hide though. I've had lots of brides with like, you know, busted knees. I had one gal who had like a tumor removed surgically from her thigh. Like, you know, a couple of weeks before. And you know, you just don't know it's all under the dress. Yeah, no, I I've had several brides have the boot on. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But I did ask Lauren, I was like, what are you going to do? Is he going to wear like the boot, like overseeing? She's like, Oh no, he's, he's taken that off. And he's going to have to walk on that broken leg because we are getting our photos taken. Oh my gosh. She was like, get it, sister.
(34:41):
I had a question for Kat. The, the first time we ever met. Cause I think we had talked in stuff online I had, and that maybe we had talked about this before, but certainly not on the podcast. I do like these national video shoots and it's usually pretty casual and the guy was like, Hey, you know, the client has requested that we have a makeup artist. Like, do you know anybody? He goes, I've never, he goes in 10 years. We've probably done this like twice. I said, so I, I think Kerryn had reached out and said you were available. And it was like this dental office, like really whatever. But that one girl came in and she had like orange, like, because so T and now when they hear your side of it, so, you know, so basically we hired, I said, Hey Kat, like, we just need you to kind of do like touch up.
(35:27):
You know, a couple of girls are gonna need to do testimonials, you know, a couple of guys, like, you know, powder for the guy, you know, whatever. And I had never, I mean, I knew your name and the way, you know, we had never met together in person. And so you're set up and like, you know, we had done the first couple. I'm like, Oh wow. This person looks great. Like, Oh, wow. This is my, this is like, awesome. This is totally turned out better than it's ever looked. Cause you know, we normally don't do that sort of stuff with a bunch of makeup. And then this girl comes in and she's like bright orange. And I was like, I don't think I did that. She would do that. So what happened with that?
(36:03):
So she showed up 20, 30 minutes late. So we had a schedule of a bunch of people. And I know we were kind of like running a little behind and she was one of the testimonials. So she was just what a person coming in to like talk about her, like her dental experience and how wonderful it was. So she comes in and I'm kind of like great that like cake face on. And I was like, is this what you were normally? And she was like, yeah. I'm like, can I, do you mind if I touch it? She's like, no, it's like, this is how I do my makeup all the time. And I was like, okay. And so I tried so hard to like, I was like Capitol powder on you to like lighten it up still wouldn't it didn't do anything. It was like, she took shape tape and you know, this tape and put it all over her face. And it was so yellow orange, and it would've taken me probably another 30 to 45 minutes because I would have had to take all of it off, honestly had to just remove everything and redo her entire face of makeup. And I was like, I'm so sorry.
(37:08):
Her neck was like this color, like this, like, like, and then, I mean, it was like as orange is that jury? I mean, but it was like, she comes in and it was, you know, it just had like a line where she had stopped, you know, at least Dorothy will do like bronzer stuff, but she'll like kind of do the chest thing or right. I don't know. That seems to be a thing. You kind of like carry it down. But this was like, this was like solid Sharpie line, like across of makeup, where then
(37:37):
Was in that situation. What's so hard about that is like, you're on a timeline. And then on top of that, the client was already 30 minutes late. And so if I'm like supposed to fix this, we're all going to be here waiting for this person for like an hour to an hour and a half. And it was like, I'm so sorry. I feel terrible. And then I love the screenshot that Reen sent me. He was like WTF is this. And I was like, Oh God, it's even worse.
(38:05):
It's on the video. It was, yeah.
(38:07):
It looked like not really bad, but I was like, this might work. And then she, no, it was terrible. But this is also where, you know, having a pro makeup artist actually doing makeup is beneficial because we will actually match your skin correctly. Yeah.
(38:22):
I remember this story and it killed me cause we did that. And I mean, even that after her, because the whole thing was like, we were to have like four hours and we had in Kat was like, well, I'm just going to come. Like we can get as many done as Eno. Like I'm just a human and we're going to get as many done as I can. And we are the same way. And they ended up hauling like 18 people that come in and then like afterward the guy that hired me, he goes, well, you, you really didn't get a lot of like video of the clinic. And I said, well, cause we did like 18 testimonials in like an hour and a half. Like what do you and ma you know, like, what do you, what do you want to do? Like, yeah, you were flying through that.
(39:01):
I still is that makeup. Oh man. She was so sweet.
(39:09):
Do you guys get a lot of stuff like that?
(39:12):
Yeah. Like, like those makeup snappers. Yeah. All the time. It's usually what the moms though, you know, they have their iconic look, they've rocked for the last, you know, 65 years. And you know what I mean? You're not, you're not going to get them off that mountain. So it happens all the time. All the time.
(39:29):
People just don't know, it looks good or not.
(39:32):
Yeah. You know, I, I was at a Costco one time and I look over and I was like, ah, that lady looks really familiar. And then my eyes zoomed in on this, like just these splotches of like fuchsia blush on her cheeks. And I was like, mom from sun mountain 2017 grandma from the quinceanera wedding. And that was like, okay, we joke. But she was literally a baby. Like this girl was so young and the grandma just kept there's this blush called orgasm and it's pink, but it has this like sheen of gold. And I was putting it on her and she's like more orgasm pulling it out. And I'm like, this is the best grandma ever. I love you.
(40:20):
Bring me in a drink. And then her boyfriend comes in and he's a 35 year old snack happening right now ever. But yeah, with the gold, like she'll play 10 man. It was beautiful. I think what's fun about all of those old characters too is like, you know, I don't know if it's just like, I mean, it's gotta just be the West coast, but like, Oh, much potheads too. So you get these old gals on and they're just like, let me go get my let me get my vape and have a hit. And the, and these are like really nice, like respectable for, you know, like no disrespect to this, you know, we, but you know what I mean? Like it's not what you're expecting, you know, here's a granny coming in and you know, she's got like a Gucci house robot and she was like, Oh, let me have a hit first where I sit down and we're like, Oh, interesting. Yes, let's do this. So wild world and in the cosmetic world and the makeup industry.
(41:19):
Favorite favorite wedding memory?
(41:23):
Oh man. Well, Kat and I, I think my favorite is when we had a destination wedding out in new hope, Pennsylvania. And cause I, I book a lot, I book at least two to three weddings in New York every year. Cause it's just, it's a, it's a really great referral system. And now Kat's part of that. So she just gets defaulted near my Kats coming. Right. so we were out at new hope, Pennsylvania. We did this great wedding in this haunted kind of town. But the best part is, is that we had a client, another client of mine who hadn't got married yet lived in New York city. And they were like, Hey, when you can't come to town, let's take you out a note to self don't, go out with restaurant industry people and expect that you can hang.
(42:14):
We did really well. I mean you and I like three in the morning or in the middle of like Manhattan in the streets looking around trying to find a cab and this guy, this taxi driver just drives up and he's like, get in the cab. We're like, okay, that's so weird. That was so fun though. Yeah. But we went out with a couple that got married on labor day. Was it labor day, last year to date? I mean, I think so. And it's actually a married here, Columbia, but they lived in New York and I worked at a, this great steakhouse and they were like our treat when you come to New York for the Memorial weekend wedding. And we went out with him and I just remember looking at like really big drinks and not remembering much. And it was like the best, you know, it is amazing wedding necessitation in Pennsylvania. And then we got to hang out with like clients that were coming into Seattle and that's really like, you know, it's why we do it for the drinks. Just kidding. Let's like back up though. My, my favorite part of that trip was also hanging out with crystal and her husband. But I loved that. We went to the Delaware where George did, George Washington crossed over. And I remember we were a little drunk from drinking wine and I stood there and I was like, this is why you look like such a big deal.
(43:45):
I can swim this. I could walk across this. I, you see all these like photos of George Washington on a raft. And it's like this dramatic thing. And it's like this bullshit. Well, we went to these flea markets and they had like the best stuff. And Ann, I will never forget this. When we were going to the airport and found a cast iron Boston terrier, she's the mother of Boston terror, but she literally hauled this cast-iron Boston terrier and checked like put it through the conveyor belt. And people were like, what is this? It was so random. I loved that trip. It was great. It's like a big, great wedding and a half. Yeah. Will you guys attribute mean, you
(44:32):
Seem like you guys are close with a lot of your clients and friends. I mean, what do you, what do you attribute that to just being rad chicks are easy to work with are building those relationships. I mean, you know, getting able to travel and go see people like that is pretty cool.
(44:46):
It is cool. I think I think a lot of it has to do with the tone we set on the wedding day. I think a big, big, big part of that. And then that's from there, it's word of mouth, obviously. Like I know we're both good makeup artists. Like we make people look really good. And I'm not trying to be braggy, but like, you know, we do our jobs well when it comes to that. But I also think it's the energy we bring to the bridal suite and people are always like, you know, we had the best starts for our day. We had so much fun. They're so great to hang out with. It's like hanging out with a couple of your friends and laughing and, and then that referral process just goes on and on. But that energy I can say for myself, and I know for Kat U2, that starts at the time of inquiry when people reach out, you know, if I'm booked or someone's like, you know, Oh, you're out of my budget.
(45:40):
I'm never, I always return that email. And I'm always like, Hey, I totally get budgets. Thank you so much. You know, reach out if anything changes, you know, hit me back up and it's happened. So it's that kindness and, you know, genuineness from the start, I think. What do you think? Yeah. I mean, well, you know that I've, I've said this a million times. I feel like you get what you put out into the universe is like, you know, like you're, you know, some people think it's hokey, but honestly I really do like, you know, you want positivity, you want people that are amazing, who value you and think that you're great. You know, I, I try to put out that energy of love and respect to every person because, and I want them to feel heard. So it's all about connection. And I feel like, yeah, since I put that out there, I get those clients. If you're if you're a real big jerk jerk clients, I mean, that's just the way the world, honestly. So if you want better clients be a better person, that's just me. So and that's with everything that's like friendships, relationships, anything. So that's just like across the board kind of my mentality. Yeah. Yeah.
(46:50):
I have a wedding coming up. I won't have too much evidence out there, but I have a wedding coming up and the photographer I worked with five years ago and it was like the worst experience ever, like absolutely horrendous, right. To the point that I'm like, I'm going to sear that name in my head. Like never forget it. And now we have a wedding coming up. And so, you know, I sent out an email, it was like, Hey, you know, just wanted to check in and say, hi, you know, we were together back at this wedding. You know, I didn't say anything about whatever, but we'll be curious. Cause like you said, it's that you know, I tried to be a pretty positive for us on the wedding day, you know? And so do my, you know, the guys that were for me at like Jeff and I at the end of that were both like, that guy was a real jerk. Like, well, I to say deal with that, you know, but it is like, you know, I hope that maybe he's had a, had to come to Jesus in the last couple of years. I've been like, Hey, maybe, maybe I am kind of a, kind of a jerk to work with. Or maybe it would be a little better, you know, you would help,
(47:48):
You know, the, the downside, hopefully, hopefully that did happen. But the downside I would say is that most times people are like that. They're not open to like constructive criticism and yeah, no, and that's unfortunate and that's on them. But, and I know for videographers and not just like makeup artists, we don't really get to choose who the photographer is that we get to work with. We just kind of, and then sometimes we don't see them, but we do when they want getting ready photos, which isn't anymore. Unless you want to have up in your face person looking like your dentist and your photo.
(48:25):
We did our first getting ready. Cause I think we had talked about this on the makeup round table and we did our first getting ready and yeah, I mean, there was a little, you know, when you're editing the video and you get like the drone and it's all beautiful. And then you cut to the hotel room and it's like mass, you know, mass like everybody. And you know, you're like, Oh, okay. This is definitely like August, 2020, you know? And I mean, even by 10 years from now, you'd be like, Oh, that was definitely like that when that happened. But yeah, it was interesting. Cause I hadn't, we hadn't done that since, you know, we, we were mostly just like ceremony through, but to do kind of the full day with the PPE with everyone, but you know, but they were, they were safe and this was before whatever that new, I think it was like that weekend before the new regulation came in, you know, but it was like, that's crazy. It's totally different. You know,
(49:11):
It is different. And I've been coaching like bruh you know, family members how to fake a lip touch-up so that when I'm gone that they can have some getting ready photos that don't, you know, that is less so pandemic looking. And I think, you know, there's no problem with that. Like, you know, it's fine just, you know, that way you can have the bride with no mask on and you know, she's with a family member and they're doing a fake lip touch up or a fake, you know, Vail put on the, you know, in attachment kind of thing. So yeah, weird times, weird times, but we're rolling with it and we're just treating our couples with kindness and love. So do the best we can. Yeah.
(49:51):
Any other fun stories you want to share before you guys depart today? I know you're busy and running around and doing all sorts of crazy stuff.
(49:57):
Oh my gosh. There's so many of 'em so many, I, you know, not to plug our own show, but you'll have to come listen to beauty tips on bullshit. Cause we have lots of those stories over there, fresh in our memory. So yeah. Sitting there, like what are some funny stories we were in the car together on the way back from Portland. We're like, Oh yeah. So we started rattling them off, but well, w we should leave with the, with the mammon Jamela.
(50:26):
What's the,
(50:28):
The big, the all time crazy story of all really quick. This is the one when people always like what's the craziest thing you've ever happened had happened at a wedding. And I was like, Oh, well, once I had a mother of a bride walk up to me with a display in costume, like Halloween type wig, like plastic hair, like the real tight curls and walk up to me and asked me if we would cut off sections of these curls and with Bobby pins, pin them into her hair. So she would have more, she had really short blonde hair and have very, so she can have more fullness in her hair. And I was like, where is the camera? It was legit. A clown wig. Yeah. It was a clown wig, blonde wig. Yep. And the best part is like, the mom is like, you know, she's explaining how she, this could work. And I'm like, this can't work. If this doesn't match your hair, this is gonna fall out. And I didn't know, the bride had been in the bathroom or something. She comes running out and she was like, mother, I told you not to ask them about that damn way. Get out of here.
(51:37):
Yeah. We had talked about that ahead of time. Mom, you can't like Anne's coming. You can't, you can't embarrass me.
(51:43):
Yeah. They totally had the conversation ahead of time. And I remember the bride even warn me like, Hey, heads up, my mom's going to, my mom's going to be a handful. She's going to ask you for some crazy stuff like that. I did not have that level of crazy in my head.
(51:57):
Parents are funny on the way we just had our anniversary and Dorothy's dad had sent, like he had I don't know if he was getting a suit cleaned or something, but he had found like he had made the notes for himself, like for the wedding day, like where the stand, but like, it's cute. You know, parents are funny that way. You know, they want to make sure that they, you know, they gotta make it their stuff too. Like that we'll make sure, you know, it's funny,
(52:21):
So bad. That was a good one though. Well, and then she went and she washed her hair after that, she was like, I don't like my hair. And then she went and washed it. We were like, hi, now we're like you do you. She was very, it was very intense, very intense, very intense mama.
(52:40):
It was fine. I appreciate you guys coming on. Yes. And definitely the beauty tips podcast and doing all that I think is great. And it definitely deployed that. And to, if anyone wants to hear more fun stories and get the, you know, all the different beauty news and everything else, right?
(52:55):
Yeah. Bad news and product reviews and just the lives of two working makeup artists.
(53:00):
I love it. I think it's good. So it's been going a long time now.
(53:05):
Yeah. We're coming up on the obese hidden season three of a 40 long. Yeah. Find us anywhere you can download a podcast.
(53:14):
Yes. Yeah. I'm like we just posted, I was saying before we started recording and I think to them like Apple podcasts is still like giving me trouble and I'm like, what is the deal with this? Like, why is it so hard? That kind of thing. But yes that that'll be good. And then a Kat and if people want to find more stuff about you guys and where you're working and everything else, where would you have them check out?
(53:36):
Well, you can follow us both on Instagram. Ms. Timss makeup artist is an and I'm Ms. Kitten. So I'm ms. Dot kitten. Not as professional that's. Okay. And that you can also follow her Instagram beauty tips and BOS we're in there a lot. We just basically talk about new trends, what we're up to, what we're doing and all those things. And if you know, what, if you already are trying, if you're trying to book a hair and makeup for 2021 on a Saturday, I'll tell you right now, neither of us are open, but we do own an incredible agency of artists called paper dolls Northwest. You can go to paper dolls and w.com and check out the work of our talented team.
(54:20):
Perfect. Well, thank you guys. That is fine. That kind of a different fun catch up and sharing some stories, if you guys are interested in coming on the podcast, if you're a wedding vendor, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire I have that you can submit and, and kind of put you into the system. I had someone yesterday comment on a video post and she goes, Oh, I'm going to sign up. I'm so excited. And she filled out the questionnaire. And so I reached out, I said, Oh, and when you want to, Oh, no, I was just trying to watch the podcast. I didn't, I didn't mean to like sign up and it's like, it's like a 10 questions sign up thing. Like, And I mean, like, it's not like put your email in to get, I was like, okay, well, that's fine. I say you can also, you know, you could come on to, she was a photographer, but that's okay. But anyway, I thank you guys so much. Again, this has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® and check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks.
(55:19):
Thanks Reid.
Mason Joel, Mason Joel Photography
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®, we are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I am so excited today to be joined again by video and our continuing video series. Now that Amy and Bronwen started last week on the podcast. We have Mason Joel, who is one of my friends and a bunch of online groups. He has his own podcast that we are going to record later today getting candid, right? Photography focus, long form interviews, actually a lot of familiar guests that have been on this podcast, which I think is awesome. I was looking through the list and he said, Hey, you know, I would love to come on. You can come on. We'll kind of do a switcheroo kind of thing. So thank you so much for coming on. I love meeting new people, especially people that I've, we've all just been talking online repeatedly lately. So it's so great to kind of see you face to face. So why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do?
(01:01):
Sure thing. Thanks for having me on again, by the way. I appreciate it. It's always like a, Hey, I don't want to bother you. I'm kind of a nobody, but can I come on the podcast and will you come on my podcast and it'll be great. We'll be friends. So yeah, thanks for that introduction. My name is Mason Joel. I'm a photographer based out of Kitsap technically, but I say Kitsap in Seattle. I do I promote weddings and portraits, but I mean, I think with any photographer, we all kind of do a little bit of everything. I listened to the Mike Tabolsky. Is that how I say Mike Tabolsky?
(01:33):
Tabolsky? I said it wrong. I said it wrong for years. And he's one of my good friend, Mike, Mike Tabolsky. Yes.
(01:41):
So I listened to Mike Tabolsky's episode and I was like, yeah, absolutely. Cause he's talking about, you know, I do, I I've done commercial. I do event blah, blah, blah, blah. I think pretty much every photographer is sort of in the same boat where it's like, we kind of can do anything that you need, but we have to it's the crux of the industry kind of have to focus in and hone one thing and push that out. So kind of a Jack of all trades, because I am also so new. So it's like real estate or whatever. Like whoever's going to pay me money at this point, you know? But working on building weddings and portraits, that's sort of my that's sort of my niche. That's the thing I want to get into. So I've been working on it. In my spare time I do the podcast it's called getting candidates to help new photo and video and vendor entrepreneurs figure out how to navigate the wedding space and just build a business in general, to be honest, because I think a lot of things sort of just, they just easily flow into whatever thing you you're trying to build because it's pretty universal advice, I would say, no matter what.
(02:39):
So yeah, that's me, man.
(02:41):
So what how'd you get? How'd you get involved in, in photography in the first place? I always say, you know, some people grew up with like a camera in their hands or did you study in school or how did you get involved?
(02:51):
I think my story is not super unique. I think a lot of people kind of have that. Well, I did it in high school and I got the bug. I've heard it a lot. We've all heard it. If you listen to my podcast in any chance that's sort of the same thing. So started in high school. I had a digital photography teacher who is no longer with us. Her name was ms. Nielsen. She's awesome. Miss Sue, Ms. Nielsen. I took a digital photography class and I was editing a photo and it was black and white. Cause I have like this thing about, I love black and whites and she came over and she looked and she was like, you're not half bad Mason, you should, you should. I mean, it's not great, but you should think about doing this. And I was like, nah, dude, I want to make money.
(03:31):
So I kind of lost touch with it, went to college at the UDaB. I wanted to be a computer scientist cause I wanted to make money. And I took us a quarter of computer science classes realized I hated it. Didn't want to learn how to code. It's awful, totally switched gears. Just to classes that I wanted cut to senior year, took a photography class, actually my last quarter of school and I had sort of had a camera, but I didn't use it. And then I took that class and I went, why am I not doing this? Like, this is what I love to do. Like I, I miss this so much. And then I got a job working at a photography studio and just recently got a business and that's sort of the, the quick and dirty synopsis of how I got into photography and how that came to be. What I am today.
(04:23):
What year did you graduate from school? High school or college
(04:29):
College. I graduated in 2017.
(04:31):
Wow. Yeah. So it does seem so where you cause generally it seems like the entrepreneurial ship, you know, people a little bit younger than I am. It's a little bit more easy to jump into and not as much fear. Were you scared of kind of going out of it yourself? I know a lot of the guys that I hire and stuff are a little more like Willy nilly, you know, like, Hey, let's make it. Let's make it go with this.
(04:53):
Yeah, yeah. You know, I think I'm, I'm the type of person I'm very cautious and I'm, I, I don't ever want to make a miscalculated error and do something without knowing what I'm getting into. But with this, I kind of sat on it for a long time. To be honest with you. I was like, no, I'm pretty comfortable where I'm at. I li I like my job. I liked being able to do photography and also know that I have a paycheck coming in because as any freelance or no, sometimes it gets dodgy, especially during COVID. But I, I technically got my business license in August of 2019 and I didn't even do anything. I just got it. So I had it, but that was for me, sort of the Mason, if you want to make this happen for yourself, you have to do it. Like you have to learn everything about it. And it's time to just, you know, put your big boy pants on, take the life, vest off, go jump in the water and figure out how to swim. So yeah, it, it, I would say I'm a very cautious person, but with this, it's like, I know that this is what I want to do. And I know I want to make this happen. So as, as I'm dedicated, it'll work out for me, that's sort of my positive mindset that I have going into it.
(06:02):
What was the scariest thing, or maybe that you didn't anticipate, you know, that maybe you thought you knew and you were like, Oh, well, yeah, yeah.
(06:09):
You know, you know, the thing that everyone always says to the new guy is you have no idea how hard all of the backend is. You have no idea how much shit you have, crap. Sorry, how much crap do you have to do on the backend? And I was like, yeah, no, I hear you. Like, it's fine. Like, it's, it can't be that like, you're like, yeah, I know it's bad, but it can't be that bad. And, and very ignorantly. I tried without like a CRM or anything, and it was a nightmare, absolute nightmare. And so I learned very quickly that they don't lie to you when they say 10% of what you do is what you love. And then 90% is all the other crap that comes along with running your business. And so that's kind of been the hardest thing for me. So taxes, understanding invoicing and, and properly rectifying your, your income and your business expenses and all that. Like it's so much work. So that's kind of been, it's been the thing I've struggled with lately is just learning how to make all that happen and understanding everything that goes along with having your own business.
(07:15):
Yeah. I was the one that the first time I had like my quarterly taxes or whatever, I, like, I called, I would have to go on the West Seattle we're in West Seattle and the West Seattle chamber of commerce and like looked for an accountant and I called him and I was like soppy. And I'm like, I don't know what to do. Like, I don't know how to write, you know, like my numbers are. So, yeah. So I definitely understand. And especially right now, like that's the one thing I think dealing with the back end and I don't think people necessarily, you know, with the reschedules and everything, because it's like, here we are, you know, you're moving dates and you're moving balances and you're giving refunds and you're not giving refunds. And you're like, you know, I, I had a zoom call the other day with one of our September brides. And I'm like, you gotta catch me up here on like, what, what, where we're at, you know? And I feel terrible saying that. Right. But there's just so much, it's so hard to keep track right now with everything going on.
(08:04):
It's insane. And I, and I'm, so I'm, it's both the best and the worst time to try and like make a business happen because a nothing's basically happening this year. Everything that I have is honestly just networked friends stuff. And anything that I was going to have this year is like not happening maybe 20, 21. And I actually had a couple break up in quarantine. So I was like, I guess I'll just give you all that money back. Yeah. So it's, it's a good thing. That's a bad thing. It's, it's a good learning lesson. I would say, because I think for a lot of us in, in this space that we're in right now, we have to pivot, you know, this is a good learning lesson of like, okay, the market is not, is not focused on what I do. So how can I make that happen? And I feel like that's obviously from doing big weddings to pivoting, to elopements, because that's basically what we're doing right now. We can have a reception 30 people maximum, unless you're the church thing like you and I saw on that post. So it's good to see that I think because it makes you realize that you have to be able to adapt, you know?
(09:10):
Well, I think, yeah. And I think people are gonna definitely be a little more lean. I mean, I think a lot of, a lot of vendors, a lot of higher end photographers. I mean, I know even, you know, we were spending money on stuff and like the second March hit and you're like, Oh, okay. We're not, you know, we're canceling every program subscription to, you know, or like all the people are looking through, Hey, you know, so if you cancel Adobe, but then resubscribe, they'll give you 50 bucks, you know, like all these different things trying to figure out because I do, I think people were just living, Oh yeah, we could pay for that. And then we're on this and that and all this stuff. And so, yeah, I definitely think though that the people now that survive are going to be super lean, you know, when it comes to what they have to, you know, what they actually need to do. So
(09:54):
Yeah. And you know, you bring that point up, which is really good. Like you have to take a stock of what you're paying for and is it really valuable and is it really worth it? Like, what is, what can you cut your losses for? And you're like, you know what, I actually didn't even need that. So now you're even saving money when we come out through this and we start having more work, hopefully in 2021. And you, like you said, you run a little leaner, which is great, which is absolutely fantastic.
(10:20):
So you said you, you know, Jack of all trades, you do a bunch of stuff. It, your ideal client wedding, whatever, you know, what is your ideal jam? What do you really enjoy doing the most?
(10:31):
The question, the question that everyone asks themselves at the beginning, that the ideal client you know, I am a weird dude, like just by and large and I'm unapologetically who I am. And I, that's something that a lot of people have to work on when they start, which isn't, that's sort of not answering the question, but you get the point. I, I vibe well with people who are a little strange who are a little out there, you know, they're happy with who they're at with who they are with, obviously like anyone, but they like, they like video games probably they're, they're big nerds. They like art. They might be tech guys, which means they probably love video games. Like, I definitely think I V I vibe well with people who are sort of in that, in my age range of which I am 25 at this point. And it's almost hipster. I don't know. It's, it's, it's still something that I'm sort of narrowing and it's always something that you have to learn and then adapt as you get older because everyone changes. So right now I'm trying to hit that 22 to like 30 range. Like, those are the types of people. I, I generally get along with the best. So,
(11:42):
Yeah. So, cause we've talked about that with other vendors too, that, you know generally the age of marriage stays relatively the same. Right. You know, kind of early. And obviously, I mean, you know, my wife and I got married a little bit later, but you know, generally speaking and then, you know, vendors continue to get older. Right. So there is always this like, well, how does, you know, how does a 55 year old photographer, you know, hang out with a bunch of team, not your team, but whatever, you know, getting ready to them and you know, it is interesting. So yeah, I definitely think that, you know, being in that age range cause we're, you know, we're definitely at the, I'm definitely at the point now where, you know, like the couple that we did last Sunday, I'm like, you know, they're like children. I mean, like, and I'm not that old, but I do feel like, wow, this is okay. You know, this is definitely like a different crowd now, you know,
(12:27):
Is it, is it different to talk to them now versus maybe when you started?
(12:31):
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's yeah. I feel like I do feel like a vendor there, you know, kind of helping them since like, you know, Hey reads
(12:42):
Like, ah, you're so young, bright tailed, bushy eyed or bushy tail bright. Yeah,
(12:46):
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I definitely, you know, some of them now where they have you know, we, we have some young couples to have like one, two, three kids and I'm like, Whoa, man, like, we're you like? So you're, you're just like steamrolling past us. And I, you know, it's a whole thing. So did you grow up in, in the area?
(13:05):
I did. So I've grown up in the Kitsap area, my whole life not I moved, but even still, it was in, in Kitsap. So I've lived on, on my side of the water forever, which is a blessing and a curse. It's good because you're not stuck in the Seattle traffic, the Seattle stuff. Like I don't have to deal with that, but also being, being who I am and doing what I do, I love people. Like, I love socializing. I'm totally an extrovert. I thought I was like an introverted extrovert. It's not true. I'm just, I'm just an extrovert who sometimes needs to take a break. So this quarantine has been so hard cause I can't go see my friends. And if I want to go see my friends, it's like, I gotta go either all the way around or I have to trance a ferry, which the ferry system is a joke right now. Understandably so, but it's still frustrating. So it's, and I, I can't get stuff if I need to get equipment. Cause glaciers is sort of the spot I have to maybe get lucky and write a ferry to rent something if I need it and then come back and it's just yeah, it's a hassle,
(14:16):
But it's beautiful area. Do you like it?
(14:17):
Oh God, absolutely beautiful. I mean, it's sort of, if you're not going to the North cascades, it's sort of the illumine area, you know, because it's the only other place that has those scenes that you want. That is just a bridge away, which I'll deal with the hood canal bridge over the ferry system any day of week, you know,
(14:36):
What's it been like kind of, you know, getting involved in this community, you know, networking, obviously being a part of the groups, you know, doing the podcast, is that all, you know, obviously building this web, I mean, there's that all it, you know what's the thought process behind and the intentionality behind that?
(14:53):
Oh, sure. So, so I think a lot of people at the beginning are super intimidated to even reach out like even still like reaching up to you as intimidating, even because I know I haven't talked to you before. I'm sort of just a lurker on the nut page. I don't, I don't say anything very often because Hey, I think I D I think a lot of people do this too. What do you kind of devalue yourself? You're like, Oh, I haven't been here long enough. Like, I don't know what I'm talking about, but I don't think that's necessarily true. And I've been trying to be better about that. Like, Hey, you know, from what I've learned from who I've talked to, this is what I think. And that's also a good way to build some trust with people as well. They're like, okay, I've seen this guy post on Facebook and stuff.
(15:32):
Like, he seems like he's a cool dude. And, and the getting candid thing came from pure frustration of trying to figure out what the heck I need to do. Like, there's not a lot of resources available to you that gives you actionables there's a lot of stuff out there that's fluff. That's like, they'll, they'll try and like guide you to their website. And then they want you to pay upwards of a thousand dollars so they can tell you one thing. And you're like, I could have just found that on the internet probably. And that's not to say you shouldn't, you shouldn't monetize your, your education and your value. You totally should. But also why not make something that's a resource to people that helps them build, get some actionables to start working in their mind so that they see themselves as a business person and start taking that stuff seriously and sort of know what they need to do.
(16:24):
And then also you're absolutely right. I'm networking, I'm building trust and building a friendship with people. I'm building a friendship with you and, and Jordan Voth and Chelsea agro and Tony, Christine, and all these people who I see up here above me, because I'm the new guy. And then you talk to all these people and like, dude, we're just people like, it's cool. Like just, you know, you can say, hi, it's cool. You can ask for advice if you need it. Like, which has been awesome. It's been awesome to be able to rely on people, the text people like, Hey, like I'm dealing with this situation. What do I do? I just had that happen the other day with Nick Prouse she lives in my area. And I was like, Hey, like I just had this thing happen. Can I send you this email and get your opinion? She was like, yeah, absolutely no problem. And I would never have done that like six months ago. Absolutely not. No, but
(17:15):
That's great advice. I mean, and I think especially now you know, with everyone, you know, everyone's online and all that, but I mean, I think people pay attention to who is, you know, adding to dialogue, adding to discussion, adding to things versus, you know just posting, you know, we're available, I'm available, you know, trying to get work right. Trying to get and it's, but it is. And, you know, cause I've gotten to the point now to where, you know, an ideal with, you know, my own decide with video stuff. And I'm like, you know, I at least feel like I'm trying to do and know with your podcasts and things, you know, trying to add value, trying to add, you know, resources trying to add, you know, like helping people online through unemployment stuff and like everyone, but we're all. And so I D I think that's a great mentality to have, and, you know, just trying to start those dialogues versus, you know, the people that are just on there to get work. Cause I do think it's pretty transparent, especially nowadays where that's, it's all online and like everything. And you're like, man, I don't know this guy at all, except he always seems to be wanting to work and doesn't really talk about anything else, you know? So I think that that's a good, a good mindset to have.
(18:23):
And I don't even think about that perception because I'm not, I am super guilty of being the guy to post, like whenever anyone needs something, even Mike posted something the other day and he's like, sorry, I'm female. And I was like, no, but you're so hungry, especially when you're new. So you're so hungry to prove yourself. And I am super hungry to prove that I have the talent. So whenever anyone posts anything and I've yet to get a job from either the second shooter page or the North sound page or the nut page, a four second gig, and that's not, it doesn't make me mad. It just makes me want to try harder. And that's sort of going off on a tangent a little bit, but you're absolutely right. And I didn't even think about that. Like you should be starting dialogue too, and that's sort of why I'm trying to not only just be like, Hey, I'm available. I I'm great. Like, I'm, I'm the hottest thing since sliced bread, you should totally hire me, but also like, Hey, like that's great work or whatever, you know, just, just being a genuine humanist is big. People are like, okay, he's cool. Like he's not just a church trying to do what he needs to and get outta here.
(19:29):
Oh yeah, no. I mean, and that's the thing too, you know, that we where I'm trying to do the surprise thing for Dorothy and it was going to involve a photographer and she's never going to listen to this, so it doesn't really matter. But but you know, but I was, I talked to the photographer and that was just, that was based on the personal relationship. Like I don't even give, I don't care about like portfolios and rates and like, I was like, it doesn't even matter to me. Like I just, you know, I want to hire you cause it's you and not really anything else. And I think that goes a little, you know, at least for people with referrals and things like that. I don't think that yeah, it's about who, you know, and not really even what you do.
(20:09):
I mean, everyone's proficient enough with taking photos. It's about, you know, standing out on those other things. Cause I, like, I've always said, you know, I'm not an exceptional videographer, but I am good at, you know, trying to build connections and things like that. So a hundred percent. Yeah. So talk about your photography style and then we talked about clients and stuff, but what do you, you said you really liked black and white. I mean, what do you, I mean, I know everyone's kinda got, you know, it's like the Brighton area nowadays or the darker, where do you, where do you try to fit in? Yeah,
(20:39):
I gotta be honest. I hate the word bright Mary, because I feel like it's so overused, but it has a style and there's no knocking that it works for people. My style is very contrast, I would say, not like super heavy contrast, but definitely contrast. I definitely don't try to limit myself in a lighting scenario. Like I can make whatever work, just like anyone else. But sort of more natural colors. I don't like to go to yellow or to blue, to stick sort of true to the color temperature, which that might go over some people's head. And beyond that, I love very intimate moments. I find this is both a strength and a flaw. I think at the same time, I really gravitate towards moments where it's very close and intimate and I'm tight on the shot and it's like, the people are holding their head to head or they're almost about to kiss or things like that.
(21:42):
And then that, that's hard because I'm not getting all the shots that I need. Oh my God, I'm human. I know. Ah so it's like, okay, I need to stop just shooting tight. I need to get full body. But then on the other end of the spectrum, if you look on my website, like my first photo is a couple doing the finger guns to each other, which was a joke between the two of them. And I was like, that's hilarious. You have to do that. And I basically forced them to, and it's their favorite picture ever. And they're like, Oh my God, thank you so much for making us do that. And I was like, you're welcome. I knew you'd love it. And I also gravitate to those moments where people are just being silly and just being themselves and not worried that the camera's going to catch them being, you know, not picture perfect, you know, like, cause no one's picture. Perfect. So those two kind of contrast. So my, my catch line is emphasis on the, on the, on the snappy and the silly, because those are the two things that I love to see from two people
(22:37):
It's so it's so hard. I mean, even as a video, but as a photographer trying to stand out, I just, I can, I can't even like wrap my head around trying to have like a photography company and, and, and stand out. I mean, how do you, how do you approach that? Like what is your to try to, you know, get clients stand out, you know, from a, from a marketing and visual, you know, besides just obviously the connection stuff, you know, between, you know, referrals and things like that.
(23:02):
Yeah. You know, that's, that's sort of the, the newest thing I think right now that's so hard for new people to do. And this is something that I've talked to other people about. The market is way big, especially where we live. There's so many people who have a camera and are a photographer and there are people who are genuine photographers, but you know what I mean? There's people who maybe don't have any business being a photographer and they're just, or they're just starting and that's totally fine. But there's so many options. There's so many, so many different people compared to even 2010 where the, the way to get people in the door was different. And so from what I've learned Instagram is not the thing anymore. Like too many people were on. It doesn't matter. It's not chronological anymore. It only posts or shows your stuff.
(24:00):
If you get a lot of comments and there's a lot of interaction and shares on it. So I, what I've been doing is kind of finding that next thing that people can use. And some people think it's ticked off. I don't necessarily agree. I think tick is the market for tick. Tock is completely different from the market that I need. So what I'm finding and finding actually a lot of success in is Facebook ads, because Facebook can actually also go to Instagram. So along with Facebook ads, it's SEO learning how to use SEO and blogging and all of that stuff, which I think has already always been there. But a lot of people skip because it is a lot of work. So for me, I'm focusing on making sure my SEO is really tight. I could be better on my website. That's sort of what I've been doing this week. And then learning how to make Facebook ads happen and understanding how to make it work for you. Even though it's not really made for us, it's made for products like tee-shirts and stuff. So that's sort of been my approach beyond obviously networking with people.
(25:03):
Yeah, I could, I could, I actually had a wedding. It hasn't been posted yet, but wedding network Seattle is like a, it's a really great if you're, if you're ever interested in joining, you know, these more large scale networking groups and they had, they were trying to get people to write blogs for them. And I did a whole blog about blogging, which I was really proud about because I feel like at this point, like we go to the, I've gone to the wedding MBA down in Vegas this year. It's going to be digital only, just because obviously, but I feel like at this point I could give a very passionate hour, long seminar about blogging is, is how much I feel about it. Is that something that you work on too, that you, you do find success and like doing,
(25:44):
You know, when I actually do it? Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and I've been so bad about it. And my, my good friend, Sarah Anne, who's been on the podcast and has shared a lot of knowledge with me. It's like, she knows her SEO really well. And she's been like, dude, if you're not blogging, like you're kind of doing yourself a disservice and, and learning all the things that you have to do while blogging has been interesting too, you know, outbound links, inbound links, crediting, and, and format and your grammar. And I'm like, wow, there is so much that you have to do and think about than I I mean, before, when I was blogging on my old website, it was just, here's these two people in love, blah, blah, blah, please enjoy my photos. And compared to what I do now, where it's like, okay, very specific.
(26:28):
I have to link these dresses and all this other stuff. I'm like, wow, this is so much work, but it turns out great. Cause I, I can see where it goes and I can see all the people that see it. And I'm like, okay, this is something that I need to be more consistent about. But also that means you have to get more work. And if you have to shoot for free, you have to shoot for free or do styled shoots or whatever, you know, whatever gets you work. So yeah, absolutely SEO was is, is undervalued, I think right now, but it's, it's gaining more traction from what I see.
(26:58):
Yeah. There's a I can't remember his last name, the guy that does at the wedding MBA, he goes, it's Jason something. And he gives, he does, I would go to Vegas just to see him talk. And he does these hour long talks about like SEO stuff. And it is the most fat, I mean, there's someone that's a nerd about it is that the most fascinating stuff that I've ever seen, you know, that you're ever, and I'm sitting there like, and everyone else is like, what the hell is he talking about? And you know, I'm there with all my notes, like take him out anyway. But yeah, it's, it's definitely something, I mean, do you, do you struggle with that? I think everyone does the balancing. The, you know, I know we talked about the work stuff and, and the, you know, the backend is that hard for you to balance that? I mean, it's really easy to be a creative and not know how to do business or know how to do business and not be creative. Do you, is it hard? How do you balance those two, you know, brain science?
(27:49):
I mean, to be honest with you, I'm still working on it, you know being so young and so fresh. Both, I guess, both literally and figuratively in being a business person. I think a lot of people come in with this misconception of, you know, I'm a bleeding artist and I'm going to post my work on my website and people are just going to come and find me because that's how it works, because I know that my stuff is good. And I wasn't quite that egotistical or, or, or, you know, overconfident, but I definitely had this mindset of if I just put my stuff out there to work and it, it does not work that way at all. So there's a little bit of understanding. And I think Dan, Dan talked about this in a, in a, he made a comment in one of our groups.
(28:40):
And it's an N to me it's a little unfortunate, cause it kinda sucks, but it's also just absolutely true where you're a business person first and then you are an artist. And if you don't come into this with that understanding, you're not going to do well, unless your work is like the most amazing thing ever, which Mo 99% of you listening is probably if there are any of you listening, it's probably not like, let's just be honest. So you have to learn and I'm still, like I said, I'm still doing it. You have to learn your time management and not only time management, but time allocation. So what am I doing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday versus what am I doing Thursday, Friday, Saturday, so that I am doing everything I can for my business. So is that reconciliation, is that making blogs all day, is that setting up your brochures and price lists and all that other stuff in, for me HoneyBook, that's what I use. So that's what I've been doing this week. And knowing, and being able to identify what you have to work on. That's, it's just, it's insane to me that, like I said earlier, still trying to learn and understand everything that I have to do. It's a lot of work. So if you're not, if you're not here for that, it's, you're not going to make it to be honest.
(29:56):
Yeah. And that's the thing now with, with Kobe and everything else is I think it was really easy for a lot of people to get into weddings because, you know, it's, it's a lot of money and they think it's, you know, you're going to get these dumb brides or whatever. They're going to spend money on all this stuff. And I think that it's, it's not, and it is really competitive and it is really, I think it's really going to show the people that are really in it for the long run and not because there's a lot of other ways to make money right now with wedding.
(30:25):
Oh, absolutely. And there is that delusion of grand juror where like, I'm going to start and I'm just going to make $3,000 every wedding. And let me tell you, that's not true, like at all, because I'm the, I'm the guy who was like, if you have someone who doesn't have a big budget, please send them to me because I'm their guy. Cause I just need the work. So if you think that you're just gonna start off and make $60,000 in a year, it's not going to happen. That's not how it works at all. You're, you're begging at some points to be honest, like police, like even just let me second shoot or whatever, like I just need the work. And there's a lot of stuff that goes in that, which I've talked about before I won't go into, but it's an uphill battle. Like no matter what any businesses, when you start it,
(31:12):
What's your favorite part of the wedding day and being a part of that,
(31:16):
Oh, you know what, as weird as it is to say, I really love getting the detailed shots of the venue and I really love doing the ring shots. Mostly because that moment in time, and then it's usually before anything is going on, that's the calm before the storm that comes and I enjoy the storm, don't get me wrong. But being able to control where I go, I want the rings to be, I can just take pictures of the flowers and get all those details stuff for maybe fenders or, you know, if it's the ring, I'm getting it for the bride. It's really nice to just be happy to have that moment to really start your creative mind going and like, okay, I gotta think about lighting and where I want to be and all that. So it's, it's a good jumpstart for me. And it's also nice to have that moment of just calmness before all that fun, crazy happens. And you, and it's just like, alright, let's do this portrait scram. I'll get over here, all that stuff
(32:18):
Being out on the peninsula. Do you find that your work in a lot of places out there, or do you like the venues out there or do you venture this yellow? But
(32:25):
No, to be honest with you, I haven't gotten to venture to Seattle yet, so I'm I'm but actually it's not in Seattle, but I actually just got a wedding on, on the San Juan's row sharper or Roche Island. Oh, Roach Harbor. So that resort. Yeah. And I, Oh, I'm so psyched for that, because that to me is sort of like very gratifying. It's like, okay, like I am legit. Someone saw my work and was like, we want you to come. We trust you, come out to Roche Harbor for the sick wedding. And I'm like, Oh yes. I'm like, okay, this is sort of my turning point. I'm doing everything that I need to do. So it's like keep pushing that snowball basis. You got this. But I haven't gotten to do anything in Seattle yet. I want to, and I've been honestly kind of bothering people like, Hey, don't pay me.
(33:12):
Just let me come. And like, hold your water bottle because I want to start looking at these venues and seeing them and they kind of watch you work. And I understand why people don't sometimes don't want to, or don't need you. And that's fine. But the wedding venues here, there's, it's very limited. I find it unless you're doing like an outdoor space. There's the red, Cedar farm. There's the Kingston house, which is beautiful. I love the Kingston house. I love the people that run it too. With all the lavender and stuff. I don't know if you've been there before.
(33:40):
No, I've been the red Cedar. I haven't been the Kings.
(33:43):
Oh, it's beautiful. But red, Cedar farm is great too. I love that look and that vibe. And there's more that I, for some reason I can't remember, but I've been to pretty much all of them in this area. I just, I'm not still trying to get that Seattle stuff, man. It'll come, it'll come as I work. But yeah. I love the venues here. It's very calm usually too. So that's always nice.
(34:05):
Just in terms of, you know, running a photography business, what is a lesson you've learned? Some advice that you have, you know, that you would give to someone else, you know, that similar to you or starting out that is trying to figure out what to do. And I know that that's like super,
(34:20):
That is a super loaded question. Listen to my podcast. It's called getting candid. Just kidding. Just kidding. Just kidding. My biggest advice to someone and I think Tony, Christina said this and Chelsea Abdullah said this on my podcast is you need to learn your backend before you even shoot a picture for money. Because if you don't take care of your financials and you don't understand all the legal things that you have to do, you're really setting yourself up for failure for a fun anecdote that I'll share too. That I had happened to me recently. I wasn't keeping up with any of my bookkeeping because I do it myself. Cause I don't make enough money to have an accountant yet. I let it go for six months. I didn't look at it and that's including 2019 tax season rolls around it and I have to pay money.
(35:15):
I go back to look at all of my reconciliation, realize that I haven't done any of it realized that I'm missing things. And so I got to spend, luckily I had enough time. I got to spend basically three weeks going over it and I actually had to restart twice so that I, I knew that I had everything correct. And I, that all could've been, if I just set like a Monday, even like once a month to just go through and be like, all right, here's where everything goes easy. Now I know what my expenses are. So those are the sorts of things that you overlook. If you don't realize what you have to do,
(35:53):
Where does a, it seems like you said, you're passionate about learning about growing. Where does that excitement come from? Is that, you know, just even the entrepreneurialship and to, to branch out on your own. I mean, where does all that come from?
(36:07):
Hmm, that's a good question. That's like a very introspective question even. We try, I think that, I think the drive just comes from, I love, I love learning and mastering something and I love knowing that I it's as, as, as cocky as it sounds. I love knowing that I'm good at something. And I love knowing that I'm so good at something that someone else wants to praise me for. Cause I live for it. I'm an actor at heart too. So getting that praise and, and, and knowing that I I'm making it and knowing that I'm doing the right things and I'm navigating this space that is so vast and knowing like, okay, I found sort of my path, I found the thing that's going to launch me to where I want to be is really fulfilling. And also just hanging out with cool people.
(36:53):
This is awesome too. You know, you get to meet a lot of really fun people, both vendor wise in couples wise, you know, even just sitting here talking to you, I'm like this guy is awesome. We, you, you know, you have to be a podcast guy, so you know how to be personable, but there's so many it's. So it's just cool to be a part of this and, and call myself a business person and be like, okay, like I'm not perfect yet, but I know that I'm getting better. And I know that these people are like, Hey, like good job, man. Like keep doing you. And that's I live for it to be honest. So that, that validation of, of, of, of acceptance and the validation of knowing that I'm doing something that people love is great.
(37:34):
You said you're an actor at heart. Talk to me about about that. Did you act back in school or growing up?
(37:40):
So fun story about that actually I'll, I'll make it quick. I grew up playing sports my whole life. My dad was a sports guy still is to this day, loves like loves XFL. He was like, yes, no dragons loves NFL, loves baseball. That's like his stuff. So he kind of, he had me play it for reasons. I won't go into pretty much all my life. I never, I was good, but I wasn't great. And I wasn't getting the praise in the, in the, in the, in the acceptance that I wanted there. So senior year in high school, I I get dare to do a show. My friend said you should come out and trap for the wizard of Oz. I bet you won't get a roll. And I was like that dude, because I wasn't doing wrestling at that time.
(38:24):
I went out, did it, I did a stupid voice. And I got the role of the cowardly lion and I was like, what? No, no, no, no. That was just a joke. Like, no, for real. And she's like, yeah, my director was like, yeah, I want you, because that was amazing. And I was like, Oh, okay, cool. So I did that. And then just from there, man, it was just, I was, I got, I got what I wanted. I got the thing that I didn't get from sports, which was knowing that I was good enough and people and people recognizing that I was doing good and, and be like, dude, that was awesome. Like damn me up. Like, dude, that was so good. Like, Holy crap, you were hilarious. And from there it just, I did it for like six years. I've had to stop because as you know, being a, being a business person, you don't get the the opportunity to go do all the fun things you used to do, especially when you're just starting its nose to the grindstone. So I miss it, but that also lends really well to me, being able to, you know, be S with people when I go to a wedding or get along with people. Cause I am really good at just getting along with people. It's like, Hey, what's up man? Like what's going on all that stuff.
(39:32):
And I think it, I think it lends well, the weddings too. I mean, I think I didn't value that enough with sometimes because you know, when you, when you're booking clients and you know, you're talking with them, you know, you're doing all this stuff or be engaged in the sessions, you know, all that stuff. But then like, I would have like my second shooters come and I would be like, Hey, okay, I'm going to drop you off with the groom, you know, or whoever. And I'm going to go get, you know, the other people. And a lot of times it's cold, right? Like they don't know anybody, they don't know. And so you have to have that skill or Trey or whatever you want to call it, to be able to just like jump in and go. Right. And especially as a photographer where you're kind of leading the show, you have to be able to, you know, command the room or, you know, kinda like you said, herd cats or whatever. It's tough. And I don't think, you know, I mean, I think there's some photographers that are a little more like hide in the bushes and do that kind of stuff. But I do think you have to have at least, you know, if you have two of them or whoever, they're like, one of them's gotta be kind of running what's going on.
(40:37):
So, and, and even if you're not that way, cause there's plenty of people who aren't introverted. Like you have to at least pretend like there's no getting around it at some point, you're probably going to have to take charge, especially if you're starting out and you're doing weddings that are sub a thousand dollars or in that range of a thousand, because most of those people probably don't have money to have a planner. So you have to make sure you're getting everything you need and you're, you have to make sure that the timeline is running the way it is because you are sort of the captain of the day. Yeah.
(41:07):
Last question for me where, where are you? You know, everything's going on, it's crazy. We're where do you want to see yourself grow in the next, you know, couple years, you know, obviously working, you know, getting bigger weddings and some better stuff, but what's driving you, what's kind of that goal. And the next three, four years,
(41:25):
I think my five-year longterm goal is to be self sustained at minimum. And I think I know that I can do that. I just don't know in those five years it'll happen. But that's sort of, that's sort of big goal, like big, broad goal. Like I just want to be making money doing this and if that's weddings awesome, because that's what I want to do. But if it's not weddings and I find, you know, maybe real estate is suddenly the thing that like, that's paying your bills, then, Hey, that's cool. I'm still gonna push weddings and still try to make that happen. But if real estate is going to pay my mortgage or pay my rent, like I'm cool with that. Like I just love taking pictures of stuff. Like just like anyone else, really anyone who does this for a job, we just love taking pictures of people. And that's what drives us. So some form some Avenue that, that comes to me and I just find that it's not what I expected, but it is what it is like, cool. I'll do it. I still want to just take pictures, but yeah, just being self-sustained is sort of the big goal right now.
(42:25):
Perfect. Well, thank you so much again for reaching out. It was so great to get to know you and obviously what we're going to continue this discussion on the other side, on the getting candidate podcast. If people want to learn more about you and find your work and, you know, Instagram and websites and stuff, where would you have them check out?
(42:42):
Absolutely. So obviously like you've mentioned, I have the podcast it's called getting candid. If you happen to be someone who is sort of starting their business, or you just kind of want to brush up some skills or here's some new things it's called getting candid, it helps people just, you know, navigate the business of that is photography. And you just look up getting candid podcasts. Do you see my big ugly mug in black and white, it's going to be the same picture actually that that Reid uses. And then if you want to follow me pretty much everything is just at Mason Joel photo. So that's Instagram, that's Twitter, that's interest, blah. And then my just my business page on Facebook is called Mason, Joel photography. I'm mostly active on Instagram. I'll be honest, which is probably not good, but that's where I spend most of my time right now, honestly. So yeah, that's where you can find me.
(43:28):
Perfect. Well, thank you so much again, if you're like Mason and you're interested in coming on a future episode of the, get to know your wedding for a podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcast guest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire. I did make a Mason fill that out because he's cool and just DME, you know but, but you know, and, and that works too, but but anyway, feel free to reach out. This has been another wedding vendor interview check back next week for another. I totally screwed up that. But check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Amy Soper and Bronwen Houck
(00:00:09):
Hey, everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®, we are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and we are in for a double trouble today. You guys might be wondering why are there two guests on the Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast? And I've been trying to get Amy to come on for the better part of two and a half years now. And on her artist writer clause, it says I can only be on podcast appearances with Bronwen. And so we are doing kind of a group two on one kind of dynamic duo, whatever. We're also doing this on video. So if you're listening, we are, we're doing video today just because we can. And so it should be fun. I could barely get through the intro without you guys cracking me up. So we're done with all the, whatever. So welcome Amy. Why don't you say who you are and then we'll go to Bronwen. Who are you guys what's going on?
(00:01:01):
Hi, I'm Amy Amelia Soper photography and Woodinville Washington. Yeah, that's pretty much it that's the long and short of it. I'm not super involved. I suppose. Mine's a little more interesting. She's got a lot of crap.
(00:01:20):
Let's hear about Bronwen. What's going on?
(00:01:23):
Oh gosh. I could fill a novel with what's going on with me. I'm Bronwen, Bronwen Houck Photography I'm like Amy, I'm a Seattle native. I work mostly on Seattle. And I do weddings and I shoot a lot of weddings with Amy and I also do a lot of work in the theater, dance and film communities. I work with the Seattle rep and she's in pants, productions and West Hurley filmmaker and Clara's scope dance company. So yeah, that's me. And I'm excited to be here with Amy. Two of my faves. I do pet photography too. I suppose. That's another thing that I do.
(00:02:05):
Thanks. I think that's good. I think that's valuable. We just we just did for don't ask me why for Dorothy's birthday, she wanted to do a sheet like sings this song. She made up about our dog, Rosie and it's to the beat of, we will rock you, but it's, we will walk you and it's. But we, that was literally all she wanted for her birthday was to put together a music video. That was her singing. And then what we just did yesterday at her birthday was in the first week of July. But we just did it yesterday, but I, and she loves it. It's on her Instagram. If you go to Dorothy, I think three, two, one, or whatever that was, that was our big claim to fame yesterday was our big work on that. So
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Fantastic. Add it to the resume music videos for dogs. Yeah, I like it. That's it. That's it.
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That's it. Yeah. Best dog videos.com. So talk to me about you guys. I know, even, even Dorothy things of you guys, just as like this pair, we hung out at the that Seattle photographers, some Christmas party. I can't remember. I think that's where one of the photos you sent over was, I mean, how do you guys know each other? You guys have been, you know, you're just like glue that they hip what's going on here.
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Sadly not glued at the hip for the last like four months, which is so sad. Oh, I miss you, Amy. I miss you too. The LA the last time we hung out was in Vegas, really? That's right. Which is the last time we hung out was in Vegas. I saw that. Yeah, but Amy and I have known each other since the seventh grade, we went to Eckstein middle school together. We became fast friends because we're both weirdos. And we formed a very creative, weird friendship. And when Amy went to a different high school, we became pen pals and wrote, elaborate in character letters to each other over years and years, like with our Pentel pens and everything like stationary, all of it. Yeah. That's how we kept in touch. And then we lost touch through like the end of high school and then college.
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And then years went by and other magic happened in our lives. And then in 2007, I want to say 2008, I moved back to Seattle. I went over to post for school and stuff. And then I moved back in 2008 and independently, we had both become professional photographers, which is a little weird. And there's something like, I didn't, I wasn't a photographer in high school or college, so it's not like it was a thing that we did. Like we worked on your book or anything like it just randomly happened. And then I was shooting a wedding and she was there and I was like, why are you here? What's going on? And it was awesome. And then it was just, you do that. Do that was great. And Amy might not know this, or remember this, but I had been shooting mostly dancers and family portraits, and I had wanted to be doing more weddings. And I wanted to wheedle my way into being an intern, right when I moved back. And it took several years of pretending. I just wanted to have coffee before Amy said, would you want a second shoot a wedding?
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I was like, gosh, that had never occurred to me, but I guess I could. And then I was like, I met, we've been shooting weddings together ever since, for years now. It's just so much fun. It's amazing. It's the best. It is the best. It's just good to have somebody there. The day of that is that you work with so easily, that gets along with everybody that like brings along your level of weirdness plus a little bit more and awesome dance moves. And we'll get people on the dance floor, which I'm not that great at and can get any baby to smile, which I'm also not that great at. So it's a, it's a win, win all the way around. This is why she keeps me around is the dancing and the baby smiles and I'm all into it. It's great. That's pretty much it. And the drives to, and from the venues where we can hang in the car
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Because it's, you know, with your second shooter or whatever, you know, you get all these husband, wife, teams, so they'll work together. And then you figure you're living together and you're shooting together and you're driving it. You know, it gets to be a lot where you guys it's like you get to party, party, party, and then right. Then you kind of go live your own superhero lives. And then you kind of join back together for like the Avengers right. At weddings. Is that how you guys kind of feel?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is fun because Amy and I think the same things are funny and the same things are weird. And we like to gossip about the same people at the wedding. And we have to take our shoes off around the same time at the wedding. We just, we get each other. So it makes it really fun.
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So I want to hear it, how you guys got involved in photography, kind of hear your own stories. So we can start with Amy. You said you didn't really do photography and stuff in high school or anything. How did you get involved in kind of creating, you know, art?
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So, yeah, I didn't do photography. I was always like artistic and I painted and I drew and stuff as a kid, but I had a friend in high school that had, that would go on trips and come back and do like slideshows at his house, like nerdy ass slideshows of his trips to like Peru or whatever. And it was beautiful. And of course at the time I was like, I want a big camera like that. So, so I can do pretty photos because you don't know any better. And at some point I got my first SLR film camera and basically just the same thing I do right now. I just took a lot of photos of cats and did that for a while. And I had a friend at work that was like, Hey, I know you like photos.
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Can you cruise shoot my wedding up in orcas? And it was 2004, July 3rd, 2004. And I was like, yo, okay. So I went up, I shot half on film and half on digital and it came home and I edited on whatever crap software I had, like corral paint on my like 15 pound Dell laptop computer. And I was like, I wish I could do this all time. It was so much fun. It was so creative. And and my boyfriend said, well, why don't you? And I didn't really have any answer. And by the fall of the next year, I had quit my job and took out a bunch of student loans. And I went back to school and I went to the art Institute, which is sadly now gone and graduated there in 2007. And yeah, that was pretty much it.
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And then quit my day job in 2014 to do this full time, just to be a long time. What was your day job? I worked at Overlake hospital in the admitting department before I left for, I worked there and then I worked at an oncology office and that was where I left when I went back to school. And then the nice thing about working at a hospital is there a lot of weird hours to work? So it was nice to be able to work like just weekends. And and then I would work 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM and then I would have like two to whatever, to edit and shoot whatever during the day. So it is exhausting. And you think, well, when I quit this job, I'm going to have all this sector time. I don't know where all the time goes, but I feel like I didn't gain any time back somehow, but yeah, I think that it took me a while to decide if I wanted to do it mainly because I enjoyed it so much. And I was worried that if I quit my job and it was like my full time thing, I would resent it and I wouldn't want to do it as a business. And luckily that hasn't happened. So yet
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What about you, how did you get involved in all this photography nonsense?
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Yeah, so I decided that I wanted to go to college right away cause I love Seattle and I knew I would move right back after college. So I went to Princeton, I went over to New Jersey and I didn't know what I wanted to major in. And I took one Renaissance art class and I was like, this is it. So I became an art history major. And in that department you could take one or two visual arts classes for credit. So I was like, well, black and white, I mean, this is chemical trays high as a kite or am. And the dark room photography, it was glorious best. Who's the best. And the professor at the time was Emmett Gowin, who is a spectacular photographer. And he just, he was so kind and inspirational. And I was like, Oh, this is what I want to do.
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You know? So I did smaller that I wrote my thesis on the arms, Cindy Sherman, who is the most spectacular photographer. And then I accidentally moved to New York. I graduated and some friends invited me to New York for a year, which turned into five years. And I started shooting in New York. I was doing a lot of headshots cause everyone in New York is an actor actors hit shots. And, and I got a couple of weddings, which I shot on film, which is just thinking of that now is exhausting to me the three day wait between dropping off the film and not knowing if you had a single photo of the bride and then, you know, picking it up. Yeah. And then I started, I got a great job working for a photo agent in New York. Marshall pink staff who became kind of my mentor.
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And I got to look at photo portfolios for eight hours a day. And I learned a lot from that and talking to photographers and being on photo shoots in New York was very exciting. And then I decided I had to get out of New York and I moved up to Boston and did some postgraduate stuff at the museum school up there, more dark room work there, dark room, right after I left, was converted to a giant lab full of computers. I think they still maybe have one enlarger in a closet somewhere for people who want to do vintage photography work. But yeah, so then I moved back to New York. I started working in the ad business it as an art producer at Saatchi and Saatchi and BVDO all the art producers for young female photo majors all people who love photography cause that job involves also looking at portfolios for eight hours a day in hiring photographers.
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So I learned all about the ad industry and knew pretty quickly that I had no interest in going into that world. So I was like, I'm just going to focus on my family photography and all of that. And then I was like, also I have to get off the East coast. I meant to come right back to Seattle and I spent an extra 10 years on the East coast. I met my husband. We were both ready. He's from Colorado. We were both ready to leave. So we jumped ship and came back to Seattle and I launched from and have photography. Actually first I tried to get a job in advertising in Seattle during the recession in 2009 and that did not work out. And after about three months, I was like, why I don't even want to be an advertising. Why don't I just want, I had one of those, you know, revelation moments that I think Amy had where it was like, why aren't I doing photography full time? That's all they want to be doing. And then I just, yeah, launched it. And then you it's, you know, slow start and now it's going. Great. So you went to Princeton. I did. I went to Princeton university or as many people who went to Princeton say I went to college in New Jersey. Cause you get funny looks sometimes when you mentioned Princeton. Yeah. Wow.
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Because that's like, yeah. That's like one of those like East coast, like right. Like big time schools, right.
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It is yes. In the middle of beautiful New Jersey. So
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Yeah. It's so interesting hearing both you guys. Cause I think that you know, there's a similar thread and it was the same way when I was in like Bakersfield doing news and then, you know, moved back up to Seattle and like, like trying to apply for like all these jobs and you know, well, I guess maybe that could fit or maybe I could do that, but just not really feeling that you know, just the connection to want to do that. Right. And then instead kind of creating something that works for you and what you wanted to do. Do you guys feel Amy, do you feel like that, that you, you Excel and being able to really make this what you want it to be and do what you want to do? You know, I think these us like creative types, but just you, you enjoy that.
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I do. It took me a while. I had my first really terrible, awful wedding and I want to say it was 2008. It wasn't the one I met. They were lovely. They still are lovely. But I had just the worst wedding and it was one of those weddings that made me think if I have to do more like this, I'm not going to be doing this for very much longer. And I realized I don't have to say yes to every job. I don't have to. Like, I mean, you know, my people have to like me, they have to want me for me. And it's okay to say no. And after that wedding where I was like, Nope, this is the worst. This is just the, I, I can't do this anymore. I started really thinking about my business and making sure that all of my personality was out there as much as possible.
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So by the time they get to me and we actually connect, they already have a really good idea of where I'm coming from and who I am. And if I'm probably going to be a good fit or not and that's so much better and I've enjoyed my clients so much more sense than since it's become more of a partnership than a client's, you know, hiring booking thing. It feels much more natural and much more like I want to hit these weddings. I want to give them everything, you know, I want to enjoy everything. But they're wanting to be a part of every little bit. So it works both ways, you know, I do better for them. They give me more of what I need to do as much as I can, you know, to make everything perfect for them. So I think that that, that revelation of you don't have to just say, yes, it's hard to say no to a paycheck.
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It's really hard to say no to a paycheck, but but at the time I still had a day job. So that was allowed me to be a little more flexible than I probably would have been to say no to people, but I've had people say, you know, could you shoot in this way or edit in this style? And no, you found me for a reason. Like why, why would you have me do something else? Especially because there are so many incredible photographers in the area. Why, why, why shouldn't you just go to them? I mean, again, it's better for both the client and the photographer, if the fit is right, you know, and if it's not me, that other person is out there that can do a much better job for them. So I would rather them go with somebody who is going to do the best possible job for them, even if it's not me.
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Yeah. It kills me when people are like booking them and they're like, Oh, here's some videos that we like. And it's like, totally not even like I, or the best one I had was was it last spring? I think it was last spring, not this, you know, this, the, the apocalypse, but last, last year. And the, the mother hired me last minute and it was one of those like April weddings. And you're like, I don't get a lot of April weddings, you know, just with video, we just don't. And so, you know, we do it, send it to the bride, gave him like extra drone footage, like all this stuff. And she absolutely hates it. Like absolutely hates it can't stand it. Like doesn't want to look at it, hates everything about it. And like the mom had like helped pick the music. And I had assumed that the mom had, you know, talked or had some semblance of what her daughter would want in the video. And so I emailed her back and I said, you know, I'm really sorry. Like this is, you know, I feel great about this, you know, what's going on. She never watched a single thing on any of the like LR side at all. I hadn't even looked at the site, had even looked at anything and I'm like, okay, well that's at that point, that's I feel like the, you know, the weight is off my shoulders at that point like that.
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So why would you hire anybody site on scene that just seems to do the research. Yeah. Yeah.
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And what about you and the, and the client tell you like to work with and, and thoughts about that and kind of carving your own niche and, and just being, you know, being able to run your own ship.
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Yeah. I mean, I think, I think everyone will agree that the best way to get the clients that you want is to just be fully present and fully yourself when you're photographing. And then those people who, who that speaks to will recommend you to other people who have that vibe. I used to lecture at the art Institute back when the art Institute still existed and all the all the young students wanted to know what makes the most money, what do I have to do, which shoots do I have to do? Quote unquote in order to do the shoots I want to do. And I would say you don't have to do anything. What you want to do is make the shoots that you want to do. You know, I happen to love going to weddings. I love it. One of the reasons I love photographing them is cause I flipping love weddings.
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I love cake. I love dancing. I love cake. I love cake so much. I love, I love everything about it. So I'm having a good time. And I think that comes across in the photography. If you hate attending weddings, if that is nightmare, it's going to be hard for you to capture that in a loving, you know, warm, wonderful way. So I would tell them, you know, if you don't go after the money, go after the jobs that you can make, what you want and also, you know, say yes to things that you've never done before. I mean, I got a lot of weird jobs by just people always ask, do you shoot this? Do you shoot that? You know, do you shoot cat portraits? Do you shoot mimes? I mean, I did that whole mind shoot, you know, cause someone said to you shouldn't mind dancers.
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I shoot actors mimes. You know, of course, of course I shoot minds. I tell everyone just say yes, if it's something you want to do, if it's something that sounds horrific to you, you can say, no, that is really hard as Amy said, because maybe you want the paycheck, but if it's going to be a bad experience for you, it's also going to sour the photos and sour, your experience of your own business. It's never going to be enough money either. It doesn't matter what that paycheck is. It will not be enough for whatever it is. If you hate it, you know, you will pay someone else to do it. Yeah. Just the thought of editing a shoot. That was a horrible experience. I mean, it doesn't end when the horrible shoot is over. You have got hours that you gotta look at the horror, so yeah. So just making every shoot what you want it to be, and then your personality comes out in the photos. I mean, it's just about that. It's about being true to yourself and true to what you felt
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Sometimes going through those early on, I had a lot of those like really long, like Asian weddings are really long, like the two hour tea ceremony and the living room. And you know, I'm trying to, we're trying to record all this stuff and yeah, you just have like panic attacks about like, I'm going to have to go back and like look at all this stuff. And I don't even know. And it was so terrible. And I just do you guys find that the joy that you, you know, obviously have and anyone that, that scene, you guys work really translates to the photos. Do you feel like you're able to you know, put yourself in that energy that you guys have into the photos that you guys are creating for your clients? Amy, we can start you guys.
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Oh yeah, absolutely. I think that, like Roman was saying, it's, it's kind of an, I mean, I'm sure there's photographers who can do that and who can just turn off whatever interest then and make something beautiful. But I think that the, the energy that we bring, like, I am not a fly on the wall photographer. I'm also not an in your face during inappropriate times photographer. I'm not going to be up behind you on the alter, you know, but what I will with your family in line, and I will scream at your groomsmen by all means I will make fun of them. I will do whatever I need to do to get people where they need to be and and keep it fun. And I think that that's the that's the key is keeping it upbeat and light. And I have an odd, which is just works well for wedding photography that my stress usually comes off as it's great.
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Everything's fine. Everything's gonna be great. It's gonna be fine. I don't get angry or pissy when it comes to like stressing out. It's just, we'll figure it out. And if I do at all, it's in the car on the way there were Bronwen has to tell me it's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. It's always fine. We do a lot of pep talks. We do a lot of pep talk. Yes. for anything leading up, we're looking over the timeline and whatever, but, but yeah. I think that that upbeat personality and that the, the fun, you know, I try to be funny and engaging with people and silly because those are the things that get people to naturally laugh and naturally be themselves. And it's, you have to keep things moving constantly because nobody likes to be static photos don't look good static.
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People need to constantly be engaged in some way. Otherwise they either think they're doing something wrong or they get really bored really fast. So I think that yeah, I think, and it's, you know, your personality regardless is going to come across. If you aren't somebody who is that upbeat person, you can't force that I don't think. And I don't know, maybe we can, well, that's another thing. That's another thing about finding the clients that are right for you and that you are right for it because some people would probably be annoyed by how upbeat and hilarious Amy and I are. They would just want us to shut up and move on and what would not more of a task master or something. Those aren't the kind of people that we see too, or that speak to us. And so we tend to put a lot of our personality into all of that.
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The banter and the setups and all of that. And then people, I always say, you know, it's not just the photographs, it's the experience. People are gonna hire you and recommend you. If they've had a good experience, if the hour, the hour and a half or the 10 hours of their wedding, they spend with you are a positive experience that can actually come away as a better a better, you know, record for your business. Then if the images are all perfection, because people remember experiences and how they felt after they met you and after they have the shoot. And then if they're looking at the pictures and they had a good experience that comes through when they're looking at them, I mean, I have been at weddings as a guest where the photographer is barking at people is, I mean, my cousin's wedding where I met my husband, the photographer was just yelling constantly.
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And the memory of the photos is the yelling. You know, we look at the photos and we remember the yelling and what you want is someone to look at the photos and remember they had a wonderful day, whether it's an hour, they spent with you for, you know, kiddo photos or their headshot, you know, walking around the city, getting headshots, the photos should just M you know, that glow of that wonderful experience should, should already be in there. And that makes the photos better. And if you're having a better experience as a photographer, because you've got banter and you've created a relationship that's going to come through when you shoot. So I feel like that is a huge part of it is, is creating those relationships. And sometimes you have three minutes to create that relationship and you just put your whole self out there.
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You know, I think that's part of that whole, like I was saying, you know, everything on my website, everything before they even get there, they already have a pretty good idea of who I am and if it's gonna work if I seem like somebody they can connect with you know, all of the, the, about me section, all of the, you know, all of it is tailored to somebody who I'm just chatting with to friends, you know, because if you don't get it or you don't think it's that funny, or you think it's obnoxious, then you're just going to skip right by it. And I hope that you do, because I don't, I don't want to work with people that don't think it's fun and whatever. Cause that's part of my process. That connection is, is like you were saying, it's a huge part of the process. And if there's no connection, those photos just don't, they don't magically happen for me at least. I have to have that connection with people.
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Yeah. I totally, I know what you mean with like the website stuff that, you know, cause we'll, I always, if I haven't worked with like photographers before or whoever vendors, you know, I'll always like go on the websites and they're like, yeah. And sometimes you like read these websites and you're like, this guy seems like the biggest like douche or like what is going on? Like, it's so funny to me sometimes how people like put their websites and stuff together. And I guess obviously then you're, you're attracting a different, I mean, I've always said, you know, I'm not the best videographer in the world, but like Bronwen said, you know, I think that the, the experience that you have will like elevate that video. Right? Cause like you could have the best videographer of the world. Like you said, if he's getting in the way and being deterred and making people feel uncomfortable, then you're going to feel that afterward where if you're like, well, you know, we really liked to read and then you get the video, even if it's like, not the best, you know? I mean, it is what it is, right. I'm a news videographer at heart. Like it's, that's just the way that I'm trained to do it. But I think then you just feel like, Oh, wow, that was really great. Versus, you know, just like putting an apples to apples on like a website or something, you know,
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And sometimes the connection isn't there and then you have to let it go. I mean, we've all had a shoot where we show up and it's not going to happen. And no, you know, my jokes are not flying, but I'm cool. Okay. And it's like, Ooh, tough room. And then maybe that client doesn't hire you. Or maybe that client tries to hire you and your experience was not good enough. You know that you want to do that again. Or you charge them, try to charge them three times the amount. And then if they take it, then you're like, okay, I can, I can, I can do this. We're though, when you have people like that, who you show up, you feel like nothing's landing. Like you get there. The photos are fine. Not what you love, but you know, they're their photos. So whatever. And then you're like, well that person's never going to call me again. And then they're like every spring there they are again. And you're like, I will say it. That's why it is nice to shoot with somebody that knows you because we can at least laugh about how no one's laughing at our jokes when we're at a wedding together. And then we can laugh at her constantly.
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No, we have that. I had a bride who her her fiance was, he was stationed on like the East coast or he was abroad. And you know, she wanted to do like he wanted to do a Skype thing. And then we were going to do a video with her in person and kinda like let her riding, you know, whatever thing before the wedding and then, you know, show up on the wedding day and then do kind of their small wedding. And I thought, Oh, this will be great. Like, I'll really get to know her, you know, get to know him and we'll do all this kind of stuff. And yeah, same thing. Like we show up at the wedding day and it's like, not like crickets, like nothing the whole day. I'm like, you know, we spent like hours together doing this stuff ahead of time.
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Like, cause I didn't do a lot of like engagement sessions or anything. I'm like, man, like this would be nothing the whole day. Like, you know, just whatever. And I was like, well that's fine. You know, whatever, I guess that works. And then yeah, like she wrote this review that was like, just like a page long. Like he made it like a movie and this was so amazing. And we felt so where was this on the wedding day? And now like we're friends on Facebook and like, whatever, but I mean, some people you never know, right? Like you never know what I don't know. Wedding day has pulled different emotions out of people sometimes, I guess. Right.
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Well, Brian, when you and I had that wedding last fall that we had no idea how they were feeling like lovely couple. Do you know who I'm talking about? Lovely. Couple likes. Beautiful, wonderful. So, so wonderful. But couldn't read them like all day and just no feedback. Yeah. Yeah. And like a little bit of smiling and like, it was completely fine. Like that was the most, it was completely fine. Gorgeous day. So much fun. And wait at the end of the day we learned like how much fun they really are. And we were like, Oh yeah, I had no idea in like the last five minutes of the wedding that they were fine. The hilarious, you know, people I really like and wrote them the most lovely review and like just, yeah, it was, it was really funny, but yeah. Yeah.
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Do you guys
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Like, well, we're, we're still funny, right? Obviously we are.
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Do you guys ever get sick of working together? Do the jokes never worked for each other? You guys just so in sync now you just love each other.
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It's surprising. But also you know, Bronwen was kind of worried. She had mentioned before we left for Vegas, right. We had never been on it. Like we'd never traveled together before. And we were like, Oh God, what if we, what if we hate each other? What is, this is a terrible experience. And we went to WPPI in Vegas. It wasn't just a gambling trip. We went, Oh, we did go to mellow. Yes, obviously. I mean and surface LA, but it was it was a delightful surprise. I shouldn't be surprised, but it was a delightful surprise that it just was it worked perfectly. I mean, that was the greatest trip of my life.
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So much fun. It turns out we travel. I mean, we should have known, I never traveled together beautifully. We'd have all the same, you know, wants and needs. We're great communicators, everything that works for us at a wedding worked for us for a week in Vegas and it was glorious, but I've never gotten sick of Amy once in my life either. It's kind of surprising and it's a little frightening. I'm not gonna lie, but yeah. I'm like, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it honestly hasn't, I was, I wasn't shocked about it, but I was like, so delighted that everything worked so nice when we traveled and we were with each other for like constantly for five days where it was just like, so I was thinking this yeah. Or, you know, it's too, I feel like we could get a beer.
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Right. yeah. It's important to have someone who's on the same drinking schedule as yes. Yes. But another thing that's interesting is that we have gone where we'll do a full summer of weddings through October and then not see each other for six months. So there has been something seasonal also happening. I mean now we haven't seen each other because pandemic, but you know, it has, there have been years where it's up and down and then wedding season comes along and then again, it's all Amy, all the time dance party constantly. And then it'll quiet down for a while, but what's great. Is it always picks right back up when it's time to pick it up. It's not awkward, you know, April comes and it's time to see the wedding thing about the, both of us are very easygoing and amicable and logical and polite and kind people where it's just like thinking this or that, or what do you think? I think that's great. Okay. Like if the, the ability to work together and like just plus she works with a lot of small children, which I think helps with, with her ability to deal with me sometimes I'm well versed in childlike.
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You guys find that you,
(00:36:03):
The same kinds of clients, generally, the weightings that you guys are at. I mean, what, what, what is, what's the kind of couple that works with you guys or that you like to work with? I mean, obviously, you know, easygoing and stuff, but I mean, what, whether they're like wants in photography or, you know, what do they, I don't know, does that make sense?
(00:36:24):
I'm friendly and colorful. We're both very colorful photographers. None of those movie filters, which can be beautiful, but would not work for what I do and maybe not preemie storytelling. I think they really want that arc of the day storytelling, you know Amy's incredible at detail photography, all their shoes and their jewelry and their flowers. And I mean, her detailed stuff is just gorgeous. And I think that comes through on her website. And I think, you know, the people I've been really impressed with the details at the weddings of the people who are hiring me. And I think part of that is they're like, Oh, we gotta get Amy in here to photograph all these incredible details we've spent time on. So I think that's definitely part of it. What else? Yeah. I think Bronwen on the same side takes great candid photos, which I think is also maybe why it works really well.
(00:37:21):
Like we kind of are good at different things, so that mesh works well together. But yeah, I mean, we shoot, we both shoot a lot of queer weddings. And, and I think I do have people who ask quite often why that is. And I really think that it's because the, the thing that I personally love the most about weddings is uniqueness and fun and different traditions and not cookie cutter. And I think that that all kind of comes through because there aren't any specific traditions and you get to do your own thing and make it your day. And I think that comes across more more so with, with gay weddings. So and because I like that and it's fun and it's right. And it's colorful. Like, you know, Brian was saying, it all shows through, you know, that joy and the fun and everything shows through. Plus like we were saying before, like you share what you want to get back, you know, the stuff you put on your website, that is what you want people to hire you for. Don't put crap up there that you don't want to be hired for. I don't shoot a lot of church weddings. I don't have them on my website because it's not really my thing. You know, I prefer a barn or a backyard or a winery. I shoot them sometimes, but it's not really my jam. So
(00:39:01):
Do you find that the connection to the couple is more important than like you were saying the, and this goes for both of you guys then than necessarily the environment, do you, do you really jive on having that connection and then it can be kind of wherever?
(00:39:13):
Yeah, yeah. A hundred percent. If you have, if it's all gorgeous and glorious and there's no connection, you can get a lot of good photos, but sometimes it's missing the magic and then you can, if you have a connection and you're in a field with nothing, you can really make some magic happen. So I do think the connection and part of that is, is yeah. Forming that relationship even, you know, way before the wedding and emails and whatever from meetings. I think the connection really makes it well in knowing what those things are. Right? Like I have a thing on my website that talks about like, you know, you deserve more than just a photographer. You deserve somebody who knows the difference between your fake smile and your real smile so that when you're going through and you're editing photos, you know, which ones to clip out because you know, that that's, that's the one that comes before the true smile. That's the actual one. And you know who they are, you know, that they don't like certain things about themselves that you can you know, take things out and work around that because you care about them because you have that connection. So it matters to you. And I think that having that matter makes a big difference to both, you know, the photographer and the client.
(00:40:35):
Yeah. It's, it's so hard that connection we had years ago now we used to do these it was that get hitched, give hope. And I think Amy, I think you were involved in that too. And we had auctioned off one of our packages one year. Well we did a lot of years, but one of the years we did it and it was like the most gorgeous wedding at the world, like a hundred, all this money and the four seasons and like ice sculptures and like a runway and like all this stuff. And I just remember sitting there and I was talking with the photographer and I was like, this is really not where I'm supposed to be. Like, I'm really glad that they have a video. And I'm really glad that I get to be here and be a part of this, but this is really not, I don't know anything about this.
(00:41:13):
I don't really know them. You know, I don't really know what, you know, I'm just kinda just here. Right. And it's really weird when you're used to, like you guys really being so involved in, in the pre stuff and the emails and the meetings or zoom meetings right now, if we have to do it, but it is really weird then to like, be stripped of all of that and be like, I don't know this for anything, like what is going on? Do you guys feel like that you really need that connection? And at the time I saw Bronwen kind of nodding.
(00:41:39):
Yeah. For sure. I, yeah. I mean, showing up to something site unseen is really stressful for me because, you know, not knowing if I'm going to be able to get that connection, that's so important. And then having to just tell myself, just do the job is really awkward for me. It's a really bad feeling. Cause you know, at the end of the day, you're like, all right, well, I, I did my job, you know, but I don't want to just do my job. Like I don't want to do the photographer's job. I want to be that person who can anticipate things because I know them and I know what they want. I know they probably didn't want to talk to aunt Sheila for 30 minutes. So I'm going to go grab them. And I'm going to say, you know what? I need you over here for something, because I know they don't want to talk to her.
(00:42:29):
I want to be there to help them. You know, I want to move chairs. I want to grab them a beer. I want it. Like, that is what that's, what's what it's all about. And if you don't know that person, you don't know what, you don't know what they need and you're not able to get it from them. I will add to that though. You don't have to know them for months and months. I mean, Amy book jobs that are two weeks out because someone lost a photographer or they just decided to get married or get photos taken, you can make those connections quickly. Super sweet. I'm not going to read it or anything. But like this wedding that I just had that I had talked about on your, on the other podcast read that was the backyard wedding, my COVID wedding from a couple of weeks ago.
(00:43:14):
And they plan their entire wedding and about three weeks and they were the most lovely humans and we did their engagement like three days before the wedding. And they sent me like the longest, thank you note. I mean, it's the sweetest thing ever. And it makes me cry because they're so appreciative and they, they, they know how much you care. And when you have that connection and you just want to see them have the best day it doesn't, yeah, it could be 30 minutes. It could be a couple emails. I mean, I do like to do it in person. You get on a lot more from that obviously, but but yeah, it doesn't have to be a year long romance. It can be, you know, a couple of weeks, it could be a 30 minute coffee break. It's just, if you click you click, I think that that's a really good point, Amy, if you show, I mean, if you show that you care and then I think I know from you, you do actually care.
(00:44:14):
And I feel like I care. I mean, if you really care, you're gonna want those connections and you're gonna be able to make them, you know, if it's just a job, if it's, you know, it's hard to get into that mode, right. Or if you hate what you're shooting, you know, that's why I say, if you hate going to wedding, don't do weddings. You know, it's going to be hard to make beautiful pictures of children. Cause all of your anger will come through. They'll buy what you love and yeah, just care about it. I really, I do think that's where the connection comes from. It's just, and, and loving humans. I mean, Amy and I both are people, people, people, we love people. We think people are fascinating. We don't love all the people, but we really like the humanity in general. I feel like, you know, and so we're interested in getting to know people and making an experience that we can all enjoy.
(00:45:08):
Well. And when you, when you really care, like Bronwen and I literally last, not last year, I guess it was two years ago. We were the wedding at Janet and we was it two hours. I think we stayed two hours after we were done. Like we were legit done for the night. We ended at like nine or something. And we were there until like 11 dancing with the wedding party and hanging out and it was so much fun and I've always kind of got my camera out and Bronwen's like, we are done. You can put it away, lift, let's just go dance. But I don't know, maybe something fun is going to happen and maybe grandma's going to be on the dance floor or you never really know, but it's the caring about it. It's the actually having fun and wanting to be a part of that fun and capture that truly for what it is.
(00:45:55):
And like you were saying, read like that experience and them being like, Oh my gosh, our photographers were so fun. We had such a good time. Cause they were out there enjoying themselves. And you know, my clients, I feel like mentioned that more than not. Like I loved seeing you guys enjoying yourselves, you know, enjoying our day because it's not just a job like that makes you realize, like this party is a great party or photographers were even dancing. Like it was such a fun party. So I think that that, well, it's fun for us. I think it's the surprising benefit is clients appreciate that too
(00:46:35):
Well. And that's not a, sorry, that's not an isolated thing. Cause you guys, we have that wedding up at semi Ambu. It was the same thing that we have the drive back, you know, Joel and I had to drive back, but you guys were spending the night, but he was the same thing. I mean, that's not like an isolated, like a once in the ever thing of you guys wanting to, you know, just to really be caught up in the moment and wanting to enjoy it.
(00:46:55):
Yeah. My goal is always to see how long I can get Amy to stay in dance after we're supposed to leave. Cause I will dance all night long. And that two hours that we stayed was a personal triumph because I can usually, I can usually convince her maybe 15, 20 minutes and then we gotta go. But that, that was well, it was also easy. It was, I think that was easier because it was at Janet, which is a solid five minutes from my house. So I didn't have a long drive home. She did, I did, but I'll I'll dance all night long and then drive home. I don't care. So, but that's going to be on the wedding also. Wasn't like the only semi-homemade wedding, but that happened that we were until 4:00 AM at another wedding trouble in semiauto. I'm going to be honest when we're just staying there. It's hard to stop. We just have fun. We love to hang out. We hate to be the last one. Sorry we need to be the first one to leave a party. Oh yeah. It's Bobo. That's what I mean. I have that on my website too. Like so much of why I love weddings and why I like documenting parties and being like part of the in crowd at weddings and being the one who knows everything that's going on is because of FOMO, man. Like I don't want to miss out on anything. So
(00:48:08):
No, that was like when we had the part of the Christmas party thing we were at and I think I had to go to Vegas the next day for work. Like I had to go fly down and the Dorothy was there with you guys. And she's the same way that it was like, Oh we can't, we, you know, we don't want to leave. And I was like, man, I gotta be on a flight like six. Like we gotta go. Like, but no, she was she's the same way. And it's definitely that. My question for Amy though is although you like to keep the party going all night what about 3:00 AM phone calls from Brian's following the wedding?
(00:48:41):
It wasn't 3:00 AM. It was 11:00 PM. Oh, I thought it was like in the middle of the night. No, I had just gotten home and I got a call. Like I was uploading images and I had my glass of wine and I got a first, I got a call that I ignored because I thought it was a buck dial. And then I got a FaceTime request, which I didn't answer. And then I got a text that said, bitch, answer your phone. And it was the funniest thing ever. So yeah, I got a, I got a bride who I don't think remembers honestly, that this happened who I was like, Oh God, maybe I left something at the venue or something. And mind you, this bride was trashed, trashed, great wedding, just thrashed. And I got this call and the, and I was like, okay, I guess I got to answer it. So I answered it and she was like, I just need you to know how much we love you guys and everything that you don't know that we saw that you did for us. We know you did for us and you guys are so great. And thank you. And you're the best that I hear her, her now husband in the background, Hey, why are you bothering that poor woman? And she said, because Amy's my best friend.
(00:50:05):
And, and I said, can I, can I talk to your husband? Let me just talk to real quick. And she's like, should I put it on speaker? No, no. Just, just hand him the phone. And I was, and he gets on the phone and he says, I'm so sorry. And I said, it's totally fine. I hope you guys have a fantastic evening and have a great honeymoon. Cause they were leaving the next morning at like crack of Dawn on their honeymoon. And he said, if she calls you back, don't answer the phone. And I didn't. So, and then I don't think she remembered it, but yeah, that was a good one. That was that was definitely a story to be told, but yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't in the middle of the night. Unless you're thinking of the other one where I had the bride who was banging on my door in the middle of the night, he was talking about divorce.
(00:50:50):
No, I don't know if that also sounds good, but no, but I mean, the point is in this not to make fun and God bless her and she's still, you know, I, yeah. I mean, it's not to make fun. It's to say though, that the connection that you guys build with your clients is, is infectious. I mean, that's, that's the ultimate point. It's not to, you know, it's not to poke a little bit of fun, not too much.
(00:51:15):
It was sweet though. And you know what? We have all been that person who was drunk and made a terrible phone call. And if we could all be that person who like made a phone call, that was that sweet and kind, just to say how much you loved somebody. Okay. You know what more power to you? That's fine. It was very lovely.
(00:51:33):
That's great. Yeah. No, that's the entity that was better than I think I had like a two word review from her then I still have, I think I still have on the video on my website and I was like, really like Amy gets a phone call at 11 at night and I get, I get, I get, I get two words, but that's okay. Bronwen, how you hanging in there.
(00:51:53):
Great, awesome. Love in life, loving life. It's so nice to see you both on this computer screen coffee or at a distance. Yeah. So sad. Wow.
(00:52:06):
We're getting close to our time being wrapped here. It's been, it's been so much fun. Kind of getting the double trouble duo today. Before we go, I guess this last question, you know, what are you most excited to get about getting back into weddings? I know right now it's kind of weird time, but, and that kind of curtails into just, you know, what do you love about weddings? I know we've kind of talked about that a little bit, but what do you miss? What are you looking forward to? You know, what about each of you guys in your jobs and what you guys do at Bronwen? Let's start with you.
(00:52:37):
Yeah, I'm just excited to be at some weddings. I miss Amy. I miss seeing couples in love. I mean, I cry at every wedding. I fall in love with every single couple I photograph. I'm just, I'm just a hopeless romantic, and I miss that kind of joy and the, you know, even though it can be stressful, I miss, I miss feeling all those feelings that you feel in a 10 hour wedding shoot day, you know, it's a, it's such a wild ride and then dancing the night away. I am known for photographing while I dance on the dance floor. So I miss those moments and get enough real close to people while they're dancing and flashing them right in the face. And I'm looking at me like, I think you should tell the story about the wedding that we had at Fred wildlife.
(00:53:30):
Oh yeah. One of our, one of our great stories is we were at Fred row wildlife. May it rest in peace? Or Fred wildlife refuge, right? Yeah. and I was dancing and I was photographing and all of a sudden I was dancing near one of the, I think she was the sister, maybe of that, of one of the brides. Anyway, long story short, all I know is suddenly I'm toppling this way. She's toppling this way. And when I came up for air, her high heel shoe was stuck into my shoe and I'm waving my foot around with her shoe in it. And she's on the floor, totally laid out with sterically. And luckily Amy caught the entire thing and my stop motion animation with me. She hooked her shoe in my shoe and we both went down. That was a good, that was a good time.
(00:54:31):
Nobody was hurt, no dances. There was some hysterical laughter. That was it. Like it was the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me dancing. And I have been dancing a long time. So that was a good one. But yeah, I miss that. I miss dancing with everybody. I missed during the Roger rabbit across the floor. I mean, all your Zumba moves. I miss, I miss pulling out the Zumba routines, but yeah, but mostly I just missed that like long day of feelings. I love it. I'm, it's so exhausting feeling all the ups and downs, but I'm getting to know these couples and you know, all the weird family members and, you know, figuring out who's who and, and the cake I miss the cake, I've got to get more cake in my life. It has been a summer devoid of cake. It's just disastrous, but it'll all come back. I'm competent at all. I'll come back and I'll get to see Amy again. And it'll be great.
(00:55:31):
I miss Bronwen. I do. I miss her shenanigans a lot. I've had a couple of weddings. COVID weddings. I had one last weekend and it's I do like, it's obviously not the same and everything is distanced. And I kinda miss seeing people's faces. There's so much mass squaring, but it's good. Which is good. It's perfect. Yeah, it's great. But it is different and I, I miss the cake. I miss, you know, what you said was so perfect like that like day of feelings, you know, that just showing up and rolling through everything and that troubleshooting day of, and trying to figure things out. That's like kind of stressful, but still so much like part of like excitement of the day. And you know, it's just, it's no fun, not having a wedding season. I miss all the vendors, all the other vendors, you know, read, I even miss you, man. It's rough. That's where we're out right now. That is where we're at. In the midst of COVID I've reached the, I kind of misread portion of it. The missing read phase, we should have had a wedding on August 1st. I guarantee you that that's not on anybody's bingo card. Me missing read yeah, we should have had one, but now we have one in February,
(00:57:06):
Which is great. That was a great call. That's a great call for that reschedule middle of February. Excellent. So yeah.
(00:57:17):
Yeah, I do. I miss all of it. I'm I was so happy last weekend I had it was the most, you know, normal wedding that I had had mainly, you know, the other wedding that I had had that backyard wedding was, was a fairly normal too with the, but this one had like a bridal party and a planner that I love love working with shutout, Andrea pink blossom and who did an incredible job with all of the moving parts of this is restricted. Now it's not, Oh, just kidding. Yes, it is. And you can do this, but you can't do this and wait, no, you can't do this. It's incredible what planners are going through right now. And yeah, just that roller coaster of an eight hour day, there is no eight hour days anymore. I mean, even with smaller, you know, even with weddings, for me, at least I haven't had an eight hour day of, of anything.
(00:58:14):
Oddly it's still is exhausting when you haven't been working. And then you're like four hours. I know I did a, I did a full day of headshots, which is just like 15 minutes at a time and I was totally wiped. It's also exhausting. I also miss wedding fashion. I love wedding wedding dress shows are my favorite. Say yes to the dress posh frock shop. Everyone should be watching, say I do, which is the queer eye team doing weddings to a different team of people. And I have a wedding in September. That's two brides. And all I can think about is how excited I am to see what they were like so many good. Like we're always putting out like that dress where you there with me. I think we're like that dress would make a great jumpsuit. Yes. Dresses should all be redesigned into jumpsuits. You know, it used to be like, well, you can dye diet and wear it again. But now it's like, how do we make it into a jumpsuit? Just split it and reseem it and make it into a jumpsuit. Yeah, there should be more word jumpsuits. I think I miss it all.
(00:59:25):
That's perfect. Well, that's a great sentiment to leave it on turn. It turns wedding dresses in the jumpsuits. I think that's good. I think that would be the thesis. That would be my tagline for the episodes.
(00:59:34):
Yeah. Make that the title
(00:59:36):
Again. I know Amy. It was, it's been a, it's been a, a, a, what do you call that? A rehab captain Ahab, trying to get the whale to come on the podcast, but now we did Bronwen was on it. Wasn't so bad. Nobody got hurt. So that's been great. Before we let you go just both where can people find you guys, if they're interested in, you know, all the fun and wackiness and zaniness Broadway, where would, where would we find you?
(01:00:03):
Yeah, www.bronwenhouckphoto.com. Find me there, email me anytime. I'd love to chat with anybody. I miss people. I miss. Bronwen's one of those people that you have to be like, please check on your extroverted friends. I want to mention Bronwen is also on Instagram, even though she's never on there. I tag you when I can. Thank you all for tagging me at once a month. It's BronwenHouckPhoto. Oh, great. Great. Yeah, my website. That was a good choice. Yeah. Right. Hard to forget. Yes, you can find me at www.soperphotography.com, you can also find me on Instagram @Yourfriendtographer you can find our shenanigans from weddings, the hashtag is #ASPwedding karaoke. It's, it's highly entertaining. Yes. I miss that a lot. Zoom karaoke or something. We got to kind of keep up our game. I mean, I was, I was watching the other day and I was tearing up a little bit. Yeah, it was, it's so much fun. Yes. and then you can follow our 3d kittens if you want to at the foster bros three, I'm going to give them a little plug. Yes. Cause that's really my entire life right now is is cats
(01:01:42):
Perfect. Well, you guys killed it. Thanks again.
(01:01:45):
Okay, great. This was so fun. Thank you for having us, even after so many attempts with today.
(01:01:53):
We're good. And like I said, maybe of those, this will just be a video podcast from now on, so that'll be good. We'll get to have all the fun you guys were like trailblazers as always.
(01:02:04):
Everybody should have to be on video now. Okay.
(01:02:06):
Yeah. That's kind of where I'm, it's kind of running my name. So if you guys are like Amy, Bronwen, if you're interested in coming on the podcast, sharing your story, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire. You guys didn't have to fill that out because you're in the, in the cool club, but for anyone else thanks again be sure to check back next week for another wedding vendor interview and check out our Best Made Weddings podcasts that Amy was just on talking about photographing weddings right now during COVID lots of other great topics. We just did a whole lot about micro weddings earlier today that we recorded. So thanks again and stay safe, everyone.
Lisa Quam and Courtney Lewis, The Five2Five
(00:09):
Hey, everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I'm so excited today to be joined by Courtney Lewis and Lisa Quam of the Five2Five down in Buckley. And I want to thank you guys so much, I know I had the opportunity to be, to be out at your guys's place last April, I guess it feels like centuries ago now. And then I know we connected at the Northwest event show and just been talking about coming on the podcast. I'm so glad we could schedule that. So why don't you guys introduce yourselves and tell us who you are and what you do?
(00:43):
Great. my name is Lisa and I'm the owner of the Five2Five weddings and event venue. And Courtney here works for me. I'm Courtney Lewis, I'm the manager and it's Lisa and I between the two of us. We kind of handle all the ins and outs of all the, everything to do with the venue. And the planning process we've been working together since probably about six months before the venue opens to nine months. So yeah,
(01:13):
That's great. Yeah. And it it's, it's a cool place. I remember I had never, cause it is, it's fairly new, right? You guys took it over. And I remember that we had had kind of a last minute they needed the wedding ceremony and it's a cool place. Kinda describe, tell me, you know, for people that don't know what, what's the property like?
(01:31):
Well, the property is that in Buckley, so it's not too far off for 10. So it's easy to get to. It was a former, former Lutheran church. So when I bought it, I actually just needed a friend, just stumbled on it. We were out in Buckley, she was looking for some commercial property and she's a realtor friend and we actually just stumbled on it. I said, Oh, this property isn't big enough. You know? And then we realized it came with building and everything else. And it was just your rectangle white shaped building with a big steeple on the front of it. And it looked ugly, orange carpet and orange. Yeah. Orange carpet inside, black iron railing and all that. But the church had previously decided to try to sell it and it didn't didn't go through. And they were down to like 13 parishioners. So they were really, it was harder for them to manage. They were all in the elderly, they had lost a patriarch of the church. And so I looked at as a blank slate. My family thought it was crazy, but I knew, you know, plain and simple as far as the structure of the building was really the way to start a great foundation.
(02:39):
Awesome. well, I get it. I mean, just seems, you know, out of the blue, right? Hey, I'm going to buy a wedding venue or I'm going to start a wedding venue. Where did this gun, where did this come from?
(02:51):
Well, I was fortunate to retire from Boeing early, my husband and I both, they were both very good to us. And I had a business she with my mom for about 20 years, we did antiques and depression, glass and sold to a lot of antique shows and so forth. And my mom passed away about nine years now and it just didn't have my heart back into it. So I just kind of let that go. And I kept most of the inventory, like, what am I going to do with this? And then one night it just came to me, well, why don't I rent that stuff? Because the market had kind of fallen away. You couldn't sell antiques very well for the price that they deserved. And so we, my daughter and I turned that into a decor rental company. So out of that, or the Five2Five, which is like, what are my next steps in my life?
(03:43):
And we had being in the Macy and Lola decor rental company, which is one of our sister companies. Now she's exclusive to the Five2Five where do we take this? And we've been to all these different venues. Well, if I owned one, this is what I would do, you know? And so we just took the best parts of everything and every wedding that we've ever been to and see what we can incorporate here to make it special and unique for couples. When we do tours, that's one of the common remarks as wow, you guys really thought of everything. And I said, well, it's because Lisa has been to so many venues and she had that mental list of what works well, where are the sticking points? And how can I alleviate those for our couples then just have as much as possible built into the venue, photo ops, built in projector screen, built in ways to hang things on the wall, this little things like that, that make a big difference when it comes to our couples, being able to really personalize the venue to their style, she thought through all that head of time.
(04:46):
So it was fun to do the remodel and incorporate all of that. Yeah.
(04:51):
What's the coolest part about it. Cause I remember the day that we were out there they didn't know with rain. It was like early April and, and we, you know, we still didn't know, you know, and it was like up to the minute up to the minute and they were trying to figure out, okay, we're going to do it inside there. We're going to do it outside. What was great was, you know, I thought it was just as beautiful inside, which I, you know, I think some people it's always that mentality, right? Like, okay, it's gotta be outside. And my world is going to end if we can't have this outdoor wedding. And honestly like from a videographer standpoint with lighting and sound and just consistency, like sometimes having a really nice, beautiful indoor ceremony is just as great, you know? And then you don't have to worry about, you know the elements sometimes taking away. So it's great that you kind of have, it's a lot of flexibility there, you know, throughout.
(05:40):
Yeah. And that was a key, flexibility is being flexible. And one of the big decisions that we made kind of early on was okay, we needed a parking lot or do we need a tent which would service better resurfacing the parking lot because honestly they're about the same amount of money. Yeah. And so now, especially in today's environment, the tent has really served as well. Yeah. As well as the secondary place to hold functions and receptions outside that we have the 44 by 63 Tidewater sailcloth tents, the double peak it's really beautiful. And our first, really our first two seasons, we were like, gosh, there's only like one person or two that are renting. This was this a good business decision. And now this year it's everybody wants the tenant. And it is really a beautiful backup as far as like you were talking about earlier, read with, if it's gonna rain, is it not gonna rain?
(06:35):
You can truly have an outdoor ceremony under the tent. You can have dinner under the tent. And then it, it really provides a nice transition to move to the different areas of the venue. And we're so happy now that we've made that decision. And we are just, this is just one example of how we really treat our couples and our clients that, that 10th, we've just, we adjust the price to what makes sense. Okay. How many couples this year are renting it? What are our expenses? And we just spread that across. So we don't, we don't have the tent as a way to make more money. It's really about more flexibility and more options for our couples. And so we were able to this year and next year, keep that cost really low for that peace of mind and the peace of mind. It provides us no matter what our guests are comfortable and taken care of.
(07:24):
It's huge. And they still, on the flip side, they have a beautiful tent, but they also have indoor restrooms and indoor bridal suite and that floor to ceiling fireplace inside, which provides more photo photos. So you really do get the best of both worlds with indoor and outdoor. I love that fireplace. Yeah. I remember doing a wedding up in Arlington. It was actually my daughter's friend and we went to that wedding venue. It's it's no longer in business. I believe at the time was called the wild Rose and they had cottages for the bridal party and the groom's party on property. And then they had a tent that was their three structures. And I went, I liked this idea. I think the cottage idea of how can I use that? And so out of that bore the cottage that we have on the property as well.
(08:14):
Well, and honestly just with a tent too, just with everything going on now, I mean, having plentiful outdoor seating with open air, I mean for years is going to have to be, you know, so important, right. And something that I think, you know, people are just, you know, honestly, you know, not to date the podcast too much, but with everything going on, I mean, that's going to be huge is for you guys to be able to accommodate that. And for people to be outside of the beat,
(08:37):
We did so much brainstorming related around the tent that we could do drive up weddings, you know, and have cars parked on the outside of the tent even, and have the couple inside. You could sit inside, you can have a couple at one in the other. We've kept some of the original structures of the church, like the fruit signs, which is really great photo back photo ops and different seating configurations underneath. We did a spiral one and put a couple inside and everybody was six feet apart and it looked so cool, but we only have a taker on that one, but yeah. But yeah, it gives us an Avenue for creativity as well, to help brainstorm and like, how can we meet this need and do it in such a different way, but be creative and be, I don't want to call it different or unique, but it's just special to the couple. If they want it that way, we would love to show them however way they want to see it.
(09:37):
So, Greg, how did you get involved in all this?
(09:41):
Wow. So Lisa and I have known each other a long time. We have to figure out exactly how many years it's going to make me feel old if I say so. My husband is a high school teacher and soccer coach. And so I originally met Lisa because he was a coach for both of her kids. And then my little sister was a teammate of her daughter. So I remembered to sitting in the soccer, bleachers, chatting with Lisa. I was, you know, back then before I had kids, I went to every single game how's college lie and we stayed in touch over the years and I also used to work for Boeing and I worked in business operations and I through each job I had, I always felt myself. I would always kind of gravitate towards any opportunity for special events event planning community.
(10:33):
Even though my job was more technical and actually that's something Lisa and I have in common. We both have that analyst background, which serves us well as far as we can get all the processes in line, but then we also are super creative. And so it's kind of a good book. So anyway we reconnected at my sister's baby shower and Lisa and my sister had told me a little bit about Lisa about this whole church, but I didn't really know the whole story. And I, at that time had to, yes, I had to, if I have three daughters at the time I had two and I had left Boeing and just to find more flexibility. And I was working at the Y I'm staying down in Sumner and their membership and volunteer program down there, which was a great, you know, interim position.
(11:20):
I got to do a lot with the community and but I also, I always knew there was something what's my next step. I wasn't really sure. At least then I got to talking and she's like, Oh, I'm opening a venue. And I just need to find someone who wants to help me run it. And I'm like, you know, these days and yeah, remind me what you've been following, send me your resume. And cause, you know, once people hear that you're going to open up a wedding venue, Oh, everybody wants to work for you. But it was really, for me is finding that great mix of who that person was and how that person portrays themselves in front of the public and really my business forefront person and, and Courtney really fit the bill. I couldn't have asked for a better manager to help me run the business well, and I think too, it's we both can kind of Lisa's really, I mean, I am creative, but she's like a whole next level of just her mind and the visionary.
(12:27):
So she has that. And then I kind of keep her organized and reel her in a little bit sometimes, but it's again, I think we balance each other out. Yeah. It's kind of the perfect, it was that perfect. I kind of, I just saw her all the time. I knew I was that type of person. I always had straight A's. I could do anything, but I knew I wanted a job where I really could use all of my different skills and bring them together and help people. And this, you know, working at the Five2Five, we were just so blessed to meet so many wonderful families and couples and really go home at night and feel good about what we're doing. And we do actually do quite a bit of philanthropy as well. Cause that is something, another common thread with us that it's just ingrained in us from very young ages to be supporting community and doing volunteer work.
(13:16):
So we've really tied that into the venue as well. I'll let you. Yeah. So the venue is our neighbors is the Buckley fire station, which seems kind of like odd neighbors, but they're a silent alarm system, which means they don't turn on the sirens is if it's a large building, but it's a training center. We love having them close by. They're very quiet. And so you don't really see sirens on until they hit the road and they go left or right. And it's done. But one of the things that the fire station does is, is they have a giving tree every year. And so they support all the kids in the community. And so, you know, you have tags and you have names and ages and they pull out the tags. So we started Santa's photos, Courtney in her past had connected up with a really great Santa and he has the life beard and everything, and he loves to do volunteer work.
(14:09):
And so we asked him to come to the Five2Five and now we're going on three years of that. So we host it out in our cottage. So the cottage turns into SANAS cottage with a Christmas tree and a green couch and Christmas music and stories that Sante reads to children. And we ask for donations only we don't set a price because we know some families can afford it and some can't. And then we host all their other families in the large part of the building. So each family gets one on one time with Santa, you don't have to stand in line and the parents can take their pictures or we have a photographer come in and take them. Or we have a Paisley photo booth has also taken photos for those. And it's great to see Santa and computer through the window and he's reading stories and the kid's eyes light up.
(15:00):
And even if there's a child that's kind of afraid to come into the building, the cottage, he will step out onto the porch and he'll engage them on the lawns. And eventually they come sit on his lap on the porch, but it's really brilliant to see that. And he's really great. So that's one of our big things that we do every year. And in fact, the first year it sold out, we had to turn people away. The second year we added a second day, we'll see with COVID, we're still planning on doing that, but we'll see how that's gonna turn out. And we'll put our creative minds together to see how we can still have Santa Ana and be able to have that and give to the fire station. And what's great about it is it's like usually their last day of their giving tree. And so we give them all these funds and they go buy all the rest of the prices they need in that tree. That's great.
(15:51):
Do you like that? You can, you know, and I know according to you that you were talking about just all the different skills you have and Lisa and all the different ideas and just, I just think it's so fun. You know, you always hear all the time about people like their work and it's like, well, I, you know, I wish I could do this or I want to go do that. Or, you know, I wish that my boss or whoever, but like you guys, you know, if you have an idea, you know, whether it's a program or a decor thing or a tent, or, you know, all these different things, but you can really, I just think it's so cool with, you know, self entrepreneurial ship or whatever, you know, working for this sort of thing that you can really dis experiment and do whatever you want, you know, and, and really see it come to fruition.
(16:31):
Yeah. I always say though, one word that's not in the vocabulary of the Five2Five is complacency where we're always thinking of what we're going to do next and what can we do different and how can we get creative? And it's, it is, it makes it so every event is different every week is different. You know, we just, we, and every time we have an event, we feel blessed. Cause we either learn something from that to move forward. Whether it be something as simple as a, we need to change the verbiage in our contracts or gee, that's another, that's another group that we should reach out to, or I didn't think about doing work for them. Cause we've, we've done school auctions at the Five2Five we've let's see, what's the other one even had a political fundraiser, fundraiser beyond building a building down the walls.
(17:23):
That's another community organization. And the nice thing about doing those types of events because we are open year round. So we have that flexibility that it doesn't have to be only weddings. We can do all different events and each time we host something like that, I mean every single time I will say even say a hundred percent of the time we end up, it leads to something. Even if it's like a year down the road, when somebody will call and say, Oh, I attended that auction and my daughter's getting married and I love your venue. So it, it's just nice that in this space feels it transforms with, with the type of event that's happening. So even just recently, there's two sisters, one is getting married at the venue and the other one's hosting a celebration of life and it's not like weird for them because it looks so different in the different types of, you know, gathering that you're hosting.
(18:16):
The space is we it's intimate yet grand. So if it is a small event, you can make that into our hall, feel super cozy. You're not living room sitting in your living room, a large living room like are like baby showers. We have couches, so they can sit on the couch in this cozy. But then if you have, you know, a winter wedding with 175 people, we can also do that comfortably in this space. Most of all of the furniture really is mobile. Even the bar is on wheels. So we can really get creative with how we set it up. So you're comfortable, but you can also fit everything you're needing to accommodate. Right? And the fireplace really helps. Those are rocks that I had searched for six months to fabricate this Florida ceiling stone fireplace. And it was really the design of that was you spoke about that earlier was a culmination of seven of us between the carpenters and the builders and myself.
(19:09):
And I just gave them a blank piece of paper and the shape. And I said, draw design, how you think the stone should be. And I literally cut it apart like a puzzle and put everybody's piece in it. So it was a teamwork of seven of us that designed that fireplace. And it has a little bit of movement and it's truly kind of gives us our nod to the Pacific Northwest because we've had recently, a lot of clients were saying, this is, this feels like true Northwest. So we have large beams and we have stone in the fireplace. We have an outside at the fire pit. We have it outside the ceremony site and some huge beams or outdoor Arbor. And in wood floors, we have a Juliet balcony that really makes it special. And and just all the trees, there's a huge Greenbelt right behind our outdoor ceremony site.
(20:02):
And that's protected land back there. And we even planted secondary trees inside our fence, which have really taken off this year. And so you feel, you know, you're in nature, but you're not so remote that it's inconvenient to get to. So it's kind of that. Yeah. Yeah. The trees have doubled in size and they're probably currently like getting upwards of 12 feet tall, at least. So one more year and they'll be really, you won't know there's anyone else around you. So when you come into the venue, it'll be really secluded and private and you won't care that, you know there's houses blocks over or something. So that was kind of the plan for that. Well, and
(20:48):
With the fire department nearby, it has to be the safest venue, you know, in the history.
(20:53):
I know it's like, I it's all, so Lisa and I, and then even our support team, our extended Five2Five team, mostly female, you know, we're there sometimes late at night, but I feel very safe. You have built in security right next door. And they have helped us before. Just silly things. Just us being flimsy lock to closet, our purses and our keys are inside of it. And we've locked ourselves out of it. They definitely know how to get doors open. They're great. They really are great neighbors to have. And we're so happy that they're so polite. We always offer them from over on open house days, they've left our food. They'd never take us up on it, but they finally, after all these years that now they're having a meeting, they asked if they could borrow our law. Of course you can borrow our law. [inaudible]
(21:51):
Yeah, that was, I just remember I back when I, I used to do a lot more yoga before I ran my own business and we had a lady one day, we were across the street from a fire department. You could see it out the window. And someone, she had like dislocated her hip or something. She had like a hip replacement. And so like, it was like a, you know, like a, like a fake. My mom has like whatever too. And like, anyway, it pops out and you know, you see the firetruck like go out and view and it's just like, come across the street.
(22:22):
We would joke that they can just hop over the fence. No, we should put a gate on the backside. So they just need to go like 20 feet and they'd be on our property or something. Thankfully they've only had to, that's only been in this room, had a special ride to a hospital once, but you don't use big ladders anymore from climbing on the ladder.
(22:53):
I want to know what was it like reactions, when you said you're going to open the venue to family and friends and things, you know, you had said earlier, you know, of course everyone, you know, wants to be involved or has an idea. I mean, you hear all the time. I mean, I've even, I think I've even said on one of the podcasts before I remember meeting one of my wedding couples and they were saying like, well, you know, once we get married, do you know that surgery and ms. We're going to open the wedding venue and I thought, let's at least get you down the aisle. And then you can tell that, you know, like we're still nine months out from your wedding day. Let's at least, but, you know, I mean, obviously right, you must get used to it. Right where you're, Hey, I'm starting to venue. And everyone's like, okay, well, whatever, but you know, to do it and actually do it. And now it's years later, I mean, what was that like? You know, starting out in the reaction?
(23:41):
Well, it was a lot of hard work. I, it was just me and the builder. Pretty much. Sometimes he thought he knew what was right. And I knew what I wanted it to, like, because it was my vision. And it really helped to bring Courtney on yeah. All my relatives, not all, there's a handful that want to say, yeah, I'll come work for you. And actually there are some that come and some of them volunteer their time just because they like being in this atmosphere. I know my cousin, she lives down South and her and her husband, we had a large wedding and we needed extra hands on because we knew it was a 300 person wedding. And I didn't want to burn it everybody out for working as full 12 hours. So they came and volunteered their time. And then she's, she's come a couple times and just because it's a happy place and it's great to see the celebration.
(24:33):
It's great to see the love. And so we do have two sister companies that kind of I talked about Mason, Lola decor rentals that my daughter and I had before, even a venue was a glimmer in my eye say, and then another one that established is Paisley Pete's photo booth. So my daughter-in-law owns the photo booth. And so she has, it's a real portable photo booth, so she can put it in different areas of the venue and she travels to other venues as well. So it was kinda like on a tripod, you can catch it on the dance floor, you can catch it during the ceremony. You can catch it at the front door if you want. So so we've pulled that in as part of our packages, because what we found during the first year and second year in our packages that everybody wanted, that it's such a great thing to have.
(25:29):
I haven't seen one in the Pacific Northwest yet, like it. And so this year we just incorporated into our large, larger packages. And so we offer decor now and we offer the photo booth as well. So that's, so that kind of pulled the family in. And, you know, I've told I have two adult children that have families, and I told them at some point, you know, mom would like to leave them a legacy. And I thought this would be a great, happy business. Should they choose to do that? And I don't know if they will but time will tell you, no, let me finish building it up. And at some point I think I'll let it go. But it's, it's been a treat and it is, it is fun. Every time we have like open house or any type of community community event, every single time there's family from both sides there, they want to say like, Oh, please let [inaudible].
(26:24):
They're so supportive. Yeah. They stack the checks. They come to our events, they come to our open houses, they bring their friends and they're in like my dad, my dad, my dad, he is the best supporter. He helps fix things, repair things, or, you know, if it has to do with the lawnmower, he's out here helping me. And since we do all that by ourselves, I don't hire outside companies. I kind of believe in hiring friends and family, if you want to be supportive of this business. And then we welcome you to come help. My husband was just out a couple weeks ago, hanging lights in our tent, you know, and I think back even to our very first wedding that day before when we were just scrambling all those little new sounds, you know, cleaning up construction desk, pressure, washing, we had your nephew, husband, his cousin, like it just everybody there.
(27:13):
And it's, it makes it fun because then they are all more invested in the venue as well. Cause they feel it they're a part of it as well, even if it's not. And it's almost better. I feel like having it be like a little you know, the fun like event preparation event day, then they don't have to get bogged down and all the day to day finances contracts, they can just be there with us for part of the celebration. And it makes it really fun for everyone. Yeah. Our first we call it our friends and family event. We had just about 200 people at that one. And so that was great. And we provided them a great dinner nods to blue ribbon catering. Cause I love their food and I love it when they come out and they supported us in that one.
(28:00):
And then this year, unfortunately the COVID we had planned and other friends and family event and it was magician, but that couldn't help happen quite because of the social distancing. So you're thinking of a murder mystery party. Maybe we'll have it the Five2Five and have our friends or family. So we're going to toss around some other ideas. What else might happen to that we've even had? So my two older daughters had a star Wars, birthday party, and that main hall where they normally have something beautiful set up, they turned it into star Wars. They had, Oh, they had saber battles. They had a balancing that they could balance on, you know, and our projectors screen, which is normally is for slideshows during wedding. It was for learning the Wiki dance. So yeah, we, we like having our family and friends enjoy the space to make their memories there as well. Yeah.
(28:51):
What was, what was the biggest learning, you know, challenge, whatever coming into this, you know, owning the venue, what was something maybe you thought would be easier that you were surprised about? You know, I do think that this is a, you know, a learning process in this podcast and I think that we all feed off each other, you know, what, what was something that you, that you never anticipated being as hard as it was?
(29:17):
I, I think when, like Lisa mentioned, cause she kind of mentioned it earlier, just the contracts. I mean, we are in this industry because we love, love. We love relationships. We love helping people, but it's sometimes hard to recognize that not everybody is going to be on the same page. And how do we support? It's easy to support those amazing clients who we always say, our clients really are Five2Five family. They become part of the family. But every once in a while, that's a challenge when you do work with a client that just for whatever reason, doesn't see eye to eye and haven't quite connected and just knowing how to protect ourselves as a business, but still provide that great service. And thankfully, I mean, that's very rare that happens. But even I, our very first wedding, it was a family member and just realizing, okay, we do have to have rules.
(30:16):
We do have to have some, you know, just knowing it's okay to be a stickler on certain tasks. I think that's the best part is knowing when to say no you know, no, we don't allow marijuana smoking on the property. That was a real eye opener for me. And we don't allow shots sweating. We can have an extreme for a few with that, but like there's certain things that just need to be in place and we have good reason for it. Yeah. I want people to have a good time, but I don't want it to be like a frat party or sorority party, everybody hanging around the bar. It's really more than that. It's about connecting with friends and family and this new relationship that's just been established and the love of this couple or whatever the event might be. And so we just turned that into a more positive outlook on it.
(31:08):
Yeah. So, and, and, and the, we have a separate smoking area now that we segregate. And it needs to be a distance away from the building. Cause we didn't think at first we needed to have that, but we, we definitely do. That's about the only thing, you know, we really come from strong business background and process oriented. So we had that part nailed down. We just, we don't have any questions about that. In fact, if you would come to my house and you went and looked at my patio door, there was posts to notes, framed to glass doors of processes. And then when we decided on our system that we're going to use, we would pull them off one at a time. This is incorporate this one, this one, this one. Yeah. And it make sure we're all covered in our workflow that we're not missing any of those key steps.
(31:58):
So yeah, our clients there, their contract and all of their, the process piece of it is very organized and planners that work with us. Love it because they're like, honestly, you guys have done some of the planning already, so we can just be there that month before a day of, and really execute everything. But it helps us to, we are more hands on, I would say that many venues, which has its pros and cons, but we see it really as a positive, because if we're more informed we're well, it makes it easier for us to refer them. What are the pieces they need that they might need a videographer last minute or they need a food truck last minute, or, but then also it sets us, sets us up for success. If we have met with them and we're hearing the details, then we, you know, know preemptively like, Oh wait, there's going to be a dog.
(32:46):
We need to know that ahead of time. So that's not a problem on the day of arrange for, and we've planned for. So if we plan for it and we can be successful, we try not to say no, unless it's a safety issue. Right. So I think that kind of leads us into, we have our client lounge talk a little bit about that class, our client lounge, it's an online portal. Each client gets their own online access so they can add it to their contract, their invoice driving directions. We have just a very general checklist and it's not to the not to the detailed level of like a planner. We, we actually do require our clients now have a day of coordinator to have someone to handle all those ins and outs, but it does have, you know, just the basics of which vendors do you have.
(33:37):
Do you want, we have a swing out at our ceremony site. Would you like to swing up during photos? What time do you want the fire pit? Do you want the fire pit out? Cause that's one thing we learned. If you put it on too early, people are gonna disappear to the fire pit and you won't be able to find them for toast. But we just incorporate and we we update it periodically to is what are the questions that we're always asking that we don't really need to ask that we just put it in the checklist and then we can provide that to any of the vendors that need it. Their coordinator has access to the client lounge. If mom or dad needs to have access, they're helping with payments. It just keeps everyone on the same page and it makes it nice. You don't have to post scramble and dig through emails to find something. Cause you know, if you're booking a venue a year out, maybe you don't remember what the contract said a month before. So it just keeps it very organized and less lowers the stress level. And that's a big deal. Lowers is stress for everyone involved.
(34:37):
What's your guys' favorite part of the, of the process? Is it, you know, is it meeting the new clients? Is it seeing the wedding day? Is it, you know, walking in when they get to see their show? You know, whether you guys, and you can both talk about that, but what do you, what do you guys enjoy most about that? That part of it?
(34:53):
Yeah, for me, for me, it's seeing them start to walk down the aisle because if I am upstairs on the balcony, I get that overhead look that I can see the bride ready to walk down the aisle. I love that moment because they just, all of a sudden it's like lights on and they're beaming from ear to ear. And that's one of my favorites. I love that. You know, they're getting people ready. If there's kids in the wedding, they're holding hands. And I love that part. It's hard to pick just one moment. I think I have noticed I really love first dances because it pulls in, well, like last weekend, for example, this particular couple, they really truly part of the Five2Five family, the bride's daughter after they booked with us we were just chit chatting. Like we normally do and we needed help with weeding.
(35:46):
And she's like, my daughter is super responsible and we're like, are you sure she likes to eat? Cause people will say they like to help, but does she really? And she was amazing. She helped us all last summer. And so during first dances and like father, daughter dance and writing groom dance, and even like the daughter, this is her mom. And she's seeing all of it come full circle of these people that throughout the process, we usually do get to know their family cause they come back. That's one thing with our couples. They don't just see them at contract signing and then that's it. They come back at least for two meetings onsite or, and lay out. But anytime we have open houses, like most of our clients are there. Santa photos, they come for Santa photos. We had last year, it was three generations that were there for Santa photos and even had a couple that they had gotten a photo of Santa and then got engaged shortly after that.
(36:39):
And it turned out the wedding date they chose just happened to be, it didn't plan it, but it was Santa photos day again. So behind the guests who worked her man, we call San and said, Hey Santa, we can be willing to do this. Last year they came and got their photos there and then they got engaged to get in. They're getting married now. So, so we kind of did behind the stones and got Santa and Santa gave them the best toast toast. It was just so cute. And I got very off track. I, you can tell we're both passionate about what we do, but the first dance, I think that's when normally, you know, those first few activities of the ceremony, we were like busy, busy, and then the first dance, like you just pause and kind of take it all in. And that's when all those stories kind of come back to me and just seeing it all come full circle.
(37:26):
It's special and it's different each time too. Sometimes that's on the patio. Sometimes that's inside last weekend, the bride even had planned a special hula she's Hawaiian and her husband didn't know that she had learned the wedding who led. It's just really neat to see all the personality come into it and learn. We really love learning people's stories. The personal aspect of it. You remember that? Do you remember that? Speaking of Hawaiian, that family, where the daughter came and said, I want to plan a 50th surprise birthday party for my mom. So she had 12 grandkids and on the side, all 12 grandkids and practicing this special hula dance for the grandma for like three months, wasn't it. And we got the bird's eye view to watch her I'm going to cry. Right. And all of her grandchildren doing this special hula dance for her, she was just, she was just so joyful. I love that aspect of watching events. It's kinda like we're part of their family, but yet little do they know they're part of our bigger family. Yeah. So
(38:36):
Do you guys enjoy getting, you know, kind of getting to know everyone else in the wedding network and, and really, you know, like I know you guys came to the event show and you know, obviously doing the podcasts and things, but you know where, you know, sometimes if you're buying the venue, right, and, and you're, you're kind of entering this world, you enjoy making all the connections and meeting everybody and what's that, what's that been like?
(39:00):
Yes. so we love that aspect. Before we opened, we had a vendor open house. We had a vendor open house, a community open house and a friends and family. We did all three. And from the very beginning, it was important to us. We didn't want to limit our couples with the vendors that they choose from, but we want to be able to provide them great recommendations, support, local, and support their personality and their style so that we can really know, you know, this particular catered that's Hawaiian food or and so, and it is I think through our business background, Lisa and I both recognize the importance of networking and building that network. And so that's from day one, that's been a priority. We are members of Wippa. We were part of their charter members for Seattle and we find great value in that.
(39:52):
And in fact, some of the vendors we met there and it's just, it's really nice, especially right now with all the COVID craziness. I mean, having a strong network of vendors that, you know, and trust as we're all trying to support these couples, you can call, we can call, you know, a planner we know really well or cater in. We know that they're going to take care of our couples just as well as we are. And even to the point where you even enjoy networking with other venues, because we don't see that as competition. It's, I mean, there's only so many days in each weekend, so we can't possibly always be the choice that we need to have great venues to, to refer to, or if they come for a tour, it's like, you know, I love your venue, but I want water. Well, we don't have a Lake near us, so we can't, but where can we refer them to, that will take great care of them.
(40:43):
And we really strongly believe in supporting others as well and providing those referrals and it goes, it works both ways that we've experienced that as well. That, yeah, we've had referrals come to us. One of the, one of my aha moments if you will, is I think it was a Wippa webinar that I was watching and they talked about the tide rising. And I hadn't heard that terminology before, but they said JFK had used that terminology in that if you lift one person up or like, if you lift one wedding vendor up, they all will be lifted up. So I kind of really, I see that as my next big step in business is to form this rising tide group of vendors kind of like what you're doing in this podcast, bringing people together and helping each other. And so we've done that with a few, couple of local venues and I'd like to do more of that. I think that makes us be able to support the community and support our couples better.
(41:57):
Yeah, no, I absolutely agree with that. And I mean, like I said, with everything going on and that's been a common discussion that I've had with people, you know, offline is, you know, some of these vendors, you know, right now and, and trying to they're offering these discounts and trying to undercut cause you know, everyone's, everyone's hurting and it's like, you know, you, we should be adding value to the community, right. I'm like you guys, you know, and, and giving back and adding education or adding, networking, or doing these things I think is so important. You know, it's like, don't, don't detract from other people, you know, you, you need to, you need to give back, what do you guys find the most enjoyment in? You know, what do you guys find the most pride in? What do you enjoy most about what you're doing now? And I know, cause it is, you know, hard times, lots of reschedules, lots of like other things going on. So where are you guys finding the joy in what you guys are doing kind of in the day to day right now?
(42:51):
You know we find the joy every day. I, we just keep being creative and how we're helping. Like back in March we had our first coven wedding and the couple was shut down because they were at a city owned venue, right. City on park and they were reaching out to us and I said, yeah, we totally can do that. And to be on, it was like a week's notice, they'll pull that off in a week and be able to get them here and, and married. And they're going to even come back next March for a bigger reception. So that's the ability to have a small business is our flexibility with all of our clients and clients moving forward. We're still booking we're booking next year. And the following year, we have never been so busy as we have in the last three weeks.
(43:53):
We are working 10 and 12 hour days. So I think that's like a Testament to our ability to work with our clients, for our clients and to help them navigate all of these great areas and where we see we can be supportive. And we even before COVID, we had worked with couples from three different venues that venue had been shut down suddenly for various reasons. And so we kind of had already had a bit of a crash course in how do we re home these couples help them create a new vision? And so when happened, we were able to just, you know, it's like, we didn't skip a beat. Like this is what it is. How do we move forward? How do we help you? How do we make sure your wedding is still special and meaningful and what you want? And that meant something different for each client.
(44:45):
You know, sometimes it's splitting it into two web. Now celebrate later, we've offered that we're still offering that if they just really want to get married, but then they want to have their reception later. We're just like, alright, well you have a 12 hour package. Let's figure out how we can split that up and just still accommodate everything that you want. And we also, I lost my train of thought, the petite and sweet, yes, petite and sweet. So we also developed a new package. That's really accommodating for, I mean, still, like Lisa said, we're getting calls from couples that they're just postponing their big event, but, but they want a secondary venue now for just something really small and intimate. So we created a package that just allows them three hours get ready, do beautiful photos because we have all the photo ops built in at the venue.
(45:33):
If they would like cupcakes to go we are a videographer to link this, this wedding ceremony with another event that they might have later, whether it be at their home or a reception later, and being able to make that a seamless event. Yeah. So that's, so we are, we're still, we really are. We're S we're very positive glass, half full, you know, we're like, okay, it's changing, but how can that be a good thing? How can we make it more intimate? We had a wedding just a couple weeks ago that was only 10 people. And originally sure they would have had like 75 or a hundred, but it was the most beautiful celebration. So intimate and so personal. They had family on via zoom from Honduras. I mean, nothing felt like it was lacking now. It's just kind of changing that vision of what a wedding is supposed to be or should, could be.
(46:34):
So I just, we're still finding enjoyed daily and just seeing, yeah. Seeing our Brian's go to walk down. The aisle thing says joy. Yeah. Whether that's really, it's not even all about Bryce. I mean, we've had retirement parties here and we've launched people's, I would say their new career, you know, because now they've, they've had their party here. We have friends that have moved to Montana and they're loving life there. And we get, they live in Montana. Now we get referrals from their friends that live here. We just provided a tour to the mom. The mother of the bride was at his retirement party. And it's like, you know, almost a year later. And she's like, I asked you for a tour during that party. And now my daughter's engaged. Let's do this. And this spend being able to continue to cross paths with our couples and their families, corporate events, we have some corporate events, whether it be like the board of directors meeting here, we got a referral from someone, they were a company and they were looking for just a place to have midweek meeting. And we have the screen, we have the tables with chairs. They, we have the space for catering or they can bring their own food. And so that was another one generated from someone else had been here. So it's, it's making everything positive. Yeah. We can have that.
(47:59):
The last question before we go, I want to ask MEI was, so I'm curious cause you know what, you know, where I've been to the venue and I've seen it, but what do you, what are, people's favorite things about the venue? You know, just from, you know, I know you guys talked about the fireplace and I didn't even know that you had had, you know, built that or have that built, you know, commission, whatever that the wording is at that. Right. I mean, I thought that had been there for a million years. Right.
(48:24):
That looks like it. Yeah. It had its purpose. And but I think the favorite aspect, there's two and one being the grasp. We have a great press field. We tell anybody, if you want to have a pickup game of soccer, bring your soccer ball. Cause there's plenty of land space. Not every venue has that open space and comfortable and safe for families. The other aspect that they love and we put up, we talk about is our porch swing. We've put it up at our arbors and it's great for family photos. And it's just something unique and special. Yeah. And it's people tell us all the time they feel comfortable. They feel at home. And so that's really want to stay. They don't want to just like have dinner, have cake we're gone. There's enough different areas of the venue that are, it's just inviting and warm and relaxed.
(49:18):
So there's a fire pit. You can hang out by the fire pit. We have the swing at the outdoor Arbor. It's like every night we'll hang out in the tent and then some people inside. So you've got four different areas for them to hang out. And we actually, we had to put up a sign that says the fire pit we'll close at this time because people don't want to meet Elvis, still be hanging on. I work cleaning up, you know, so they feel comfortable. There's options, there's flexibility. And it just, it feels like a place that they want, they want to hang out. Their guests want to hang out. And and there are, I think the other favorite thing is just all the different photo ops fireplace and the brick sign and the greenery and the trees. And actually the cottage might be a favor.
(50:06):
It's kinda hard to pick the cottage. We talked a little bit about it, but it's a separately fenced area for the wedding party either. You know, either however they want to split that up. We have the upstairs getting ready suite over the outdoor cottage, but it's private out there. They have a dartboard, they have more grassy area and it really works well if if you have that handful of, out of town guests that arrive like an hour early for a wedding, they have a place they can go to and hang out. And it's just kind of unique. We see grooms all the time, like, Oh, you're not going to just throw me in a shack or I get my own space and right there, they're like, let's do this room. That's saying that this is it. We want to stay here. We want to get married here.
(50:56):
Well, that's great. Well, I'm so glad that you guys could both come on today and I think it's fun to have everyone here, you know, I think it's, it's great. And I appreciate you guys taking the time, you know, to share a little bit about it and it's definitely, you can tell that you guys have a lot of pride in what you do. And I think that definitely comes through, so I hope that people will check you guys out cause it's it's cool. It's a, it's a, it's just a really unique space. And I think that obviously you guys put a lot of pride in the end of the work that you do.
(51:24):
Thank you. Love it. Thank you. Thanks for having it.
(51:27):
Yes. If people want to, you know, see some of the beautiful photos and find more about what you guys do, where would you have them check out
(51:34):
So they can check out the www.five2five.com and then on Instagram and Facebook at the Five2Five. And the key is so it's spelled out FIV E and then it's the number two. So that's Five2Five. That just happened to be the address. Sorry, this is Five2Five Division Street. So that's how we came up with the name.
(51:57):
It's perfect. Well, thank you guys again. I so appreciate you reaching out and wanting to come on. If you're listening and you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire we have set up and that we can get you in the system and try to see if it will be a good fit, but I really appreciate it. And it was so great to connect with you guys, you know at the wedding that I was at. And then again, you know, later on at the, at the shows and hopefully we can see each other again and have another wedding in here coming up soon when you know, everything hopefully gets back to normal. So sounds great. We'd love to have you. Yes. Perfect, and this has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, be sure to check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Jan Fernandez - Party on the Rocks
(00:09):
Hey, everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I am very excited today, a fresh and hot offer Best Made Weddings appearance. We have Jan Fernandez with Party on the Rocks, and I'm so glad we were just talking before your partner. Claire business partner had been on one of the first guests we had ever had on the podcast, you know, almost three years ago. And I think it's great. You know, you guys obviously work in tandem and I think that it's just great to get other voices and perspectives and to bring on the other side of the company. And I'm so glad because, you know, I know you, but I don't know, kind of all the backstory and everything. So I'm very excited to hear all that. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do?
(00:54):
Well, thanks for time. I really appreciate you having me on. So I represent the nerdy, nerdy compliance side of the business. I am the compliance officer for Party on the Rocks because we have a Washington state liquor license. We have to work very closely with the Washington liquor control board, ensuring that we're in compliance with all of the wonderful Washington state liquor laws. My background actually came from the private golf industry. So about 25 years ago, I was the food and beverage manager of a private golf course. And that's kind of where I got my start with with banquets and with parties and with the liquor laws that were really prevalent. And that was back when Washington state was in control of the alcohol alcohol before the Costco movement came and it was the, and it was privatized as opposed to run by the state. And before that, I belong to, as a, as a kid, I belong to several service organizations where we actually plan fundraisers and we we did dining and we did banquets. And so I've just naturally worked in the banquet industry pretty much my entire life. And then I've been a human resources director and I've been in insurance now for about 20 years. So I just have a lot of background in, in laws and in dealing with people and, and insurance.
(02:29):
Yeah, because there's just so much, you know, there's so much that goes into it. I remember even when we had Claire on talking about just, it's one of those just really high liability things, right. That weddings have to have, you know, people want to have liquor and want to have a good time, but then there's obviously just so many questions about wanting to make sure you know, you do it safe and right. I've so funny. I hadn't even thought about the whole privatization thing. Yeah. I remember, you know, when not all, I don't even know how old people are that listen to this podcast, but when you to have to go either you could only go to the liquor store and that just would cramp my style, you know, and now you can go into Safeway or QFC or Costco or whatever. That was obviously a huge, what was that like a eight years ago?
(03:13):
Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really funny because everybody thought that we were going to save so much money because we were privatizing alcohol and the state was like going to just not get any more money. And the state was like, well, you can privatize it, but now we're gonna throw a 22% tax on it. We're still going to get our money. You can just buy it and Safeway instead of one of our stores.
(03:37):
Yeah. I, and I remember I was, cause I said, man, if I don't have to go to two stores, if I can go to one, I'll pay the other, you know, the other $4 or whatever, it's worth it for me not to have to go, but it does. Yeah. Cause you see like, Oh nine 99, but then it's, you know, then they add on another either whatever at the, at the register.
(03:55):
Yeah. So there's like a 13% sales tax and then a 22% spirit tax that they tack on at a grocery store. So yeah.
(04:05):
So it's interesting to me, like I said, you know, I think we see a lot from Claire, but I think she defers a lot to you obviously with your wealth of knowledge, just to, you know, everything going on. How did, how did this all come about? I mean, how does someone that, you know, works at, you know, banquet halls, you know all that stuff get to be, Hey, I wanted to start my own business and kind of get into the wedding industry.
(04:28):
So Claire was actually working for a competitor who decided that they just didn't want to do it anymore. And you know, she and I have worked together for decades literally. And I just, I saw what she was doing and I was, and I was honestly, you know, I'm in the insurance business and I get tired of delivering 45% rate increases to people and having employees, you know, constantly, you know, mad at me because of what their employer chose for their health insurance. And I just wanted to do something fun. Right. And what's more fun than serving alcohol at a party. And so, you know, I I'm, I'm really good at organization and she's amazing at sales. And so I was like, you know, we have a very symbiotic relationship. She's my yang, I'm her yang. Why don't, why don't we go into business together.
(05:23):
Right. And so we decided we were gonna, we were going to go into business together and we've tried to pick a name. And we knew we wanted to do event staffing and bartending. And w w I don't know if you've ever heard how we got our name, but literally a friend of hers buys URLs. And he was, he was looking at URLs one day and he goes, Hey, there's a .rocks out there. And he's like, Oh my God, what about www.partyonthe.rocks? And she called me and she's like, John, this is the name of the company. And I was like done. And that was it. That's how we got our name was www.partyonthe.rocks. And so but then it was kind of like, who does what? And we were both trying to answer emails. And we were both trying to like be the first to get to the customer.
(06:17):
And like, when I would answer an email, I would be all like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is your price, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Clara would answer an email with congratulations. We're so excited about your new party. And so she called me and she said, okay, look, you deal with the insurance. You deal with everything that has to do with compliance. Let me deal with the client. So I quickly learned that I was, I was the nerd and I needed to just make sure everything we did was legal and let her deal with being happy and, you know, making everybody happy. And so it's worked out really, really well,
(06:57):
That transition well, and I know you still are obviously on both sides, but, you know, transitioning into, like you said, that an industry that's a little bit more, you know, not like laid back, but I mean, the wedding industry is a little bit more rosy color than stuff where maybe if you had been on the corporate side for a long time, was it, was it fun to get, to kind of express more of that kind of joy in everything? You know, what was it like kind of walking into that world?
(07:21):
Well, you know, having come from the corporate insurance side of things, it is so much fun to go to a wedding, right? I mean, like, like I said, I came from a private country club and that's where I got my F and B experience, but, you know, a lot of times people were there, they were upset that they didn't have a good golf game or they were in a fight with their wife, but man, you go to a wedding and everybody is happy and it's a huge celebration. And, and the stories that you get to hear coming out of the couples it's, you know, like how they met or, you know, whose dad did what, or, you know, just anything like that. It's so much fun and everybody's there to have a good time and celebrate love and the energy is just kind of overwhelming sometimes.
(08:11):
So so it was fun that you liked that you liked that energy.
(08:16):
Hmm. I do. I do. That's a good vibe.
(08:19):
And so obviously, were you still dealing with stuff on the insurance side? Is it, do you enjoy, is it kind of a reprieve sometimes to obviously not right now, there's a lot of stuff going on that, you know, in weddings it's a little bit more challenging, but I mean, on a regular basis, do you enjoy that different kind of stress and, and part of problem solving that you have to do on that end?
(08:38):
Yeah, I really do. I mean, even now with, you know, the challenges that everybody's facing to be able to go into a wedding and, you know, make it happen right. And, and let those people, cause I mean, you know, the parties are great, but, but you're there to, to people's love for each other and to unify them, you know, for what, for whatever reason you know, and we can go down the political side of, you know, the tax break implications or I need to get on her health insurance. Cause I'm turning 26 and my parents are kicking me off their health insurance or whatever the case may be. The fact of the matter is people want to get married and there's a reason why they want to get married. And so that part is really fun. And then to see the planning that couples put into things, you know, like the little details that they do with their little gifts and the little stir sticks that they've got for their cocktails and, you know, they create their own little signature cocktails that we get to batch. And for that, that's always a lot of fun
(09:41):
As someone that kind of handles a little bit more of the, like, you know, the, the liabilities in the insurance and stuff. I know there's, you see stuff online all the time, you know, people asking you things that you definitely can't do or, you know, things they want to have alcohol in the way that maybe isn't, you know, allow, I mean, do you ever run out of hearing these things? And you're like, the people are crazy. Like they have, like, you can't do that. Or we can't. I mean, I'm sure it's just never Randy and like, yeah, yeah, this is actually how we have to do it.
(10:09):
Yeah. It's, you know, it's, it's, it's difficult, right. Because cause it's a party. And so, you know, we, we do things like we train our bartenders in wedding etiquette. Right. Cause there was really gentle, soft ways to say, you don't want to be that guy. Right. This is a wedding guy. So, you know, we do things like it's a marathon, it's not a sprint, you got five hours. We'd like you to be here in four hours from now. Or, you know, we do things like you know, let's, let's have, let's have some water and come back and see me or, you know I, I can hand you this drink and if you choose to hand it to Susie, who's 19, that's on you. I have handed it to you and my liability is off. So honestly what I have to be able to do or any of my bartenders have to be able to do is to prove in a court of law that we handed that drink to somebody who was sober and over the age of 21. So really that's what it comes down to.
(11:19):
How did you get interested in this world to begin with all the way back? Just kind of in the food and beverage industry and kind of all that. I mean, is that something you went to school for and studied? Was that something you were interested at with events and things like that?
(11:32):
Well, so like I said, when I was a kid, I was involved in some organizations that did a lot of fundraising. And so that, that was always fun to me. And I I used to, when I was in high school, I took a fashion merchandising class and we put on fashion shows and that was, that was fun. Producing a fashion was a lot of fun and we competed in high school fashion show competitions, believe it or not. And we won because we were that good. But as I grew up, it was just, I always loved planning parties and I always loved hosted thing, hosting things. And like even my, even my backyard is set up for a party like I've got, you know, the pool and the hot tub and the deck and the fire pit and, you know, the ability to serve drinks and all that kind of stuff.
(12:21):
I just, I just love having people around and the energies that come from parties and people just, just having fun and relaxing. And I guess when I, I honestly answered an ad for this food, well, it wasn't even a food and beverage manager. It was, it was the front desk clerk at a private golf and country club. And I just saw, I saw what it was like and the position opened up and I applied for it and I got it. So it was, it was a lot of, it was a lot of fun.
(12:55):
What was challenges, you know, obviously doing it. It's always different when you're, you know, managing things as far as the, you know, as part of a company versus managing things as part of your own company, what was, where were there some struggles or things that you didn't anticipate, you know, when you guys went into doing it on your own that, you know, people could learn from, you know, like stuff that maybe you thought would have been easier or things that were more challenging,
(13:19):
I would say educating the client on DRAM shop law. And a lot of people don't understand what that is. It's not in every state. It's only in about 43 States in it. And it varies from state to state, but essentially it puts the liability on the sober person, the person who's serving the drink or hosting the party as opposed to the person who's actually taking the drink. So getting, getting brides to understand that just because we're serving the alcohol, yes. That removes a big part of the liability. Cause we're the mass twelves. We're also the ones that are going to have to, you know, step in and potentially, you know, ask ask a guest, not to take another drink or, you know, even if necessary, shut the bar down. And it's not because we want to be the bad guy, but we need to remove the liability from the parties who would be at fault. If something were to happen,
(14:24):
You stay up to date on all the different things. Is it just constant? I know we had talked about it on the best the best media weddings podcast. So you're talking with the, you know, the liquor control people and you're talking with these people and those people, I mean, are, is it just constantly trying to make sure that you're up on the latest and how do you, I mean, organize all of that in your head of whether, you know, like you're even talking, you know, numbers and things know how do you, how do you keep all that going?
(14:49):
I don't know. I just have, I just don't know. I actually I get, I get feeds from the liquor control board in fact last year. So there, and I can't remember the drink cause I've only served it once. And then two months later, this notice came out, it's a Korean, it's a Korean spirit of some sort, it's a wine of some sort. And the alcohol content is so high. You now have to have a different permit in order to serve it. So not just a mass 12. And forgive me, I can't remember off the top of my head, but I got, I got this notification and it was literally two months after I served it at this baby's first birthday party.
(15:37):
That's when the that's when you pull out the really heavy, the hard liquor, you know,
(15:42):
Oh man that I got to tell you, it was the equivalent of a wedding. It was, the flowers had to be $10,000. It was crazy. It, I looked, it looked like I was walking into a wedding and there was this one year old baby. So anyway, it was pretty funny, but I, I do a lot of reading. I I've talked to my liquor control officer probably three times a month just to make sure that we stay up on everything. And I talked to the customer service manager at the liquor control bar on a regular basis. And there's a lot of things that I have learned since getting our liquor license in 2017, that a lot of people don't know. So like one thing is you don't actually have to have a banquet permit for a wedding. It's only if the venue requires you to banquet permits are required for corporate events.
(16:42):
So a wedding is a private party that could be held in a backyard, right. But typically there's more guests than can be held in a backyard. It's the wedding venue who wants to put the liquor control board on notice that there's going to be a private party where alcohol is being served. I personally think it's a great idea and I don't discourage any venue to have one, but so that's one of the things a wedding venue does not have to have a licensed or insured bartender pouring out there at their wedding. Do I think it's a good idea? Absolutely. I think that they also should require that the wedding venue should require that the bartending service provide a certificate of insurance. Sometimes they're called a COI and that the wedding venue should be added as an additional insured. That's just another layer of liquor liability that, that you've put in, in place.
(17:47):
Do you think that people gotten smarter about making sure that the people that are serving the alcohol at their weddings are a company like yours that is, you know, licensed and insured and all that? I know it's, it's obviously hard for me to judge just because, you know, years ago when I was getting started, you know, you do these dinky weddings and it's a friend or whatever. And so, you know, we just don't do a lot of those weddings anymore. So I'm, I don't know. But you find that people have gotten smarter now about wanting to make sure that the liability and all that staking care of,
(18:20):
I think wedding venues and I think wedding planners and day of coordinators have gotten smarter about it. Do I think that brides still want their cousin who have a mass 12 to do it because it's free? Absolutely.
(18:36):
Is that, how do you D how do you educate them on that? Or what do you, what do you try they've cause obviously you guys do all this work behind the scenes, all the education, you know, like you said, checking in with everybody, all this other stuff, you know, that no one ever sees. Right. How do you convey that to the client and make sure that they, you know, that they know the severity of making sure that they're covered? They have,
(18:59):
So we do, we talk about liquor liability. We talk about insurance. We talk about the venue, having that level of insurance put in place with our certificate of insurance, adding them as an additional insured. We talk about us not knowing who any of their guests are. So there's no bias. There's no, Oh, come on, Joey. You know me? Right. There's none of that. And there's no temptation for my bartenders to take a drink with your guests.
(19:32):
Yeah. I know that is hard when it's yeah. When there's that personal connection, I guess I didn't even think about that as opposed to just people wanting to get like free drinks and stuff behind the bar, but obviously like them having the bias to over-serve people that maybe they know or whatever. Yeah. I, yeah, I remember years ago we had a wedding on Bainbridge and it was like one of these Craigslist things, you know, two days before, where a week before. And he, I think they had gotten all everyone off Craigslist and the bartender was you know, in the closet, asleep on the floor by about two hours into it, you know? And you just think, man, like, you know, this is just not, it just the safety of that. Right. And not having anyone that can control what's going on, you know, it's definitely scary.
(20:18):
Yeah. It, you know, I mean, we've seen it, there are venues that don't require a licensed or insured bartender or they don't require, or they, they require somebody with a mass 12, but they don't necessarily require them to have insurance. And so they'll get their cousin and the cousin's drunk, you know, before the end of the cocktail hour. So it, it does happen. It's unfortunate when it does. And it, one point, I know we did this one wedding where we were the event staff and, and the bartender was drunk and he just kind of left. And one of my people said to Claire, she was the lead on that team. He's like, well, do you want me to jump on that bar? And Claire said, absolutely not. You, you were not hired to be a bartender. The liability is on that bartender. It is not going to be on us.
(21:10):
I hear horror stories. Sometimes it just make you kind of shake your head.
(21:14):
Yeah. yeah. Unfortunately there was a wedding last summer. And I, I wouldn't disclose the venue, even if I knew the name of it, but they had their own bartenders and there was a couple that was overserved and the couple died, the bride and groom dried leaving the wedding. Wow. Yeah. So, I mean, it does happen liquors, nothing to mess around with.
(21:40):
Did you ever think that, you know, years ago when you were starting your professional career and how often you would be talking about liquor and all that now? I mean, you know, it's just one of those things.
(21:52):
No, no, not at all. I honestly, I thought when I, when I very first thought about starting the company, I thought it would be fun, you know, pouring drinks at a wedding and chatting with people and something different than in boring insurance. Right. I never realized, you know, it was like I was going to be a bartender. I wasn't going to be the compliance officer,
(22:19):
But it's kind of the best of both worlds, being able to incorporate kind of what you, what you did before and what you love with kind of a new adventure.
(22:26):
It is. It is. And I truly, I truly love what I do with Party on the Rocks. And I think we have a really great business model. The fact that we've got that we were able to figure out how to get a liquor license has just made us that much more successful. And I think the way that we developed my, my HR background afforded me the ability to have connections in the HR world. So I sit on a board of directors for human resource managers. So I have employment law attorneys at my fingertips. I have human resource directors for major multibillion dollar companies that I can ask HR related questions. In fact, I went to them when I needed to get job descriptions. I was like, Hey, Sue, can you do me a job description for a bartender and, you know, an event staffing person.
(23:21):
And she did it for me, right. And I had an employment law attorney draft up my first contract for me. So, so that was really cool. And I, and that really helped us, you know, get kind of a leg up on everything. And we use a a behavioral based interview question set. So when we're asking or potential employees questions, it's about a behavior. So it's going to tell us whether they're an introvert, it's going to tell us how they handle stress. It's going to handle, it's going to tell us what they would do in a situation where they may not have complete control, as opposed to, you know, tell me what you did in 1999 kind of thing. You know,
(24:13):
When you guys see, I know that having the liquor license is, is something that's important to you guys, right? And there's obviously, it's a huge selling point that you guys use. Talk about just the importance of that, because I don't, you know, I know what the importance is of that, but what is the importance that you guys have that?
(24:32):
Well, honestly, the liquor license is more on the corporate side of things because corporations don't want to deal with anything. And the nonprofit side. So, you know, we can just bring the party, but a lot of times people are looking for knowledge education subject matter experts, right. And having a liquor license just gives us that, that extra edge, because we did go through the hoops. We did go through a 10 year background check. Claire, we got this, we got our liquor license in 2017 or and Claire was 23 at the time. So her background check went back to when I think she was like 13 years old or something like that. Right. it's, it's an, it's a, it's an ordeal to go through. And so it just, it gives us that much more credibility. I guess
(25:34):
What's interesting to me is, you know, I think we, we started both, all of us kind of around the same time. I know that we were next to each other at the wedding show, however many years ago, and then now, and being sponsors of the show and everything, and, you know, to see I think just the positive growth that, you know, we both had, you know, over the last, you know, five, six years, what do you attribute? Just that, you know, being visible now. Right. And being one of, I would think like when people are posting online and, you know, one of like the only people are at the top, whatever they get tagged and people referring you guys and the name, and then, you know, how would you attribute that to in the success over the last few years?
(26:18):
So most of our marketing efforts, especially in the beginning was really networking. We found the networking groups to, to, to join. And we went to the meetings, we became involved. We got to know who the wedding coordinators were, who the planners were, who the venues were, who the caterers were that didn't have event staffing. And we made sure that we hired employees that were going to represent us. And we put those people in place and we found our first lead is Cadena Roland. She was the first person we hired. And we made sure that if Claire or I couldn't be at an event that Cadena was at the event because we wanted to make sure that the, the, the event that Party on the Rocks was at was, was representative of Jan and Claire. Right. And we just built a reputation on being it.
(27:25):
It's, it's interesting. Cause I, I do think we have a similar mindset where, you know, there, there's plenty of guys and girls, you know, in, in the videography industry that, you know, you're just somebody with a camera, right. You go do whatever. And I think in, in your way to, you know, there's plenty of guys and girls that, you know, are bartender or serve drinks or do that. But, you know, I always wanted to have it just feel more of like a company, right. Even if, you know, ultimately it's still just me and, you know, a couple of yokels running around, you know, behind the scenes. And I think you guys are probably a little bit more well-defined, you know, with everything else that you guys have to worry about, but I just appreciate having that mindset right. Of being like, just kind of elevating it from the get go and just making it you know, obviously be perceived a certain way and then rise to that occasion and then exceed that. Do you feel that that is how you look at it?
(28:18):
Yeah, it was, it was really funny because when we started really, it was like, it was Claire and I and Kadena and probably for friends and relatives and we were booking and we were booking and then Claire said, Oh my gosh, Jan, like, I think we need to hire some more people. And I said, okay, well, we'll go start interviewing some more people. And Claire does not do any of the interviewing. She refuses to, she tries when she'll just hire anybody. So we don't let her do any of the interviewing. So it's either now we have a recruiter, but in the beginning I did all of the interviewing and we got up to like 12 people and she, we were good and we were, we were rolling. And then we got, we got more popular. And then she said, I think we need to hire some more people Jan.
(29:04):
And I said, okay, well, I'll get on it. How many do we need? I need a number. Right. Cause I need to, like, I need to go out there and I need to market the company. And so we hired probably, I don't know, four or five and we got up to like 22 and then we were, I remember we were at a Guild meeting and we were the sponsors at night, so we got to go up and we got to introduce ourselves. And we said, and we have 22 employees. And everybody was like, Oh my gosh, you have 22 employees. We have 57 employees now. And we, it just, it just kept going. And, you know, keeping the level of service is, is I think the biggest challenge because we have to make sure that we have the leads in place that share the same values that we had that we had when we started the company. And I think we do a pretty darn good job of it. But it's, it's constantly working in is constantly educating and just constantly reminding and that's just the way business is.
(30:08):
Yeah. It's just interesting. Cause you know, I don't, you know, I would never want to point that out with anyone that like, you know, like me, like I was like faking it or whatever, but it is it's, I think a lot of people don't realize that everybody kind of starts the same way for the most part. Right. And it really is trying to kind of put up a front while you're figuring it out and the smart people figure it out and they don't, you know, let the crack show until, you know, the foundation or whatever is built and then some people, but, you know, it's that balance of, you know, really be putting into support beams, but also like you know, pretending like you are what you want to be eventually, you know, it's just it's that. But I just think a lot of people don't realize that most people are kind of in that boat, you know?
(30:53):
Yeah. No, I completely agree. I have to give a lot of credit to Claire though, because I don't, I don't think Party on the Rocks would be partying on the rocks unless it was Jan and Claire. I really don't. We needed each other's strengths to create what we've created and, and you know, her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. So we have a complete, we have a complete set, right.
(31:20):
So now we're doing the bartending and I know with the event staffing and everything either, do you feel like you guys being able to offer a multitude of things now that you're more kind of have all, all inclusive service for kind of what you guys are trying to do? How does that work and what was the mindset behind kind of wanting to expand to all, you know, then just like serving drinks or whatever?
(31:41):
Well, I mean, since the beginning, we, we, when we named ourselves Party on the Rocks event, staffing and bartending service, we wanted to make sure that we had the event staffing piece in there as well, because we didn't have the liquor license when we first began. And so our margins were not as large as they are now, right. Liquor has a huge margin. And so we needed to, we needed to make sure that we were able to do as much as possible and not just bartending. So we wanted to be able to work with caterers that were just drop and go there, there are lots of caterers out there that just don't have the bandwidth to keep employees on, on tap for when they need them or they can't, or they can't get them. And so we wanted to be that, that team of people that could go in and work with those caterers, we wanted to be able to peek through the people that do the private parties at people's houses. I got to tell you, I did a remodel on my house years ago and I, I grabbed every private client I could, that was on Mercer Island or out in this Acqua or up in Snohomish because I wanted to see what those million dollar mansions were like so that I could like build my remodel around what they did. I wanted to see what they were doing. It is it's fun. And those people are just, most of them are lovely people.
(33:11):
What's been the biggest surprise in terms of where you guys have seen the most growth, is it doing, you know, like you said, the private events or doing the, you know, the weddings or the corporate, I mean, what, what were you guys maybe not expecting to have so much success in? And you were like, wow, I'm really glad that we like really focused on, you know, building that aspect of our business.
(33:31):
Oh, honestly, corporate corporate. We have a major, major corporate client that provides two thirds of our income right now. For the majority of the year wedding season is huge. As we all know, we have a very large venue out incarnation that we, that they've out sourced all of their staffing to so, so that's helpful. And then, and we do, you know we're on many, many venues preferred lists for bartending services and then, you know, caterers who are always looking for staffing. Th they're they're always looking to us for staffing.
(34:16):
Yeah. It's so interesting how it just seems like a lot of vendors, right? Like you either have wedding vendors that do corporate or not at all. Right. And it always seems like the ones, you know, whether it's photographers or event planners or bartending or video, either the people that, you know, cause like even right now where everything's kind of blown out of the water, you know, there's still like for me, you know, there's still like corporate stuff right. Where you would be, you know, if, if everything just kind of imploded, it would be, you know, it's good to really have that diversification with, you know, your client base.
(34:50):
Yeah. And well, you know, one of the cool things is one of the associations I belong to called the health department, the state health department to confirm that there could be meetings and as low. So there's no social gatherings currently. Right. So there's no receptions after weddings. There's no food, no drink, but if you're having a meeting or an educational piece, you can have up to 25 people in a room as long as your social distancing and you're following all the protocols. So corporate is still there.
(35:22):
Is that something that you've really had to like mindfully work towards the maintaining sure. That you're maintaining all those connections on that side? Or is it just as it just come about naturally?
(35:34):
No, it's been a constant thought and party. The rocks has had to, you know, kind of regroup and diversify during these times, but we're managed we're, we're doing it.
(35:45):
What are you most proud about that you guys have accomplished in the last few years?
(35:52):
Our reputation, our solid reputation.
(35:56):
And what would you, I mean, if you had to you know, what, what would you say your is people's perception of your reputation or what do you think that is?
(36:06):
Well, I mean, I read her reviews cause I want to know what people think of us. And from a, from a planner to a blown out of the water guest, not even the client, like I was a guest at this wedding and these people were top notch. They were professional. They were fun to talk to. They were engaging. I didn't know anybody there. And they talked to me, you know, things like that, that, that's what makes me feel good about my team and, and what we do and what we train and the kind of people we hire. Right. We hire people. They're going to, going to be your friend that night. If you don't have any friends,
(36:47):
Where are you guys looking to continue to grow in the future? Kind of once we get past all this stuff that's going on. I mean, besides, you know,
(36:56):
You want my opinion or do you want Claire's opinion, your opinion? I want to take this out of the universe. I want this, I want Party on the Rocks to grow now. Do I want it to explode? No. I want to take it in steps that are solid and thoughtfully laid out. Right. I don't want to just say we're going to be in every city in the United States. No, that's not what I want to do, but I want to, I want to, I want to build it into something.
(37:32):
And do you feel like you guys are, have the stepping stones to do that?
(37:36):
Yeah. Yep. I do. I think we may. Oh, go ahead. Oh, I said, well, I think, I think we may end up in the Chalan area soon. And Eastern Washington where there's more resort communities. There's, there's a lot of opportunity for there's a lot of wedding venues over there and there are a lot of high net worth houses, homes over there summer homes where people have parties. So I think that that's a great opportunity for us and we sort of have a holding position over there right now. So that's a, that's an area for us. I think Portland might be an opportunity for us as well.
(38:23):
What excites you the most about kind of working on this stuff every day? Where do you find the most joy in what you do?
(38:32):
Figuring it out? Honestly, I am a like that's what I do. That's what my brain does. Right. So I guess that's why I'm so good at insurance because somebody puts a problem in front of me and I just have to figure it out. And you know, like we, we, when we do our new hire orientations, you know, people, people think that everything's going to be the same and we, and we say, no, no, every wedding is its own unique piece. Right. And it's a brand new job you're walking into and you're going to have to figure it out. The, we walked into one wedding and there was, Oh, I don't know, five cases of a rum. And they were all handles. Right. So it was enough from, for probably 400 people and they had 80 guests. And then there was a bunch of juices under the bar. And the day of comes up to us and says, I don't know, but they want some sort of a rum punch. And so I looked at my, at my counterpart and I was like, okay, figure it out. So we made this beautiful pink punch. So, you know, it's that, or, or the bride forgot the ice or the bride forgot, you know, something and you just, you just gotta roll with it.
(39:55):
Yeah. It's, it's I, you said it's problem solving, but kind of, you know, you're really in the thick of it. Right. You really gotta, even though you're the one that's onsite, right. Sometimes trying to like figure out, you know, what's going to happen next. Yep. Yep. What do you what do you wish more people knew about you? This is the get to know, you know, you're waiting for a podcast with jam. W w what would you, you know, as someone, you know, people, you know, know, you guys know the business, you know, obviously the reputation and everything, but what do you want people to know about you?
(40:27):
Wow. I'm a very kind hearted person. But don't push me.
(40:37):
Well, what would happen if they pushed Jan? I would be scared to ask.
(40:40):
I'll walk out, I'll push back. I follow the law. I have to write, I can figure out how to work within it as best as possible. But if you blatantly, I don't know, don't want me to follow it. I'm a rule follower. I have to be, my license is not worth your beer.
(41:16):
Yeah, no, that was injured. And when we were on the BestNet weddings podcast and you were talking, cause we were talking about, you know you were at an event and, you know, with the, I think it was like the mask enforcement. You said, I gotta, if it's not going to ha you know, I gotta go. Cause I gotta protect, you know, we have too much, too much on the yeah. And that's, it is interesting right now I had a conversation today with a mother and a bride. And there is not a lot of understanding about what is on the line for all the vendors that are working and that this really interesting to hear these conversations now. But especially for you guys and with everything else that goes along with liquor and, and even just like managing personnel, right. I mean, you just, it's a lot more on your guys' shoulders is there. Then there is like, you know, me with a camera, like walking around, like you just have a lot more stuff that you really have to make sure it's all in line.
(42:07):
Yeah. I mean, especially like with the event staff, right. These guys are out there in the tables. Right. And they're picking up your dishes that you've eaten off of. And they're, you know, they're picking up your glasses that you've drank out of and, you know, are you staying six feet away from my people? I don't know. Have you had two or three glasses of wine and your inhibitions are out the window? Probably. You know, I just want everybody to be safe and to be here next year.
(42:40):
Last question, before we let you go, I want to know the best PG rated interesting alcohol related wedding guest, or you can think of on the spot, cause I'm putting you on the spot.
(42:54):
PG, would that be calling the police on the father of the bride? So it was a wedding. There were about 250 guests. It was in a it was in a government property. We'll say that on the water, somewhere up North. And the there were myself and two other bartenders they'd split us up. We couldn't see each other. Johnnie Walker, black label was the drink of the night. And we were doing fine and the beginning, and of course, as the evening progressed, it just that a little bit more elevated. And I was starting to ask people to take it easy. We were going from doubles to singles. And then that of course meant that I was cutting them off and I couldn't see my other two bartenders. And so finally I texted them and I was like, okay guys, we've got to shut these bars down.
(43:52):
And we gotta be at one bar because they're just going to the other bar. They were getting the, the idea was to get the bride and the groom drunk. So people were taking drinks and just giving him to the bride and groom which I didn't know about. I was handing him to somebody else. And the father of the bride came over and tried to be all chummy, chummy, chummy. And I was like, sir, you know, I'm just asking your guests to, to, to bring it down a notch. And he, he immediately became belligerent with me and I said, you know, I don't want to have to shut the bar down. And he said, you're not going to shut the bar down. And he started to be combative with, and I said, sir, you know, I I'm really sorry. We're going to have to shut the bar down.
(44:37):
If your folks, you know, can't, can't just calm down and take it easy for a while and drink some water. And he said, I, I paid you to pour alcohol and you'll pour alcohol until I tell you to stop. And I said, no, sir, you did not. You paid me to control the alcohol consumption at your daughter's wedding. And that is what I am doing. And if you do not calm down, I will be forced to shut the bar down and call the police. And about 15 minutes later, I called the police and there were two police officers on site. And within five minutes there were 14. Wow. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And don't push me, man. Don't push me. And the police officers stayed until all the alcohol was cleared. They escorted us to our cars on Monday. And I was in communication with Claire cause she had to call the day of coordinator and she had to call, you know, whomever. And she called the day of coordinator on Monday. And she had her on speakerphone. She happened to be over at my house and she said, ah, I just wanted to know how everything went. I understand that there was, you know, some, some friction and the day I've said, Oh my God, I am so glad Jan was there. Nobody pushes her around. Do they? It's like, no, Nope. She's not easily intimidated.
(46:06):
No it's yeah, absolutely.
(46:09):
So that's my fun story. And you know, it, wasn't fun. I didn't want to be that guy, but when, when alcohol becomes over overserved to do what you gotta do.
(46:23):
No, exactly. And I mean, obviously, you know, we laugh about it now, but it's, it's because you know, you guys were put in place to be that, you know, that, that layer of protection right. To stop something really bad from happening. And I do think that yeah, I mean, weddings are definitely get out of control, you know,
(46:43):
Five hours of free alcohol.
(46:46):
No, I just, before I remember you just made me think we were at a, we were at a really nice golf course over on the East side. And it was like a Serbian wedding and they had the cocktail hour and the guests were going up and they were ordering like two doubles email. Yeah. Before dinner, this was like cocktail hour and said the venue finally had to come out and say like, okay, you know, just, just one drink per person. And one shot per drink now the rest of the night. And I'm like, man, if you guys are getting cut off before a dinner, like that is hard. That is hard core. You know? I mean, it's like we were in the back eating them, like it's seven, 15, like what is happening here? And they said, well, we got to shut it down. I
(47:30):
Mean, you want to make everybody happy, but you know
(47:33):
That. Yeah. I think that's a little, yeah.
(47:37):
Fine people. It's not a sprint.
(47:39):
Well, this has been so great. I'm so glad we've got to talk twice this week, which is better than any other week where we don't chat at all. So this has been fun. I, I do appreciate you taking the time to do with the best many weddings podcast. And then obviously they come on to do this. I do think it's great when there's multiple people involved in the business to hear all sides of it. And especially one that's one of our oldest guests, like I said, and one that's been around as long as you guys have. So thank you so much for doing that.
(48:07):
Thank you for having me read. I appreciate it.
(48:10):
So we talked about that www.partyonthe.rocks anywhere else, where you would have people check out all your different services and everything.
(48:17):
Yeah. so our Instagram handle is @PartyontheRocksSeattle. And then of course our Facebook page is Party on the Rocks and check us out
(48:29):
And you guys post regularly and excellently and it's all, it's all good. It's a well oiled machine.
(48:34):
We still have been consistently posting since March 12th. Yeah,
(48:39):
No, it's good. I think you have to, I think it's good. And you know, I, I see it. So I know that it's a, it's going out there, so it's great. Thank you. Well thank you so much again, if you're like Jan and you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest, and that's a nice, easy a questionnaire that you can fill out unless you're like Jan. And I personally messaged you and say, we gotta do this, but if you're, if you're someone interested in coming on a, that would be a great way to start. And Jan, I do really appreciate it and I hope you have a good night and I hope we all get through this and we'll see you at some weddings here in the near future. Cheers man! Thank you.
Camille Robinson, Robinson Creative House
(00:00:09):
Welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I am so excited today to be joined by Camille Robinson. She was on our Best Made Weddings podcast, one of the first ones talking all about wedding invitations and designs, and then I said, hey we gotta get you on and do your own one-on-one Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® episode, so thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do?
(00:00:37):
Well, hi, I'm Camille, like you said, and I'm the owner of Robinson Creative House previously known actually as Robinson Paperie. I rebranded about eight months ago. And I'll tell that story later. But I primarily do wedding invitations, save the dates signage day of goods, calligraphy, all that stuff. So anything that you can write on print or send, I can do it when it's related to your wedding.
(00:01:04):
That's great. Yeah. And I definitely do want to hear about that. I love just, and especially doing like all these podcasts now and the best made weddings people that are really good with branding and fun, you know, ideas and all that. I love that like all the marketing behind that and the philosophy. And so I definitely want to get into that too, cause I just, I, I do think that's so interesting and, and people that are smarter about that and know how the brand how did you kind of get involved in all this? What is it about this that kinda got you going and excited?
(00:01:32):
So this is actually kind of an interesting story and I actually love telling this story because I find that it's partially motivational to that question. I get all the time of like, how did you start your business? And I'm that true tale of you don't actually need like 25 years of formal training to do this. And you know, I so I have a twin sister who's also in the wedding industry for Becky photography. And what's the funny part about that is that a lot of people don't know we're related because she goes by her maiden name in her business. And I go by my married name. And so unless they see us together or kind of know, you know, Camille and Corrina, they don't know that we're related, but she, at the time of her getting into photography, she was working at a graphic design firm and she was offering a package which was to shoot your wedding, but also design your wedding invitations.
(00:02:21):
And she thought that would be a good foot in the door while she was building her clientele with photography. So photography started to pick up at the time I was working a desk job at an architecture firm, I was just out of college. I was doing marketing, which is what my bachelor's degree is in. And I remember her messaging me one day and saying like, Hey, if I teach you how to use illustrator, can you help me do some editing on these wedding invitations? And I was like, sure. And I was always dying to do more creative stuff on the marketing side. I was writing proposals all day. I was in healthcare marketing and while it was great I didn't do much design work. And so I was like, sure, I'll do it. And after time she sent me more and more, it was like, okay, I think I either need to take this out or like, just have you do it.
(00:03:12):
And I was like, you know what? This has been really fun. I really actually love this. I wonder if there's something here for me. So that was in 2014. And so what I did was open an Etsy shop with just pre made templates of wedding invitations, baby showers, birthday, stuff like that. And it took off and I was working full time. And then I was doing Etsy orders at night and on the weekends and I was working like 70 hour weeks and I was like, this can't be my life. And so I made a plan to quit. And so I went in 2015, I went part time. And then I officially kind of went full time on my own in the fall of 2018. So it was a slow stagger of moving away from a nine to five desk job to doing this. I still sit at my desk nine to five, just not showing what I used to be doing.
(00:04:05):
So that's kind of how it evolved. And probably from starting in 2015, ish is where I started to really nail down what I wanted to do. And what I found was the wedding industry in particular was kind of the cream of the crop. And for multiple reasons, one that it was a client that a was going to spend a bit more money than like a baby shower or a onetime event. And B they become, they became a client that I would come back to me over a year or even two, by the time that I met them and said, you know, we're doing save the dates, but then it was a year later was the wedding. And then it was thank you cards. And then they would reach out to me because they had holiday cards. And so it was just the life expectancy of a client was a lot longer and that was enticing to me cause it was a lot higher quality of client over time and just less turnover and burnout for me.
(00:05:00):
So that's kind of how I stuck into wedding. But as you can probably see from my side, I offer a ton more stuff than that. But I've, I will always do weddings. I love doing them. I've definitely scaled back on how many clients I take for wedding each year. And I feel like I've now I've like fell into that kind of perfect mix of people approaching me because they like my style and they like, you know, kind of the aesthetic that I have rather than me pitching. I'll do whatever you want. If you like it on Pinterest, I'll do something like that. People coming to me saying, Oh, I love your work. I love this. I love how artistic you are in this portion. And the matches made there. It's not me just being a means to an end of something you saw on vintage.
(00:05:48):
So that was like, that was the shining Juul of okay. A feeling like I've made it, you know, and like here I am now being able kind of pick and choose what I'm doing and really just loving what I'm doing and having full creative freedom and someone just saying, I trust you, you know, like if it's going to look like anything else you've done, that's fine. That's what I want. So that's been huge for me and probably the last year and a half or so. And so I'm just falling into that kind of stream of clients now. And I love it.
(00:06:19):
No, it's, it's so hard. You know, I, I do think people balance that of wanting to, you know, to please everybody, or like you said, really, you know, focus on, you know, what they're going to be successful. You know, that's such a trope, like they're always talking, know people like photographers starting out and they'll shoot anything for any amount of money. And then once you can, you know, really pick your clients and stuff it does. I just think it ultimately makes it more fulfilling. You know, you get to do what you want to do. And the clients appreciate that. I know that we had talked on the other podcast too. I think even just now with everything going on, I think there's just so much more conversation being happening between us and our clients. And I do ultimately I like that, you know, I think it's nice to just feel like, you know, like you said, you're, you get people that are, you know, really in tune with what you want to do and you guys are able to have that conversation, I think is great. How did you, so when you got in with marketing and all of that, how did, how did that track record go? What'd you study in school and what was the philosophy behind that?
(00:07:21):
Yeah. So when I say that you don't need formal training. I mean, like you don't have to major in it. And I say this with a grain of salt, because I've always loved art. I've always loved to create, I took IB art classes in high school. I was always that person that was drawing anytime we had to, I always remember those like tri-fold presentations, you had to make on those huge poster boards. And it's like, I would spend hours on those, like lettering all the headers and, you know, doing borders on the pictures and hand drawn elements and painting and all that. And I just, I loved art always when we got to college you know, part of it was actually my twin sister and I were in the same sorority. We went to the same school and my parents were like, you guys should major in something different, you know?
(00:08:06):
And you know, there was a part of me that at that point, I still think that there is this kind of stereotype with being a creative, that there's no money in it. And I definitely was in that boat. I was like, there's no way, like, I'm not going to study art. I'm not going to make a living doing art. So I went to business school. So I got into business school my sophomore year at UDaB and I spent three years in that and I majored in marketing and then minored in sales. And so I left just basically, and I feel like marketing is a little bit of a catch all. So I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do. And when I was in college, I was like, gung ho on sports marketing. I was athlete growing up. I had interned at the Seahawks, the Sounders I worked for the Sonics before they left.
(00:08:53):
And I definitely was like, okay, this is, this is what I want to do. And I quickly realized in that industry it's, it's a lot of work and while I loved it, I was like, okay, I got to see what else is out there. So I left UDaB in 2009 in a recession and I was having a really hard time finding work and I kind of bounced around for awhile. And I landed up kind of the architecture, the AEC industry, they call it. So architecture, engineering, construction. I worked at a bigger firm that did architecture. I jumped to a smaller place that did outreach with public projects, and that's kind of where I went the marketing route. And I don't ever want to say that I will I'll say do things I do partial you regret not doing the art thing, because I see the path that my sister took.
(00:09:43):
She went to the design school at U dub, graduated in visual communication design. And I was like envious of her job every day she was going to work. And she worked on projects like Tasha and Gatorade and was designing all these packaging things. And I was like, Oh my God, why didn't I do that? I was like, that's what I wish I had done. So part of me was wanting to get back in that, but I also felt like the business school part was so valuable for me to be an entrepreneur. And I don't know if you remember this or had this at your high school, but I had DECA in high school and it's like a, basically like a business competition curriculum. So you go to the classes for it during your school period, but then you compete outside of school hours. And I always competed in the category of entrepreneurship.
(00:10:29):
So every year I competed, I would make my own business plan. I'd have to present it to like a list of panelists. So think like shark tank almost. And if I pass that, you know, I went from local competition to state competition to nationals and I loved it. And I was like, okay, maybe I'm good at this sort of business thing. And so I always look back I'm like, I swear my BG, it was Sherman is listening to this, my DECA teacher. He's the one who started me down that path in 2001. So yeah, I think that business side of thing really set me up for not feeling quite as scared to make that leap. I feel like all of that, that training and what I learned in finances, accounting, bookkeeping, marketing, all that was like played a really vital role. And I still am that person who will Google, how do I charge state tax on something like, you know, I'm not scared to kind of figure it out, but I also know that that's definitely been something that's held people back before. So I'm grateful for that experience. And then I had to basically learn how to do what my business is from scratch and kind of with some training. And I took a lot of classes online and just sort of tried to learn all the programs and then just went from there. So yeah, definitely. I think that the whole high school college thing and business helped, helped create Robinson creative house. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. If I would give
(00:11:54):
Anybody any advice that, you know, study business, you know, study accounting, study finances. I mean, you know, I have a broadcast journalism degree, which, you know, I remember getting, and then I went to you know, my first news station and like, you know, nobody had, he didn't need a journalism degree, there'd be a news video. And I'm like, I'm so glad that I like spend all this money, but you know, like you said knowing, and I guess, you know with the business stuff, like right now with all the unemployment and the PPP and everything, I'm like looking at like all these other wedding vendors and they have like, no idea, like what money they make or what expenses they have. Just have no idea of like running the business. Like man, like we would all be so much better off if we had, you know, business degrees.
(00:12:35):
Yeah. And it was like, you know, I definitely had to like kind of go back and be like, alright, what do they learn about profit and loss statements? And it's like, but I did feel a lot better setting up from the beginning. And that's like a definite like advice I have for anybody is you don't have to have all your ducks in a row, but like having a really good understanding of the operations behind the scenes of how you're going to run stuff before you start is very valuable. And I kind of had it all there. I was like, I mean, it's sort of embarrassing to say now I was like recording everything in a Google spreadsheet. I'm like, there's gotta be a better way. So it's like figuring out how to get set up with QuickBooks and how to send invoices and how to make sure that all of that is tracked for me.
(00:13:17):
And it's like, I got to the end of the year and I was like going through my credit card statement of like, which one of these was a business's expense. It's like, okay. Lesson learned, get a business credit card, open up, like everything under my business name. I don't ever have to look at it. It categorizes it for me, like all this stuff that I was like, okay, there's definitely tips and tricks out there that will help you. But getting that set up and not having to redo it like two years down the road, like I did, it's definitely something I would advise people to do.
(00:13:47):
Yeah. If I could go back and start over again, I would nail it. I would nail it the second time. My wife will be mad if I interviewed someone that went to UDaB and was in the sorority. And if I didn't ask what sorority you were in, I was a Kappa Delta. Okay. She was a kind of Omega, so I don't know what that means. I went to Gonzaga. We didn't have, we didn't have
(00:14:10):
A Greek system. Yeah. My husband went to Western and they didn't have a Greek system either. So when I talk about it, I almost assumed people know. And I honestly loved my experience. We both, there's definitely, you know, highs and lows of being in a house with 86 other women for four years. But I definitely like some of the relationships I made there. And I will say for both my sister and I, after we started our business, like some of our very first clients were sorority sisters, friends that we had made when we were, you know, 18, 19 years old that are now getting married and looking for wedding invitations for photographers for baby shower invites. It's like, we basically had this set of clientele of 30 of us that are all going through these life changes of the, kind of the same. And it was amazing. And I still, to this day, like I'm even working on a branding project right now for so Kaylee's listen this high Paley, a branding project for her. And it's like, I've known her since high school. We were in the same sorority. And I think it's just like such an easy way to meet other people that, you know, even if they weren't the same major or the same friend group, like they can tap on that and being like, Oh, I remember that she did this. And so yeah, that's been, that's also been very valuable.
(00:15:19):
Yeah. W we got like three or four years ago that I did for a couple of years. I did the recruitment videos for Delta Zaida. I think that's one of them. Yeah.
(00:15:29):
Yeah. DZ. Okay.
(00:15:31):
I had never, I did not ever set foot in a fraternity in the sorority. That was a really crazy experience. Like have to go in and like film in there. And like, I dunno, it's, it's awesome. But it is like, it was a very alien world for me to walk in there and be like, what is going on? I was like, this is Chris.
(00:15:49):
Oh, a hundred percent. I remember when my husband, for the first time he came, cause we met in college and he came to this sorority and he was like, you know, and I, when I just going to come pick me up to go on a date, I was like, second, big white house on the right. You know, I was like, it's like massive. And he's like, Oh, you're the story? I'm like, yes. You know? And it's like, I think it is a little forward. I don't think twice of it, but it definitely was. I kind of just described it as having, you know, like a smaller subset of friends that you could go to class with play sports with. I still play basketball with some of the girls that I've met in that sorority. And with UDA and probably this concept too, of just how big of a school it was, like, it felt daunting to be walking on a campus with 40,000 other students. And so the fact that there was a hundred of us that were all kind of going through the same thing at once. It made it really nice. And I think having my twin sister there helped tremendously and her, and I could kind of lean on each other, going through things and schoolwork and all that. So that was great.
(00:16:50):
How'd you meet your husband if you were at UDaB and he was at Western,
(00:16:54):
I knew you were going to, so a friend of mine who was also, she was a freshman when I was sort of the same class, she went to high school with him. And so, especially during freshman year, I felt like on the weekends, you kind of went back to your hometown or so she invited a bunch of us up to her hometown Anacortes, which is my husband's hometown and she invited some friends over. And so we all met there. And so I, it's always funny because a couple of weeks later I invited him to what we call him, this Greek system I gravitate and which is, I got to bring a date for this kind of preplanned themed party. And I invited him and I, you know, I wanted him to come down and I'm sure him walking into the fraternity that we were pretty funky, little weird. But yeah, we, we, that was in 2007 and we've been together ever since. So this year we're celebrating next month is years of marriage and almost 14 years of being together. So it's a little crazy, but he stuck with me. Apparently it didn't scare him away.
(00:17:58):
That's awesome. How
(00:18:01):
Tied to about, you know, cause I think your year, cause I graduated in a way and you were a nine and you know, we've, I've actually talked with a lot of vendors, you know, on this podcast, you know, all we're all around the same age. And do you feel like, you know, entering the job field in that recession kind of market shapes how you, like, I know for context, when I got hired at my first job down in California and three weeks after I got hired, they laid off like half the newsroom because of, you know, there was all this different stuff. And so it's always really shaped me and made me like really, even now that I have my own business, like, I'm very scared all the time about like making sure, you know, and like we have enough money saved and enough things and enough, like whatever. Do you feel like that has shaped you and how you look at like running the business, having, you know, not that we were running businesses at that time, but having jobs and seeing how hard it was to get work.
(00:18:53):
Oh, totally. And I remember, so I got a job. I graduated, you know, June, 2009. I was, I moved back home. Not in with my parents and my parents were at that time renovating, such flipping my grandmother's house, which was about a mile away from their house. So in trade of free rent, I was in charge of helping with the renovation. So I was living somewhere that literally had no walls around the bathroom. Like there was just a toilet in the middle of the room. I was the only one living there. So it was fine, but like no floors. I set up a little office in the corner, you know, I had to be like, there was, I mean, studs. And I was like, I remember thinking like this can't be it. Like I'm, I'm jobless. I moved, I've moved home. I'm living alone for the first time in my life.
(00:19:43):
Because even before college, I mean my twin sister and I shared a room with my parents. Like it just like I was alone for the first time. And I was like, okay, I gotta find something. And it took about, gosh, I got a job probably six months after. And it was for a company called health horse partners. And I loved my experience there, but after six months of working there, I got laid off. So that was in 2010 and it was like, great back at square one. And I mean, they, like you said, they laid off 90% of the workforce. They sold to a different company. So really only the directors were remaining. And so I was back at square one and I remember taking a job again in the healthcare industry. I was working for U dev health system.
(00:20:30):
And I remember just taking that being like, there's, this is what I gotta find something else. And like from the very first day that I landed at YouGov I was job searching. I was like, this is literally to pay my bills. Like I don't love it. I like, I'm not passionate about this. I'm clocking in, clocking out, putting my head down the paycheck, but I was like this camp, I need to find something. I can't do this every day for the rest of my life. So had that time. I also just, I think you're right. It really sort of shook the, of what it could be like without having work or working in a place that I wasn't happy. And it's like, I feel like it may even be more of a female trait. And I talk about this because my husband is the polar opposite of me, of like, I need to be creatively fulfilled and I need to feel like I am passionate and making a difference in what I do every day.
(00:21:21):
And it doesn't have to be like, you know, solving world hunger or anything like that, which would be nice, but just going each day and feeling like I'm, I'm happy and I, I'm not dreading it. I don't, I'm not like just hitting snooze nine times before I go. And so I think that because I experienced that right off the bat, when I got out of college and knew that that was definitely a possibility. I think I worked really hard to make sure I set myself up to be in a position that when I did start my business, I had savings. I had a default plan. I had goals set up for when, when I wanted to hire my first employee and kind of just knew that like, if it really crashed and burned, then fine, I'd go back and start looking elsewhere. But I knew that just living every day and not loving what I did was not how I wanted to spend my life.
(00:22:15):
And the comparison I make about my husband is he has been at the same job since he's graduated college. And he does, you know, he loves, I wouldn't say love. Maybe that's a strong word. He's good at what he does. He's very good at what he does, but it's like all the other aspects of that work are like perfect for him. The commute is great. There's a Starbucks in the lobby. You know, he gets along with his boss, they hang out outside of work hours. He's gone fishing with him, like everything other than the work itself is like, he it's like fulfilling for him. And for me, I don't care if it was like around the corner and, you know, I've had the best benefits in the world and all that. But if I went to work every day being like dropping my forehead on the desk, like I can't do this anymore.
(00:22:57):
I would quit. And so I think I knew that I was like, okay, I can't, I can't work for anyone else. I need to do what I want to do. And set it up in a way that like allowed me to do that without worry. And I think that's like, that's something too that, like you said, is like, I knew that there was a potential of not getting work. Right. When I start, you know, I don't know what the statistic is, but something like 50% of small businesses fail within the first year. And it's that wasn't an option for me. So I'm so lucky that I had the support system I had with my sister being able to send like invitations and all that design work to me and my husband literally just saying, go chase your dream. Like, we'll do whatever it takes. And put me on his insurance with healthcare. I was worried about that and not having health insurance, all this stuff. And he was like, we're married. Just do it, go do what you need to do. And like, I mean, I would work till one or two in the morning on all weekends. He took care of like, he'd bring me dinner in my office. Like, I'm just, I'm so thankful I had to set up. I did when I did. Cause I don't think I would've made it if I didn't have that support system in place.
(00:24:02):
Yeah. It's so interesting. Like you said, and I don't, I don't know if it's a male female thing. I think it is just, some people are wired to want more, you know, and I, and I didn't, but it's so interesting. Cause like even when I left, you know, I had, I was a cute 13 and there was probably, I don't know, 25 photographers or videographers, you know, we call them photographers, videographers on staff. And like, that's, I always felt like anyone of you guys could have like left, right. Like I was just the one that had the motivation to leave. Like I wasn't necessarily like better at any like discernible trait than just like having the, you know, then just being born there and wanting to go do stuff, you know? But it's just that like, and it is it's some people have it and some people don't and it's really interesting.
(00:24:46):
And even like some of the videographers that work for me are great, but they don't want to, you know, they just want to come on and do it and then go home. And it is, it's just a special kind of whatever, like you said, that, that wants more and wants to, you know, have that creativity and just feel like, I just feel like your time is being valued, you know? Like feel like I don't know. It's interesting. And I don't know why, and I still don't know why some people have it than some people don't, but that's
(00:25:13):
Oh, 100%. I think it's like it is. And it's not to say that, you know, that people who don't have it aren't driven or motivated or anything, but it's like this like craving of just building something of my own. And it's like being able to make all the decisions around it and kind of form it to what I want it to be. And, you know, and I think there's a lot of, you know, that imposter syndrome that comes with that is like, am I good enough? Am I going to make it? And it's especially living in a social media world where there's so many other influencers and creatives that have hundreds of thousands of followers and have built these businesses and are, you know, they, they are now marketing how their six figure salary is blah, blah, blah. From doing paintings. It's like, it's daunting.
(00:25:58):
It's like, how did they get there? How did they do that? Am I good enough with people even buy what I want? You know, it's like, and occasionally I do get those people. They're like, nevermind, you're way too expensive. Like they don't value that. And I ironically actually have talked about this recently. It's just like, sort of selling your value and like explaining your value to somebody who maybe doesn't understand what it, what it takes to do. What I do is difficult. And part of it is not, I don't find it like you know, no one's ever mean or rude about it. It's, it's just educating them. Then it's like, look, I, I sell this for $150 because I go to home Depot, I get the wood, I cut it down. I sand it. I stain it, it dries overnight. I stay it again.
(00:26:44):
I Polish it up. I let her in, I seal it. And then when all that said and done $150 for eight hours of work. And so it's like, when they'll say, Oh, well I found it on Etsy for $30. I'm like, great, go buy it on Etsy. I was like, but I know my value. And it's like, now I've gone to that part. I like saying no is such a mental health thing for me of being like, I'm not going to do it because you want me to, like, if you're willing to pay what I feel like my time is worth it, then I'll do it. But that's definitely something of like industry, especially in a creative industry of someone like explaining, like, you know, they see something in a store and you're like, I could do that. Wow. That's $300. Like I could make that.
(00:27:29):
And I'm like, okay, go make it. Like, that's fine with me. But I, you know, so I think that's interesting. It's like having that sort of drive and that motivation to kind of do that also comes along with like, you just have to have some balls. And I feel like I really, I struggled with that in the beginning a lot. And you know, not being a people pleaser with clients and saying no and saying, I don't do that, or I don't offer that. And I think that's something that comes with starting your own business. I'm sure you've spelled that too. When people were like, well, so-and-so will shoot the wedding for this much money. And it's like, well, that's, you know, that's great if that's what you want to hire or, you know, be my dentist, but it's like, I think that's just, it's so interesting. Cause it takes, it feels wrong when you do it, but it's, you have to, you have to be successful. And I feel like that's just even been a recent lesson of mine.
(00:28:22):
Yeah, no, I definitely think it's, we're always learning. Right. And always trying to kind of you know, like you said, I gave him that self confidence. It's funny. Cause my neighbor is a, he is like a contractor and he always talks about you know, if like a plumber comes to a house and you know, there's a something and they fix it in five minutes and they go, okay, well that will be $300 or whatever. And the person goes, well, you were only here for five minutes. How can you charge $300? And you go, well, yeah. Cause that's the 10 years of knowledge I have. Right. And all the tools and expertise and everything that allows me to solve that in five minutes. Right. Versus you spending, you know, 40 hours trying to fix it or whatever, you know?
(00:29:01):
No, a hundred percent. Yeah. It was exactly right. And you know, before we started the podcast talking about having contractors here for working on stuff, it's like, sure. I could probably figure out how to do the drywall piece, but like it's totally worth the money to pay someone else to do it faster and correctly. And it looks beautiful and they're probably, you know, I'd save maybe three grand, but I see the value that they bring and the fact that they can do it so perfectly. And it's exactly that. And I feel like that's, it's really hard for people to comprehend that. And like, it's definitely, you know, I think it's an end, every industry too. It's, it's, you know, the quick industry of, you know, there's a top for sale for $15 and it's like, you know, the same thing could be sold in a little boutique mom and pop shop here for $55.
(00:29:52):
And it's the same thing, but it's like, you're paying for someone who's probably researched their vendors and you know, it's sustainably made and all these things that you might not think about other than price. So that's like some of the things that I, I often tell people when I'm like pitching, you know, like, well, I'm getting you're, you're getting my 10 years of learning how to do this and not do it, you know, a certain way and correctly and not fast, but with quality and all that stuff. So I hear you on that.
(00:30:21):
No, it's so interesting. I just one of my DJ friends had emailed me like a week or two ago and said, Hey we have a bribe that we're doing a lot of live streaming right now with everything. And he said, Hey, you know, this date, whatever I said, Oh yeah, you know, we're available. So, so then like the next day he goes, well, that didn't work out. And he like showed me the email and it was like, Hey, you know, so, and so, you know, my friend reads a videographer, he can live stream and they're like, Oh, we have no interest in paying for that at all. Like, are we're just going to have a phone? Like, you know, we have no like not total nonstarter. Right. Like totally not whatever. And then a day before yesterday I just was sitting and I got a call and it was that bride.
(00:31:00):
Right. And she had like sat on it. And then even I think when we like started the conversation, she was like, you know, we don't like, that's too much. Like you need to like, can you and I was giving them like a pretty good disc, cause it was like a Friday and a lot of other stuff. And you know, but like through the conversation, I'm like, well, you know, like we can provide, you know, the private link and all this stuff and people can get it and you don't have to worry about this and all this other stuff. And you know, but then like you said, here's someone that was like a total non-starter like a week ago. And then it did feel good to like, be able to either. Cause like you said, it's hard, that balance, right? Like you can't fight everybody on like your price and your worth and like, yeah, you can't win every battle. And I wasn't even trying to fight the battle. Right. Like I just had the phone call come to me, but it was interesting to like, see it go from this like total non-starter either less than a week or two ago to like, you know, I send them a contract, you know, yesterday. Right. And so it's it is nice to, to win those fights sometimes, you know, when tourists come.
(00:31:59):
Totally. And I feel like I have a sense now, like it's almost my sixth sense of like, I know from the very first email, what this is going to be like, like how this first one is going to go. And it's, it's shocking to me because I feel like for me to, and it's maybe because I own a business and I understand the kind of like blood, sweat and tears that goes into doing this. But you know, there's a big difference between someone emailing me and saying, I love your work. I, you know, and attaching some photos and saying, I've always, you know, I've followed you for awhile. Like, I really like how you do this, your approach to branding, blah, blah, blah. And you know, I'm more willing to work with somebody like that and maybe even provide a discount or some sort of extra freebie throw in for somebody who values me as an artist versus the person who emails and says, how much is this?
(00:32:49):
And it's like, okay, well, if you're price shopping, I'm probably not the person for you because that's, I mean, we'll just lay it out there. I'll, I'll gladly tell them, but it's like when I can start the conversation by somebody already understanding the value, that's there, it's a much easier and harmonious relationship that moves forward if not having this constant. Well, what if I just took off five of these here and added one here, what's the itemized list? You know, it's like, I get that there's budgets member happy to work with within a lot of different ranges, but it's always hard for me. Cause I know that a lot of the decisions that I will have to make creatively and the materials I choose and the finishes and the embellishments are already off the table. And so it's hard because it's like, I want you to give me the basket of everything that we could potentially do.
(00:33:40):
Let me steer you a certain way of how the design could go, what we could include a wax seal or in bulk Baelish this or a hand tied, ribbon, all that, and then give you the price that goes with that. And if it's a little too much or you want to see some options, I'm willing to work with that rather than trying to fit in, you know, the champagne dreams on a beer budget. And so that's like something that I definitely definitely have learned how to do over the years and kind of have like that sense of like, Oh, I already know how this is going to go. So let me, let me not waste your time.
(00:34:14):
Yeah. It's it's interesting. Yeah. Cause in the videography world, tons of, you know, what's your rate, what's your rate? What's your day rate? What's your half rate what's you know, like, yeah. Like, am I, your rate is, is whatever it is for me to get up and leave the house in the morning. Right. And if they're doing the NHL, you know, cracking the announcement, right. You know, maybe I don't want to go book a shoot or maybe, you know, and it's unlike if I'm not doing anything, you know, but it's, you know, and not to like you, that you're undervalued people, but I just mean like, you know, it's all, like you said, if you find someone that appreciates what you want to do, you know, you might be a little more willing to work on that versus yeah. Like how much does this cost? What is, you know, what can we take?
(00:34:56):
Yeah. And like, no salutation, no, like you don't have to flatter me and say, you love me. I'm like, but just saying like, hi, or, you know, or at least getting my name right. Or something like that. Like that would be helpful.
(00:35:11):
I want to talk about, so transitioning into you started your business. Right. you know, like you said, working part time over, you know, over the years. Right. Trying to do it. What were some lessons you learned from that? Or what, what was maybe you know, I know that just so many people nowadays, you know, are like, try to do that. And I do think that people don't necessarily, they think that they can skip transition time. Right. That they're like, well, I want to be a photographer and I'm going to start tomorrow or whatever. And so like, what was the hardest part of the bathmat or a lesson you learned or something to, you know, to really put the time in to make that transition, to set yourself up for success?
(00:35:51):
Yeah, this is, I mean, this is such a big question because I feel like it's very different for everyone. I was very scared about just not having work and I'm sure that's probably a very legitimate fear. No one's going to book me. So in the transition, I feel like what I started doing right away was, you know, recording the sale or whatnot and seeing kind of, okay, all need X amount of wedding clients a month to pay my mortgage. Then I started going, okay, well now that set. So how many sort of lettering, calligraphy, signage things could I add on? And would that cover my bills portion? So I kind of had to back out, you know, I made a Google spreadsheet. My husband would be so proud, color coded everything of, you know, and, and the biggest thing for me too, was how much did I need to bring in to live the lifestyle I'm living right now?
(00:36:50):
So, you know, there's one thing to bring into like barely squeak by which I knew I needed. There was months that that had happened. But I wanted to be set up where I didn't feel pressured or guilty for getting a $5 Starbucks one morning or, you know, going out with my girlfriends on the weekend or vacationing with my husband. Like I still wanted to be able to do those things. So my transition, I feel like was actually a bit longer than traditional. I feel like I definitely just, I dunno, I had that fear of like, not being enough and not making enough. And when I did make the transition, I actually think I could have done it sooner because the amount that I was still working in my part time job, and I basically was working two full jobs. And, you know, at that point I was like, okay, I could probably have done that sooner.
(00:37:43):
I'm glad I waited. I didn't, you know, nothing bad happens, but my transition was probably over the course of four years. And so, you know, it's, I think that something that, like you said, people expect overnight or right away and building a clientele base doesn't, you know, getting out of that only orders from family and friends, the zone is takes a while. And it's like, you know, especially doing a lot of the Instagram, you know, marketing and showing examples and you know, people want to say, well, can you show me an example of this kind of work? It's like, well, my answer is I haven't done that kind of work. So it was setting up, you know, I basically made a bunch of fake wedding suites and photograph them and put them on my website. It's like, people are such a visual in takers of products that it's like, it's so necessary to have good photography.
(00:38:31):
And I think I remembered right when I was starting, I had just finished reading the book and I'm like blanking on the name right now, but she was the CEO and founder of nasty gal clothing line. I'm from San Francisco. And she started selling on eBay and she said, what set her apart a hundred percent? And this is why she like, literally boomed in yours, was taking good photography, photos of her products. She was like, it is crazy how someone can go to a site. And I talk about this when I talk about branding with my clients too, if your site looks like it was made in a 1992, WordPress, your client is clicking X. Like they are leaving the site. They are not going to do it. If it's difficult to navigate, if it doesn't have clean branding and a clear vision, people are going to leave.
(00:39:20):
And it's something that I knew I wanted to set up before I left fully that like, when I, that first day I sat at home by myself, full time doing Robinson at the time papery that I had all that set up. And so that's something I feel like is super important, is like know kind of what you want to do, how you want to create your brands and spend some time building that clientele. I'm sure you didn't leave, you know, with no, nothing on the books. And just said like, well, hope it goes well. Like I know that most people start that time to build it up. And it's like that first time I got that client that emailed me and said, I found you on Instagram or Pinterest. I live in Ontario, Canada. I know no one, you know, and they're like, I want to work with you. I'm like, okay, here we go. We've made it like the ones, this is the first time someone hasn't been like, Oh, I, you know, I was talking to your mom. And she said that you do invitations or, you know, they know my sister in law or something like that. So it's, it's definitely something I worked on for so long before I left in that transition period.
(00:40:26):
Yeah. It's such a frustrating thing for me. My wife has a lot of friends that do the, like, I don't know all those things that you sell to all your friends. Right. And it's, it's just like, you're just selling to your friends, like all the time. And I get so frustrated because my dad was in advertising and we don't, I mean, we get like referrals and stuff, but I'm not one of those people. That's like, Oh, spoon, any money on advertising, like everything comes from clothes. Like I spend a lot of money on like my website and advertising and, you know directory being a memberships and all these different things. Right. I'm like, it is like infuriating to me to see like, Oh, okay. Friends, like looking to sell some, you know, like give me an extra, you know, that extra, like I need my coffee money this week trying to sell stuff.
(00:41:16):
And you're like, you get outside of, yeah, you have to break that wall of, you know, just your Facebook friend circle or like, you know, your, your mom's friends or whatever. And it's, it's, it's, you know, it's not a business until it's outside of that. And like you said, until you're going to lose people that are like, I have no connection to you in the world. And you know, like, that's awesome. Right. But then it feels like, like you said, that, that you're, it's totally clicking, right. That like, what you're doing is working. W what was that like? And, and I wanted to talk to, you know, we want to touch on the transition to between the papery to the creative house. So, I mean, what was it like, you know, now that this is like a thing, you know, we're, you know, we're blowing up, right. I don't know, whatever They're really coming into your own. And how did that feel and what was that transition like them?
(00:42:09):
Gosh, that feeling was, I mean, it's kind of indescribable. Like I, I'm not one to, like, I dunno. I just, I felt proud of myself for the first time in a long time of being like, this was really just me working my ass off and pulling long nights and weekends and getting up early and working on my lunch break and, and knowing that, like, I don't ever think there's like a right time to like, to really say you've made it, but there's, there's just a certain cadence of, you know, the kind of traffic that you get to your website and people contacting you for different projects across the country. I got my first, you know, a couple of international clients it's like that to me makes me feel like, Oh my God, like, there's somebody in London who wants to work with me in here.
(00:42:56):
Like, why, you know, it's like, I don't own a brick and mortar. I don't own, you know, five different teams across the globe. You know, it's just like, it's, it feels really special. And it's like, unless, you know, somebody who owns a small business, it's like, you do a happy dance every time somebody books you. And it's like, it's just such a amazing feeling. And I definitely like making that transition was huge. And it's actually what sort of sparked that rebrand for me. So when I was Robinson papery, I was just doing invitations and like paper products, essentially. And the name, I, you know, to be honest, I don't really know where it came from. Obviously Robinson's my last name, but the paper report, I'm like, Oh, it sounds French. Like, it sounds like boutique-y and cute and all that. But I got a lot of confusion because people were like, are you a paper maker?
(00:43:50):
Like there's actual legitimate people out there who might handmade paper. I'm like, no, I do like the design work for it. So I felt like there was that. And then there was the branching into other aspects. I also do like signage. So I work with acrylic. I work with wood, I work with leather. I worked with a bunch done, a bunch of different mediums that aren't necessarily paper. And I've started branching outside of weddings. So doing signage for a coffee shop and redoing their menu on chalkboard. I was doing branding projects for a personal training facility, you know, it's like, I was like, there's gotta be a way to fully encompass all the services. And so I thought to myself, I'm like, okay, if I'm going to do a rebrand, I want it to be thoughtful and sort of intuitive that when you come to Robinson creative house, it's, the house is in creep, you know, incorporating a bunch of different creative outlets I have.
(00:44:45):
So that's where I split into. I offer stationary. I offer branding and I offer signage and lettering. And so it's very easy for people to navigate based on project. You know, what that, that relationship will look like, what the pricing looks like in kind of what their needs are. And so part of it was just organizing on my back end of kind of making my life easier. Because from a scheduling standpoint, as well too, you know, I was, it's now easier for me to look at my calendar and say, okay, you know, I'm booked for branding for this month, but I have an opening September 1st, stuff like that. And then in there I can kind of sprinkle other stuff. And I also started to transition into more like a full service wedding shop. And what I mean by that is I, I basically build everything.
(00:45:36):
So I'm working with very few you know, other than like my vendors who are printing on fabric for me or something like that. But if there is a seating chart that's made of what an acrylic and a stands, like I'm building that with my husband in my garage. And it's like, I'm trying to kind of create that full from when we talk and we're sending save the dates. I do all the assembly. I source the postage. I do all the lettering. We meet again for wedding and we're doing the suite. And then for the day of it's like, I'm doing a seating chart installation. I'm working with someone to create a hand littered neon light for above the bar. Last year I did my first hand letter dance floor. And it's like all these things that I'm sort of able to now show my clients that I can do that they didn't know I could do before under the Robinson paper. So I feel like it's kind of open to the box for me of the type of projects I can do, which has been great. Cause variety has been like keeping me on my toes lately, especially with a lot less weddings. But yeah, that's kind of how that transition went with the business name and business change.
(00:46:45):
No, [inaudible] tell you that business names is someone that you you'll never get away from the client confusion that someone that same best made videos and every, like every week I get nivo, do you guys do photography?
(00:46:58):
Yeah. But I'm sure that's a lot or to a photographer, like, do you do video? No, but
(00:47:09):
I was such a dummy kind of when I, you know, cause we got started, you know, like, you know, we're getting started and like our weddings are like not nice weddings. Right. You know, we're, we're getting there and then like getting to meet like a lot of like you guys and like the designers and stuff. Like I have no idea, like all of it, cause I was totally like the person like, Oh, it's like the invitation suite, like that's right. And have like, no idea. Like you said, like all the other stuff that you guys are capable of doing. And I don't think that most people even think to like ask, you know, even ask like, Oh, can you help me with that too? Or can you help with that? So I do think like it's so important for people just to, cause I'm like in the wedding industry and I was a dummy, so like let alone know people, but they just don't think about that. Right. And so I think it's so cool. Like you said, it's just how much, you know, it's just the whole process, you know, from like designing the stuff and then, you know, like you said, physically like staining the wood and whatever. I just think it's so cool to like, get to see that project the whole way through we're like video. I can't do anything artistic. Right. I mean, we just like, you know, like anything,
(00:48:12):
I doubt that.
(00:48:15):
Yes. But it's, I think it's so cool to be able to take that the whole way through. And I do feel like, and I mean that, that you guys must take like a big sense of pride in, in, you know, ownership of that. I think it's really cool.
(00:48:25):
Totally. And it's like, I enjoy that part. You know, I get to get away from a screen and a computer and work with my hands and do something that requires a different skillset. And it's something that's definitely been fun. And like, I think a lot of people don't realize that there's so much creativity that goes into that, into that. I'm like solving a problem of, you know, they, they want, you know, I often get this where they see something on Pinterest. They say, I want this. And I'm like, okay, well the one you see on Pinterest is for 50 people, you have 350 people. So the size of this it's getting to be, I mean, we're talking eight foot sheets of plywood that we are going to have something to hold it up in place. So by the time everything is said and done this thing is massive.
(00:49:09):
I need to rent a, you haul all this stuff. And I love being able to like go through that with them and plan and like add cool things. And I just think it's like such a fun way to think outside the box too. But it's definitely something that just, you know, I don't think a lot of people think about like when they say like, Oh yeah, this seating chart. And I'm like, great, well I need about three weeks to at least source make it, you know, we got to think about how to transport it. I get people who are like, well, I'm in San Diego. I'm like, well, tough luck. I'm like, I mean, we could freight ship this for $2,000 if you really want to. But other than that, I'm like, Oh yeah, I know we're gonna have to rethink this. Like based on where you are or, or sometimes I'll even tell people.
(00:49:51):
I'm like, if you're really after the slope and you live in Oklahoma, you need to find somebody local. Like I'm going to say, give away my business. Because if this is something that you envisioned for your wedding day, you know, I'm like, I can do it. I'm happy to do it, but please know that you're going to pay more in shipping costs than you are for the actual product. So some people are like, thank you for telling me that. Or like, you know, if I don't specialize in something, I'll say, you know, this actually probably would be easier, faster and better for you to source on Etsy. Like I don't do that. I don't do custom cut acrylic with this sort of stain or gold. Like there's certain things where I'm like, honestly, you're, you'll be able to even reuse them. They're probably better qualities.
(00:50:36):
Someone's been doing this a lot longer than me. So I'm not ever scared to kind of do that too where I'm like, no, I'm like, I'm willing to try, but it's not going to be worth your time for how many hours I'm gonna spend, like fiddling with it. I'm probably just better off giving you to somebody else. But so I hear that too. I just feel like it's, it's like my due diligence of being a good partner for as a wedding vendor for you of like being like, look, I know your florists can probably handle that. Like talk to her, him, you know, like ask her DJ about, you know, being the MC rather than hiring somebody. Like, you know, it's like all these things about how to cross and problem solve and stuff like that. And I feel like you probably hear this too. Like you kind of become therapists for a lot of your couples and it's like, it's okay. We'll figure it out. We'll we'll problem solve bigger how to do this and get it done.
(00:51:28):
Like you said, that just goes back to earlier just knowing what, what you want to do and what you don't want to do. And just having that self assurance of being like, yeah, that's not my thing. You know, someone else needs to do it or whatever, you know? Cause it's, it's getting past that point of like, I can do everything, you know? And so it's tough, you know, it's, it's a tough balance. So
(00:51:48):
Yeah. Or telling someone like, look, I tried this, it was horrible. It was a disaster I don't ever want to do it to or somebody else.
(00:51:57):
No, I it's like even just not to get down the videographer thing, but like the live streaming right now, it's like everything, you know, everybody. Right. And like, I see like everyday, like I'll wake up, like people posting on like, Hey, so trying to figure all this stuff out. I'm like, I have been figuring that out since like March 1st when like all this stuff shut down, you know what I mean? Like I spent like five months trying to like figure this out. Like it, you know it's but you, like you said, you need to know like what, what is worthy of time or not or what, you know, you can figure out or not, but it's yeah. It's, it's just not like taking everything and just trying to, you know, totally be in there. What is it the sorry that like the, what is it? The Jack of all trades master of none there, whatever, you know?
(00:52:39):
Totally. And it's like, I often joke with my husband and I'm like, I too suffer from, I can make that syndrome where it's like, I see something I'm like, Oh, I could make that. Do I make it ever? No, but it's like, I could, I always see myself as like, why I think it's because I just am, I'm a doer. And I'm like, okay, if I, if I don't know the answer, I'm not going to give up, I'm going to Google it. I'm going to watch a video. I'm going to take a class. I'm going to learn. I'm going to read, you know, it's like, I don't really give up that easily. But at the same time, I know my limits. I know when it's like, your money's better spent doing it either through me or through someone else or not on your own. You know, it's sometimes I even have clients who we didn't end up ever working together for wedding invitations and they'll come back and you're later. They're like, yeah, that was the biggest mistake of my life. I should have worked with somebody who knew they were doing, like all of mine got sent back cause they didn't have enough postage all this stuff where it's like, trust me, I am the expert in this. Like, I will help you and guide you.
(00:53:37):
My big thing is always, I'm always just like, like whatever, like I'll like, look at some other video. I'm just like, like whatever I've asked, no, like, you know, I like, well, I could do, I could have done that. You know? Yeah. Cause like, yeah, like you guys, like you were saying, you handle all the shipping. Right. And everything. If you're sending out the invitations, I mean, even stuff like that, it's like so much work and trying to worry about like the postage and stuff coming back.
(00:54:00):
Totally. And it's like, it's a big fear. And at the end of the day, it's like just the postage alone for a wedding suite often, you know, is several hundred dollars. If not thousands, if you're spending like doing vintage postage, it's like, my job is to make sure that this reaches your customer. And it's like, a lot of people are like, well, I'll do the assembly or I'll, I'll take care of that because they don't, they think it's like just playing with stickers and glue and it's like, trust me, there is a wrong way. And it's because I sent invitations like from my very first client that all came back and learned the hard way. But you shouldn't do this or a wax seal on the outside, all this stuff. So it's like, I know because I failed and I am now going to pass on my, my learnings to you.
(00:54:47):
Yeah. But my wife had to say she had to send something out end of the year. I don't know something cause of working from home. And we had to mail all this crap from the house, like passwords or something for online learning to the kids. And like for like a week we kept getting like all these like return to sender, like all, you know, the thing was wrong or the boat I'm like, what are you doing here? Like we got like 15 of these, 30 things back, like what do you do? It's like, Oh yeah, you got it. You know? But it is like, even just trying to get, you know, crap out in the mail is like his teacher. This has been really fun. I appreciate it. I know it's been a little meandering path today, but it's been yeah,
(00:55:24):
No, it's been good. I feel like that's like life right now of 2020 is a word it's me entering path. I feel like it works.
(00:55:35):
Yeah. Before we let you go. What is, you know, maybe I always try to ask this at the end of these, and it's, it's a hard question. So you can take a second, but what, is there something that you wish that more people knew about, you know, what you guys do? You know what you know, the, the people are always asking are the, that you wish that more people thought about or that you want people to know about, you know, all the different kinds of work and design stuff that you do.
(00:56:02):
Oh yeah. Leave me with the loaded question. Yeah. I think, you know, honestly I wish and this is something that I'm just like passionate about teaching people about is like, I, I wish more people we started to get out of that stereotype that the arts in general are, are not a career. And this goes for somebody who wants to start their own art or creative business or to somebody who is trying to obtain a vendor that does that or work with an artist. Like I feel like for a long time, our society has basically said that, you know, the creative arts are not, they're a hobby, they're cute and they're fun. And it's what you do on the side. And I couldn't disagree more because, you know, there's, there's living proof. I'm one of them that you can turn something that you were passionate about into a career and be successful at it and continue to learn and grow and all that.
(00:56:59):
And I wish that more people knew that like when you reach out to me and, and ask for, you know, to work together and all this stuff that, you know, I'm somebody who takes my job very seriously. And it's, it's something that I absolutely love, love, love to do. And so every single inquiry quotes contracts, email is very thought out on my end. I don't use any sort of boiler plate texts. Like I really want to get to know my clients. So that's something I think is maybe a more encompassing thing of people. I want people to know that about, you know, the creative industry. But for me in general, I think it would be just that I'm an artist. And that's what I love to do. You know, it's like being able to express my creativity through paper and color choices and textures and calligraphy and all that kind of stuff is, is how I not only pay my bills, but it's like, what fuels me and what fills my heart with joy. I just love it. And so when you work with me, that's something that you get and it's I hope that my clients see that when they work with me. So I hope that that answers it.
(00:58:12):
That's a good answer. Yes. And, and yes. And do remind yes, every email you send, even if you're filling out a contact form, there are somebody like me or Camille, that's either seeing that and this responding to that. So do you know, do you, do you take care and, you know ghosty and vendors or whatever, like, you know, remember that there are people there that are writing these emails and, you know, like thinking out and writing things. And I do think that's a good point and yes art should be appreciated and yes, all the good things this has been good. I'm so glad we got this. You were great on the Best Made Weddings stationary, invitation, whatever we call it round table. If people want to check that out, I'll probably try to link it on this, and this has been great as well. I'm so glad that we could get this going. If people want to learn more about you and all the different services that you provide, where would they check out?
(00:59:05):
You can find me on the web at www.robinsoncreativehouse.com or on Instagram at RobinsonCreativeHouse. And you'll find pretty much anything and everything you would ever want to know about me and my dogs. Perfect. Well, thank you
(00:59:22):
Again, if you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest, and that's a nice, easy questionnaire that we have to get you in the system. I don't even think I made you fill that out cause you're so cool. And I just said, we're going to be so, but if you're, if you're, yeah, if you're someone new, that would be a great way to get in and we can try to figure out if it would be a good fit and thanks again. And I appreciate everything and your time and hope you stay safe and we'll get through all this.
(00:59:52):
Well, thank you. I love coming on this podcast. So thanks for your time too. I had a good time.
(00:59:58):
Thanks again and check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Danielle Nichole, Events by Danielle Nichole
(00:09):
Everybody welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I'm so excited to be joined today by Danielle Nichole based out of Portland. She's a wedding planner extraordinaire. We've been talking off microphone before this kind of how everything's going and, and getting into this, this season. Now, Danielle, why don't you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:33):
Yes. Hi everybody. My name's Danielle I'm from events by Danielle Nichole. I'm a wedding coordinator out of Portland, and I kind of do a little bit of everything, not just wedding coordinating. I helped my couples with the tartar needs. If they need, you know, anything, I can do it for them, hair makeup floral arrangements, pretty much you name it. I do it crafts. I actually went into crafting and I can make invites and I can do signs and I can also make a special, because a COBIT special social distancing wedding COVID signs now. So that's kind of a little bit about me and a little things that I do besides that I am married and I do have a two year old who is my little assistant, so yeah,
(01:23):
That's great. Yeah. And you certainly check a lot of boxes having, you know, you're married, you've done, you know, photography and things on the other side. Right. So I certainly think you really have a well rounded, you know, view you know, sometimes you're like, we're working with planners and there'll be like, Hey, we need to go. And they don't understand, you know, so it's good to have a planner that's been on the other side of it kinda knows like, well, we actually kind of got to get that shot right now. Right. We don't the sun's going to go away. So how did you get involved in weddings and all this? I mean, it's been, you know, over a decade now of your life talking to me, how did we get going?
(01:55):
So weddings kind of just happened. How it all began was I was the go to person for planning events in my family at the age of 15. So every time a family gathering what happened, it was just kinda like, I was the organized one and everyone would be like, Oh Danielle, what should we do for timeline? Or what type of foods should we serve? Or what should the flow go? And I'm like, okay, I got it. I did everything behind the scenes. And then from there, kind of from family, friends, they were like, we have people getting married. Do you want to do like wedding planning? So I kind of just stepped into it. And then when I got married, my husband was a photographer. And so I switched gears from like being in the family friend of doing like events to, Oh, I'm going to work with my husband.
(02:45):
I'm going to do photography with him. And his photography focus is more commercial. And then for commercial, we went to a wedding and then we went back to commercial. But then back to wedding after learning that side a little more that's when going to weddings and going to commercial shoots, I was like, okay, I would step in and they'd be like, alright, I'm going to go to help you with this panel. I'm going to help with the flow. I'm going to make sure the DJ has this cue and make sure the videographer knows what's going on. We're just going to make sure everything's good. And then that's when my husband's like, okay, you should get back into planning, events and things. Cause you're really good at it. Not that he's like, not that you're not great at photography. You have a great idea, but you're always distracted and you get pulled aside and I'm like, yeah. So now I'm into, you know, weddings and helping out with that. And then from weddings just recently just got into more corporate events. So with focusing on helping with live streaming of corporate trainings and things like that. So it's been a really, it's been kind of a weird adventure, how I got to where I am now.
(03:49):
Yeah. It's, it's interesting when you have couples, you know, we're both, everyone focuses on each, the weddings, you know, it is like you live and breathe kind of all sides of it, you know, where, like my wife's a teacher. And so it's kind of, we have that where you guys it's, you know, everything right where you're you know, always trying something new and, and where you're both kind of entrepreneurs. It's gotta be exciting to kind of either constantly be trying to find like the new adventure to tackle.
(04:12):
Yeah, it is. And it's kind of funny because my husband, even though he is a photographer, does work still in the events, muddy in the street for a rental company in Portland, for marketing. And so it's like, we don't excuse it. And it's always a part of us. So, and when I ever I planned something, I always tell him and he's like, Oh yeah, let's do it this way. Let's try it that way. And it's great because he gets it. And if one of us is kind of like tired or, you know, get that moment of like, okay, we're exhausted the other, one's just like, I get you. I feel yet. Do you have a long wedding today? What happened? And the conversation's easy for us to talk about it, but a lot of our friends are just kind of like, what do you guys talk like, Whoa, you guys actually like sit and talks about work together and understand everything where like we work in the industry. It seems like
(05:05):
You guys are, are busy, energetic. Where does that energy come from? Where do you guys, I mean, just serial entrepreneurs is always trying to kind of find the new, you know
(05:15):
I'd have to say having a toddler gave us a lot of energy and a lot of drive. Also my husband he is very spoken with liking to do with, he really likes to like go forward with entrepreneurial, entrepreneurial state of things. So he's always like gets inspiration from things. And then it kind of feeds off of my energy and he's just like, Oh my God, let's do this. Let's do this. And I get excited because every time it has to do with planning and I'm like, yes, but then when we have a toddler, it also helps with our energy levels too, because I don't ever want her to see me tired. So I'm like, okay, we're gonna live in it and we're gonna do this and everything that, so that's kind of where energy drive comes from. And also with all of his new things that he's doing as well and all the new things that he always tells me, he's like the inspiration person.
(06:08):
He feeds me the inspiration. I go, let's do it. I'm totally down. And I owe it all to really where he works to, since he gets to see all the new stuff or weddings and everything, and, you know, being a planner, I want to know what's the new chair style. What's people thought, what can we do with this? What can we do with that? Oh, what's the new trend now I saw unicorn colored, you know, utensils, like what's going on with that? That's really hot in the East coast. This is what's hot in Europe. He's like, yeah, we have it all. Do you want to play with it? So
(06:41):
That's awesome. Are you guys, did you grow up in Portland? Are you from the area?
(06:46):
So I originally am from Columbus, Georgia in the South. I moved up here when I was like eight and then I kept going back and forth. So I'm not originally, originally from Portland, I'm originally from the South. So I, I tell people I still carry a Florida driver's license because that's where all my family is. Cause I travel back to Fort back and forth so much. And we do weddings and both here and in Florida. So I'm like, yeah, I live there and I live here when it's really cold and dreary here. Then I am in Florida when it is super, super hot and muggy I'm in Oregon. So it's kind of how it works. But I've been here pretty much close to like 20 years or so now in Portland. So I guess I could say technically, like from Portland, I've lived here for that long.
(07:45):
What brought you out to the West coast? What brought you out to them
(07:50):
For the West coast? My mom moved out here when I was younger, so my, my parents are divorced, so my mom was like, I'm going to move to Oregon with your stepdad. And then once I check it out, you're coming with me and that's kind of what happened. And then I kinda just stay here you know, either way. So it was kind of like a no brainer. And also I've been thinking about moving permanently back to the South, but then after like spending time there in humid weather and then like having gorgeous summers up in the West, I was like, no, let's, let's enjoy the Pacific Northwest a little bit longer. Yes. It gets rainy and gloomy in the winter, but it's better than humid and one season the whole year. And now that we have a child, I'm like, I'd like her to see, you know, fall winter, spring, summer, not just spring and summer.
(08:48):
Well, you kind of get the best of both worlds and going back and forth between the coast.
(08:52):
Yeah, definitely. And were talking before we
(08:56):
Recorded the DHEA, you guys do you know, destination weddings and you know, and in Portland and like you were saying before that, do you, do you notice a big shift between them or are you have, you know, similar client mindset, no matter where, you know the wedding to explain it? I mean, how does that work on the ping pong? You know?
(09:11):
Yeah. So with destination weddings, you definitely notice there's definitely a difference between destination and local weddings that I've noticed are destination weddings there. Our clients are very adventurous and they're willing to try anything as long as they get to location they're at and we make it work, but they're very adventurous. They're like, we want to do this. And they're very flexible here and there. Or my local weddings, the brides just kind of want to stay low, hold it. They are a little bit of interest. Like if I go, Hey, there's like a really cool waterfall. Like, why don't you go take pictures there? Or here's a really cool spot. So that way we can like make their arrangements because I try to think of photographers when I'm working with my couples, especially with planning. And when they tell me their venue, I try to make it work.
(10:01):
So that way the photographers can get really cool shots and the couples can get, you know, time away and be alone. But sometimes they're kind of like, no, we like the venue. We want to stay at the venue. So it makes it a little bit challenging. Whereas when we do destination weddings, I can work with a couple and I can be like, Hey, you're getting married. You know, for example, we'll say Fiji, you're getting married in Fiji. This is amazing, beautiful space. We have the ceremony all planned out, but as we need time and your guests and everything, why do we not have your guests go and enjoy the, you know, waterfall downs down by the beach a little bit with some drinks and you guys can go take some exotic photos and where the waterfall is and you guys have a moment alone with the photographer, you know, take some really cool pictures while I'm over here. And it allows for a little bit more spread. Whereas here, especially sometimes they want to be close to everything. So that's kind of what we've noticed with like the mindset when it comes to destination and then when it comes to local, but either way, I'm still get cool, amazing weddings out of it. Like, and especially here locally, sometimes you can't really predict the weather, you know, thunderstorm and hail even in the middle of summer. And then it will be like beautiful sunshine. So yeah.
(11:24):
What kinds of couples do you find are, you know, are inspired to work with you and that you like working with them? Cause you know, it is a two way street when it comes to right with the vendors and the clients.
(11:35):
So type of couples, I would have to say it's really the type of couples looking for creative side. Someone that can handle the creative realms of setting up decor, helping them with the timeline, helping them figure out how to get their vision put on, like from paper out to their wedding. And that's what I usually help them with. And so I usually see that with my clients have booked me. It's more of those clients that are kind of like, here's my vision. And I know you can do it. They're like you were able to bring a Lama into this venue. So I know you can do my vision. And I'm like, cause I'm the type of person where I'm like, I don't take no for an answer. So we're going to try and make it happen. I have one couple who wants an elephant and I'm like, I may not be able to get you an elephant here, but I can bring you to an elephant.
(12:24):
Like we can make that arrangement. So that's kind of usually the mindset of couples that come to me is the ones that are looking for a lot, that way, one player who's going to be like, they're going to make, they're going to try every single possible thing to make it happen no matter what, but I'm like, that's me. And then making sure their vision is kind of like hatchery. They, people hand me things I've drawn out. Like, here's my detain. I drew this out. This is what I want. And I've been able to find the right floral floral vendor for them to be like, this is what we're looking at. I just hand it to them. And they're like, yeah, I can create that. I'm like, perfect. Let's do it.
(13:01):
Do you try to as a planner, do you try to assemble a team that you think is going to work for the client? You know, cause I know that sometimes like, you know, some of the planners we work with are a little more, you know, just doing the coordination stuff. I mean, do you feel like you, you try to really build that team for them?
(13:17):
Yeah. I try to make sure that even if they book vendors before they book me or if I'm helping with looking at vendors, that either way, no matter what all of the vendors can like coincided together, we share the same vision. And communication is very key for me with that when that happens. So most of the time they're all or they'll book, like all their main vendors before they book me and I just quickly send an email out to all the vendors and I just, Oh, Hey, do you guys have time? Let's talk. If you have time to jump on like a video call, like we have our own little video conference call and like, let's talk about, so, and so's wedding, let's see where everybody's at. Let's work together on our timelines, no arrivals. So that way not everybody arrives at the same time and we have to fight for the loading dock and things like that.
(14:08):
And so that's one thing that like other vendors I've worked with are just like amazed because they're like, usually it's just chaos, but like you make sure it's a flow and I create timelines per each vendor off of a main timeline. So then that way they have the full day. But then I highlight in there, like, here's your, your focus areas for the timelines and stuff. That's been helpful with making sure that everyone works smoothly. And then when I'm creating, you know, the team, if the couples are like, we haven't booked anybody else, we would like your help. Then that's where I make sure that the couple and the vendors match, it's not so much, like I'm not too worried on my end, on who I work with. I just worry on how well do they match with the couple. So I usually will send a couple, not too many options.
(15:00):
I do like up to four or five and I go, here's like five from each department that I've done the research for, excuse me, let's see who you fit with the most. And they're usually, you're like, but what about you? And you working with like, I still work with anybody. We got something down. We talk, we communicate at work with anybody. I just want to make sure that you can work with this vendors. You can't work for this vendor. Then we won't work with them. I don't want to force you to work with someone that you can not work with. So when I'm building the team, it's all about how do they work well with this test, like with the client 10, can they communicate with each other? If they choose, you know, sometimes my couples, they like to be a part of the mutations and they communicate, do they get it off? Well? And so a lot of my couples have been very grateful with that. They're like you have been able to match us with perfect vendors. I'm like, that's awesome. So when you eat fruit
(15:56):
For transitioning, you know, from, you know, the photography to the to the planning did you have like cause obviously you've probably worked with a lot of other, you know, coordinators and planners. Like, did you have a vision for, you know, the experience that you wanted your clients to have and your couples to have? Like, how did you want, you know, your services standing apart? Cause obviously you would probably have an experience.
(16:17):
So for me, my vision was really to make it couple led. I know when starting it off, it was about finding the rhythm on how do I communicate with my couples without overwhelming them. And so for me, my vision was making sure that my couples had complete control over that communication standpoint because I can over communicate. I know like vendor to vendor is good when we over communicate to one another, but then to the couple, they can just be very overwhelmed by that because they're having so much things going on, especially with current events happening right now. And so for me, when I switched and went at to coordination and planning, it was more, I want to make sure my couples know that I'm a phone call, an email, text message, Facebook message, however they want to communicate I'm there for them. And that they know that they can communicate with me unlimited.
(17:16):
And that was the number one rule because I know there's some parameters where they're like, Oh, we can only talk this time or this time, or, you know, limit and everything like that. But for me, it was right off the bat. I tell them, once you, you know, book me, you have me until three weeks after the wedding and you're still on your honeymoon. And they're like, what? And I'm like, yes. And you can call me any time. And they're like, so I can call you at 3:00 AM, freaking out. And I'm like, yes, like I want you to call me if you need to call me like leaving up that open line communication. And I think that's what it's made my experience. And also my business kind of successful with couples here in Portland and outside of Portland is that open communication and that area where they can contact me whenever and also showing them that it's not just me and like a group of others, it's me and a group of others that you can contact.
(18:13):
So the Grimms they can contact my husband or, you know, brides. If they feel comfortable talking to my husband, they can contact my husband and talk to him and they know that he's available whenever. If they need special help or assistance with like wedding license things, they know that there's other members of my team that they can reach out to. And things like that. So just leaving that communication and open and then them understanding that it's not only just myself, if you're comfortable talking to someone else because they know more about something by all means you can contact them too. They know to keep their lines available and everything. And also for them to understand that, you know, once you work with me and then it goes with vendors, I tell them, once you work with me, you're in there, you're under the family tree.
(19:02):
So a lot of my brides and other thing was that brides saw the other video was me with that family tree was them also, you know, helping them with anything else they needed. And since I became a parent, I also helped them with parenting needs because the funds back is literally within five years, if you're married within five years after working with myself or my husband doesn't matter, planning or photography, you end up having a baby. I don't know. It's kinda, it's kinda crazy. It's kind of it's happened every single couple. We get being shot and bites and I'm like, what? And it's like a year, a, usually a year later or like within the five years needed to have a baby adoption gets approved something and they have, they're like, you have to start our family. Now you can help me with this. So I was
(19:51):
That's awesome. And then where you do the other events and stuff too. That's great. Cause then you just Crow. Oh, you know, we do baby showers so we could do, you know,
(19:58):
It happens too. And it's just kind of, and like we become like the family photographer, my husband becomes Harper, he's done one, a family. He's done all the cousins, weddings and siblings, weddings, and then all of their kids' portraits and all of the family,
(20:16):
I'm sure he loves it. He says he can keep doing this, keep planning.
(20:20):
So he's like, this happens. I'm like, well, it falls under the umbrella of family. Like we still keep in touch with all of our couples. We may not announce like out of privacy. We don't always announce. They're like, Hey, happy anniversary to so, and so's just out of privacy, you know, we want to be respectful for them unless they're like, we're totally cool with that. But we're always there that we're Facebook friends. We invite them to family gatherings whenever they want to come over, we go, Hey, you're more than welcome to.
(20:49):
It's so funny. And then we've talked before on the podcast with people where I, I do think that couples don't always realize how important sometimes, you know, cause we, you know, especially as like, you know, the players and stuff, but you spend so much time like thinking about the couples, you know, working towards the wedding day. And I do think that like sometimes I feel like I remember a lot of my couples a lot more than me. They, you know, they always remember me, you know, cause you do spend so much time. But it did to shameless plug, like you were saying with did shamelessly plug my own I think it was yesterday, the day before I had messaged one of our brides like, so I mean like probably a terrible video, right. Just like way a long time ago when I was getting started out. But you know, I still email everybody every year and she's Oh yeah. You know, my husband is stationed in like Australia now. Like, you know, we have two kids, we showed them the video, you know, like last night I'm like, this is incredible, you know, but it's like, as, you know, as we get connected to them and like you said, you know, getting to see them over the years it is cool to feel, really feel that impact that you have, you know, with so many different people.
(21:52):
Yeah. And it's definitely one of those things that I tell all vendors that asked me like that are starting out. Like, what's the one thing like that I should make sure I incorporate in my business. And I tell them, I'm like, you have to also think about your couples. And I tell them, it sounds odd, but you're going to spend so much time with them that they're almost like, you know, extended family. And so when, you know, if there's a, if there's family drama or anything going on, like you're going to know about it. So you kinda know about everything happening. So you gotta think of them as family and just, you know, keep in contact with them. Don't be shy. Like some people are like, Oh, you don't want a friend, your couples on Facebook. And I'm like, honestly, I don't mind friending my couples on Facebook.
(22:37):
Like there was one top woman I was having my daughter about two years ago, I was in the hospital and she's like friends with me on Facebook and Instagram as she didn't real. I sent the message to everyone like, Hey, I'm going to be going into labor pretty soon. Don't worry. Everyone's here to talk. I will need people to talk to. She saw me working on a timeline. Cause my husband posted it up on Instagram while I've like in the bed, put that some machines. And she like called me. She's like, Oh my God, are you okay? Oh my God, this baby. Okay. I'm sending you flowers. I'm like, I feel so bad. I'm like, no, actually it's calming me down. You're fine. But I'd tell them, I'm like, see that's, you know, they think of you as family too. And that was like my example of telling people, starting out is like, think of them as family. They're gonna think of you as family. If they want to add you on Facebook, that's the way of them saying like, you're my family now. Like you're my best friend during this whole thing.
(23:37):
So that's some of the, yeah. Cause I like I'll post a bunch of like dumb stuff like on Instagram, just like, you know, everything's going on. It's so terrible in the, but just trying to like
(23:46):
Whatever and cause I'll get brides to say, Oh, you know, it's like, I look forward to that every morning, you know, your dumb little stuff you post or whatever. And finally my wife was on the zoom call yesterday with a couple of her friends and one of them I walked by and she was like, Hey, tell Ray, like I really appreciate like that. And I was like, okay, see, now you get why I do it because she doesn't get it when it's like all the brides and grooms and everybody else. But now it's like, Oh, well my friend thinks it's funny, then it must be okay.
(24:14):
Yeah. And it just creates that more personal thing. And that's where it goes back to my vision of making sure that the vendors can work with the client and the client can work with the vendors, make sure they can communicate really well with each other. So
(24:30):
They hear about your wedding as a, as someone that's lived in the wedding industry. And I'm sure, I'm sure there's an interesting story there. So I want to hear about that.
(24:39):
My wedding a lot. It's so being a wedding planner, everyone thinks like, Oh my gosh, you're probably have the biggest wedding ever. And it was grand and spectacular. And honestly it was the most, it was a very small wedding with a double low seven theme. I made sure my husband looked like James Bond and I wore a red jumpsuit so I can look like a Bond's girl. I also had mermaid hair. I had like little streaks of color in my hair because I was like, well, bonds girls. They have to be under disguise sometimes. So I need to do something crazy with my hair. And so it was a very small intimate wedding. For our ceremony, we had it at the waterfront in Portland East bank with just our parents and my siblings and his siblings and like my uncle, we just wrapped the East bank waterfront.
(25:32):
And we had a very small ceremony. It was on the hottest day of June, like super hot and our best friend who is an officiant, just like marry this. He was like, well, what do you guys want? And I was like, just the five minute short, simple ceremony, just basically skip everything and just go, do you, and do you, and we say yes. And then you just say a little blur, but like pretty much you can bless our rings, whatever you want to do. And that's it. And he's like why? And I'm like, because I don't even think we can do this in portal. I don't even know that was me. It's like your wedding planner. How do you not know if you can have, like, I was like, honestly, I don't know. I've never had to deal with this before, but we wanted to do it.
(26:19):
So we just did it. And then after that we went to a really awesome venue in Portland called Opal 28. I mean, this did like casual. I still made everyone dress up. It was like, Hey, it's double 17 black tie. Think of it. Like you're going, you know, on a secret mission or something, I don't wear your gown. You can wear your favorite suit, your favorite text. I don't care. It's black tie. And all our friends came dressed to the nines and we had the space look like happy hour at this venue. Like happy hour or dirt type foods. And then like all you can drink and everything, it was just kind of laid back. And they're like for the theme you really made the reception really laid back Danielle. And I was like, well, yeah, it's supposed to be like, you know, your undercover.
(27:11):
We went double those seven or because my husband, every time you watch his double O seven or that other movie, the Kingsmen, he loves the suits and it was just like that tailored suit or that tailored tuxedo look. And he was just like, I love that. And so that was kind of what drew kind of inspiration from it. And then also I'm not really traditional in that. I didn't want to wear a wedding gown. My parents bought me one that I picked out beautiful gown, but I was just like, I really don't want to wear it. And I was like, bonds girls. I was thinking like, what would they wear? They wouldn't wear that. Like, I was like starting to wear red jumpsuit or something, just like, Whoa. And so I just wear the red jumpsuit, but then also my husband's Vietnamese. And so red was like a lucky color and everything.
(28:08):
So it was like perfect that we're combining everything together. Your, you know, you love the suit, the tailored, the atmosphere of like the double of seven. And it was kinda like we were on a mission when we were East bank kind of marry. Like thankfully we got married near, there's like a little fire. There's like a fire station there. And we knew the firefighters that work at the fire station. So we got married closer to the fire station and they were just like, don't call the cross. So that way, if there was any issues that you'd be like, it's all right, they're fine. But that was kinda like the whole thing with the below seven, but we do plan on having something bigger and extravagant a little bit later. Now that we have a daughter, like my husband's like, it'd be cute if she's the flower girl.
(29:00):
And so I was like for a bigger extravagant wedding after doing so many destination weddings, I'm like, I want that Disney wedding. Like we always do Disney weddings and I want one now. It's like, I get married again. I'm like, yes, I want that. I want, I want to go through it again. But I want to do like the whole stress. Cause first time I didn't have any stress. Cause we were just like, alright, let's do it. We're going to do this. And then we're going to do this. And then it was like small amount of people. I was like, no, now I want this dress. I want to have like everybody we know there. And he's like, okay,
(29:33):
Do you find, and you could have felt as emotionally connected before you got married, but do you feel like having gone through that process, you feel I, I just, I know that for me getting married, I was I was a wedding vendor, but I feel much more connected now emotionally than I did prior to kind of going through that, you know, just with the guys, you know, and like the nerves and like everything else. Like I didn't really kind of think of it the same way I do. Now. Do you feel, or, and maybe you felt before and I was just kind of a dummy, but do you feel more connected now?
(30:03):
I feel a little bit more connected. Before when doing weddings, I didn't really have like that emotion when the bride walks down, I'm just like, awesome. I got them down the aisle, but now like after we, after we got married and that was like five years ago. Yeah. after we got married, then I got that emotion and then walking down the aisle, I'm sitting there like with my tissues crying and not only am I like, yes, I got the double like, Oh my gosh, you're so beautiful. Oh my God. I remember that, Oh my God, this, and then I go, Oh, I want this for, you know, but and also like when it comes to the whole, me as like food, I get really emotional with the food. So when they like start planning on their food and desserts, because that's a big thing for me, like before, I'm just like, Oh, this is wedding foods or whatever. Like now I'm like, no, we need to make sure that it tastes really, really good. And we need to make sure that everyone enjoys it after having really good food at my wedding, everyone should have really good food at their wedding. So that's another thing that I, I get tied to is like food and desserts. And when I was pregnant, it was bad. I like would sneak, desserts and eat them. Everyone's looking, I'm like baby wants to,
(31:22):
I've never heard of that. Yeah. I've never heard of wedding planning there be such an advocate for quality catering, but that's good. That's good.
(31:28):
Well, I like to make sure. And I also an advocate for when a caterer starts to say like, Oh, vendors should get money. I go, no, no, no, no. We eat whatever everyone else eats. Like, no, you're not giving us a bag lunch. I had a very expensive hotel in Seattle, Washington give all the vendors club sandwiches. And I was like, no. And so I made friends with the chefs with the photography. I made friends with the chef and I cook this like, like a five star meal. I was like, thank you.
(32:01):
Yeah. I, I, we, yeah, the Seattle hotels are always interesting. I always will remember. We, we used to do this charity auction and we auction off like a video. And so we got booked. Like we probably would never have gotten booked for this. We're not like super like the highest end videographers. Right. I mean, we try to do a good job, but like this was, you know, the four seasons and like top planner, top photographer, top DJ, like all this stuff. And it was the same thing. You know, they wouldn't feed us. It was supposed to be like steak or whatever for everyone else. They were trying to make us sandwiches, but they couldn't stop like making
(32:40):
The, to do the sandwich, you know, to do whatever. And I remember finally I went in and got like this big ball of Fritos that had been out and like the grooms getting you out of your room or whatever, you know, and people are just grabbing this. It's like 10 o'clock at night. And I just can't remember sitting there thinking like, these are like the top like eight, you know, wedding vendors, like in Seattle here, like eating out of this stupid bullet chips because no one will feed us, you know? And it's just crazy. So yeah, I definitely, yeah. Get the yes. Catering and take care of the vendors.
(33:08):
That is my big thing. Like when I tell my couples, I'm like, we are feeding everybody, everybody that is working your wedding out with all the guests, we are feeding them. And they're like, yes, I don't want my vendors. I'm like, they're always asking me, like, what's the one thing that vendors like, would get like, kind of about providing. So it was like food and I was like, you got to make sure you feed them and like, okay. So every time that food talk comes around, I'm like, we gotta make sure it's good food and make sure everyone can enjoy themselves. And then make sure that when we give the final count and includes all the vendors that are staying to work your wedding. And then I'm the one that always flakes the plates for all the vendors too. Like it's the mom and me like, I'm like, you need to eat DJ.
(33:55):
Like, what do you like? Here's the menu. And I give the menu to all my vendors beforehand and I say, here's the menu and I take their order. So that way, if you're busy working and I see you're busy working, I will make sure to put food aside for you. And I'll let you know, like, Hey, the food's over there for you when you're ready, describe your plate. And the civil, Ray's all there. Scrap your plate and everything, cook to the bar and let them know a beer or wine. If you like to have one of those during the wedding, it's comfortable you at the bar already waiting for you. And they're like, well ahead. I'm like, yeah, I got you. Don't worry about it. Like, if you need it, if you need to do that. And then I tell them, I usually tell them later, cause the groomsmen's are like, Hey, we're going to do shots. I want all the vendors to do a shot with us later where the friend couple I'm like, all right, I'll let them know too that I tell them, you know, out of respect, some of them may not do it. Make sure you got like a juice or something there. And, and whatnot. And my couples are like, you took care of our vendors. Our vendors are raving about you took care of us. I'm like, that's what I do.
(34:54):
It's so funny. Yeah. Cause, and not to segue this whole thing in the food, but it is funny that like, you know, I getting ready stuff. Like if you're at the hotel, there couldn't be enough food, like 1800 sandwiches. We got all the, you know, like you go, wherever people are getting ready, you know, pile of drinks, pile of soda, pile of chips, you know? And then yeah. Then it's like the eight hours later when you need to eat. And it's like, well, we have no food, there's no food anywhere. And you're like, why, what happened? You know, I wasn't to what was the biggest change from, you know, not being well and you, I mean, you kind of ping pong back and forth, like you said, with, with planning and not, but you know, going into the planning full time and really being on that side of it, what was the biggest like change or something
(35:38):
That surprised you from like doing the photography? Or did you just ping pong so much so that it wasn't like, you kind of felt like you were aware?
(35:46):
I would say the biggest change was kind of workload was the biggest change. So photography, I felt was more stressful on my end because with photography and any other types of things like videography and like deejaying and all of that, you gotta make sure you kind of follow timeline, but then if you have a shot list, you gotta really kind of make sure you get all the shots and everything like that. And so the workload was, is very different photography. It was very much like, okay, I have to make sure that I get this and get this. And then having to communicate, you know, with their coordinator or whomever to make sure that you have enough time for that. Whereas now as me as the planner workload is still kind of the same, but it's Swift, it's shifted to, like, now that I understand, like I know the photographer and BDR, they're going to need X amount of time for this.
(36:40):
I feel like I can almost help other vendors and making sure that they have plenty of time. And then you know, with all the knowledge that I've gained, like it's kinda made it smoother in a way, made it smoother. And I feel like it made the whole experience for all other vendors smoother too. So then they're not as much panicking about, well, how to make sure I have this, or I have to have enough time to make sure everyone dances or we capture all of this and all of that. Where now I'm like, I'm the wedding planner. I got it. This is good. I create that timeline. They look at it and you're like, you gave me like way too much time. And I'm like, I'd rather give way too much time too little time. And they're like, that's true. Cause you never know at weddings it could either run super fast or we could be super behind.
(37:32):
That's funny. What is your what's your favorite part of, of the wedding day as someone to work and having experienced it and going through it to be, you know, to be there with your clients.
(37:44):
So my favorite favorite part is any type of first look, whether it's the first look with the groom or if they're doing like first look with parents or, you know, any type of first look, depending on how they're doing that. That's one of my most favorite parts because it just kind of makes that like magical, surreal moment, like, Oh my gosh, they get to see everything. And then another favorite part is when a couple like first enter in like the ceremony and they see everything set up or see everything with the reception and they like first interaction and you see their, their smile. That's all you see is this big smile. And then them having a good time, same with like the ceremony, you know, you see the, even though they'd have little tears, cause they're excited and everything, you still see that smile. They're like, yeah, it makes you feel really good inside. So those are like my two most favorite moments and it makes me feel really good inside. And I just go, I did my job, I did what they wanted me to do. They're really happy. All my vendors are happy. So when I see smiles on everyone's faces and I see everyone and like excited and happy and I see a photographer with their second shooter, like clicking away, having things to photograph, I'm like, yes, did it,
(39:03):
Oh, how are, how are we planning to just expand and grow to improve kind of here? You know, I know we're in a, in a, in a weird holding pattern right now with a lot of weddings and other stuff, but where do you guys want to see you improve and grow? And where do you want to, you know, you seem someone that's so bundled with energy and ideas.
(39:22):
So for us, we're actually wanting to grow more with how we can really help couples you know, have that small wedding experience, but yet in that big experience, same way by doing live streams. So really kind of partnering with a lot of local vendors and such that offer that service and being able to show that you can still have a wedding. You can still have all that fun. But if we can make us small and that's where I want to see growth with that, because I think that will also help a lot of vendors with the whole Oh, but we're on a budget and I don't think that's gonna work offering something like that and, and helping both couples and vendors where you may be on a budget, then we may not, you may not be able to have everybody there, but we could still set up something for you and make it small.
(40:16):
And it's been really fun and still capture your vision. Almost like styles shoot in a way, but yet we can make it into a wedding. So that's something that we're looking to grow. And then also looking to really further out because we do destination weddings a lot. That's something that I'm really growing more as well. So I'm taking this time to really feel markets throughout. So Mexico's a really big, hot spot. Hawaii is another big hot spot. And then, like I said, Disney weddings are also big hotspots finding out those markets and seeing how both my husband and I can help couples that are having those types of weddings as well. Especially people from, you know, the Pacific Northwest, especially from Portland, like how can we help them plan those weddings and things like that and partnering with other planners in those areas to make sure that everything is good to go when we do those type of weddings. So
(41:14):
Yeah, it's certainly a lot more stress, but it seems, you know, to do those destination ones, but it seems like that's something you guys have, you know, well under control.
(41:21):
Yeah. It's one of those things where I like to, that's why I've been kind of pinpointing those hotspot markets where a lot of people get married at and want to go and then learning what planners are in the area and understanding, you know, what does, what happens there and working with them. So like if a couple of books me for destination wedding, the idea is, is that if I couldn't go to the destination that I already have a partner planner there, so that way they can help them. So essentially they're booking both of us because I'll be working with them back and forth, like, Hey, can you get all of the, you know, you know, all the local vendors, that's worked together, a couples of looking both of us for this wedding. So that way we're on the same path and whatnot. So that's kind of, excuse me, how we want to work out with destination wedding. So it's usually you hire a planner where you live or something that specialized in destinations, they like take care of everything, but then there's usually a lot of backup plan of what happens if that planner can't make it. What if like, what if they can't make it? Cause they, you know, if I have another baby or something, so being able to understand the other market and meets the other vendors in that market has been very key to making sure that that grows and becomes successful.
(42:43):
Perfect. It's been, it's been so nice getting to chat with you today. I'm so glad that we could connect and make this happen. And I love meeting new friends down in Portland and continuing our growth of the podcast down there and getting some new voices. So thank you so much.
(42:57):
Yeah. Thank you. And anytime, like if you come down, just hit me up, we just show you where to go, what to eat, all the fun stuff and everything. And I keep forwarding the podcast to all my couples and to all of my vendor friends. I'm like, Hey, you guys gotta check out, read you guys, check out his podcast. I know one of my friends that does balloons, she may be reaching out to you cause she's like, she's amazing with Belinda. Apparently balloons are very big right now for weddings.
(43:23):
That's go live for it. Yeah. I certainly appreciate that. And, and he support if people want to learn more about you and your story and your planning and your services and everything else. So where would you have them check out?
(43:34):
I'd have them checked out my website. You can visit www.eventsbydaniellenichole.com, check out the website. Everything's kind of linked to there. Instagram is also DanielleNicholePDX and Nichole spelled with an H. You can also check out my Instagram there, on Instagram I do fun stuff sometimes right now I'm taking a little break, but on my highlights, we do a lot of fun style shoots and we have a big one coming up or I'm incorporating a horse. So it's going to be fun.
(44:04):
Perfect. Well thank you again. If, if you're like Danielle and you're interested in coming on that future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest, and that's a nice, easy questionnaire. We have to kind of get you in the system and see if we can work something out. Thank you again so much. I wish you luck in this time and I hope we can all kind of get back on back on track of your sin. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Chanelle Carlin, Wedding Officiant
(00:09):
Everybody welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I'm so excited to be joined today by Chanelle Carlin. She's a wedding officiant out of Okanogan, Washington, but we were talking beforehand, you know, obviously travel all over the state and beyond. Thank you so much for joining us early on a Monday to chat. I appreciate you taking some time. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:35):
Thank you. Hey, my name is Chanelle Carlin, and I am a professional wedding officiant based in Okanogan, as Reid said I collaborate with couples who have some, the ones who want to have an elopement or an intimate wedding ceremony that is unique, personalized, and customized just for them.
(00:58):
And it's interesting, and it's a segue to our kind of pre-recording conversation. We were talking about, you know, marketing and you said, you know, I am a professional wedding officiant, and I do think that because like you said, you know every, every vendor, right, people do video on the side, people do, you know, flowers, whatever, but you do get a lot of efficient sometimes, you know, you know, I do two a year or whatever I have, you know, I have a car that hand out obviously, you know, a lot more goes into it when it's, you know, what you do and you know, you're a professional and marketing and stuff. So how do you how do you, what does that mean to you to be a professional wedding officiant?
(01:37):
To me, it means that I spend a lot of time practicing my craft and my craft is kind of two fold, one it's the people side of things, right? So it's the being able to feel confident, speaking and engaging an audience, whether that audience is one to 20, a hundred. So there's that and feeling comfortable doing that, which not everybody does. Right. And then practicing things like projecting my voice, having personality. When I speak in front of groups, those types of things, also my writing. So as a wedding officiant, you, you write the wedding ceremony or, you know, that's what I do as a professional. I write a wedding ceremony. So I spend time engaging with each couple, getting to know them and finding out their story and then crafting a ceremony and a script. That is something that they'll remember. So often people say to themselves, you know, Oh, well, you know, I don't, I don't remember weddings.
(02:36):
I don't remember the ceremony. You know, I just saw the couple looks lovely. I couldn't hear everything. You know, and it went by in a blur and that does happen. Absolutely. And it happens more often. I think when people are having a traditional, you know, quote unquote traditional ceremony, cause we know what's going to be set, but when you're just focusing on creating a ceremony that is unique each couple, the couple and the guests really want to hear what's being said, they want to know and they want to feel part of the ceremony. So that's, that's part of what I do. And then there's the piece that you, as a professional, you have a business, I have a business and I get paid and you know, I have all the things that go wrong with business. So yeah, those are the three parts, the business part, the people part and then the writing.
(03:24):
So I think there's this misconception or, you know, I think people think like, okay, you know, if a higher in the fish yet, it's going to be like a stock ceremony. Right. It's, you know, it's not going to be personal enemy. And I remember, you know, we've done, we have a lot of email, local officiants and you know, w we see from time to time and, you know, I've even written them afterwards if I'm like editing the video and just been like, man, like that was really, you know, I mean, you could have known these people for a hundred years and I wouldn't have known, you know, because it's, it's a, it truly is, you know, the same way that, you know, a photographer can, you know, capture or people ask me, well, how do you do whatever? And you're like, why the, no, I mean, a good officiant, right. Can really craft that, not, you know, tail, but you know, the, the narrative, whatever the, you know, the ceremony script, I mean, talk about how, how does that come to you? How did you, I mean, is that just something that comes naturally? Or how have you kind of worked on that over the years?
(04:21):
Well, I love to write, I've always loved to write ever since I was young, I would read and write, read, and write, read, and write. I was far more of a reader and a writer. Then I was a player outside of sports. My brother was a sports guy. My mom used to have to force me to go outside when I was little. Cause I prefer to sit and read, read good readers, make good writers. Supposedly I don't have a degree in history. So for those who've never studied history. You must write a lot. So you're reading a lot and then you're analyzing, and then you're writing stories that describe the story that already happened. So I had a lot of experience before that coming into this process. But I spend a lot of time engaging with couples. So whether I am, and it's not even so much about the amount of time, but hopefully the quality of the time.
(05:10):
So when I can meet with them in face, you know, face to face in person, we do. But obviously for the last several months, we've not been able to do that. And I live in Okanogan do weddings everywhere. So Oakenoggen just for those folks who don't know is in North central Washington on the East side of the cascades. And there was not, it takes a long time to get anywhere. You know, it's not far from everywhere. It just takes a while to get everywhere. It closes. Places are like an hour away. But so I do a lot of zoom meetings and telephone calls, and it's really about the developing a personal relationship, virtually having honest conversations and just listening as much as possible to, to their story and asking deeper questions and allowing space to answer them. And then through that, I craft a story and I craft a ceremony that hopefully reflects them and I send it to them and I say, edit away, change what you want. Tell me what you like, tell me what you don't like. This is your ceremony. And we will make any, and all changes that you want. And thankfully, most of the time, you know, based on our conversations, I've gotten pretty close to their, to what they would like. And I have them write back to me, they, Oh my gosh, I was crying when you, when I read the ceremony you know, sometimes there are a few changes here and there, but thankfully most of the time, but it's really about the quality of the conversation.
(06:40):
Yeah. It's interesting because it's always the same question, you know, when we sign up couples for wedding videography and they always say like, well, you know, how, how does the editing work? Right. That, you know, if we get the video and we're the same way and that we have, you know, you can, you know, obviously we can't, you know redo the entire video. Right. But you know, it, it, you know, it's all the, it's all in there, but anyway, but they always ask about it. And then, yeah, it's the same thing. You know, when you get this ceremony that's written about you and your loved one and you know, it's really hard to come back and be like, well, actually now, you know, now obviously, you know, there's certain, you know, circumstances, but yeah, I do think people always think like ahead of time, Oh, I'm going to really want it, whatever. And then you get it and it's, you know, whatever it is about you, the photos or the like you said, you know, your, your script and, and it's, yeah, it's hard to be to you know, when it's, so, you know, when it's so emotionally tied to you, you know what I mean?
(07:31):
Yeah. And, you know, you want to get the details right too. So it's not, those are usually the thing that people say or are, they said to me that they want a nonreligious ceremony and they, you know, and then they're like, and I don't want it too mushy. And I want it sure. I want all these things in it. And you know, I do want it more romantic than, than, you know, so it's, there's a little tweaking here and there, but usually that's really what it is. It's just a little tweak. And that's perfectly fine, it's their wedding. And like I said, I want it to be super memorable for them and to be the reflection of the two of them.
(08:08):
And I think, and I was thinking, cause we've done just a handful of weddings. You're kind of the sense everything's opened back up in Washington. You know, we're, you're a little more, I don't know how, you know, the regulations everywhere, you know, Oakenoggen, it's a little more rural than Seattle, but you know, it struck me cause we had a wedding that we shot. And the officiant was a friend. And then one of the, one of the parents for one of the toast, there was a couple of moments where, you know, I sense that maybe things were said that were not off color, but like it wasn't right. Like the bride didn't love it. Right. Like it wasn't right. And I, you know, and, and obviously, you know, no nobody goes in and is like, well, I'm going to bomb this. You know, w you know, whatever.
(08:56):
I mean, obviously it's all good intentions, but I do think someone in your experience has all that foresight to know, right? Like what's going to land and maybe what's not. And walk that line a little better. Cause I always sense that. And when I have to, you know, when I'm putting together the ceremony and everything, but then when I'm doing that highlight video, you know, we're only taking bits and pieces and I'm like, you know, that, that might be a funny moment or that might be whatever, but, you know, you want to make sure that it's landing right for that. And so it's tough, you know? And so my point is, I think someone in your situation, obviously you have a lot more foresighted about that, which I do think is helpful for the wedding day. When, you know, you just don't want any like surprises or anything. You don't want everything the way that you, you know, the way that you've imagined it always
(09:42):
Well, and that's it, that's exactly it. So many couples have at some point have imagined this day, it's a day they've imagined. And, you know, nobody imagined a pandemic. So that has changed everything for most couples this year. And some of them have postponed their wedding. Some of them have canceled them all together until you know, far in the future. Some of them have just changed the date and some of them are still going forward with smaller, smaller groups, but it's still one of the most important days they're ever going to have in their life. And that I take very seriously. I mean, for my own wedding, it was that big of a deal. So of course it is, and I really want it to be special just like every officiant does. And I take that as a, I own that responsibility. Some people might not take it as seriously, but I do because I would be devastated.
(10:35):
I mean, I take it personally. I would be devastated if I blew it. You had a time, which is part of the reason that I send it to couples. And I say, you know, this is your ceremony. You make it change anything you want. And I start saying that from the very beginning, I tell them that when we first have our very first conversation, when we're having our phone and virtual meetings, and then when I send it to him again, I just reiterate, this is your ceremony. I want it to be a perfect reflection of the two of you. So whatever edits you want slash away, red Mark, whatever you want, however you want to do it. And if you want another call to redo the whole thing, we can do that too.
(11:13):
Cause it's just, it is, it's so personal, especially now. And I don't know if I'm just more attuned to it. Just, I, we just had a lot of all the weddings we've had so far, we've just had a lot of conversations about right. Just because of everything. And, you know, obviously you know, weddings for lots of, they're always hard to plan. There's always lots of conversations. Like I said, maybe I'm just more attuned to it right now, but you know, God, you really want everything to go, you know, with everything else going on. Right. You know, we really want everything else that we, the things that we can control. So now, but I think that I don't know. I just think it's so important. And, and I, I so appreciate having the efficients come on the, because I do think it's an underserved, just trying to, like I said, relay the importance of, you know, you can still have that emotional tie, but also know that you know, that you have someone that's guiding the ship that knows, you know, that's done it before, right. Because you always get someone up there that doesn't know what they're doing and you know, the mic doesn't get turned on or something's in the wrong spot or you're doing this or you're doing that. And it is nice to have that you know, a captain at the head of the ship that, you know, along with the emotional, you know, you get both, you get both sides with that.
(12:27):
Right. And you know, I think people don't often realize, you know, when you think about a wedding, so often couples are so focused on the, on the party piece, right on the, on all of the accoutrement around the ceremony, you know, what is a wedding officiant? Do? I can't even, I've done so many videos that I attached to my Facebook page and my Instagram, having conversations with folks about wedding officiant debts. Like you can get married without all of the rest of the stuff we don't want to most of the time, but you can get married without a videographer, without photos, without a cake, without flowers, without a venue, you cannot get married without someone to officiate in the state of Washington and state of Oregon and the state of Idaho. You must have an officiant, whether that's a minister, a friend, you know, depending upon what the rules of the state are, you have to have that person then, and it can be a friend or a family member.
(13:20):
If you want them, it's really important to you. And you're good with whatever that looks like and they're comfortable doing it. That's perfectly fine. But if you want it to be just so, and you want to kind of be guaranteed, guaranteed that it will be just so a professional wedding officiant can be the way to go. And then when you add in the other elements of photographer, you want someone who's comfortable working with the photographer, working with the wedding planner, working with the videographer, where do you need me to stand? Where do you want me to be for this Photoshop? Do you need me to be in a different location? And the wedding planner, who's got everything timed to have them minutes. You know, they're amazing. I have huge admiration for wedding planners who, you know, I get a schedule from one example in gen one islands. She had the wedding literally down to the minute. Now, then we had a rainstorm that day for the entire schedule out the window, but she managed it still. I was so impressed.
(14:18):
You mentioned your own wedding. Ah, ha. How was that? Tell me a little bit about that.
(14:23):
So got married in 2015 to my, my husband. We knew each other in high school when you know, when our separate ways we didn't date, but our separate ways and live life. And then found each other through Facebook and friends, you know, and later on in life, after many, many years we planned a very simple, a very simple ceremony. We wanted our parents to be there. We wanted some of our closest friends to be there and, and my mom was ill. My mom had dementia and she lived in a memory care residence down by my brother. So we actually planned our wedding, had our wedding down in Longview, you know, down by Portland so that she could, my brother could bring her. And my husband's brother is a minister in Tennessee. So he flew out to officiate for us and we just had it in a little, it's called the women's building in Longview.
(15:18):
It's owned by the laundry to the long view parks. It's an old building that was the women's club and it's beautiful. And we just had it there. We had a my nephew and his fiance at the times that our photos we had we had photos of all of our family members, wedding photos of all of our family members from both sides, the scattered about the room, because the idea is that we wouldn't be here having a wedding, if not for all of these folks and to honor our family. And we had a native blanket ceremony, but rather than using a native blanket, we used the chart and for my husband's a clan in Scotland and we just, it was a great celebration. It was a great celebration, but it was really simple. You know, our decorations were done by friends who wanted to help us. We had a potluck for the reception and it poured down rain. It rained so hard that day there were landslides and we thought nobody was coming because you couldn't get from Seattle or Portland. There were, there were landslides on the highway coming from both directions and yet magically people still managed to get there. We had all to land on 50. We had almost a hundred people in the room. I was afraid to fire to Britain.
(16:31):
That's so funny. Well, and it's, it's so interesting because you know, I, I, you know, we planned our wedding, you know, when I was a wedding vendor and it's especially you where you've seen so much and gotten to know, right. I mean, I'm sure so many, you know, unique traditions and customs and, you know, incorporating in, you know, all that different stuff that the couples want. And so then when it's like, okay, well now I have to like, you know, what's important to me. Right. I'm sure that was a really just, you know, I just have to imagine that was interesting to kind of, you know, see everything that you've seen and know whatever, but then have to, okay, well now what's important to me, you know, whether I want, and I think that's great with the photos and everything. I think that's wonderful to, to represent, you know, just, and plus this year love of, you know, weddings and marriage and everything, you know?
(17:17):
Yeah. It was, it was, it was beautiful. It was for us, it was a really memorable experience. And one of the things that's the nicest, you know, guests so often say, Oh gosh, it just, I couldn't hear everything. Or, you know, Oh yeah. It was a night. It was a nice wedding, nice wedding. For us, they are guests often have told us, you know, it was such a beautiful wedding. Love being able to see all of your family members or I've had couples of the family members of couples come up to me and say, you know, that's just, it was exactly them. You did such a great time is exactly that. I was like, well, that's great. They helped write the ceremony. I'm glad I captured it, but it wasn't just me.
(18:01):
Oh, I remember that. I was going to say, you were talking about you know the job security, you have an officiant, right. You have to get married. And I remember when all the, you know, the pandemic stuff was going on and people were, I can't remember if it was one of the like one of the the wedding I, when some group or something, I was a part of that when people were, you know, everyone was trying to find work and what can we do? And all of a sudden, it's like, we're going to host these zoom weddings, and we're going to do all this. And I remember like, one of the officiants is like, actually, you know, you really can't do that. And they're like, Oh, well, no, yeah. This just like for fun, like we're not. And yeah, they totally got, you know, cause it was one of those things.
(18:39):
Like you totally think it's a great idea. And I even had one that the wedding directories that we advertise for a local one, they called me wanting to put together this whole big blog about, you know, marketing the virtual ceremonies and all that, you know, but with the efficient also virtual. And I said, well, I sit in now don't quote me. But I said, I've seen enough people comment that, you know, but I would do the research. Oh, I didn't even think about that. And I said, well, you know, it's one of those things that, yeah, it's got, you gotta have, you gotta have the three and then the witnesses, you know what I mean? Yeah.
(19:11):
Yeah. So in the state of Washington and in most States, virtual weddings are not legal. They're just not people want to do it. And this is a good time to practice, but you know, it's not, it is legal in New York right now. And in California for two months, the governor from April 30th the governor of California issued a proclamation that people could get married, virtually any officiant could be anywhere, could be virtual as well. And so I did a virtual wedding for a couple of, in California who had planned to come up here. They had their wedding booked for the peninsula Lake Crescent lodge would have been a beautiful venue. But they couldn't come because of the pen down. They couldn't travel. And but the date was really, really important to them. And so I said, well, here are your options.
(20:00):
You can get married down in California. You could find an officiant down in California, they're actually doing it so that you could go to the clerk's office, get your license and get married right then and there, cause they didn't have the three day waiting period that they had to worry about. And then on April 30th, the governor of California issued a proclamation with specific things about weddings. And one of them was for the next two months, it's like an emergency thing. You can have virtual weddings and then you just have to send the license. It just has to be signed and you send it to the officiant to fill out and then send it back in. And that's what we did. And it was, it was interesting. It was, it was a different kind of experience. I have photos, my, my son was taking photos of engaging with this couple, like all around me.
(20:50):
So you could see, and it worked well, it was beautiful. They were in San Luis Obispo and the two of them and everybody else was virtual. But yeah, so, but, but it's really, it's a big thing that people want to have this. They want to use technology this way, but weddings are really, I mean, you know, they're personal, it's really, it's a, there aren't that many touch points left in our life, right? Weddings, funerals, giving birth, you know, there there's these things that, yeah, you can take photos and you can video them. But at some point we need to actually have those human touch points and weddings are still seen as one of those times.
(21:35):
You know, we, we had to dislike that we had two live streams on Friday where, you know, it was a small wedding and then, you know, we're one was at the church and I mean, you know, obviously you can do it, you know, a cell phone or whatever, but you know, just, just the time and money and energy and everything to do that and do that right. Is, is like you said, wanting to leverage technology. And I mean, we're happy to do it. I'm glad that we have the capabilities to do it. I'm glad that people, you know, Jamie, the bride, you know, really appreciated it. We had, you know, a lot of people watch, but like you said, I mean, it's, you know, it's all these different things to replace what is fundamentally right? You know, a celebration for us all get together, you know, it's, it's using all this technology and money and everything to replicate. Something that, you know, is used to be a really simple thing. Right. I'm just gathering together that we know, obviously can't do right now. Right.
(22:28):
I know when you think about it, I always think of weddings is like, they're the greatest self, one of the greatest celebrations of humanity, that's it really, that's what it's intended to be. It's a celebration of love and you don't have to have people, lots of people to do that, but you do need the people who are getting married to be able to be together. And the person who is officiating that, and then their witnesses and instead of Washington, and that's still just two witnesses, you can have a be really tiny, but you know, it is a, it's a human thing and, and we are still best with, we can communicate and do that whole touch point.
(23:08):
Yeah. I mean, it just, I don't know. I just think going through the act of it doesn't need to be a huge way, but I think we I had someone on a past someone on the podcast and they were talking about how they've been doing it a long time. And I said, you know, people talk about, you know, whether these are past say, or they're so big, or, you know, like my neighbor next door has retired. And he thinks what I do is insane. Cause you know, he got married a million years ago and it's like, you know, what is happening here? And but you know, just the, just the idea of two people, you know, coming together and having to kind of meld all these different, you know, money and family and traditions or religion or cultures or just all this stuff.
(23:50):
And I mean, if it has to be a wedding and all that other stuff that goes along with it, I mean, that's great. But I think people doing that is, is a really helpful thing to figure out, you know, what's important to you and what's important to your significant other, I mean, I'm sure you, and you know, when you got married and, and I know when Dorothy and I got married and it was, you know, you really do find out like, okay, what are important to my wife's parents and what are important to either to my mom or to her family or, you know, and compromises and stuff. And so I do think you know, and then obviously you have the joy of seeing everybody and, and, you know, getting to do all of that. But I do think that that's going through somewhat of that is an important life step, you know, kind of whatever that is.
(24:33):
I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you.
(24:38):
Oh, we're so we're so deep in this now. I want to hear, how did you get involved in all this to begin with? Normally that's like my first question, but we've gone down such just wonderful conversation. So how did you get involved in being a wedding inefficient to begin with?
(24:50):
Well, it's that, it's kind of a weird story, really. So I mentioned that my mom had dementia and she lived in a memory care residence. So my mom died at a young age. She was only 67 when she passed away and she had dementia for only a very short time and just a few years. The and as she was, you know, she was really sick. I mean, it took hold of her really, really quickly. And so then we had to start planning things like, you know, what do we do when she's not here? I was responsible for her care, you know, her financial making decisions financially and medically and, and you know, my brother and I worked as closely as we could together. But then, you know, at the end, when all those decisions have to be made, they have to be made by someone.
(25:36):
And then when we were planning her funeral and we had a difficult time finding a minister or someone to officiate the funeral, we know lots of ministers. There was just no one available that knew my mom that was able to do it. And so thankfully the funeral home put us in touch with someone and and he did okay. You know, he met with my aunt and I, and, and heard our stories about my mom. And, and then did the funeral. The interesting part was at the funeral. He literally said verbatim what my aunt and I had said, we basically just needed him to sign off on the funeral certificate on the certificate of death and everything and not, you know, I could, I could do that. You know, I love people and this is a time when they need someone. So I thought, you know what, I'm actually going at something I had thought of for a very long time was becoming ordained and being available to serve in whatever way I needed to serve. So I told my husband, I'm going to actually, this I'm going to become more Dane and I'm going to be available in case. So nobody else in our family or friends, they ever need a minister for a funeral or whatever. They won't have to, they won't have to settle and they won't have to search. He's like, okay, that's what you want to do. Great. No funerals have ever come my way.
(27:04):
Okay. How else am I meant to serve? And so then you start looking at that at going, you know, kind of thinking about it, praying about it. It's like, well, what am I supposed to do? Well, I love weddings. So I put myself out there to start doing weddings. And the minute I did that weddings found their way to me. I've been officiating weddings ever since I got ordained and weddings started coming and it's great. And it's really, it really came from that kind of I couldn't find a minister. I needed a minister. And when we found the minister, I thought, you know, okay, if you can become a professional efficient and do these things, then why can't I do that when this is what I love to do? And we are pretty simple.
(27:52):
Well, I bet it does. It takes a lot of I think quality is to make a good, efficient, right. And being that people person. And like you said you know, with the funeral thing, it's interesting because that's almost, you know, way harder than even the wedding, just because it's, you know, it's so just, you just gotta be, you have the right tone and there, I mean, it's just, it's, it's so touchy, but no, that's interesting. And it just it's worked out ever since and you love it.
(28:22):
I do. I do. I love it. I can't imagine throwing my whole lifetime, everything I've ever done, engaging with people and you know, the different jobs that you have that bring you to a certain point in your lifetime and the different experiences that you have. And they've all led me to here and I can't imagine a better career and a better business for myself.
(28:45):
What were you doing before you started officiating weddings?
(28:50):
It depends on when I used to work in child welfare and children's behavioral health. It was a program director down in California, and then when my mom got really sick and was getting close to dying, then I, I left California and came back up here. But I lived and worked in Ireland in child welfare, and I did 10 years as a legal secretary long before that. And went back to college, got my degree, my master's degree. And I've done sales, you know, all of those types of types of jobs, but they're always to do with either people or writing. People are writing and people are writing. That's what I do.
(29:33):
Is it interesting? Yeah. The past we find ourselves down and, and just, I've always said that from the very beginning of this podcast, you get, have two photographers next to each other. Right. And they're just so different because of everything, you know, everything that they've gone through and, and, and adapts them to two different things. It's so true for all vendors. I just think it's so interesting, you know, the past and even like going into sales and stuff and how that obviously had to, you know, you have to be a people person. Right. And then that translates to, you know, what was it like? It just you know, getting established, you know, starting doing your first weddings as, you know, a professional, what was that experience like? Was it, were you nervous or what, what, what was that?
(30:17):
Yes. Yes. I was nervous. I was nervous because, well, like I talked about before I wanted to do a good job, I wanted, I want it to be, I want each wedding to be perfect for that couple. Now, perfection isn't necessarily something I strive to attain all the time, but, you know, they have an expectation of what their wedding will be like. And my desire is, is to meet or exceed that expectation, whatever way I can. So as I'm getting ready, I'm, I'm meeting with couples I'm I was talking to them the first couple that booked me was not the first wedding that I did. I ended up, they booked me and then I had two other weddings that came up like short term, like, can you do a wedding next week? Can you do one in two weeks? And because since I've started this, I've always done custom ceremonies, like, well, sure, sure.
(31:09):
I can, I can do anything, but you have to meet with me and talk to me. We have to do this, this other bar first. But I, I was, I was nervous and I, when I would meet with them and talk with them and listen to their story, then I would become more comfortable because I was getting to know them. I was hearing what was coming out of their heart and the things that were most important to them. And then once you kind of take that part for me, I settled down and then I, I can create something that hopefully is lovely for them. And then on the day, I mean, I'm fine, public speaking. It's just still wanting to make sure that everything that can be managed, like you said before, everything that can be managed is managed to the best of my ability, because this is their day. It's a special day and they've waited all this time and somebody has thought about this day, their whole life. So yeah, it was, it was nerve wracking. And I still get nervous about that part. I don't get nervous about writing the ceremony or even the officiating, the part that I get nervous about it. And I don't know if nervous is the right word is just have a genuine desire to have it be something that they will think of and look back on and be so happy with, you know?
(32:29):
Yeah. It's so funny to think back to, you know early you know, just being a vendor right. And starting out. And I remember a similar thing. I, you know, like one of the first couple of, so we had ever worked with, I can't remember why, like I felt like we met like way, way in advance, you know, and I'm just trying to book anything and it's like, okay, like, we'll go, you know, this will be, you know, a year from now or not. I can't remember. You know, it seems like forever. And the, you know, your son nervous, right. You're sitting down, you're like, I don't even know, like, what would you ask about what you talk about? Right. Like, I don't even have, you know, like wedding stuff. Right. And I mean, we were so achieved. They probably didn't, you know, they're just like, whatever.
(33:11):
Like, and then I remember we went and showed up at the wedding and I met the photographer, Steven, and he's still, we're still friends today. And I said, dude, I couldn't pick this groom out of a line that if you gave me million dollars, I said, I met them so long ago, you know, you kind of black out. Right. It's like I was getting married. You know, you kind of forget everything you do. I couldn't, I couldn't tell you what this guy looks like at all. And then, you know, they show up and you're like, I guess we met, you know, but I'm sitting there, you know? Right. You're so nervous. And then you have like, I guess, like, what did we even talk about back then? Like, I don't even know, you know, but it's so funny to think back and then getting into it and just, you know, now it's like old hat and you can meet with anyone and you know, but that is interesting that you still get nervous a little bit, but that shows that you care, right. It shows that you want to do a good job,
(33:58):
Hopefully. Yeah. That's, that's, that's what it's, that's where the nerves come in. It's just that I, I want it to be the best reflection of the two of them. And they've entrusted me with their wedding ceremony.
(34:11):
Do you find, you, you do a lot of chatting with, you know, the families of everybody, or is it mostly just a couple that you work with?
(34:18):
Most of the time, it's just the couples. I'm open to talking to whoever they want me to talk to, but I do a lot of really small weddings and elopements and micro weddings. And most of the time couples are, they've been together already for eight, 10 years. So they don't engage there. They don't bring their family members into it so much, you know? But I, I did have, I had a couple last year, they got married almost a year ago, last July. And they had their parents come and talk with me for the first meeting. It was actually the bride's parents. And what was really funny is they had a very, her parents were very traditional and wanted to have a faith based ceremony and they wanted some very specific things included. And the bride and groom were not so traditional wouldn't have had a face base ceremony, but it was so important to them that her parents in particular be happy with the wedding and feel good about the wedding that they want to need to hear what their parents had to say. So then my challenge was create a ceremony that matches the personality of the bride and the groom and incorporates the elements that were so important to the family. And that was the bride's mother was the, was the person who came up to me afterwards and thanked me. And I asked her specifically, I said, do you feel like it captured everything that you were hoping that it would capture? And she said, I think you've captured them and our hopes. Perfect. That was one, I was really nervous.
(35:58):
Absolutely. Yeah, no, especially we at when, you know, mom and dad's whoever get involved and then it's like, you know, you really gotta make sure you're, you know?
(36:08):
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's important, you know, and, and it's most likely that most of the couples they've been together a long time and they are doing it kind of on their own, they're paying for their own ceremonies. They're, they're creating this life on their own and their parents are really coming just to be guests, which is lovely. But there are times when they are, the parents are more involved and I, I love to talk with them and hear what they're hoping for too. It's really up to the couples. I let them tell me,
(36:34):
Ah, that's interesting too, that you were talking about you do a lot more, you know, a little bit and allotments and micro weddings and things. Cause obviously that's like the buzzword now, right? Like every, every wedding planner in the world is, you know, we're doing whatever you know but it, you know, to try to obviously capture on just the, you know, reduce guest counts and stuff, but do you feel like that's something that you, why do you enjoy doing those so much? Why do you feel like that's something you specialize in?
(37:01):
Well too, I think there's a lot of reasons. One is that I just love the intimacy of it. And so I think that that's those couples find me, I love doing outdoor weddings and outdoor weddings in really natural environments. I mean, lots of venues have outdoor spaces, right. Go to wineries. Like the barn wedding, you know, wherever the couple wants to get married, but I also do weddings on a pond in the mountains and I have one coming up that I'll be hiking to in August, as Lake Diablo. So not everybody can get to those. You can't get a hundred people at one of those places, and those are the places where couples, those couples are wanting to get married. So I think that's another part of it as well, but I just, I love the intimacy of creating something so, so unique and so special and I'm happy to do larger weddings. I've done quite a few larger weddings, but one that I primarily do are outdoors, natural settings. And they generally have less than 30 people,
(38:07):
You know, even for you know, all the vendors and everybody involved, you know, obviously it just, there's not, not a lot of room to hide. Right. I mean, you really have to be connected and know what's going on. You know, I think at like a bigger wedding, there's lots of stuff and you know, the couples doing whatever and everyone's kind of doing whatever, but, you know, if it's just you and you know, the couple or, you know, if there's a photographer or whatever, I mean, you really have to be in tuned with what everyone wants. Right. And what, and just be connected on a personal level. You know, it's a big thing to go hike up and spend the day with, you know, someone and, or, you know, a couple or whatever. And so I think that that obviously speaks to just, you know, the connections that obviously people feel, you know, that they've developed with us, you know, as more, hopefully more than just a vendor. Right. You know, I mean we're vendors, but you know, obviously you have that there's a little bit more.
(38:57):
Yeah. I mean, yeah, that's exactly, you're exactly right. I am a vendor. I mean, they've contracted with me. They they've paid me where they're paying me to do to provide a service for them. My desire is to, I mean, weddings are personal, right? This is not for me. It's not just a job. It's not, I don't clock in at a certain time and then clock out at a certain time, just like for you, we're creating something that is going to last for hopefully a lifetime. Right. And that's a big deal. I, like I said, I own that. And I think it's a really important, so for me, each couple is very special and I had somebody say to me once, well, you did my wedding for so and so. And I said, really? I said I don't think it was me. And they said, no. I said, I know all the couples that I've married because I do, I know every single couple that I have married and I've officiated for, and I'm honored by each one. So I know to the best of their ability to share with me and for me to get to know them.
(40:03):
Yeah. It's so funny. Cause I'm the, I'm the same way as my wife cause know we've done a couple of her friends, you know, weddings and whatever, and I'm terrible with like birthdays and you know like I always got like, mother's day, I got like pounded in my head, but you know, I'm like, Oh yeah. Like, so-and-so like, you know, did you wish him a happy, you know, anniversary? They like all of them, their wedding or they would be like, well, how did you, so, you know, I, I know all of those, right. Like, I don't know. Yeah. That's where my head is full. Right. Is it sets a spreadsheet of all those, you know, but I couldn't tell you, you know, I have to remember like, you know, my wife's birthday is tomorrow. Right. We remember that
(40:41):
Northeast.
(40:43):
It's just funny. And then, like you said, you know, making those connections. And I remember we did a wedding last summer and the couple contacted this late, and then they were going to get married and moved to China. They were going to go teach over there and they did a video testimonial for me. I don't know, sometime in the off season here, we, we did a Skype thing and she was talking, she goes, yeah. You know, it's so weird now that like, we're kind of like friends, you know, like you we'd see your stuff online. And like, it's really weird. And you're like, well, it is, but it's not because like you said, you know, you're contacted as a vendor, but you know, hopefully, you know, certain, you know, vendors can, you know, rise above that and, you know, make it be, you know, and I would certainly think your efficient is someone that's going to do that. So again, efficient,
(41:30):
It's so important to be creating something when you creating something so personal. And I think photographers and videographers too, I mean, you're, you're right there. You're capturing this moment that they're going to look back on for their entire life and it's personal and it's intimate, you know, it's, it's, you have to be close to do that. You don't just let someone in to do that generally. And I think the fishy hands are, are, are like that too. Your, I ask a lot of questions and I tell them ahead of time, I'm going to ask them personal questions and you tell me what, whatever you're willing to share, but all of this helps me create something that's unique and personal just for you. So if you want this ceremony to be a reflection of the two of you, I need you to be as open with me as you can be. And if you don't feel comfortable telling me, and they're good with that, they're usually pretty open. And, but you have to trust somebody to do that. And then once you start building that trust, you become, you become friends with them, I'm friends with a lot of my couples and I'm honored by their friendship.
(42:32):
Yeah. It's definitely something, you know, I never, I don't expect it. Right. You know, you know, but, but it certainly is something that yeah, you feel blessed if they, you know.
(42:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
(42:45):
I'm telling too many stories. Sorry, but well, I, I don't know. It's Monday we're coming off the weekend. We have one of our, I mean, this was years ago and there, there were still he's I don't know. It was, I think it was the first year, the second year, you know, we were doing weddings and I always bug people for that. Like we do this yellow bride or whatever, like the voting, and then it's always the things where you have to like, you know, yeah, you have to vote for, you know, five categories or 10 categories or whatever. I think it was last year or the year before. And I emailed them and I said, Hey man, you email everyone, Hey, you know, really appreciate your vote, whatever. And he goes, emails you back. He goes, well, who do you want?
(43:26):
Who do you want me to put for these other vendors? And I said, Oh, we'll put, like, you would put the vendors you had at your wedding. He was like, I don't remember who we had. Right. Like, I don't remember. Yeah. And my point is, you know, to get back to what you were saying is, Hey, you want to be one of those vendors. Right. You never want, like, the worst thing I could ever hear is if I talked to a couple of like, Oh, who did your photos? Like, Oh, I don't know some guy, you know,
(43:49):
Or who did your, you know, ceremony or whoever
(43:55):
You want to be remembered that way, you know? And you want them to remember your name or at least you know, maybe yeah.
(44:02):
At the very minimum that we did a good job to see me later on to go. I think,
(44:12):
Yeah, you just, you don't want to be a other lady that married us. You know,
(44:18):
A couple of them might be like that, but for the most part, they're pretty good. I might help, I actually send cards to my class, my couples, you know, I, I, so one of the things that I do, because I tell them, you know, I'm not just celebrating on your wedding. Your wedding is a big day, obviously, but you're allowing me into your life to, to officiate for you and to celebrate this with you and I celebrate their mom's anniversary. So the month that they get married, I celebrate that. I celebrate their anniversary. If there's a big thing that's happening throughout this pandemic, I'm not only trying to keep in touch with all of my current couples, the ones who were planning to get married, but the ones that I've already appreciated, this is a stressful time. And, and it can impact families and couples in ways that no one anticipated. So just letting them know that I'm still hearing. If they need me, if they need support in any way, you know, I'm here and they've actually, I've had some of them reach out to me and say, that's so sweet of you. Thank you for thinking of us. And can't believe that you're like, really, this is what I do. This is who I am. You let me into your life and for such an important day. Yeah, I'm here. You need me I'm here.
(45:30):
No, I think that's so important. Yeah. I do think I think our couples don't necessarily always understand how much time we do spend thinking about them, you know, like that. I think that, you know it, it is also very important to us, you know, everything and obviously, you know, their wedding day is extremely important to them, but it is also very important to us. And it's something that we think about, you know, and, and remember, and you know, it's a part of all of our collective lives.
(45:58):
Yeah. It's not just a job. Yeah. Yeah.
(46:02):
This has been great. This has been such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much for reaching out and taking the time to come on.
(46:10):
Thank you. I loved it. It's wonderful to meet you.
(46:13):
If people want to know more about you and everything and see your wonderful side and, and Instagram and everything else, where would you have them check out?
(46:21):
I would have them check out my website that www.chanellecarlin.com or Facebook at Chanelle Carlin weddings. Then there's also my Instagram Chanelle Carlin. Any of those would be great. I, I I love my website. You could probably tell who it was about me, but also, you know, Facebook, I have a YouTube channel Chanelle Carlin weddings. I have Instagram. There's lots of, you can find me on The Know. You can find me on, WeddingWire find me at www.lastminuteweb.com. You can find me all kinds of places.
(46:52):
That's yeah, I just did my just had my, whatever. They emailed me about my wedding. Why one of those, cause it's all the same company now, but one of my team are, yeah. One of my, two of ours contracts just got signed and I was like, Oh, okay. Okay.
(47:09):
And that piece of paper comes you. Like, you're grateful that it's there. Then you're like, Oh, wow.
(47:15):
Well again, thank you so much. And I hope you have a good week. And you know, I hope we can get back to some more normalcy here, but I do appreciate you taking the time and, you know, just reaching out, it's out first off. It's so great to have new voices, I don't know, previously. And then second to get a vendors in categories like this, you know, I think the fear she are so important. And I do think it's great to get you know, voices from just, you know, we had a bartending service last week and you know, whether you plan, there's some things I just think, you know, trying to get as well rounded as we can. A group of conversations of voices, I think is so important. So
(47:51):
Thank you. I do. I agree with you completely. Thank you. Thank you, Reid is the lovely to talk with you. I appreciate the podcast too. It's great to be able to hear from other providers. I love it.
(48:01):
Thank you so much. If you're like Chanelle and you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.besameofvideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire we have to fill out and kind of get you in the system and hopefully get things rolling. If, if I vet you and you're qualified,
(48:19):
No, I do appreciate it so much again. And it means a lot. So thank you so much.
(48:24):
You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks.
Kimberly Morrill, Your Perfect Bridesmaid
(00:09):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I can tell already from our pre-recording conversation today, I think this is going to be a good one. I have Kimberly Morrill of Your Perfect Bridesmaid out of Portland. And I will say I'm very impressed. I was looking through your site and, you know reviews and everything before we got onto that. And there's not many people in this world that rival me and the number of wedding wire reviews and have actually taught me, you know, we have one 65, I think you guys have one 85. And so I do always think that that is just a tremendous you know, to the dedication and, and the service and obviously everything you guys offer. So, so excited to have you on the podcast today. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do.
(01:00):
Thanks, Reid. Hi everybody. My name is Kimberly Morrill and I am a wedding planner. I own Your Perfect Bridesmaid. We're a team of planners headquartered here in Portland, Oregon, but we actually serve basically Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. So we get to travel and explore the beautiful Northwest
(01:28):
And what I love about you guys. And we were talking you know, at the beginning here about reschedules and stuff kind of before we started recording. And, you know, you were talking about just a tremendous number of weddings that you guys have had to, you know, manage, you know, with reschedules or postpone things this time of year. And it just means, you know, people that are, you know, we try to be a high volume. You guys are our higher volume, but I think that that is, is great. Cause you get to see so much, you get to know so much, you have so much different insights about every little thing when you do, you know, it just, it just the way it is. Right. You know the more times you get up to bat, right? The more chances you have of him. So talk to me about, you know, you, the company, the team kind of set the stage of what we have going on.
(02:15):
Yeah, absolutely. So after college, I I went actually to college down or up in Olympia, Washington at st. Martin. And after I graduated, I got into corporate event planning. I lived there on outcry beach. So not too far from you there unless Seattle and worked downtown and did corporate event planning for about five years. And then as my friends were getting married I simultaneously was just feeling as though I needed something a little more rewarding, a little more service based professionally speaking, but I loved events and wanted to find something within that, that realm. And so I had dipped my toes in the wedding, planning water by helping my friends and just immediately fell in love with the work being able to help couples navigate the wedding planning process and then give them and their family the ability to just relax and enjoy the wedding is it's extremely rewarding.
(03:23):
And so I started your perfect bridesmaid and that was 12 years ago. And you know, one of the best things about this journey has really been the ability to expand my team. My, my team are probably the best thing about your perfect bridesmaid. You know, thankfully we've had incredible retention, so folks stick around and they really been able to become just part of the family. And so being able to work alongside such awesome people and do what we love has just been, been a dream. This year has been interesting. It's it's honestly been pretty heartbreaking. We've had to move 83 weddings and, and counting and just you know, our, our, our couples, I mean, you know, as you know, what their wedding day is, it's so much it's it's just, it's an incredible milestone for their life. You know, the, the joining of two families, it's an Epic celebration. And for that to just be put on hold or delayed especially during a time when we, we need our friends and family and we want to be close it's it's really been sad, but 2021 is hopefully going to be amazing. And those celebrations, I think, will be even more meaningful when they can happen.
(05:07):
Yeah. We were talking before we started recording and, you know you said, you know, that you guys had just had a micro wedding and we just came from a couple over the weekend and like you said, it is and I will, you know, we can talk or not talk about the safety of everything regarding that, but, but what was clear to me with filming that event over the weekend was yeah. How desperately people were wanting to be able to connect with their friends and family again, and how much people have missed that. And, you know, obviously there are safety considerations and all of that aside, but yeah, it's you know, as important as weddings ever were before and getting to celebrate and see, you know, longtime friends, family, coworkers, whoever from all over especially now it's, it's so important to have those people in our lives. You know what I mean?
(05:56):
It is, you know, I feel like the past couple of years there's been so much talk about, you know, how technology you know, keeps us close ish and, and, you know, anecdotally, there's been a lot of comments about how people are, are not as social in person. And I feel like what, you know, the, the pandemic, what the corn teams have taught us is that we truly need that human connection. And and I think maybe, you know, we had taken that for granted in the past. And, and what I'm seeing is, you know, some of those regulations loosen up is that, that is the first thing people are, are grabbing to it's, you know, they just, they want that human connection with, with their favorite people.
(06:47):
Yeah. I definitely, I would definitely agree with that. And I think that, yeah, we've been so reliant lately, you know, in the past, you're out with friends and family, you're on your phone, you're checking whatever, you know, you're at the concert you're taking, you know, all these different things that we're taking away from experiencing. And, you know, now it's like, my wife is happy to have two of her friends over, you know, distant in the backyard. Right. And just be able to talk, but you know what I mean? But it is not that she didn't, you know, she appreciated that a lot more than, than I did in the past. Right. But, but you know, that that's all they want. Right. This is so good to see in person. Right. It's so good to know, even if we can't hug just to see your face and everything.
(07:29):
It's so, so true. And I think people are also realizing the energy that we get from each other. I know I've been doing, you know, zoom call after soon after zoom call and you just don't get that same kind of kinetic energy. You know, that same I don't know I guess the best word is energy that you get from, you know, in person meetings. And I personally, you know, end up feeling much more tired after a day of boom calls versus, you know, being able to meet in person. I just think we're social beings. And I personally am excited to get back to a time when we can, can gather and celebrate and just connect with one another much more frequently than what we're able to now.
(08:23):
Yeah. It's, it's so hard to, to read that. I mean, we just had a new client consult yesterday on zoom and, you know, trying to, to read that energy, right. It's almost like, you know, when you have a console, it's almost like it's a first date or something. Right. And you're trying to fill that out and, you know, it's like the only way, right. You know, I can still date, you know, be married. Right. But, but you do, you sit down and it's like, okay, you know, you're filling this out. And it's, it's night and day when you're on zoom and trying to read that energy level and, and, you know, just kind of get to know. And obviously it's a good alternative and it's, it's obviously the only alternative right now, but yeah, it's definitely challenging.
(09:05):
Yep. Yeah. I guess just part of life currently,
(09:10):
I my last thought on this before, cause I, I do want to focus on you guys and your company is the one thing that this has taught me, not that I didn't know already the importance of wedding planners and, you know, coordination for weddings, but especially with everything going on, I don't think there is a more important vendor type of any kind right now with, you know, the expertise and the knowledge of all the different regulations and everything you guys need to know, you know, every state of the weddings zoom thing I watch or read about or whatever it always has, the planners, they're always like, you know, as important as you guys were before now, it's, it's, you know, even more so with this, trying to make sure, you know, you've got your couples under control having to move stuff around or keep 'em, you know calm or, you know, whatever that is. Right.
(10:02):
No. Well, thank you for that. Yeah, it's I hope we've been able to, you know, the, the couples who are still hoping to get married this year and the ones who've had to postpone to next year you know, it's definitely been our hope that heartbreaking or a stressful and uncertain of a process as it's been, we hope we've even in these tough times, been able to just help kind of guide them through it and really advocate, you know, on their behalf. I feel like that that role of advocate is something that doesn't necessarily get thought of you know, during, during the good times. But it's really being able to have that advocate during times like this, you know, during, during struggles that I think couples appreciate and see, you know, the value of the most.
(11:02):
So, yeah. So I want to talk about you guys and your story. You said you went to school, you know, you started doing corporate events. What was it about doing the events and everything that originally kind of drew you into that world?
(11:17):
You know, I so it's interesting. I went to school to be a lawyer, so I have undergrad degrees in criminal justice and history and graduate degree in public policy and a wedding planner. I honestly have always loved events, even, you know, from being a little girl, we would my family lived very close together. My aunts and uncles and grandparents, and so every Sunday was an event. And then even in high school being ASB leadership and planning prom and homecoming and, you know, various fundraisers. And then in college, I was a, the campus activities director and I worked for the city of Lacy doing citywide events. So it was always a hobby. I don't think I had any mentors kind of showing me that it could be my profession. And then when I graduated, I was taking basically a year off in order to save money for law school and just fell in love with the work.
(12:37):
I love Seattle. I also had to start paying my college student loans and during that year and thought twice about tripling the student debt going to law school. And so it was just, I think I got really lucky in that things just sort of fell into place as they were supposed to, if that makes sense. It definitely, wasn't some grand design. It was the universe sort of showing me how to, how to make, you know, money, how to kind of take my, my passion and pursue it professionally. So I yeah, I just, I think I got, I got pretty lucky of how things unfolded.
(13:30):
Why did you want to be a lawyer?
(13:38):
I had always wanted to be a lawyer, even as a little girl. I felt like lawyers thought for people and in a way kind of like what I was mentioning you know, the, the advocacy that we do on behalf of our clients, I, I wanted to be someone who helped people and someone who stood up for them. And so I wanted to be a prosecuting attorney or work for the HCLU and and now I get to help people and advocate for them in regards to, you know, one of the best days of their life. So I definitely in a way accomplished my original goal just in a very different sort of way.
(14:31):
No, absolutely. Absolutely. I love that. No, that makes total sense. I mean, especially now of anything it's, it's the planners, like you said, that are really, you know, looking out for their couples in substance. So I love the parallels in that. That's so interesting to me.
(14:45):
Yeah. It's I don't know. It's, I am someone I believe in power of the universe then, you know, things unfold for our benefit. And I definitely am, am thankful that, that everything so far has worked out.
(15:03):
So so you're doing the corporate events, right? So you decided to go down that route. How is that going? Did you like that? I know that we've had other planners and other vendor types in the past that, you know, were more in the corporate world and then, you know, make the transition what, you know, what you said you had friends getting married. What was it that kind of made you take that leap to go, you know, to get into weddings and leave the corporate?
(15:31):
Yeah, I loved corporate event planning and especially being, you know, young twenties in downtown Seattle. It was a really fun, fun time even here in Portland and we do still have one corporate client that I absolutely love. But for me, and again, I don't know that I was necessarily really aware of my decision, but I got to be, you know, late twenties and really wanted to have more control of my professional destiny, if you will. I was working for a large corporation and yes, there's all of these benefits, like, well, just benefits period. You know, having a 401k with a match and company paid health insurance. But I of course was limited to the direction and the budget of the, you know, the companies that I worked for. And I just, I felt like a caged racehorse.
(16:49):
I, I felt like I couldn't show people what I could do because I had all of these parameters on me. And so I, I was needing to be able to take control and and just to kind of break free of those shackles. And simultaneously my brother had my niece fairly early in life and needed help with raising her. And, you know, the one thing as I am sure, all the parents out there know you know, working for yourself, you work probably, I don't know, twice as much, but you have much more flexibility than when you work for someone else. And so by, you know, leaving the corporate world behind and starting own company, I had the flexibility to be able to help my brother with Kylie. And so yeah, you know, again, I feel like life was just moving in that direction.
(18:02):
And you know, when I was able to try my hand at wedding planning to see, you know, do my skills transfer over, do I enjoy this work? It, it just was kind of like a light bulb being able to see how much stress I was taking off of couples. You know, who in that, those first couple of weddings where my friends and just, you know, having kind of the, the freedom to kind of flex your creative muscle a little bit it just, you know, was, was hitting all the right spots. And it just was very clear that for a lot of reasons I needed to make the change,
(18:53):
Was that a pretty seamless changed? I know, like you said and you know, we do corporate stuff too, and it's definitely a little more cut and dry sometimes. I mean, obviously you can have, you know corporate events with a lot of flare and everything, but you definitely are able, like you said, to flex more creative muscle, did you, did you feel like your skills translated over and, and how was that transition?
(19:19):
They definitely did. And I think you know, I was really fortunate. I had an incredible direct supervisor who really showed me and gave me the flexibility to pursue a lot of different kind of avenues within my, my job. I mean, so for instance, I worked on the internal intranet, the intranet for the company. And so then when it came time to build my own website, I knew how to do that. You know, I had become worked with, you know, the the corporate communications office. So I knew about brand guidelines and you know, how to make things cohesive when starting, you know, your perfect bridesmaid, it's amazing like 12 years down the road, how you can see how, like, all these little things were falling into place. Not only in the Hey, how to plan events, but the how to run a business side of things as well.
(20:29):
The other really incredible benefit I saw was, you know, from corporate events, executives, especially need events to be seamless from a logistics standpoint, you know, they do, they do not want things to be bumpy. So you have to be a logistics expert. You really need to be able to think seven steps down the road of how can this event be just flawless. And that really has helped with weddings and also especially private residence weddings, where we really are taking on not only the role of wedding planner, but also of venue manager. And so that's definitely one of our specialties. And I, I really do feel like the large scale corporate events that I had done in the past really set me up for success with that particular act. Right.
(21:30):
Yeah. It's interesting. Cause yeah, I know a lot of people always think about, you know, weddings and like, you know, the quote unquote bridesmaids or whatever, but you know, a lot of times the people that are planning weddings are living their lives and they have their jobs and their, you know, everything else. And then they're also planning their wedding. And sometimes yeah, if you're doing a corporate event and your corporate liaison or whatever, for those like two weeks or whatever before that thing, that might be one of the only things they're working on. So it is a lot more like a, you know, it really has to go right. And they're really making sure, okay, now at this exact minute and this exact, you know, it's almost worse coming from that corporate side sometimes in terms of that that attention to detail, you know what I mean?
(22:13):
No, a hundred percent agree. And you know, also being I feel like budget adherence is another skillset that really carries over, you know, we were required to stick to a budget, you know, with corporate events, you know, down to the penny. And that, that really helped us, you know, be prepared to succeed in helping our couples manage their budgets. So yeah, I do think that there's a lot of, a lot of crossover between, between the two and you know, also just the customer service aspect being able to, to really listen. It's amazing to me how many people can't stop talking to just listen to the details. I really find that that listening and really asking the right questions to understand to the level of detail that you need to, to really deliver. There's, there's a lot of crossover there
(23:27):
W when you were you know, talking about customer service and everything. So when you were saying, okay, you know, we're going to develop your perfect bridesmaid, know I'm going to make my own company. What did you want that to stand for? Or what did you want, you know, your mission statement or whatever the beat, how did you envision your company and as it relates to the customers that you service?
(23:49):
Yeah. So two, two kind of different areas with that. So with our name, your perfect bridesmaid, that was really our approach to customer service. We wanted to be an informed experience, a friend for our clients, someone who, you know, would go to the end of, end of the universe forum, someone who would advocate for them someone who took it personal that, that is kind of the, the mission statement behind the name. Secondly, so we started the company in 2008. So the midst of a complete and utter economic meltdown, which shows you, I did not go to college for business school. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have done that, but so with that, you know, people were being laid off left and right. Finances work extremely tight. And I my friends who were getting married at the time were really finding so many of the wedding planners at the time, it was, it was like a luxury item.
(25:05):
And I really felt like the experience the know how the wisdom that, that wedding planners bring to the table for couples. It shouldn't be a luxury item, every couple deserve to enjoy their wedding. You know, every family deserve to not have to work their child's wedding. And so I have, for us, I really wanted to find a way to to, to allow wedding planning, to be something that every couple could afford. And, and to just find a way to, to try and make a living doing this well while keeping the services affordable. So those were, those were kind of my two two goals.
(25:59):
Yeah. For the last 10 years it's been, you know, I survived the Oh, Oh eight thing, or I started a business in the Oh eight thing or whatever, and now it's going to be, you know, I survived in, in 2020, right. I mean another five, 10 years.
(26:18):
Yes. Yes. I feel like for those of us who have made it through, you know, each, each disaster, we should get an, a patch to honor our belt or something. It's both, both periods have made life very interesting, but I feel like we're, we're getting through, we're going to get to the other side. It is
(26:44):
Just so interesting though. It's like, when they talk about if your grandparents are, or if you say, if, you know, someone that was older that, you know, had suffered through like the great depression or whatever, and that they were, you know, so frugal and so afraid of pain because, you know, you lived through that. And I, you know, I was I had just started my career in TV in a way I just graduated from college. And, you know, I think I've told this story before on the podcast, but, you know, my, it was like the third, Monday I was at my job having moved all of my belongings and everything down to Bakersfield, California, and I got called into the newsroom. And I was, you know, I thought for sure that I was going to get laid off, but they had already laid off, you know, 17 or 18 people that morning in our newsroom was not that big.
(27:33):
And I remember being asked to go out for, for months afterward, anytime that they told me to go, like, get my camera and, and gear out of my work car. I already saw that they were going to have me come back in and like, leave it on the desk and go home. But I did. And it was like this totally like irrational fear. But but you know, I think it makes you not take anything for granted. Right. I think you guys, you know, having gone through Oh eight and especially now, right. I mean, so adapt at, you know flexibility and being adaptable and everything else because, you know, everything you, everything everyone goes through right. Helps dictate kind of who they are and how they, you know, do their job or run their business or do anything else. And so, yeah, it's definitely like two different, you know, war zones now of scars that you have. But I think it obviously makes you more well rounded in that way.
(28:25):
No, it's so true. I feel like, you know, it makes you scrappy and frugal and creative. And you know, I honestly think one of the silver linings to this, if you want to call it, that is that a lot of business owners in our industry are coming up with really creative pivots. And I think once things settle down and you know, and the dust settles that a lot of people I think will be in even a better place because they, they were forced to, you know to get scrappy. I feel like in times like this, your, your needs and your wants get real crystal clear and you have no other choice, but to be creative and, you know, find a way to to survive and, and succeed. And so I'm it's, you know, it's been kind of cool to see some of the things that are happening within our industry now.
(29:36):
Yeah. I think so many people got so comfortable and so not like not like sure of themselves is the right word, but you know, the same photographers I saw that were posting, you know, six months ago, you know, why I wouldn't leave the house for under $5,000 or, well, I guess I could give them two hours of coverage for this large budget because you know, they're right. You know, and, and I'm not against valuing yourselves and your work, but, you know, these are the same people. Now they're saying like, I can't get my unemployment to work. I can't get my PPP money, you know, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on? And I'm like, well, that's the same people that, like I said, six months ago, you know, couldn't be bothered to do anything, you know, cause people, I just think got so comfortable with these, not, I don't know if they were inflated budgets, which is with large budgets and a little more discretionary spending and then or in search, whatever, you know, whatever people are spending money a little more freely. And then I think that that was a big you know kind of a full stop of what's actually happening now. So
(30:45):
No, I a hundred percent agree. I mean, I, myself, we've had this conversation with my team, you know, people had you grow up knowing that you need a an emergency fund, you know, personally, and for whatever reason, it never dawned on me. I need an emergency fund professionally while I guarantee you moving forward, that will certainly be in the budget. And so it's, you know, you just, you get these little life lessons in there and when you know, better, you do better. And yeah, I this has definitely been a crash course in entrepreneurship. I will tell you that.
(31:32):
Oh yeah. I mean, and I, and I don't even know where that comes from. I mean, I guess that's a great email. And I, I don't know if it's an age thing. I mean, I I've talked with people, you know, I'm what, tomorrow's my birthday, so I'll be 34, I guess I can't ever remember. But you know, I always remember, you know, when I quit my job, it was really a, you know, a big decision and something that I really struggled with, you know, and, and trying to figure out, you know, finances and everything, and what's going to happen. And then I hire a lot of kids, you know, assistance or whatever that are, you know, in their early twenties. And that doesn't seem to be, it just doesn't seem like there's as much, like you said worried about, you know, funds or whether I need to make this month, or what do I need to do, you know, any sort of that, they're just like, well, I kind of work.
(32:27):
And if this comes along and I remember I was hiring, but I was trying to hire one of my first assistants and I, I can't ever remember the guy's name. And he were sitting down at the coffee shop and I said, Oh, so whether, you know, what do you do for work right now? And he goes, Oh, I edit you guys, I edit like these yoga videos, like once every three or four months, I'll edit the yoga video as like, Oh, okay, well I, so what else, what other stuff do you work on? And he's like, well, that's like, that's it, that's all I don't. And I'm like, well, aren't you worried about like, you know, not that, not that money. Right. It's the be all end all you aren't, you aren't, you worried at all about. And so, like he said, I think that, yeah, everything we've gone through now, all these entrepreneurs, or watch your preneurs or whatever you want to call it, now that they're starting now, I do think are like, Oh, wow. I actually really need to like, figure out, you know, what I need to make to survive where maybe before, when there was just so much money floating around, it didn't matter.
(33:26):
No, exactly. And, and I do think I think there's going to be a kind of clearing of the field or some of the various industries within the wedding you know, industry in terms of the, the hobbyist finding another hobby so that, you know, the true professionals aren't going to find themselves in such a crowded field. I think.
(34:03):
Yeah. I remember talking to one of my photographer friends and cause they're, they're changing the Washington unemployment, I think next week, unless they've extended it again, where we haven't had to do like job searches or anything, we've just been able to qualify for unemployment with being like a business owner. And we were talking and he said, well, what are they going to do when you know, w when we have to make those searches, right? Cause you know, like if you're a car, if you're like a car salesman and you get laid off and you know, you in normal times are expected to go look for other work in a similar field or whatever to qualify for the unemployment, right. Washington, hasn't made you do that since, you know, March. Cause we have the stay at home order and I was telling him, and I said, well, you know, a lot of people might have to like, look for work at a restaurant or a bar or wherever.
(34:53):
And he's like, well, how can you, you know, if we have weddings on the books next year, like the state can expect us to, you know, change our careers. And I said, dude, you know, being, being self employed is a luxury. That's not an expectation. It's not an expectation that you [inaudible], that you should just because you decided that you wanted to do this, that that should just be granted you for the rest of time without having to, you know, I mean, sometimes you really gotta earn it. And I mean, it, right now, it sucks, but that's, you know, it's not, it's not a given,
(35:29):
It's not. And you know, I there's no shame in doing what you need to do to put a roof, your head and food on the table for your family. And you know, if that's working for Amazon, you know, at night, so you and shoot on the weekends, I mean, that's what you gotta do. That's I feel like, you know, we're, we're doing that with even some of my team members, you know, sharing sharing resources, a venue for instance needs some help. And so they reached out and you know, a couple of my team members are going to go work for the venue. And we're just, you know, sharing the sharing low cause people got to eat you know, you gotta do what you gotta do. And, and there's no shame in that. And yeah, I, I feel like it was your, I don't know, four of Y PB, I ended up taking a part time job cause our bookings just didn't come in and, you know, wasn't making enough to to pay the bills and you know, if things don't turn around, I can see having to, to go back and, and do that again.
(37:05):
But it's like, you know, this too shall pass. I, I guess I'm still optimistic in that, you know, take those part time jobs so that you can live to fight another day.
(37:17):
Absolutely. One thing I was going to ask you about this before, and we kinda got side tracked, but it's, it relates to what you were saying now about kind of getting out of this, you know, you said you wanted for couples to know that, you know, wedding planning wasn't a luxury, right. That you wanted it to be accessible. Because obviously, you know, we might be having those same conversations again now. Right? Like how do you make sure couples know you know, this is something that they need, isn't a luxury, right. Is something accessible. How did you, how have you gone about in the past and, you know, maybe plan again in the future or whatever, but I, is that through marketing, is that through education on your website or when you sit down with couples or is that, how do you convey that? Cause I think that that's really, I mean, obviously important, but you know, is still important, you know, 12 years later,
(38:10):
So true. Well, you sort of touched on it in the opening. I have found that the the best marketing that we do is collect referrals from past clients. They really have through their reviews, share the value, share the peace of mind you know, share the, the money saving that, that we brought to the table working together. And so in a way I feel like the reviews or word of mouth referrals or the referrals from fellow vendors, they are essential to our, our business in particular because, you know, planners, we don't have a cake for you to taste. We don't have a, a beautiful book, Hey, for you to fall in love with it is a hundred percent service based. And I think sometimes when you lack a tangible item, it can sometimes be hard for people to see the benefits prior to booking. And that's why the, that word of mouth has just been essential for us.
(39:27):
Yeah, no, absolutely. I I've said before on the podcast, you know, even when we were going to get married almost four years ago, now that it was, that was the hardest sale you know, for me, for my wife, right. At vendors. Cause we, I was in the industry already, you know, and, and referring, you know, falling over venue, but trying to get the planner, even, you know, even for my future wife, you know, of a wedding bedroom, that was incredibly difficult. Cause it is, it's so hard to like, I just remember the conversations that we had. She like, but I don't like what, like what do we get from that? Like whether we, and it was like all this stuff, like you're not going to have to stress about anything. Your moms are going to have to worry about anything. Your dad's not going to have to worry about anything. Like, but you can't, that's not like a thing you can hold. Right. I mean, even like with video, you know, like we have, you know, a highlight video or whatever that you have, it's so hard to like, you can't sell that feeling right. Or it's hard to, it's hard to sell that feeling. It's hard to verbalize that.
(40:32):
Yup. And I mean, just a perfect example. So before we hopped on the call I had a sales consultation and the bride's brother got married a couple of weeks ago and she's, she's getting married the end of August. So, you know, we're not too far away, but she and her mom just live through her brother's wedding and they said, Oh, let's call a plan. And I feel like that's that, you know, that happens quite a bit is you see if you've been to a wedding with a planner and then you've been to one, you know, without, I really do feel like you see the difference. And that too, you know, seeing that experience firsthand, I think also really kind of helps us sell our services.
(41:27):
Yeah. I was reminded again about that on Saturday with ready and you know, where there was you know w when the groom is coming up and saying like, Hey guys, she's just seen though, we're going to detour us here in a few minutes. And you're like, man, she really not be your your, your,
(41:48):
Yeah.
(41:51):
Were you able to be, I mean, safely talking to everybody right now and hugging and I mean, not hugging, but you know what I mean? Like I said, man, this should definitely not be but it is what it is. Right. It's it's so I I've said before, I hear, you know like you said, weddings happen every day. They don't have a planner. Right. And it's, it's, it's, it's a different way to judge. You have to judge the success of that wedding. Right. How, how did everybody feel during that wedding and how did everybody feel, you know, after the wedding, it's so hard to convey that.
(42:29):
Yeah, it's I, I am thankful, I haven't really noticed a big shift over the past decade plus of, and I, I, I honestly do think it's a result of kind of that firsthand experience, that more and more couples are starting to, you know, realize, Hey, I'm engaged. I planning a wedding, I need a coordinator. You know, we, we, I think this generation understands the value of a subject matter expert. And so more and more they know, Hey, I call a plumber for the plumbing. I take my car to a mechanic, I'm getting married, I reach out to a planner. But yeah, those referrals that's something that we, it's interesting. We keep having this conversation because we rely on those reviews so heavily, but we haven't done a wedding since March and our, our next wedding isn't until the end of July where normally we would have done probably 45 weddings in between there under normal circumstances. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see how kind of this gap of working gap of, you know, reviews kind of impacts us moving forward.
(44:03):
What have you and obviously it's been so crazy with, you know, the, the, the rescheduled and postpones. Have you been able to self do anything to, to what, what, what have you been able to take any time to, to improve anything you know, on your own, in the downtime? Is there anything you're proud about that way that you've been able to work on?
(44:27):
Yeah, so a few things no, I guess just in general, to your point, I I really wanted to make use of this time. Cause when else are we going to basically have life, press pause? And so one of the first things that I did myself and or other vendors, we started a lobbying organization called the live event industry of Oregon. And we have been lobbying the state as well as federally, not only for relief for our industry, but also you know, we were asking to get a seat at the table to help influence the reopening, which we did. And then we also have been helping additional States like Washington, Oregon Arizona, California, and now actually Kentucky to launch you know, similar chapters within their own States and then partnering with there's a national life events coalition that is kind of unifying all of these little statewide entities to lobby for substantial relief for our industry.
(46:01):
So being a founding member of that has kept me really busy, but being able to, you know, again, advocate for, you know, my fellow business owners for our industry and also just for our clients in terms of these regulations has been incredible. I also actually hired someone to help me with the money side of things. I now have incredible forecasting financial models you know, based on different assumptions, just because, you know, I needed to be able to manage the fiscal health of the business, knowing that, I mean, moving 84 weddings, that's a quarter of a million dollars that just went, poof just went by by and you know, I needed to make sure that we were going to be a okay, and, and being able to, you know, have those models that could flex with the changing situation.
(47:14):
So investing there has been amazing. And his just having, you know, information is so powerful and just the more information you have, the better you can run your business. And so that's been a game changer. I also honestly doubled down on my marketing. I, so I've always paid for to advertise on the knot and wedding wire. And when this happened, I called them up and I doubled my, my monthly investment and it's paid off. I mean, in the midst of, you know, this mess we've booked 16 or 17 new weddings this month. And so I feel like you know, investing there also, I hired a a PR company who has been helping me kind of get published, you know, helping with some additional exposure in terms of responding, you know, replying to magazine articles or news article requests and just kind of getting information out to couples on a broader, broader scale. So I would say that I've been just as busy if not more but really able to kind of use the downtime, not, not as downtime, but as an opportunity to improve and kind of tackle some of those projects that were probably far overdue.
(48:58):
Yeah. No, I think that that's so important cause it's, it's definitely been one of two ways, right. Where people have really kind of curled up or, and it's, it's so tough with, you know, people with kids and, and trying to do the, you know, all that stuff right now. But I think it's, I think it's so important, you know we you know, similar with marketing and stuff, you know, I used to just pay a lot for like our web kind of SEO stuff. And, you know, that was one of the first calls I made back in March was saying like, Hey man, you know, we need to, we gotta put this on pause right now. And, you know, even just try to do a lot of that stuff on my own, you know, and just seeing how much we could grow everything, you know, just for free would just me kind of doing the back end, whatever it, you know, it's interesting to see, you know, what you can do, you know, if you have the time, you know, having too much time can be scary or it cannot be right.
(49:50):
Cause it's sometimes you're like, well, I have all the time in the world, so now we can push it off till tomorrow or let's go do whatever. And so it's it's challenging my, my question to you too. And this is a little in depth, but that's okay when you're talking about relief and advocating, you know, with the local event groups are you talking like financial relief for vendors and things, or what kind of relief are you talking about?
(50:15):
Yes, exactly. Financial relief for businesses, you know, small businesses within our, our industry. So for instance, one of the things that, and I know other organizations really lobbied hard on was the PPP reform. So you know, many small businesses were able to to qualify for a PPP loan, but originally we had six weeks that we had to use that money. And when none of us could have weddings, how were we supposed to, you know, pay our team to get that money forgivable? So one of the things that we really put a lot of effort into was lobbying to, to extend that and just to, you know, educate, Hey, this is great, but we can't work. We can't pay our, our staff. We need to, you know, get this adjusted. And you know, our efforts along with a lot of other people you know, we were able to get, get that changed.
(51:27):
Right now the live event coalition is working with lobbyists there in DC to roll out a really powerful aid package. And, and hopefully we'll be able to to see some relief there. And that's part of why we're working with Kentucky, you know, not to get too political, but we have even right now there's relief packages that have passed the house that the Senate is not willing to take up at the moment. And so we said, alright, well, let's get Kentucky involved. Because you know, if the Senator in Kentucky, who's holding this up maybe him hearing from hundreds and hundreds of his own constituents will educate him on the situation. And so I would say for probably six weeks now, we've been working one on one with businesses within Kentucky to get them organized and mobilized. And they're first we're helping them organize a letter writing campaign, which should go live in the next 10 days. So lots of cool things going on, and I know they'll go ahead.
(53:03):
And I know, like you mentioned the Washington group, they just had a great meeting yesterday, yesterday day before yesterday with planners just going over the guidelines and kind of getting everybody caught up to speed with governor Antilles updates. So yeah, you know, I think one of the best things about the wedding industry has been that it's filled with people who care, you know, I can't think of too many industries where, you know, that are, are so filled with creative people with big hearts. And I think that's leveraging that mobilizing that is what's gonna get us through to the other side.
(53:57):
Yeah. Cause it's, it's so hard. And that's why I kind of brought it up is Dorothy and I were, were talking about it last night after watching that group thing. And I said, you know, it's so great that, you know, we're, we're advocating for, you know, trying to open up events and stuff, but, you know, there needs to be some financial you know, relief in there as well. I mean, people just aren't, it's just not, you know, and that was just my question because, you know, not like I said, not to get too kind of in the weeds on this, but yeah, it's, it's twofold, you know, it's being able to do events again and to do events safely, but also you know, doing an event in two weeks, isn't going to make up for the four months of everything that nobody did. So, you know, it's, it's twofold.
(54:44):
Well, no, and you know, again, not to kind of go off the rails, but just today, so we've been working on this PRP. So we worked with Mark who owns moving pictures. It's a videographer company here in town and he has created a video for us to kind of accomplish, you know, I think the, the two things that need to happen one it's an educational piece on the economic impact that events have locally. I don't think people have a clue on how important events are to a state's economy. Secondly, our elected officials need to understand we were the first to close our industry. We truly will be the last to open to full capacity. And unlike restaurants, we cannot offer a takeout service. We, and it's not like with the flip of a switch, we're back to work. People hire us, you know, a year, 18 months out primarily. And so the, the economic recovery is going to be such a longer runway than what I think people realized. And you know, all I'll forward you the video. Cause I think you can kind of see what we're doing, but but yeah, those, those two messages of, Hey, we're an important part of this economy and we really are gonna need some help. You know, that those, those two points need to be shouted from the rooftops.
(56:46):
Absolutely. Well, I so appreciate you taking the time today to come on. I have a feeling that we could talk for hours about this. I mean, I think we talked for 15 minutes before we even got on recording today, but it's so it's so nice to, to just to finally make a connection and to, and to make this you know to get this going. And I, I think it's great, you know, you guys are doing down there and like I said, just, just from looking at everything and the work and the the website and the videos and the photos and everything, and just just a wealth of experience and, and events and education and everything else that you guys have going on. I so appreciate you taking the time today to sit down and chat with us for the podcast.
(57:33):
Well, thank you so much. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, and it was, it was awesome to connect and hopefully we can continue the chat offline.
(57:43):
And if people want to learn more about you guys, you know, all your team, you know, tons of stuff going on, where would you have them check out
(57:52):
Check out our website. So www.yourperfectbridesmaid.com. Also Instagram just @yourperfectbridesmaid
(58:03):
Awesome. And if you're a, if you're like a Kimberly and you're interested in coming on the future episode of the podcast, I know you had said that one of your friends had sent this your way, or you had seen it on one of the groups, but if you're interested in coming on, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire that we can get you in the system and try to schedule some time to feature you on. But thank you again so much for taking the time. And I hope I hope everything goes safe and you guys, you know, we, we get through this as, as well as we can.
(58:37):
Well, thank you so much. And take care be well.
(58:42):
Yes, absolutely. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Nigel Lindsey, Revolution by the Barrel
(00:08):
Hey everybody. Welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I'm so excited that this guy reached out to me this week to come on the podcast, Nigel Lindsey, with Revolution by the Barrel we had met, I think, a year ago at a wedding open house, a couple of them, and I was sitting there and I was, you know, we're putting all of our focus into the Best Made Weddings podcast now. And I was slacking on lining up guests for the, Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast. And I'm so glad that you reached out and had kind words to say about the podcast and then we can bring you on. And I said, well, Hey, this is great. Let's get you on and let's talk. So Nigel Lindsey, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do?
(00:50):
Yeah, of course. So, first off, thank you for bringing me on. Like I said, my name is Nigel Lindsey. I'm the owner of Revolution by the Barrel. We're a bar catering company that focuses on classic and craft cocktails, but obviously doesn't shy us from doing like beer and wine events. I've started this company in about four years ago and kind of started when I went to a beautiful wedding and we had like something crazy to me. I think it was like scallops. And I saw how nice everything was. And then I went to the bar and I was offered a Jack and Coke, and I was like, Oh, that's kind of disrespectful. So knowing the, the expertise that I had in bartending at that there was there was an opening for something that I wanted to do, which is crafting classic cocktails. Cause I enjoy my Manhattans just as much as my whiskey smashes and something a little bit over the top sometimes. So yeah,
(01:42):
Well that's great. And we were just talking a little off Mike, about getting you incorporated into the best of me at weddings and upcoming round table too, because I do think first off we don't get enough representation with, you know, bar bar services and everything on the podcast. In general, I love to get more voices of that vendor type. And then I do think, you know, alcohol service with everything going on right now is going to be so important to just, you know, manage just guests and everything. We were at a wedding last night, our second, one of the year since kind of all this has happened. And it was not, I did not think very safe service from you know, for me watching guests and everything all night. And so anyway, I so appreciate you coming on and people that do this, cause I think it's so underrated how important it is to have, you know, quality cocktails and more importantly, have somebody responsible kind of like managing all of that stuff. So thank you. How did, how did you get involved in all this? I mean, you seem like a knowledgeable guy you know, really personable. How did you get involved in kind of running your own you know,
(02:43):
Company? Yeah, so when I first started, it was just me and I was called Mobile Mixology. I was a lead bartender. I was transitioning from lead bartender to bar manager at the Marriott and a couple of guests were routinely came in, asked me to bartend a couple of weddings and I thought it was like a fun idea. So I was like, okay, well, Mobile Mixology, I'll just do this on the side. This was probably right around the time that my first daughter was being born. And so I was like, Oh, this is perfect. I could supplement some income, create a education savings account. What have you. And then I found that there was a bigger need for it. Cause I started looking online for competitors and the area Snohomish County. And I didn't see too many. And I didn't see people that were doing the things that I love to do. So I revamped started Revolution by the Barrel because I love whiskey, which was the barrel came from and I thought this was revolutionary kind of times and for what I was trying to create. So they came up with the name and I just took off from there, started doing corporate events, weddings I think have done a bar and a bat bat mitzvah. You know, just had been having fun ever since.
(03:53):
Yeah. It's and especially, I just think the Seattle area is so I think refined, I don't even know if that's the right word, but they're really knowledgeable about, you know, they like to have good cocktails, you know, like to have good beer. I mean, ma you know, maybe that's you know, true just in this times we are in any way, you know, people are getting more refined, but I do think Seattle has a good palate for that. So I definitely think, and when guests go to weddings and want to be, you know, entertained and, you know, feel like they're having a good time out. Right. The, do you feel like how do you feel like you guys, what is your vision to kind of elevate that experience that guests have at the wedding? What is your, you know, what was your thesis when you wanted to start your company and what did you want to achieve?
(04:33):
Yeah. So one line thesis, everybody deserves more than Jack and Coke every time. I understand that's a lot of people's favorite drinks and it's go to, but my thing is, you know, we have this isn't that I can't remember the name of the movie with Tom cruise, is it called cocktail where there's like a whole bunch of a high fructose corn syrup and their drinks and like Apple pucker sour. And you're going all crazy. Like this, I'm more of a fresh ingredients making the simple syrups yourself in the commissary kitchen coming up with cool garnishes. So with that, it's just adding to the creativity and the culture that you're bringing in on these weddings, right. With everybody's putting so much money into flowers and arrangements, I'm putting money into the dresses and the suits and field services. All this comes out to one beautiful thing that I want to make sure that the cocktail is also compliment that I want to make sure that we're using fresh ingredients to go ahead and compliment the food that you're going to be having that evening, because anybody can make a Jack and Coke, but not too many bartenders know how to go out away and make aviation.
(05:36):
Right. So kind of want to just bring something new, a bit different perspective and something that people can enjoy for a reasonable price.
(05:45):
That's great. So did you have a, did you have a background in entrepreneurship? I mean, how did you know? Cause it's not everyone just says, Hey, I'm going to go start a bartending business. How did you, you know, like how did that come about your mind?
(05:59):
Yeah. So I've known for a long time that I've always wanted to have my own business. I remember that I talked about it when I used to do job shadows at my mom's work. She used to work at a law firm and the head lawyer that I used to follow at that time there, he was just like, Oh, so Nigel, where are you going to go to law school? And I was like, well, you know, I really actually want to go to business school. I want to own my own business who owns this building. Like I want to have multiple buildings or, you know, something of that sort. The bar T like, so the whole business aspect has always been just a dream to have some type of ownership to give something and to create something that lasts. You see a lot of different businesses that people own. And I don't know too many people that own bartending empires, right. Or like large businesses like that. So I was like, Oh, this is definitely something that intrigues me. I enjoy doing it. I have fun. And longest those components are there, then why not create a business out of it? There's a need for it. Right. So yeah, I, I've always been driven towards entrepreneurship, have a majoring in econ. So it was always looking at economics and that line, so worked out.
(07:04):
Yeah. That's the thing nowadays is having a degree and, you know, besides like all the, the, the computer coding or everything they're telling everyone to study now, but having, you know, some sort of, you know, business or finance or some sort of degree I think is so important. And especially nowadays, you know, so many people want to, you know, have businesses, but like, you know, I have no idea what they're doing or like, you know, spend, like I spent, you know, how many years trying to figure out like, well, you know, what, what is profits and losses and all that stuff. And that would be my advice for anybody, you know, don't, don't get a broadcast degree. Like I did go get, go get a finance degree. So you had a background in service, right? You said you were working at the hotels and stuff. How did you get involved in the service industry?
(07:46):
Yeah, so I was a broke college student. That's that's how I happened. I was, I was 21. I was, so I was originally what the college to run track. I believed I was going to be the fastest 400 hurdler that was known to man. Unbeknownst to me, I was going to get injured. And also unbeknownst to me, I was not the fastest. I was beat quite a bit. And when I got injured I lost my scholarship. So I had to start working. I was 21 at the time and there was a bar, there was actually I worked at the Monte Cristo and I worked at that venue for a little bit. And then from there I worked for this mom and pop shop called a craving occasion. And that was their only bartender and their server. And I, the only real bartending experience I really knew or had was frat parties, which is pathetic. And then from there it became lead bartender at a different pub and then went to the Marriott. So I just transitioned this because I was working in the evening and still going to school in the daytime. Yeah,
(08:52):
That's fascinating. So where were you going to go to for track?
(08:56):
So I was going to every community college, but I had a partial to move over to Western. Gotcha. Yeah.
(09:03):
So did you grow up always competing and stuff where you did that as a, as a track athlete? Is it, is it w what was it about that, that, that excited you?
(09:12):
So with the, it worked out for me, cause I was too small for basketball and football, so I was decent at football. I played corner. But I wasn't good enough. Like I was like maybe a buck 45. Right. And so anytime anybody comes up to me, they're just like, throw me across the field. And despite thinking I could be like, O it was just too small. And so with track though, that didn't, it didn't change anything. Right. So my speed was still there. And I think that was key with track was on me. And I didn't have to rely on a team and Andrews, even if there was people that are bigger than me doesn't mean that they're faster than me, nine times out of 10. And that just meant they were slower than me really. So that's kinda how that went out, but yeah, it was doing sports. Yeah. My whole life. Yeah. I can't remember when I started sports, but I just know that I continued throughout this whole time, played football, started doing track when I was in seventh grade, I think seventh or sixth then never stops. Yeah.
(10:14):
That's fascinating. It's so interesting to me to hear like, everyone's story and about, you know, the little things in life that, you know, could change, you know, like I know, you know, when I went to school and it was one conversation I had one day that got me, you know, into TV, right. That got me to where I am now and who knows what that track would, you know, that
(10:33):
Pardon the ponder, whatever, you know, who knows, but, you know, but now, I mean, it's just fascinating. You're right. Like have, you know, had that injury, not what happened, was it just the athletic thing? I mean, I don't want to,
(10:43):
Yeah, no. So I was, I remember like it was yesterday, I was doing the UDaB indoor classic and we're doing the 60, which I told my coach, I did not want to do the 60, but you can't argue with your coach anyway. It was doing a 16, it was the last 40. And I pulled my hamstring, which isn't that bad of an injury. But then when I was still trying to finish, I hurt my ankle on the last thing. So I couldn't run for probably like about a month. And then on top of that, after that, I couldn't like, do any squats or anything or else it would just keep reinjuring itself. So I had some type of tear and I never really got it fully looked at. So then they're just like, well, based off everything, you're, you're not squatting over 200 anymore. You're not like really up to par, so we have to take this, unfortunately. So, yeah. Wow.
(11:35):
And so then, so the guy you on the path, I mean, that's just fascinating, you know, I mean, not one little, I mean, that was obviously a major thing, but you know, just one thing to change. When you, when you started you know, deciding from going from, you know, like, I always say when vendors of any type, it's one thing to, you know, be a bartender or B, do you follow those or whatever, and then it's another thing to, to run a business doing that. Was that scary for you? Was that, what were you, what did you think what were you afraid of? Cause everyone had to been afraid of something starting their business, right? Like what was what was it like kind of getting into that.
(12:13):
Yeah. So I definitely was afraid. It took a lot of like long nights, you know, figuring out how my pricing model and everything was going to be. But my biggest fear, I think when I first started was somebody figuring out that I just started. Right. And somebody being like, Oh, you, you don't know anything, you know? So I think that was, I think that was my biggest fear, but as time goes on, I, every event that I was going to, since I've done so many sports, it was just all competitive. Right. So that fear kind of went out the window. Just kind of like when I was stepping on the track, even though I knew people around me had better times, I just stopped caring. And I, I just was like, okay, well I know that for this wedding, I need to be the best. I know they probably don't know any other bar catering company, but I know I'm going to be doing better than anybody they believe that they have had before or had options to do. And the same thing when we go to, you know, those big showcase houses, like I know there's other bar catering companies. They're completely nice people. My idea is when I go in there that I have to be better than them. Right. Our times have to be faster than my drinks have to be better than them and everything like that. So,
(13:20):
No, it's, that's so funny. Like you said you know,
(13:24):
Just kind of faking it until you make it. I don't know. I think everyone, you know, it's not anything to be ashamed about. You know, we, our wedding last night, my assistant that was with me, he's going to college in the fall. And so this is kind of his last, whatever this season ends up being, and we were talking about, cause he's been with me, I don't know, four or five years now. And I was like, man, that first year that you started, like, we had no clue what we were doing. And now, you know, it's like a somewhat well oiled machine, but it's so cool to like, be able to look back. Right. And that are you, are you proud of how far you've come? How do you feel like it's gone in the last four years now?
(13:59):
Yeah. In the last four years, I'm S I'm so proud of everything. We have, so we're consistently changing. So it's, it's beautiful to me because my thing has always been like creating some type of culture in what we're doing because before the weddings were doing rock shows, which was like completely unique. Cause I, I don't know how often you go to like indie rock shows, but or just any type of music venue, but you're not getting a classic or craft cocktail at those. Right. So in downtown Everett we would be pouring up Manhattans at your local indie rock show. And I thought that was like, kind of cool with growth. But you know, yeah. I'm excited. Yeah. Everything, this whole journey has been very exciting because there's always just been like one different change here or a new bar there. And you know, the new people that keep being added onto our team, adding different perspectives and creating this ultimate culture. I love to stand behind because we're continuing to elevate. So it's never like a stop on learning kind of thing. Right.
(15:02):
What would you were saying, so, so the indie shows, you mean when you guys were starting and trying to book gigs or whatever, is that what you mean?
(15:08):
Yeah. Yeah. So we're doing like, so we weren't booking wedding. There was a point in period when we were booking weddings. And since I was bar I bartended at it wasn't a dive bar, but it was like a music venue bar. And I knew a lot of the artists and they were doing other shows and I was just like, Hey, we'd love to bartend for you. Like give you, you know, 10% or 15% of the sales. And I'll price drinks out at $7 or something like that. They're like, okay. Yeah. Remaking, like, you know, just simple drinks, PBRs and stuff like that. I was like, no, no, we're going to be making like you know, garden tonics and papillomas and, and whiskey smashes. And they're like, alright man, we're okay, whatever lugs, we're still getting the sales that right. And then we'd go there. We do it. And people are just having a blast. I mean, I think the first one we did, we did smoke the cocktails, which I would never do again for music, but it was because it would just take too long. But when we started doing still these crab cocktails, people were just like, wow, this is, this is better than a PBR. Okay. Whatever, it's similar, not too far up on the price, like, okay, we can do this all the time. You can drink this all day. So
(16:12):
Where does that knowledge come from? Is it just trial and error? How do you figure out all this stuff out?
(16:17):
Like as far as the drinks? Yeah. So a lot of experimenting and then also just research. So I, I follow a lot of different bartenders that I respect and I see what they're doing. And then I try to, you know, try to create something similar play with different tastes. Also I'll look at different food items. And then I think if I could put that into a drink as of recent, we've been playing a lot with cilantro for some of the things that we're about to come out with and that's going to be exciting, but yeah, it's just mostly just trial and error. I've had a lot of bad drinks that that's, that's how it's happened. I've just had, I've had a smorgasbord of disgusting drinks, but you know, out of those have come beautiful drinks as well. And my fiance and some of my best friends have also had a lot of bedrooms.
(17:07):
Sure, sure. But you know, you're still getting some alcohol, right. So maybe it's not the worst. Exactly. B to B to B I'll come over and try some of these. Do you feel like it's gotten that people are a lot more accepting just of, I mean, you could make a cocktail out of anything nowadays. Right. And people would kind of be like, I mean, do you feel like you have a lot more freedom now to kind of play around with that stuff?
(17:31):
Well, I felt like I always had the freedom because I was the one with the alcohol. So like if somebody was like, Hey, you know let, let's go hang out with Nigel. Who's going to make a couple of drinks. I didn't feel like I had to hold back from what I was going to make because they're getting free alcohol. I mean, don't get me wrong, gotten my critiques in the past when we've done certain events, people haven't liked certain things. But yeah, no, I've, I felt like I've always had the freedom to go ahead and create, because I, I express that right off the bat that I am just trying to add onto the culture that you're seeing. I'm trying to be a part of this and some type of creative method. I figure some of the drinks that we're making is similar to art. Right. So don't get me wrong. It's not a Basquiat or Picasso, but the time and skill that we're putting into it is just something unique there. So it's just a part of this whole such situation. So I really go on this real deep dive and then people are just like, all right, cool. Just make me whatever, I guess then
(18:29):
When it comes to booking weddings and, you know, working with couples, do you find that what kinds of couples, I guess first off, what kinds of people do you find are attracted to work with you and, and, you know, the weddings that you guys do now, what you know, what are they people that want, you know, professional, bartending service are the people that are really excited about, you know, awesome craft cocktails. Is it a combination? Like what kinds of you know, what excites people to work with you guys? Yeah. So a lot of people,
(18:57):
Despite, you know, we put it on the website, we have it on the Instagram and, you know, in different chains to know that a lot of people don't know that we're doing crafting classic cocktails and that's our specialty. But so we get a wide range. Things like, I think my upcoming wedding was just beer and wine. So we decided also to add in some mocktails, because I was like, let's just have fun, you know just have one or two mocktails in there. But we, the people that we do get for, I definitely get a lot more people that want a professional bartender. Somebody that knows their way around a cocktail to make the event special in every situation. But there is still a good 40% that are just like, well, we seen what you did. And we heard about you from some X, Y, and Z, please come and join. This is what we're doing. Yeah.
(19:49):
Do you, do you ever get the opportunity? Do you guys like ever, you know, put together like the, the, his, and her drinks or any sorts of stuff like that? I know. I see those. I don't think we did that at our wedding, but I know that that's like a big thing.
(20:00):
Yeah. So with the first consultation, when I'm talking to people, I just asked them what they want, what their dream wedding looks like and what it looks like on the alcohol side, what they like to drink. I, so we have people that say his and hers drinks, but I don't kind of tailor it to that. So the way that the business model is there is if you want mixed cocktails, you want craft cocktails, let's have some craft cocktails. You don't, you're not limited to, to buy me. Now, if the venue says, Hey, you can only have two that's, that's one thing. I'm not going to overstepping that boundary. But I've done a wedding where we had five different cocktails. I don't try to go over that number cause that's just a lot, but I'm a lot. I let them know, you know, we can get very experimental as far as they want and we will sit down and I'll also pre when we're meeting a lot more, I would, you know, make a couple of different cocktails for them and just say, Hey, how do you like about this one, try to make something that's spirit forward, something that's refreshing and somewhat something that has a lot of different flavors into it.
(21:01):
Something more like fruity or, you know, sweet. So I do see a lot of his and hers to answer that question, but for the most part, I let them know when they want to his and hers, that we can break outside that box. It doesn't have to be just that.
(21:15):
Do you? And, and we thought, so you guys you're able to serve as kind of multiple events on the day. How is it like kind of managing you know, a team. And then I know that, you know, we, we split a little bit, it's always nerve wracking for me, you know, the send out people, how does it work? How do you enjoy kind of that management role of, of kind of overseeing and helping train other people and share ideas?
(21:36):
I do like the idea of sharing ideas. I, I can't say I love the idea of management. I prefer to be the bartender. At all times I think that's just, it's just so much more fun, but it works out because it works out when all our weddings are in Washington, because I like to touch base at every place. So I try to show up there early introduce myself, you know, if I haven't met them already introduced the bartenders and just kind of get a feel for the venue and then go on to the next spot and then find a spot that I'm going to be at for a couple hours and then do the same thing for closing. So, yeah.
(22:13):
Yeah. It's definitely like we have a, we were setting up like a live stream and stuff yesterday and I'm running around sweat my life away trying to get everything going. And yet my assistance is like, Oh, you're getting shots of the table or whatever it is nice. Right. To not have to be in like that leadership role. Sometimes it's nice to actually be able to focus on what you want to do, you know, making the good drinks.
(22:35):
Yeah, exactly. I find it so much more fun just to make cocktails and sit behind the table instead of being like, okay, well, you know, I make sure that we have all these icebox in here. Okay. You guys are good that the cake is running fine. Perfect. Now let me go over here and check in with wedding over at Mount Vernon. Okay. Let me check in the wedding at Seattle. So it's it gets, it's it's adapting. We, you know, as we're bringing on more people and we're doing more weddings on multiple days or just within that it it's just that it's adaptation consistently.
(23:06):
And I don't, we don't want to date, you know, adopted date that's too much and we don't need to get into too many specifics, but have you guys had to do a lot of knowledge training now with you know, with everything going on with COVID and everything, and kind of get used to that? Has that been just in terms of talking about adaptation and, you know, having things thrown in the loop, you know, has that been, I'm sure a fun adventure to kind of figure out when we get back to weddings kind of what all that's going to look like.
(23:31):
Yeah. So consistent conversations with wedding venues about what their expectations are based off of what I'm learning, cause I'm in Snohomish County. And so, and then having conversations with my team. So the usually go meeting on Tuesday for our, with the venue that we're going to go see, then it's me doing the research to double check that everything is fine and making sure things aren't updated. And then me having a meeting with my team about how things are going to go, and then having a meeting also with that bride and groom, I'm the lucky couple. And just letting them know, Hey, you know, this is, this is what this will look like, and we'll make sure to manage it this way. So there isn't X, Y, and Z happening.
(24:10):
Do you find that you're more, and obviously you don't work with a lot of other email it's like me, like I don't work with a lot of my competition, but do you find that you're pretty hands on just in terms of working with the couples that you have and figuring out, you know, making sure everything's going to go good. And, and you know, cause I think some, some, any vendor type, you know, some, some DJ says show up and then there's some DJs, right. There's are really involved and there's some bars tenders that just show up. And some, do you find that you guys are more kind of hands on in terms of that role?
(24:38):
Oh yeah, definitely hands on. I try to keep an open line of communication. So they have my personal cell phone number as soon as, as soon as things are booked which I haven't gotten any like real late calls or texts, but occasionally it just, I I'm notorious for sometimes not saving numbers, but the text history is in there. Right. So I know based off of the date and the time who it is. And and also I have it linked to their profile, but occasionally I'll just get some random number. That's just hitting me up just saying, Hey, Angela questions about this. And then my fiance's like, who's texting you right now or who's calling you right now. But no, I try to keep an open line of communication throughout the whole process. And then even thereafter, you know, just letting them, you know, checking in with them before they leave and, you know, just thanking them for allowing us to be a part of their ceremony, because this is the, by far, usually the most expensive and biggest event, that's going to be a part of their life. So I try to be as interpersonal as possible. I find that really helps a lot of my actually businesses and even driving from Instagram or the website it's based off of word of mouth and people that have seen me at, you know, other events or have had an opportunity to talk to me.
(25:56):
Yeah. Yeah. I think it's so just under represented sometimes there's how important having you know, quality, you know, quality cocktails and everything. And they just having, you know, a professional, like I said, you know, our wedding last night, you know, I do think got a little out of hand and it, you know, you have to have, you know, cause I was even trying to figure out like, okay, is this with, you know, are they with the venue? Like, you know, what's going on here and it, and it is just you really, you need to have a good real, you know, if your bridegroom, whoever, you know, planning the wedding, you know, that you need to have open lines of communication with, who's going to be taking care of your alcohol and making sure you know, how much you need and making sure that there's going to be people there that are going to you know, regulate that stuff. I just think it can't be under, you know, understand that.
(26:41):
Yeah, no I, so I offer this service. So prior to us, when I was in called Mobile Mixology, I didn't have the liquor license where I can buy the liquor for them or even sell it because the licensed shirt and we have that liquor license as well, which is a fun process to go through to obtain that. But prior to doing that, it was offering trained consultation because like I said earlier, it was a bar manager for a while. So he's was doing all this ordering and I pretty much just try to make sure people don't have cases on cases of wine as they leave. Cause I've been to a couple of weddings where there'll be like 12 or 18 bottles left in a full keg in the back. And I'm just like, wow, that sucks. You know? So yeah, trying to make sure that everybody is like, there's that open line of communication to make sure nothing is too much with not only the venue, but with the couple. And of course, if they have this, the day of coordinator I try to talk so much to them just because don't get me wrong. Whoever's getting married, it's for them. But that communication isn't really with them. It's with the day of coordinator nine times out of 10, right. They're the ones that are running around with their head cut off. It seems like most of the time. So just try to be, keep that open line of communication at all times and try to assist as much as possible.
(28:03):
Yeah. And so you were talking about, so you guys are all you're covered on all the angles now, right. In terms of the license. So I guess, and that's also an important thing if people don't know that right. Or either to stand up for it. So just, I guess talking about the importance of being able to handle all those different aspects now
(28:20):
Yeah. With the insurance where a million per occurrence, 2 million aggregate. And that is mainly not only safe keeping for us, but safe keeping for everybody involved, including the venue. We add them as additional insured. And we just want to make sure, I think when you're hiring a bartender, if you know, if you don't hire us, you want to make sure that you're protected because nobody could see into the future. Right. So nobody knows what is going to happen. And it's just best to be safe on that with the liquor license, since we were doing these events in the past, I wanted to make sure everything was just straight across the board. I didn't want any trouble. And I've already dealt with them before I've dealt with them on multiple occasions. So w with that, the importance I find there is that we can take care of a lot more things and take things off the plate for the people that are getting married or even for private events.
(29:16):
If, cause a lot of people don't have that experience, you know, I we've done it. We did an event for T-Mobile last year, around this time. And the person reached out to me three days before the event, it was 700 people. And they're like, well, we don't know how many kegs to get. Can you just get all this stuff? And I was just like, yeah, we can get all this stuff, I guess where you cause, cause they just don't know. And that's fine because that wasn't their role, right. This is what, this is what I is my expertise. So why have all of this? And I find it very important just to take off that burden because you have so many stressors and if we could help in any way, I think that's just most important.
(29:50):
Yeah. I think it's so important, especially in your role where, you know, there is so much liability and questions and like what is legal? What is allowed? I don't know, what can we, you know, you see people post online all the time. Like, you know, we just want to have a thing with ice and beer and people can come grab it. And you're like, Oh, well that, you know, that's, you can't really do that. Or, you know, so it's just so nice because you know, I, I firmly believe most of the time couples don't want to break the law. They just don't necessarily know that they are breaking the law. Right.
(30:20):
Yeah, exactly. Everybody will Google, you know, different ideas for their wedding and they'll be like, Oh, you know, that's cute. And not knowing like, Oh, that's also illegal. Granted, I mean, I probably shouldn't say this have ever seen liquor board come to a wedding. No, but you know, you just, you just want to make sure you just want to make sure that everybody is comfortable and nothing can, can happen. So yeah, we just like to take that, that lasting pressure off. So yeah,
(30:46):
Absolutely. You talked about fiance. Tell me about that. What was the, as, as a wedding vendor, what's it like kind of going through that process?
(30:54):
You know I actually, I am the typical German that just stays back. I just, when she asks of something, I will just say, Hey, these are the people I know work really hard, but that's, that's it. So it's, it's actually very unique because she asked me a lot of questions. I'm like, alright, cool. This is, this is fine. Here goes the list you choose. We can go meet with a whole bunch of people. I, it doesn't really bother me too much. I'm just, my biggest thing is I'm like whatever venue we go to, they have to allow hard alcohol. So besides that, it's, it's been pretty swell. We actually got everything done except for flowers. And a fiance would know more of what we didn't get done, but I feel like the way my bank account looked, we got everything done in a month as far as deposits. So within the first month I proposed, she looked at me and thought about it for, you know, a couple of weeks and I'm joking. She thought about it. She just said, yes. And then we're done within the month to my understanding. So it was nice.
(32:06):
Are you guys in jeopardy this summer? Are you guys far enough out?
(32:11):
We're in talks with the wedding venue currently because our, our wedding venues in King County cause I have family in Seattle and it's just a little bit easier. Right now at this time we're kind of just up in the air. Cause we don't know cause we have over 200 people, so we don't know what's really gonna happen with that. So we they've worked with us where we're consistently working. So we'll see what happens. Most likely we'll be pushed to a year though. Most
(32:39):
It's so tough. I mean, here you are. Right. I mean we're all. And we, Raven lamenting kind of before we got recording about, you know, dealing with, you know, not daily, but you know, working with couples right now, you know, postponing and you know, what's happening with the season and then here you guys are, you know, with your own wedding as well. Right. So you're like super you're super sympathetic. Right. Cause you're like, I know exactly what you're going.
(33:00):
Exactly. Yeah. As soon as, so as soon as COVID hit and I was like, okay, this, this is a hundred percent real. And immediately I was just letting people know, Hey, just give me 45 days. Notice if you want to switch your date, I'll work with you to the best of your ability. And now just make sure that we have it available. Yeah. For like, if you want to do the exact same date, whatever that exact same Saturday and next year I'll put that in there. Just let me know how you feel when you feel it. We're not going to, I'm not going to try to change too much long as we're all doing the exact same services. That's fine. You know, I cause, cause it's tough and it's stressful. Cause this is something that nobody accounted for. Right. So yeah. It's definitely been unique.
(33:48):
Yeah. I just, I know we don't need to dwell on the negative too much. I decided, I don't know too many wedding vendors that are also planning the wedding and going through the same, not to laugh, but you know what I mean? No, I don't, I don't think I've talked to anyone yet. It's actually going through both sides of it.
(34:03):
Yeah. It's, it's quite funny. So like I'll be working on my business and then Molly will come in and she'll, she'll be like, Hey, did you reach out to the DJ and tell them, tell them about a couple of songs that I liked. And I was like, no, Nope. We'll we'll get that on to or did you do this or can we do that? Like, you know, this weekend I'm like, Oh yeah, I guess yeah. We'll fit that in.
(34:27):
Yeah. That's it. Talk to me about you were talking and you were even so gracious. You're going to drop one off at the house, the craft the cocktail kits. Talk to me about that. Is that, is that something new now with kind of everything going on and trying to adjust or is that something that's been in the works and whether it's up?
(34:45):
So actually what happened when I first got that liquor license, there was a sale at Young's market for 120 bourbon whiskey, airplane bottles. And so three years ago I was just like, alright, I'll buy it. Whatever I'm gonna use this for some point in time, we'll use this something cool. Then I didn't think about doing the research to see how I could sell them, you know? And so I was like, Oh, I can't do anything with these. So they're just like sitting there collecting dust. And luckily for me, I'll call it doesn't spoil. So you know, COBIT hits and things change the rules change. And I got called the N word as like, Hey, I have all this, I want to sell them. And so what we started to do was make craft cocktail kits. They're happy, our kids. The first one we released his bourbon.
(35:39):
We're also have a brunch kit and we have a tequila kit too. So the bourbon one comes with NEF ingredients to make two mint juleps and two Brown derbies. And then the tequila one, we have a salon intro, a plumber, and then we have a jalapeno pineapple margarita for another one. And then the brunch kit is just a standard Perseco and little brunch thing that we have going there. But yeah, no, that kind of all, we started that just because we were like, well, we don't know what else to do. We're doing the virtual bartending right now. Let's just get these out people aren't drinking. Really. They can't go to bars and when they are making drinks for themselves, I'm assuming it's not that good. Cause they don't have like some of that prior experience let's add some fun and people would still kind of feel like they're at a happy hour. Right. So yeah.
(36:31):
I love it. No, I think it's like that. I was just talking to my mom about it. She does that blue apron thing right. Where they say, but it's like the same, I don't even know. Is this something I've just never heard of that before? Maybe it's something that people have done with the drinks, but I think that that's great. And especially something local that you can ship out or drop off or whatever. I think it's a great idea.
(36:50):
Yeah. No, thank you. I'm so I haven't seen it, but I know of blue apron I've tried that and there was like another thing I think it was like, hello, fresh with food, which also cultivated that idea. But I think that, yeah, I think it's really cool. I do. Usually people will put in an order and I'll drop it off that same day just because it's, it's really easy for me. And I'm usually around happy hour time. Cause I was just thinking about what my schedule is usually like. So I get there before seven and I just drop it off. I've had people that will ship it out to other people as a gift did a couple of when you're asking somebody to be your groomsmen. So it was like your groomsmen gift or, and so we've done, we've done a lot of that. And also just for some people that just wanted to have their having like small get togethers, that order like four or five at once. And we'll put them in a big case and it's nice and presentable and we'll just be like, well have fun at your party.
(37:44):
It was instructions. Yeah. And then talk to me about the virtual bartending too. Cause I know that and even my wife's her family did the online cooking thing. Right. I just had a blast and I know that that's kind of a thing though. Why is that? Have you guys done a lot of those? How is that going?
(37:58):
Yeah, we've done our fair share of them. It was actually my fiance that brought that up as an idea a while back. And I was like, well, I don't want to be in our living room behind a bar talking to all my computer and covert it. And I was like, if you make the best ideas, babe. But yeah, so the virtual bartending, it goes, we've done. It's just pretty much us teaching people how to make cocktails. So I'll do one mocktail and then I'll do one specialty cocktail or we could do more. It's just really dependent. And I go into a deep dive into why we've chose that spirit with the type of notes from the spirit. And just also explain how we create that and create other cocktails similar in the same thing with the mocktail. Right. So I think for the last one we did, it was a cold group mint Julep.
(38:46):
And we also did, I can't remember the, I can remember the hard alcohol drink we did, but I just talked to people about like, you know, how to create it. And it's a step by step process. Well, I see, you know, like a couple of people on the other side, just going out to create and they're asking some questions about how it goes. And also here's some funny stories about how people are, you know, the shaker just slipped out on them and it's all over the floor kind of, but it's yeah, it's been a fun thing.
(39:14):
Is that like a shopping list thing or how does that work for them on the other side?
(39:18):
Yeah. So what will happen is once booked I will tell them, you know, like I'll work with them on what they want to do. So I'll send them a list of different ideas for a menu and then I'll say, okay, Hey, if we were going to do these drinks, this is what you need. And this is the quantity in which you'll need them. If you want to do more, you know, obviously if you're gonna have a couple of people over, this is what's going to be like, and then from there we just go step by step with the bartending. It's just really just really slowed down bartending in detail about why making it this way. Yeah.
(39:47):
I scrapped, I think it's a fun, I think people are so I'm on both sides. Right? I think people are so starved for fun entertainment. And I think also like us as vendors, right. Are so used to interacting with the public and going to events and working in events and you know, like I was talking to people and I'm like, I haven't seen this so many people and months. Right. You know, and I just think it's, it's so underrated. Right. How much, you know, we thrive on kind of that public interaction and working with, you know, trying to make people happy. Right. Like with what you do with serving drinks and everything.
(40:20):
Yeah. It's definitely been weird. I feel like it's not that I don't know how to bartend. I just, I feel rusty, you know even when we're doing the virtual, it's just like all right. Well, you know, I'm only making like one or two drinks here. It's not like I have a line of people waiting for me or people consistently coming up, talking to me and everything like that. Nope. It's just me in my garage, front of my computer. I've been a blast, you know, talking to people virtually. That's great, but it's a, it's definitely, it's, it's unique. I'm excited to go out and bartend and bartend with my team and have a cake explode on me for some random reason. Like I'm looking forward to everything that can transpire for us to get back to whatever needs to be.
(41:07):
Exactly. yeah. W w what are you seem like someone that has a lot of ideas, right. A lot of passion, you know, once we kind of get back to whatever this new normal is, you know, where do you want to see you guys you know, grow or expand or be better out? Where, where do you want to see in the next couple of years?
(41:23):
Yeah. hopefully within the next three to five years, pardon me, would like wedding venue that can also just be all encompassing space for artists. And I think that would be the biggest thing that I would like to see. So I want to keep working on that, making the bar catering company something big, and then eventually just have our own collective space where we have, you know, weddings or art shows fashion shows just everything. Every time I, in the like, synopsis of what I say in my business, I'd say that we're creating culture. I want to build something just beautiful for all different areas to come into. So I think that's the biggest thing. That's where I want to grow too, is get to the point to own my own venue. And then also be recognized in a couple other States right now we're in Washington and Oregon. I have some connections in Atlanta, Georgia, so maybe that'll be our next stop. So move a little bit outside the state by still, you know, taking care of things here, but yeah. And then hopefully get a venue sometime in the future.
(42:35):
When you talk about artists and building the space, are you, do you, are you, do you do things artsy wise besides making drinks? I don't know. I have no hobbies except work. So it's hard for me to ask.
(42:45):
I have, I have a very extensive record collection and that's actually how I really get creative. So I really love music, but my family are full of artists. One of my cousin is a famous DJ out in Seattle. My stepdad was a very famous DJ as well, and it's so in my uncle DJ, a lot of DJ's around me. But there's, you know DJs have music artists my best friend, my cousin. So we, I ha I'm surrounded myself by a lot of different people that are in some sort of art space. One of my good friends is a local artist here. And he makes, you know, beautiful things and that's kind of why I want to create that. Just for people to have something right. They have this space that they call their own. Not that there isn't other spaces that they're welcome to, but I think it's always great when you are the best friend or cousin of somebody that has created something for all of us, some type of collective. But no, I just love art and creativity. It just, it helps me. It's like therapeutic, you know? Perfect. I love that. Yeah,
(43:56):
That's great. I think you've killed it today. I think it's been great getting to chat with you. I think you've brought a lot of energy and excitement. I really appreciate you coming on. If, if anything else before we let you go, any other you know, this is Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® what is something that you wish more people knew or asks about? It could be personal. It could be business. I think we've, I think it's been really fun today.
(44:21):
Yeah. so Nigel is my real name. It's not a name that I invented as a moniker. You know, revolution. The barrel is exactly that it's revolutionary cocktail catering company that wants to bring the best thing for you. We're focused on class and craft cocktails and stop us from beer and wine. And most importantly, we want to create a culture for whatever type of event that you're having. Everybody has the best experience, and we have enough staff to do this big events at 700 people. But we could also do, you know, your 25 person wedding, which might be coming up here soon next week. So follow us on our social media and, you know, have a chat with me, have a chat with my team, get to know us a little bit. Let's enjoy a drink together, get a cocktail kit. Yeah,
(45:11):
I love it. And it's a www.revolutionbythebarrel.com. I think it's a great name and Instagram and everything else that easy to find. So good. Thank you. I mean, we're currently updating the website today, but yeah.
(45:21):
You know, it'll, it'll be finished by tonight. Hopefully. So hopefully nobody goes on there and it's just like, Oh, it's under construction.
(45:29):
No, it's good. This has been great. It's been, and thank you for taking time on a Sunday. I know that, you know, you work and, and so it's, I always the vendors that take the time right. To, to make the time to do things like this, I think speaks a lot, you know, for people's suits, dedications to what they're doing. And so I think it's great. I really appreciate you for coming on.
(45:49):
Yeah, no problem. Oh, can I say one last thing? So we didn't get, I forgot to bring up that we do a lot of things within the community. I won't go too deep. But if you were always out at the Rainer beach garden, we do a lot of volunteering over there or a lot of planting and I'm also work heavily with the NAACP. So you will see us around a lot. So if you have any questions about any of the work that we're doing, we're going to be implementing that. So then you can kind of see some of the other things that we're doing outside. No, it doesn't really flow, but I just feel like, you know, we're, we're definitely a community community grounded company. It's, it's very key for me, the way I grew up, you have to be all about the community and watch us all grow together. So
(46:33):
I think it's great. No, and especially someone that, you know, takes pride in their work and their community and everything else I think is fantastic. So I think I'm definitely glad that you made sure you shared that. So thank you so much.
(46:44):
Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me Reid.
(46:46):
If you're like Nigel and you're interested in coming on besides, unless you're cool, like Nigel and just shoot me a private message at yourself. If you're someone I don't know, and you want to, you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest, and that's a nice, a really easy questionnaire that we have to get you in the system. And hopefully we can set something up a night. So thank you again for your time. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
(47:16):
Thank you.
Stephanie Clarke, Chloe Clarke, The Art of Paper
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, my name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I'm so excited today to be joined by Stephanie Clarke hot and fresh offer our Best Made Weddings podcast appearance on our wedding invitation kind of frequently asked questions, video. I just posted it this morning. And it's getting a lot of great feedback. So Stephanie, thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do?
(00:39):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. My name is Stephanie Clarke. I am the owner and designer of Chloe Clarke, The Art of Paper. We are a design and letterpress studio focused on bespoke designs for weddings and events. And we're based in Seattle's Portage Bay neighborhood, which if you're unfamiliar with it's a little neighborhood in between Montlake and Eastlake kind of overlooking the university district. And we have a great little consultation studio there where we meet with our clients and where our three antique letter press printers live.
(01:12):
That's awesome. And I'm so excited. I always get excited to bring on, you know paper people, people with stationary, all those sorts of things. My wife you know, is, is such a card person. And I was saying on the round table it has really brought that appreciation back to us. I had never really grew up in our family. Just wasn't one of those families. And, you know, in the eight years we've been together, it's, it's amazing how much she cherishes that and, and, you know, sends notes to her friends and stuff. So I always appreciate, you know, kind of the work that you guys do. And I think that it's it's great. And I think it's so important, you know, for weddings and everything else, but it's a, so I appreciate you coming on.
(01:54):
Absolutely happy to be here.
(01:56):
So talk to me about, you have quite an extensive background. I was looking at your website you know, lots of experience. How did you get involved in all this originally? What, what inspired you?
(02:08):
Sure. so I come from an art and design background. I studied art history in school. That's what I had my degree in. I also have a degree in interior design. So I actually entered into the design world as an interior designer. I actually worked for Starbucks for a number of years as one of their designers on their international team. And then I kind of transitioned from interior design to graphic design and went to work for a retail branding firm here in Seattle where I did everything from environmental design to interiors, lots of signage websites, kind of all things design oriented and creating a retail environment and branding. And then during that time, I just really felt like I needed to get my hands on something and get back to drawing and illustrating and kind of on a whim, took a letterpress class and fell in love with heavy metal machinery. And shortly thereafter moved a thousand pound printing press into my basement and started a business. And it kind of grew organically from there over a long period of time. But yeah, that was kind of the, the roots of all of it.
(03:23):
And so we were talking before we recorded you know, you live in West Seattle, not far from where we are. Are you from the area? Did you grow up here? Did you come?
(03:32):
No, I'm, I'm actually from Southeast Alaska. So I grew up in Juneau, the Capitol and lived there until college and then I moved to Washington and went to school at Western Washington university in Bellingham and then moved to Seattle. So I've been here now almost the same amount of time that I lived in Alaska. So I'm kind of half and half Washingtonian, Alaska.
(03:54):
And what was it that led you into that studies in school? You know, what was it about the design and everything?
(04:01):
Yeah. I've always had a pretty artistic background. When I was younger, I was much more involved in performing arts music and acting dance. And then when I went to college, I just kind of shifted a little more internally to painting and drawing, and I've always been an avid doodler and it just kind of naturally happened. But then I wanted to study artists and architecture. My focus in college was architecture with art history. And so that's kind of what led me to interior design. And then from there, I really discovered that the best thing about interiors was when I was presenting them in creating my presentation boards. So that's kinda how I ended up in the graphic world. So yeah, it just was kind of an evolution I've always lived in somewhere in the arts. And I have a real appreciation for that side of things. So this just kind of naturally came about. And then when I discovered invitations and, you know, letterpress printing, it just was like the perfect marriage of the two things. And I've just really found a home there.
(05:05):
Yeah. Kind of entering in you know, to the world of weddings and everything else, you know, I've, I've said before on the podcast, you know, I have absolutely nothing, you know, when I kind of went in from, I was doing video and then got into to, you know, just this whole world of, you know, everything involved at weddings. Was that, were you comfortable entering into that space? What was it like kind of making that transition?
(05:28):
Yeah, it was, it was interesting when I first purchased my letterpress. I don't know that I really planned to start a business. It was more kind of a hobby, but anyone who's ever played with a letter press or tried to have one as a hobby realizes very quickly, it's a very expensive hobby that comes with a lot of equipment and supplies. And because letterpress is so labor intensive and the setup, it really doesn't justify using one, unless you're making multiples something. So you put all this time and effort into getting it ready, you need to print a hundred of something. So it lends itself very well to invitations and things that you're making, you know, large quantity of. And so I got the letter press and was, you know, just making some custom stationary here and there. And at the same time, a lot of my friends were getting married.
(06:19):
So they would ask me to produce their invitations. And it just kind of went from there. And I started a website and had a portfolio and started taking client meetings. Then all of a sudden I had kind of a side gig. So I was doing all of that work while still working at the retail branding firm I was at. So I would go to work all day, work on environmental design, and then I would come home and I would do these invitations and print all nights and then go back. And I did that back and forth kind of side hustle thing for about six years before I finally decided this needed all of my attention and focus solely on my business. What was it like making that transition finally? Was that a scary thought? Yeah, so I should probably back up a little bit.
(07:02):
My business actually started under the name Dalia press, which is still very much in existence. When I started it, it was again, really focused on invitations. I left my job as a designer at a retail branding firm, and I started a line of greeting cards for wholesale as well as retail. And it really took off right away and became a great source of revenue. So I quickly discovered that I didn't have the space in my basement, that my business was not allowing me because unlike weddings, which are all very custom and you can do things projects kind of on a one off basis and you don't need to have a ton of supplies with a wholesale line, you have to have inventory. So I've very rapidly outgrew that space and ended up moving into a retail space where we were able to buy more presses and have an inventory of all of our product line.
(07:56):
And so for the last five years, I had a retail storefront for our greeting cards. And then that's also where we would meet with clients for weddings. And I was doing everything under the name Dalia press. But what I discovered was as my greeting card line grew its own aesthetic. The wedding industry didn't really tie in with that aesthetic. And I was having a really difficult time marketing myself on both platforms, marketing to retailers who needed to buy my cards versus brides and grooms looking for invitations. So this last fall, we decided to kind of divide the company into two and created Chloe Clarke, The Art of Paper, which is focused entirely on the wedding and event invitation side. So that Dahlia press can stay just a greeting card company. No, I think that's so interesting. It's hard. It's a lot of, a lot of businesses struggle with that. You know, whatever kind of type of service video or otherwise
(08:56):
To kind of balance that, you know, I know a lot of like videography companies are, have difficulty balancing between you know, like doing corporate work and marketing for that and then doing wedding stuff. And so it's interesting that you ran into that same question where you were trying to do, you know, you're pressing and then also, you know, the invitations to kind of balance the two, was that a difficult decision to have that spinoff or did that just make logical sense to you?
(09:22):
It was ultimately it made logical sense and it was something that I internally struggled with for years. Honestly, as soon as we released the wholesale line, I started to have this debate of how do I position myself in a market to brides and grooms versus position myself in a market for retailers. You know, one of our, our best selling greeting cards has an illustration of breasts and it says you're the tits. And so we have become very well known for this card. I'm embarrassed to say how many thousands we've sold those, but when a mother of the bride goes to my Instagram or website and she sees that card, it doesn't really sell me very well when it comes to, okay. I want my daughter's really beautiful custom high end invitations. Can you make those too? So it just, it made a lot of sense to separate those two things.
(10:14):
That way the greeting card line could be fun and playful and cheeky and sassy. And the wedding invitations could be the really luxurious, custom bespoke designs that we've been creating for years. But they just definitely have a different aesthetic than the greeting cards. So it made sense logically. It made sense of statistically it's made our social media much more clean and easy. Also the voice that we can use when we're talking about the brands and on social media platforms and websites, et cetera, it just, it streamlines both brands yet everything is still done under one roof. We still live in one space. It's all done, you know, within the same retail area we're in right now. However, we've actually closed the retail store. It's now just for consultations for Chloe Clarke. But yeah, so one company, two different sides.
(11:05):
That's interesting. I, you know, I talk with a lot of different, you know, vendors on here and you know, there's always the debate about, you know, the artist that doesn't necessarily have the marketing side or it's, you know, it's difficult, right. Cause not everybody, that's a, that's a business owner, right. Is maybe you just want to take photos or whatever, but obviously you, you, you seem to have a really good grasp right. Of, of marketing, of voice of brand. Did that come from just your time in retail and how does that, how did you transition and what was that like, you know, being able to do it for yourself right. And be able to have ownership of the brand that you have.
(11:42):
Totally. I think I mean I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I've always liked working for myself. And I think naturally I have been able to market myself pretty well and market my brands. And I definitely think that my background with retail branding made a huge difference and an impact on that. The business side of things has always been a little tricky for me. I always hear my mother's voice in my head telling me to get a degree in business. I had gone back and actually listened to her that probably would have been helpful. But the visual aspects of things that part I've always felt very confident in. And I think that's come naturally, as well as with the experiences I've had working for different companies.
(12:32):
Yeah. That, that would be the, the and the County degree or a business degree or something. It's so funny because I, even when I was in news, the other people would ask, Oh, you know, do you need to have a broadcast degree to do this? And, you know, I have like a, whatever the heck it was called you know, broadcast studies or whatever. And it's like, no, you really need like some sort of business, like you know, my, I guess my father in law, he teaches business at the community college. And like, even that like getting like an AA or like something it just would do cause I'm still, you know, I think if anything, this kind of quarantine and, and really having to tighten the purse strings has really made me a lot more aware about like, you know, profits and losses and everything, and just kind of like spending it, but it's so it's so it's challenging for some, you know, vendors, right. To be able to like to do all that. What, yeah. What was obviously your parents have to be tremendously proud of, you know, everything you've got, was it, what was it like telling them, Hey, I'm going to start a business or how did that go?
(13:33):
It was good. Ultimately I have, I have the most supportive family, which is wonderful. And actually my brother works with me. He's now my main printer. I taught him how to print. And so he does most, he prints almost all of our greeting cards. So my family is super supportive. I think they were also very cautious in the beginning though. I mean, and I started my business in 2008 and I really didn't go out into just working for myself until 2014. So it was a long time that I was doing that side hustle. And I think part of that was also just to assure them that like, I, number one could make this work, but there was longevity. And but then I also was taking it very seriously and growing slowly and not making any sort of rash decisions. And then once I did make that decision and I had, you know, savings set aside and I was ready to just go for it kind of blew up very quickly, which was great to, could have been disastrous. So it gave me kind of the right motivation to keep going and just keep growing.
(14:35):
And I don't know if you feel the same way, you know, cause I kinda did that transition thing too. And it's, it's when you finally, you know, jump in and you're able to, you know, really you got to fill your calendar, you gotta fill your week. You gotta fill the time that you do. You know, it's not like this like explosive with ever, but it is like, I definitely like growth right where you're like, Oh my gosh. Now I can really focus on all of this and all my attention.
(15:01):
Totally. Yeah. I feel like I constantly struggle from that fear of like, there won't be any work and the minute I verbalize it, I get flooded with work. But I do think it's just because when you're available and you make yourself available, things come back to you and you know, we've worked really hard to get the names for the brands out there and to try to get the right people on our teams and working with us then the right vendors and the right connections. And it brings in really great work that we're very proud of and happy and hopeful to keep doing for a long time.
(15:35):
You know, where you're in a, in a more unique situation than I am where you can work remote, you know, people wherever. Do you find that where do you find the majority of your clients are coming from? Is it the Seattle area or is it, have you really been able to kind of get that brand out there? Like you want to?
(15:51):
Okay.
(15:51):
Yeah, I would say for our custom clients for the wedding world, we're probably 60, 40, 60% Seattle or, you know, in the area. And then the other 40% is really international. I mean, we are working with clients all over the U S we normally do a couple of weddings in either France or Italy a year. This year I have one in Iceland, so it is nice that we get to, you know, kind of meet with people, even if we're not meeting with them. One-On-One from all over the world and yeah, really, we don't have to actually physically meet with anyone in order to do the work. It's so great. Now with technology, we can do like a zoom call or a FaceTime and, you know, just between emails and then we normally ship out a sample package. But that's kind of all we really need to do in order to work with someone.
(16:45):
Do you find that there's a big difference in design, the TEDx, everything, you know, people that are doing it in Seattle versus elsewhere and how do you it, do you enjoy that, you know, that challenge or what is that like? Cause like all of, you know, we're like Seattle, like I'm, we're pretty like meat and potatoes, like videography, like we're just local here. Like that is what it is. And, you know, even from like, you know, videographers or whatever they do stuff, you know internationally there's difference. Right? I mean, do you, what is that like for you to kind of balance those?
(17:17):
I wouldn't say that the design aesthetics are vastly different. I think design, you know, kind of changes with time. So there's definitely going to be trends that are more popular today versus tomorrow that'll be across the board, but I do notice in the Pacific Northwest, we definitely have a color scheme. We do lots of greens and lots of Navy blues Browns. And there's typically a lot of time imagery. That's very specific to the Northwest. Some mountain scapes trees, definitely things that are specific to the area that we don't do in other areas. But on the flip side, there's, you know, I'm sure trends in other parts of the country or the world that, you know, other designers would say that we're so sick of always using the color red and always illustrating the same flower. So I think it kind of just depends on where you live.
(18:09):
Do you find that part of this goes back to our conversations on the, you know, the, the round table talking about, you know custom, you know, being able to work with someone, do you find that, that the people that come to you already know the benefits of working with someone like you to do everything, or do you feel like you have to educate them about, you know, what, why am I cost a little more, but obviously, you know, the work and the customization is a lot more, I don't know, right. Where you're in that position. Do the people that find you are already set up for that or do you find you educate a lot?
(18:44):
Ultimately we end up educating quite a bit. I think that there is a client that is specifically looking for a custom design. And so they know that they're searching for someone like me that is a custom station or that we're going to start this process from scratch from nothing. And we're going to go through picking a palette and a style and fonts and illustrations. And you're really going to walk away with a completely unique piece versus there's a group of clients that just really want to work with someone local. And so for that, we definitely get people who are like, I don't really care if it's an off the shelf design or not. I just really want to work with a local stationer. And that can be problematic because yes, we are local, but we still are offering a custom design, which is a more expensive price point. And then there are certainly the people who are comparing us to online competitors that are looking for just a completely off the shelf predesigned collection. And again, we have to educate them that that's not really what we offer.
(19:44):
Yeah. It's tough. You know, especially when you know, people can look online or find, you know, stuff on all the different, you know, mid tid or whatever. I think I mentioned this on the round table too, you know, it, it just can't be said enough like even with our, the logos and stuff that we do for you know, the podcast and, you know, we have flyers and stuff and I have a guy that I met, well, I've never even met him, you know, online. He lives in like Bosnia or something. I mean, I've never right. We just do everything online, but it's so nice to be able to like, have a new idea or need to change something. And he has like all the fonts and the colors and the things. And like, I don't have to like try to explain anything, you know, and it's, it's, it's gotta be the same, right.
(20:29):
When you're working on like your wedding suite, you know, invitation suites or whatever, we're just to have all that stuff and be able to, you know, make it bigger or smaller or, you know, make a copy of it with something else. And especially like we were talking with having to do like that I thought was really important in the round table was talking about, you know, sending custom, save the dates for like you know, if you need to do, you know, a smaller guest count for, you know, immediate family and then do a different, like invitation, whatever for guests. And if you know, how much easier that would be to have someone like you, that could just do that in 30 seconds, as opposed to having to like, you know, rebuild everything. Do you want to talk about just that just kind of that process.
(21:13):
Totally. you know, I think that that's, that's a really good point about the ability to customize things with a custom station or one thing that we get a lot of debates on. We get people who come in and first of all, they just don't know how to even get started with their invitations and what are the pieces that go into it and how does it really work? It seems like such a simple thing. We've all received invitations before, but when you really break down what needs to go in there it can be a lot more complicated. And for us, we'll have clients who are trying to juggle multiple day events. So they'll have welcome parties and rehearsal dinners, and they'll have, you know, a brunch and they'll have lots of meet and greets and trying to juggle not only fitting all of that into an invitation suite, but then also replies for all of those things, because maybe some guests are getting invited to one half of the wedding weekend and the other half is getting invited to the whole wedding weekend.
(22:09):
So when you work with a custom station or we can really curate everything to fit those pieces and what exactly you need that is where it can be very difficult. If you were to just go online, you're really stuck with what they present you with. And you can't make those specialized choices. And as a stationer, it is our job to kind of handhold you through that process and walk you through your own weekend and say, okay, as an, as a third party, here's where I have questions. And so how do we help explain those questions to your guests? Because they're going to have questions. Yeah. So it's a very customized process.
(22:48):
Yeah. I do think people get really you get in your head about, well, this makes sense to me, right then I know what's going on. And, and with anything it's, it's so nice to have that outside, you know, expertise and be able to ask the question that, you know, as the bride and groom or whatever, you're like, well, we know that that's cause we've talked about it for 15 hours, but not everybody has necessarily talked about it as long as you have, you know,
(23:11):
Exactly. I think it is very hard for people to get out of their own head, then you're completely right. They have gone through the weekend so many times and they're like, well, this completely makes sense. And I'm sure everyone just knows naturally, but they really don't. And a lot of times people are really relying on their websites to explain those details to their guests which is great. The website is a wonderful tool, but unfortunately it just doesn't get the same sort of traffic that it should when it comes to weddings. Guests are still very used to going to the website the weekend before the wedding and just looking for your registry and really that is the number one thing that they're there to do and they're to look for. And they're going to miss all those other little details if they're not included in the invitation suites. It's hard to ignore them when it's literally on a magnet on their fridge and they can see like, Oh yeah, we actually needed to be there two days before we thought we did. And if they just had to rely on the website for that information, they wouldn't know.
(24:07):
Yeah. That's actually really true. I hadn't even thought about that. Cause we like for our wedding clients, we always have them put their wedding website and if there's any like details or whatever, I'll put it in like the blog or whatever. And it's always funny then I'll go in like after the wedding and pull up the website and they still would have never like updated everything, I guess it still is like under construction and they've already gotten married now and you're like, man. Yeah. You know, it's just these couples think that, Oh yeah, I'll just put everything on there. And it is it's that invitation and it's, you know, having it on the fridge or on the, you know, on the cupboard or whatever. I don't know. It's such a, it's such a cool part. I, I know I said on the round table, you know, we have five or six invitations still from past sweaty and, you know, including our own, you know, on the, on the fridge is, you know, cause Dorothy likes to look at that stuff and remember, you know, kind of all the fun times, you know.
(24:59):
Yeah, no, we definitely work with clients who really love paper. And there are people out there that really cherish these pieces. They are time sake keepsakes for them. And I, I think unfortunately too often papers underrated and it is one of those things that means a lot to a lot of people. And I also tell our clients all the time that for the guests that can't attend your wedding whether it be the travel or you know, COVID, this is the invitation is the only thing that will actually receive. Not everyone is on Facebook and wanting to go through albums to look at all your wedding photos. So they may never see photos of your big day if they're not there to enjoy the food and the dancing and they're missing out on all of that, but they do get the invitation and some of them will keep them for a long time. And I know this because a lot of brides bring in old invitations that they have received to go over and to use as examples. So I know there's always that theory of, you know, everything gets thrown away or recycled and that's really not always the case.
(26:04):
So I'm going to ask you a question and I don't want to trigger any any outlandish responses, but what if I'm someone and I just want to, you know, send a, send a digital thing and I just wanted to send the link or whatever, you know, what do you what's your sales pitch? You know, how do you educate and what is your thoughts on that? Cause I know that that's something that obviously people ask you guys.
(26:26):
Sure. it's definitely not something that I would necessarily specialize in. So if someone was to come to me and say, you know, we just want a digital invitation, ultimately I would end up telling them that I'm probably not the best fit for them and give them some resources that they should look for or look to. But you know, I mean, honestly, we'll go through the importance of why people should get invitations, physical invitations. And one of the biggest things is there is a certain demographic that is just not used to receiving an invitation via email or on a website. You know, I mean, if we had to send those out to my parents' generation or their parents' generation, there's no way those people would never know about the event. So an actual physical piece means a lot. It also really sets the tone for your day.
(27:14):
It shows a lot of care, a lot of thoughts. You also get to kind of tease your guests with the look and feel of your wedding and get them excited about it. I also tend to personally believe that the nicer, the invitation the more that your guests might dress up, the more they might spend on a gift for you. If they feel like they're going to a really lavish affair, because it's made on quality paper with a really expensive printing process and it feels luxurious and special when they open it, they're going to step it up. They're not just going to show up in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt to your wedding. So there is a level of formality that goes with the invitation that I think is important.
(27:53):
Yeah. We are friends got married in gosh, was it, well, I guess two summers ago now, but they got married in Italy. And when we got you know, it was, I don't know, 40 people or whatever, when it was like a destination thing, but when we opened that invitation, you know, my wife's jaw dropped, you know, cause she was like, wow, this is like, we knew this is going to be a nice wedding. We're like, this is like really, really nice, you know? Cause like you said, it totally does sets the stage. And then we were got like super excited and we were like, wow, like we had no idea that it was going to be like, you know, we felt so lucky, right. That we got to be invited to this. And it was purely because of the quality of, you know, the invitation that they send us. I mean, it was crazy.
(28:35):
Absolutely. I mean, I think if you were to be invited to attend an award show, like go to the Oscars, you would be kind of disappointed if it showed up in an email and you were expected to walk the red carpet, like you would want something really beautifully delivered to you to justify going out and getting a new outfit and getting dressed up and putting your night aside to attend this. And so an invitation gets people excited.
(29:00):
Yeah. Also when you talk about the digital, you know, we do enough like get together and try this and like Facebook invites and stuff. And even among like our friend groups, you know, it's not, they're all. Yeah. I didn't even see that. Right. And I mean, let alone, you know, when you're trying to invite everybody of all ages and it's, you know, people just don't, you know, if you're on it, you're really on it, but not everybody is, is, you know, in tuned with all that online stuff, you know?
(29:26):
Yeah. I think that's also a really good point when it comes to online and buy it's like a Facebook invite or an eBay, it is much easier to not follow through with attendance. You know, it's very easy to say, yeah, sure. Maybe we'll come to your barbecue on Sunday, then never go, never send a followup message or a call to say like, Hey, we're not actually gonna make it. It just feels like a lighter, less specific thing that you have to go to where when you receive a physical invitation with a physical RSVP card and you have to say like, yes we are attending or no, we are not chances of you actually skipping out on it last minute are very unlikely. Most likely if you're going to actually send back in that RSVP card with the plan of attending. So I do think you know, a lot of times we get couples who will want the physical invitation and maybe a details card, but they'll want to leave out the RSVP and they'll want to send people to a website to reply. And I always try to encourage people not to do that for a multitude of reasons. But that is a big one, but there's just not the same level of follow through with an RSVP online.
(30:34):
How did you guys handle the the invitations and other things, design elements for your guys's own wedding and other background?
(30:43):
Yeah, so luckily my husband and I had a very small wedding. We only had about 35 of us that which included the two of us. It was really tiny. And so I decided to make our invitations and we actually got married at a whiskey bar. So we had a very unconventional wedding and we want to kind of a speakeasy feel. And so I hand dyed paper to make it look aged which was quite the process. And I will never forget the night my husband came home from work and there was paper like hanging from the ceilings everywhere drying. I was like, just do not touch it. So yeah, I had hand dyed hand stained paper and then I had to iron it and like book, press it to flatten it back out and let her press it. It was exhausting and beautiful. I've of course would change a million things about it now, years later. But at the time it was, you know, a masterpiece.
(31:43):
That sounds awesome. Do you still have a copy of one of those? Do you hold onto it?
(31:47):
I do. I do. Yeah. And then again, like I look back at it and I'm like, Oh, I wish I would have gone with this spot instead, or maybe change that. But yeah, it was, it was a lot of fun. It was a fun little suite. And we even had, because it was such a small party. We had these little tiny envelopes that had a password inside of it that the guests had to give at the door. So it was very personalized. And the password was a password that we were given when we went to a speakeasy on the first vacation we took together. So that was a sweet thing. We incorporated vintage postage, which is a big thing that I do today. But because I am a designer and a letter press printer, I found vintage postage of antiquated presses and my husband's an architect, so we found vintage postage of architecture.
(32:34):
So that was all very personalized. And I think that's kind of one of the great things about invitations working with a custom stationer is you can add those little details with the custom suite that you just can't get online. You know, a lot of times we'll incorporate illustrations of people's pets into their invitation suite, or we'll do a monogram that's really personal for some, you know, story that the brand and groom share. And maybe sometimes it's only something that the bride and groom know, and it's kind of an inside joke, but we can find ways of incorporating that and making it really special so that, you know, 10, 20 years from now they can look back and remember that they incorporated these little personal details.
(33:13):
Yeah. We we got married at salty is in West Seattle. And so we had the, you know, the skyline, you know, it was going to be yeah, I mean that obviously that you were going to see from the wedding, but also that we, you know, we used to live by there and walked our dog on there every day. Right. And so that was, yeah, that was kind of the whole, but it was, it was just really nice to feel like like I had said on the, on the round table, you know, the invitations and the chalkboards and stuff, that was really the only custom stuff we didn't do a lot of like custom, like, I mean, we have like a DJ and stuff, but we didn't have, that was the one thing that we spent a lot of timeline was, you know, the paper products. And then I got a couple, I guess, chalkboard or like the, I don't know, like the greeting sign or whatever, whatever you call that. But that was you know, really important to us. I was going to ask and you listed some of them weather some of the trends now that people are really doing on there. So you mentioned the dog or the pet thing. I think that that's obviously well, but what are some other trending kind of things right now that you see with those?
(34:14):
Totally. so wax seals have made a huge comeback. And so I'm not just, you know, your typical dark red wax seal, we've see them in a variety of colors or even translucence, which are kind of exciting and fun to play with. And new materials. So acrylic and leather velvets, like we can incorporate all sorts of different materials into an invitation suite. It doesn't just have to be paper. We've also done lots of things with interesting ways of mailing or presenting the invitations. So for one couple earlier this year, who also was having a very tiny wedding, we actually had these custom made boxes that were wrapped in linen and had their monogram on it and they handle delivered their invitations to their guests. So you can do things that are really unique. We've done acrylic photo albums as invitations. So yeah, I mean the trends are kind of all over the place. Luckily we live in a time that you can do all sorts of really unique, interesting things. We can play with wood veneer and I've even let her press down one veneer. So yeah, the, the options are kind of endless, which is great and makes for a lot of fun always makes for a good design challenge.
(35:29):
Yeah. Cause that's the thing. I mean, you know, I think people obviously think about, you know, paper and invitations, but you, you're not limited to just that. Right. I mean, there's, Y I mean, it's really kind of your
(35:40):
Mind
(35:40):
Why or why know there's no endless, endless possibilities.
(35:44):
Totally. even a year ago I was working on an invitation for a 60th birthday party that was going to be in Napa and we didn't end up doing it. But one thing we went back and forth on was having the invitation engraved on wine bottles and shipping the wine bottles to the guests. And so, I mean, yeah, the options are really limitless and it does not have to just be the typical paper invitation. Now that being said of the ads of paper lover, I am always going to push for at least some level of beautiful paper and letterpress incorporated into it. But it doesn't have to be limited to that by any means.
(36:24):
I was going to ask what is a, and it doesn't need to be the most, but whether, what is one of the most favorite things you've ever put together like that creatively that you really felt
(36:33):
Yeah.
(36:33):
You know, really stretched maybe your, you know, to, to get it going or that you thought was really exciting or different or unique.
(36:41):
So I had a I had a couple, a couple of years ago who was getting married in Sweden and we had that came to my studio and we had a consultation and it was a very typical consultation other than they didn't want anything that felt overtly wedding. They didn't want to use, you know, lots of scripts or really traditional fonts. They wanted it to be a little more modern and unique, and they really wanted everything to be in black and gold. And they also wanted to present their guests with like an interesting unique experience because they were asking everyone to travel to Sweden for their wedding. And so that was actually the rumble. We did an acrylic album and it was a photo album that had vintage photo corners so that when people were traveling in Sweden, they could print out their photos and put them back in the album.
(37:31):
And the invitation suite was incorporated into the album. But the unique part was right before they left. They, they made sure to tell me that the design was really up to me, however, it had to incorporate snakes and I am not a fan of snakes. So I had to have them pause and come back. And I was like, really snakes. Isn't that the animal. And so that was my challenge. And I spent the weekend drawing snakes and actually we came up with a stunning invitation it's on the website. I'm super proud of it. I I'm, I'm so thankful that they went with my first draft because I did not want to continue drawing snakes. But yeah, it was definitely a little bit of a design challenge and really perfect for them. And it meant a lot. And, you know, we'll never have an opportunity to create something quite like that again, but it was, it was very special.
(38:24):
I think that's awesome with the album and being able to put the photos and stuff in, I think that's such a cool building, your own keepsake or whatever. I think that's such a wonderful idea.
(38:35):
Totally. It was very, it was very interesting and really cool.
(38:39):
W I always ask this for any vendor type weather some common questions, you know, we talked about, you know, obviously the digital versus the, you know, the tangible, but what are some other you know, questions you find the Europe, you know, obviously educating people a lot on, you know, we talked a little bit about the cost of, you know, working with custom, you know, stationer, but what are some things, you know, just that you feel like you're always kind of answering just to kind of get out to, you know, answer on audio form.
(39:08):
Sure. definitely the logistics of the wedding. There's a lot of figuring out again, what are the details you need to share on your invitation? How are you relating to your guests, especially guests that are having to travel, how they're getting to, and from different venues and how that's getting incorporated into the invitation? A lot of information has to go into the reply card, which is actually a very small card, so it's hard to get that tucked into place, but yeah, having to kind of go over what needs to go on that, how you're managing, you know, taking food orders, if that's something that you're needing to do, because you're not having a buffet, you're doing more of a plated dinner. So a lot of just the technicalities of the weekend and going through and how things work with the invitation suites.
(39:59):
And then of course price is always a really big one and going through the difference between the printing processes and why one costs more than the other, because not all printing processes are created equal and you know, how to allocate price accordingly. Timeline is a huge one that we go over. I don't think a lot of people realize just how much time needs to go into a custom suites, not only for the production of, but then the design of the design alone can either go very quickly, depending on if it's a pretty simple suite and the client has a real clear vision of what they want, or it can be very complicated and we can go through multiple drafts and illustrations. And I've certainly had clients to halfway through the design process, kind of changed their mind on what they were looking for. And so then we have to start over. So getting those timelines just right to where they work with their calendar and my calendar, and we're giving each other enough time to get through the whole process. That's, that's a big one.
(41:03):
Yeah. I think it's so fulfilling. Yeah. Yeah. To go through that process and, and, and work with someone, like I said, you know, with, with a lot of the logo stuff that I do you know, I am probably the worst client in the world for, you know, not having a vision, putting something down immediately changing that or getting, you know, almost to the end, totally changing it. On the, on the best made weddings, the Dumble microphone. I can't tell you how many times we went back and forth about, you know so it is, I think, like you said, people need to really just know you know, the time that goes into that, but then also just how fulfilling that is to feel like, you know, you, it's really your voice and it's something that is different. It's different than, you know, like we send out cheap like Christmas cards every year and we just get something online and you know, it's so different than really working with someone and really feeling like you created it, even though you didn't necessarily do it right. You were to someone that was a lot more talented and creative it, but you do feel like you're like, Oh wow. Like we did that, you know, and it's a really I think it's a really cool process. And also it probably gets you ready for compromises in, in marriage, just having to work through that stuff with your partner anyway, you know?
(42:20):
Yeah. I add that is one of the things I love most about the consultation process. And unfortunately, that's kind of the piece that gets missed when we have to do consultations over zoom or, you know, with people who are far away, but when they can come into the studio and we can actually like sit down and go through all the samples and I think get out sketch paper and we can literally start like sketching out what this is gonna look like. They just get so excited because they're seeing this vision that they didn't even necessarily realize they had come to life. And I think that that's such an important part of like creating your wedding and starting to create those visuals because the dictation is one of the first things to go out or the save the date, you know, you really get to start like taking those pieces of your Pinterest board or your mood board that you've created and actually see them actualized on a piece of paper. And that's such an exciting experience. And I do think it just lends itself to that really personal touch that unfortunately people do miss, when they go with like a, an online printer, who's already established a design for them.
(43:24):
Well, I'd say we've definitely had a couple of the same, like a generic save the day it's come in the mail like that they've used the same role. Like we literally have like the same and we're like, Oh, okay. You know, but it does, like you said, it sets, it sets a tone. And not that that it needs to be, you know, important to everybody, but it does set a tone like, Oh, okay. Like this is, you know, it's just interesting.
(43:51):
Yeah, no, I definitely get clients who will call me and straight away. They'll just say, paper's not important to them. This isn't the part that they really want to focus on. And that's fine. And I tell clients all the time, you know, you have to have your priority in your wedding. And I did have one bride telling me that she would rather have her for offensive shoes, really expensive invitations. And I was like, Hey, if that's, what's going to make you happy, then that's what you need to do. But for the people who really love that custom experience and creating something really unique to them, those are the people that come in and work with us. And it's nice, you know, for a lot of them we'll create a monogram or a kind of a logo that they can use throughout their life. They can do it on thank you cards. They can put it on their own photo albums. I actually had one guy tattoo his monogram on him. So I mean, there's things like that. It can kind of go along with you through your marriage. It doesn't have to end after the wedding day.
(44:46):
Perfect. and this has been so great to kind of get, to get to sit down and chat again with you after we had our wonderful round table. I guess I just think it's so important. And especially now with you know, everything going on and, and, you know, scheduling weddings, I, you know, in the future, I think that invitations and, you know, you guys are going to be just a lot hopefully a lot of demand trying to figure out how to, you know, convey information to different people and, you know, obviously continue to work in the future with everything like that. Before I let you go, is there anything else you wanted to touch on that we didn't talk about before, obviously talking about your wonderful website and everything else on there with your designs?
(45:29):
No, I don't think so. I will just reiterate from the round table the other day. All of our 2020 couples are moving to 2021. So if you're planning a wedding, get in touch with your stationers early our calendars are filling up and we want to make room for all of you.
(45:45):
Yeah, no, we, we talked about that. Yeah. I think that's such a great point that, you know, you used to think, Oh, I have all this time, but now with, with basically a whole season of weddings moving to another year, it's definitely going to put, you know, and especially for things to their time intensive you know, like doing custom design either you can't, it's not something that you can just, it's not like a, you just whip it up kind of thing. You know, you need to be able to sit down and plan and kind of get a timeline going. So definitely if people want to learn more about you and your website and see all your designs and testimonials and everything, where would you have them check out?
(46:20):
Yeah. So for wedding invitations, you can visit at www.chloeclarkepaper.com and on Instagram, we're @Chloeclarkepaper and Clarke has an E at the end of it. And then if you'd like to see our greeting cards designs, you can go to www.dahliapress.com or at @Dahliapress.
(46:38):
Is Chloe your middle name?
(46:41):
No. So Chloe actually was my Wheaton terrier. When I started Dahlia Press, she was there with me and she went to work at the studio with me every day. And so when we decided to divide the business and I was looking for a name, I didn't want to name it after myself. And the business just, she was such a big part of it. We kind of did it as a namesake for her. So Chloe was my Wheaton.
(47:06):
Oh, I love that. That's yeah, no, that's, that's nice. And that will be something that will be with you always. I think that that's exactly. Well, thank you again so much. This has been a lot of you've dealt with a lot of Reid in the last couple of weeks with getting, getting the round table going and, and this, but I think it's so great. And I do appreciate doing the round table and then coming on here. And I think that doing the, either both podcasts now is really going to bring some life back into the Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast, not that we needed life breathed into, but I think it's cool to get new voices and then be able to bounce back and forth and kind of do a dual followup sit down like this, I think is great. So thank you for doing that. Well, thank you so much for having me. This was wonderful. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. If you're like Stephanie and you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire I have set up to kind of get you in the system a weekend, looking into bringing you on the podcast. And this has been another episode, check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Craig Slater, Bugsie Productions
(00:00):
Hey guys, Reid here. I just wanted to hop on before today's episode of the Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast. To let you know that we have recently launched our new wedding planning podcast, Best Made Weddings. And I think this is going to be a really fun way to bring on some of the past voices that we've had on the podcast. We're going to be doing a lot of, you know, round table discussions, answering questions from the audience and I think it's going to be a really good way to bring you guys a lot more information, you know, for wedding planning, answering questions and stuff that you might have. And also kind of tackling you know, important subjects if people want to talk about, you know regarding wedding planning and then the news and whatnot. So if you want to search best made weddings on Apple Podcasts, YouTub,e on Facebook, everything else, I have everything set up and you want to go to www.bestmadevideos.com/subscribe I have a really nice new whole page set up where you can, you know, subscribe to either podcast or both links to leave reviews and to also like and follow us on YouTube as well. And that would be greatly appreciated as we try to launch this new endeavor. So if you have a quick second www.bestmadevideos.com/subscribe, you can do it right from your phone and it'll take you, there's links to take you to Apple podcasts and everything else for both of the new podcasts. This should be a good episode today. Thanks again for listening. Talk soon. Bye.
(01:38):
Hey everybody. Welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I really am excited today to be joined by my friend Craig Slater. He's a DJ, someone that I, I've been bugging him for a long time to come on. You know, we always run into each other at the Seattle wedding show. And the the Snohomish wedding show and the tour and everything. And so I do mean it. I am excited to have you come on today. I know it's, you know, it's busy and it's a crazy time, but thank you so much for taking time. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(02:15):
Thank you. Read. My name is Craig Slater. I'm with Bugsie Productions. We're a DJ company/MC company providing entertainment for weddings and corporate events.
(02:23):
And what's, yeah, what's neat about you and we talk a lot at the shows and kind of talk shop or whatever. But you, you guys do do a good balance, right? Between like the office stuff and the wedding stuff. I mean, do you, do you pride yourself on kind of riding both sides of that line?
(02:36):
We do. We are to kind of give you a little bit of a history as far as what we do. I've been in the industry since 90, well since 2001. I've been in the industry since 1992 so I DJ and in 96 for the longest time I was a the only DJ here. And then we've hired one guy to help assist me, took him through our apprenticeship program. Then he up becoming our second DJ. We now have a really sweet spot is where as we have like about three 40 days max only because you're dealing with a lot of egos. People think they're the best DJ in our company, which is great. But it comes down to referrals and the amount of reviews that you get from our clients. Did that help answer your question?
(03:20):
Yeah, no, that's good. Don't be nervous. We're going to be going, we get through Kara, tear up the pamphlet, we're going to roll.
(03:29):
Okay. And so now
(03:32):
You guys are always busy. It always seems like you're, you're working with a lot of, you know, high end planners. I mean talk about, is it just kind of the networking, just your personality? I mean talk about just being able to kind of go with like you said, from just a guy, you know, doing the DJ whatever and now to kind of run, you know, a company and actually be like a big time, you know, making money.
(03:55):
Yeah. well I wouldn't say we're a big time moneymaker. We care more about our clients than we do. I mean profits. I mean we want to make sure that whatever we do reflects upon us whether it be clean music guests interaction taking charge when the time is needed. We are just a very self sufficient company that can help provide our clients or whether it be weddings or whoever it is the best service that we can possibly provide.
(04:27):
And so how did you get involved in, in like you said, you know, you started being a DJ, cause I don't know any of this, right? I mean we talk, and this is why I really like, you know, this podcast is like, I see people at, you know, networking events and shows and stuff and weddings and it's like, Oh, Hey, you know, what's going on with every black I know nothing about. Right. You like how you got into like any of this at all. And so kind of how did you get involved in music and stuff in general? Was that something that you were really excited about growing up?
(04:53):
So the heck and the days I don't even want to date myself right now. But, so I used to, my mom was a dance instructor and so she would teach us dance, tap, dance, things like that. And we would do
(05:10):
Let me call that just different like dance academies and different rehearsals and go to shows and put on a show for certain people. And I, I'd love to be in part of something like that. But it wasn't until back in 1992 when I started working for a company called clowns unlimited where we had to dress up like clowns. And just a bunch of different things where we were actually face to face with people and got to interact with them and making people happy was probably one of the coolest things that I could possibly ever do. Because I know how it made me feel when somebody smiled or laugh or you know, was just excited that I was there, you know, and then they didn't have to do with the makeup. It was just actually putting them in a good mood, putting them in a different perspective as far as,
(05:58):
You know, when you do something for somebody and it makes them happy that's self rewarding yourself.
(06:05):
So that makes sense. Yeah. No. And, and now I, and I had no idea when you say you're, so while I was at clowns unlimited and I said, I must've, I must've misheard that and that, no, it was clowns. That's fascinating. I had no idea.
(06:18):
Yeah. So cleanse unlimited is now owned by Lance Salisbury from national that pro. So him and I both started back in 1992. I took control in 1996 of the company with Bob Washburn who owned the company. And then I run it for about I think I left in 2001 but between 2001 and 1996 there was another guy his name was Craig VIN who owned a company called all star entertainment. And he wanted me to come work for him. And I was like, well, really didn't want to do it, but he gave me all these different ideas as far as like aspects of, you know, teaching me how to run an entertainment company. He had like these gyro trons, which you probably won't ever see anymore. Sumo suits he had, he had it all. But the one thing that he had that I, that stood out the most was when we went to these events is that he was deejaying for these corporate events and people were dancing and laughing and the aspect of the music behind it, the atmosphere that he created, just elevate that level of people's attitudes.
(07:21):
People having a good time. You know, it wasn't the fact that, I mean, yes, you're obviously with people. You know, if you're at a corporate event, you're mostly socializing with other people from more families are coming out, they're having a good time here, eating good food. You may have a couple of drinks, but behind it all, you know, he was the one running the show.
(07:40):
So
(07:42):
I love that aspect of it. Whereas you know, you could be, not necessarily, I want to call it center of attention because that's not what we try to provide. We just want to make sure that everybody gets to feel the same, has the same feeling that they were trying to create, whether it be a happy feeling or well, we don't want to say emotional or Saturday like that. We just want to create a great atmosphere that's going to put everybody in a good mood so that when they leave any type of an event or that social gathering that they're going to be talking about it for years to come because it's going to make us happy. It's going to make us have a repeat client. So that again and again throughout the years, you know, we know that we can come back and do this event. It's not going to be the same every single year by any means. We always try to up our game, create something new, do something different. So when the guests come, they know that it's not going to be the same type of event. Again, people call it cookie cutters. We try to stay away from that term as much as possible, but just because every year we do something different for everybody.
(08:48):
Yeah, that's, it's interesting like even like you sort of kind of running, you know, the clowns and all that, like cause entertainment is kind of whatever it is. And it could be, you know, a light show or like you said, like Sumo suits or whatever. I mean there's just the idea, yeah. A building, right? This client experience is kind of the same no matter what. You know, and that's what's so great about like wedding vendors too, right? Like everyone brings their own, you know you're an artist in, in music or for girls or you know, doing invitations or kind of whatever. So that's, that's really fascinating. Were you more involved in kind of the behind the scenes stuff there or did you like put on the makeup a lot and do that kind of stuff too? Cause I do see you as a jovial guy that could do that.
(09:28):
So let's kind of kind of back it up a little bit. So when I first started with clowns unlimited, that was was called not right operator. So you set up these inflatables and so forth and then you let people come in and play with them. But at the time, back when I first started with them, it was called clowns and limited. So you had to dress up like a clown and then you had to sit here and set up this ride and then be a clown as people came in to these inflatables. It wasn't until quite a few years later that we ended up transforming our ride operators into like suits and shirts and not suits, but like, like a jumpsuit or something like that. So it's a little more formal only because people expected us to do magic shows. Now I do, I knew how to do magic tricks, magic shows, different things like that, but that's not where, that's not what I really, really, really wanted to do.
(10:16):
I love the aspect of always owning my own company. I remember back in college or even before college I always want to start a business back in the early nineties I opening up a vending machine company with a guy that I met in college and this guy was 50 something years old and says, Hey, you know what? Let's do something together. You're very motivated. You've got a lot of determination. Would you be interested in doing this with me? And I was like, sure. Yeah. So back when I was in college I was working for ups. I started working for clowns unlimited. And then we started a vending business, which was just like chips and sodas and different things. And then it got to be so busy that I had to pick something and I couldn't necessarily narrow down exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew that being in the vending industry was not something that made me happy because I wasn't pleasing others, if that makes sense.
(11:11):
So I ended up selling my shares back to him wanted to take over clowns unlimited, but the owner said, no. So what did I do? I decided to go out and start my own company. And once I started my own company, it was, it was a stretch. It was, it was a very big struggle in order to get things back to where I was going and making the same amount of money that I was. I mean it took me years to be able to make the same amount of money I was back when I was working for the other company only because I was on a salary and there was an income you could expect every two weeks. Whereas now owning your own company, you got to find the clients, you've got to make sure that you provide a good service so you've got either a repeat business or coming in so that you can keep the business coming in and get a paycheck.
(11:58):
Yeah. It's, it's the hardest thing. I mean, and I remember, you know, when we started, you know, it was, it was easier for me cause like I wasn't making anything, you know, in TV. And so it's like, well, it's really easy to like you know, get that money on the other side. Right. Or you're not making a lot, you don't have to make a lot in like your business, you know, to, to feel like you're doing a good job. And I remember I've talked to with my buddy Paul a lot that lives down in LA and he makes really good money in TV and he's been wanting to kind of do the same thing and branch out on the center for years. And it's so much harder for him actually making, you know like, you know, I think he probably makes six figures in news, right. And so it's like, it's really hard to be like, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna you know, go forego that and try to get my own thing right. It's, it's just the more successful you are and whatever your career is, you know, it's really hard sometimes to like, like you said, you really got to start from the bottom again and call your way back up.
(12:55):
Yeah. Yeah. But for me, I rate success and happiness, so I wasn't happy working for somebody else. I wasn't happy necessarily making somebody else $750,000, you know, millions of dollars a year. I was more or less interested in how can I make myself happy and yet also find that line that I can be creative in. So when I opened up Bugsie Productions, you know, we were first doing nothing but corporate events. I mean we had so many relationships throughout the years of working with the other company that people were so interested in using us as their primary entertainment, whether it be music or interactive team building games, things like that, that when we first started, that was our main concept. You know, how can we help all of these corporate events, you know, feel successful. You know, being the person behind the scenes and then making it happen day of was incredible.
(13:53):
And relationships formed. People decided, Hey, you know, what could you actually DJ a wedding? So the first wedding we actually did I can't remember the year, but it was, it was actually a wedding that we did in Canada. Now, I will never go to Canada again to do a wedding. But it was, it was very interesting. It was outside of the country. They have different aspects and styles to weddings than what we traditionally do here because they always want somebody from the family to actually act as the MC. So you never know exactly what's going to come out of the mouth of a relative. And you got to be very careful. I was like, I turn the mic down, do I shut him off if he's going to misspeak because people drink, people make mistakes and when it comes to somebody giving a toast or even giving them the microphone so that they can lead and facilitate this wedding the way they want to is great.
(14:48):
But that was probably the most scariest aspect of doing a wedding for the first time by myself. So once we got back into the States, it was completely different. We had kind of like a set formality as far as what we would do to help create weddings. We give our clients a wedding agenda, which is like their blank canvas. But then gives them ideas as far as things they can do throughout the day to choose from that if they choose to do something great. If not, we can kind of help them again, facilitate a flow throughout the day to help guide them to make things happen the way they want to. But you also make sure that every request that they want is taken care of.
(15:32):
What was it you had said back, you know, in college and, and growing up you always felt like you wanted to, you know, run, run your own business and do that. What was it about that that appealed to you so much?
(15:44):
I think it was about just being my own boss.
(15:48):
Okay.
(15:49):
And in what aspects was that appealing?
(15:53):
It wasn't so much that I really was looking forward to having employees in Boston. People around it was setting my own hours, being able to spend time with family just having a lot of independence to, whereas like, you know, you can go and you check in from nine to five, you know, you're working for somebody else here, making sure that, that you get a small portion of whatever it is that they get. And in the long run, you know, you gotta ask for time off. You've got to make sure that, you know, if I call in sick, is that going to affect anybody? It, there's so many things that you have to think about when you're working for somebody else, whereas you work for yourself. And again, we can't call in sick, especially when it comes to a wedding because it's a one day that happens once in a lifetime. And if somebody does get sick, you know, we do have backup DJs that we can call or if something happens, but for the most part it's just being independent.
(16:48):
So when you launch out on your own, right, were you able to, you I think were maybe had a little bit of benefit of maybe having some ideas and stuff of what you wanted to do? I mean, like having kind of been involved in like other kind of entrepreneurial things. Like when I started the best made videos, like I had no idea like at all what I was doing. Did you feel like you had some good feet under you to like figure out what you wanted to do and where you wanted to take it?
(17:12):
Well, being in the industry for so long, I knew exactly what I wanted to do cause it being around surrounded from caterers to people who provided the music. You know, the magicians, the clowns, all the thing that aspects of entertainment, you know, I got to see all that stuff for years. And when the gentlemen from all star entertainment who's no longer here and showed me the avenues of how to bring music to an event and to, you know, incorporate everything that he did to an event to make it successful. I found that to be more uplifting than anything.
(17:53):
W when it came time to kind of start assembling the team, like you said, it's, it's, you know, it's challenging sometimes you know, people and you know, DJs especially in the, I deal with that too with video and you know, people want to do stuff the way that they want to do it, you know, and, and it's, you know, it's that fine balance. How did you go about kind of assembling that team of guys that you really trust around you?
(18:15):
So we went to college and found people who a were working for a restaurant or who are self motivated. A lot of times, like when I was taking the business classes, I would find people who had the same kind of mentality I did and found that people who were willing to work really hard people who had a diversity towards either running a business or one to find a bigger picture for themselves. That's where we found the best people to work for us. Try and put ads on Craigslist or things like that. Never really worked out really well. It was just kinda shooting for the bottom of the barrel. So finding people from college that, you know, we never really told them what it was. When I had Bugsie Productions, what we did, I would develop the relationship with the individual first and then once that relationship evolved, I would then ask them if they were interested in coming to work for me.
(19:08):
What do you want your brand to stand for? What do you want that, when you talk about Bugsie Productions, like what do you pride yourself on in terms of that, you know, that brand recognition?
(19:18):
I think it's more of integrity, diversity things like that that help keep Bugsie Productions where we are today. Most of our events come from referrals, not necessarily from the shows that we do. You know, we do the Seattle wedding show, the same one that you do. But a lot of our clients don't come from there and it usually comes from referrals.
(19:39):
And so when you say that you get a lot of your business from referrals and stuff, I mean, talk about, obviously that means that you guys are doing things right, right? I mean you're, you're building the right connections and then also you're delivering on the expectations that they have. Right?
(19:54):
Yeah. Well, I hope we are, I mean that's the only reason that we've been in business for so long. So Mugsy production has been in business since 2001. We've hired the right people. We've had to let go of the wrong people obviously. There are multiple companies out there that have multi ops like we do. But yeah, there's a, there's a sweet spot to it. You know, we had 70 days at one point in time that works for us. And we realized that seven DJs is more of a headache than there needs to be running a company, at least for a small company. So
(20:28):
Yeah, that's, that's kind of the toughest thing, you know. And, and I think we've even talked about this in the past too, you know, cause you know, we have, you know, I have like Matt that works for me and you know, we try to split some dates too, but then like I'll see a lot of videographers be like, Hey, we're looking, you know, let's subcontract this and subcontract this. Let's get all this.
(20:48):
And you know, that gets really scary for me cause it's like how are you managing those expectations and those, you know, the delivery of that, right. I mean do you want to talk about that? Like, cause I don't, I don't know how it's scary. Right. It is very scary. So as far as like handling expectations of, you know, we get calls all the time from other companies, you know, asking if we can fill in or if we have anybody left available cause they're, you know, unavailable or they're already booked or maybe something happened to them, you know, so we have the opportunity to help people out. Depending on the style of client, you know, we actually have the opportunity to be a little bit picky and choosy when it comes to our clients. We don't necessarily want everybody that comes into here to ask about us or the this ask asking for pricing.
(21:40):
So as we set up a time to talk with our clients or potential clients or you know, maybe somebody just emailing us instead of a time and talk, you know, it's, it's kind of goes both ways. We're interviewing them as they're interviewing us. You know, we want to make sure that everybody's a good fit for one another because some people may not feel comfortable with me, but maybe say for example, if I have a client that calls in and says, Hey, we're looking for this style of music. We're looking for somebody who's very interactive and wants to get people up, not necessarily up and dancing, but just very interactive with the audience. Well, I've got several DJs that I can, you know, lean towards or tell you where to go to. For example, like Sean and Yoshi, they've been with me for about 10 years.
(22:19):
They are an incredible DJs. You know, Sean is more of our EDM guy, which is electronic dance music for those people who don't know what EDM is. And we couldn't be where we are today without them, but they had to go through a lengthy process, which is known as our internship process. It's a two year process. So instead of DJ who just starts a company says, Hey, you know what, I'm going to be a DJ. They throw their name on Facebook, they have some music that's a either illegally, illegally purchased or they just downloaded it off of YouTube. So there's a bunch of different ways to be in this business, but yet to be somebody who can be DJ and talk in front of people, play the right style of music. That is a process. The two years it takes for some of these guys to actually develop relationships, get their name out there, know how to set up the gear, know what it takes, talking to clients, developing relationships.
(23:17):
It's, it's an ongoing process of, for us, we have a two year minimum apprenticeship program that they have to go through. We've had some people that have tried to Excel through the program and find out that they fail down later down the road. So those people who come into this knowing that it's going to be rough for the first two years, but on the back end of those two years, it's going to be very successful. Those are the type of people that we want working for us. And it doesn't matter. I've been in this business for so long, we've taken DJs, you know, have come off a cruise ships or DJs or worked in clubs and tried to put them in the same type of atmosphere that we do. And it just doesn't work out because either they play the wrong music. All of our stuff is clean and we provide ourselves or I wouldn't say provide, but we we really want that reputation of Bugsie Productions to show that a, we're not gonna be playing explicit lyrics at any type of an event. If that's the type of DJ you want, we'll send you to somewhere else. So again, we do have the opportunity to be picky only because we have a clientele that we, that we want to make sure that we have forever. And that's it. So,
(24:29):
Yeah, it's, it's so hard nowadays and especially, you know, just with, you know, tens of reschedules and everything now and just making sure, like you said, that, that, you know, people know who they're going to have and like even, you know, if Matt's going to do a wedding or whoever, like, you know, we all meet, I mean, people know, you know, who's going to be there, you know, who's going to be at the wedding, you know, what phases to expect. And it's, you know, it's crazy to me. Yeah. Like, you know, you get these DJs and they start hiring out or like I said, a lot of, you know, a lot of sessions with videographers, you know, and even now where like people are moving, you know, weddings around to like, you know, later this year and next summer. And like I've talked to, I mean I've seen photo and video people will be like, Oh well, well we might just have to give them an associate now. Like who knows? Like we'll have to, I got to keep booking stuff. And you're like, well man, like you know, you're booking these clients, you know with the personalities and stuff, right, that you think are going to mesh and then you're trying to like push it off. It just gets, it gets really messy. And I really like how clean you guys, you know, take that approach and really make sure that like, you know, you're handpicking kind of the people that you want to be together. You know what I mean?
(25:36):
Oh yeah. I mean it works both ways. I mean they're picking us based on our personalities and what it is that we provide. I mean, they're giving either a, a review from some other clients that we've done or they've gone online and read all the reviews we have on WeddingWire or the knot or Yelp, Google, whatever. And they're coming to us. You know, a lot of times people do their research. If somebody is just going to call us up and say, Hey, we want pricing, I've got no problem sending them pricing. But again, it's going to be that one on one interview that we either have nowadays through zoom or over the phone so that we can actually find out whether or not you know who's going to be the best fit for them. I honestly, we had one DJ years ago, it's kind of a kind of a like an a like a backstory.
(26:21):
So the first thing that I ever hired, his name was Dustin, really nice guy. He called me up and the groom was wanting this song played and he knows that we do not play songs with explicit lyrics. And at the time there was certain rappers who you couldn't make re edited versions. There was no clean edit that they had. And so the groom had asked him, repetitively play the song, I want you to play the song. And I told Dustin, I was like, listen, you gotta think about it as, as you know, would you play this song with your grandma in the car? Because at a wedding, your grandma's there, your grandpa's there. You know, maybe your mom's mom's there or your dad's dad's there, whoever. But could you sit in a car listening to that rap song and be okay with it?
(27:04):
And every answer I get is no, or probably wouldn't listen to it. So then why would it be okay to play that song at a wedding? So getting back to the story though, so Dustin had had ended up succumbing to the pressure from the groom, played the song. Next thing you know, I'm getting a call from the mom telling me that he played this song that was inappropriate. So things happen at weddings, you know but you have to be able to, you know, he doesn't work for me anymore, but you have to be able to know when to say no, that's not appropriate. No, I don't care if it's sobriety to the groom. We want to basically make sure that they get what they want. But now we just have expectations laid out ahead of time that, you know, there is no songs that we'll play that have profanities in them.
(27:50):
Yeah. That's, I remember the first one, the first explicit CD I ever got was when I was a kid was green day insomniac and I had to sit and play it in the car with my mom and we had to go through all the lyrics to make sure that, you know, that I knew what was appropriate and what was not appropriate. And so I, yeah, I definitely empathize with that and I definitely know know way more about the explicit ratings on CDs back in the day than I probably shouldn't have.
(28:21):
Oh yeah. I remember some blind listening to that with my mom in the car. Man. I was so embarrassed when I first started listening to it, but her sitting next to me, I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Why am I playing this song?
(28:31):
I know it's, it's, you kind of forget all those members, but yeah. And like we have the, the dangerous paradise came era dangerous minds. The soundtrack came out with, with a gangster's paradise and that was a huge hit, you know, that dates me or whatever. You know, how young or old I am depending on what you're listening to. But yeah. And, and having that and having that be the explicit was also, that was a touchy subject.
(28:55):
Oh yeah. Yeah. So we just figured it's easier to get rid of all profanity or just not play songs that have prevented them. I mean, there's been times where we were asked to play, you know, like a Metallica song coming back from a reception and there was no way I can cut out this one specific lyric that I didn't think it was appropriate in the song. But the groom was like, yeah, I just want to play no matter what. And then I told him, I was like, well, then you need to find a different DJ company because it's not going to happen. And I told him I'd refund all of his money. But I just did not want to play that song because I just thought it was extremely inappropriate. So whether we didn't ended up playing it and he didn't find it under DJ, he just, I think he came to the realization that it was probably the not the right time to play that song. Right.
(29:43):
It we, yeah. I had a similar experience at our wedding when my wife wanted to play a return to the Mac as we came, we came back up from you know, the first kiss in the, our DJ had to say yeah, this is probably not the most appropriate song playing in other wedding is returned to the mag after you guys are pronounced as the new wife.
(30:04):
Oh yeah. Yeah. I can remember my way. I mean, I wanted rights at Fredex and sexism walking down the aisle with all my groomsmen and stuff. Right. My wife was like, X that like crazy. She's like, yeah, it's not going to happen. I was like, you can do it during rehearsal, but it's not going to happen for this ceremony. Why come on? Everybody's head's going to churn. Everybody's going to start laughing. It's going to kind of release some of the emotions out of the room. It's just going to create a great atmosphere. Right. And it didn't matter what I said, it was just never going to happen. So
(30:32):
Tell me a little bit about your wedding and I wanted to hear about
(30:36):
So my wedding was back in 2003 I can't even remember most of it all. I remember we, so we had a, this kind of really, really personal. We had a, an efficient who was excellent. They had dentist cause all of my family were Catholic, but they could care less who the, who the minister was. But yet I'm like, why his side of the family? It had to be a seventh day Adventist, you know, it was going to be marrying us, but yet we didn't. And I did not tell my father-in-law or anyone on that side of the family that he was an XM data dentist. He was just part of that church and he was still registered so they could, you know, do their due diligence check and see exactly who he was and so forth. Long story short it all worked out really well.
(31:27):
I can't even remember the names of the songs that we use for the dance. I did have a friend come in and sing the first dance for my father-in-law and my wife who had owed me a favor. So that was really cool. As a DJ, I had had one of my guys actually DJ our wedding, but towards the end of the night as it is so hard for me not to get on the turntables back then I ended up DJ my wedding for about 30 minutes and then I was asked to get off of it and let him do his job so that I could enjoy the rest of the day. Which was again hard.
(32:02):
No, I, that was a, I had a similar, we had a live stream going for for my grandpa down in Oregon. And yeah, I was definitely like my planner had to literally grab me by the shoulders and move me into the line to get it lined up because I was, I was too busy fiddling with the video settings.
(32:21):
Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's what we do. It's, it's making it perfect. And you know, if we do it our own wedding, it's, it's nothing different. Right.
(32:31):
You know, and it, it just, it's something you care about, right. I mean, you wouldn't be mad if you didn't, if you didn't care and, and, and, you know, just love you. Do, you know?
(32:41):
Yeah. I think the love, again, I'm developing or finding that fine line from, you know, money to success and happiness, you know, you gotta do what you love to do.
(32:52):
I'm really curious to hear your thoughts. You know, being in the market for as long as you have and, and starting, you know, and, and I'm starting to gain an opinion, but you know, my time in the businesses is way less. But just, you know, being the DJ in Seattle for years you know, the, the market changing and people coming in to me and what has been the biggest changes or takeaways? I mean, you could kind of go with it and whatever direction you want, but just as someone that's been here for so long you know, kind of in the industry, I just want to hear your thoughts
(33:26):
As far as how it's going.
(33:28):
Well just, I mean, just what, you know, what have you done to stand the test of time? I mean, what have you thought, you know, I mean obviously you've seen people come and go and trends change. I mean, there's a lot of different ways you could kind of take it depending on what interests you.
(33:41):
For us it's just keeping up with the music, the music changes. And, and that's probably the biggest thing that we noticed all the time. I mean, stuff that used to play back in the early nineties to today is completely different. A lot of people want to hear certain songs. And so for like a wedding, say for example, if you were getting married and you came to me and was like, Hey, you know, we're at, maybe they're in their early twenties or mid twenties or whatever, and you kind of already kind of have an idea as far as style of music they may want to hear. But we kind of help give guests the opportunity to pick and choose the songs that they want throughout the day. And then once they pick a song, we can kind of have a better understanding as far as the style of music that they like.
(34:25):
Then to give you an idea, say for like, say like cocktail, we just had Brian and group called me the other day asking me, Hey, we want like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, blah, blah, blah, you know, for cocktail hour. And I'm like, okay, so you like jazz? And like, yeah. What about big band music? And they're like, yeah, that's what we're talking about. And I'm like, so big band music is not Dean Martin Frank Sinatra. I mean maybe at a James do Killington things like that. His big band compared to, I think what they were looking at. So you just get done having a ceremony. Everybody's excited, they're ready to have this party, this reception after the ceremony. Last thing you want to do is play Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, things like that that are great music but just not going to keep everybody uplifted.
(35:11):
Right. Especially for people who were in their mid twenties. Yeah. So we, we, we have this version of big band music that kind of helps create a mixture between the style of music they're looking for compared to what they're asking for. I mean, I got no problem playing Dr. Frank Sinatra or whatever it is that the brand new girl had asked for. I just think there's going to be a different place during the reception for that. So maybe it's during dinner, you know, when people are sitting down enjoying themselves and grandma and grandpa or uncles or whatever's in the table, they know that stuff. Right. But they don't necessarily want to be hearing it after the ceremony because I guarantee you half of the bridesmaids and groomsmen, even though if they're off taking pictures, are still going to be able to hear the music that we're playing. So you want to probably play a little bit more current stuff with some older things, you know, during cocktail or just play big band swing music. Then we've actually had big band swing music playing for a lot of corporate events. They're not corporate, but for weddings, excuse me, during cocktail when people will almost get up and dance during cocktail.
(36:14):
Okay,
(36:14):
Well it's, it's just tough because yeah, like you said, people, you know, you have the music that you like or whatever and that it just doesn't necessarily translate to like, okay, we're going to have, you know, 150 200 250 people. Like all, you know, it's just not, it's really hard to kind of make that balance, you know?
(36:32):
Oh, extremely. Yeah. I mean we, we, there's always, as we tell all of our clients, there is a special place for every single song that you pick. It just may not be ideal for a cocktail, a dancing or whatever because some people necessarily won't get up and dance. I mean there's songs by let's just say like, I don't want to say Tupac, but let's just say like bull, you don't necessarily wanna hear pit bull during cocktail, right? Cause pit bull has a lot of songs that are great for dancing.
(37:02):
I would say my wife would want to hear a pit bull no matter what. No,
(37:06):
I know you guys are big people fan, so that's kinda why I brought it up. I'm just saying that there's a, there's a, there's a place for every single song. So
(37:13):
Are you saying that I, are you saying my wife was correct in saying that live like you were dying should not be our first dance song like I originally wanted.
(37:23):
I'm not going to go there. That's between you and your wife again. Right? Said Fred, I'm too sexy. That was my choice. My wife is NEDA, you know, I mean, you got to live with her for the rest of your life, so you want to make sure you're comfortable. So yeah.
(37:37):
How do you, how do you keep things new now? I mean, obviously right now is, is, is, you know, lots of new things, but I mean, just in general, how do you you know, I, you have your family and stuff. I mean, does that, are you still investing in a lot of, you know, energy into like, you know, refining, I mean, everything's probably refined now. I mean, what do you do to kind of like breathe new life into the business and get things excited?
(37:59):
So every, at least once or twice a week we have, well, I have to set time aside and mix new music cause every single month and when we get hundreds of songs a month, we have to go through and figure out, you know, it's a not probably going to be on the top forties, you know, the songs that we get, where is this going to be played at? Will it get popular? Even though it's heard on the radio top 40, maybe it's a clean edit or something like that, but how can we diversify ourselves in creating new songs, new rhythms by mixing stuff together that make it completely different. You know, a couple of years ago, a little John made some songs what was that? So a little John had made a song but it had instrumental beats behind it. So we took out the instrumental beats and then mashed it with a different song and people loved it. I mean, we can make a, what's her name?
(39:03):
It was Adele. We took a, an old song from 50 cent that had a song and threw a Dell in there. Took out the beats from, not the beats. I got the beats from the Adele song and put in the instrumental from this 50 cent song and it made the Dell sound like she was a thought, you know, so little things like that, that people like, Oh my gosh, I know that song, but I love the beats behind this a little bit more. And also just, you know, taking a new song, you know, editing it making it popular again, just finding that fine line because even though we may create a playlist ahead of time with the bride and the groom, once we get there and we sued their guests most DJs probably won't tell you this, but we're going to be stereotyping the guests the entire time they're there as they come into the front door or as they come in for their ceremony all the way through the reception. Our goal is to kind of keep an eye on, you know, either the shoulders, legs, things like that to kind of watch, you know, what they're vibing do so that we can create that vibe throughout the entire day. Our goal is to get people on the dance floor and keep them there.
(40:07):
Yeah, that is certainly interesting. And we've talked, I mean, cause I, I'm, you know, I don't know any of this stuff, you know, when it comes to like you know, mixing and all that. But you guys really do. I think even from the first time, I think we were talking to one of the Snohomish tours and, you know, just like, I don't know, like the music theory or like whatever, whatever that's called. Right. But like you said, you know, mixing the things and really kind of like making sure stuff was into one another. I mean, I do think you guys really take, you know, a lot of pride, you know, and are really good at that. Where is that just kinda self-taught? I mean, where, where do you kind of like pick up all that stuff?
(40:43):
So the guy that taught me, again, he was 50 years old. He had had vinyl and so when we first started, that's what I use. And it went from vinyl to CDs, from CDs to which has no timecoded vinyl. We don't use any of that stuff. It's all digital now. But it was just, I guess you could say it was more or less self-taught. Back when I first started, there wasn't a whole lot of stuff. Youtube would, didn't even exist to be honest with you. So you couldn't necessarily find somebody to teach you the techniques that you needed to. Now today most of my guys, when they learned, especially the good ones like Shannon, Yoshi, they all learn on CDs. There was no machine out there that they would actually help you create or sync beats together to max to, to it with another song.
(41:34):
I mean, you could listen to the beats, do the counts yourself and then figure out whether or not by listening to other songs, how am I going to mix that, you know, like say for example like uptown funk into another song or a one really cool one that we like to do is is Billy Jean the instrumentals behind that into staying alive. So, I mean, you can use all those different variations of songs, you know, even playing like a ten second or a 32nd version of that song and go anywhere you want to along the spectrum, whether it be Motown, hip hop pop R and B. So you have to put the effort in in order to find the reward later. You have to practice. I mean, the biggest thing is practice, practice, practice as much as possible cause nobody's going to ever get good if they don't practice, if that makes sense.
(42:23):
Yeah. And what I think is so interesting about you guys in your company is, is the focus on, you know, I think some DJs really, really focused on like the music thing and then some people really, really, I don't do any of that. And they really focus on, you know, the presentation or like, you know, the like the, the, the outward facing kind of to the, to the group. And I do think you guys really do a good job of melding both of those. Do you feel like that is an accurate assessment?
(42:50):
Thank you. Reed. Yes. we take pride in doing everything we possibly can. We go to Vegas at least once a year, obviously that this year. But usually we go to Vegas to find out what's new on the market, whether it be you know equipment or new things that kind of help put us forward. In the markets. Our whole goal is to make sure that we just stay either a stay with the market or what can we find to help advance ourselves. You know, every DJ company is going to have photo booth. Every DJ is going to have some type of lighting. Nowadays. Back when we first started, we didn't have all the type of lighting that they do nowadays. It wasn't battery operated. It was stuff that you had to plug in, find gels, put over the lights and I got hot. So you had to keep them away from certain things. Now everything's so automated and digitalized that you don't necessarily have to worry too much about that. It's about finding the best price and finding out exactly what the customer wants and then how can you implement that into any type of event that you're doing.
(43:54):
That's good. Well this has been a, this has been a wonderful conversation. Is there anything else you would like to, you know, this is the Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast. This is your chance to share any, anything you've ever wanted to, to let more people know about you. Is there anything else I haven't asked that you wanted to touch on?
(44:13):
No. I appreciate you having us on and again, I'm sorry it took so long for us to actually get on your podcast. Yeah, we just appreciate it.
(44:23):
A couple of things before I let you go. First off, if people want to learn more about you and the company and everything else, where would you have them check out?
(44:32):
If you want to find out more about Bugsie Productions, come to our website, www.bugsieproductions.com. We have a portfolio page. You can kind of see some of the events that we've done from corporate events to weddings. I think mainly just weddings are on there right now, but we have some pictures of, of stages that we've been on in the past. Phone number. He can get ahold of us almost anytime during the day, Monday through Friday from 10 to four. Shoot us an email. We're usually pretty good about getting back to you within about 10 to 12 hours. If it's on a weekend it'll be on a Tuesday.
(45:07):
The second thing is in that, and I know you had told me this before, but for the podcast that the history behind the bugs you name,
(45:15):
I don't think we can go down that route.
(45:19):
Oh, really? I thought it was, I didn't think, I thought it was a nickname for someone.
(45:23):
It was nickname. So it was my nickname. So Bugsie Productions, it was a nickname that somebody had given me and I can't tell you why or the whole reason behind it, but somebody told me that you'll, that I could never call a company Bugsie and make it a success. So when somebody tells me I can't do something, I'm going to prove them wrong and I'm just going to do it.
(45:46):
And the third question, and hopefully this is, I don't strike out twice from there out. Did you have a clown name when you were at the clown? The clown business?
(45:55):
No, I did not have a clown name, so he did not strike out twice.
(45:59):
Oh, I found, yeah, I thought everyone would have a clown name.
(46:03):
No. So I was a clown as, as kinda like a ride operator. But I never actually physically had a clown name. I didn't want one. My whole goal when I was dressing like a clown, and this didn't come until probably about a year into the job after painting my face with white and trying to design things was how could I look? I didn't want to look crazy like a clown, but I didn't want to look too scary, but I didn't necessarily want it to look like a, like a loving clown, if that makes sense.
(46:34):
So, so if you could have a clown name and it wasn't Bugsie, what would your clown name be?
(46:40):
I'm going to have to get back to you on that. I have no idea.
(46:43):
Okay, well we'll schedule another two years from now. We'll schedule another episode on the podcast. Awesome. About all the things I shouldn't have done. Right. No, this has been great. You've been so generous with your time. Thank you so much for taking the time and coming up. Thank you. Really appreciate it. You have a wonderful day. And that if you're like Craig and you're interested in coming on the future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice easy questionnaire that we have set up. They'll get you in the system and I didn't make Craig do that cause he's such a cool guy, but if you're someone that's interested in coming on, you can reach out that way and that's a great way to get you in the system and we can get rolling in a thing about having you come on. Thanks again, this has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®, check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Kaycee Nichole, Flau'Jae Couture
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I'm so excited today to be joined by Kaycee, Nichole of Flau'Jae Couture. I told her I would be so afraid that I would butcher that name. Just, I have a terrible time with the word sometimes, but thank you so much for coming on and taking the time today. I'm, why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:35):
Thank you for having me. My name's Kaycee Nichole. I am the owner of Flau'Jae Couture hair extensions for brights. And yeah, that's me.
(00:48):
I love it. Where does the name come from?
(00:50):
Actually it's French and we actually originally flawless couture and it just didn't really kind of sit well with me for a while and it kinda just came up to be J, you know, just take out the list and just put J in there and that's how it came to be.
(01:14):
It's definitely something you can say with some sass and some some, you know, power, you know what I mean?
(01:21):
Definitely. Definitely brides really like to say it a lot. I've noticed once they've purchased, they, they love to tell people, Oh, I purchased from Flau'Jae Couture and they just like how it starts to roll off their tongues. I think
(01:34):
That's awesome. So walk me through first off, I've been going through your site since we've started talking a week or so. I can't remember how long it's been since we've been going to schedule this. Talk about kinda what you guys do and the services and everything in that regard.
(01:49):
So we're a bit different. We provide more. So the beauty aspect of the bridal process. Most of our brides used to come with hair extensions and have me style it and install it for them before their wedding. And I decided to do it on my own. Why don't you buy my hair and you get a free install and it just kinda worked out from there. And then I wanted to do it a little bit different. Take it a step forward and offer something that brides could keep, you know, something like a gift that would just keep on giving. And so I decided to offer them this premium hair in this beautiful box that they could customize and keep for their own, you know their own purposes and store their wedding photos or their garter or whatever they might have from their wedding day.
(02:46):
And one day Brian was like, Oh, I gave it to my bridesmaid and I asked her to be my bridesmaid. And so I said, this is what it is. It's a proposal box. And went from there and it's just been a crazy downhill fast going thing. And that just took off that I'm really thankful for, of all the supports. You know, we do things from hair extensions, eyelashes, wigs for brides who have cancer or other hair loss problems. We've just started offering wigs for men who want hair on their wedding day. So you know, we're, we're branching out towards the grooms and the groomsmen's and it's been great. It's been real fun. I enjoy it.
(03:37):
That's so funny. I remember back one of the first weddings I ever did cause I was famously very not well prepared to enter the wedding world. I really didn't know a lot about any of this sort of stuff, you know, many years ago. And my wife's friend got married and you know, we, we were doing their video and my wife was a bridesmaid. And I remember that was my first as her friend was getting hair extensions, you know, put in. And that was really growing up only with with a brother and not really being in that world. That was really my first kind of experience with that at all. And it was such an interesting you know, I just had no idea about it. And then to, to know obviously that this is like this whole world that I was just so ignorant about. It really is. I mean, is it just gotten bigger in the last few years? I mean, talk about just how widespread, you know, kind of is this industry that you're in.
(04:30):
So, you know, it's actually been before I got in here, it's been around for, for years, 2020, 30 years. Hair extensions have been the number one go to for women. If you need blinks, if you need volume for just about any occasion. You know, even women after their wedding today, they can keep their extensions up to six weeks installed. So it goes to having something for a special occasion to having it on a day to day basis. And we offer all sorts of extensions for just about anybody. So when I entered it was a big world for me to there are millions of hair extension vendors all over the world. And then you also have scammers all over the world as well. So it took a while to find the right vendor and, and develop that relationship to where we could offer our brides the best quality hair extensions.
(05:33):
And how, how has that gone about? I mean, how do you, you feel really great obviously with your supply chain and everything now and the product that you offer. I mean, how, how much work was that to really make sure that's all in place.
(05:45):
That actually took about a year and a half to two years to really lock down the, the person we have right now and the supplier we have. And that's because it took a lot to find someone who offered the longer links. We have a few brides that in their wedding traditions they have long hair cathedral veils some veils going all the way up to 45 inches to 50 inches, and they want hair that long. So it took a long time to find a vendor that matched our budget as well as our request for quality. But we found it. Now we offer extensions all the way up to 80 inches.
(06:30):
Well, that's a, as, that seems like a lot, but obviously that's obviously there's a demand, you know, I mean, I, I'm a, I'm a bald man. I don't know very much about this, you know,
(06:41):
And that's also another thing. It took a while. It's actually taken us three and a half years to find hair for men that we could style just about any way you want it to be styled for, for all ethnic backgrounds. But there is a very high demand for those as well.
(07:05):
As I said, you know, when you're talking about, you know, the quality and everything. And I was going to say too, even just kind of, you know, looking through the site and seeing everything, you know, it's very well presented. You know, I look at a lot of, you know, wedding vendor websites and stuff. Talk about just kind of that, the importance for you of that of, you know good presentation, you know, being able to back, you know, the obviously the product you guys are given that, where does that, you know, cause not everyone that runs a business, right knows how to like, present or look well. So talk about, you know, really being mindful of that.
(07:39):
Well, it all started with which platform we were going to go with. And we tried a lot. I've built a few websites in my day. In fact, I've actually built a few wedding sites in my day and things change on the daily. So in the end we ended up going with a Shopify platform and it's been heaven sent. We are able to upload things at the drop of a dime when it comes to you inventory. And then it's also the layout that was really important. We didn't want it to be so much of a store, you know, when you go online, all you see is product, product, product, product. We wanted it to be soft, we wanted it to be inviting for brides. We wanted it to be visual when they first got on to the homepage. And then we also wanted to offer different blogs that they could reference to for their big day. So we want to make it as interactive as possible without having that overbearing of product choices. Even though we do offer a lot, we just didn't want it to seem like it's overwhelming because planning a wedding is already overwhelming. We didn't want to add this stress.
(08:55):
Yeah, it's so tough with that. And, and we've talked, you know, vendor types across the board of, you know, people just don't even know really what's going on until they enter this world. And then it's like, well, okay, what's going on? Okay, what does this cost? Or whether it's that cost. And so yeah, it is important to make sure that, you know, you show kind of what you have without being like, Oh my gosh, this is crazy.
(09:17):
Exactly. Exactly. And I've planned some weddings in the past as a day of coordinator. We, we've done destination weddings in the past where we send a stylist out. You know, so it's stressful no matter how you plan it, what type of wedding, it's a whole new world. You might as well play a Latin in the background because that's what it is.
(09:39):
So talk to me about your background and, and you've kind of dropped a bunch of tidbits and on your website too, and you know, talking to him about being an entrepreneur and everything. Walk me through, you know, go back and where did this drive and motivation and everything come from?
(09:55):
Well. I was living in Oklahoma for a few years probably 12 to be exact. And ended up planning a wedding for a friend and not so much planning. It was more so to help her the day of, and I loved it. It was easy. I have the natural skills to really help her where it was needed. And so she referred me and then that person referred me and then it just kinda went on from there. As the day of coordinator lady, if you want somebody to you know, help you with your scheduling, if you want to help with your vendors, payments, whatever it might be so that you and your family can enjoy the day. I just sort of became that person and it went from there. And I love it. I do it from time to time for certain occasions, but that's not my main focus. The, the company for hair extensions is really my main focus. I had to choose and I chose the beauty aspect of it, you know, what was it like?
(11:05):
And I've sat on the podcast before, you know, and even today, like I knew nothing about anything kind of entering that. Was that was that a new world for you to be involved in that where you used to kind of, you know, managing different times and expectations and stuff? Or what was it like kind of, you know, being put in that role if you weren't really used to that?
(11:25):
I have a strong background in administration and so I was able to use a lot of those skills to kind of organize and then it, then it became making relationships with different vendors so that, you know, bright might be able to get a discount here and there or, you know, she might get a free tour of something or just something that, that would give her that extra VIP feel. And so it was a bit of a challenge because I didn't know who to reach out to, who was the good vendor, who was the bad vendor. I say it all the time, thank God for Facebook groups like yours because it really gives us new people that enter this industry a heads up versus, you know, 10, 15 years ago when Facebook really didn't exist there, it was all legwork. You had to get the phone book out, you have to search websites, you know, so it's a lot easier now I think to get into this industry than before.
(12:29):
No, it is, it's, it's, and we've talked about that, I've talked about that with tons of people and, and the accessibility now, you know, being able to, you know, reach people and like you said, like, you know, post in a group and get whatever. I mean, it's, it's so much different than even, you know, when I was getting into it seven years ago and like you just had the post on Craigslist like everybody else, it's just I think some people take it for granted now and they go, Oh wow, there's a, there's a Facebook group with 3000 brides and I can just post in there. Like everybody, you'll see it and they're all, it's like, yeah, you know, we used to have to like, it was way different, you know, like even not even that long ago, you know,
(13:10):
I remember Craigslist, I remember those brides posted Mads and looking for services and vendors posting on there and you know, you just go, you have to type in searching in the, in the search group for wedding vendors to see who would pop up. And now Facebook has really got a curve on that. So I, I like it. I'm thankful for it now that we are in a different city that I'm able to get my name out there a little bit more quicker.
(13:42):
Yeah. You talk about you know, you moved from Oklahoma back out here. What is it like you know, I always ask people that are in, you know, a different wedding, you know, if you're doing weddings, you know, somewhere else. And then Seattle, what was it like, you know, differences, you know, between the two and then what was it like kind of entering the Seattle wedding community that it is, you know, to that?
(14:05):
Well, Oklahoma is definitely smaller. It's, I'm not gonna say it's all country. It's definitely a lot of do it yourself brides, which I respect. I respect any woman who takes on that challenge. And then you also have a lot of outdoor weddings and then a lot of church weddings. And so it's different. It's different lifestyle out there. Not a lot of break away from tradition and we love unique brides. I love someone who comes to tell me they're having a theme wedding, you know, in the winter or you know, they're having a destination wedding. I love that. Or who's going to have pink hair for their wedding or green hair. That's, that's amazing. That's not something you see a lot of in Oklahoma. So I'm grateful that we were able to come out here and break into a very open space of unique, unique rights and unique weddings. It is of course a larger group of competition, but there's a place for everyone here and, and there's enough brides for everyone. So I like it. I'm, I'm grateful. It's been very accepting. A lot of the salons that we had visited before. All this kind of shutdown, which we were only able to visit a few. We're very welcoming, very welcoming. So I love it.
(15:44):
Yeah, it's tough either. This time is definitely kind of put a hamper on, you know, lots of plans for lots of different things, you know, from, I can't remember, I think a couple of the podcasts we've done lately, you know, our newer vendors here or people that were wanting to expand, you know, this thing or that thing and it is so hard right now to not be able to network, you know, in ways that we could traditionally, you know, expect to do in the last couple of years.
(16:10):
That is true. That is true. Even on, on, on the website, we're able to kind of see, you know, where are we, get a lot of our hits and not a lot are really in the U S right now. But you know, most of where we do see the hits are, are countries and places that are opened up and able to hold weddings again. So we'll see what happens in the coming months.
(16:37):
You, you had talked about really, you know, making sure I'm making the brides and everybody, you know, that works you and grooms too, but you know, really giving them that, that plus, you know, take care of 'em, make sure they know, you know, it's their day, whatever. I mean, talk about just, you know, wanting to that customer service you guys want to provide and, and where, where's that come from and how do you, you know, the different ways that you act or kind of, you know, make sure that happens.
(17:05):
We always want to make the bride feel special. And w going to through the whole beauty, you know, mask of it all. You think of relaxation when you think of going to the hair salon or the nail salon. It's, it's a spa experience. So if we're gonna, you know, market these hair services and these facial services you know, for your, for your big day, we want to make sure that the bride is relaxed. We wanna make sure she's comfortable and happy with her product. You know, we wanna make sure that she feels extraordinarily beautiful. When she leaves our chairs, you know that's our main focus. That's our only focus. And we've so far that's been working for us, you know, referral after referral referral is what we get and that's what we love. That's what we strive for.
(17:58):
And you know, I love it to get those pictures from brides that we've had, you know, from two years ago, still able to wear their way, you know, and still able to wear their extensions and they might still have their keepsake box, you know, and we, we just really enjoyed those, those type of experience because that's something that I cherish is when someone can contact me two years after their wedding and say, Hey, we still have this product. It's amazing. I still love you. Thank you so much. That to me is, is, is success. You know, it's not the amount of money made. It's not the amount of products you sold. It's who still remembers you two years after a purchase. You know, that's, that's success for us
(18:46):
As a kind of a serial entrepreneur that's, you know, done a lot of different interesting things. You know, a lot of things with, with weddings. But, you know, regardless what are some lessons you've learned or, you know, things that advice you would give to other entrepreneurs and especially female entrepreneurs. I mean we so blessed on here that you know, most of the people we talk to are women owned businesses and people that are really smart in what they do. And what are some things that you've learned or advice that you would want to give out?
(19:17):
Oh man. If you have an idea, run with it. You never know. That might be an idea that someone needs or wants. You know, I think we've, we can, we've seen so many entrepreneurs that have come up with products and services that you just wouldn't think anybody needs. But you know, when you go down the bread aisle, you see so many breads but people still buy bread. So there's enough for everyone. And I, and I just would say don't be afraid. Don't be afraid at all. Just take that jump, go with it. If it doesn't work, try the next idea. If that doesn't work, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. Because not everyone has that entrepreneur bug. But if you do, then go with it. Nurture it, let it grow. Do what you can to, to own whatever it is you might want to own a business you know, a store, whatever it might be. Definitely, definitely. Let it grow.
(20:26):
What was the hardest thing about starting this new, you know, new endeavor and getting into this maybe something that you thought would be easier? What's been the most challenging thing?
(20:36):
Oh, the most challenging thing has been social media. I'm not old, but I'm not young. I remember my space and I remember now what it was trying to teach us. I was teaching, trying to teach us all how to code. I wish I'd paid attention more. But social media has really been the hardest thing for me. And I think it's because social media changes daily. Facebook changes daily, Instagram changes daily. And if you are growing a social media platform organically, it is tough. I do recommend taking classes on YouTube if you can, or through a technical school or if you can, if it's in your budget, hire someone. I, it's, it's been a lifesaver now that I have found a company that's able to take over it. But that was the hardest part was, was keeping up with social media as a business owner. I just couldn't do it. There just wasn't enough time.
(21:41):
No, I remember. And like you said, it's so frustrating because it just, it changes so often. I remember there was a time, maybe six months ago when even like posting these podcasts every week, like we weren't able to tag like business pages anymore or like something and it's like, it's so asinine. Like I'd almost just have to like walk away and you're just like here, you know? And especially where a lot of us are like, you know, really hard working single business owners or you know, starving entrepreneur kind of whatever. And then you're sitting here and it's like, even you spend all this time trying to get it going and then like the, you know, the platform just doesn't work. And it's like, you know, it's infuriating when you've tried so hard to like you know, build, build stuff up through that.
(22:27):
Oh yeah, I agree. I agree. And, and then it's, and then you have to decide, you know, which platform are you going to focus on? Twitter, you know, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, you know, there's just so many. When Pinterest now even is, is another one for business owners. So I, it's just a lot and I would, I would definitely suggest to, for, for, for entrepreneurs and business owners, you know, don't stress over it. If you can try to put that loan onto another employee or another company that handles stuff like that,
(23:05):
Do you find that you're able to delegate that way? I'm someone that I have a terrible time being able to hand off responsibilities like that. Is that something, are you able to do that?
(23:15):
It's taken some time for me to comfortably do that because I've been burned in the past where you hire someone, it just doesn't work out and you've wasted the time that it takes to train that person. But now that I know what characteristics and what things I need to ask certain people in order to really see if they're going to be the right fit. Now it's easy to delegate those things and hand them off. You know, here go because this project is for you. As long as you're able to follow directions, one, two, three, you should be able to handle this project.
(23:54):
What are some common questions? You know, w when people are looking at your services that you find that you're having to answer a lot or what are, what are things that you wish more people knew about? You know, hair and extensions and things, you know, common kind of pitfalls that you feel like you're answering the same questions over and over again.
(24:13):
Well, unfortunately you get people who think they know hair. And so the number one common thing I get is it real hair. Which it is. It's, it's real 100% human hair. Can diet, cut it, do whatever you need to it. Which also means you have to take care of it like it's human here. And only on maybe, maybe less than three occasions have I had someone come back who completely has ruined the hair because they didn't take care of it, like human hair. And so we try to educate and give as many resources as we can to brides so that they can keep the hair. It should last you minimum five years if you really know how to take care of it, you can get about a good seven years on your investment.
(25:09):
Do you find that more people are doing that? I mean, cause it's not a, it's not an inexpensive investment, you know, do you, do you find that people are, are valuing that?
(25:18):
I do. And I think that comes from how we present it. We presented as a, a high value investment. From the moment you step onto the website, you can see, okay, this is something that is going to keep me in. I'm going to be drawn into it because they look like they take care of their products. So I want to continue to take care of the product too. And then even with our, with our boxes, our PR, our proposal boxes, you know, they're meant to last their keepsake, so they're meant to last. And we want to make sure that whatever you do purchase from us, you have the proper instructions on how to make that happen. You may not know everything about hair, but we're going to give you the resources to make sure that you know how to take care of a heater that you purchased.
(26:08):
Yeah. Let's get a little more into the keepsake box. I know you had kind of mentioned that at the beginning and part of the inspiration that really kind of walked me through that and how that works.
(26:18):
So we have the keepsake box. They are there are four options actually, and they're all magnetic. Two of the options are customizable. So brides who plan to ask their friends to be their maid of honor or their bridesmaids would go on our website. They would choose a box enter a name that they would put on the top of the box, and then they would choose from three different card options. Will you be my bridesmaid, will you be my maid of honor and hello? Beautiful. And then they would go and proceed to choose if they want to purchase their ponytails or a wig or blonde extensions, you know, whichever that might be that they want their maid of honor or bridesmaids look to be for that day. But it's a beautiful proposal box. We have tons of video that we have to go through.
(27:19):
Because we have so many video that they've sent in from asking their friends to be their bridesmaid or their maid of honor. We've had some teary-eyed ones. And then we've had some funny ones that didn't go quite as planned. One that we definitely will end up putting on the website. Unfortunately they fell in the water and it ruined the box, but you know, the hair was able to be washed and saved, of course. But it was kind of funny, but not funny because she had set up this beautiful boat thing on the dock and it had balloons and it had a little red carpets, but the doc wasn't very steady or the wood wasn't very strong. And so it broke and I fell in the water and felt bad replace the box. But that's definitely gotta be one that goes on the website. So we have plenty of proposals for brides to look at for resource purposes.
(28:21):
That's awesome. Yeah. Cause you know, everyone is thinking about, you know, the, the actual proposal, but then obviously, you know, like my wife being asked to be a bridesmaid, it's a huge honor, you know, and her friend is, is just going to get married. They're, they're rescheduling because of the the outbreak. And but you know, that was, that was a huge honor. Again, and you know, my wife's been in a lot of weddings and you, you know, you definitely, you want to make sure that that's a special thing that you share between the bridesmaids, you know,
(28:49):
It is. And a lot of our brides, you know, we, we've had women who purchase, you know, 10 boxes, you know, with all wigs, you know, that are, you know, all balloon to match that dress. We've had women who, who get the white and black boxes just because they want a little bit more of a classier proposal with, you know, the dresses and the glitz and the glam, you know, so it's just a wonderful presentation and it's something that we can also be a part of that the bridesmaid or the maid of honor is going to remember. And now that we've kind of horned in on the groomsmen now we have something really special for them. We're actually going to roll out wood cigar boxes. They won't include hair, but they do have the option if they want, they can purchase a coupon for that groomsmen to come back and purchase hair if he would be discreet about it. Of course.
(29:57):
That's awesome. Yeah, no, definitely. I think the, I think the cigar boxes is a fun route. That's definitely something that, you know, guys, guys like to get a little something too, you know, you know, I don't think it's too crazy.
(30:11):
No, no. And, and, and since we've rolled out our, our man wakes they've been skyrocketing there. We're, we're projecting that they're going to be our number one seller. I'm here by the end of the year, which is something I didn't think was going to happen in this short amount of time, but it sure has taken off.
(30:31):
Yeah. Was that something that you always knew was coming down the pike or just that you kind of stumbled into? Is that something you had your eye on?
(30:39):
It wasn't something I had my eye on. Although I do know men who mentioned if they had an option, they would go with that. But not enough for me to search for it. And so when the vendor that I went through you know, brought it up, you know, they're like, Oh yeah, it'll be a good thing. Trust me, it's gonna catch on. You want to be ahead of the game. And they were right. It's something that is starting to catch on. It's cheaper than plugs for them in. It's something that if you do have a good barber, they should be able to make this hair into any cut or style that you need. And soon we will start having videos that can show what these men weaves, can be cut into.
(31:32):
Fascinating. I love it. I think it's a, it's 20, 20. We got there. We got to experiment with some fun stuff here. I think it's great.
(31:40):
That's it.
(31:42):
You know, you had talked about, you know, kind of a serial entrepreneur like we said that and being in a lot of the stuff, you know, of any industry you can be in, in the world, right? It's the wedding industry and the beauty. What is it about that that you know, excites you or warms your heart or why you know, of anything in the world? Why, why be involved in weddings?
(32:03):
Oh, you know, when I was a kid, I actually had a dream of two dream jobs as a wedding planner and a travel agent. And I've actually been able to do both. I and I, I've been able to kind of hone in only on weddings with travel agents. I've done destination weddings and then I also do honeymoons. For my destination weddings, I focus a lot more on a Disney wedding. So brides who want to get married at Disney land and have that fairytale wedding that's more so my niche because it takes a lot of planning. I do not do more than two a year. And that's just because the logistics of it is quite difficult sometimes. For travel agent, I just, who doesn't love to travel? Who doesn't want to book someone's dream vacation or their honeymoon? You know, again, I like that feeling of when someone can say, Hey, I was just going through my pictures and I saw that trip you booked for us a couple of years ago.
(33:09):
I got a book, another one, you know, I love those type of emails and those type of phone calls. And so that's still work that you do now too. That is again, it's not something I, I advertise a lot of because then I'll just get overwhelmed with it. But I stick with my Disney planning. I stick with my honeymoons to certain destinations. I am certified to book sandal resorts. I think we've all know about sandals and you've commercials Disney vacations anywhere you want to go in a Ruba, Hawaii Paris, France, you know, all those places over in the UK I can book to with experience for certain hotels and airlines. So certain certain places I can do and certain places I can't do.
(34:03):
But it certainly seems like you're, you're no sure of energy or you know, the entrepreneurial spirit, right?
(34:10):
Definitely not. I tell people, if you are an entrepreneur, you're probably not sleeping. Because you do have to work harder than the average nine to five person. I do work a nine to five. Well, I did before coven. I am a kindergarten teacher. I'm supposed to start but school's closed. So I think that was a sign that I should focus more on my businesses. And finally that leap to go full time with, with, with my entrepreneur aspects,
(34:49):
Well, as someone whose wife's a teacher as well, that certainly requires a great deal of you know, hard work and patients as well. Right.
(34:57):
It does. Especially with, you know, them kindergarten kids, they are full of energy. I wish I could find it, bottle it up and sell it on Amazon.
(35:08):
Yeah, she's going, she's a four or five right now and she's going to go down to first grade. So I, yeah, we're getting close there.
(35:16):
Oh man. She's going down. Most people go up. I know. I know. She's brave. She's brave.
(35:25):
Talk about you know, so focusing on the business talk about, you know goals here in the next couple years. You know, what do you want to see? And I know it's, it's, so yeah, I'm times right now. But in general, where would you like to see you grow or improve or what would you like to accomplish next?
(35:43):
Well, we would like to actually have a brick store soon. 2021, 2022 is what we're projecting. It will be a salon boutique dedicated to bridal beauty you know, nails, hair facials. We'll have certain unique dresses that will be in house designers only. And they will not be your traditional dresses. They will all be unique pieces for someone that just wants something that's non traditional. So the salon and the boutique will probably be upstairs, downstairs type thing. But that's our main goal. That's what we're working towards. And again, hopefully that's going to be within the next two years.
(36:35):
That's great. No, I think that that's great. And it certainly seems like there's nothing that you couldn't, you know, help a conquer with, with just lots of drive and lots of fun ideas. It's, it's interesting to, to chat with you. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Any other fun stories, tidbits, anything else? But before we let you go and the pressing questions I didn't ask you about?
(36:59):
No. I would just like to say we'll just, you know to all the brides and grooms out there. Stay safe, stay patient. We all feel for you. We are all with you all and look forward to helping you celebrate your nuptials soon.
(37:18):
That's awesome. No, it's, yeah, it's, it's a trying time for everybody on both sides of the you know, both sides of the the email, right? Whether it's the bride or groom or you know, vendor, you know, whatever side you're on of the wedding planning. That's, it's a tough, a tough time right now. If anyone wants to learn more about you and the business and everything you guys offer, where would you have them check out?
(37:41):
You can head to our website www.flaujaecouture.com that is spelled F L a U J a E couture.com.
(37:54):
And they, like I said, just a nice, a really nicely laid out website and you know, lots of good information on there and products and everything else. So I think it's important, you know, it's like your virtual storefront, right? And so I think it's a, it's a great job you guys have done on that.
(38:09):
Thank you very much. I did that myself. I'm super proud.
(38:13):
That's great. Now, like I said, I look at a lot of different you know wedding vendor websites a lot and so it's good to, to be able to be, Oh yeah. Okay. Like we, we get everything here. This is great. So
(38:25):
Got it. Well, thank you so much.
(38:28):
Well, Casey, thank you again for taking the time. You know, as a, as a parent and you know, with all this going on, I know, know times are, it's tricky to get everything scheduled inside. I, I so appreciate everyone taking the time and especially you today and coming on and sharing your time with us and to tell us a little bit about, you know, who you are and what you do. Thank you so much for having me and for wanting to talk about Flau'Jae Couture. I appreciate you. Thank you. It's always a fun learning experience with something new. And like I said, I was a dummy about this years ago and continuing to learn more about all the different, various aspects of everything you know, in the weddings in, in, in, in women and now men. And it's crazy. The hair, the hair stuff, it's, it's a truly a remarkable time. It definitely is. I agree. If you're like Kaycee and you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice easy questionnaire that we have laid out. That'll kind of get you in the system. Thank you so much again, this has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Jean Lenke, Jean Therapy Music
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington, and I'm so excited today to be joined by Jean Lenke. She is a musician and has really set the bar for future guests in, in terms of providing me ample, you know, notes and materials and background. I mean that I want to thank you so much for that and being well-prepared. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:40):
Hi there. I'm Jean Lenke, I'm calling you from Port Ludlow, Washington, where I've been living for about nine months. We moved here in August and I am a musician who has been providing music for special events and just doing general club music and summer concerts for about 10 years out of Philadelphia and that region. And so I'm starting over out here on the Olympic peninsula. I'm already in the gigging game doing live music at wineries and restaurants and festivals, other things like that that are all of course canceled now. And I'm hoping to expand what I was doing sort of as a sideline in Philadelphia wedding music and, and pump it up for the next couple of years out here on the peninsula. I really enjoy it. It's something that I find very special working with clients one-on-one. I've done other wedding services throughout my lifetime. And this opportunity to do it as a musician has just been a blessing.
(01:48):
Yeah. And what a fun area of the Pacific Northwest to be living in. I mean, truly beautiful and, and anything kind of out there what are your favorite parts about living out there? What do you, what do you enjoy about it?
(02:01):
Well, we can here to get away from the heat and the bugs and the extreme weather. A Philadelphia, I grew up in Monterrey for part of my life and we always wanted to live there and of course can't afford it. And so we found the Pacific Northwest on one of our vacation trips and just fell in love. I love being able to drive, whether I'm going to the grocery store or the vet or wherever, I can see the mountains. And the sky and the sea all in one trip every single day. And that is an amazing gift.
(02:35):
What was the biggest change coming from Philadelphia? I've never, I've very few times been out to the East coast, but a weather is, it was that obviously a big shift. What do you miss or what, what was the biggest change of that?
(02:50):
Other than, you know, the obvious beautiful benefits, the biggest change was probably that you do have to get in your car to go anywhere. I can't get on my bicycle and ride into town to the farmer's market and ride back with vegetables. I can't run around the corner to a Wawa and pick up ice or milk. You kind of have to leave with intention and maximize your trip. I do love driving though, and so I find it very peaceful and I don't find it a hardship to have to drive anywhere. It was just a big shift in the way you have to think and plan things
(03:31):
Well. Absolutely. Yeah. And especially being out in the peninsula, everything's a little more spread out sometimes and getting everywhere. But yeah, but yeah, like you said, you have the at least some good scenery to the lookout while you're doing it.
(03:45):
That's right.
(03:46):
So, so you're, you're a musician. Such a, you have kind of a very interesting bio here. You know, you sent over some notes and everything ahead of time. You know, growing up you know, with a family in the military and everything. How did you get involved in music and how did the, I always think it's so interesting. Everyone's story leads them down a different road where we all end up and, and kind of the vendors we are now is because of, you know, what we experienced in our lives. So kind of walked me through getting to this point. We're at.
(04:19):
Sure. as a small child, I studied classical piano. I wasn't a prodigy or anything like that. Just your average student playing Beethoven and Bach and Brahms and, and all that beautiful music. And I did that for about seven years. I sang in grade school choir and high school choir. I was always in the Alto section. I'll never get any glory. We never get the leads. So we always think of ourselves as our harmony fingers. And then I went off and ended up getting married a lot sooner than I thought. Raised three children with my husband in the military. And then we got out and moved to Pennsylvania where we spent the last 23 years. And I have to say that my children who led me back to music if, if you're lucky, you have children in a school district where they get to start to learn music in grade school.
(05:20):
And mine picked up music in grade school on, into middle school. One of them screamed in a death metal jazz experimental for awhile and it was watching them grow up. That brought me back to music and through people I met at church and through the school, you know, we've sort of reached a point where our kids were growing up around us and we needed to stop hovering and find our own stuff to do. And one of the guys in my life said, well, let's just start a garage band. And we all laughed at him and he said, no, I'm serious. He said, if sixth graders can do this, we can do this. So that's what we did. He handed me a microphone and a piece of sheet music. I think it was Carol King's it's too late. And he said, can you read, let's go. And we goofed around for awhile. And 12 years later I was running three bands, summer bands and a music circle and a women's jazz collective out of Philadelphia. And it all evolves into something I would have never ever expected for myself in my life.
(06:34):
It's so interesting. And we were just talking kind of before we started recording, we just posted Ben Meadow's podcast today. He's a DJ and so interesting. Excellent interview. Yes. No, and he did great. And talking about music and how it's just so important for, you know, every aspect of our lives. And especially when it comes to, you know, our wedding day, which is, you know, with your partner and you're supposed to, you know, combine your families and friends and everybody and, and it's just interesting how, how important music you know, throughout our lives. I guess it should be no surprise how important it is, you know, for one of the biggest days of our lives as well. Right.
(07:18):
That's true. It's so interesting you say that because now I think that to my own wedding and we didn't have any music we had absolutely no, I forgot about that. We sort of had a stop and go wedding. My husband was on deployment from one place to another and we popped into town, had a church wedding and a dining room, backyard cocktail reception, and then we, we bailed and we're off on the road to move to a new state and we never had any music at that event. That is so strange.
(07:52):
That's, yeah,
(07:54):
I understand that. The way I think about music and weddings is it's such a very personal, important part of a wedding for many, many people. There are those of us who love DJs and I love DJs. I love listening to Ben talk about his experience. And then there are others who all they really want is someone to come and sing this one special song and their ceremony. And that's their whole focus. And the rest of it, how it folds around them, it doesn't matter so much as long as it's pleasant. So everybody's different. And today there are so many wonderful different options and ways you can go with live music, with DJ music and blends of the two.
(08:39):
Okay.
(08:39):
No, it's, it's crazy. I remember we had a wedding this summer out in like Rosario resort. It's like up in the San Juan islands. And they had a couple, I had had a singer come out and you know, at first you were this kind of dude run and getting everything and I'm like, Oh, this, you know, this guy must be someone that lives up here, you know, whatever. I mean, who would, who would pay, right? I'm so dumb, you know, who would pay and make this a priority? Right? And that's my own, you know, here I am expecting people, right. But it's, you know, every, it's every day is a learning experience and it wasn't. And this guy was, you know, a phenomenal singer and you know, really well known and you know, plays around and whatever. And you know, the, the couple thought it was so important to them that, yeah, you know, they did pay him to come up and do you know, cocktail hour and then sing a cover song for their first ads. And I just thought that was such a Testament to how important that was to them. Right. And the experience and just kind of making everything, and I felt, well, that makes perfect sense that you would have someone come up and do that because as important as flowers or napkins or video is, you know, music and really setting the tone of the day is equally as important. You know what I mean?
(09:57):
Right. And it can be so different for everyone. You know, there it's quite possible that that gentleman could have been from what is that the resides is on orcas Island, right? He could have been from orcas Island and been a magnificent musician and often we don't know who's in our own community. And so the easiest thing to do is go online and click and look for a band or a DJ. And one of the things that I love to do is work with the musicians that are local to the communities where the weddings are happening that I'm doing. And as a jazz musician, I have the freedom to play a little bit with who is on my team. I have core musicians that I work with on a regular basis, but if we're going down to Olympia, for instance, I might take two of my own musicians and pick up two musicians down there to fill out the team. And that makes it all different and creative and exciting.
(10:54):
Do you enjoy, and I think this is an obvious answer, but I guess talk about the enjoyment you get from really customizing, working with your couples, really figuring out what's going to be right, what they want, what's going to work, talking about that kind of whole experience.
(11:12):
Well, I really love it. I mean I love that even just if I'm going to go to a winery gig, I tend to be, musicians will tell you that I tend to be theme obsessed. You know, if it's right after new year's, we're going to do a whole evening of music all about time. And if it's right before the Grammys or, or excuse me, the Academy awards, we're going to do a whole evening of music that comes from some film songs. So I love pulling together setlist that means something, whether it's for a wedding or church service or a special show. And I poured that into my work with couples. I, I have some sample music set list up on my website. And if you look at them, you can see that there's, there's personality in them. Some of them speak on a very personal level to the music that they grew up with.
(12:09):
Some of them, you know, I had a couple get married in a theater and they just wanted all Broadway tunes. And so when we did the, in gathering music, we did all Broadway tunes and it was very easy to pull together if when you just take the time to think about it. So I do spend a lot of time asking couples, you know, not just what their two songs are for their special dances, but what are the songs, what's the music they listened to send me your playlist, I want to listen to your music and get an idea of what your music personality is. And then I might suggest some things back to you and then they'll suggest more things. But together we come up with something that's the core of the music for the evening and then I fill in around it. And that's a lot of fun.
(12:57):
It's so interesting to me hearing you talk about, you know these different weddings and the theater and the Broadway tunes and thinking how much I miss just kind of with everything going on right now, just that creativity and, and really getting to share that experience and, and hear, you know, unique takes from lots of different couples and whatever they want that to be for their day. I do really miss that cause it used to be, you know, every other week you're talking with someone about something cool that they're going to do. And that really is something that's been taken away from everybody right now. You know, creatives and couples planning and stuff. It's a, I would love to help plan anything even remotely close to that right now. Hearing about some of the fun things you're talking about.
(13:45):
I know it's I feel like I'm starving creatively. I don't, I do work well with others and I don't work well by myself. I find myself in isolation, frustrated, unable to able to start things, but not unable to finish them. I need the motivation from a group to create. And I'm not tech savvy. I'm not unsupervised. I can't play music for myself. I really depend on my musical family. I've I've made a commitment since I'm home. I'm trying to learn to play the guitar, so I'm learning to play the guitar and singing on the back porch with my dog. And that's my only creative outlet at this point. So I'm really hopeful that we'll get to a point where we can, you know, at least get together and jam in a backyard if not perform. I was thinking about pop-up concerts for the summer, you know, if we don't advertise it, if it's not an event, maybe we could just show up in a park, spread ourselves out and play for, for an hour or so. And anyone who happens to come by can hear and enjoy because we, even if we're not working as, as artists, we need an outlet.
(15:06):
Okay.
(15:06):
And so I've got to find a way to do that.
(15:08):
Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, it's just, I just, it really, it just struck me when you were talking about that and just like, man, it's just been, it's been forever since I feel like I've talked with anybody about like, so this is what we're thinking about doing. And I think it was something that we really took for granted, right? Or I did, you know, hearing about all these cool, fun adventures and stuff that people wanted to do. And now it's like, I mean, it's just been forever since I've, we've talked about any of that stuff. It just seems like a distant memory, you know. Talk to me in, in some of these wonderful notes you sent over you know, that, that you lived in Germany earlier on talking about, I mean, just being, you know, expanding your, you know, anyone expanding their cultures and, you know, living somewhere else. I mean, what was that like for you and also kind of creative creatively as well?
(16:01):
That's an interesting question. You know, we, we are, we are a military family. My husband was a [inaudible] pilot in the air force and when, and I also grew up as a military brat. My father was in the army, my mother was in the army before I was born. And so my, my experience with the military growing up was that we were constantly moving. The army moves through a lot. My experience with my own family and my husband's service was that we barely moved at all. We lived in North Carolina for six years and then we lived in Germany for almost five years and we got to live in Germany during this joyous time when my children were age four to eight over that period of time, actually four months to eight years old and we threw them into the German schools. The Germans do everything with fanfare and festivity and lots of Cutty pasty building things, lanterns out of paper that get carried through the streets with songs and stories.
(17:09):
And it's like a fantasy land and it's, but it's also very orderly and logic logical and people sweep their gutters and shop on a daily basis. They don't know what, they don't go to Costco. And so we've learned a lot about intimate culture instead of the big American, let's go, let's go, let's go to Costco and Kohl's and everything this weekend. They spend their time out, nature out at festivals in their gardens creating things with their children. It's interesting that you bring up this question because one of the projects that's on my mind for the future is to do a children's music project. And, and I think that part of that comes from our experience there. You know, the songs, the story, it's all woven together and it would be really nice to produce something like that that, that I can share with another generation one more God.
(18:17):
But I think that living at different places and having different perspectives really gives you an opportunity to understand people that are different than you. To look at situations from different angles to troubleshoot. I've done some 12 troubleshooting in my wedding music work. I've worked with a lot of LGBTQ couples and there are often dynamics and nuances to working with those couples. Whether you're a musician or a wedding planner or a coordinator because things aren't always as simple as as one might expect. They're often lots of heavy emotions and dynamics. And I think I also learned a lot of that from my experience working in prison and the, and the prison education program I worked with for 15 years. But that's a whole different topic. So,
(19:17):
Well that sounds interesting too.
(19:23):
I'm, I guess I'm what you call a Renaissance man or woman. I always grew up thinking, you know, the Renaissance, the chief cook and bottle washer, someone who knows a little bit about everything but isn't an expert about anything. Although I consider myself a very talented musician. I'm not an expert. I'm not, I'm not classically trained. I didn't study jazz in school. I studied religion and feminist studies in school and, but, but those are Renaissance majors. When you look at, when you study religion, I think that's good in meadow state. He studied religion also.
(20:05):
Yeah. Yeah, I believe so.
(20:07):
I think he did. When you study religion, you're looking at the way we believe we are in the world from many different perspectives. When you study women's studies or feminist studies, you're, you're studying many different academic subjects from a certain perspective and you're studying a lot of race, class, gender studies and it just gives you these multiple lenses to look at a situation with. And I think that I bring those skills and those exposed experiences from studying those subjects and the, from my life to every situation, even if we're just sitting down trying to figure out the last wedding I did the couple wanted to have their family play music onstage and the couple wanted much more music than they could afford. And so we worked with them closely for several months to figure out how we could make this happen for them and how we could shrink some aspects. And still we ended up allowing them to play with their family members to play with our band for part of the reception. And we brought a DJ with us who was able to extend the evening beyond. He was our sound guy and our DJ, he was able to extend the musical evening beyond what they could afford for the band. So, you know, just thinking about how to troubleshoot those things creatively can make all the difference in the world at someone's event.
(21:53):
Well, and like you said, and like Ben said in his interview too you know, studying these things and, and experiencing the different, this, it just helps us as vendors kind of work with, you know, a variety of, you know, couples and people and, and, you know, kind of in your day to day life, we're kind of, you know, we are who we are and we're, you know, kinda in whatever bubble we're in. But, you know, it's so great in the wedding community where you do get, you know, couples from all walks of life and all different backgrounds and cultures and religions and everything. And it's so cool to be able to you know, kind of live outside of even like, I would not know anything about anything unless I got to meet all these cool couples, right? Like, I would be totally stuck in like my you know, just kind of in my own little bubble and it's so fun to be able to experience kind of all those different things and, and you know, desires for what people want everything to be like. It's just kind of a fun it's a fun world. We live in that way. You know,
(22:55):
It is, it's very different than our parents' world, you know. I know during my parents' generation, everything was a very formula attic. You know, if you were going to get married, you had a wedding and your address and you had cake and punch and the church reception hall and if there was a musician, it was the pianist or the church organist. And there's so many different options today and so many different ideas. You know, the creativity that, that brides and grooms have is amazing and many of them are, are, are DIY masters. I love it. I love seeing what people can do. And I also love working with people on budget. I find, I haven't, to be honest, I haven't worked with a lot of people that aren't on a budget. And so I find that when people are on a budget, they're much more open, creative. They have ideas that are out of the box. And that's a lot of fun. Even though it's a challenge, it's a lot of fun.
(24:06):
No, I'm kind of in that world too. And I belong to like videography, Facebook groups and stuff. And I always see these, you know, usually on the East coast or in, in international, whatever, and they're talking about all these, Oh, big budget, you know, whatever. I said, well, I don't know. You know, that's definitely not our world. Like, we're definitely like you in the you know, what can we do to make this work? And I think especially now with kind of everything changing and adapting, it's, it's going to even more kind of be up to, you know, vendors, us as vendors to kinda like make budgets work and figure out like, what can we do or what can we accommodate or how can we, you know whatever kind of customize whatever we need to, you know what I mean?
(24:50):
Right. Even the new trend towards elopement I find fascinating. You know, what does that mean exactly? Does that in my day. And elopement meant that you got on an airplane and you flew to France or something or to Las Vegas and you've got married in secret and then you came back and told everyone about it afterwards. And now I'm, what I'm reading online is that people are actually planning their elopements and they're taking close family with them and they're being intentional about it and they're adding some of the amenities that they would have had at a larger wedding and making it very personal. And I think that that's new and refreshing. And I'm excited to see where that goes and excited to see how music can be involved in it as well.
(25:41):
No, absolutely. I can't remember one of the, the recent, I can't even remember if it was one that we've posted yet or not. To be, to be honest. But we were talking about yeah, then the low man, like used to be like a dirty word or like a, just a different, like you said, like we're running off somewhere and, and now and you know, elopement I guess is a word that we've all chosen to associate with it. But yeah, it is just more that just smaller really. Finally plan. He just, you know, it's just, it's, it's the same as a wedding just on a different scale and it's not any better or worse or any, you know, it's just different. And, and I, I do think that, you know, we're gonna see a lot more of that just with, you know, legal stuff and just safety issues and health issues and everything else, you know?
(26:32):
Right. We all have to approach our business differently as we move into the future. And you know, it's a little bit of a reality check. It's time to check in on our paperwork, it's time to check on ourselves as we enter into contracts with other people and try and find a way to protect ourselves as business owners, but also be kind and considerate and understanding when situations arise, whether it's a COBIT epidemic or whether it's adjusting the family or something else.
(27:03):
I want to talk about a little bit more about your history of performing in jazz clubs and things like that and just more of that just the performance and vibe and, and talk about kinda your experiences with that. I do. Every year we film for Seattle jazz ed or jazz. It's it's a school here in Seattle where they they teach jazz music to kids and you know, they're able to perform and stuff and they would never be able to, to have all that otherwise. And every year I go film their fundraiser and it's, it's amazing to me to see the excitement and energy and creativity and, and you know, and just passion that they, you know, they have to perform. And, and talk to me just about your experiences as a performer and whether you get out of that or what do you enjoy about kind of that whole world?
(27:55):
Sure. I didn't start out in chats. When my band members started talking about it, I didn't really know what they were talking about. I started out with my first garage band, I guess when we'd call it. We also called it the church band because everyone in it was somehow connected to our church and our, our, our kids. And we played folk folk rock covers from the seventies, things like Jackson Brown and the Doobie brothers. And that's where I sort of learned that I had a voice but didn't really own it. My name wasn't on the project. I hit in the background, I was a reluctant lead vocalist. And after a few years, that project evolved into something more complicated and we started playing more complicated music. We became a summer band and we started playing with the jazz rock fusion genre of the sixties and seventies.
(29:01):
We were bringing in more talented musicians into the project over time. And it was through those musicians, some of the piano players and bass players that the question came up, well, you know, why don't we throw some cocktail tune into the front of the set if we're going to start early in the evening that that'll appeal to the old people that are, that are dining. And then they started calling those cocktail tunes Jacksons and I started asking questions, well, what, you know, what are you talking about jazz? And they were talking about a form and I started asking, excuse me, what, what, what kind of a form? And so what I learned that jazz is basically improvised improvisational playing of the popular standards of the early twenties, thirties, forties, fifties. And as it moves through the fifties and sixties, it started to evolve into other forms box, bebop forms.
(30:02):
And more contemporary jazz. And then John Coltrane came along and miles Davis and the bebop singers like Betty Carter. And it's just become this wonderful complex world. There's a beautiful graphic image that sometimes posted on Facebook of this giant tree, like a giant family tree and it has the roots of jazz and, and all these different branches in different places that has gone. And I find that so fascinating, you know, different styles from the style of gypsy jazz, Insta, Django Reinhardt to the smooth jazz and contemporary jazz artists of today. And what I found in the music, once I learned what I was doing, because there are some rules, it's interesting there, there's format, there are rules, there is theory involved, but there's also this freedom. And EV, if everyone comes to the table with this core knowledge and framework, then as you approach a piece of music, that's where the creativity and freedom happens.
(31:14):
So whether you're doing a classic standard, like let's say the way you look tonight, that's a lovely tune that's often played at wedding or whether you're playing I want to rock with you by Michael Jackson and attacking it as from a jazz approach. It can be a lot of fun. And so for me, whether I'm playing at a wedding or whether I'm playing at a winery as a duo or at a club or for a special event with a five-piece combo each of those opportunities to play with different musicians or even with the same musician again, is a new creative experience. I listen back sometimes I record a lot of things on my phone because I want to check in with myself and make sure that I'm on point. And if if I'm not figuring out what went wrong and listen to those recordings every once in a while.
(32:17):
And, you know, there must be a million versions of Joni Mitchell helped me. It's a tune that I sing all the time as the standard. And they're all different and that can be with the same people and yet they're still all different. They're all creatively different. And I find that so interesting and I think as an audience member as well, when you're out listening jazz, you find that so interesting as well because I don't just go out and perform. I go out and listen to my peers and I follow my peers and I listened to their music and it's equally as creative and changing and evolving and that's exciting. Jazz is exciting.
(33:02):
Talk about relating you know, a lot of the creativity, you have the passion, energy, performance, all that now too, you know, working with couples, if they were to, you know, they do reach out to you, they were to reach out to you in the future, you know, walk me through that process of how it looks to translate a lot of the, you know, the visions and stuff you have into kind of, you know, making someone stay perfect like that.
(33:29):
Sure. That's a great idea. When possible I like to meet with a couple and even members of their family in person at first have a coffee conversation, get to know you know who they are, where they met how they, how did they decided they were going to get married and what their overall vision is for the whole wedding. Just in brief, I don't need to know all the details and that gives me a picture. It gives me a vision of what they want to create. And then I like data. I I used to serve as a wedding coordinator, wedding day of planner, all those different things. But I also hold wedding dresses and pageant dresses when I was very young. And so I, I like gathering information. So I usually after that first initial meeting or a telephone conversation, if we can't meet in person, I send them this intake form where I also gathered information that I can refer back to.
(34:35):
And on that intake form we talk about music. I asked them to send me you know, what, what's the music they're listening to? Who are the artists they listened to on a regular basis? What's their Spotify playlist like? And I'll listen to their music. What are the songs that they'd like to have in their wedding? Have they thought about dancing with their father and what's that's going to sound like and feel like? Is it important to them or not? Or did they just want me to choose the music for the evening? Do they love trumpet? Do they hate trumpet? You know, what, what instrumentation are they envisioning? Would they rather have me show up with three guitars and a bass player and two more of an acoustic set? Do they like Latin music? And so I spend a lot of time trying to understand what makes them tick musically.
(35:38):
Because if you can understand who they are musically, then you can create something that will both appeal to them and the generations around you. You find a core and then you wrap the other things around. You know, you wanna you want to make sure that you have danceable tunes. You want to make sure that you have tunes during the dinner hour that are primarily instrumental and aren't going to intrude over people's conversation. You want to choreograph the evening. If I'm doing a whole wedding ceremony to the last wedding I did, I actually did it with a broken leg, which is a different story, but it was choreographed around a song called polka dots and moonbeams tree dance was being held in the garden is the first line of that song. And it was a country wedding on a farm and the ceremony was in the garden and the rest of the event was in a tent in a small tent.
(36:45):
But we wove that song throughout the evening. It became both the songs that the bride walked into for her processional and it became the transitional theme between each of the different sets and as we would move to cutting the cake or move to the toasting, and it really served as a thread to bring the whole evening together and it helped weave the ceremony. Music, that cocktail music, the dinner music, the dance music. The second dance that which was different than the earlier dance that in, in style and mood and, and that took, that took time and creativity. And I enjoy doing that. To me that makes it more a more satisfying experience for both my clients and for my musicians tonight. And we've worked on that music. You know, there are times when we can just show up and do a gig.
(37:44):
You know, we show up to the job, we've got a list of charts, the music's been planned and we play it and we play it well. And there are other times when, you know, we're going to get together four times and we're going to learn those five tunes that are really important to them that we've never heard before and we're going to make sure that we do them really, really well. And that seems like it takes a lot of extra time from the musicians, but it also provides gratification when you nail it and everything comes together. So that's sort of my process. I also, you know, try and try and work with, with financial aspects. You know, there's the budget. That's always important and budgets for music have declined over the years. You know, I used to, when I started doing weddings, I would go online and see, okay, well what are people paying for music?
(38:38):
And you'd see these spreadsheets and maybe 10% of a budget on music. I think I read today online on something coasted on Facebook that couples are putting 4% of their budget into music. And you know, 4% of a $20,000 budget is $800. And that's not a lot of money when you're asking five musicians to come and play for five hours plus the setup and the breakdown and the travel and everything. So how do we navigate those challenges? How do we navigate valuing musicians and valuing the gifts that they give and balance that with ever decreasing budget and they'll probably continue to decrease. So we have to think creatively and work locally. I think I mentioned before that if I was doing a, a wedding in Olympia for instance, I might use primarily local Olympian musicians because they're going to cost less then bringing my musicians down from the peninsula. Yeah. And those are ways to be crude as and work with couples on their budgets and make, because live music should be affordable for everyone at least for part of their weddings.
(39:57):
Okay.
(39:57):
Yeah. Is it just, I was going to say hi, how are you combating that? Just, just like you said, I'm offering, you know, solutions and things. Is that, do you find that something that you have to educate, you know, potential clients about? Or you know, like
(40:16):
I do, I find that there's a perception out there that if you want to have live music at your wedding, that means hiring a wedding band. And if you go online and search for a wedding band, you instantly see quotes about price ranges that confronted to into the 5,000, $10,000 range. And, and it doesn't have to be that you know, it can, it can be much, much, much less at four for a full day of music. I think that I can accommodate a full day of music for $3,500 with a large fan. And, and that's, you know, working locally, working creatively trying to compensate everyone fairly. Now if you ask us to travel to orcas Island for instance, you know, we're going to need a room, we're going to need travel compensation, other things like that. You know, have jazz, we'll travel, I'll travel anywhere and I'll pull together a beautiful band for you anywhere in the world. But it's the travel and the lodging, those are the things that start to add up. And so being able to resource musicians anywhere in the world is, is a talent and there are ways to do that and most people don't think about it. But it does happen.
(41:44):
So it kind of listened to you talk today. It does. And from looking at everything you had sent over before too, and your website and me, it does seem like a lot of the, a lot of your strengths, you know, are, are, like you said you know, figuring out you know, flexibility and, you know, pulling in different things and also being able to kind of handle, you know, a lot of different, I again, cause I'm kind of the, you know, the dummy here, right? Like I think about like a wedding band or like, you know, there's like a string things or whatever, but like you can really kind of accommodate lots of different, you know, things that someone will be looking for. Right. Is that fair to say that if someone were going to you that you could be able to accommodate, you know, a vast combination of different things they are looking for in terms of musical needs and you know, styles and things like that?
(42:36):
I believe so. I believe that if someone comes to me with a vision for their music, I can do the best to make it happen myself and with my own musicians or I can help them find someone who can meet their needs and you know, for instance, thinking outside of the box, I like to think outside of the box. Let's say someone's going to have a backyard wedding and they want to have live music, but they can't afford a wedding band and maybe they can't afford me. I bet you I can find them a local bar band that will come and do their music and do a very good job and make it work for their budget and I'm happy to help with that. I'm happy to guide them in that direction. Even if I don't get the job, I hope I'll get the job and I hope that I can work with them to provide them what they need, but I'm never going to walk away and leave someone standing there saying, well, now what do I do?
(43:41):
Okay.
(43:43):
Because it can be intimidating, you know? I mean, people, like I said, I, I'm in the wedding world and I don't know all the odds and ends of, you know, each vendor type. I mean it's really hard, right? And it is a lot of education and communication, you know, no matter what field you're in.
(44:00):
I also make a habit of trying to keep my personal overhead down. I don't buy tables at big wedding events. I can't afford them. Because I try and keep the budget under control for my clients. That doesn't give me a large profit overhead. And so I don't have a thousand dollars to buy a table at the big event in Seattle or however. I know some of them cost even more than that. So I do grill a little marketing. I I make flyers and wrap cards and I reach out to events coordinator to event vendors. Sometimes I'll show up at I actually went to the wedding. It's about in port Angeles with my brand new puppy and I parked right there at the entrance by the parking lot with the back door open. You would be amazed at what a, a PR magnet a little puppy is.
(45:06):
And so, you know, there wasn't a lot of music offers. There was one DJ at that event. I went inside, I met some vendors, may have built some relationship, but on the way out I just asked them, Hey, have you ever thought about live music for your events? And then I handed them my literature. So I try and think creatively as well about how I market my business and that keeps my overhead down. That keeps my financial needs down when working with a client. So I'm not building in that extra 20, 30% onto my business quote to help carry my business. But I'm also not working every weekend at wedding. I would say maybe I do four a year. It would be nice to do more in the future, especially as I'm settling in here out on the Olympic peninsula and I'd like to grow my business in that direction and maybe I'll change the model of how I work as I see what the needs are of the community and what works best. But for now, I, I'm, I'm a word of mouth person. I use Facebook, I use my website. And most of the jobs that I've gotten have been from people who have heard me out in community playing or be a word of mouth.
(46:29):
I want to hear about this album that you released in December.
(46:36):
I know it's interesting. I had been thinking about an album project for a long time and the musicians I was working with in my summer cover band were always against doing an album. They were always like, well, who wants to hear somebody do a cover of whatever, they're not going to be interested in your album.
(47:01):
Not creative at all.
(47:05):
So, but I had this burning desire to say something, you know, to leave somebody behind after I'm gone. Right. And so I was starting to contemplate what I could do musically. And would that be a folk album? Because I do think some folk music and I was part of a folk group in Philadelphia. Would that be a jazz album? You know, would it be a Joni Mitchell tribute? Because I love Johnny Mitchell. And what happened was my husband and I made a quick decision to move to the West coast earlier than we thought. And last spring we suddenly pushed the envelope and decided to sell our house really fast and move on out here to Washington and we put the house on the market. We sold the house and suddenly I had a month before I was going to leave and I wanted to go in and record some cocktail demos with my, one of my guitarist so that I would just have something to put on my website and, you know, try and book some wineries and things out here when I arrived and my engineer said, Jean, we've been talking about doing an album for years.
(48:15):
Why don't you just do it? You've got time before you leave. And I was like, no, I tell him there's no way. And in a matter of 20 minutes, he convinced me that I could. And so I did. In two days, I recorded the music with hired guns as I say professional studio musicians and two of them Lawton and Kevin Hanson were particularly influential in some of the flavor throughout the album musically that ties it together. But the songs that were chosen, the ideas, the arrangements, the flow is all my work. A beautiful job of engineering and mixing and mastering was done by Glenn Barrett at morning morning star studios. And it's, it's a beautiful statement of who am I am musically does everything from ring of fire, a Johnny Cash cover that opens the album to original lyrics to instrumentals, collaborations with other artists.
(49:28):
And you know, bill Evans, Tim on the back end and it's a great album to listen to when you're driving through Washington. It's interesting. I don't listen to my own work, but it keeps the CD in the car and when I'm on a long drive out here, that's when I listened to it and I realized how wonderful it is. Very proud of it. You know, I'm 57 years old. I decided to go for it. I paid for it with money that I earned. And it's my project and now that I've done it, I want more. So I talked about the children's project. I'd love to do something maybe a little more modern connected spending this coven time, not just learning to target, connecting with other younger musicians. There are a couple of musicians I've connected to that are interested in jazz fusion and I'd love to learn more about electronic music and I've become interested in surf music and surf jazz since I've been out here on the West coast. And wouldn't it be fun to do something that was sort of West coast surf jazzy electronic games, just something fun. And so I'm hopeful that when all of this
(50:52):
Okay,
(50:52):
Oppression where we're suffering from the virus lift, that there will be a surge of creativity in the music community and new things might evolve.
(51:05):
Okay.
(51:05):
I love it. And kudos to you for, you know, really seeing something. I, it must be so personal and I could not do that. You know, putting yourself out there and, and releasing that and, and I just say, you know, obviously kudos and I think that's great.
(51:23):
Thank you. And yes, you could, you just have to make up your mind to do it and go for it.
(51:28):
Oh, absolutely. This has been such a, an enjoyable chat today, getting to know you and, and emailing and stuff ahead of time. And, and I, like I said, I appreciate you really just the, the guide now, the benchmark for anybody that wants to come on the podcast and doing, doing my research, doing my research for me and so that we could just focus on having you know, just such a nice, delightful conversation. I really appreciate you taking the time and reaching out to come on and taking time today to chat with me.
(52:04):
Thank you. And I'm, I'm also enjoying the podcast that you're producing. It's giving me an opportunity to get to listen to a few weeks and learn about the other professionals in our area. So thank you for what you're doing. It's a very creative idea. And, and I appreciate it.
(52:22):
Yeah. We're I think I mentioned before we started recording we'll be entering year three in like two weeks. And so you got a hundred or so to catch up on. So hopefully there's a good, we're building a good backlog for people, but
(52:39):
No, you have quite a few. I was impressed with your SoundCloud.
(52:45):
And you know, and I've always said from the beginning that I think it's important not only for you know, the week to week obviously, but as we meet new vendors and new vendors and new vendors that people can go back and, you know, we, we try to keep them somewhat evergreen. I mean, obviously right now with everything going on in the world, it's hard to not focus on that. But I do think it's, it's valuable content. You know, no matter when you listen to it and you know, we find people all the time that say, Oh, I just, you know, listened to whatever, and it was two years ago, you know, who knows. So no, I think it's good and I appreciate you joining the family and coming on and just taking the time. I appreciate it.
(53:28):
Okay.
(53:28):
Thank you. Can we put a plug in for my website?
(53:31):
Absolutely. I was gonna say you beat me to it. If, if anyone is would like to hear more about you and your music and the, and the CD and just everything, where would you have them check out? You have lots of content on your site?
(53:47):
I would have them go to www.jeantherapymusic.com. That's therapy like in a therapist, but I am not a therapist. Jean Therapy was the name of my old band in Philadelphia. And so it's still my overall brand name. And from there you can find an event calendar. You can find a wedding page with information and downloads. You can find my album and and a blog that I should pay more attention to. Maybe I'll do a blog posting about you read and what you're doing and just to, to have something different on there.
(54:32):
Absolutely. Any blog is a good blog. As I, as I I still beat the drum in 2020 about the importance of blogging, so.
(54:46):
Right. Well, perfect. Well, we'll stay in touch and thank you again. If you're like Jean and you're interested in, in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire. They'll get you in the system and we can start figuring out that if it will be a good fit to get you on and, and get you featured. Thank you so much again. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Briana Nasman, Orting Manor
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I'm so excited to be joined today by a new friend, Brianna Nasman and she's the new owner of Orting Manor, a wedding venue. And I want to thank you so much for reaching out today. It's a beautiful day. I know you're out in the backyard, so we might hear some birds or dogs and that's totally okay. We got to do what we can to stay safe nowadays. So thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:41):
Hey, I'm Briana of Orting Manor . We just bought it in December, so I'm new wedding venue owner. We're changing a lot of kind of the, how the business run and a lot of updates to the house and property. So yeah, I'm excited to be here.
(00:57):
Yeah, it's quite an odd time to go into venue ownership and then, you know, with everything going and kind of postponing the delay of the season. Has that been given you guys more time to get stuff kind of as you envision or what's that process?
(01:13):
Well, yeah, when I bought it in December and had some grand plans to do a really quick cosmetic remodel in the house and I've been doing most of the work myself, so here I am and gosh, we're in may now, not quite finished every day I keep thinking, Oh gosh, it's almost done. Yeah, but it's, it's been a little bit nice to have a little bit more freedom to take the time to spend on it and not stress about getting it done.
(01:38):
So if anyone doesn't know, why don't you talk about a little bit about the property, what's it like and you know, kind of any history of it that you want to get into.
(01:46):
Sure. Yeah. So the house the actual ordering Manor was built in 1901. And long story short it's only had a few, I think we're the fourth or fifth owners of the house. So in 120 years it's been yeah, pretty cool. It's, it's an awesome, awesome house and the venues in the backyard, it's really, really beautiful, really well landscaped flows really well. So it's definitely not, you know, a big farm venue or a hundred acres or something like that, but it's it's quite beautiful. So yeah, we love it.
(02:19):
What kind of the couples do you find, you know or what drew you, I guess to, to me, what do you think is, you know the big draws like aesthetically and the style, like you said, you know, the barn thing is kinda, you know, really popular. I think some vendors kind of mixed it, you know, it just cause it's so much, but what do you, what's kind of the vibe and, and that sort of thing?
(02:40):
Yeah. Well, it is, you know, a Victorian house, so there's definitely like a vintage vibe pilling into definitely kind of garden feel. The biggest draw. I think for a lot of couples is that we actually do full weekend rentals and so people can stay in the house and they can have 10 guests in the house cause they want. So you get the whole weekend basically to have your wedding experience of just having like a one day wedding.
(03:03):
No, I love that. We did that a couple of years ago. There was a property out in Sholom that that did like it wasn't one of the, I can't even remember what like the wineries and stuff, but it was like a kind of an Airbnb rental and it was so nice to be able to like, you know, you and, and you know, your bridal party or your family, whoever and stay out there. I thought there was such a unique thing because you know, we show up and you're like, everyone's kind of like rested and ready to go as opposed to like, we're dumping all of our stuff at eight in the morning and trying to frantically get going, you know?
(03:33):
Yeah, exactly. And there's so many. I mean, weddings are so intense. I mean, honestly they are, it does a lot to set up. It's a lot to get ready and if you're the couple, it's, it's a lot of stress and I just, I just found it in my own wedding. Like the short one rental period we had was, we were pretty low on decor, but it was like, Oh my gosh, we have like two hours to get everything set up and for me to get ready. And I ended up getting ready at home. And so yeah, I didn't want that experience for people. I think if you're spending that much money on a wedding, like you really want to enjoy it and you can't really enjoy it if you're rushing around all day. Trying to get things set up and micromanage everyone and yeah,
(04:14):
No. Yeah. W when we got married, we did the same thing and we just got ready at home. It's so hard and, and you see this like same day kind of check in, check out and you're trying to get everything and throw it in the limo or throw it in the like the shuttle. And I'm like, man, I couldn't, I'm barely keeping track of my own equipment, let alone, you know, I couldn't imagine like, or it like you gotta send aunt Sally back later and he'd get with her. I mean, it's just scary.
(04:40):
I'm pretty sure we actually left some gifts at our wedding venue and no one noticed and they got thrown away.
(04:47):
That's awesome. So talk to me about your background. How did we get to where we are today in purchasing?
(04:54):
My background is real estate, so I have a couple investment properties and that's been my passion for a while is and I love, I love rehabbing houses. So walking into a 1901 Victoria and a lot of the features are original. Obviously there's been updates over the years, but it's been really, really cool to restore it from my perspective. But I love remodeling. I love buying houses. That's my jam. I decided I wanted a wedding venue and I honestly don't even remember what it was that sparked that. But we looked at doing like an elopement venue in our backyard. And the County was like, yeah, that's, that's never going to happen. So at that point I said, well I want a wedding venue for whatever reason I went on to go find one. I know I didn't want to build one just cause that's such a economic like I mean that's super expensive and it takes forever. So we were looking for existing venues and we found the ordering manner and the second I walked up to the property, I knew it was like I have to have this house.
(05:55):
Yeah. Cause it is kinda like the, you know, you talk with a lot of vendors and that just kind of like the pipe dream of like, well we're going to explore the menu someday or we want to open the venue. Or I remember I was even talking to this couple, I guess. They, they didn't book me, but they, I guess they got married this year. So it was last year we were talking and they were like in the, in the booking meeting, they were like, you know, we really are thinking that once we get done with all this, we want to open their own venue and I would get married first and then like figure this stuff out. You know what I mean? It was just great. And like, you know, obviously that that could work out for people, but I was like, I would definitely like get through it once before you decide.
(06:37):
Oh yeah. Yeah. And coming into this business with basically no experience in the wedding industry. I was in my own wedding. It's definitely been a bit of a learning curve. But I've leaned on some planners and stuff to help me with the actual weddings. And so my, all my couples that are booked for the summer are doing full, full or yeah, court coordination with my perfect wedding assistant. I believe you've also interviewed actually. And so that's really great because they, they know the business, they know what they're doing, they know how to run a wedding. And so I don't need to worry as much about like messing it up cause they've got it.
(07:13):
Yeah. Cause there's definitely a kind of a, you know, either side of the coin that, you know, the venue ownership can go on. You know, we've worked at places where the owners are very hands on, you know, maybe even too hands on, you know, sometimes when you're trying to, to balance versus, you know, ones that want to focus on ownership and then, you know leave kind of some of that planning and stuff out so that you feel like you're more on that side and you want to bring in the expertise to kind of help.
(07:38):
Definitely. Yeah. I'm not a wedding planner on any spectrum. Like with any definition, it's not, that's all my thing. So I don't want to be responsible for someone's wedding. I just know that I can run a venue and it's a beautiful venue and I know I can have that aspect down. It's I'm very comfortable in that field, but definitely not in terms of like being super hands on, I love going to weddings. I definitely plan on being there, but I don't want to be the point person.
(08:04):
So, yeah. What was your guys's wedding like? What was that and sort of thing that you've learned that you know, that like you said, you know, not being stressed or having the place able to get ready somewhere, what you know, what some lessons that you've learned.
(08:18):
Absolutely. well I had my perfect wedding system through my wedding and we had an extremely small guest list, most laid back wedding. We got married at Woodland park zoo and so there was no like fluff about it. It was very, I mean, I got ready at home, we drove to the venue, we took the pictures and we got married. But it was really fun. It was super, super fun. And you know, I've been to a few weddings, but I, I don't know if I'd call them fun, which is fine, but I feel like, you know, again, if you're bringing that many people and you're spending that much money, you want to have like a really memorable event. And that's just my personal opinion. But my most super fun and I credit deeply, deeply to, to Rosalyn at my perfect wedding for their help. I think at that point, by the time I showed up I don't know if we would've actually gotten married without them there. So yeah, I think that was huge to have them there.
(09:11):
It's so hard nowadays. And we've talked in the last couple of weeks too on the podcast about, you know, with this people postponing, you know, or taking time to reflect cause it, that has been kind of my experience over the last year or two that you get a lot of burnout like even day of and couples and you feel like we're doing stuff that maybe people don't want to do or in the way, or we're doing photos for 18 hours or you know, whatever. And so, you know, my hope is that like maybe taking some time and figuring this stuff out and you know, if we do need to make smaller guest counts, if you still want to do it you know, in the, the, the phases or whatever, but that people are really focusing more on like what they want and what, you know, what they want and the feelings that they want versus like maybe a family member or even a brother and sister do it a certain way. I mean, do you you felt like yeah, you just want it to be fun, you know?
(10:11):
Yeah. And it really was, it was super fun. I'm not going to lie. We had an open bar and that was, you know, well, well, you know, but it was, it was really fun. The animals were cool. It was a cool venue. I mean, it wasn't a wedding that, you know, you know, like definitely doesn't have that feel. It's more at a feel of like a big party or a small party. Really. Only 37. But it was super fun. And I think you can have a wedding that feels like a wedding, but also have the fun part of it too. So yeah, there's definitely a lot going on right now with weddings and should be interesting too to see where it, where it ends up.
(10:46):
Yeah. I as and especially as like the venue where it's, it's, it's, I think it's the trickiest thing because, you know, we've been obviously talking with couples too and they'll be like, well, Hey, you know, like, what do you think is a lot of venues are like, we got, you know, it's this day or you got to wait six months. Or, you know, like, it's hard to try to, like, there's just not, there's just so limited. And I do think people are realizing that now too, even as we're, you know, we're transitioning some of ours to next summer and I think people are already realizing like, there's really just not that many like Saturdays in the summer to do it.
(11:19):
It really isn't. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here in the Pacific Northwest we get, you know, three, three ish, good months of weather. And there's only so many Saturdays and that's not actually that many, three months. So it is definitely tough. I think I feel so bad for couples right now. We're rescheduling our summer weddings. Cause it's really tough. And then I feel for two, I mean we've got these big mortgages, we have exorbitant amount of expenses like with landscaping and utilities and just, I mean payroll, all this stuff. And so it's really hard on both ends for a couple of having to reschedule and paying a fee or not even being able to get a date that worked for them in 2021 or later in 2020. But then of course venues are struggling too. So it's, it's definitely a tough time for everyone.
(12:04):
Yeah. Cause that's, and we're thinking about that the other day too because I was thinking about how my, you know, like my equipment is just kind of sitting not being used. Right. Cause you know, you figure like any, anything you buy, right. As like a lifespan and somebody uses or whatever where, you know, so I'm like, man, like we're, I'm gaining, you know, like six months more, right. Like I can use like a lot of my cameras and stuff, you know, whatever that we're not using now. And you think like, you know, if you're a venue, you know, yeah. Not only is it, you know, the mortgage and everything, but it's upkeep and like keeping everything ready to go. It's not like you can just flip a switch tomorrow if they you know, open everything up. It's like you guys have got gotta like maintain the whole time.
(12:46):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I got to tell you, I have, my venue has a pool and I've never had a pool before. I have no idea how to maintain a pool and it's been a struggle. I let it go over the winter and that was a big mistake. So just trying right now to get it cleaned up and I'm been playing phone tag with the pool maintenance companies. I'm trying to get someone out there to help me. But I mean, yeah, if I had a wedding in a week I would be like panicking right now because the pool is not in good shape, but it's stuff like that or like the weeds that come in in the spring where like the grass growing, you know, you can't let that go because you have a tour or whatever you mean. It'll just, I mean it goes so quickly. It's unbelievable how quickly the yard will go if you want it.
(13:24):
Have you guys been able to leverage that and kind of doing virtual walkthroughs and stuff? Has that been something and how has that process gone?
(13:32):
Yeah, sure. I've done I've been doing Google Hangouts, video calls basically and doing tours that way. It's definitely a little awkward. I think it's really hard for to get like a real feel of the space via, you know, your laptop. But I have had one couple books and you know, a few interested, but most of them are waiting to make a decision until I can come see it in person, to be honest. And I really can't blame them. If you're going to spend that much money, you want to like really sit in the face and see how it's going to feel on your wedding day. So it's definitely tough for a couple of students to decide. But it has gone. I mean it's been good. Like I still have quite a few virtual tours booked from that, so that's helpful. At least people are getting to see it. You know, if you know it's a no, then you don't have to drive all the way out there. So at least it helps with on some level.
(14:19):
What was the, the biggest like you said, kind of coming into, you know, obviously doing real estate and everything but, but coming into the wedding industry, what was the biggest challenge or thing that you thought that wasn't going to be a thing or, I mean, it had to have been a huge, you know, anybody entering the, you know, the wedding industry, it's like, okay, what's going on here?
(14:38):
Yeah. I have to say I severely underestimated the maintenance of the property, which is funny given like I have multiple, but you know, it's a really old house. All the South I have for sure. And again, the yard is, is really big. And so I, I definitely underestimated like the actual work involved with maintaining the property. That's been the hardest thing. I've had really good luck with couples, have all been really lovely and I've been really happy to book them. And then, you know, I passed them off to Raglan and that's worked really well. So I haven't had too many struggles in terms of like the actual wedding business per se. I think it's definitely more, but you know, I am brand new to it so that could completely change in a few months. So let me throw a wedding and then I'll tell you.
(15:25):
But yeah, I mean obviously cause cause a lot of times if people are going from doing makeup or whatever and then starting the business, I mean being in real estate, like a lot of that stuff you're still managing anyway. Right. You know, figuring out taxes and stuff and everything else has a lot of that, has a lot of that parlayed into you know, obviously running the business.
(15:48):
Definitely, definitely. This is my third business that I've owned myself, so I have quite a bit of experience in like that. And it's my second, well it's my second business that's like on a property I own and my third real estate related business. I definitely have a pretty strong foothold in terms of like managing that and like the taxes and all that sort of thing and the insurance and that comes really easy to me. Thank God. But if you're coming from like the makeup world and you're buying a venue, there's going to be an enormous learning curve I think unless you have a real estate background. Because it is, it is a very different type of business. Owning a real estate related business is a very different type of business than owning, you know, just a small, a small business I think. Just because yeah, the house comes with a lot.
(16:36):
Did you, did you go to school or how did you get kind of get involved in all this? Where did the inspiration come from?
(16:42):
Oh boy. I always want to be a psychologist. So I went to college. I was in my third year I was working three jobs and in school full time, like just nonstop working and we're on a winter break and I decided I was going to get my real estate license cause I had all this free time cause I was only working three jobs, they're not in school. So I'd love to get my real estate license. I did that and I like fell in love with real estate. So I actually dropped out of school. I think I was like two or three quarters from graduating digital psychology plan, which was really, really good that I did that cause I would not have been a good psychologist. And then I started selling houses. I was a real estate agent and then I bought my first property I think within a couple of years. And then I bought I actually own a clean and sober house. So that was my first investment property that I bought which is also a whole thing unrelated to the wedding. But yeah, that's basically how I got started and the passion never has died.
(17:43):
Obviously you know, being a real estate agent and you know, being personable and know showing and everything, I mean has that translated well as Dino to showing the venue and everything too is in a similar thing. I have no idea. Right.
(17:56):
Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean it's basically the same thing on a lot of levels where you're just, you're showing the property and it's the couple's decision if they're gonna fall in love with it or not, you know? And so I show it and I point out things that I liked the best and well, there's not too much that I disliked, but during the remodel there's certainly things that I didn't want to point out, but yeah. And then people, you know, it's either the right set for them and I love it or it's not. And yeah, it's very, very similar to start showing houses in real estate.
(18:27):
But I guess it is different in that you're a sh, you know, it's not your house, but it's your property, you know, you're showing them, you know, most realtors don't go around showing their own property.
(18:37):
Yeah. I think that's a benefit because I automatically love the place. So I, I love it. Like I love this house and so I show it, you know, and I think my passion and love for the house shine through it. Whereas when you're a real estate agent, you're showing someone else's house and you might, might want to, you might not, but I'm not having to like make things up on the fly. Like, Oh look at this cool kitchen thing. You know, it's like, yeah, I put this here, I chose this, or this was original house or whatever. You know, I already love it.
(19:03):
Yeah. I remember when we bought our house and I had, I had a realtor that I had done a lot of video work for and I think when we can't, like we saw it and then we came back and saw it again. And he was definitely doing like, man, like, isn't this just, isn't the backyard just so much bigger than you remember? Like, isn't this just, and I was like, Rick, like, you don't need to, I'm psycho. You know? I was like, I know you man. Like you don't try to sell me on this stuff, you know, let me figure this out. It's like medium. Like it's just so much brighter in here than I remember. Don't you think it's trying to like pull me to like,
(19:43):
Totally. That's so funny.
(19:44):
So what's this clean and sober house? That sounds interesting.
(19:49):
Yeah, so that is a house that we own. It's up in a written Snohomish County. I suppose in Linwood, so 10 stuff that now I'm down South, but it is housing for I guess they technically qualify as a disabled, so housing, prodigious disabled adults, but we're specifically most of our clientele is those that are in recovery. We have some that are actually from the department of corrections, so they're, you know, just looking for a place to live after they get out of jail. And it's been pretty good. I managed it myself when I lived up in Linwood for about a year and a half and then I hired a manager. And it definitely was an interesting experience. I'm not someone who's come from the background of like being around a lot of drug use or alcohol use.
(20:31):
And so we had a couple instances where I let things maybe put a little bit too much trust into people and yeah, they were interesting experiences, but I wasn't alone and it's going really well. Now I have a manager in there who really knows what she's doing and she's fantastic. And when things are going well, it goes really well and it's, I mean, it's such a needed, you know, program for people because it is really hard to find affordable housing and if you have an eviction on your record, no credit criminal history, it's very, very, very difficult. So it's a nice service to provide to people who need it.
(21:06):
Yeah, absolutely. No, that's fascinating. I just, it's such a weird dichotomy from, you know, the weddings and magic. That's so interesting, right? To be both sides of everything.
(21:16):
Totally. Yeah. Yeah. I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I love getting my hands dirty and get again and jumping into full feet and learning about business and that's my favorite. That's really just learning a new business.
(21:28):
Yeah. I was going to ask about that when you were talking about, you know, in college and balancing all these jobs and everything, where does that, you know, that drive come from? Or has it just always been that way? You have any differently about it?
(21:40):
Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know. I mean, I think I moved out when I was pretty young and I, you know, I had some struggles going, you know, moving out when you're 18 and not knowing what's going on in the world is a little challenging, you know, going from a cushy life to paying bills. And like story short, I had to learn a lot really, really, really quick. So I did that and I think I just kind of never left it that momentum train. I've had some, I've had have been times where you know, I've just sat on the couch and watch Netflix for about a month straight. But for the most part, you know, I tend to have a lot of drive for my businesses and a lot of passion and I've tried to put all of myself into them. And then, you know, I take a little Netflix break for awhile, but I think I've, I've kind of always had that kind of intensity I guess is probably the best way to describe it. About whatever I'm passionate about.
(22:38):
That's great. Are you, did you grow up in the area? Are you from here?
(22:42):
Yup. Yup. Born and raised.
(22:44):
What has it been like just, you know, getting bigger into the community here? Obviously through real estate, through the weddings. I mean really just feeling like expanding that network out and really kind of growing into the areas up and exciting.
(22:59):
Yeah, it's been really fun. I wish I could say that I've done more networking. But of course, you know, everything was coven starting. It was, it was one of those things where I got my venue and I thought, well, I'm, you know, I'm working on it full time right now. I'm basically remodeling nonstop, so I'll always do some networking in the spring when I have more time. And then, you know, now we're starting home. So that didn't happen. I am planning on going on what to wedding MBA, so I'm super excited about that. That'll be like my first big, you know, welcome to the wedding venue or the wedding industry sort of event. So I think, you know, I have a lot to learn about weddings and a wedding business and I'm really excited to meet more people. And actually like have that whole opportunity that I put off until, until had a global pandemic. So,
(23:48):
Well now you're coming on the podcast. That's a good first step.
(23:51):
Yeah. I figured,
(23:53):
No, the wedding MBA is awesome. We've done it. I've done it twice in the last three years, three or four years. I mean it's, you, it's so interesting cause you're, you're someone that has more kind of the business background, you know, going into it where, you know, you get a lot of these people that are like, I just want to do calligraphy or photos or whatever. They have no idea like how to run a business. So it'll be interesting to hear kinda your thoughts about it. Cause I do think it's such a fascinating, you know, just to really get yourself to think differently about, you know, the business of actually being in weddings. It's really interesting.
(24:31):
Yeah. it definitely is. It is interesting being in a business where there are a lot of people who are small business owners that aren't really business people, I guess is the best way to put it. Because it can be really tough being in business for yourself. There's a lot of downsides for one. It, you know, if you're self employed, it's been pretty challenging for people to get unemployment right now. And if you're in the wedding industry, you're probably not working much. So that, that's, you know, one of the things that people who are going to do this for themselves and often think about is that sort of thing. Of course, you know, taxes change. There's a lot of, there are a lot of great things with, with you though, like loopholes for small business owners that can be really beneficial. So, you know, really important to have a good accountant by the way. But yeah, sorry, I think I kind of derailed from your original question.
(25:21):
No, no, no, continue. That was great.
(25:24):
Yeah. Well there's a lot to learn. I guess if I were to give any advice to like wedding business people who are, you know, small business owners who aren't, don't consider themselves business people. Keep track of your accounting. I know it's really boring, but you make sure you have a separate bank account for your any of your expenses and make sure you know what your expenses can be. Like. You might be able to deduct your wifi or if you have a home office space, like there's all sorts of deductions that you can take to make your life a little bit easier. So just make sure you know about those and your accountant knows, you know, that you can hit them. Yeah, I mean that's a, that's a really good start. I think. Gosh, I could probably write a book on it, but that's a good start about have a separate bank account for your business stuff.
(26:10):
No, it's funny. I've talked to more photographers and you know, other vendor types then you could count over the last couple of weeks with, you know, figuring out do we want to do unemployment or the PPP loans or figure it out, like all this different stuff. And that will tell you like it has been very, I never really prided myself on like you know, running like that profitable of a thing or like doing all my stuff in order. But I've come to realize like, you know, I do actually have like a pretty good handle on, you know, just our style, you know, and obviously like running the videography business is way different than like venues or real estate or whatever. But it's been really interesting to me like talking with photographers and they're like, Oh my God. Like I actually really calculated like my net profits today and it was really not what I found it was or whatever, you know. Well, you know, and these are people that have been around, you know, not one to, you know, five, six to eight years, a long time. And it's so, it's just, I can tell you like many, many photographers in the last like four weeks, I've learned exactly how much they make like every week for a year. And they probably never knew that number at all ever before.
(27:20):
Yeah. Oh yeah, for sure. I mean that is, that is another great point is with a small business, it's so easy to not remember to pay yourself. You're not just in business for yourself. You have to pay yourself. Like you have your expenses and those are paid for by the business and they should be covered by the business. You have know marketing, whatever your overhead, but you have to pay yourself too. And that's a, that's a tough thing. I mean, even for me, like I don't, I certainly don't pay myself right now, but you know, I hope that I can pay myself next year. I've actually heard some people say to pay yourself first before you ever build, I'm not, is a pretty scary concept. If you have a really big mortgage, but I think that's a good thing for like target towards,
(28:04):
No, it's, it's hard. And especially just, you know, people get caught up in the seasonality and stuff. I mean, it's so hard, you know, to balance that. But no, I mean, you know, I, and I definitely feel like I've learned a lot more about like what expenses can I cut out in the last couple of weeks, which I do think is, has been good. Right? I think a lot of people are learning a little leaner, but yeah, I just never, I don't know, I just always focused on like, I don't know, I always feel like I have a an internal compass or scale or whatever, where like, I can just tell if I had more money coming in or out and in any time. And it could be, you know, about a week or by the day or by the month or whatever.
(28:48):
So I feel like I have a pretty good, like, okay, I've spent way too much on whatever right now. And I don't know, it's, it's interesting in just talking with a lot of people lately and kind of see, see a numbers and be like, Oh, you know, he's, you know, you don't know, right. Like as one wedding vendor to another or as, you know, you just don't know. You're like, well, I guess we're all kind of a business. We're all kind of doing the same thing. And then you're like, well, no, it's, you know, it's just not, it's just way different scales.
(29:13):
Oh, it totally is. Yeah. I totally, I never go on runs, run for businesses differently and have a different like knowledge spread on actually running a business. So yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's interesting for you getting to interview everyone.
(29:27):
Talk about I'm looking at this beautiful family photo on your website. Talk to me about a little bit about your home life. What do you do when you're not managing all this other fun secret?
(29:38):
Yeah. So we, that's our daughter. She's now 15 months, so that was taken almost a year ago. But she's, she's fantastic. She's a lot of fun. She's a lot of work. She luckily we have an awesome nanny share, and so she's out right now at her, her friend's house Paris. And so they go, they're both 15 months and they're just so, they're so cute. They're really funny together and our nanny's amazing. Amazing. Amazing. So I'm very, very, very lucky to have that childcare set up. And I mean, there's just no, I mean, there's no way I could, you know, in between, you know, painting a 19 and one house and trying to manage and run a brand new business on the site, plus my other stuff. I mean, there's no way I could do it without, but yeah, that's my husband, my daughter. And we live in maple Valley actually. We've got a dog and a cat and two crazy horses.
(30:35):
What, what's the inspiration behind having the the horses?
(30:40):
I have had horses my whole life. Well, I haven't had them. I wrote, I've written them my whole life. I bought my first horse when I was 18, and I'd had that horse for a few years as a lease and then I bought her for a dollar. So you know, that was definitely a young person's decision, but I still have her and I actually have another one now. Of course. And yeah, they're, they're just living a life. They have, our neighbor has a big field that we rent from them. So that's what they're doing all their time is spending, spent eating grass.
(31:14):
That's awesome. Yeah, definitely down to getting a little more land and space down and maybe that's good.
(31:21):
Oh yeah, we absolutely love it. My husband was always lived in like the downtown Seattle area and so I kind of, I kind of had to sell him on the dream of living down a driveway where no one can see your house. And he's actually learned to love it too. He thinks it's really great that we can go, we can go walk the driveway with our daughter and I'm not worried about cars or anything at least. So
(31:41):
Yeah. When it comes to the property, whether do you stuff that you wish people knew more that you're pointing out or that you want people to know about it, you know, any and that could be stuff to make the wedding easier about hours or minimums or booze or anything. I mean, give me some of the details about all that stuff.
(32:03):
Yeah, well we have an open catering policy and open vendor policy. It just has to be licensed and insured, cater and bartender. I, you know, certainly I highly, highly, highly recommend people hire a planner or at least a day of coordinator professional. But it's not required right now. But I'm on the fence about whether or not I might start requiring it. Yeah. And then most people do book our full weekend package, which is currently has services included for a month of coordination. And that's been really popular and I think people don't, one thing I've noticed is that people seem to be not necessarily the entire wedding budget that they're going to need to spend. And so that's been a little bit interesting in talking to people cause I don't want to dissuade them, I guess from, from working with me.
(32:50):
But on the other hand what is a really extensive, and I don't think people necessarily realize how much they're going to be spending until they get closer to their wedding day. And so I guess I wish that I wish that couples were a little bit more maybe educated on, you know, and I know their needs are the first, usually the first that people book. So it's a little bit hard and I kinda try to do that a little bit. Cause I, I hate the feeling that, you know, I'm, I'm not sure if someone realizes how much they're going to end up paying for their wedding and I don't want them to book us. They're going to, you know, come to the wedding or be three months before their wedding realized I can't afford it, you know. Anyway, that was a total tangent.
(33:33):
No, that's good. It's all good. It's all been fun.
(33:37):
Yeah. The full weekend for the most popular cause you can stay overnight and like we talked about earlier, totally relaxed and just enjoy yourself and not be stressing all morning. Yeah, that's, I think that's it. We're fairly laid back. We do require events insurance. But again, I really want people to have fun, so I have certain rules obviously for the safety of everyone. In my building. No smoking in sores, no fires, that sort of thing. But I'm fairly laid back. If you want to go swimming, that's fine. If you're too drunk to swim, you, you know, my knees talk to your bartender, but please don't get in the pool. That's definitely something that worries me a lot is the pool. Yeah, that's, that's about it.
(34:22):
No. And, and like I said before with it, with the overnight policies, I can't express enough how great I think that idea is. I mean, just, just the, the stress that I've seen from that alone and trying to get out of this stuff. It's, it's it's crazy, you know, and I mean, we, we did it. I mean, you can do it. Like, you know, we got in our venue at 1430. I'm like, it's fine. I mean, you can do it and it's, it's not whatever, but it, it's just being able to just kinda exist there for more than six or eight hours I think is a pretty cool thing that is not thought of enough. I think. I, I do think sometimes like you were talking about with like the money, you know, and, and the costs and stuff. And it's the same with the time too. And like, well, we want, we're going to get ready here and then do photos and the photos here and photos here. You okay? Well we're going to be like six different places in four hours and that's going to be like not fun. You know, there's no, Oh
(35:19):
My gosh, and I have to tell you, I don't think I ate the day of my wedding because my, I was a little optimistic when I had my, my dress ordered after having a baby and and I was so hungry by the time the ceremony was over, we're trying to take family photos. All I could think about was eating. I was so grumpy. I was like, Whoa, stress from the day and just having everything, you know, okay, the ceremony is over. We're married and it's just a whirlwind. I was so hungry, that's all I could think about. I had just gotten married, you know. And so my planner, bless her heart, brought me over a drink and a snack and I was, I mean, I don't know why, but that sticks in my head. Like as one of the highlights of my wedding, I just, when I was building my vision for this venue, it was like, how can I make the wedding experience better for people? And that was the first thing that came into my head. If they had the whole weekend, they'd have a easier, less stressful, more fun time. And that's what I want. That was the whole goal of the venue
(36:18):
And looking through all the photos, share on the site. I mean, it looks just like a lot of just nice looks and things. I mean a lot of different with the backyard and the house and being able to do stuff in front of the house and details to me just seems like a lot of variety, you know, for being on the property. I do think sometimes you know, you shoot at some places and you're okay with, there's just, there's not a lot here or whether we do here or what's going on. What do you, in your opinion, what are some of the biggest draws of, of, you know, visually about the property?
(36:51):
Yeah, well, we did just literally just had the house painted white and so it's really gorgeous now. I mean the garden is really, really pretty. It like, it looks good on picture, but when you walk back there, it's honestly kind of breathtaking. And so I think that's really big. The layout is nice. It's easy to like feel intimate even with a small group like in that whole space, but also have enough space to accommodate a larger group. And when I say larger, I mean like we cap at one 75, so not huge, but yeah, I think those are nice. One thing that I haven't done yet that I really want to do is we're very close to two rivers and I've agreed in over them and pass by some what looks to be lovely photography spots, but they're, I mean within, you know, five minutes driving of the house and I'd love to do a style to where people are on the river. I think that would be beautiful. And none of the other couples who have it was a wedding venue before he bought it. Just quite different than I have it now. But none of them have done any issues as far as I can tell on the river. And so I think that would be really, really nice. Photos. and then of course, yeah, we have not Rainier like right down the street. Yeah,
(38:03):
Lots of, yeah, lots of stuff nearby that you can go get. I'm looking here on the site at your investment calculator. And that goes back cause I was going to ask you anyway about, you know, you were talking about, you know, educating couples with, you know, their costs and everything. That's a neat little thing. I haven't seen too much of. How did that come about or is that, I don't know. Talk to me about that.
(38:25):
Yeah, totally. So that basically came down to like two things. One, I want couples to more educated about their wedding because I don't want them to stuck three months before the wedding, not being able to pay for it or being extremely stressed or having to work two jobs or whatever, like begging for money from their parents to, I think we have a pretty good value for what we have. You know, you get the full weekend accommodations Friday through Sunday, you get a planner decor. So I'm kind of trying to do like a semi inclusive package with that where the goal is that you're having a relaxing, fun wedding. And so the calculator was basically to educate couples but also to like show our value a little bit stronger. One thing I struggled with is when people are inquiring, they don't seem to like connect the dots with like the planners included and it's a professional planner. It's not like the venue manager on site, you know. And so I've been trying to clarify that a little bit more kind of working on how to clarify that I guess. But yeah, that's kinda what, how that came about.
(39:28):
No, it's great cause it's an even from like your real estate background, it's kind of like when you're doing those, you know, what's my mortgage going to be or whatever things where it is really not. I, we just, you know, we re just refinance with all the, you know, the covert whatever stuff. Our new loan bank you know, has like a, just a little thing and it's like, okay, change your monthly thing and adjust the dates and all that stuff. And like showing that to my wife was so great cause it's just, it's so nice to just like see it and be like adjusting sincere. I mean, I mean it and like she was, Oh my God. Like, I really get it now and I really get like, yeah, and I think this is great too. It's just a way, cause you know, I, I'm a proponent and if any a lots of episodes of this podcast, I'm a proponent of like putting pricing on everything, being very upfront about that. I would, I would rather book one wedding a month and have it them know exactly what the cost is, then get 10,000 emails and send back to everyone saying, you know, we're over budget or whatever. And so I think like, you know, not hiding behind any of that stuff and just being really transparent about it I think is, I think it's really cool.
(40:41):
Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, I remember when I was looking at my event news, this was not a knock on any venue at all because everyone on for business differently and had every right to, but it was really frustrating when I'd find a beautiful venue and I'd look at it uprising anywhere and I thought, well, it's probably out of our budget, you know? So I either would email them and come back shocked or I wouldn't email them or maybe I email them and it's lower than I thought. But it was, yeah, I just remember that being like such a pain point for me when I was looking for a venue. Like why don't they just put their pricing on their page?
(41:12):
Well also you get a lot of people where vendors are like, Oh, you know what, I do all these people ghost me or whatever. I'm like, honestly, a lot of them, it's maybe because they're embarrassed because they emailed somebody and thought, wow, I love these photos. I can't wait to talk to this person. And they're like, Oh my God, I can never afford that. And then they feel bad about it. You're like, man, you know, if you, if you have that stuff out there or, you know, or at least like starting or range or whatever. But no, I think it's, I think it's so important to be because people don't know, you know, you don't know what like we're trying to get bark delivered to do some like outdoor projects. Like, I dunno what Bart costs and then you look on the side and like, Oh, okay, that'd be like a hundred bucks or whatever. Like I can do that. But you know, you don't know. And so assuming that people know like what all your, you know, like we know what everyone's services should cause, but they don't know, you know?
(42:05):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I do think I think coming into this business as a brand new, totally not really a weddings person, but also having just been married it's given me a little bit of a different perspective on, on just how couples are thinking when they're booking. Because they're planning a wedding usually breath majority of the time right now for the first time ever. And they don't know what things should cost and maybe their parents think they know and are telling them or maybe they have no idea too. And so they're either asking their friends or they're going on the night or Googling it, but there's not a lot of information on what things should cost. And I think that's been hard for a lot of people. I know it was hard for me. Yeah.
(42:51):
Well and even like that stuff on the nod, you know, where they're like their costs are. So I'm not correct sometimes for, you know,
(43:00):
Remember which one it is. But it gives you like the wedding estimate for what it just costs. And I like look at some of them, I'm like this is not even close saturates.
(43:08):
No, no, no. One time. Yeah, I did read and it was something about like the average cost of like a King County wedding was like 35,000 or something. And I was like, yeah, we like we were, cause we, I called him like a lot of like venue, like vendor favors. Like if we, if I hadn't known a lot of our vendors, I was like, yeah, that probably is about accurate. And that was like the only time I've ever seen anything that was like even remotely in the realm of like what we paid, you know, or like what it cost.
(43:39):
Yeah. Oh, and word on the investment calculator. If any of you vendors are out there and you're looking at it and think it's wildly off, please email me because I don't really know what everything should cost. I've asked a few people, but I'm always happy to take advice and adjustments.
(43:53):
No, absolutely. Yeah. And especially like, and then also having you know, the education of like the planner. Cause I do think that that's for people to know that I think it was great because you do might think, Oh this is going to be someone that just is going to like put out chairs or whatever. And you know, it's, it's hard. So,
(44:12):
Oh my gosh. And I think some couples know from the bat, like right off the bat, they want a planner or a coordinator or something to help them. But I talked to so many who, Oh yeah, well my sister in law is going to be the coordinator. And I'm like, okay, but does she do weddings? First of all? Second of all, is she a guest? Because if she's working your wedding, and let me tell you a planners, when they're waiting, they're not hanging out. They're not enjoying, you know, the wedding, they're working like heart. So it's just like, why do you want your wedding guests to be on the job? You know, you're paying for them to be there. So let them enjoy the wedding. And even if they think they want to be the coordinator, you know, maybe they've done it once before. I don't know. I just, they're not. And I think it's a lot to put on someone past them or to expect them to like coordinate your wedding and execute it correctly if they're not doing it for a living.
(45:03):
No, we have one of my wife's friends who volunteered to help do that for our wedding. I already knew we were going to hire a planner, but I said no, cause I want someone that I can yell at and I don't want to yell at you. I want someone I'm paying.
(45:18):
Right, exactly. So true. And hopefully they do their drug correctly.
(45:23):
Yes, yes. No, but, but yes, I am thinking, worst case scenario, I want someone I can scream,
(45:28):
Oh yeah, I know you can't. Like, if aunt Sally ruins your wedding, you can't like just not talk to aunt Valley ever again, you know, or write her a bad review on Yelp. Like that's your wedding that you just put in the hands of aunt Sally who for whatever reason missed the ball on something, which is fair.
(45:45):
Exactly. I got, this has been so fun getting to chat with you today to meet you and, and you know, our correspondence online and everything. Is there anything else you wanted to touch on before we let you go?
(45:59):
We covered a lot of bases.
(46:00):
You did great. I appreciate the insights and I think this was a great outing and I hope that we can get to work together here. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I'd like to work with anybody again, but especially after this conversation.
(46:15):
Oh, thank you. Yeah. Thank you for having me. This has been really fun for me. I like chatting about this stuff.
(46:22):
If people want to learn more about you and the venue and even checking out, you know, like the calculator and the photos and just lots of good resources on the site. Where would you have them check out?
(46:33):
Yeah. www.ortingmanor.com we're on Instagram or on Facebook Orting Manor. But yeah, if you go to our website, www.ortingmanor.com Just go over to all the details and you click investment calculator. There's your investment calculator and pretty much anything else you might want to know about us.
(46:48):
Perfect. well you did great. If you're like Briana and you want to, or you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. And that's a nice easy questionnaire that we have set up to kind of get you in the system. We can get stuff rolling and try to figure out if something would work out. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Jessica Gardner, Elephants Catering & Events
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I'm really excited today to be joined by Jessica Gardner of a catering company down in Portland, Elephants Catering & Events. Thank you so much for you know, reaching out and expressing interest to come on the podcast. Why don't you introduce your self, tell us who you are, what you do.
(00:33):
Yeah. Thank you for having me. So my name is Jessica and I'm one of the catering and event planners at Elephants Delicatessen in Portland. We are a catering company that also has eight cafe locations. So we do a little bit of everything from weddings, events pick up in stores and lots of different variety
(00:59):
And how long I've been looking through your website this morning. Quite a wonderful documented history on there. How long do you want to give all the insights? You guys have been around for a long time and maybe a little bit of history of it.
(01:11):
Yeah. So elephants opened 40 years ago in 1979. And then since then we have locations kind of pop up every couple years or so. We're currently at eight of the cafe locations and then the catering and events portion opened up in about 10 years ago. And so that's when we started doing full service catering. But even before then we would do corporate delivery lunches and deliveries to residences and things through our cafe locations, mainly our Northwest vocation, which is the one that a lot of people in Portland go to and know of, kind of our flagship store. Yeah, we, we do all sorts of different meals and our cafes from wood fire pizza to sandwiches, soups, bars we have a whole bakery and dessert portion as well. And yeah, we are very, very diverse. It gives us a lot of different options for us and our clients. Lots of kind of really good relationships with our clients too because of that kind of like the family atmosphere.
(02:27):
Yeah. Because I mean, Portland, like Seattle is, you know, really kind of known for good food, right. And, and diverse and really kind of authentic and you know, all those kind of trendy words. What do you guys, what, what, what do you pride yourselves in and in terms of that and the quality of everything that you deliver to your you know, clients and couples and everybody else.
(02:49):
Yeah. So as far as kind of bringing good food to Portland, elephants was one of the first ones to do that. Our owners had done a lot traveling in Europe and really liked those small delicate testing cafe field that was over there. And Portland at that time didn't have, didn't have anything like that. There wasn't an espresso, there wasn't fresh squeezed, orange juice, anything like that. So they kind of are the ones that pioneered that here and started bringing that in. And as far as the relationships between the community community and us and what we bring to it, we are a certified B Corp, which just means that we it's a certification that kind of validates our commitment to serving the local community. We make sure source local items and meals. We donate a lot to shelters and different programs within the city use clean energy and kind of all those different things is what, what that does. And well, we already did it. The certifications of just really boundless Sellity set.
(04:00):
That's awesome. I don't know if I've ever heard of that before. Is that something specifically to Portland or how does that work?
(04:08):
I don't know a ton about it, but in general I do know that it's not necessarily just a Portland thing. It is a national certification and possibly even throughout the world, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but definitely throughout America and any company can be certified. It's a, it's a test that you take and if you reach a certain amount of points throughout the different questions that they asked, and then you're able to get the B Corp certification,
(04:37):
Well I think that's fantastic. And that's definitely seems like you know, Pacific Northwest, the kind of Portland thing to do, to be renewable and you know, that sounds awesome. How did you get involved in, in kind of being a part of the company and what is your background?
(04:55):
Yeah, so I have always had a passion for the event industry. My senior project in high school was actually to job shadow and event planner. So I did that and loved the, the wedding that I helped shadow for, for my project. And so I decided to go to school to be an event planner and went to school in Vancouver, Washington at the international and hospitality Academy, earned a certification in hotel restaurant and event management, managed an event venue for a couple of years. And then wanted something new, worked for a rental company and designed and did events and then wanted something new again. And now I'm here at elephant as one of their catering and event planners. And then kind of also helps with some of the designing and things like that. Cause our clients specifically like our catering department and things. We like to be as much of a one stop shop as we can. So we partnered with a lot of local rental companies and vendors and things like that. So I'm still able to do the design part and have our clients work through those little details as well. In addition to their catering me.
(06:16):
What excited you the most about joining the team? What was it that really motivated you to, to make that leap and do what you're doing now?
(06:25):
Yeah, so I had always heard a lot about elephants. In general, just mainly the cafe locations is what I knew a lot about. A lot of my family members had grew up going to the cafes and things and I knew of their reputation that way and found out that they also did catering and elephants also owns a couple of events venues. And I had experience with venues as well, so I saw that they did a mix of things and really thought that there would be a fun team to join and get some more experience in the event industry. I've been in it for five years now. So not super new but so newer and wanted to see how a bigger, bigger company and catering company that the event planning side of things.
(07:15):
When you were talking about, you know, being kind of a one stop shop expand more on that cause it is so hard, you know, nowadays and you know, couples and weddings and it just gets crazy and trying to source everything and figure that. How do you really try to make it easy for them and whether it's, you know, what other, I know you mentioned briefly kind of the services and other things, but just expand on that if you could.
(07:39):
Yeah. So even with our general inquiry form on our website for weddings one of the things that we ask them is, are there any other items that you need? And we break it down a little bit, like linens, China decor. And so right from the beginning, as soon as we get that form, we're able to see like, Oh, the client does need the core and women hold that kind of stuff. And because we do partner with these different rental companies, we have that partnership. And then we also have the knowledge of what they offer. And so we're able to straight up ask the clients in the middle of what kind of advertisers do you want? And also do you need a stage? Do you need a tent? What's your venue like? What is your theme? What are your colors? And we can kind of do those details for them as well.
(08:30):
So that way they don't have to have 10 different contexts with 10 different vendors. We still definitely of course recommend getting a coordinator because we're via event planner role. So for example, my role doesn't go on site with our catering clients or so definitely need somebody that they have, but we try to be as helpful as possible and offer as many contestants as we can, really make sure that their event experiences are great ones. That way they can enjoy their day or their event. If it's just kind of wedding, it's the auctions. I want to just make sure that they're taken care of.
(09:12):
Yeah. Because you said that you enjoy still doing, being able to kind of flex your creative muscle a little bit with helping, you know, with some of that design stuff. Is that, is that important as a creative that, you know just feeling like you're still able to, even though maybe you're running more like logistics and things now, but also still being able to flex that side?
(09:35):
Yeah, definitely. I, my passion is definitely designing and doing the decor and having somebody tell me that their, their color scheme is this and their general ideas this and being able to really tie that all together for them. So for me, I love that elephants does that. That was one of the things that I was really excited about is that, that they did do that and that I'd still be able to help clients with that if I got the role. And I did get the role. And for me personally, one of the venues that elephant runs is the atrium that Montgomery park and I helped manage that. So I'm able to do all the design and stuff for events that are there as well as catering events that I'm helping with. On the catering side.
(10:22):
What what do you like about the Portland wedding community down there? I know you know, we do the podcast here and kind of all over the Northwest. What is it like kind of building those relationships and you know, managing the venue and really being a part of that. Do you enjoy that? It's, it's different than, you know, running this, you know, maybe a self-standing restaurant or something. We're, you know, you're really part of kind of a bigger community. Right?
(10:48):
Yeah, I absolutely love the Portland vendor community. Almost every single vendor that I have come across in my five years. To me this is really all about like community over competition and everybody's super helpful. No matter what industry you're in, like some of the catering companies, they all will chat together. When I was in the rental industry, we would all talk to each other and kind of pass ideas back and forth. And same with venues. Everybody is just super helpful towards each other. And that's actually how I heard about your, your podcast is we have a group in Portland called the art of weddings. And it's a really great group to be a part of. And one of the members had posted in the Facebook group your link saying talking about you and saying that you had this podcast and we're looking for under citrulline. And so it's, it's really nice that we're able to bounce ideas off each other, share information, other vendors like yourself as each other. And especially during, with everything that's going on right now, we have weekly meetings to talk about how everybody is doing with the whole CoBiz 19 situation and we're, we're all here to support each other and I really absolutely love it.
(12:12):
Yeah, it does make it unique. And like you said, especially kind of now with everything that's going on, just you know, feeling like, you know, I think sometimes being you know, running the business or you know, being a part of it, you feel like you could be on a little bit of an Island. And I do think it's nice to, like you said, have colleagues and, and others that, you know, in groups and forums and things that you can, you know, just feel like get ideas from and kind of what's going on. Cause it is scary and it is, you know, like you said in a unique situation where you're, you know, part of this larger business. But so also in, you know, in the community, the wedding community kind of as a whole, you know what I mean?
(12:53):
Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely great.
(12:57):
Talking about the food and, you know, Portland and what you guys offer H have you noticed a trend or what is that? You know, whether the, the big, I guess, popular or where do you guys tend to, to sway more and what is that kind of trending going in the last couple of years?
(13:18):
Yeah, in general, elephants is really known for like their comfort foods, meals. And I think a lot of that has to do with that's what we serve at our cafes. And so people growing up with elephants cafes knows, Oh, their Mac and cheese is really great. I want to have that at my wedding. And in fact there was just chatting with one of our, our other gals here and she was saying that we did a wedding a couple of years ago where the the bribe, like I just said, was obsessed with our Mac and cheese and we ended up doing an individual place setting Mac and cheeses for all of the guests because that was her only must have for her wedding. So if you're in a lot of kind of, kind of fun stuff like that and then something that we are noticing a lot right now that we think is going to start, start trending is plated meals a little bit more, especially with the whole, the Cobin 19 situation.
(14:14):
People want to, are kind of starting to go away from the stage just because of how many people touch that thing, serving things like that. So we think that we're going to be seeing a lot more plated meals, definitely probably. So comfort food. The thing that's unique about elephants is that we can do comfort food, but we cannot really elegant five course plated dinners. So there's a nice variety of different options for our clients and not everybody quite quite knows that. So that's something that we're really working on getting the word out a little bit more on to is that we can do everything and if you have an idea we are here to and we're going to try and make it happen.
(14:53):
Yeah. That was something that I hadn't even really thought about. You know, when all this kind of started you know, obviously everyone's kind of predisposed to think about their own, you know, like how does a coven and everything kind of affecting me, but, you know, w with the bar service and then with catering, I mean it has to be and not that you know, obviously, you know, licensed and sanitary and being clean anyway, but there just has to be like, of like, you know, the most paramount thought, you know, moving forward is how can we, you know protect, you know, ourselves and the clients, but then also like how to educate, you know, because some people don't even, you know, you guys do this every day and most people don't, you know, you don't know what you don't know when it comes to like, you know, being clean and sanitary with that.
(15:42):
Yeah, definitely. We, we have definitely learned a lot recently. We did really well with our sanitized sanitation processes and stuff throughout our cafes and catering before. But even now, we've implemented even more eaters and really making sure that everything is top notch and safe for not only our clients, but we're all our employees as well.
(16:07):
I love the idea that you were saying about, you know, the comfort food, you know, but elevated and really, you know, bringing in, you know, those unique tastes and, you know memories that people have, you know, as someone that has eaten his fair share of, you know, wedding meals. It's like w when you, when you show up and it's, you know, the chicken and, you know, asparagus again or whatever and you're like, Oh darn, I wish to like I think, I think a lot of people would be really happy with, you know Mac and cheese or, you know, anything else. I think it's anything that's kind of outside of the norm. Yeah. And so, and you had talked about, you know, the owner starting this. What how do you guys come up with the menus and things or how, how is what you guys focus on? How is that, you know, where do you try to steer that towards besides just like comfort food?
(16:57):
They are always new ideas. Over the years we have had what was really the same four or 5,000 different recipes that we have come up with. And everything is homemade and like I said earlier, being the core of everything locally sourced. And so that's definitely something that we consider when we're creating our menus and coming up with new recipes and things like that. We have a whole whole executive chef team works together to come up with all of those. And it really depends upon the client who, so we have preset menus but occasionally we'll have somebody that will want something different or where they have a helping on a night steamed auction and they really want a menu same towards them. So we'll come up with a whole new menu for and new recipes to try and it just gets added into our, our recipe books that we have it have it for years to come as well.
(17:58):
What's the story behind the elephant? Cause I'm looking here on, on the site too and tons and tons of wonderful, you know, imagery and wordplay and you know, the Ella mail and everything. How do you, you know, what is, what's the story behind that and the brand?
(18:14):
Yeah, so it's funny. During when I originally got, when I first got hired and I was doing my, my new hire orientation, somebody had asked that. And from, from what the answer was during my new hire orientation, our owners just thought that it was going to be memorable. The elephant doesn't necessarily mean anything specific. Elephants are supposed to bring good luck and such, but they just thought that it wasn't a memorable name and there was stick out to people. And it's definitely, definitely a name and symbol that people remember and recognize.
(18:49):
No, I love it. And definitely, especially with the branding overall. Very good. Do you guys and I, I asked this a lot, you know, for any vendor type, you know, photo, video, forums, whatever, what, what do you wish more people knew or asked about when it came to, you know, cantering and putting together a menu, planning the wedding. I mean, what do you, you know, kind of the education piece, what do you wish that more people knew or thought to ask or maybe that you find that you guys you know, questions that you answer a lot that you wish, you know, more people you know, thought about.
(19:24):
Yeah. one thing that I think people don't always think about with the catering specifically. And I guess what also kind of go with a couple of other vendors too, like photographers and coordinators is that they, knowing that the service like the labor is also for before and after the event as well. I think it's the thing that I have a lot of that I find myself explaining to a lot of people because they'll see that the labor's on this for 10 hours, for example, when there are events only six hours, but it's also including the set up and tear down and veins as I also know goes on your side and coordinators. So definitely that. And then really I think thinking about what your overall look is going to be and that's probably coming from my, my design love for design side too.
(20:28):
But because every little detail really does matter. When you're putting together your vision from the food to the service type, are you going to have a face? Same with sound. I did all of those little details matter for putting the whole picture together. And a lot of people just want a quote on the pricing but don't necessarily realize that at the venue type or the how long it's going to take to get on the talk to the venues we went to, to matter for walking and carrying things. So just all those little details.
(21:05):
Yeah, it was like when, you know, when I got started and you know, you talk to people and they say like, Oh well we just need, you know, we don't need video of the whole day. We just need video of, you know, maybe the ceremony and then like our first entrance and then like maybe the dance and you're like, well that's, you know, more goes into it. And it's the same with catering, you know, you set up and break down and everything else. It is hard sometimes to kind of like really paint that whole picture. You know, cause it's stuff that we go through every day and they're just sitting there, they're like, well, you know, the ceremony is only 30 minutes, so I don't really understand how it's like, well, you know, you gotta we gotta set up and you gotta do all this other stuff. So it's always kind of interesting. And especially hearing your side of it too in, in a kind of a different world than even I'm in, you know, sometimes.
(21:52):
Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's definitely something that can play across the board or tell all event vendors.
(22:00):
What was it that drew you to, to study, you know, event hospitality and all that back in the day anyway. What was it that inspired you to, to pursue that?
(22:10):
Well, I had started I started following bridal bliss on Instagram when I was on high school and I fell in love with all the weddings that they were doing. So I started researching what really a wedding planner coordinator was and what they did and saw that it's actually like a whole market and different vendors and everything. And I found out that one of the girls that used to live across the street from me, she was a couple years older than me, had become a wedding planner and lived in Florida. And I started chatting with her. She told me, well, I'm coming back to Oregon to coordinate my brother's wedding this fall was if you want to job shadow me. And so that's how I did that for my, my senior project. And I absolutely fell in love with it. Helping design the centerpieces or set up the centerpiece of stuff for that day. And just, just everything, watching how everything was set up, watching the other vendors connect with each other. So you know, the guests happy in the Brighton program. Pappy and I, I certainly fell in love. So it's kind of a mix between stalking, bridal blogs on Instagram and social media. And then I think your project and I just knew that that's what I, that's what I wanted to do.
(23:35):
That's fast. It's so interesting to hear you know, someone from the other side. I had, you know, not the fanciest concept of anything about weddings until you know, I showed up with our first one years ago on the Craigslist stat and it's funny to hear the other side and someone that you know, had dreamed about it and, and that's awesome. I love all the different paths and everything that, that bring people to this wonderful world. I always say, I think it's so interesting. I'm hearing, you know, everyone is kind of guided by their own path and, and it certainly then you end up bringing different things to you know, what you do now because of that path. And I always think that's so interesting.
(24:17):
Yeah. And it's fun to see how, where everybody came from and where everybody goes and yeah, it's definitely interesting.
(24:28):
What do you take the most pride in in terms of what you do now, whether you where is that motivation and whether you, I guess just that, what do you take the most pride in what you do?
(24:41):
I would say it really being made, being able to communicate with my clients and learning what their vision is and being able to see everything come together. That's, that's probably the one I take the most pride in has seen just seeing how their day unfolds and being able to be a part of that. And knowing that I had a little little piece and helping their wedding or auction over whatever event there are hosting take place. I just, I don't know. I don't know how to explain it. It just brings me a lot of joy. I, yeah, I just love it.
(25:22):
Why don't you talk about some of the awesome kind of locations that you guys have in looking through you know, the photos and everything. It really is kind of an eclectic mix, like you would expect to see, you know, of, of Portland storefronts and everything. What do you, what, what is the feeling that you guys want to have or whether it's the the vibe or what's the thought process kind of behind that?
(25:47):
Yeah, so we have, we have two different types of cafe location. So the first first type is kind of our only companies for work, which is going to be our Northwest 22nd location. And Corbett the overall vibe that we're going for is just to have our guests so welcome and know that as soon as they walk in, they're going to be helped and really be a part of our elephants family. And so the stores are really set up all kinds of homey look, meaning cubes and there's gifts, gift options and deli counters. And a bar and I'm kind of all, all encompassing little cafe cafe spots. And then the second one is going to be our flying elephant forms. And those are just little, they're smaller versions of our cafes. So we have one at the Portland airport. Just to kind of help give another cafe option and food option of food that's easy to take onto planes and, or eat real quick before you get on the plane.
(27:00):
So there's one, there's a fine elephant at PDX and then there's one on at Montgomery park, which is also the venue that we own. As I say, we probably multi listen, I'm looking for like office buildings. And so there's a little flying elephant cafes there. There's one at the, you. We just opened a new store, well they're supposed to open last month, so it's ready to open whenever we are able to officially open it with with the governor's mandates and things. So yeah, with all of them, with the flagship stores. And then our point elephants just hold me feel good, family friendly and knowing that you can get easy and good food that's going to be quick to eat or right now even actually even easy to freeze all of our cafes and then our catering department has moved to all the exact same menu. And all the meals are easy to either Wiki or to freeze and this week for up to kind of help families not have to worry about Christmas for the week or having to go to the grocery store right now.
(28:21):
I know, I, I, it's been such a shift in the last couple of months and especially with you know, you guys and I can't imagine, you know, having storefronts and things and businesses and it must have been, it must been a pretty exhausting last couple of months kind of getting through all this.
(28:40):
Yeah, it has definitely been a challenge. We had one that had to had a close just because one, if I remember correctly, that it wasn't quite big enough to do like the six foot distancing rules throughout the, the aisles and such. And then the other reason is because a lot of the businesses in that building look at closing with the regulations of things. So there wasn't going to be enough business, but all of our other stores are still open. Our catering department store open to make everything easy. We did, like I said, we had to switch to all the same menu. So every one's operating from the same menu now, which is actually kind of nice to mix the things I'm definitely learning to adapt to. Well, in fact we have a have a mother's day special going on right now that you're putting in orders for us to get delivered this weekend.
(29:37):
Yeah, no, I think that's great. When when we kind get back to, you know, some realm of normalcy here, wha what do you want to see, you know, grow or improve and that could be with the, you know, the business or with yourself. Where do you want to you know, work towards and accomplish, you know, kind of once we get back on the, on the track here?
(29:57):
Yeah, I definitely want to I say focus on really reassuring our clients, whether they're cafe clients or catering clients that that we're still here, that we are taking all the precautions, skills that we can and really still make that connection with them. So we, they know that they can still come to us and that they, we would still be happy to help them with their events and just make sure that they, they feel like they're taken care of. For the catering department specifically, one thing that we're going to be focusing on and getting more marketing and stuff going out for our venues. I think annex Montgomery park and we actually have two, two of our venues are at our store locations. One's at our corporate location, one's at our request from the second location. So working on getting the word out on those and getting the catering company back back up and running.
(31:05):
What do you like most about living down in Portland and in that area? I know it's, it's not incredibly far from Seattle, but sometimes it does feel like it's a world apart. What do you enjoy most about the community down there?
(31:19):
Yeah, I love that Portland is kind of central to everything. You can drive an hour and you can be at the beach, you can drive an hour and a half, two hours and you can be in central Oregon. I'm going to be at the center. You can be at the mountain with the snow. No matter which direction you go, you're going to get something completely different. Which is also really nice too though, because there's a lot of people in the Portland area that are really into different activities. And if you want to go stain of surfing or kayaking, there's options for all of that. So that's definitely something that I love. And then I love the, and Portland itself a food culture. There's lots of great different cafes and restaurants and coffee shops. To go to all of those different places are kind of similar to how the wedding industry specifically is. A lot of them are they work with each other a lot and good community and it's just nice little area to be a part of. And I, I personally am a big fan of scenery. I love the trees and differentiated green, all that fun stuff.
(32:36):
Yeah, it's funny, right before, like literally day before all this kinda got halted. I was down in Portland doing a video for the university of Oregon and was interviewed a bunch of lawyers and judges kind of in the, you know, the court area down there you know, whatever you call that with like the courthouses and everything. And yeah, it was such a delight. You know, I don't normally, we're kind of in and out of Portland for weddings or whatever, but it was just really kind of neat. I had my little trolley with my, you know, my tripod and stuff and just kind of wandering the streets from building to building, you know, interview everybody. It was kind of a treat to spend time in that city a bit, you know, like I said, normally at least for our part we're kind of in and out of a lot and just really beat, really being able to kind of spend the day down there. Explorer was kind of fun.
(33:28):
Yeah, it's fun to wander around a lot of times when I'm in, in downtown, it's not for anything specific, it's just walking around during the sunshine, looking at all the different coatings and interacting with people. It's definitely, definitely fun.
(33:45):
Before we let you go, what do you wish more people knew about you know, you guys and what you do and that could be something along with the food or the service or, you know, expanded services you guys offer. Where would you what do you wish more people knew about you guys?
(34:01):
Yeah. I think so. A lot of our clients, our cafe clients, Oh we know about the cafes and a lot of our catering clients only know about the catering company. I, I think it would be really nice to have people realize that we can do everything we have the store so that way you can go inside and grab a quick sandwich and we have the catering companies so that way we can do a full service five course meal for you. And help plan your event. Congressional, our people knew that we have that, that variety, not only with our services but with our meals. Cause kind of same thing. A lot of people know that we do comfort food but don't really realize that we do Titan meals and a lot of our more higher end clients know that we do five course meals but don't really realize that they can also get Mac and cheese as a side if they wanted to. So definitely something that we're kind of starting to work on. And I said that's my, my top thing that I wish people knew is that we, we can do everything. And if you have a question or have a need or want a new menu item, we are here to help and we'll make it happen for you.
(35:11):
Yeah, I love the, just the creativity that goes behind it. And I am not the biggest foodie in the world when it comes to my, you know, Turkey sandwich every day. But I do think it's such a great way, you know, when we go to weddings or events or anything else and just, you know, the endless ways of kind of expression that people are able to do. We, I just had been a DJ on yesterday for an episode and the same thing, you know, I think as important as music is, you know, to an event and the mood, I mean as important or more so it is the food and, and you know, the, the quality and the creativity behind that I think is it's gotta be exciting to work around don't you think?
(35:57):
Yes. I, I love it. It's fun to customize everything, whether it be the DJ or the designer or the food. It's fun to, like I was saying earlier, get all those little details and make everything come together.
(36:13):
Perfect. Well thank you so much. It's been so nice kind of getting to chat with you. I, I so appreciate you guys reaching out. With the interest of coming on the podcast, it's always fun to meet new people and hear new voices even if we're doing kind of all this you know, remotely right now with everything that's going on.
(36:32):
Yeah, it was great to chat with you too.
(36:34):
If people are curious to learn more about, you know, you guys and the catering and the food and events and everything else, where would you have them check out?
(36:43):
Yeah, so I would have some go to our website, www.elephantsdeli.com and then from there there's a tab specifically for the cafes and there's a tab specifically for catering so you can kind of go to, to whatever your needs are that day.
(36:59):
Perfect. Well, thank you so much again. If you're like Jessica and you're interested in coming on the future episode of the podcast, you can do like she did and fill out our questionnaire. You can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. And sometimes it's easy as that and you fill it out and if it looks like a good fit we'll get it going. And that's what we did here. So I so appreciate it again. Thank you. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding. Thanks so much.
Ben Meadow, Ben Meadow Music
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington and I'm excited today to be joined by Ben Meadow. He's a DJ. We were talking offline trying to figure out if we've ever crossed paths before. I don't know if we have except for you know, posting online and being in a lot of the same wedding groups, but you know, we have a bunch of mutual friends, you know, good DJs and everything, so I think we're in good company. Ben, thank you so much. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:39):
Oh yeah. Great. Thanks for having me. I'm Ben Ben Meadow. I'm a DJ based in Seattle, Washington. I've been a DJ for, well I guess professionally for about 15 years. I've been doing weddings as like a wedding pro for about 10 now. Always considered myself sort of a full time DJ. Well, an actual full time DJ, but a and then a part time wedding vendor though. There have been years where that's been kind of the only thing I've done. I go back and forth. I had just got into deejaying through although of music and kind of falling backwards into it. I went that move to Seattle to attend the university of Washington and study, not music. I have a degree in comparative religion from the Jackson school at UDaB. While I was doing that, I was getting really into music electronic music learning how to be like a music producer, make beats, learning to DJ a little bit, buying records.
(01:44):
No is just something I did on the side. I was starting to give a little bit after graduation and I didn't really find work that I was passionate about either in my field or just anything else. I tried, I was just kinda bouncing around. The recession happened and I was like, but all of a sudden I was starting to get paid to DJ a lot more. And I was having fun with them. So I just kinda followed that. I would take gigs. I would take a wide variety of gigs cause I was into a wide variety of music. Never thought I would do a wedding. And Phil's friends asked me to do theirs and was like, of course, yeah, let's party, let's do your wedding. And so I did a couple of those friend things, you know, huge learning process.
(02:32):
Didn't know what I was taking on as a wedding DJ at that point. But we got through, we had fun. And I think it was about in 2009 I must've been, I got approached by a friend of a larger DJ service here called Seattle parties and they it was actually Mitch from Cadbury productions and other videographer. He was like, I know Sean and Leslie and you're a great DJ and they want to hire. And I was like, well, I've never thought about doing weddings before, but you know, professionally. But he's like, no, they're cool. They're musicians. They're really to be into like what you do, they'd have to dig. You'd probably get along with them. So I met them. They indeed, they were great people. They put me on, they taught me a lot. So I worked for them as a subcontractor for four years about.
(03:21):
And in about 2013 I was just getting enough inquiries from my own social network, from people that knew me from nightlife and Cub work that were getting married and just enjoy it. But I did and wanted to have me as their wedding DJ. So I would take those on and just made sense for me to, to kind of strike out on my own and start my own business. So that's what I have been doing the last, what, six years now? It's been going great. Let's see. I was going to say
(03:55):
I'm fine. No, that's good. That's good. It's so funny too with cause I know Sean and Leslie, I had no idea that connection. I've been trying to get them to come onto podcasts for a long time. So that's a, it's a funny small world that we find ourselves. Oh yeah,
(04:09):
Yeah, yeah. I are wonderful people. I'll, I'll shoot Shawn a text and after we're done and then suggest that he reach out.
(04:17):
Yeah, absolutely. So it's always fascinating to me, you know, what people were doing before, you know, they got into DJ. You went to U w what was your motivation to study? What were you saying? Religious? I, I missed the, the actual training.
(04:32):
Yeah, it was a comparative religion. I just liked being a student, learning about the world, web traveling, you know, different cultures, what makes people tick. So I, it just seemed like a thing that I wanted to study. I didn't have a plan for where it would take me but just enjoy the line of study, but it wasn't thinking really practically about what I would do when I finished. So
(05:01):
I certainly applied some of this stuff, like my degree from UDaB was my second one. It was a master's degree. So I've certainly applied like a lot of like the stuff you learn in grad school, critical thinking and self-organization and self starting to like, you know, being a self employed business person. But and I am also find myself able to like hold conversations with a rider, a wide variety of people. That a few years as a bartender it's probably helped me doing that as well. That what music was just always part of my life growing up. Like I played music in high school, I played music in junior high school. I was in doing classical music, I was in bands when I was in college. I just got into like going to raves, going to hip hop shows, just any, anything I could just, it was just always a fun experience and I always wanted to be part of it. So like a few years later I was like, Oh my God, I'm in this for a living. This is crazy. It's not even coming. But yeah, once I, once I started I didn't, I didn't want to stop and I'm still there despite having to hit the pause button here for awhile and 20, 20.
(06:07):
Yeah, I know. It's certainly kind of a time for self reflection. No, it's, it's great. You know, it's always I think a common trend with, you know, vendors and people, you know, whether it's, you know, a DJ or you know, whatever feeling like you said, just never really quite fitting in or feeling like you were, you know, being used to your full potential until you kind of finally, you know, landed where you are and then you're like, yes, this is definitely where I'm supposed to be. And you know, what I was supposed to be doing. And then, you know, really helps, then you can motivate and kind of, you know, dive a hundred percent into what what you're doing once you feel like you're on the right track. You know what I mean?
(06:44):
Yeah. I mean it was huge. Like I just, I've never been able to, I mean, I was unlucky for awhile and just sort of, you know, looking for work and were finding work for places, you know, startups that would go out of business really quickly or like restaurants that would fail or something. And I was just like, what am I doing? I hate this. I hate working for other people. In the first place. And this is, this is getting me nowhere. So I was really just, you know, felt inspired when I was able to get a foothold doing music for my cell phone time. It was just like, wow, okay. Set goals, kind of like whatever it took it. So at one point I was just like, I need to be self employed, I need to do this through music. And I just sort of put the rest fill itself in.
(07:30):
I was comfortable working in so many different musical environments. I felt like I could take on lots of different work. And weddings are weird like that too because they, they, they allow me to embrace like all the different sides of what I like doing. I love dance floor teasing and just like really bringing a crowd to like a height of joy and stuff, but also just really setting chill Ludes and, and working, you know, with cocktail and dinner lists and helping people pick out their really personal songs. And so I get to do a lot of different stuff as a, as a DJ and I'm using programmer and kind of one of the things I enjoy about weddings too is just like, it's a big task for me. And I just like, you know, putting, putting all the puzzle pieces together and then seeing it happen. The day off. It's really cool.
(08:19):
What was it like as someone, you know, and I have said on the podcast famously too, I had very little knowledge about weddings at all before, you know, I didn't grow up with like all my guy friends got married and I had been to a bunch of weddings and stuff. Like I was kind of a dummy when I walked in. What was it like for you kind of transitioning into that? Was that eye opening? Was that, cause I mean it really is this whole other world unless you're used to it.
(08:45):
Yeah. I mean I've been to like sisters and cousins weddings a little bit. You know, most of my friends that I grew up with, I've moved away from where I grew up from flowing back for one wedding, I think. But it was just a, so yeah, very eye opening. The whole process behind the scenes, how much work went into planning. It never really thought about that. And how much people care.
(09:13):
It's obvious,
(09:14):
I mean now to be, to think about that, but it's just the amount that was riding on the day and your performance and everything going to plan. It's just, that was, you know, I learned quickly, but it wasn't like I was great. You know, the first wedding I showed up to, I was like, Oh my God, I wish I'd thought some of this through a little more. But you know, I survived, I got a lot better. And yeah. And now it's, I mean, now it's sort of like, becomes somewhat, that's second nature to just go through like all these little details that I've learned to ask couples about that I've learned to check in with coordinators and just other than you know, other vendors about, you know, maybe there isn't a planner or a designated coordinator. So it's like you're checking in constantly with videographers, photographers caters just to make sure that everyone's ready for the next step.
(10:11):
Okay.
(10:12):
Oh yeah. It took me a while to do that. It took me a while to get comfortable. MC. Ooh, yeah, that was another one. People are expect a lot out of that as a DJ. And I was like a nightlife DJ, you know, I don't necessarily do that and there's not a lot to do. So that was another big thing where it's like, yeah, I'm, the people are looking to me to lead the party there in a non-musical way. And that was, that was a big adjustment. But again, it was just, you know, something that, you know, you got a little constructive criticism on and you just go from there. You learn to do it, you get over yourself.
(10:48):
Yeah. Cause it's definitely, you know, valid where you know, someone you might like to be a DJ or videographer, whatever and you know you like to do that part of it. But yeah, not necessarily be dealing with like mom and dad or you know, the, the couple or whatever else. I mean it really is a lot more, you know, going from just deejaying, you know, like you said a set or being in a club or a performance to go into that, it is just a lot more hands on than maybe you were used to.
(11:18):
Yeah, definitely. I mean at first and that, you know, so that thing, then I think a lot of people I've met, I mean most people that I know that DJ got into it because they were really into music and not because they necessarily wanted to do weddings, but that, you know, they, so, but you know, when you realize that a wedding DJ is once you're good, you charge a lot of money and that's attractive to a lot of people who've been playing for a couple of hundred bucks a night somewhere. So I think sometimes these DJs take on work they're not quite ready for. And it's just a big you know, there's a big learning curve. They're not, they're not prepared for it. You know, some, some do find some just, just roll with it and get better. But every couple I've interviewed, as, you know, when we sit down for that consultation, they seem to have a horror story about a friend's wedding they attended and DJ that wasn't really tuned in or wasn't really ready.
(12:16):
And you know, it's unfortunate that has to happen. But yeah, I mean, but once you get going, and it was something for me that like I've always just embraced the challenge and I was like, Oh, okay, I just need to get better at this and this is why, you know, top wedding vendors, we, you know, get what they get and this is, this is all part of it. And, and bored beyond music for me just became like the success in business or just like the overall like execution of a full day of work, the perfect plan that came to fruition, that kind of thing. Think about things in different lights rather than I just rocked that party.
(13:03):
What's your, what's your selling point, you know, what do you feel like is your strong suits that you know, that you bring, you know, to weddings or other events? I mean, what do you, what do you pride yourself in? You know, is it like you said work ethic, you know, flexibility you know, the personality, obviously me, what do you use and what do you think are strong points that you bring?
(13:24):
Oh, well, I mean like to think I'm very well rounded, so for a lot, but I mean, for the most part, most of my clients end up being couples that are really passionate about music. And not just your typical top 40 dance stuff, even though that's what ends up getting played at a lot of weddings towards the end. But they're worried that the quote unquote wedding DJ, the stereotypical wedding day isn't going to get them and isn't going to be able to present music that they like to their guests in a way that they like. So I kind of am that guy that people seem to trust that whatever's on where they're into whether it's you know, some odd strain of electronic dance music or it's, they're into in the folk acoustic, but you know, whatever, whatever words you got, whatever sub genres we have these days that I can take that seriously, think about it and present it to their guests in an authentic way that still works for groups like in a wedding as a whole. So yeah, I like to think of myself as that guy that can really understand people's desires and tastes and not just say, like, I do Motown, I do jazz, I do dance music. What are you, what are you prefer that's custom crafting a list for people that reflects their personality and quirks for their guests as a whole?
(14:53):
No, it's tough because, you know, music is you know, it's so personal and it's so important. And, and it's funny even like when we got married, you know, my wife, I don't think that you know, we were pretty easygoing, you know, planning and I mean, I've been doing weddings and stuff, but it ended up that music was like a way bigger deal to, you know, my wife and I think even that she had thought it would be, you know, and then getting ready to plan and then you're like, you know, we're trying to like craft like this cocktail hour or whatever thing or figuring it out. And it's funny how it just, it's this personal thing and then you're including it with your day and, and you know, you have guests coming in and it really is this balancing act between like what do we care about and then what is, you know, you can't just play like Thrasher music for five hours or whatever. You know what I mean? It's like a tough balance. Yeah.
(15:43):
Yeah. And some people don't realize the effect that it has on the day. You know, and some, and a lot of people learn it negatively or to eight, which is, I mean, it's just like if you don't plan well with your DJ and you just leave it up to them and then all of a sudden you're hearing music that you hate and it's your wedding day. Like imagine that, you know, that, that, that the thought of that happening bums me out and I would never want to be a part of that. So it's, it's, I really have to kinda like figure out, number one, the level of importance of music to my Pines. And number two, how much input I they require in terms of the music for the day. Cause the last thing I want is that, I mean, no one really notices that DJ when they're doing fine, but when you're not doing well, when your, your levels aren't right. When you're playing inappropriate music, if your mikes are messing up, that's when they notice you. When you're doing something bad. Kinda like the like an official in sports, no one really notices when you're doing a good job, they make one mistake and then there you are, you're exposed your government, everybody out. So yeah, a lot of planning for me with prep work and that kind of stuff.
(17:07):
Yeah. It's so hard. Like you said, it's, it's when, you know, if people can't hear the stuff or if it's cutting out or if yeah. It's always been, it's, it's like the spotlight's on, you know, and it's, it's a very thankless job, otherwise, you know.
(17:21):
Yeah. And I mean, it's, it's fun. It's fun. It's, it's fun when it goes right. I mean, I, you know, in my case, I've learned to do this pretty well over the year. So, you know, it always ends up going well that day. But there's just the nerves, the nerves are high all around. For me, especially like throughout the first part of the day, it's like, okay, ceremony, like this is like what I have anxiety dreams about, you know, Mike's cutting out, feeding back things that, you know all right, that's over. So I ever leave. And then it just slowly gets more and more like, okay, gosh was totally off. You know, first dance is over, that's party and then it just kind of go from there.
(18:07):
I'm looking at your site, you know, you mentioned some other avenues where you perform or work at. I mean, is it, is it nice to be able to express your creativity, you know, in a bunch of different outlets and then how do you kind of help? Does that help you kind of stay up on like music trends and things and be able to bring that back to weddings and vice versa? I mean, is it nice to have all those different outlets?
(18:30):
Yeah, completely. And I can't, I've, there's been a year or two, I mean where I've pretty much done weddings and then maybe had like one club gig a month. And that was fine and I was happy to have that much business. But I really found over the years that the balance is so important to me. Like number one, just having the creative outlet. But number two, to stay up on trends. So I mean, you know, to be able to play like weekly, even if I'm playing like, you know, mainstream top 40 open format mixes, I'm playing to crowds of like 20 somethings that are kind of demanding me know what's, what's up, you know? And, and that keeps me fresh for doing weddings. I feel like I'm bringing something extra. And the same way was just doing sort of more underground electronic stuff, which I've been doing.
(19:26):
Cause it's like I don't have crowds anymore. I'm just going to start working on music for myself for awhile. But that's just, you know, it all ties back into being a better wedding vendor. Like I'm more of myself when I'm doing this stuff, I'm more relaxed, I'm more creative. Even if I'm not going to like, you know, play any far out music at your wedding, I'm going to just be like a more relaxed and focused performer when I am in that zone. And, you know I don't think I could do just one thing musically and have it keep me kind of fresh all the time. I need to be made out of a couple of things on the go.
(20:11):
It's interesting cause you know, obviously, and that's different for, you know, kind of a creative types of any field, you know, photo or otherwise where
(20:19):
Mmm.
(20:20):
I am very much a creature of habit and I feel like I could just do like this quarantine thing is like, I'm good, you know, cause I don't really do a lot outside of like the norm. But then there is like, you know, the majority of people really need to feel like they're, you know, I was even talking with like photographers lately where they're like, you know, I just feel like I haven't been able to be creative in the last month and I'm like, that is not something that like really crosses my mind the same way. So it's interesting to, to hear, but I do think that you're more on that normalcy of feeling the need to be able to do a bunch of different things to kind of like tap that creative potential.
(20:54):
Yeah. It's funny because right before this all started I was like, you know, I, I have, you know, my weekly residencies, my monthly residencies, I have, you know, I was gearing up for wedding season and I was just like, Oh man, I, I, I want something else to fill in. And like, I feel like I've been doing this for a while. I like it. But you know, this is, this is almost getting to the point where it's running itself. So what's going to be my next thing? Am I going to get back into music on a different level? And I was like, no, I bought a camera. I was like so stoked on like learning photography and, and getting into that. And yeah, it's strange though, cause now that we've been in isolation for all this time, I have like, you know, I'm still into that, but I've just, by myself pouring myself into music in different ways, I just didn't see that coming.
(21:43):
I was like, Oh, I'll just, you know, what's, what's really important to my life. So yeah, I like having the diverse interests, but it's also been this last month or so it's just been a, yeah, find a lot of, a lot of reflect, reflection and self discovery and figuring out like what's important to me, what sustains what I spirit, you know, you gotta you gotta find ways to keep yourself going. So unfortunately I have to do that while at the same time I'm also like learning about streaming and video and becoming an audio visual DJ and all of these other things, which is I think when we resume whatever normal life will be will pay dividends for me at that point as well.
(22:27):
When you talk about investing more music, are you, do you write, are you or is it doing more? What, what does that mean? When, when you want to focus more on music?
(22:37):
Oh, I think I've just been like playing music. I would not get the chance to otherwise like really diving into that as a DJ. Like I have all these like this on Spotify of electronic music and sort of just chill stuff that I'll put on. But I travel and stare out, you know, airplane windows or go on runs or take car trips and stuff that I'm like, I love this. And it's like mood music. But I don't use it as a DJ. I don't have the time to really spend learning learning this as a DJ. So I've been doing that and I've been wanting to get back into writing and making my own music as well. That's how I actually started. Like so many years ago, even before I was a DJ, I was just sort of the guy that would sit in his bedroom and learn how to compose beats though I liked. And so but three years of self-employed running a business, I've thought about that more than, than creating at home so much over the last few years. It's kinda cool to have the time to get back to it.
(23:44):
Yeah. So much of, you know, the being a, you know, a self employed, whether you'd vendor or I mean any vendor is you know, the actual process of owning and running your business versus you know, actually doing the thing that you're in business doing. What do you enjoy most about self-employment? Whether you does that, do you feel like that allows you to, like you said, spend more time getting to know your couples and clients? I mean, do you like obviously making your own schedule? What are things that you enjoy most about the self employment?
(24:13):
Yeah, it's the freedom of the schedule is a big one. I like that. I like waking up on Monday. Even if I've been like working some insane schedule all weekend, I like waking up on Monday and not really having anything to do. It's kind of a guilty pleasure, but there's you know, it's, and it's not fumbling for words now, but it is the freedom and I get, I, you know, I do get to spend as much time as I want to unkind or I need to which is nice. They know that they're hiring someone that is working for them and their other clients and not trying to balance, you know, a double career. It's just like, you're, you're pretty much my main focus. I can spend as much time on this as I want.
(25:11):
And yeah, and there's always something new to learn, something new to work on in that business sense as well. Like there's just always ways you can tinker with the way that you're presenting yourself as a sales person. The way that you're marketing. Do I need to, what can I offer? What can I, you know, not, not even to making to like charge more money, but how can I make myself available to clients that have more limited budgets but maybe require less service? Can I do that? So there's just always things I'm playing around with, like sort of just like, well, this is my job. I should just spend 40 hours a week thinking about it. Even outside of like performances. Yeah. Well I got to do it all on my own time table, which is great. I don't have anyone like, no, I'll work. I work pretty well on deadlines, but I'm, you know, it's great not having them sometimes.
(26:09):
No, it's, yeah, it's such a, it's like you said to do that, you know, however many hours focusing on the actual DJ and, and then there's, you know, 10 times out in the back end trying to figure out everything else. When it, you know, going from that transition from being, you know, there's lots of people that you know, DJ clubs or bars or events or whatever to, you know, to bring that, you know, to, to be a business, you know, to run that and whatever. Was that a big transition? Was that a big learning curve? Did you feel like that was something that you excelled at or how did that go?
(26:44):
Oh no, I have no head for money. I'm terrible. I mean, it took me a long time. Like I think that I've done it reasonably well, but it's, yeah, I, I thought of it only as what can I do? Like what is the response to me as a DJ? Originally, and that's just so, it took me a long time to figure out that I need to write a business plan to write a budget, to set certain goals to all of this, and then to learn how to budget my time efficiently, my energy towards being fresh as I could be for my wedding clients, towards giving them enough of my attention before the wedding. So that when I showed up that was, we were ready to go. Learning about filing my own taxes, which I have done on and off. It has been years where I've been like, no, I can't do this. I'm hiring somebody. But you know, just all of these little things took a while for me to learn. But I, I think I was fortunate enough when I was starting that I was paying attention enough to the music and to my clients, like as people, but they were very, like comfortable with me, you know, showing up to their wedding, helping them plan, executing on the day off, and just that, that was always a non issue for me. The music always came more naturally than the business side of things for sure.
(28:20):
I don't know. We're talking, I just learn it. I mean, you have to, I didn't, I didn't want to have to like do something else.
(28:29):
Yeah. You just gotta get going. No, and especially now, we've been talking lately just with everything going on. And I do think it has made vendors of, of lots of kinds of, especially wedding vendors a lot more human with, with the couples and you know, this kind of, that communication that maybe wasn't there before about like, Hey, what's going on? Or whether we need to do, like you said, you know, you feel like a lot of times people are you know, accepting if we're trying to like figure something out or if you maybe don't know the answer but you can look it up or we're trying to, you know, workshop stuff. But I do think like, even now it's, it's way more like you kind of have that open communication of like, okay, what's going on here? Whether we need to do to kind of readjust maybe than it ever was before.
(29:14):
Yeah. I'm just getting at that point now that we have our, our, the four phase plan announced that I'm reaching out to couples that are already, haven't contacted me about rescheduling or just my policy. So, yeah, I, you know, I can't, that's, that's gotta be so hard. I'm trying to think of myself in their shoes as, as much as I can, and just saying like, wow, which is, this sucks the logistics of planning a wedding, whether you haven't hired a proper planner or not, or just so crazy and now this, so yeah, I mean just saying like, Hey, here's, here's what I can do for you. I like, you know, I'd rather not alter our contract so you got a new date. I'm available, I'll be there, boom. And then just kinda going over options from there about what we're going to do. But it's just, it's them first really. I mean, I know I'll be all right longterm with whatever I choose business-wise, you know, I think I feel comfortable with at, but it's just more, it's not even about thinking about business now. Like you said, it's about just being human. I think letting them know you're there for them, just
(30:33):
Saying, Hey, it's going to be all right. We know. We'll make it, we'll figure out, we'll figure out a solution that works. Okay.
(30:39):
Yeah. It's interesting. I'm in a lot of, you know, I'm sure you're in a lot of the DJ stuff online and I'm in a lot of video stuff and it is still funny kind of seeing the just some of their responses and, and trying to, you know, maintain, cause I do think some vendors for a long time kind of operated under dislike. Well here's the wall and this is where I'm at. And you know, it's kind of a service thing and it does seem like you like me as a little bit more client, you know, getting to know people and really working them through that. And it's interesting now kind of seeing is that going to transition for a lot more people or not that we're kind of really comfortable being like, well this is the, you know, this is what it is and this is, you know, there's no flexibility from that versus maybe people that were a little bit more, you know, client-focused like we are.
(31:24):
Yeah. I mean, I don't, I have never been, I don't have a background in business and I don't mean I certainly operate in the confines of the law, but I never considered that to be like, you know, the guiding principle. It's always is like what's made sense for my clients, for me. And like there's nothing that we can't figure out. Even if,
(31:52):
Yeah,
(31:53):
Something would come up to where we have to redo a contract or tear it up or just, you know, I don't want to jeopardize my self, my, my income or anything like that. But I also am like, you know, I'd always thought the worst thing that could happen longterm for my business and someone to write a negative review about me. So that's part of it as well as just, I'd rather just kind of have happy clients no matter what and, and let it go from there.
(32:20):
You talked about you know, delving into, you know, streaming and video and, and you really using this time, you know, to be creative and self kind of build. Where does that motivation come from? Is, are you just always someone that's looking to, you know, try to improve and you know, whether that be self-improvement, their business
(32:40):
And where does that motivation come from to keep you know, figuring stuff out?
(32:46):
Okay.
(32:47):
Yeah. I th I, I have a restless mind for sure. And I, you know, this is a, this is a first time for me going through all of this stuff. I mean, I've, I've had so I, I had to just think about, okay, first of all, what,
(33:04):
Okay,
(33:06):
What's going to keep me feeling like I have a regular routine, which is like, okay, well how many nights a week do I normally DJ? Let's try it again. Some streams going to kind of mimic that at home and not even thinking about like learning a new skill or something. It started out just from like, let me get a routine around here cause I'm not just like staying home and chilling. Like, this is overkill. So I need, I need, I need some I need, I need some sort of structure going on during the week. But now that I've gotten going, it's just, yeah, I mean, I've, it's, I'm, I'm finding ways to both learn a new technical skill and just, and just, you know, do some things creatively that I haven't thought about doing in a while. So
(33:57):
I, you know, I want normal life or whatever the new normal is going to be their resume, but you know, this is, this is what I can do for now. And, and there's, there's parts of it that took me to be honest. I'm enjoying this, this kind of tool to have a timeout that I can use for professional development. You know, don't want it to last forever. But that's, that's the way I'm trying to, to treat it. And I think for anyone in our industry that, you know, you see this and just from your friends or in networking groups that it's just people are freaking out and everyone's handling this a little bit differently, but it's OK. You know, we, there's resources we can tap for money. You know, hopefully people are, if your can can get at least unemployment and, and, and live and hang out for a couple months and then, yeah, I think professional development is the best way to, to handle it.
(34:58):
You know, I can't do it with just like Netflix and video games, I would go nuts. So, yeah. It's interesting to see how everyone's handling the, you know, the, the extra time right now. Yeah. but yeah, like I said, I'm trying to, trying to put that as positive as spend as I can on it, you know I not a lot of like July and August and September weddings booked, so, and those are kind of the, you know, the things that haven't quite sorted themselves out yet. So I am hoping that this, you know, I get to, I get to do those or, or a lot of them, or they can get scheduled for the rest of the year, but I know no rush at some stuff to stay calm. But I'm trying, you know.
(35:55):
Mmm.
(35:58):
I dunno. We're all just doing the best we can and I spend,
(36:01):
When you're not doing the DJ thing you know, this is good to know. Your wedding pro. What, were there some other things you like like to work on or stay busy or you know, you had talked about running and things. What do you, what, what kind of fill out the other side of the bubble?
(36:19):
Mmm,
(36:20):
Well I was starting to get back into like photography on not just a, you know, a smartphone scale. I do like a lot of creative outlets. I've been boxing the last couple years. I live close to the title boxing club in Greenwood. So kind of just working on that and fitness for awhile has been cool. Travel is something that I'm like super passionate about, so I've been trying to take long shifts kind of like the longer the fight, the better. Even though everyone hates long flights. I just feel like getting as far away from home as possible is, is a really good vacation for me sometimes. So yes, world travel Asia, South America, a bunch of stuff in Europe on the list. So obviously, you know, that nothing planned at the moment, but that's been a a big joy of mine
(37:18):
Like the last couple of years is, is, you know, saying, Hey, you know, business is good enough. I can take a couple of weeks off here and there and, you know, jump on some flights and go see friends overseas or just been places I've never been before. That's kind of what keeps me going. It's like, you know, I look forward to Seattle's a wonderful place to live and work. Don't know if I would want to do either of those anywhere else at the moment, but you know, certainly like to leave it now and again.
(37:47):
Yeah, that's, that was the interesting thing for me too when it came to kind of quitting my job and doing the business thing and being able to not only have you know, the time and freedom but also the funds to, like you said, be able to do things that you never thought you'd be able to do or see things or whatever. I mean, I had a good, good off season of travel here at booked before all this happened that I was excited about before. We were going to end up in may, but you know, so it is, but it is nice to be able to feel like, I don't know, I think it, it, not that we're not hardworking anyway, but I do think it's nice to feel like you can really see the dividends of kind of what you're doing by being able to take some time to yourself to go see something new or do something fun, you know, it kinda helps motivate that even more.
(38:34):
Yeah. I mean, and that's sort of, you know, if that's beyond me, you know, spending money I make on like anything like material, you know, the, you know, things. Of course I like to have nice things, you know, eat nice thinners on my stuff, but that's just like, been number one is like, wow, you know, travel the world. I got to do it a lot when I was like a student and younger with my family just because of my dad's work a lot. We got to go a lot of places. So there's something I've always enjoyed and like it was always number one. So yeah, put a damper on that too. But there's, there's I'm just trying to, I guess, get, you know, making a list, getting ready for when we can get back out there and, you know, let's do a little more of it.
(39:35):
Yeah. You said you went you came up here for school. Did you grow up in Seattle originally or where did you come from? No I grew up for the most part in Toronto, Canada. Really cool city to grow up. And but like I said, I'd always been a bit of a traveler, so you know, the years abroad, I taught English in Japan for a couple of years before moving to Seattle. But that would have looked like an awesome place. And I heard amazing things about Seattle as a city and kind of wanted to try it. It was like exciting for me to go to like a big American school with like a football team and the Seahawks were here. I love the NFL. I was like, you know, another another check Mark in Seattle's favor. So I kinda knew I would like it.
(40:28):
Got here, did still here. What was it like teaching in Japan? Oh, Shawn. I mean, just as a, someone that wanted to get out and see the world at age 22, that was like, I think the best thing I could have done that was, you know, like live overseas, get a salary. I didn't have a ton of vacation, but I got to go around Japan and when I did take breaks, I could go to like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore. Just just an awesome experience for like, you know, anyone at any age, but especially at that age, it was just found to be out on my own for the first time. Totally. Like across the world and you know, dealing with the culture shock, dealing with you know, managing my own finances for the first time. It was it was cool. And I know, but not the kind of work I wanted to do for much longer or, but just the experience of doing it was amazing. So no, it's
(41:34):
Yeah, it's not, it's, it's definitely not, it's a good thing I think to get away wherever it needs to be. You know, Japan or otherwise to kind of really, it's like a sink or swim and kind of find your own.
(41:47):
Yeah. Kind of find your own feet under you. Yeah, I mean like travel or you know, studying different stuff. I mean not that lends itself to just being self employed, being in the wedding industry, just having to deal with like clients from all walks of life that come from different backgrounds, that have different views that you know that they have different desires for their wedding, that you just, the more flexible, the more experience, the more sort of comfortable you are with, with all different kinds of people. I think this lends itself to being a better business person, being better at weddings too. It's just, you know, I've had, you know, one half of my couples from like so many different countries and that's just like the coolest thing in the world to me. I was like, Oh my God, I got to people that are like panning random CDs from Sri Lanka and I'm like, never heard this before, but can I mix it real quick? You know, just
(42:49):
Okay
(42:51):
Cool experiences that way. And I just feel like travel in general, studying whatever and just keeping the creative mind active. It's just the chance I have so much more than just, you know, it builds your experiences to the point where you're able to just be, I think a better person in general, but certainly a better like self employed person, a better vendor for clients. Just the more people you can relate to, you can just do a lot more for,
(43:20):
No, it's interesting you had talked about or you know, earlier on, you know, there, there's this idea of like, you know, the stuck-up wedding DJ or whatever. And you know, I do think you know, there's a lot of perceptions for, you know, a lot of vendor types and whatever. And I don't know if it's just a luxury of living in Seattle and just having a really unique just being surrounded by tons of unique people and personalities and stuff. But it is really cool to see you know, people from all walks of life, you know, really making their way into this wedding world and kind of shaping it to whatever they are, wherever they came from. And it just makes such a unique thing. And I think then that, you know, the couples benefit cause they're able to find awesome people that jive from anything, you know, to, to, to build, to be a part of their day. You know, I think it's a really cool equation.
(44:08):
Yeah. I think that Seattle has that going forward for sure. I mean, the stereotype maybe from outside is like kind of a nerd town. A lot of people that are just into carving out their own niches and, and but with a lot of maybe a, you know, a background in tech if not just the, some savvy and it's like, yeah, there's so many options here. So many different people can find exactly what they're looking for. I totally agree. And it's, I feel comfortable. There's a lot of like freedom given to people to just be themselves here. Like that's something I've appreciated. It's like, you know, it's up and down the West coast, I guess, maybe more than other parts of the country, but it's just sort of like, yeah, you know, we're, we're easy going, we're, we're you know, open minded people. It's just, and there's, there's definitely something for everybody.
(45:04):
I was going to say before I let you go what is one thing you wish that more people knew about you? And it could be, you know, the way you work or your personality or something. What do you wish more people knew?
(45:14):
That's an on the spot one. I'm going to take a second. Think about it. Well, I hope they know this already, but I think I want them to know like how much I really care about everything going right for them. You're working for with me. You've hired me. I just, I'm kind of right there with you. Like something going wrong is going to devastate me and I care. I'm working so hard to just make it not and
(45:46):
Rolling.
(45:49):
You know, that's, I'm, I'm invested I suppose to put it, to put it shortly. I am very invested in with all of like, Oh, that work that I do, I want to present it well. And with my clients especially, it's just that this is such a huge day for them in their lives. And I want to be a part of just making that the best it can be.
(46:15):
No, I think that's good. I think, you know, sometimes it's hard, you know, we get so tied into, you know, people are looking at budgets and stuff and trying to hire people and it's a service. But I do think it's great, you know people really do care and I think that, like you said, it's, you know, you are invested and I think that that's a great way to put it that and especially through everything going on now too. But you know, we're all invested and I think that that's a really great way to phrase it.
(46:41):
Yeah. I mean, whatever, on whatever scale I've been hired for, I just want that to just go like, I just want that to be nailed. I'm going to present concept done, you know, no mistakes. We did it. We did it all. Everyone's like, happy, good memories, all that stuff. Perfect.
(47:03):
No, I think that's good. This has been such a delight getting to talk to you to that. I hope that we hopefully when things get back to normal and I, and our paths can cross and that we can hopefully make someone's some couple's day a wonderful together.
(47:19):
For sure, man. Yeah. It would be a totally cool to run into you out there. Yeah. later this year and next year, I just excited to get back out there and see people not on the internet.
(47:35):
Yeah, absolutely. If people want to learn more about you and your services where would you have them check out your website and everything else.
(47:43):
Yeah, it's www.benmeadowmusic.com Socials, anything on hashtags, all Ben eadow music. And it's that easy.
(47:54):
That's good. That's nice and easy and concise. That's a great good jet
(47:57):
Email, ben@benmeadowmusic.com. Even just, it's just that easy. So.
(48:02):
Perfect. Well, thank you again and I hope we'll chat here in the future and then, and I hope everything else you know, the year peaks here, hopefully soon that we can get back to doing some fun stuff again.
(48:16):
Yes. Same hopes for you. Thanks for having me.
(48:20):
If you're, if you're like Ben and you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.besamevideos.com/podcastguest and that's a nice, easy questionnaire to get you in the system and we can get the ball rolling about potentially having you on the podcast. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Kate Gansneder, GSquared Weddings
(00:00:09):
Hey everybody. Welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington and I'm so excited to be joined today. I was thinking about this. I think it's good that this is episode one Oh two now that we're recording because I think I asked this person back when we were recording episode number two and it's just been so busy with weddings and kids and you guys are always doing fun creative stuff and I'm just so glad that we could finally get, you know, get some time to chat today. It's my friend Kate Gansneder with a GSquared Weddings. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:00:48):
All right. I am Kate like you just said and I own GSquared Weddings Photography with my husband Josh. This is actually our eighth season and we specialize in weddings for the couples that wander off the beaten path. And basically what that means is we just want people who want to create a day that is all about who they are as people and who they are as a couple and not feel like they have to bend to any actual tradition unless they want them. So yeah, we kind of live how we run our business with the adventure mindset and just really enjoy working with our couples for the stories that they get to tell and the family aspect of everything that we get to experience with them. So,
(00:01:28):
And what, when I think I like among many things about you and you guys and your business is, you know, we talk a lot on the podcast about you know, some of us want to be creatives and aren't necessarily inclined with business stuff or marketing or, you know, branding or coming up with, you know, people just wanna like do formals or pictures or video. You, you know, you do really have that mindset. You really do know who your clients are. I think you do a wonderful job of, you know broadcasting that message out, you know, kind of that net and, and getting people like that. And you guys do, I would say feel like, you know, you guys know who you are and are very proud of that. Is that correct?
(00:02:12):
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, I would feel like we've spent a really long time, like actually my whole background is marketing and business management and so it kind of helped me learn as I went and just working with other photographers to really kind of hone in who we are and how to pour that into finding the people that we would really want to work with. And I was telling a Brian yesterday, like, I don't get fried delicious. I just don't like everyone that I work with are people that I could have over at my house for a barbecue and a bonfire. And and people that I, I still keep in touch with to this day. I mean, we have tons of little nieces and nephews running around from our clients that we just adore. So, yeah, I feel like we've really kind of honed in who our people are and been able to curate that really well. And that's been thanks in part to like coming in contact with so many amazing people when we got started and really being able to say yes, this is who our clients are. If we could clone them, we would
(00:03:16):
No, and I think and I remember cause we used to do a lot of them that we use, it seems like we used to do a lot more stuff together just back before it's just busy and whatever now. And I remember we had gone to like some meetings or there was something up North we went to that was like a get together of I think you were running some sort of like improving your website. I can't even remember what the premise of it was. And it was the first time I had gone out to the lookout lodge, your guys', this old place. And you were talking about the connection that, that you felt like you really do make with, like you said, your couples in your brides and that like, you know, they trust you if they needed a videographer or they needed advice about this or that, that you really do feel like you have that strengthened relationship with them. Where does that, obviously, you know, you're a mom and a family, but where does that connection come from that you feel like so natural and communicating and you know, advising and helping and being friends with and all of this stuff that comes along with that with your couples?
(00:04:18):
Oh, that's a great question. So I think part of it is because we spend such a long time really focusing on creating friendships with vendors and not just that empty networking. We actually go out and we spend time observing like our vendors, working with them, reading through all of their reviews and testimonies and then just experiencing who they are as humans. And so we've created a list of people that we know that we can send our clients to that will treat them like humans. And not just another paycheck. And that's really been kind of the premise that we built everything on is we want to be able to send the people that we love to, people that can take care of them, like they're part of their family too. And I think that that's kind of where that's come from. And we also do that with our own personal life.
(00:05:12):
We try to pick our friends with people that are loving and giving and are not just takers, but they think of everyone else first. And that's sort of how we built our client or our vendor list as well. And then we're able to communicate that effectively to our clients because we know these people as humans, we know them outside of their business. And we can say, you know, like when we recommend you, we can talk about how you are very approachable and you're easy to work with and you'll listen to what they want and you're not just going to come up and show up and not try to connect with him on a personal level. Like you're actually going to show up to their day and you're going to ask about them or you're already going to know things because of how processes in working with your couples. And so we're able to communicate that with them when they're asking for recommendations. And I think just building like that transparency we have very in depth consultations with our clients. They usually last around an hour and a half to where we're able to build that trustworthiness because they can find the limiting what we're telling them based on what they've been researching themselves. So then when it comes time that we're, they're asking for a recommendation, they know that what we're going to tell them has value. So
(00:06:30):
Yeah, no, it's so hard. You know, I think nowadays you know, people are trying to get into the industry or they're always asking, you know, how do I get weddings or I'm new at this or whatever. And like he said, it's, it is about, you know, building those relationships and you know, networking and getting to know, like you said, people on that personal level that like, you know, you don't always think about that when you're like, you know, business centric. Like why just gotta get weddings, how do I do that? And it's like, well no, it's actually like all this other stuff that really will drive the weddings to you. And I don't know if everyone always thinks that same way.
(00:07:06):
No. And I would agree. And that's part of why like when you launched this podcast, I was absolutely on board and I wish I would have called him a long time ago, but because this is the same mindset that we have is it's, it's not just important for us as vendors to be able to get to know other vendors to recommend. But then for this podcast that talks to couples and brides and grooms and people who are even thinking about getting engaged and being able to introduce vendors on a personal level like this. This is just another way of like having a curated list because there are so many people in our area that it is not that it experienced and not experienced and sometimes there's hidden gems. And I feel like this podcast especially gives away for brides and grooms to be able to have that same kind of ability to network. Like we're given within all the groups that we're lucky enough to have in our area.
(00:08:02):
Well and it was like so funny cause I had just posted a, I guess Wednesday, you know our latest episode with Elizabeth and you had said like, Oh my God, you know, we know her like she's great. And it's like, well I'd never, you know, how would I ever have known right that like you guys and but I'm like, well that makes sense. Cause you know, we had a really great, you know, in depth conversation and it would just make sense, you know, that like you would jive or whatever. It's just always interesting to see kind of those connections. Cause it's like you never even know who all, you know and, and learn more about people you do know and then learn, you know, stuff about people you don't, you've never met at all.
(00:08:36):
Absolutely. Yeah. Like it's, it's always fun for us too because you have interviewed so many of our favorite vendors and we always feel like we know them so well. But then we listen to the podcast and we get to know them even more and we get to know them as their couples know them. And that's such an awesome thing for us as well because then it makes us feel closer when we work with them next to.
(00:08:59):
That's great. So in terms of, you know, you guys, you know, and photography, I, you know, a husband, wife, team, what, what do you feel like is is your strengths and what do you guys bring to the wedding day? What do you want your clients to feel like you bring? Whether you, you know, whether you want that impact or addition to be?
(00:09:20):
Okay. So for me, I actually really, I thrive in chaos. Josh, not so much, but I feel like that's where we kind of balance each other. So I tried in it, there's like a loose schedule, like we'll create like a huge timeline with our couples just so everybody kind of feels like they know what's happening. But then on the day of like, it's almost in my brain, that timeline goes out the window and we're literally like, just watching the day unfold. Whatever happens, we can make the timeline happen within how the day comes about. But for us, I would say that what we bring to the table is we've worked together on over 300 weddings and so it's almost very seamless at this point. I don't have to say anything and Josh knows what I'm looking for or what I'm meeting and there's just this process we have now.
(00:10:14):
Especially it's really noticeable I think for us and for our couples and their families during family photos because we're able to get through everything so quickly and efficiently and get them back to enjoying their party. That, that's where I think that most of the families and most of our clients realize the value of what we bring. So there's just like, we hope for a sense of calmness, a sense of control, a sense of being able to trust that even if something happens they will never know about it. You know, just the sense of like if there's an issue they won't ever have any ideas. Cause sometimes things will come up like during photo time and our couples never know about it. We just kind of manage it and handle it. And especially like when we have split families, that tends to be a thing and we can work with that super easily.
(00:11:10):
We also have the ability to manage like a lot of different personalities because we have a bunch of kids that's given us a whole huge amount of experience of being able to deal with and mesh personalities within a day effectively without causing issues. So that sense of calm, the ability to manage a whole bunch of people. The thriving in chaos. Josh is an incredible photo journalist and so he has the ability to anticipate moments before they happen and he captures some of the most amazing candidates throughout the day of emotion and you know, a single tear rolling down at cheek. And so between that and then I have the eye for detail and I have the eye that is kind of for the movement portrait end of things and to be able to get people to feel comfortable. And so between those two things, us working together creates a seamless experience for our couples where they have fun, they feel calm, they enjoy their wedding day and they're still able to like anticipate that their photos are just going to be everything that they imagined. And it always cracks us up because we get people throughout the day that are like, I can tell you just love your job. Their photos are going to be amazing and they've never seen our work before ever. And that just makes us giggle because we're like, that's hilarious. Like we've just made them feel so comfortable with who we are as people that they trust what we are going to output is going to match who we are at their wedding. So
(00:12:43):
No, it's really, yeah, it's so funny cause I, you know, we have the same thing where, you know, we'll be like packing up and they'll be like, yo, great job today. You know, the uncle or someone will walk by and you're like, you don't have no idea what this is going to look like at all. You know, it could all, but like you said, if you, if you exude that ease you know, it, it does people do, you know, consents I think if, if the vendors are doing what they're supposed to be doing or not.
(00:13:14):
Oh yeah. I think there's just that like they can, it's almost like some of them too, sometimes they'll start out the day, not sure if we're actual pros and are going to deliver quality product. And those are the ones that tend to come up to us at the end of the day and be like, I just know that everything you're going to give them is going to be amazing. And it's just the sense of like we have proven ourselves to actually be experienced. And I think that's what most people want of their day. And they want their vendors to fit in and be part of the family. And I think that that's, you know, something super important to bring to the table. And that's what creates that trust for those people to walk up to you and say, Hey, great job. I know it's going to be awesome. So
(00:13:58):
Yeah. And you know, I'm like, yeah, it's probably like working with you. Oh well know. And like I said, you know, cause you talk about, you know, like the number of weddings and things and, and, and I do too. Cause I think it, I think it proves a point where you know, and I think we've talked about this in the past too, where like I feel like I am neutered in the, in the, the videography aspect of it because like, I can only be like as I am the videographer that I am, right? Like I have the eye that I have and you know, you can like study techniques or whatever, but ultimately like, you know, we're limited as, as the people that we are. But what you can improve on is, you know, the, the ease and the experience and the customer service and kind of all these things that hopefully like overshadow that.
(00:14:55):
You know what I mean? Like at least in my case where I'm like, I, you know, I can't, I got to see a lot of stuff and on Instagram and people and other planners and stuff I work with and I'm like, man, that is way better than like anything that I, you know, I could ever do. Right? Like, I, at this point in my life, I can't, you can't teach that again there or make that whatever. But you know, I hope and like you guys and not that you're not as good, better photographers than I am a videographer, but you know, there's a reason why people you know, keep referring you guys and hopefully me or other people we know is, is, is, is more than just, you know, it more than just the photos. It's also like you said that in comfortness.
(00:15:36):
So when it comes down to hiring vendors, like you and I, I feel like it is less about that, that end thing and more about like, will I see, you know, I have to think about, I'm spending a whole day with this person. Sometimes that's eight hours, sometimes nine hours, sometimes 10 hours. I'm letting them into my intimate space. And at that point, the question isn't so much about the end product. Like the end product is just the cherry on the top of the ice cream sundae and everything else is what makes it an amazing Sunday. And that is what that experience brings. It's that comfort, the ease ability, the, you know, the way that you can understand who your vendor is as a person and how they're going to be in your getting ready room with you and all of your friends, how they're going to relate to the bridal party when you are doing portraits, how they're going to relate to your family throughout the entire day.
(00:16:32):
And I think that that, that's why it's so important that you get to know your vendors through whatever means that is a phone call consultation, listening to podcasts, like getting to really know, can I stand a this person's voice B, how they talk, see their mindset and be, can I relate to them enough to spend an entire day with them? Even more of a weight than the end product. Because if you can handle all of those things and love who they are as a human, you're going to be able to connect to them in a way that they can create something amazing for you.
(00:17:07):
Well, and that's the thing too, like you said, where the end product is so secondary that like you could have a great photographer that's like a total a-hole and then you could get your photos back and they could be the most amazing photos in the world and you're like, yeah, but I didn't like how that made me feel, you know, like I have this. Absolutely. And then you could get, you know, like my, like my sidebar video back. But you're like, wow, that was really fun though. So that like, it just, it's, it's weird how that works right. Where it's so, but your emotion is so tied to that.
(00:17:38):
Yes. Yeah. I see. I think like the visual arts aspect especially, it definitely impacts how the precinct of being able to see those end products feel. And I think that that's why like getting to know people like this is so incredibly important. And I don't think that a lot of people understand that necessarily when they're starting to book vendors. You know, I know they're looking at prices. I know they're looking at pretty pictures. I know they're looking at all those things, but at the end of the day, this has to be the thing that's weighed more. So,
(00:18:14):
No, it's funny, you know, I, I try to get pretty personal, you know, getting to know people online, you know, online or whatever, you know, being friendly with them, you know, before the wedding. And now it's like we have a lot of these, you know, just because of everything going on. We have a lot of weddings getting pushed back or whatever and it's like, shit man, like we're gonna like really know each other now. And it's like, you know, which, which is a good thing, you know, I mean like we just booked a Halloween like 2021 yesterday, which we don't do a lot of like far out. We just don't, we don't book a lot of like, you know, far out like that. And I'm like, I was like doing the math, I'm like 500 and whatever. I'm like, man, like we're going to be really close by the time this. But that's good cause then you feel like, and I, and I would say like when you guys walk into like, you know, the getting ready room or whatever, like they do look at you guys, you know, cause I've been there with you guys if you've, you know, I can speak, you know, firsthand and it is like, Hey, like it's good to see you again. Like come on in, like what's going on? It's never like this awkward like, okay wait, what's going on now? Okay, we got to take photos, you know.
(00:19:15):
Yeah. And we, we work really hard to make sure that that happens. You know, some couples obviously we have a little bit less contact with, especially if we book like a destination wedding and I don't do an engagement session and we never actually meet in person prior to their wedding day. But I feel like we keep enough contact with them and have always been open to being a resource at all times. That we're able to really communicate like that comfortability from the start. So,
(00:19:44):
Oh, you said, I want to talk about, you know, and we don't have to get like super deep, you know, kind of up to you, but you know, I know you have kind of a, you know, a corporate background in marketing and stuff and I just kinda want to like figure out like, how does that, you know, translating that into your own business, right? And being like, you know, how do we want to stand apart or what do we want to do? Or how do I want to do things? I mean, however you want to take that, but I do know that you have a wealth of knowledge kind of in your back pocket.
(00:20:11):
Okay. So I feel like that's a super complicated question for me because it's weird when, when people ask me how that kind of translates. So what I've done is I don't kind of an avatar for our couples and what that looks like. And first and foremost, obviously like there's occasions where I say bride or groom and realistically, like I don't, I'm not saying that like just heterosexual couples were very LGBTQ friendly. And so that's why we've, we've made switch to make sure that all of our language is very inclusive. And so that, that was part of like the initial groundwork of creating that avatar is that the avatar could apply to literally everyone that we want to talk to. And we sort of struggled actually in the beginning because we were listening to a lot of like, this is what you have to do to be successful in this, the two you have to market to, to be successful and this is the kind of client that you want to work with to have a sustainable wedding business.
(00:21:21):
And even with my background, like there's definitely been a lot of noises coming at you. It can sometimes be hard to really determine what all should apply to you. And eventually we decided that the kind of couples we wanted were really the couples that were a lot like us. And so that, that meant that we actually kind of shifted our pricing structure because we, you know, part of my background is understanding that pricing also kind of plays into your branding. You're going to attract a specific kind of people based on what your price point is. And sometimes there's like a zone in which you no longer talk to those people. So we worked really hard to make sure that that was in line with who our avatar was. And then really just finding like how do we talk to them? And so what I've done is I instead I just sort of talk, like I'm going to talk to my best friend and that's what I post about.
(00:22:19):
And I if you follow me on social media, sometimes you'll see posts that are really raw. And that's because I've had clients of, you know, past brides past grooms, reached out and asked me in depth questions and talk to me about in depth subjects or even future clients. And then I just pour those things out in those posts so that I'm very transparent and we've tried to always be that way throughout the whole process. And so I feel like a lot of that has come from the marketing background that I had and the business management background that I had. I worked with a lot of large retailers and then I've worked with different kinds of studios that had different approaches to how they ran business. And I feel like that kind of shaped all of that ability to say, Hey, we have to have an avatar for who we want to talk to.
(00:23:09):
We have to have a focus on who we want to work with. And then just really honing that in. And what that's done is created a lot of referral business because of that. And so we tend to then get people who are absolutely people we would consider friends and family. Like we have a wedding the next summer that this is their third or fourth child that we have now photographed their wedding. I have whole families, I've done all of these siblings, all the cousins. Like we really do like focus on integrating a family mindset. Because of my marketing background, I want to make sure that I'm honing in with like that group of people and not trying to get everyone, there's enough weddings in our entire area that there could be hundreds of photographers and we could all stay busy with the amount of busy-ness that everybody wants to actually have. And so I feel like that's, it's all come from that big long story of like really kind of defining how to talk to others and decide this is the people that I want to be around. Just from so much exposure to customers and retail base and clients and studios and all of that, it's kind of helped us hone down, okay, this is our people and we're going to stay with our people. So,
(00:24:36):
Yeah, I mean, I do think that's something that, that sometimes gets lost. You know, with planning and like you said, you know we're obviously budgets and everything else, but like, I do think sometimes people forget, like, there are real people behind these businesses, you know, and behind these websites and like, especially, you know, right now, like everyone is very human, like with everything, you know. And so it's, it's, and I do think that you guys do embody that, that you know, like you said, even, you know, coming down to pricing and stuff, like, it's so funny, like I'll talk to like other videographer, other videographers, and they'll be like, well, what's like, what's your rate? You know, what's your day rate? Like, what is your, what? And I'm like, honestly, like your rate or your whatever, like that's whatever. It's gonna cost to get you off the couch and out the door every day.
(00:25:24):
And like, if you connect with people or if a project excites you or if you have a connection with someone, you know, it's, it, there's more to it than just the numbers that go into a lot of the other, I think, transactions to people have in their lives. You know, like you go to the McDonald's and you're like, okay, this costs, whatever. Cause this is like a thing. Like we are people behind everything, right. You know, behind those businesses. And like you said being raw and being open. Like I'm very open on social media about a lot of stuff because like you said, you're going to be with us all day, you know, in probably one of the most emotional days of your life, you know, at least in the top, you know, 15 or whatever. And it's, it's really important to have that the more than just, you know, like a business transaction.
(00:26:13):
Yeah. Yeah. And I think there is like, especially when couples are looking at vendors, I think it's important to really weigh how their social media feels. And we try to, that's part of why we try to stay so raw and like I'll randomly share stuff about my kids even. I try to not overpower obviously cause you know, they're my kids. So, of course I'm biased, but we stay raw enough that our couples that actually, and this is where I know that this is so important, our couples quote R P R or I can restate that one. Our couples quote are blog posts to us. They message us about our social media posts. They, I mean like they know what we're saying. They're paying attention because we have created that like we are human too. And so it helps them connect to us in that way.
(00:27:09):
And I never wanted to have a business in where I felt like I had to be fake all the time. And actually when we started we sort of were in that mindset of we had to play a role to be able to shoot weddings and we eventually realized we didn't. And so that changed our marketing. It's changed our approach, its changed how we talk to couples, it's changed how we post on things and we try to meet our couples wherever they are, whatever that means. Like we don't just focus on one social media where like on literally every platform. And I mean, including tech doc, we just started to talk to this week because apparently that's where everyone is. So you know, it's, it's important to us that transparency be there all the time because like you said, during, especially things like this, we want them to know like there's a person behind the business we feel for you too. We understand that like this is hard for everyone. And so that we've been communicating through all of it as much as possible emails, phone calls, like my couples always know that as soon as they hire me, they have unlimited access to me. Like they could text me at 10:00 PM, and if I'm out I'll say, Hey, go ahead and give me a call. That's just how we run things. So,
(00:28:25):
It's funny, I was talking to a, I won't throw them under the bus, but a, a co, a friend of ours an older DJ that has a corporate background before, and we were talking the other day online and I, you know, I said you know, he's always, this is a twofold kind of point, but you know, he's always talking about, you know how he's got to get more on Instagram or I gotta do this. And I was asking them, cause I was posting the blog and I was like, Hey man, like, do you like, do you ever blog? And he's like, well no. Like yeah, maybe I should, cause I could like, you know, maybe find something that would drive some money with that. Or I think people post online and they're like, well, how can I like post on Instagram?
(00:29:05):
Like I want to get bookings. Like, how can I you know, what can I do to like get bookings? And like I post all the time on everything. Like I can say, I don't think I've ever had one person ever reach out to me on Instagram and say like, Hey, you know, we like yourself, we want to book you. Or like read my blog and been like, Hey, we read your blog, we want to book you. But I do know that I have a shit ton of brides and grooms and everyone else that, that booked me and then follow that stuff and it makes them, I know, feel more comfortable in the vendor that they have hired after the fact. And I, you know, I think that sometimes that is lost when it's like, well, what can I get from this now? And it's like, well, I don't, I don't blog to get, whether it's now I blog to make the couples that I've shot, you know, feel good and, and you know, let other people see whatever. But like, it's getting that mentality. The other way, you know, of, of sharing them, like after they booked you, do you go to them saying
(00:30:05):
Yep. Oh, absolutely. Any, it's weird because we our blog is very resource based. So I know that goes against like a lot of what photographers recommend or whatever. Like we have a lot of words on our website a lot, but I also love to write so that's just not ever going to change. I'm an over communicator. And so we built like a lot of resource stuff and it actually in the beginning it was just, I wrote to write and I still feel like I, I sort of just write so that I can get it out of me. But I'm also writing to answer questions that I know a couple of tab and we do have a couple of blog posts that people have booked up because they saw those blog posts. But I would, I would agree with you that it's more of the after the fact is why we write them is so that couples have more of us before their big day and can get to know us before their big day. And they can do that through those writings. And they can do that, that cause we're not just sharing other weddings, we're not just sharing other engagement sessions. Like we're actually sharing our hearts through these posts. So I feel like having that presence everywhere, the blogs, you know, on Instagram, on Facebook, it's not about getting the bookings, it's about showing who we are to you so that you feel comfortable with us.
(00:31:27):
Yeah. And I mean, and sometimes you know, I think where we live in this, you know do where the, you know, the pricing and everything and, and you know, we know like, we know what weddings costs and like, you know, what a DJ should cost or what, whatever, and where people don't. I do think that sometimes we, you know, lose, not like us of course, but I think some people lose the mindset too of like, you know, this, these are like huge purchases for a lot of people. You know, huge, huge, huge em. Like they want to know that they made the right decision. You know. And I remember even, you know, when, when Dorothy and I got married and you know, we did a lot of work and I hired a lot of friends and then there were other people, you know, other vendors and stuff that hired them. Like I still worried like up to our wedding day, like was our video going to be good and was this going to be good? I didn't like, and I knew like all these people firsthand, right? Like I knew everybody, I had worked with everybody and I still worried. And so imagine if you're in that same position that I was in, but you didn't know anybody and you just met him one time for an hour or did an engagement session. It's hard. It's really hard.
(00:32:39):
Oh yeah. And well, and that was Josh and I's experience and that's, it's really driven our, our wedding actually is our, well our wedding has driven our wedding business. There we go. And because we had just sort of broken into the wedding industry and hadn't really, I mean we've booked a couple of weddings but we hadn't shot any yet. By the time we got married. And so we went through the experience as a true couple who has no idea. And it was very interesting for us because there was a lot of sticker shock. There wasn't a lot of education out there. And on the wedding day, like I'm a, I am absolutely a type a, there is no question about that. I am all about like, if I don't think it can get done right by someone else, I'm just going to do it.
(00:33:32):
And I was struggling with that on the wedding day. And and so was Josh. I mean he was literally like up in trees hanging lanterns because he didn't trust anyone else to do it. And that's such a rough experience to have gone through and just having our experience with the vendors that we did hire and some things going fantastically and some other things, not so much. And then like really being able to observe the vendors we knew and how that played into their delivery versus strangers. That, that really drove like our desire to be more transparent so that even if someone had never met us in person, they would feel like they knew us and that we cared about them before they walked through the door because we saw a discrepancy in how we felt serviced by those that we didn't know. So, yeah.
(00:34:33):
No, I think that's great cause I do I think that, you know, whether you're married or not, you know, having gone through that, I do think, you know, being on the other side I do think is helpful. I don't think it's necessary, but I think it's helpful to, to know, you know, I always say I feel like I'm a better wedding vendor, you know, having been married and been on that other side. Cause I do think it makes you a little more empathetic than like if it was just like a corporate thing or like another, you know, like a, like a just a photo shoot or something, you know, it just, it, it's hard to, it's hard to put yourself in those shoes unless you've been in them in some way or whether it, or if you've had a friend that's been married and you've been in the, you know, I just, it's hard to know the other side of that unless you've been through it, you know? And I think some people too. Yeah.
(00:35:22):
Well, and we have a lot of friends that are vendors that have gotten married during their process as well. And they say the same thing. It's absolutely shaped how they run their business. And some of them have made major changes because of it, because it's just, you just don't understand you've been there. Because you don't realize how many vendors don't approach the education part or are all strictly business. And and then the flip side, you, you find these amazing people that maybe only have five reviews, but they're incredible humans that have great social media, they have a great presence, you feel super comfortable with them, and then you're, you know, you're taking a leap of faith and now you've found a hidden gym. It just, it goes, I feel like transparency is just such a huge part of choosing the right vendors for you, regardless of however many reviews someone has, the comfort level and being able to see who they are before your wedding is so incredibly important.
(00:36:25):
Yeah, it's funny, I I think I've told the survey before, I can't remember, but there's like a national, like videographers, Facebook group that's like, well, I've probably worldwide, you know, it's people just all over the place and that there was this big thing one day and it was, someone was like, you know, I have a strict like, you know, I gotta be paid, you know, three weeks before and like, I haven't heard anything. I'm like, you know, I've sent them one email and like, I'm, you know, I'm not showing up or whatever. Like this is ridiculous. And I was like, I just, you know, people are like, Oh yeah, like screw them. Like that's not, you know, how dare they? And I'm like, have you been married like the three weeks before your wedding? Like, do you happen to be a little stressful and you family coming into town and you're trying to do last-minute, whatever.
(00:37:12):
And like, yes. You know, like, cause I remember like the first time that we ever had I could check, bounce and it's so funny, I actually, she was just Anna Bertha was just we were just talking yesterday about this life and stuff and this was like their wedding. So that'd be four years in June. And I remember like the first time, you know, I got this check bounce and I'm like, well, how, you know, what is going on here? Like, is this wedding even going to happen? Like this is ridiculous. I can't believe, like, and you know, I was like, how dare they, whatever, you know. And she just wrote one extra check and didn't have enough in the thing. And it's like, life happens, you know? And if you would like, and if I had showed up and been, you know, a total, you know, turned about it that wouldn't have been good, you know. And like I said, here we are four years later still saying, you know, still talking and whatever and it's, you'd need to, like I said, if you haven't been on that side, it's hard sometimes to kinda like realize you know, what is happening there.
(00:38:12):
Yes. Yeah. And I, you know, it's, it's odd because I feel like we're kind of hitting that resurface of that same mindset just in industry in general right now because a lot of people are like, they never replied. They opened my email, you know, they've ghosted me and I feel like there's, there needs to be an understanding that like, when you've been there, you know, you're inquiring to a bunch people, you are gathering information. You don't always reply to every email. Sometimes you can't remember who you replied to and who you didn't or, or it's uncomfortable to reach back out and be like, Hey, you're too expensive. I can't book you. There just needs to be that like we're all humans and I, I'm hoping that what we're going through right now kind of helps bring a little bit more of that understanding that no one is trying to screw anyone else over on either side and we're all just trying to be human. So,
(00:39:09):
No. I laughed. I had posted sometime this summer I had posted something about some photographer wrote something about being ghosted and like, you know, make sure you talk with people. I'm sure you saw I was, you know, I dunno, whatever was going around with like, I don't share a lot of stuff on Facebook anymore. That's like mostly it's just like reposts of blogs and videos and whatever. But I had shared it and I was friends with one of the grooms on, you know, we were connected the on Facebook and then like, I mean it was like two months later we were at the wedding this summer and we're like, I couldn't remember, like we were in the middle of like groomsmen photos. It was like something like really random and he was like, he read like I just wanted to like, she know, like I read that thing. You should, I think he thought I was like sharing that like really angry or something. Like I was just kind of, he's like, I saw that and then was like, you know what I realized like I, I'm guilty of that too. And he goes, I went back and I made sure, and I emailed back every one of the people that we were correct.
(00:40:11):
Oh no. But that was like, you know, but it's just something to be aware of because you know, and like you said, people get sticker shock or maybe they're embarrassed, you know, maybe they didn't. Oh my God, I don't have $4,000 for, you know, chairs or whatever. I mean, maybe people were embarrassed about it. It is hard. My rule is if I've met you in person email me back. Otherwise I do think it's okay. A phone call, it's iffy, but I have had the in person ones and I'm like, that's where I draw the line is I do think you required an email if you, if, if I've sat with you in person.
(00:40:46):
Yeah. Well, and you know, it's just, I'm totally fine. If someone doesn't email me back, I am going to send you a probably like three or four emails just to make sure that you have found someone. And if you don't respond to me by email four, I'm done. But I just, I'm not following up to be pushy when I email out. I'm following up to make sure they're taking care of. I don't care if they don't book me. I just want to know they found someone
(00:41:18):
Here. That's great. I'm going to use that. I'm gonna use that. I'm going to mask my pushiness and say, well, no, it's just you're taking care of.
(00:41:30):
Yeah. Well, I mean ultimately I just want to make sure they did find someone and they're not just like totally stuck over here in sticker shock land because I remember when we were getting married, I was having a hard time finding a caterer and I had massive sticker shock over catering costs. You know, now that I've been in the industry more, I understand a little bit better, but that all plays into that as a bride is like, I definitely ghosted people. And I even ghosted people I met with and it wasn't intentional. It was just that like, Oh my God, I know what my budget is. I am now freaking out. And even people that emailed me multiple times, but the vendor actually that we ended up booking, they did email me the fourth time and they were able to break it down in that fourth email a little bit more of what the costs covered.
(00:42:30):
And then they said, you know, we just want to give you also some questions to ask any of the other catering vendors you're considering so that you know, you're booking the right vendor and then just make sure that you booked someone that makes you feel comfortable with the answers to all these questions. And that was it. And they had answered the questions themselves in the email, broke everything out. And it was, if it wasn't for that fourth email they sent after I had gone to them, I mean I literally, I replied to none of the previous three emails. If it wasn't for that one, we wouldn't have booked them.
(00:43:06):
And what is it a good decision ultimately?
(00:43:10):
I don't remember. I didn't eat
(00:43:14):
Josh ate a lot, so I would say probably, but yeah, I didn't really, I was one of those nervous rides that I just like had no appetite at all on my wedding day, which probably shouldn't be surprising since you know me in person and I am like tiny, but yeah. But yeah, it was, it was definitely one of those, like I, everyone else enjoyed the food a lot. Like I watched people go back multiple times to eat foods. I'm assuming it was a good choice. But yeah, it was like one of those things where if they had not followed up, if they had not treated me like I was a forgetful, embarrassed, whatever, like not understanding the industry bride, I would not have gone with them. And that's part of too, like that's why we, we've done what we do with our business and follow up so many times and we answer questions and we give them things to ask people and we just say, Hey, we don't care if you book us.
(00:44:15):
Just know that you are making an educated decision. Don't just ask what someone's pricing is. Don't just look at their pretty photos. Like, get deeper than that and make sure that you actually liked them and you trust them and they are being transparent with you. And it's worked a few times for us to where we've gotten bookings. And a lot of the times when people have done that way, it's, it's there. They forgot, they got busy, they couldn't remember who all they reached out to. You know, there's a couple businesses in the area that have similar names and they couldn't remember which one it was. They actually wanted to book until the email came back through when they were able to check the website again. So you just, people are human and I think that's what that boils down to is just treat them like they're human.
(00:45:01):
It's so funny. The email that Halloween, well, you and I booked yesterday. I hadn't talked to her in, you know, since kind of, I haven't been, you know, as, as pushy with my, you know, followups, you know, in the last couple of months. And it had been a long time since we had talked and I, it was so funny cause I, she emailed, I'm looking at the email, I pulled it up like seven 40, whatever yesterday morning. And so I'm like reading this in bed and it's like, Hey, read, like I know we've been in touch. I really appreciate the constant communication. I'm totally like, yeah, like she went with someone else, like could, whatever. And I literally like was opening up. I have like I guess stock you know, like, Oh thanks. You know, for letting me know.
(00:45:44):
And then like we send like a little followup questionnaire if they decide, like if they tell us like the, you know, they don't want a book or whatever and like I'm getting ready to like copy this thing. And I read it cause it's like, I appreciate your patience, regret, like all this. And I was like, Oh no, she's actually booking me. Like I was so, and I emailed her back, I said, I totally, I had just scanned this email and I had just read the first part. And then I had seen like, you know, patience and regret. And I was like, well, absolutely. Like, you know, this is going the other direction. And I was, you know, cause it's hard. I mean, even after, you know, five or six years, however long, you know, it's still hard. You know, when that rejection, that was just the funniest silent one of the to point out. Then I have like this euphoric, like, yes,
(00:46:30):
That is awesome. Yep. Patience pays off sometimes I tell you. That's fantastic.
(00:46:39):
So what do you, what do you want, you know, this is a, you know, the get to know your wedding pro podcasts, you know, we, we've got you on now. What do you want people to know about you guys? And that could be, you know, as it relates to work or personal or both, or a combo, you know, what do you want to get out there today? I mean, this is, you know, your kind of conversation, your episode.
(00:47:01):
Oh man.
(00:47:03):
Not easy. I know,
(00:47:05):
I know. That's like the hardest question you've asked me. I don't know. I feel like there's a lot of photographers out there and sometimes being able to communicate how you differentiate yourself to an incoming couple can be really difficult. Especially because a lot of that just plays out in how the day unfolds. Thankfully we have a lot of clients that have us reviews. A lot of our clients go on our reviews and they will get really in depth about how we are at a wedding day. But I feel like that's definitely where we struggle a bit is being able to communicate that ourselves to our couples because we approach the day so differently for every single couple. We have the mindset that no two stories are the same. And so we don't ever go into a wedding day with the same approach.
(00:47:53):
It's never, you know, we're going to get this shot and get this shot and get this shot. We don't, I mean, I have one standard shot that I do at every wedding and that's the couple kissing as they come back down the aisle. But other than that, everything plays out differently for every single couple. You know, how we're going to be able to serve them on their wedding day is different. That's one of our big focuses though is we believe that our job isn't just to take pretty photos. Our job is to serve you as a couple. When we show up on our way on your wedding day, it is to make sure that everything goes as flawlessly as possible. That you are enjoying yourself. You never feel like you're doing any work, you don't ever feel inconvenienced and that we are taking care of everything and that means that we are checking to make sure that you're eating, we're checking to make sure that you're drinking fluids and that you don't pass out because we've had that happen.
(00:48:45):
We're using all of our past experiences to make sure that we can give you these smoothest, most incredible wedding date possible. It dinner, if the servers themselves aren't dishing you up or holding your plate for you while you dish yourself up and carrying it to your table, then I'm going to do that. And if you haven't gotten a drink yet, and actually I prefer that my couples never have to even go to the bar themselves. We will keep your drink refilled as often as possible throughout the night. And our bartenders know that they work with us frequently. We are taking photos of every single detail possible. We know photographers that don't necessarily do that, but we're very much of the belief that everything that you've poured into your day is important to you. So we're getting those moments. We're focusing on the people that are your most important people and that'll be your family and your wedding party and them interacting throughout the night and capturing moments that you are going to miss.
(00:49:45):
Just because we know from our own experience that we see photos from our wedding day that we're like, wow, we didn't even realize that was happening. Totally missed that moment. And so it's hard to kind of communicate that ourselves and we really encourage people who are inquiring with us to really go through and read a lot of those reviews just because it communicates it so much better cause they can give real examples of ways that we have served our couples. Because on our website that's just lip service. Anybody can say they serve their couples, but we want to be able to effectively communicate through someone else's. Not that we have actually done that. And if you go through and read our reviews, we we do. But yeah, that's our main focus I think. And what I really want people to know about us that makes us different is we we're there to serve you.
(00:50:34):
Our entire focus is to make sure that your day is the most incredible day possible. And we serve you from the moment that you inquire. We are creating timelines for you. We are communicating with your other vendors if need be. We give you vendor recommendations, I send you links of articles and podcasts that can be helpful to whatever it is that you're currently facing. I meet up with my brides or grooms sometimes to just have coffee and chat. I'm there for you if you're struggling with how to make sure that everyone in your family, especially parents feel recognized on the wedding day. Like we're just there to make sure that everything is going well and it's more than just photography for us. It's literally the entire day experience.
(00:51:24):
Yeah. And I think if nothing else kinda, you know, the time that we're kind of going through right now I do think is going to focus more on that and just that the service from start to finish, you know, from booking through and just everything else, like you said, that goes into it than just you know, taking the photos, you know, whether it's like, I'm sure you've had to reassure, you know, many couples and figure out stuff and reschedule and, you know, and it's, it's, it's a lot. And I think that it really is hopefully this will help highlight, you know the service that people are giving and you know, really make that matter a lot as much as you know, the photos or the video or whatever else. Yeah,
(00:52:09):
Yeah, yeah.
(00:52:10):
Cause it's funny, I was thinking while you were talking about you know, serving and, and, and, you know, like the drinks and the food and stuff. Cause you know, we work, like I always tell, you know, all photographers, you know I work with a different photographer, every wedding, you know, as I'm sure you know, like you work with different videographers and whatever too. But it's like, you know, we, we kinda, you know, we collaborate with ever, but I do you know, generally let them kind of dictate whatever that, you know, the pace or the, you know, whatever they want to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's always, you know, cause most of the time that we do work with, you know, most people that we know all the time, so it's not a surprise. But yeah, sometimes you'll see people and you're like, okay, like that's a different, you know, I'll be working with like a photographer.
(00:52:54):
It's like, okay, that's a different way to handle that. Like, okay, you know, because I get spoiled, you know, working with, you know, like you guys in, you know, we all, I'm just taking care of everybody versus like, you know, well we got to get them out there again, we gotta do this or we gotta do that. You know, it's always interesting. You get, I get spoiled with you know, being, cause it's good for, you know, it, it the service, you know, that you guys are doing it, you know, it goes for everybody, right. The other vendors too and like let the DJ you know what's going on. They're letting the planners and you know, it's all that it's not just, you know, you're not just serving the couple you're serving
(00:53:28):
Well because please feel like serving the vendors too is serving the couple, you know what I mean? Like when we are able to like with our posing style, we, we do such a movement based posing style that we know that we're creating content to that our videographers can then work with in addition to what they need to have. And we, we have learned to work quickly so that we are not creating more time in their timeline. When they have a videographer. It's, it's creating a partnership I think throughout the entire day to let it flow the way it needs to that we have learned to in serving our couple, I mean serving our vendors and whatever that means. We take photos for our vendors and we deliver those to them with unlimited use rights. We make sure that, like you said, we're communicating with the planet, we're communicating with the DJ, we're communicating with the videographer.
(00:54:27):
We never want them to miss a moment either. That's not fair to our couple. So I feel like services is more than just the couple by themselves, you know, serving the family, serving the wedding party making sure everybody feels listened to, making sure you guys feel respected. So yeah, I would say that, that, that would be probably something that I would think that we would want out there more because I just can't effectively communicate that myself. We have behind the scenes photos, but that doesn't do it justice, you know, and I'm glad that you've noticed or feel spoiled by that when we are with you. So we says we've definitely worth of work the city offers that have demanded literally double the time. So that they can get their own stuff instead of using anything that we've done. And it, it does make it hard when couples are not being served by everyone working as a team.
(00:55:31):
No, I love hearing the horror stories about like, you know, especially like when you're in the summer and, and you have like either a back to back or when you gonna come in like the one yesterday or the one last week and you're like, Hey, you know, you just cause it's, it's hard and it's not, people aren't used to it. And I mean, I, I get it, I totally get it. And you know, when I worked in news and you got, we had in Seattle, we got four new stations. So that means most things were at, you got four different sets of lenses there, you know, you got, you know, or you know, four photographers and maybe four reporters and maybe whatever. And you gotta, you know, you gotta play well and it's hard. You don't want to. I'm like, no, and I did it or like, or we'll be like, I'll be trying to do stuff and like I'll have my assistant, you know, and it's just, just the way it goes.
(00:56:27):
W we're not gonna always be able to shoot everything that, you know, the second you guys are doing it right, you know, you're going in the shots. Yeah, that's fine. I'll look over it at, you know, the, the kids that have worked with me and they'll be like, no, I'm like, we're good man. Like it was fine. It's all good. You know, we got, we get 40 seconds of these guys walking through the field. Like, we're going to be fine. I guess it's following, but it's hard, you know, and that's even communication. Like I said, even with my own people, you know, and this is a real quick story before we go there is a photographer I won't even say who it is, but we, I was trained in the new guy and we had we were doing the, like they were, we were talking about them coming down the aisle and they said, Hey, when to do this.
(00:57:19):
And I said, perfect. Like we're going to be over here and you get it and then you'll get the shot and then we'll get it. It'll be great. And like they totally didn't at all and it's fine. Like it just happens. You get caught up in the moment, whatever. And you know, like I'm friends with this person now. Right. And they would never know. And like my Matt that I was worried with, he's like furious. I can't believe I am. I mean if we got three seconds of them come in, like it's fine. Like it's fine. What is the point of like burden? Like I said, I still talk with people every day. Like, what is the point of burning stuff vertically, you know, over, I made the couple doesn't know. They don't know. Maybe I know, but I can fix it and you know, it's fine. It's just not, but, but it is, it is hard to, you can't teach like parents need to teach that. Right? Like I can't, your parent needed to teach that like 40 years ago. Like I can't teach them.
(00:58:10):
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I think that there's just, you know, there's, for the most part, most of the vendors that I have ever worked with, they have been of this of a similar mindset and I think that that's, you know, you're going to find people that they have at least some degree of service in there. That's why they do this. I mean, we wouldn't be doing weddings if we didn't have that approach. I think as a general whole, I would like to believe that that's my fairy tale land that I meant. But I feel like most of the people, especially in our area, and maybe I'm just biased because I've only met like incredible people, they believe in working as a team and as you know, serving our couples and, and creating that cohesiveness. But I feel like we've had a great experience with most of the vendors that we've gotten to work with and we definitely obviously have favorites because there are some that we work better with than others. But yeah, it plays a role too in how then you feel about the rest of the day as a creative. And I don't think people understand how important that can be. So, yeah.
(00:59:21):
Perfect. Well this is good. This has been great. It's been a long time coming. I appreciate you so much for coming on and, and I just you know, it's busy times all the time and especially now with, you know, family stuff and everything else. I, I so appreciate you taking the time to sit down and talk. This is, believe me, you know, I, you know, I've wanted you to come on for a long time and it's definitely been a so
(00:59:47):
Am I'm glad I could finally make it. It took kicking everyone out to ride quads on the property to do this, but Hey, it was worth it.
(00:59:58):
I was talking to another photographer a while ago and they said, well we were just waiting to come on cause we wanted to make sure that you were going to make it cause we didn't want it. You know, I mean we're at a hundred and this 102 episodes now. You know, it's a no, it's funny, but I was just like, Oh I really appreciate your vote of confidence. Like thanks for that.
(01:00:20):
Right. Yeah. Oh my goodness. That's so funny. No, I feel like podcasts are such a way of the future now and especially this one, I feel like it has so much value because this is one of the best ways to get to know someone. You can sit in front of them and ask them all these scripted questions and they'll have all these scripted answers. But until you've been here, them just like unfiltered bring everything out of their brain. It's all going to be just a facade. You have to actually have things like this podcast to be able to go, okay, I just listened to that human for an hour. I totally vibe with them. I completely understand everything they're saying. They seem really cool. Like this podcast has a lot of value, so I'm sure it'll be around for quite awhile and it has staying power. That's the other part of it too is just because you've interviewed someone once doesn't mean that you can't play that interview for years and years and years to come. So.
(01:01:21):
Well thank you for that. No, and and I do, it's, it's what do they always say? Like, you know, it's like Howard stern, there's all these like, you know, super long or like Joe Rogan or I don't know any of these guys who do like really long podcast, you know, like the real in depth. And so it's, yeah, we're the, we're the, we're that of the wedding world. No, but I can never leave my house again. But I'll be sad cause I have my microphone on and yeah. If people want want to learn more about you guys and your site and like you said, you know, the blog and you know, tons of resources and everything else. Where would you have them check out?
(01:02:09):
So like I said earlier, we're pretty much on everything including TikTok. So all of our social media handles are GSquared Wedding, so GSquared Wedding, no S but our website is www.gsquaredweddings.com. So unfortunately years and years and years ago when I signed up for Twitter, there was a limit on the amount of characters you have. So it became GSquared Wedding and everything else followed suit. So we are GSquared Wedding on all of our social media and then www.gsquaredweddings.com for our website.
(01:02:41):
It works as long as it's, I, I'm in the, the trying to take people on phase three nowadays and there's 18 different Sally's cupcakes or whatever guys. So no, at least it, no, it's good. And it's a, and it represents you guys and it's great. So it's, it's perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Well, thank you again. If, if you're like Kate and you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire to fill out. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.
Elisabeth Kramer, Day-Of Wedding Coordinator
(00:08):
Hey everybody, welcome to Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. My name is Reid with Best Made Videos®. We are a wedding videography company based out of West Seattle, Washington. And I'm really excited today to be joined by Elisabeth Kramer. She's a wedding planner based down in Portland, Oregon. Heard of some fellow vendors that she knew a recently on the podcast and reached out. And I'm so excited to kind of get to know you and it just expanded our net, you know, more and more people in the Pacific Northwest, not just in Seattle. So thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do.
(00:39):
Wonderful. Thanks for having me. So I'm Elisabeth and sometimes I go by Beth either's fine. So if you hear me use both, I always confuse people. But yeah, I'm a day of wedding coordinator, wedding planner based in Portland, Oregon. Started my business in Seattle about four years ago now. And before that was a journalist and never thought I'd be a wedding planner. But here we are. So, yeah, I work as a variety of different couples all throughout the Pacific Northwest. I also work really actively with a bunch of different vendors. Through an event I host the podcast that I host as well as the Slack group that I'm part of. So I'm really excited to talk to you today.
(01:12):
Yeah. And as a as a fellow journalist turn, you know, wedding vendor I'm also curious to hear kind of your background about that and how no, right. That's a really, that's a really, really niche kind of thing. So why don't, why don't we start there? What, what were you doing in journalism?
(01:30):
Oh, boy. So I started at my, my degrees in journalism. I went to the university of Oregon in Eugene. And I graduated with a degree in magazine journalism and 2012 which, well, not the peak of the recession was not exactly the best time in the world to work in journalism. So kind of through a variety of summer spent applying to jobs, I found a job in Bremerton, Washington, which people in the Northwest will know is an hour or so West of Seattle. I worked at a very small newspaper there and then realized that I needed to listen where that was a little bit bigger where I might have a couple friends. So I ended up moving to Seattle and it was while I was there, they had a couple friends get married and I had no idea what in the world's day of coordinator was.
(02:12):
But the bride and groom and the bride asked me if I would be this thing called a day of coordinator. I said, sure, of course, whatever you need. I, you know, she could ask me for anything. Right? She's getting married, I'll help. And so I ended up doing what I now do professionally for their wedding and it was through the course of their wedding at the end of the night. The photographer and the floor still came up to me and said, Hey, you know, we'd love to get your business card. You're super good at this. And I said, what in the world you're talking about? I'm a journalist, you know, at that time I was working at first startup in downtown Seattle, writing their data blog, had worked at a newspaper in Bremerton. And you know, no way. I had thought about myself as a white planner and they said, Oh, well, you know, you should think about it.
(02:48):
You're good. People will pay you. And it's a Testament to how burned out I was at the end of that wedding that it took me a couple of months, but finally it clicked of like, Oh, people said I'm good at something other people will pay me for. So I started doing it totally. The side gig. I mean it's, it's not rare in our industry for people to do a side gig in the wedding industry, but you know, I made a journalist's salary. It wouldn't have been nice to supplement it, but through the course of my work I really found that I enjoyed it. And in particular, I really liked working with the couples. I loved helping them actually attend their own wedding to be really present with each other to really celebrate their day and begin their marriage. And just decided about a year ago to go full time with it. My husband and I moved from Seattle to Portland and that seemed like a good natural break to leave my then job as a magazine editor at a magazine in Seattle and go full time with the wedding business. So what are the sunken, if you had talked to me in 2012 when I graduated, but a lot of the skills I use as a coordinator really honestly aligned really nicely with my background as an editor and a writer, organization communication meeting a deadline, all that kind of thing.
(03:50):
Yeah, I I graduated in Oh eight right at the kind of the height of that of the whole recession. Definitely was not the best time to enter that work field. You know, we we famously, I think I've sat here, you know, they lay it off like a third of the newsroom on my second week at the job. I really thought moving down to Bakersfield, California, but I was going to be breaking my lease a lot sooner than I would have thought and moving back home. It's scary. What was it about that day, the appeal to you originally to kind of going into, you know, journalism like that?
(04:26):
Oh, you know, it's funny, I I've always loved her bright and so I'm all the way back like elementary school. And I just through kind of a course of, you know, writing and, and being a kid and kind of being total, you're good at this, you're good at this. Journalism was just the way that I thought I could write and make a living. You know, before, before I went to school and the job Mark and everything, but that's kind of what I thought I could do. So, you know, we're not going high school. I was on the newspaper, I started a magazine. No, I really have always enjoyed being a writer and editor. So right. Actually quite actively on both on my day of wedding coordinator blog. And then I'm also working in a book about my work. So I don't know, I just, I've always enjoyed writing and journalism seemed like the way that I could do it. And you know, in a lot of ways when I when I left my, my Xander job about a year ago, I thought, Oh, you know, I'm not ending, I'm no longer a journalist, but I've kind of pivoted back these days and feel like I'm still a journalist. I'm just embedded in the wedding industry. And this was kind of my new beat to use to use a journalism award.
(05:28):
That's awesome. Do you, so you blog pretty regularly. Do you enjoy that and do you find, I know we used to lie, why pay, I have someone, you know, my brother blogs for us and you know, I posted them. But do you find, you know, it does seem like it's more of a forgotten art nowadays that people need, do you still enjoy that?
(05:46):
No, I do. It's funny. I I used to use my blog so it's just like a part of my website. It's not anything built out beyond it, but, you know, it was the screamer.com. My, my little what writing tab on there. And I, I really had just started using it way back when I started because one of the things that I thought would differentiate me when I started my wedding business was the interview my couples, you know, I thought, Oh, I'm going to word wedding journalists. This would be kind of fun. This will make me different. And so I did kind of my own version of the new roulette game. And then I would talk to one partner on their own and then I would talk to the other partner on their own and ask one questions, you know, how'd you meet?
(06:19):
What was the proposal like, how did you know, that kind of thing. And whenever I talked to straight couples in particular, you know, I would talk to the bride and I would start hearing the same things again and again and feel so behind. I feel like I'm missing something. I'm so stressed out. And I heard it so much that I began to realize that something was really wrong here, you know, and it wasn't unique to this situation or this budget or this wedding. Really something that I've since identified as being an being an industry that really doesn't set couples up for success. And so use my blog in the beginning to really write my little op-eds, my feelings about this. And that has since really progressed. And these days I'm particularly right now, I've been writing a lot about what I'm seeing as being a wedding planner and helping couples get married.
(07:00):
I'm Jared coronavirus. So my blog is really kind of different. I've never really used it as a tool for SEO. Like definitely get a lot of benefits from it, from SEO and make all my resources available for free through my blog, which has really helped me as far as Google traffic. But I also use it a little bit some of the diary, but kind of the way to alchemize a lot of my feelings and to report honestly from what I see as a wedding planner, as someone who really actively works with couples. So I, I really deeply enjoy it, but it's I don't know. It's kinda different than, than you might think of when you think of a business log.
(07:34):
No, I love that. I think that that's so creative and out of the box. I mean, there's someone, you know, I mean obviously I started the podcast to have more, you know, things to do to reach out. I mean, I think that that is fascinating, you know, kind of interviewing them and really parlaying your background. You know why we were saying kind of off microphone before we started recording. You know, everyone's background really dictates how their mind works, you know, when it comes to business. And I think that that's a, you know, a really seamless way that to, you know, obviously give benefits to other people, you know, other couples and everybody can look at that. But also you know, just flex kind of that muscle still and get some, you know, some writing done.
(08:13):
Yeah. It's just kind of helps me. I don't know. I mean, I, I'm sure you know, being someone who doesn't process in video or visual images you know, I can only imagine that it's sometimes you probably process best through kind of telling a visual story. And I often preface this by telling a written story so it'll, at times I just default to writing because I don't know a better way to talk about what I'm seeing or feeling in my work. So that, that's a lot of what I do with my writing. And, you know, it's always an amazing feeling when I hear from a fellow vendor or from a couple. Also I hear from a lot of brides to read my stuff and I was like, Oh my God, I, you know, I, I do feel that way. Like I just wrote a post about a week ago that was, it's okay to feel sad about your wedding.
(08:52):
Because right now, you know, particularly with the pandemic going on, there's a lot of people that feel bad that they're, you know, gonna have a wedding hopefully this year or feel bad to even be thinking about that when, you know, people are dying, people are losing their jobs. So I wrote this post to try and tap into that and it's always an amazing feeling to hear from people cause it's, you know, in my own head it made sense. So it's nice when it goes out to the world and it's like a resonated with someone.
(09:15):
Yeah. How's everything going for you? I know, you know, we were talking a little bit about how, you know, how much do we want to get into, I mean, we just, I just had one of our brides email today, June 6th, and we're pushing to, to next year. You know, it's you know, we've kind of had a mix of you know, some rescheduling to this year and then some just saying like, we don't even want to deal with it. So how has, how has it been going for you, and especially as, you know, I'm just kind of one cog in this machine, but, you know, being more of a coordinator kind of helping, how has it been for you, kind of trying to navigate, you know, with your clients?
(09:47):
Oh boy. Well, I would say kind of, I would feel a little bad saying this because for so many people familiar to people, it's been so much more real for so much longer. But for me, in my own little bubble, it kinda got real like mid March. That was when the city of Portland sit down or shut down and you know, band events, rightly so. And so I actually had a wedding scheduled for March 21st. And it was kind of that week that the couple, you know, first off their event couldn't happen, but also it wasn't safe in a lot of ways. And so that wedding canceled and the couple they ended up having a smaller wedding and getting legally married. And then from there just been kind of a cascade. I didn't very oddly didn't have any books in April, which is kind of a weird blessing in hindsight.
(10:32):
But that I didn't have any in April, but I have now moved into may and June clients. A lot of rescheduling, a lot of canceling. I mean, the hardest thing personally and professionally too is just how to best help couples deal with something that there's a lot of grief and sadness wrapped into. You know, I think it's very easy to dismiss a wedding because, you know, it's just a wedding, right? Like, what's the big deal? You know, it's just a party. And I actually wrote about this too because I am having a lot of trouble articulating it, but I think people don't always realize the ritual aspect of a wedding. And I know that can be like a super loaded word, like you say ritual and people think of like Colts and volcanoes and sacrifices. But what I mean by it is it's really transformative.
(11:13):
You know what I mean? It's, it's a transition and in a lot of ways it's them, it can be really moving and, and important for couples in their families. And so to have that so truncated, whether it's because the original plan has now been changed really radically as far as maybe being smaller to maybe picking up the wedding and putting it into next year, or like you said, just kind of being like, I just can't right now. You know, I, we're going to get legally married or we're going to just delay the whole thing. Whatever that choose your own adventure combination is, there's a lot of grief with that, a lot of sadness. And that I think it's been the hardest thing is how do you midwife that? How do you, how do I still help the couples that I work with achieve their goal, which is to get married to celebrate love and celebrate their love and the miracles they found each other. While also being respectful about the limitations that we have right now.
(12:00):
Yeah, it's so hard, you know, because like you said, it's, you know, to some people at this kind of super frivolous, I can never say that word, but you know, it's always kinda like you know, this extra seven in last year we had a, an the fishing and on that pier a Ray, he's done, you know, 1500 weddings, been in the industry for a long time. And, you know, I asked him, I said, you know, what is it, you know, you, I'm sure you hear the criticism and you know, well, this is just a big party or this is whatever. And he said, you know, he goes, I think it's so important, you know, whatever it is, if it's a wedding and the small gathering or whatever the, you know, the two people really need to meld a lot of different stuff and you know, finances and family and religion or non religion or you know, whenever all that is.
(12:43):
And so it is really important. It is a really important ritual to, to, you know, get these people through to the next stage and figure out, you know, what's important and whatnot. And so it is, you know, I mean, besides kind of a joy, Savannah, this really I think an important step for a lot of couples to really, you know, make that step and say like, we are really doing this we are, you know, putting these things aside or I want this and they don't, or whatever. But to really kind of figure out what's important for both of them, you know what I mean?
(13:13):
Totally. Yeah. I actually, I mean, I started to keep referring to my writing. It's just like what I've been able to do recently. Like, I can't really plan weddings, so I'm just like writing about them. Like someday, someday I'll plan them again. But I, you know, I was writing about the, this just like I, I've gone in a lot of vibes from both of my couples and just reading stuff online or talking to fellow vendors of like the sense that an elopement is a downgrade. And so I wrote this piece about how elopement is not a downgrade, you know, sometimes you speaking for my couples. And then also just other vendors working with the co with other couples, like the wedding that might've been originally planned has been canceled. And for obvious reasons and, but still, you know, a lot of couples are planning to do.
(13:54):
Even, you know, maybe a month ago it was, have a smaller 10 person or less gathering these days, maybe if the digital zoom wedding or something of the like, and so the word becomes a lope meant, and I think sometimes that word is said with negativity, like, Oh, it's not a wedding, it's an elopement. Which I think it's a fad because in a Loman is not a downgrade. I mean they're, in my opinion, they're all wedding. We use a lope mint because it's often a smaller wedding or a smaller budget wedding. It's kind of a nicer word to say that. But I think someday a wedding is a wedding, you know, wedding is to celebrate marriage and relationship and love and family and community as well. And so whatever might be happening, whether you had a 200 person blow out that was scheduled for April 20th and now can happen and now maybe you're doing the zoom wedding, you know, I mean, it's still a wedding. Like your, your marriage is still valid even if the wedding has changed. And that's not to diminish how much grief and sadness people might have, let alone the monies I've lost and the emotional number they put in. But I just think that it's an interesting distinction we make of like, Oh, I'm having a wedding and having allotment. No, you're still having a wedding. You're still having a wedding cause you're still giving birth to a marriage.
(14:58):
Yeah. Isn't that weird? I do think it's weird that it does have that connotation. I know that it definitely was with me starting out, you know, like I would be talking with, you know, my wife Dorothy, I'm like, Oh, I got to go film this moment, like whatever. And you know, most of the time and, and a lot of the ones we have are like people that are just really busy and they just don't, and you know, like it's more of just like been like we're running off in the night to elope. Like it's really not, but it's just weird that it still kind of has that, you know, it's like a downgrade or something that's not as,
(15:26):
Yeah, no, I think it's all important at the end of the day, if you can carve out whatever it is to celebrate the fact that you found someone that you like enough to marry, that deserve any type of celebration, whatever the hell we call it.
(15:39):
Yeah. So have you you know, in terms of like rescheduling and stuff, has it been difficult for you? I know that we've I've tried to be pretty open, you know, with our couples about emailing, you know, weeks ago and kind of all this went down, but then, you know, you still have some confusion of, you know, why is it easier to postpone to this year then the rescheduled to next year. I know that I do have that too where it's like, well, you know, it's a prime date this year. We're moving it to a prime date next year. You know, we're looking at months of no income here and not that, you know, we want people to supplement whatever, but it is just this like to, you know, you can't lose two wedding seasons for the price of one kind of thing. How has it been for you? You trying to, you know, manage that?
(16:21):
Oh boy. Well, I mean, just talking tactically, you know, when when my face shut down, a lot of the first things I did was I I sent an email to all of my clients really informing them of their rights and also mine. So what that just mad is like, this is what my contract says. You know, my situation, my contract I did have a date change fee. So usually what would happen is if a couple change their dates, I can't remember the actual, like I think it's, I can't remember. So certain number of weeks before, if they change their date, I'm entitled to charge them an additional 50%. But you know, obviously I'm not going to do that now. That would be so horrible. It'd be like, so sorry about your whole wedding, but also you owe me more money.
(17:02):
So I immediately waved. And I don't say that in any type of way of like, if you're not doing that, you're a horrible person. That's not true. Everybody's business is different. Everybody's situation's different. But for me it didn't feel like the right choice. So that email was just to say, this is what would happen if you were scheduled. This is what would happen if you canceled. So I tried to do that and I've tried to communicate with all of my couples and just really lead with a spirit of honesty and openness about this is this is how we're going to work together. And at the end of the day, my goal is to help any and all couples achieve their goal of getting married. Is that a circle at the end of the day? So, you know, the, the little bit that I've been able to do is I've opened up my calendar to talk to any couples for free.
(17:41):
You know, I've been trying to like produce a lot of resource articles. I have a piece running right now on my blog that's like literally every resource I've ever been able to find a couple. But email templates, a lot of contests, a lot of you know, advice from vendors about what to do. I have a similar one for vendors, so that's a little bit more business focused, including like a bunch of different ideas that other vendors have been doing to try and make a little lemonade out of lemons here. But as far as the whole question of like, whether you should postpone or cancel I have felt very strongly that it's not my truth and made for a couples. I mean, I'm always happy to advise and clearly I have more Intel on how to plan a wedding than most people because I do it professionally.
(18:20):
You know, I've planned more weddings the most people go to in a lifetime, which are not actually a brag. That actually is like a crazy thing. But you know, I, I totally understand where people come from, particularly vendors and venues when they say like, you should reschedule, you shouldn't cancel cause you lose out on your money. I also know that I have talked to couples that are just capped out, but they're like, we know we're gonna lose money, but we just can't anymore. We just can't, you know, and I think we have to honor that. And I think as a vendor, my, my goal is always just to help a couple. And while that might mean that I'm losing money or you know, the other side of it that they reschedule. And so, you know, I've had this happen quite a bit.
(18:58):
I had two weddings reschedule that one that was supposed to be this June, that's now, next June. And you know, it's great in the sense that I now have, I didn't lose that money. Right. You know, I'll still get my 50% balance two weeks before the wedding. But like you pointed out, I also have lost a Saturday and next June. So in some ways, you know, what does that actually mean? Right? but I always am happy when, when a couple can reschedule cause I get to see my work through with them. I also totally understand when a couple just needs to cancel even though that means they don't only, you know, diddly squat that I keep my, I keep my deposit. But they don't own me. The balance. I dunno. I mean now nothing feels right. Everything feels complicated and I just try and stay true to if I was in their shoes. What kind of help would they, would I want, if this was my husband and I, what kind of support would I need? And just trying to honor that as much as possible.
(19:49):
Yeah. It's all right. Especially nowadays, I just feel like it's, it's so overwhelming for a couple of, so try to plan and you know, it just seems like you're, it's like a sprint at the end. You're just trying to get everything done and then, you know, it's one thing if your wedding is in September, but you know, you thought, here I'm going to be done in a month and then you're pushing back there. And it is, it's like I, I do totally just feel, you know, my, my condolences out to all, to everyone that, you know, it's such an unfortunate, so
(20:21):
Yeah, it's kind of an impossible situation, you know? I mean, particularly if you're getting married and I mean, at this moment of time, March, April or may, you know, and it's just kind of like you said, June two, it's starting to get a little like iffy. And then you, of course, you know, I feel like for me it's like every day, but you know, every day, every week you're kind of like checking in. And I don't know, I just, I, I feel like I've probably been more human with a lot of my couples than I've ever been. And just the sense that I'm trying to show some more of the strings of like, I don't have an answer for how to plan a wedding during a pandemic. I know that I will be here to support you no matter what. And you know, if that means that our work together doesn't make sense for whatever wedding you end up planning, but that's fine. You know, I'm going to be with you until it doesn't make sense for you anymore. And that's, that's a personal choice that I've been able to make and I'm privileged enough to make you know, I'm in a two income household, so, you know, I need to acknowledge that. And I know it's impossible for so many vendors. I mean, I'm doing a weekly Tuesday call with a bunch of vendors in the Pacific Northwest, but really throughout the country and everybody's situation's different and we're all just trying to do our best, you know?
(21:28):
Yeah, no, we've even just here recently, you know, we have a lot of people that have, you know, started like getting jobs again, you know, and it's kind of like, you know, I was telling Dorothy like, and, and it shouldn't be in, it's not, but it is, you know, when someone, you know, quit their job or whatever, they do something and then like, it does feel like it's like a step back, even though it shouldn't be just because it's so impossible. And like you said, you know, you know, we're, we're a two income household too. And so it's like, there's just, every single person is you know, situation is unique, but you know, both for the, you know, the couples and the vendor. And so it is, it's not like it's a one size fits for anything. I mean, it's every single, you know, it's, you gotta you gotta figure it out on both sides of the, of the ledger, you know, for each situation.
(22:12):
Totally. Totally. Yeah. And there's the financial part and there's also kind of the, like, I feel like the professional emotional, I'm sure there's a much sexier words on that, but just this sense of like, my value to the world was really to help plan weddings and to help people have weddings and so much of that work I can't do right now. And that's not to mean that, that's not to say I'm never going to be able to do it again. Right. Like, I, I will. But at this moment of time, kind of my identity is where my career has really shifted really radically. And I think that's true for a lot of people in a lot of different industries that I've really been seeing it in the wedding industry because, you know, photographers can't take photos that they used to. Videographers can't shoot videos like they used to. Florists can't grow flowers or, or create flowers like they used to. And so there's just such a sense of identity there that's like, Oh my God, what do I do now? You know, I'm not a doctor. Like I don't, I can't go help people in that way. How do I still help people? Cause that's why I do what I do. So there's also that there's just so much, so much.
(23:07):
I bet you feel like your whole life you're told to find something you're good at and make a career out of it and then you do that, then it's like, Oh, you can't, but not that. Not that right now.
(23:16):
Right, right, right. Yeah. Yeah. I guess choose again that you're like, Oh my God, I liked what I was doing.
(23:23):
So, so when you decided to get into, you know, it's a play on either coordinating, I mean, what did you want your benefits of it, you know, to your couples and clients and what did you want that addition to be, you know, what did you want them, you know, what did you want your role to be and what did you want? How did you want to help them?
(23:42):
Okay. Well, you know, I'm kind of, I've always felt that I'm a little bit of an for my particular genre of wedding vendor because you know, my strengths do not lie in the aesthetic. So there's a lot of really talented, super amazing wedding cleaners who are really strong as far as like creating an event in the sense of like a mood board or aesthetically making it beautiful. And you know, I can set up decorations with the best of them, but that's definitely not where my talents lie. Like my talents are much more logistical project management. It kind of equip myself to a stage manager you know, crossing T's, dotting I's and so I kind of feel like I, I've been a little bit of a weird fit because I like as I was starting my business, I call myself a day of coordinator, but I only realized probably about two years into it that like, I'm really not a day of coordinator.
(24:32):
But I actually, because I get started the day a couple of hires, me rather than you know, this isn't true for all day of coordinators, but a lot of day of foreigners they're hired, but then they won't really start, start until maybe four to six weeks out from the wedding. You know, I get started whether or not they hire me 18 months ahead or two weeks ahead, which you know, is a little bit nuts and probably not the best when we're a lot on line, but it's just kind of how I started doing business. And a lot of that is because I like the rapport of working with a couple like, you know, not to be a broken record, but like really my goal is to get to know them. It's really to help them. And I, I tell my couples of time, like, you know, success for me is that you're not tied to your phone unless you want to be, you know, you can actually, a 10 year old wedding can really be present with one another.
(25:12):
So that kind of from day one has been my goal. And then it's just kind of through my work with couples that I've kind of really taken on what I call my self and others called the wedding industrial complex, like trying to create an industry that more empowers couples rather than setting them back on their back feet. So, you know, that's the inspiration behind a lot of my writing. That's the inspiration behind them co-hosted and not gross wedding vendor networking event at the beginning of February. You know, that was to gather a lot of Pacific Northwest vendors who feel very similarly like, you know, we work in this industry but we don't identify with a lot of what this industry represents. And so I, I started from kind of a mercenary place as a side gig and then I was like, I really liked couples and I'm like, I really hate what the industry does to couples. So it's been kind of this metamorphosis in a lot of ways for, for what I try and add value to through the people I work with.
(26:00):
What was it like for you kind of, you know, entering this world? I mean, I know, you know the journalism thing and you know, I was in news and I, I mean I could have counted on on one hand the number of weddings I attended, you know, before I even started a video. I mean I always joke like I didn't have a lot of friends and especially not a lot of friends that got married. So I didn't, you know, when I showed up to film, you know, we got to like a Craigslist last minute, you know, thing like, like a lot of people I didn't even know like where the first look was. So, you know, it seems like a lot of this stuff. Yeah, no, absolutely. But it seems like, you know, you're like me where, you know, maybe you weren't, you know, in gross in this role before you enter the in, you know, even talking about like your, you know, the, the networking things and all that. What was it like for you entering this and being like, Oh my God. Like there is like this whole thing that I didn't even know how, you know, how, how, how big the web went.
(26:54):
Oh no, it was kind of a I mean it was a little bit of a nasty surprise to be honest because I had grown up, you know, I'm a straight white woman in America and I had grown up thinking that weddings were fun and beautiful and rainbows and butterflies and you know, these lovely confection. And that can be really true. But I mentioned earlier when I started my business to start interviewing couples and particularly I was talking to straight fries, you know, they would say all these really troubling things that like, as a feminist, if I heard from any other woman in my life, you know, I'm feeling stressed and sent behind, I'm feeling like I can't do it. Right. Those are really red flags for me. You know, when a woman or really anyone says that about their family or their relationship or their work, I mean, I've just, that's not a good thing.
(27:39):
Like something bad is happening here. But I had, I'd been, so, I mean, I guess not shocked because then you're like, ah, I guess we live in a patriarchal society, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but, you know, I, I was always the bad one. I was have two women in that situation and no one would listen to them. What would happen is they would be, you know, called a bright Zilla or, you know, she just getting cold feet or what's the big deal? Just a wedding, like all these horrible, horrible stories that women are told. If they are feeling really like, honest stress about an expensive emotional difficult day. And so, you know, just like kind of trying to navigate that has been an ongoing journey.
(28:19):
Yeah, I mean it, do you find that, you know, and we don't really deal with a lot of, you know, super stressful. I think, you know, you kind of get what you put out. Right. You know, we're like, if anyone follows me on my Instagram and they're like, well, this guy's a goofball. Like, you know, we get more like a little more down to earth. Do you find that you, you get more people like that too, that those kinds of couples gravitate towards you and that you don't have as much of that to navigate now? Or how does that work?
(28:46):
Well, I have to say, I mean, I, I think it's people ask me about a lot, like one of my most most popular questions I get when, you know, you're at a cocktail party and people are like, what do you do for a living? You're like, Oh, I'm a wedding planner. They're like, Oh my God, you must work with a lot of brides though. I fundamentally don't believe are those exist? I think it's just another bad beat word that we call women. So it's like the question of do I get more kind of down to earth couples? I get couples, you know, I get couples of all combinations and I get couples that react to stress in different ways, but they're still human. And so, you know, a lot of my couples are very much like my husband and I, you know, they're going to get her a long time.
(29:21):
They lived together before they got married. They you know, and a lot of ways getting married for them is not the pinnacle of their relationship, but really the beginning of a, of a neck, but equally beautiful chapter. So you know, a lot of couples like that, but you know, those people are human too. And sometimes the craziness of the wedding industry things can get to anybody. You know, I mean, I've worked with people all the way from, you know, nurses who work in oncology units to, you know, people with kids. It's like we all have our thing and you know, when you're trying to live your life and you don't get a sabbatical to plan, your wedding can be really hard to know how to process anything no matter who you are. So I just try and meet my couples where they're at. No, no matter where their situation is. And sometimes believe me, it's easier than others.
(30:04):
What was a, what was your wedding experience like, and did that kind of dictate how you want to, you know, I know that sometimes it is and not kind of helps guide, you know, the way that you want your, you know, it's working with you. They'd be like, what, what was your wedding like?
(30:20):
Well, I'm, I'm technically a newlywed. I got married last November, so I'm, I I had plans, I think it was 32 weddings before I got married. And people always like to ask me like, Oh gosh, you're winning clients, you find your own wedding. And you know, yes. You know, right along with my, my husband. And how did it inform me? You know, it's funny, a lot of my book is about that experience of kind of like being a wedding planner who thought she knew at all and then LLL she gets engaged. And what a surprise. You know, what was interesting for me, it was a day that I got married was I thought I knew what a wedding day would feel like just because I did to so many weddings. I had been so instrumental in so many weddings. I knew the paces, I knew how I should feel.
(31:02):
But what I forgot and that equation is that I had never been abroad. And so I had never experienced kind of the transformative emotional feeling of getting married to your person on your wedding day. You know, was very used to being the problem solver. It's putting out the fires to answering this question while I'm fixing this problem. You know, my wedding day that that's not what my job was. You know, my job was to marry my husband. And so it sounds kind of silly in hindsight, but it's like that, that's the price mate. Like I thought I knew what a wedding day would feel like. I thought I knew the times, you know, the, the highs and the lows. But it's a lot different when you're on the other side of the aisle. That's what I learned.
(31:40):
No, it absolutely is. And I always say that I, you know, I became a better a wedding vendor, having gone through the process and being able to not only empathize, you know, kind of like day of with SA, but even, you know, like the pre-planning stuff and you know, trying to deal with schedules and stuff. Like I, I remembered one time on this like national wedding videographer group and this guy was going crazy because like, you know, the balance was due and you hadn't heard from 'em and it had been a day or week. And I, yeah, I just wanted to say if you have been married, you understand like what that last like couple of weeks is like and you don't, you know, and so, so a lot of the ways. So obviously with kinda, you know, the pity pandemic and everything, have you gotten a lot of weddings? You know, have you planned a lot? You know, since I'm getting married and whether it's up in like,
(32:34):
So I got married in November and I did two this past February. So I did two weddings. And then you know, then coronavirus came to town. And then, you know, all my weddings March through June scheduled her canceled. So I did too.
(32:47):
Yeah. So what were those like?
(32:48):
They were beautiful. No, it was, it was great. Like, I mean, I was kind of curious for a very similar reason cause you know, I got mad. I'm like, Oh, I wonder what I'll bring to my work. And I guess in some ways I felt like my work deepened in the sense that I kind of got what I did a little bit more. You know, before I got married, like I always kind of understood that my, you know, beyond being a decoration center up or beyond being a timeline manager, beyond being a cat herder, my main job as a wedding planner was really to be an advocate for the couple you know, to, to be kind of a buffer between them that are not between them but between them and the rest of the world so that they could be with each other and also pregnant with their guests.
(33:27):
But they're really just there for one another. So, you know, one partner wasn't running off to do one thing and one partner to another thing. They could approach this really important day as a unit. So I kind of knew that. And then when I went and got married I realized, you know, how fundamental and helpful that can really be to have someone who can kind of midwife your marriage and to the world. So, you know, I, I joke and, and no way do I equate planning a wedding to childbirth. They're much different things and a childbirth looks much, much harder if only physically on let alone everything else. But I do sometimes think of myself a little bit as like a marriage doula that there's this big thing I'm trying to help bring into the world. So I have a deeper appreciation for that.
(34:06):
Now that I've, I've been, I've been abroad, I have seen why that person would be helpful. You know, I joke on my wedding day that, you know, it, we had a, we had a fairly small wedding, we had 17 guests, all family. And you know, I couldn't look at anyone that day who didn't make me cry. And so we didn't end up hiring a coordinator. I mean, talking about blind spots publishes on that. But we didn't. And so it was funny cause on my wedding day, I'm like, gosh, I would really like a coordinator right now just because he or she probably wouldn't make me cry if I looked at them. You know, like, I can't look at my mom. She was gonna make me tear up. So you know, I began to realize like, why on a wedding day when I walked into a room to go meet with a partner, they kind of look at me with like a, you know, kind of a relief.
(34:49):
And I used to think, Oh, it's because I'm here to solve a problem. But now I'm beginning to realize, Oh, it's probably because I'm like emotionally neutral. I'm like, I'm a safe person for them that they can have a little bit of like emotionally, like they're not going to stop when they see me, you know, it's like, Oh, it's fast. That's our planner. You know. She can help me with something, but also she's not gonna make me disburse through the tears. So yeah, I appreciate that more. So I'd like to think that showed him the two weddings I did in February. I really try and fold it in more now with my communication with couples. Living up to their wedding too.
(35:18):
Yeah, no, I think it's important and obviously not that, you know, you can do you know, been married, nod and everything in between. But I, I do just feel like it's nice to have I find, you know, being able to talk to, you know, the guys or whatever. It just, you just feel a little more of like, at least, I mean, and obviously I'll never know what it feels like to be a bride, like, well, my wife or whatever, but, you know, yeah, you get a little bit and you can, you know, or like, God, I remember you know, we got married, whatever in August, and then it'd been a little while and then one of our first weddings of the year was like that April. And my buddy was getting married and his, you know fiance or wife, whatever now you know, starts with the vows and it was like she was writing in this letter or whatever, you know, the reading, you know, the whole thing, like, you know, to read 50th anniversary and like I'm sitting like in the aisle and I'm just started sobbing and I'm like, this never, never would have happened a year ago, you know.
(36:16):
But I also was standing up there and you know, and then we got done with the wedding and he looks at me or the ceremony, he goes read, I don't like, I just blacked out. I don't remember any of that. And I'm like, well, I'm glad you know, we're here. Like, we got it. But it just, I said, dude, I totally know. Like, I absolutely now can say that I know what that feels like, you know? And it was just kind of a nice moment for us. So I don't think you can replicate you know, if you hadn't kind of both been through, it's like going through a war together, you know, except it's a little prettier, you know.
(36:47):
Well I can totally relate to, you've kind of opened up that emotional part of your, of your world, you know, your worldview. And so, you know, now when I go to other people's weddings and of course I think of mine, you know, I mean it was funny last year at 18 weddings last year and I, you know, mine was kind of the last of my season cause we got married at the end of November. And so every wedding I went through leading up to our wedding you know, there was this sense of like, Oh my gosh, it's going to be maxed, you know, that's going to be awesome. You know, I've, I've always seen one of the reasons I love to work with couples is cause, you know, I can't help but see my husband and me in a lot of different couples, you know, and it's always interesting to, you know, see other relationships and hear how people met and what attracted them to each other and why they want to do this thing called marriage.
(37:32):
And so I, I really noticed that last year cause we were actively planning and moving towards a wedding and I'd go to all these weddings and you know, how all these thoughts and feelings about, you know, what's it mean to be a wife or what will it mean to have a husband? And now, I mean, so the two that I did, I've kind of on the other end of that and I really look forward to getting back out there into the field and continuing to explore what that means. Through my first year of marriage, I didn't think it would quite look like this pandemic. But I look forward to what's ahead on that front.
(38:00):
Yeah. It's not funny. Even just you know, thinking back to just like our wedding shows in January and just kind of where everything was and planning and, and trying to figure out, you know, how many weddings, you know, what number do we want to hit this year or what do you do to fill still? And now it's like, it doesn't even matter at all. Like we're just trying to, you know, it's really it's interesting.
(38:25):
[Inaudible] My big goal was 20 and 20, 20, which, you know, just mainly sounded cool and now it's like, okay, maybe not that
(38:34):
Wow, if we keep house this year there'll be a no, no, absolutely. It's a, it's no, I, and just even just thinking back well, you know, just like we, we were supposed to be in LA this week for like my wife's spring break cause she's a teacher and she called her friend today cause like, we should have been in like LA today, you know, having dinner with them and whatever. And to think that like, even just a month ago, that was still on the calendar and now it's, you know, absolutely not. It's, it's pretty surreal.
(39:07):
Totally. No, no, no. And it changes. But you know, one of the things that I think is so interesting about weddings is weddings are really there. There's such a bid on the future, right? I mean, they're, they're kind of right up there with having a family as far as like this is, it really makes no sense, right? To have, have a wedding to start a marriage. Like if you think about it, rational, no emotion. Like why in the world do we do this? My door sells, you know, pleasure ourselves to someone who will die, you know, they'll die or all die. Right. but you know, winnings are fundamentally the hope. They're about the future. And so I think they're super important at anytime, but if we're really right now and so it is kind of this weird dichotomy of like how quickly things can change and how do you hold onto those things and still have meaning in life, you know, hope and joy and happiness and planning. You know, it's just another word for hoping. I think at the end of the day, it also, it's hard right now and things can change on what feels like the turnover times. Okay. You know, that's always been true too, I guess. I don't think we all needed to learn quite so harshly how true that is. But here we are.
(40:07):
Yeah. My friend posted it today, you know, the, the dumbness thing she's ever bought was a, was a planner for 20, 20, like a weekly plan. It's like, wow. Yeah, I want to hear it. So, so this this book that you have, are you writing it? Have you written it? Whether it's the story on that.
(40:28):
Oh, thank you for asking. So I am, Oh, it's hard to judge on these things, but what I have been told is a good metric is to tell word counts. So I have a working draft for back 50,000 words. I've been working on it about two years, but super, super actively about the last six months. So it is you know, as I mentioned, kind of a memoir of my time as a wedding planner who thought she knew at all until surprise, she got engaged. And trying to navigate trying to navigate the wedding industry of trying to navigate kind of society is as I planned my wedding and you know, became, became a wife and what that meant in this day and age, what it meant as a feminist, what it meant just from my worldview. So yeah, I'm actually, I mean I'm actively one of the upsides I suppose, of having a slightly slower season as I have a lot more time to work on it. So I'm in a place right now that I'm reading back through it for the 900 million times and then kind of getting it out to a second round of readers. So yeah, hoping to pitch it out sometime this year and you know, if the publishing industry is still with us hopefully finding an agent and getting an out to readers in an ideal world. [inaudible]
(41:38):
Well, and if nothing else right now, I do think there has been an uptick in, in reading just in general.
(41:45):
That's right. People need, people need books right
(41:49):
There was I posted today the, the whole like that new story that it's the meme, like ain't nobody got time for that. Like, I don't know if you saw it, you know, the, there's like the fire at the apartment complex and the woman's like a fire. Like ain't nobody got time for that. And now it's like, Oh, I guess I do have lots of time for that right now. I guess. I do know that sounds, yeah, that sounds fascinating. And I think so. It's, so it's it's nonfiction fiction or how is it, you know, it's about you, but is it written first person or how has that,
(42:20):
It is not fiction. You speak to my journalist's language. I love it. So nonfiction first person. So that's the first half of the book. It's kind of a collection of different weddings that I've worked over the years. And then the back of the book is really more about my husband and I and, and our own wedding planning. I mean I, it's funny cause it's like, it's kind of a spoiler but also not a spoiler. Cause clearly, you know, like talking, I talk very openly, but I'm married. But yeah, so it really is a reflection about kind of, I mean I in a way it's a lot about my journey through my twenties, you know, kind of starting this business working with couples kind of thing, a lot of what they're up against and then kind of switching spots with them and being the one that, that is having a lot of those pressures put on them. So yeah, super excited about it. You know, I had never attempted such a big project you know, having been a journalist, I had written feature stories and written long story non fiction before, but had never censored a book. And, and I can't, don't know how good it is that the people who read it seem to like it. And I would just keep trying to show up and tell the story that I want to tell him.
(43:23):
No, I think that's great. I mean, you know, it's, it's important to keep you know, with your roots and you know, I'm still, whether it's like a car crash or a wedding, like I'm still taking video, you know, now that I'm like not in news anymore. But you know, I could definitely see like transitioning out of journalism and I think it's so cool to keep that alive, you know, not only with the blog and with the book. I mean, I, I commend anybody you know, in our industry for thinking outside the box and doing things like that. I think it's such a, just such an inspiration for a lot of things. I mean, I couldn't write five words, but maybe it wouldn't motivate me to try to figure out something else.
(44:01):
Don't worry. Don't worry about that. Final cut pro was about the extent that I got to in J school. So I can end you editing and videography. They are, I think, often a under sung challenge.
(44:13):
Well, thank you. That's good to hear. What do you wish that more people knew? You know, the, you find yourself educating, you know, your couples about the, you wish they knew about wedding planning or what you do or you know, things that you wish that people asked about or wish that, you know, that they knew that you find educating people about a lot.
(44:34):
I think when it comes to couples I've kind of wished that and I say this a lot is just that they can't mess it up. You know, I mean, I think there's such fear when you're planning something like a wedding because there's so much expectation or there's so much money invested or there's just, you know, really high emotional stakes, you know, no matter what, whether you're having, you know, three people or you're having 300, you know, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a big deal. And I just wish people knew that they can't mess it up. You know, I think the only way to mess up your wedding is to not want to get married. And, you know, the kind of corollary to that is if you look at each other and you're like, Oh, this actually won't work. You know, good, right?
(45:09):
Glad we cleared that up before we get married 40 years. But you know, really there's no way to really mess up your wedding except not to want to marry the person that, you know, you were planning to marry. You know, and I say that as someone who, who loves logistics, I mean, I, gosh, I love a timeline with the best of them. Right? And, and I love organization and crossing T's and dotting I's. It's this one, I'm a wedding planner. But I also fundamentally believe that, you know, a wedding is a human event and there's a lot to celebrate about that. I think a little bit of a stereotype with a wedding planner, or maybe this is just my experience of, but we're whistleblowers who, you know, are gonna keep you on track with the timeline hell or high water. And I have always seen the timelines I create as a guide.
(45:53):
You know, I mean, I run a pretty tight wedding, massive break. You know, I keep things on time, but you know, I'm never going to cut a couple off from kissing each other or, you know, having a moment together because we have to go rush to the next thing. Like that is so not the point of a wedding in my opinion. So I think just those two things as a couple of knowing like, Hey, you're not going to mess it up. You found each other. That's the miracle here. And then for other vendors that, you know, I'm not that much of a hard ass. I think those are the two things.
(46:24):
That's fine. No, I mean, yeah, there is, there's so much, I think pressure nowadays you know, society and families and, and traditions and everything else and, and a lot of, you know, pressure to plan the right wedding or do the right thing or, or have, you know, have the garter toss or the cake or the bouquet or whatever. And, and I do think, you know, and my hope, one of my hopes with you know, maybe this kind of pause that everyone's going through right now. And I think I've mentioned this before on the podcast is maybe there is a little more thought put in now, now that we have a little extra time into like what is really important, you know, to me or my partner or what do we really want this day to feel like? Versus like, well, you know, my mom wants this or my dad or you know, our aunt, they did it this way and really letting people, cause your wedding day should be an expression of like you said, kind of like finding someone that you like enough to marry I think is what you said.
(47:19):
And I think that's just a great way to put it. But that's what he needs to be is finding someone that you like enough to marry.
(47:26):
Well and I really look forward to my kind of first wedding post coronavirus and you know, I say post coronavirus knowing that this lovely virus will probably be with us for a long time, but you know, whenever that next gathering is because I mean, I don't want to put too high stakes on it, but I think it's going to be one hell of a party, you know, because I think we'll have a whole new, maybe not new, but maybe an a deeper appreciation for we're gathered here today. You know what I mean? I think, I know I used to take that for granted, you know, I mean, I used to think it was the norm to go to concerts or go to the coffee shop or go to the grocery store and not have to wait outside six feet apart from people. And they're really look forward to kind of my first wedding where it's like this, this thing that's happening right now. Like this is magic. You know, that all these people that I love are in the same space. Like, we always just think, Oh, of course that'll happen because we live in a modern era where anybody can get anywhere, call anybody originally, buddy. But I think if we take anything from this moment, it's like, no, no, no. That's actually quite miraculous when that happens. So I really look forward to going to that wedding and being a part of it because I think it's going to be, I think it's to be pretty lit to be honest.
(48:32):
That's perfect. And I think that's a great sentiment to leave, to leave our conversation under that. I love that and I think that's a great just throw on a throw on the lip party and and take everything, you know, not taking anything for granted. I think that's great.
(48:46):
That's great. Well good. And I hope all my other vendors can get to that lit place too, because I think we're going to get there. Well not sure when, but I think we're going to get there.
(48:54):
Yeah, no, we, we will and, and that it's good. Well thank you so much for taking time. I know we had said, you know, before we started recording, and I mean, it is just odd to, you know, talk about some things like this, you know, with everything going on. But I do think it's important to, to look forward to the future and remember kind of what we were doing and what we want to get back to. And I think that, you know, the best way to do that is to kind of in, in as many ways as we can, kind of continue to better each other and, and, you know, expand and, and, you know, meet new people and, and still, you know, talk about things that are worth kind of talking about. So,
(49:30):
Totally. And on that note, I would just love to, particularly, because, you know, I imagine this a lot of fellow Pacific Northwest vendors out there, you know, I would love to hear from you. You know, my, I'm happy to share my email or can be in the show notes, but I'm, you know, I'm part of a Slack group that's open to Pacific Northwest vendors that came out of that event that I mentioned. You know, it's totally free space. It's really just a place for people to share leads or ask advice. You know, right now we're sharing a lot of resources as far as loans and grants for small businesses. You know, and I would love to hear from you. I'd love to invite you to that space. I don't think there's a lot of watering holes for wedding vendors because we kind of work in this weird business, you know, or we have coworkers, but not really. And so this is just my attempt to try and make that happen. So you know, there's plenty of room for all of us then. I invite anyone who's interested to either reject me or you know, wherever it makes sense. Cause I would be cool to know what you're up to. I think it's really neat to hear what people do with their businesses.
(50:23):
Fantastic. Yeah. If you want, if people want to learn more about you, your business and your company and everything else, where would you have them check out?
(50:31):
Easiest is probably my website, so it's just my name, www.elisabethkramer.com. I'm Elisabeth with an S and Kramer with a K. I won't go into why both those things are spelled so funny, but that's my name. And then I am on Instagram, Elisabeth Kramer PDX because there's this fight. My funny name, Elisabeth Kramer was already taken. So yeah, those two places are best. My email is just Elisabeth@Elisabethkramer.com. So just that weird spelling all over the place. I am fairly responsive, particularly right now, so, you know, I'd love to hear from people.
(51:01):
No, that's perfect. And I know it's been great kind of getting to know you today and chatting beforehand and I do appreciate you taking the time and I'll look forward to getting back to weddings and hopefully working together sometime in the future. That would be awesome.
(51:16):
Yeah, I'd love that. And thank you for the opportunity. It's a, I have to admit, I kind of started at something about Mondays right now. It's really been hard for me, so it's really invigorating to talk about my work, so I appreciate the opportunity.
(51:27):
Fantastic. Well thank you again. If you're like Elisabeth and you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. And that's a nice, easy a questionnaire that we have to kind of get you in the system and get everything rolling. And again, Elisabeth, thank you for taking the time. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®. Check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much.