GET TO KNOW YOUR WEDDING PRO®
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTIONS - PART 7

*Please forgive any spelling or typographical errors. Episodes listed in the order they were recorded.

Jacky Grotle, Event Success

Well, I'm excited today to connect via the podcast. We've just connected a lot networking. We have a wonderful new year's Eve wedding together as well. We have Jackie growly. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thanks for you. I in Jackie's with event success. Whereabouts in town. Are you located at Jackie? Yeah, our main office is in Woodinville and so I'm real close to Seattle east side. To go all over the place though. If you will we've and we've known each other for years, we've talked about coming on the podcast before about this. I'm so thrilled now. Because it's one of these things, right? Like we were together, we see each other, but it's never for an extended period. Right. It's it's five minutes. Okay. How's it going here? What's going on? You know, how are you doing? So I'm really excited to hear, we were talking off camera off microphone about how you are into tennis. I want to hear about that as well, but in terms of event planning, First of all, tell the listeners you, what do you focus on? What do you do in terms of event planning? Sure sure. So event success has been around for a while. This is our 21st year in business. I'm doing it for some time. We do all types of events. We do corporate nonprofit. Milestone birthdays, but especially wedding. Weddings are very special and we do quite a bit of those as well. Well, 21 years. I mean, that's the thing, you know, we talk with a lot of, and that's, you know, like three times as long as I've been doing, you know, I mean, it really puts in perspective, right? The knowledge riding the wealth of resources, because you know, a lot of the vendors we talked to, it's like, oh, I've been doing this two years, three years. I mean, Eh, how much has the world changed in terms of, I mean, the loaded question, but in terms of wedding planning in the last, you know, two, two plus decades, Yeah, great question. You know, We've seen all the trends come and go. We've seen several vendors come and go. One of the things when people are hiring a wedding planner. Or an event planner there they're really hiring that person for their expertise. So it's, it's really hard. In the beginning to start off for those young companies who are just starting, because they don't have the experience, we've seen it all we've seen. Well, you were with me with one. When the venue have a tent issue, we have to come up with a plan B often in the second. We have weather issues. And so we have a plan B and sometimes plan C. In addition to the pandemic that we just had. I mean, we we've, we survived through nine 11. We've had. Great stock. Market's great. Robust economies. And we've seen it when people have tightened their belt and been kind of lean. So we've really kind of been able to adapt and seen it all. It is hard, especially in, in video too, but, but especially, you know, event planning when budgets get tight, it is one of those like, well, I can, I can figure this out. Right. We can certainly we can get through. And it is like video, you know, this one of the first things, I just had a email back today from a client, you know, Hey, well, you know, we decided, you know, we're tightening down and. You know, we can't do the video the way we want to. And so, so it's hard. It's one of those, like, it feels expendable for the client, but, but it's not, I would say, especially that wedding that we had, you know, not to undersell, I mean, the event was planned for a three location event. Right. You guys show up damn at the hotel and discover that one of the, one of the locations. Is no longer usable. Right? Do the snow collapsed. Well that dramatically change it. I mean, it was the entire night was shifted around because basically you lost half the space that you were planning on doing everything. I mean, what, what was that like to walk in that day? I guess? We actually found out the day prior and, you know, I think. Because of all the years of experience for really kind of a MacGyver, always thinking of how can we make it better? How can we adjust? Problem solving and, you know, That's one of the things I'll say event success is really stands out from some of the other planners is really logistics. So we've done weddings, you know, out in San Juan islands. People's Rob property. We've you know, where you bring in everything, you know, the kitchen sink, literally and restrooms and every fork and every spoon. And. We of course are also at hotels and four seasons and, and. Olympic sculpture park and, and Shipley glass and garden. Where they have a lot of stuff on site as well, but we, we can adapt and adjust that we have the knowledge and experience to really kind of. Adjust and really become the MacGyver and, and fix a cup with a great plan B. Yeah. It was like, I was like, wait, what is happening here? Like. And how did you get involved in all of this? This is something you, I I've heard, you know, People involved in corporate things, are people going to school, but how, what is your story about getting involved in the wedding and event planning? Yeah. I'll be honest. When I was going to college at Washington state university doing their hospitality program. I never in a million years. Would have said I was going to be event and wedding planner. I would have said I was going to be general manager of a small boutique hotel. And I pursued that and went to Switzerland and also finished a hotel management school. I did offsite catering with Nordstrom catering. When they were around back in the day. And then I was director of catering and events at the Seattle tennis club for seven years. And. At that specific location. I mean, I had done events and weddings at all. Different facets. Whenever it hotels and resorts as well. But at the tennis club, I really discovered that I have a love for. Specifically weddings. And I'm realizing, just be part of someone's special day, what a privilege that is, and that I was good at it. And so many people ask me for help. And then I really need you on that day. And. And then, so when I left the tennis club, I, I did so because I started a family, I, I. I life had changed a little bit. I had gotten married and I was starting a family and I wanted a little bit of flexibility. So that is when I started event success so that I could still do what I love to do so much. And. I discovered that passion for it at. At that particular job. Do you find now in your role working with clients, like you said a little bit more, not that you don't when you work at a, at a venue, right. You know, you're obviously working with the clients in. But with the planner, it's so much more, you know, the, the whole journey, right. Kind. Acquiring all the different vendors, right. You know, coming up with a game plan and all that. Do you find more connection that way now? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You. The welding industry, so unique even event. Running an event, I'll say. Because in the corporate world. When you have project management, you get all the different departments into a board room, and everyone talks about their piece and how they're going to interconnect and work together. And our industry, every vendor is hired individually and that vendor will do their best and do their portion. But, you know, a planner is really the glue that kind of connects and says, you know, this is a plan and comes up with a schedule and make sure everyone's on the same page. And. We're working more as a team. Then individual vendors. So, yeah. It's hard. It is. I think the way you say that it is really difficult, right? Where. You know, I've done corporate stuff. [unknown]. You maybe get everyone on the same bill or you bring in a company that does a multitude of different things. Right. And it is like, I, this is all I'm doing is the video. Right. I'm coming in and. I, you know, I've had way where you're like, I, I had a way in this year, Russia, that, but. And the reception. And I said, oh, hi, who are you? And they said, oh, I'm the wedding plan there? You know? Next to me. And I'm like, I didn't know that you existed until right now. And I've involved with this couple for nine months. You know, you get a variety of experiences that way, right? Sure. Sure. And maybe that's someone a little bit more green or maybe there's a day of coordinator. But I really try to connect with everyone. And there are the different packages. So of course, if you're hired for. Day of, or final planning plus day of coordination. You're not going to have as much interaction with each vendor. As you would, if you're full planning. However, I always reach out and connect with every vendor at least a week prior. To make sure there is that connection. The knowledge and experience you gained right? Working at the tennis club, working in the events. How does that translate now? You know, where you're able to kind of run everything top to bottom, right through your company. Yeah, well, I've done offsite catering. I've worked hotels. I work resorts. And I, and I worked at the country clubs, so that gives me an idea of different angles, different viewpoints of the event. So I feel like I have a good handle of. What their needs are, what they want to focus on. So maybe, you know, out of venue. They might be focused more on the venue side of things or venue plus food and beverage. You know, that's really their focus. And then, you know, some of the things they can or can't do. I understand what's reasonable to ask for as well. So it gives me a little insight, I would say, and empathy. Where the different facets and different angles. So it all that experience has helped myself to be a good planner. When you decided, okay, I'm going to, you know, start event success, you know, do it on my own. What, what was your ideal image for, you know, the kind of brand that you wanted to be, right? The, the, your thesis statement, whatever you want to call it, your brand slogan, you, what did you want your business to stand for? Well, I came from. Nordstrom background. So yes, you know, we can do anything. We'll work as hard as we can to where yes, people, you know, we really are want to appease. And, and do things for people. So I think I was, when I, when I left the Seattle tennis club, having clients from there to start off with, I really. I thought that we wanted a met success to be. An upscale, more of a. You know, not everyone can have a planner, a but then the people who can we really wanted. So our demographic to be a little bit more upscale. So we do like elegant a little bit higher end type of clientele and type of event. Because we have a lot of experience with that, you know? Through the years, we've really tried to kind of have that Nordstrom approach, I would say, and really try to give 110%. And we're really super proud of. That you know, we've been in business all those years. 21 years, I've done over 500 weddings and there's not even one bad review online. And we're really proud of that, that we can do our job with integrity and that we do the best we can. And really that shows. So our clients. Well, that's a Testament because. You know, especially as the planner, you're the front person for all that. I mean, it could be anything, right. It could be, you know, the cater forgot something and you get, you know, I mean, it really does. It's this trickle down and. You know, I've seen that before where, you know, planner, you end up taking the brunt just because it's easier. Right. Because it's like, let me just handle this and we'll work through it. And then, you know, you all kind of take the bullets from everybody else. Right. Absolutely. Because as the project manager, you are really in the end responsible for every facet. And, you know, we don't promise perfection, but we're going to try everything in our power. To make things go as smoothly as possible. Do you enjoy, you know, obviously Woodenville the CLO market, right? The demographic here, it's a good, you know, it's a good wedding industry. Right? Good vendors to network. Obviously we were at the. Yeah, the Wippa Seattle event. I mean, talk about. Your experience is kind of running the business and growing it in the greater Seattle area. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I mean a lot has changed over the last 20 years. I'll say Bellevue wasn't even. Grown up. When I started, but also, you know, it used to be at one time before I started event success at one time long ago. Cause I grew up here as well. It used to be Boeing was the big company, right? And. A lot of people work for Boeing. But when I started my career. With event success. Microsoft had already been around for awhile, but there were new companies coming. You know, Starbucks was. Microsoft was big. We were getting the Amazon, we were getting like all these tech companies and it's exciting because with all this. People coming into the area, working, getting good pay. You know, getting married young, young people. It really helped our event industry here for sure. And watching that grow has been really exciting. It's interesting. I was at that. We have a networking thing. God, was it last week over that new ascend in Bellevue, right? The big it's above the new Lincoln. Like the Lincoln square expansion. Yeah. Cause I grew up. I'm Bellevue way down on 20th, right, right by the mall. And like you said, I mean, there were, there was nothing there. I remember when it was like the blockbuster and now it's that big apartment building right. With, with purple and. You know, when the braver there used to just be a dairy queen. You know, it's, it's, it's remarkable, but. But it's really helped. I mean, we are lucky, you know, it w you know, real estate here stayed strong and in the job market and B I mean, it really is a blessing. And when you are in. Kind of an expendable business. Like, you know, weddings are a little bit, right. I mean, you could, you could be doing, you know, courthouse, you know, any day of the week, if people want to, it's nice to have all these different companies and especially on the east side, kind of support all of that. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it makes us industry fun and it makes it grow. 'Cause I think with all this. You know, influx of people and economies and businesses, it also allows for things to expand here. So like, We get more rentals that the rental companies, they are able to bring in. We're. Products. So it makes it interesting when there's more items to choose from. Right. So it helps expand our market and really kind of grow into something. A little bit more than if, if we were stagnant and, and had less people. And I mean, you get even thinking about it just a lot more variety of types of weddings, right? In types of cultures, in different ceremonies. And we I'm editing the it's where she was, you know, Asian and Jewish wedding combined, you know, all these. We get all these variety of mixes of everything, just because of all the influx of different types of people we have here. Absolutely. And I love that. I've we love multicultural. Weddings, because sometimes we've already done a few, but sometimes we learn about a new. Ceremonial type of thing or tradition. And we absolutely love that. It makes the. So both the ceremony and the celebration meet. And sometimes there are challenges. Like how, how can we get a fire or how can we, how can we get parade? And you know, it should. We'll be closed up the street, you know, there's different things, but. It's really exciting and fun. And I really enjoy that. Being on the east side, in, in, in Woodinville and, and, you know, obviously all of that, there's great venues everywhere, but I am just curious your thoughts. This sense of explosion in Woodinville has been the last, you know, a few years. I mean, continuing on a thoughts on that and being a part of on that side and all the different opportunities now over there. Yeah, absolutely. So because we're Woodenville based company, we actually discount our services for anything in one bell, because it saves us, you know, Going on the bridge and toll and parking and gas and so forth. So should someone. Select a windmill location. We do discount. Woodenville venues, but there are over, over 180 different tasting rooms. And. There are larger venues. Obviously it's more for events and weddings, but it's definitely growing. I was one of the founding board members, which started weddings in Woodinville. And did that for, I did it for nine years and then I stepped away because I had done it for a long time and it was quite a bit of work. And then COVID hit. So. That was something really proud of to create that. Show that was really exciting. Well, it's, it's crazy how far that this, you know, that whole window thing has come here in the last, you know, decade or so, where. You know, even we were at the Sparkman sellers, right. A couple of weeks ago, you know, It's this huge event space, right. That really wasn't. Anything like that before riding me, I guess maybe Columbia, you could put a lot of people into, you know, it's just cool to see variety. You know, we have small venues over there and you like, obviously novelty hill is always one of my favorites just in terms of being different, you know, unique looking right. But it's crazy that you could really just throw a stone over there and find one of. Like 30 different killer wedding venues or event venues. Yes, absolutely Chateau Lil jam cellars. We love the mall for sure. And we know the ins and outs and. Really know that space well, and what's available locally. Because we're here, but we go into Seattle. All the time as well. But it's not easy. This. I didn't know you discounted Woodenville weddings. That's good. I mean, that's a good selling. That's a good way to put out there. I think that's good. Not having to like develop a gun. EOC Adelaide is nice in terms of doing your recon at different menus. Absolutely. Well, you know, you. You know, buying local is what people want to do is stay local with, you know, what's there. So we're happy to help with that. Yeah, I, yeah, we're literally a Stone's throw from the hall of Fauntleroy and I couldn't pay it to do more weddings there. I mean, they just, I get called for them, like. Can I please be here this every weekend. Like I don't, we don't have a lot of venues in west Seattle. And like really close. You know, so though is okay, but I, I, yeah, I wish I could be at the hall of font Roy every week. And just because of proximity. Absolutely. Absolutely. But, you know, we love going to all different venues. We go up to the San Juan islands. We're Farber quite a bit. One of our expertise, I would say is Gar. Garden weddings. And I haven't menus. So we get called a lot to people's private venues and. It. All the way through. You know, bang for a Jilin San Juan island. Down south, we've gone to Oregon. We've actually gone to Hawaii. So yeah. I want to talk to you about that. Cause I do remember that, that you do really specialize in these private, you know, I know we've talked before, you know, trying to, oh, Hey, these people are interested in video with ever. Unique challenges. About that. Right? Cause it is. It feels a little more, I mean, it is a lot more high-end right. Like we're bringing in everybody, we're going to do all this, obviously challenges with that. So talk me through that in, in your, your experiences with that. Well, first off, a lot of people are a little confused. They're like, oh, I'll just in my backyard, have this and I'm going to throw it up and it's going to be really affordable. I just talked to a gal actually this last week. And. She was blown away when I said, no, it will cost you more. I guarantee you, it will cost you more and they're swearing her on your home. And, you know, you're going to have to bring in restrooms because your restrooms will not. Okay. For 200 people or a hundred people. So people don't understand that when they first kind of have the idea. I mean, having a rehearsal dinner at your home is great up to 50 people. No problem. Once you get to the larger events, it. Real cost more than a venue. It's logistically a lot more, almost double of what, like going to a hotel or a ballroom or. Space that kind of has everything in place. Because, like I said, you'd have to bring in every little aspect, but also they might see a spot and they might say, this is a perfect spot. Well, is it flat? Is it. Going to be. Flat enough for your chairs and tables, not to wobble. We have lighting for the. Staff to walk or are they going to walk and twist their ankle in a rabbit hole? You know, this is you. These are things that people don't really think through because they're just looking at a space and they're like, yeah, we can just do it right here. So I'm thinking about all the nitty gritty and all the ins and outs and logistics and how to make it happen and, and really produce their vision. We listen a lot. And then when. Tried to. Create what they are looking for. It's all right. It is a weird. I it's like one of the things you've done it so many times, but I just can't believe that people say, oh yeah, it's like way cheaper. We, I think that you, you have to bring in everything you even dealing with like power, right? Do we have enough power to run everything? Is the kitchen big enough? Right? Do they have enough space? We did one this summer out in. Where they out like an Anacortes and I mean, you know, luckily the guy had basically owned the property next door so they could, oh, here's a parking lot. Right. Cause even just, how the hell do you park? 150 cars out there. Absolutely. I happen to have this other spare acre off to the side, but my God, you know, That in India flooring and the tent and, and we, they kept the power kept dying and they kept having to flip, you know, deal with the generators and all that. I mean, it's. It's so much. It's not hassle. I mean, it's worth it. If it, you know, it's your vision and it works, but it is weird that people are just like, oh yeah, like, That's way easier to do it that way. Yeah. What, you know, when, when it's pulled off, it's actually a really special and magical because that space means something to them. And every time they revisit that space, you know, it. Let's have those memories and everything. It really, it really is. It's really cool when it does work out, you know, when we can help them and it all works out and they have that. You know, kind of like, oh my gosh, this is better than I envisioned it kind of feeling. And they tell you that. Like, Ooh, that is exactly what we're shooting for. I taught me through your process of, you know, bringing in clients, how does the process work with, you know, working with you and how do you want that whole thing to feel? Right. More than, I mean, obviously talk me through the logistics. How do you want the client to feel through that experience? Right. So, as I mentioned earlier, one of the main things is that we really try to listen. You know, So we, we. And hearing what they're saying. We not only have to plan it all in our head and logistically and timing and everything, figure out. But also like, Read into what they're saying. So. You know, maybe I hear something a little bit that they have a concern about. And I think, oh, I should maybe ask the question like. Why do you think that's a concern? I'm just checking, you know, our. Or how can I alleviate your concern? But really, I want them to be heard. Is number one. Number two. I want them to know that they're in good hands. This is not the first time I've ever done an event that we've done lots and lots of events. So we have the expertise and experience. And we're going to make their wedding or their event. The best it can be. You know, it's going to be wonderful. And we're going to help them with a lot of planning and talking through and really kind of hammering out some of those logistics and making sure. Everything they want to happen, happens within the timeframe to. So being heard and that there's an expert in their corner that they hired event success. So they have an expert. And then in the end, just that they can relax. No, that's it. So I try to assure them and. Writing. Everything out is often very. Helpful to our clients so that they can see it in black and white. I want them to be able to sleep through the night and enjoy the process. I don't want people stressing. Because they're all working, everyone's working and everyone's really busy and they're, they've not done an event to the scale. So I really want them to relax and enjoy the process. Enjoy the day. That's. Probably my biggest, you know, help for, for, for the process, for them to really enjoy the day. And do you have any concerns or any, any weight on your shoulder and give it to me? I'll carry that. It's hard. And I've seen that where they don't, you know, the couple doesn't have a, you know, a coordinator or a plan or, you know, someone. A point person. That's professional riding. I mean, it's one thing, oh, aunt, Sally's going to do it, you know, but it's not right. Because then they get hammered with questions like all day. And it's so hard. Oh, your camera for us. Are you able to hear me? I can add your computer die. It did. Oh, I totally die. No, I just booted me out of a zoom. Do you want to try the hot back in that way? It didn't let me, oh, what did it say? It's a, there are technical problems right now. I don't know. That's odd. Can you turn your phone sideways? And then do you want to lift it up? So it's more, can you lift it up? It's more eye level. Yeah, hang on a second. Is it like the funniest angle? Really. Bear with me. Oh, yeah. Don't no, you're fine. You're going to have to edit the connections. Right. All good. It's. Yeah, it's a two second thing. It's the only, finally. Can we do. I'm struggling here. All right. That works. That's good. Oh, yeah. I have a year, like setting your coffee back. I was like, oh, this could not be. Because I've got, it's all just talk through it. If it's like a freeze for a second. And I was like, oh, then she really did go away. That's okay. Sorry about that. No. I was on my side. I was like, I thought it was you. It's just zoom. It could be anybody. I mean, it's like, I don't, I record with Paul all the time and then there's a, we always have issues. And it's like, wait, what he needed. So. All right. Where, where are we? Well, we were talking about, yeah. So Jack and I are back, we had a little connection issue where we're flip-flopping. Connection devices here. We were talking about you planning, not having the planner and having that stress be on the couple, right? Where if you have like aunt Betty or someone, you know, not a professional that's in charge. The, I just seen, you know, the couples whose get hammered with questions all day about everything, because they don't have a point person or they have someone that's not qualified. And so you're like, where do you have. You know, Becky, what should we do? What should we do? What should we do? What should we do? And you're like, you just want it. They, you just want them to enjoy the day. So I know you mean when you're, when you're talking with clients. Having that planner and having that, it's almost like a safety blanket just lets you really live your day and enjoy your day and not have to answer all those questions. Absolutely. I mean, a wedding is a huge embarrassment. Both financially and emotionally. And so. I mean. It really is key. That it's the best it can be, because if you do that, but then you cut the corners and you don't. Get video or you don't get a planner, then the problem is, is that, like you said, there'll be working. Up until sometimes through and afterwards worrying about every single detail because they haven't given all those details to someone else. Because aunt Betty or whatever, doesn't know the questions to ask, to pull those details from the bride. So she's carrying a whole year's worth of planning. In your head. And so, so yeah, those are the three things that I hope to bring to client is really listened to them. Know that they're, you know, Share them that they're taken care of. And lastly, just let them enjoy their day. Really that celebration should be all theirs and they should. Feel how wonderful it was and not feel like they had a lot of questions or, or stress or had to manage anything that day. It's just hard cause you can't go back. And I think that, you know, you ask a lot of couples halfway through the night. If they're dealing with all of this stuff, it's like, yeah, I wish I would've just gotten, you know, do you see anybody? You know, and obviously then you, you would like to go higher than that. Right. But it's the same with video. I'm like, Just have someone do it, even if it's not me, you know, you want. The day you want them to like, at least go with the service, even if it's, you know, They're not going at all. But I think you would have to talk to a lot of couples and they go, yeah. Like I didn't enjoy that at all. Like that wasn't even, you know, worthwhile right. Trying to cut that corner and then be peppered with everything all night. Yeah, it's tough because I understand budgets for sure, for sure. But we also, you know, we try hard to those, those clients who are, who are on a budget. We w we try to get the most for every dollar and really. Guide them into the right direction for the right vendors to really maximize their budget. And oftentimes some. Some vendors give us discounts and we pass that onto the client. So sometimes it really just offsets our field enough to make it really worth it. W, you know, I've been in business for a long time. Right? You say you want to, you know, you. They have kind of a premiere right. Feel free to play. Do you work with, you know, a lot of younger couples, older couples, like what kind of is your demographic of, of client that you have. Yeah, well, I would say the. You know, 30 something client who they've been, they've been working their job for a little while and they know what they like. They have good taste. They like upscale. That is probably our most common client. We do a lot of marriages, a lot of. Older couples as well, which we're happy to do. I would say that the, you know, the 21 year old or 22 year old is probably not someone who's going to choose that. And that's only because they. They have a few things they're going to pick, but really it's, it's their parents that are going to plan it. Potentially. And pay for it. So they kind of have someone doing most of the leg work. So that's why they wouldn't. I think to hire a planner, maybe. I would say the second marriages are like sometimes the most fun and. You know, because they know at that point, like exactly what they want. You know what I mean? My being there, we had one. And they weren't even, I mean, I think they were about our, you know, my age. They weren't, it wasn't like it. You. They were 45, 50 years old, you know? And the groom said. Because he had done like a big traditional Indian wedding the first time. He said. All I want to do is go out to lunch with my guys, have beer, hang out, right. And then go to the wedding and get married. And like, that's what they did. And my second videographer went with them and I mean, he didn't drink, but you know, they just sat and they went to, Anthony's had a nice lunch if we went and got married. Cause he said I did all this the first time. I don't want to, I want to do an, I want to do. And that, that God, that is a great way to look at it. So I think, you know, regardless of their age or whatnot, It's that client who kind of wants to do what they want to do. I do. And they have some sort of vision. We, we do have a couple clients that they have no idea what they want and so we can help them pull it out of them, what they like. And don't like, because there are so many choices and everything is beautiful now. You asked me how things have changed over the years, you know, now with Insta and, and, and take talk and everything. There's so many, so much eye candy, you know, so much visual stimulation that, you know, there's a lot out there and. You can't have it all. You kind of have to pick one direction and go with it. When design and for it to really look good. And so we can help with that process for sure. Yeah, it is almost like it's, it's too much. It's too much. It's too many things to look at. It's too many decisions to make. It's nice to have someone like let's reign that in even just 10% to kind of get you focused a little more. Absolutely. Absolutely. So I want to talk about. We were talking tennis beforehand. And then we talked about, you know, you working at the tennis clubs. I have a feeling that's maybe where that love. Came from right. The love of competitive tennis. I watched a lot of tennis at the tennis club, but I actually didn't start playing. A little bit later after I left the tennis club. Yeah, I do a lot of outdoor things. A lot of hiking, lot of skiing, I met my husband skiing and so schemes. Because of a key thing that we love to do. And tennis pretty active and it helps keep me in shape to work a 13 hour day and, and work that wedding and have the. The energy and the stamina to move tables and carry lanterns and light candles, and really be on for all that time, because it is not only. A lot of information that we have to manage, but it is physical. A lot of people don't realize. You know, totally undersold is how first off, how physical and especially planner, how long the day is. Right. Cause I will leave. And I was like, all right. See you later. And you guys saw. You know, Well, we got to go clean up or make sure it's all put away or make sure the right people are doing all the stuff like video, you know, that, you know, they do their sparkler send off and it's like, all right, we're out of here. You know, I mean, it's, it's different when you're the planner, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. And some venues are, are, are harder than others. You know, the ones that are really spread out where typically. Doing. 10 Miles we know because of the steps and everything. So, so if we have, you know, Two events a weekend every weekend we're doing at least 20 miles a weekend. You know, that's. Bot. Well, and then like wedding attire to non. You know, liking juice or whatever, you know, I mean, if it's a different world too, in terms of that way, too. I mean, I always tell it's like I come home and Dorothy, I'm like, You know, it's one thing to be working that long and she's a teacher, so she gets it, but it's like, you're on the whole time too. It's not just the length of it. It's your on making decisions? Having to be pleasant, you know, all these different things the whole time. You're not just sitting there like in your cubicle. Oh, I got to get through this, you know? And I would say it takes someone kind of special to, to, to be a planner. It's in me. I love it. I absolutely love my job. And it's kind of. Crazy to. Believe that this much time has passed. And I still love it as much today as I did when I started my business. I really do. Find it just, you know, exciting. And I love helping people and I love being there on their wedding day. And. I feel very, very fortunate. To love what I do. Before I let you go, you know, Visions for the future here ride. And we, we've kind of hopefully gotten through a lot of the uncertainty of the last little while, you know, what are you trying to do and grow in here as we move into what are 20, 22 now in. Yeah, I do. I do 20 to 23. Whether you looking for it. Well, we've been, we've been told and we know we can see it based on our calendar, that there was a backlog of all these weddings. And so at 2022 and 2023 are going to be very busy with. Events and weddings, people want to connect. People want to create memories. People want to get married. So, so it's really exciting to, to have this much. Buzz and excitement and, and, you know, man, and knock on wood that, you know, we're going to be able to move forward and, and, and produce all these events. So looking forward to that for sure. You know, the trends, I think. More. Influence with social media even more than in the past, because there's going to be more things available, you know, there there's, there's more and more. All the time. And I think, you know, there might be something more interactive with something digital. When we go forward, I know people have like the photo booth and they'd liked certain things like a streaming, but there's going to be more and more. I, I believe going forward. Connecting people from afar. I like that. Connecting people from afar. Aye. People on the little more about, you know, what you do, Jackie and see all, you know, see more about your events and everything else. Where would you have them check out? Yeah. They can check us out our website and w for Northwest events. Success. We're on Insta or on Facebook or on Pinterest. There's quite a few. Events and weddings on party slate. Check it all out. Give us a call. Text and email, and we'd love to chat with you. Yeah. That's NW event, success.com. Jackie, thank you so much for spending your time and I, if you are interested in coming on the future episodes of the podcast, go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest

Amber & Eric, Sightglass Photography

Well, we have Amber and Eric, it depends. You're here. I learned that. I said her name with the sight glass photography out of Portland. How are you guys doing today? Are you already doing great. So this is a set. You know, get to know your wedding pro we're. We're always trying to add new voices. I've had a lot of repeats here as we're kind of getting through the, you know, the holidays, which I understand. Now we're getting some new blood in here. You guys are married, right? Wedding photography, couple. And then you guys actually met as wedding vendors, right? Correct. So talk me through a little bit about what you guys do first off with your photography company, and then we'll get into kind of how you met and everything else. We do primarily weddings, but we do. Some corporate. Obviously. During COVID. And then just. Family other sessions, but also, but really it really kind of just switched to just weddings because of COVID like, Yeah. So it wasn't really worth doing. With the being in more. In a more intimate setting and all that. Yeah, we really focused on, we've always kind of focused more on like smaller weddings, like under a hundred guest counts. So making the pivot over to micro weddings and elopement wasn't too hardcore us. Cause that's kind of where my heart's always been. We do have a larger weddings once in a while, but. I love weddings that are, you know, anywhere between 40 and 80 people. So the pivot wasn't too hard for us because we kind of had some stuff already in place. Yeah, we've been looking at your guys' website, right? And, you know, fun, colorful, right? Vibrant time with your style. What do you guys try to try to focus on. Kind of like a photo journalistic approach with like a little bit of fine art. Like Eric really loves to do those creative, like art kind of art, these shots with lights and setting up a shot. And I am all about just in the moment, getting those moments where people can look back and. Realize that they were part of their day because they go so fast. Like I want to be a, be a fly on the wall so they can see what everybody else saw, why they were busy, having fun. Yeah. Just trying to keep it transparent. It's basically like our, our role. It's hard. You get a lot of Eva with video. I get a lot of questions with console. It's like, well, how much of this? Like, are we posing and restaging? You know, like a documentary and it's, you know, there's never a right or wrong style, right. It just depends on what, but, but. To me. It's always, yeah, like you said, photojournalistic letting them kind of experience their wedding day. Right. But then also capturing it is as beautifully as you can kind of wall while it's happening. Right. Yeah, for sure. We want to like give them a slight bit of guidance because usually they haven't done it or a big done it. They've done it. Maybe once, maybe twice. Bye. They don't know what they're doing. So our job is to kind of guide them. We like kind of slightly we'll put them in position, but then be like, okay, like, say something funny, do something cute. Like, what do you guys like? We get to vibe who they are. And sometimes some of our favorite, like creative shots are all just done on the fly. Just vibing who they are. So, who is it? I know that you guys have met, right. Got married, you know, combined to do a photography who was doing photography longer before you guys met. May I have actually. So I started doing photography in high school back in the day. And then I went to college. Graduated. Oh nine, everybody lost their job. And I'm like, what do I do with my life? And I was like, you know what? I have absolutely nothing to lose. I'm broke. I'm I cannot find a job and I just slowly started doing photography. You know, kind of, I got to find, I got a part-time job. You know, I need to pay the bills too and worked my way up. I do an ad on Craigslist and it was like, It's going to say what I can do. I offered to do a couple of weddings for free, just to get more experience. It helped because my mom wasn't officiant. So back in the two thousands, She was in a Craigslist officiant. And so she's done like so many crazy weddings. I used to just tag along with her and I kind of just like, you know what, I'm going to go for it. I got nothing to lose and slowly but surely started building. Some people like jump into it and they haven't established full business in a year or two. It took me several years cause I was, you know, also had my own life to deal with and kind of figuring out who I am, build experience. And get to know people. I started networking, really learning. The ropes of the industry and all roles in it, which I'm thankful for my experience, because I feel like I'm kind of an expert now. Like I also, we ran pre COVID. At wedding networking. What do I suppose what pros networking group? I also was a producer with classic para. Like a small boutique bridal show for a few years. So just really working from the ground up helped me experience all parts of the industry. Eric was your background. I kind of grew up with photography. Like here and there. My sister and I would like kind of get each other into it and then each other back out of it, it was. And kind of just go through phases. And it was around like 2013 or so. When I'm like, I want. Take this more, like I want to actually do this professionally. 2014 Was my first year actually shooting weddings. Are they kind of honestly bumbled around for awhile. Not really knowing like kind of where to grow and how to grow. And it was a little bit into where they started, like, okay, I need to like find other people and talk to them. It was only like a month or two before I met Amber. And then really honestly, she's helped me so much with just actually. Understanding the industry as a whole. And the other aspects to photography than just shooting. So you're saying you married into experience. It helps a lot. It's helpful to have, I think, two minds going into this, right. I mean, whether it's. Romantically or professionally, whatever. You know, having. You know, cause we, we, as people are so right indisposed at a certain skill set that we have. Right. And we talk a lot on, on the podcast being a good like florist, for example, and being creative doesn't mean that you can be a good book bookkeeper, right. Or, you know, being. It's a market doesn't necessarily mean. And so, you know, I've always said I'm a far better marketer than I am videographer. Right. But I just have to kind of lift that, lift this skill as we go. That's so true amongst photographers, like a one. But you said really anybody professional. It attracts creatives and romantics. When. In general, I think in general, that's. Mutually exclusive from being good at business and not actually what keeps you going? As a company and not just liking, doing what you're doing. I think what works best for us is I love business. I love all things business. I I people tell me, oh, you're an artist on. I've never thought it was an artist. I picked up a camera because I'm like, oh, I looked at it. I can do this. I can make money off this. I can hustle. So for me, I love the business. I work on the marketing, the website, the networking, and he's like a true artist, like, should. Be submitting to competition level. Me. I'm like, I love the business. I love the people. I, I understand that wedding photography, you can deliver a mediocre product, but if you deliver an amazing experience, that's what the couple's going to remember. But if you deliver a s**t experience, And like beautiful, amazing photos are still going to remember the bad experience. So I kind of like between the two of us. I bring that to the table. It's like, it's about, we gotta make sure they're having a good time, a good experience. You know, take care of them. Good customer service. We want to deliver all obviously great photos, but all those other things matter. Just as much, I think if not more. And I don't know about a. If everybody feels out in the industry, but I felt like I really want to pour a lot into the customer experience. But also, yeah. Great photos do matter. I got it. Because of that, Amber is kind of like the front man in a lot of ways. So with like foremost, for example, like Amber is up there. Moving people around making sure that the normal. I can like ties or anything on them. Well, I am focusing on. Getting Whiting and. In competition all together. And just also there's no back and forth. Like she can just step away and I can just shoot and then rinse and repeat. And that also applies to a couple of photos and it gets more like organic. Not all the time. I think some of the time. We're at work more. Just kind of candid. A couple of photos. Where I am. Taking some time setting up a shot. With the lights around all of that. And I really wouldn't be able to do that if it weren't for somebody like Amber to just kind of. Not just distract them in. As far as, from my perspective. Yes. But obviously she's actually doing something productive. So it's not like she's just. They're trying to keep their attention. It does help, but I have like a decade of manager experience and I am all about getting, get out, get out of the next thing. Like their time matters every day, every moment of their wedding matters. We can't take them for two hours to go do photos. These people paid to be around these other people. We need to get great photos in an efficient time. And so my job, I also like to, like, if they don't have a planner, I want to help them with a timeline so we can get these things, get all the vendors, what they need, especially there's video or. It makes your hair makeup. Everybody can do their job best. And it's kind of great that I have that experience so I can help make, make it go. Smooth and quick. And we get clients that are. Like. One is really super into themselves. There's not the like, They don't want two hours worth. There's a couple of photos they want. 10 To 30 minutes. And then that kind of just. It goes into every aspect of their wedding. And so there's just, our timelines look different than I feel like a lot of others. Sorry. So, yeah, like even like getting ready, like we. Rarely do more than like half an hour of getting ready. A lot of time, it's kind of more by happenstance than anything. We have had. We do have some couples who love couple photos and they'll like, but we work with, we're like, okay, there, I want an hour, a couple of photos, but we make their timeline to make that happen. So it's all about like talking with them and getting. All of that known in advance because you don't want to, it's about setting expectations. If you show me, oh, I'm just going to do 10 minutes, a couple of photos and they want an hour. It doesn't work. But if you know, you're like, I'm going to do an hour, a couple of photos in with 10. Like it's all about communication in. In this job. Yeah. I feel like we really try. If you ever more, so, cause you're just like, So it's just like an encyclopedia when it comes to like timings of everything. Yeah, we will go through a timeline. One we can get how long we actually need. Like we can both actually. We can quantify how long we need to actually be there. It's not like, well, we're trying to sell you on eight or six or whatever. Like wherever you showing you, why you need six. And then, so that gives them peace of mind while also like us knowing what we're doing. And then even. The evident timeline changes. We at least have we at least started with something. Yeah. Going forward. And then go over. It's funny. It's interesting because you know, we were with a lot of different photographers, right. And it's a lot of different styles and we always I'm, you know, very hands-off right. We're just like what, you know, kind of let. Let them take and it is interesting to me. You know, different photographers in, in, you know, then being able to read the room or not, or like read the couple, like. I'm like do unite. These. The good that they're really done taking photos right now. I'm like, we'll see it in there. Right. I'm not going to, I'm not going to pull anyone away with them. Like, I think they've been really over this for about 20 minutes and we're still down here, you know? Yeah, I, I. The, the tone deafness that I've seen with other vendors granted, like I don't see other carvers working very much. We do a second shoot on occasion, and that is insightful in ways. But, yeah, it's mainly. It's mainly like DJs or something. They're just like, Where are you getting this? Like, they don't want to do this. They're like there. Visibly cringing that you're doing this. And you're just like continuing to go down this path. I've seen all vendors do that. Like I think people forget that we, at the end of the day, our hired help. And our job is to make those couples dreams true. Our egos don't matter what we want out of. It doesn't matter. It's what they want. And I've seen all vendors kind of like, forget that. Oh, definitely all vendors. DJ's. And then also like if any owners, especially if there's not a coordinator around, like they tend to be the most like. In the, in their business, like fingers in the pie. Yeah, I think that people, I think we just forget, like sometimes only. You know, you're doing the same thing we can over and over and over you, you stick to a formula. And so you forget. And so it's nothing bad against them. I think we all just have to remember that once in a while that like, we are here for the couple. And like, we got to like, sometimes, like we should amazing weddings and the cup will be, please don't share those on social media or, you know, they don't. They're not like the best social media type images. And that's fine. We're not shooting for our portfolio. Like we're, we've got enough photos. We know how to get photos, worst case we could do a photo, a model call. So we don't shoot for a portfolio. We shoot for our clients because I'm, hands-on first a business person. You pay me money. I make you happy. You leave. Great review. I get more money. Like, if I want to do creative stuff or have parameters, I put a casting call out for styled shoot. And when we do style shoes, we only like to work with real couples. We usually post things like, Hey, did you not get the photos that you could, you know, at the time, for some reason, Bring your dress or let's find your address and stuff. We're helping people and we get to like kind of practice and do what we want for our portfolio. And we obviously still generate portfolio images. But, yeah, it's not, it's not that. It's a priority in the sense that we want to give them those portfolio images. And not that it is for. It's just kind of getting. I just happened. Yeah. No, I totally know what you mean. And it's, it's something that comes with with, you know, age in the industry. Right. And doing it that way too. I mean, I remember we had a wedding here at, we have a golf course. Newcastle golf course, you know, really pretty. And it's got the sunset and everything. And it was one of those things. Like it was a gorgeous sunset, you know, they're over it. Right. They, they don't want to do it. The planners kind of like, oh, Now I've got to make them go do anything. And the photographer I'm like, you're not a really. I really think we should go outside, you know? And, and so I go over there and talk to them. You know, they finally go outside. And they're really not happy about it. Right. They didn't want to go do it. They wanted to be with their friends. I'm like, man, I totally like I did listen to my, you. I didn't listen to my own. And I always say ride is don't get caught up in like, Well, I need this one shot for my website, or I need to worry about this. It's it's respecting kind of their wishes. It's hard. Cause you, you want to go. You want to get my, you said now that you don't generate. Those portfolio pieces regardless. Right. I mean, obviously we're, you know, you're good at what you guys do in that, but it's, it's that weird balance and yeah, I work with some photographers. I'm just like, we're really just like, we're still out here. Like we're still doing so. No, I think that's good feedback. Yeah, definitely. I've learned anything. It's just doing so many for weddings. I have subcontracted for companies. I have subcontractor for other photographers. So I've shot like the backup. I've literally shot a shotgun wedding where they brought shotguns. All the way to like a high-end venue. And I've seen everything in between. I felt like not, I mean, Okay. I'm in a shot. I got. A million dollar wedding. I guess obviously I don't haven't shot anything like. If I want you, unless the couple was super chill and down to earth at the end of the day. I don't care how much money you put into your day. I don't care what your decor looks like. I just care that you're good people. I guess we just care. Sorry. I'm so bad. My team. Jamie we care. We just want like amazing clients. You know, we have our rates on our website. We, we. We work with people there, you know? We're on a budget. We can't like, but we really want to work with you. So what are you going to do less time? And then like, we work on a timeline to get what they need. You know, we're willing to cut, give up the getting ready photos or two hours of dancing. Cause we really want to work with you. And so I think that's important to kind of. Work with all being able to work? Yes, we have our prices, but being able to work with all budgets and all weddings, like we don't discriminate against like anybody. We love all people, all couples, and we just love seeing people happy. It's definitely like. With decor. I feel like that's kind of the. The biggest thing. Now that you need a lot of it, but I feel like a lot of. In more budget weddings, they train, sprinkle that little bit of money amongst the many, many different things. I think it looks good. That like we were both like firm believers in just. Putting it into a few things. More as less. You mean less is more is. I'm going to quote you. I know, but you know, it's, it's weird too. Cause we'll get worried in that weird price range too, where sometimes we're, it's, we're the more expensive thing that they have brought in. Right. Which is odd because we're not that you know, and then, but most of the time it's more. In the middle there, but it does place that value where they're saying like, we really care about our photos, right? Like we really want that to capture, you know, versus. Food or chairs or some of these other things. I feel like sometimes money gets wasted. I'm like, no, like please like invest in your photography, invest in the thing that's going to capture all of those things. Anything else you do spend money on that photography is going to capture that. I feel like you need to spin it. Good amount of money on food because food poisoning is not fun. But you need to wake balance that. Like food safety, super. We've been to some weddings where like, we're just not going to eat. We look at the food it's been sitting out like the cheeses melting. It's in the hot sun or the food isn't, you know, it's not at 10. And I'm just like, nah. I'm going to always bring granola bars cause I'm like, Hmm, no, no, I'm not going to be sick today. I've never gotten sick, but yes, I definitely, it seems like Amberson. Some poor. As his practices. And food handling practices. Yeah. I feel like people need to like really think of like, that's, what's important because you don't want your guests. To get sex. I like hang investing a little money and a good set up for catering to like keep the food at proper safety temps is important. But like, yeah, everything like. It's been what you value, but like value the health and safety of your friends and family. That's awesome. So you guys met, we never got the whole story. You guys met. The networking event, right? So talk me through that. Yes. Are you. The day of, I dunno, like how much do you don't want to jump in? Yeah, we just, there. I think they're on a run in any capacity. Right. So, what do you know, work USA? They were. More or less regional, but also actually. Yeah, they have. Like six or seven chapters. Networking group. That I had been going to for awhile and Amber had been going to for awhile. No, actually, that was like my second or third time. Okay. And yeah, we just met. One in the morning, it was because there was snow. They've done a. During that time. Th during, in a given month, they did a morning meeting and then evening meeting. And because the first one was canceled, they did their morning meeting and their evening. And on the same day. So we met that morning. Really hit it off. We both had errands to do and stuff during the day. And then came back and. Talk more that evening. And then kind of just. Kind of snowball. Yeah. Kind of snowballed from there. Like. I actually only went to the morning. I am not a morning person. So I only went to. It was hard. I was like 8:00 AM and I had to drive like an hour to get there. And I actually only went because it was about bridal shows. And at the time I was a bridal show producer for a boutique bridal show. I was like, I got some boots I need to sell. I'll get out of bed to go network, to like, maybe get some last minute. I wasn't the, I was there to like sell myself. I wasn't there to like find love and spat. I found what no. Yeah, I like it was really crazy. He was, I was talking to another vendor and he was just standing there and I was like, oh gosh, another photographer, like as a photographer, we, I know there are too many of us. Yeah. So I might I'm brightest. So producer hat mode there, and I'm like, and he's just standing up. And I was like, I don't really want to deal with another photographer right now. Oh, gosh, he's probably got an ego. Like I can't handle this. I haven't had enough coffee, but. Like shake my hand, introduce themselves. And I just, I clicked like right away and ever. Honestly, there's a couple of weeks. We were friends. And then we basically just started dating. How fast and hard over each other. Just more interpretable after probably three or four weeks of meeting completely inseparable. Like I met his family, he met my family best friends. Basically moved in together pretty quick. Had her own businesses for that year. And then the next year we decided to combine our businesses, even before we were married and our friend, who's also a photographer made a joke. Once you combine businesses, you're basically married. And we just rocked it out from there and then ended up getting married and. 2018. Yeah. 20. I'm only paying 2018. That sounds about right. We were going to do a whole big wedding. And instead of doing, we did a micro wedding. When I told like 30 people planned it and like a day did it three weeks later, December 28. Ish or ninth cause standby. The dates when it comes to our own stuff. In the December, I for the life. I'd be the trope. I can remember everything. I'm like. Our anniversaries at. The end of December, cause I always get the day wrong. His mom got the date. Like all it's like a running family joke now. And it's even more funny because for clients like Amber, And I'll remember them and I'll remember their names. Yeah. Yeah. And so like, we're just like talking to different languages. What we're talking about, like, A client that I can, yeah. I can remember everything that we have a conversation with the client. Like I can have an hour conversation and remember. Like, remember everything. Named I'm horrible at names. Yeah. So that's, that's the story of us. That's the story of how we. Wedding industry romance. It's good. I like that. Not have too often. You don't get that too often, especially, you know, two photographers or I competing interests, but then you. You come together. And the two is stronger than the, you know, one plus one equals four or whatever, you know, it's strong. We're separately. Definitely for sure. We have opposite strengths that really like come together and make a great team. Yeah, there are skillsets that I feel like. Could it really like interlock better than they. I feel like there's pretty much every base that we're covering. Do you feel like I'm always curious. Cause I, you know, we, I was doing weddings with my now wife and then we got married. And I feel like I am a lot better of a wedding vendor now having kind of gone through the process of what it's like to plan, you know, bigger, small plan, the way that you can kind of go through all that. Do you guys feel that way? I mean. I had to wait. I knew because I have other, we have really good friends in the industry, all different parts, like the best friends of Flores, the decor rentals or. I know, kind of like everything that they go through. I've helped friends of their weddings for us. We did something really unique that. It isn't like typical. So sometimes I can tell you. The best advice would help people is like, Pick what it matters to you the most and invest in that, like, we probably spend a thousand bucks on our wedding and half of that was the photographer. We got it for an hour. We add a friend to come out of retirement because we didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings because we have lots of photographer, friends. And we were like, it's not like we're not going to get amazing romantic photos, you know, in the beautiful. Outside. Cause it's December, we knew that we had great expectations. But I actually turned out great. We did a couple of photos outside and our local dive bar. We went in there and they did photos like with a pinball machine. Like it's actually look back at everything that we would want. That's us, everyone who went to the wedding was like, that's a hundred percent. You guys. I guess that's the best advice I can give people is pick what matters to you and do the experience you want. We did consider our family and friends. Both of our sets of parents, both of our parents. I mean, they're older. They don't want to an all day eight hour thing. We, we did it in about two hours and then we did an after party at a karaoke bar. They didn't obviously want to go well, like they're older. They, that's not their vibe, but they. They got to be what they want to do. And then we got to go out with friends and there was like no obligation. So some friends went some didn't. And so it was really, we did cake our community. People we value and put, you know, what would they want? But we did also think about ourselves first. I mean, I, his mom's like do not jump on a plan and go to Vegas. He hates Vegas. I love Vegas. So it worked out cause I was like, let's go get married by elevators. Like I actually want to do that for like a five-year reunion. Anniversary thing as a joke, but. I do. I think people need to just follow their hearts and yeah, I kind of give them a little bit of care to like what your personal close friends and family want, but at the end of the day, remember it's about you and they truly love you. They're going to respect your wishes. And throw out the rule book. Yeah. They're out the rule book, because that's what we do. There's so many obligate, like. I guess I say that because there's so many like obligations. Predispositions. Predisposition. The things. Yeah. So they're just there's because like tradition and whatnot and just, yeah. You don't need to do any of that. Do what you want to do. I tell people. Ah, I don't know what I tell people. I already forgot what I told people. I don't know what I tell them. I had a whole line there and now it's gone. Well, it's, it's weird. We talk about it a lot on here and we did kind of during the COVID well, not we're still in, but when it was really heavy COVID times, we did a lot of wedding planning, podcasts talking about this about like, Balancing that you know, what your family wants and what you want and what maybe your friends did, or your sister or your brother, dad. You know, it's hard, it's hard to plan the wedding and it's hard to. Deal with all those outside influences. And so I hope if anything. W where we couldn't do anything for a long time, now that we can do stuff again. If people are choosing to do what they want to do right. And spending their time in that way. Yeah, for sure. I think that's the most important thing is like at the end of the day, you're going to look back at your day. Your parents, your grandparents, they had their day. And they did. Hopefully, maybe not. I don't know. I shouldn't. Maybe they had their day. They could have had their day, they can still have their day. You know, It's just being true to what you want. Yeah. Obviously you want to respect your family, you know, especially the pain for it. That's when things get weird is when money comes into play, I read a lot of like wedding planning on Reddit and a lot of people are like, I feel entitled because my parents made me money. His parents ended up getting, it was actually funny. His dad wrote like gave us a check as a wedding gift. And I was like, we're just going to do tacos. We're going to be two hours and our community room. It's going to be super chill. And he's like, hands us a check. And he's like, does this change anything? I was like, no. And he's like, perfect. Like, I love that his parents and my mom, well, my mom. That's a whole like, but my mom wanted to be more hands-on I was like, you are just my parent. You don't need to, because she was, I know, fishy and all this, we had his best friend officiating, so. I'm a little hurt, but I was like, I want you to just relax and be a guest. I want you to have a guest experience. So I had my bad. I heard best interests at heart. So I don't feel bad about that. But. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, cool. I think it was just like, we stuck to what we wanted. I don't regret anything. We were going to do a whole big wedding. And then I was just like, you know what? I just want to get this done and over with. I just, I just, I'm not a patient person. So that's the other problem. I am not one that's like, let's plan a vacation for a year from now. I'm like, So couple of years ago, For before COVID I was like, huh. WPPI and like 10 days, you want to just drive down to Vegas and go, like, that's just who I am. So I, the idea of planning something. That just causes me anxiety. And I think that's why we actually attract a lot of clients that focus last minute. Like we attract those people that are like, Yeah. So I'm getting married in three months. My, you have the data, but I'm like, yeah, like most people are just friends of ours are like shot. Like you guys get so many last minute people and I'm like, I think they're just like, they're like, okay, today I'm going to plan this or do this, and then they just go for it. They're not like waiting years. They're just like, okay, let's do it. My dad, we do have a couple clients here. We have one client that's been rolling over since 2020, and I hope this year we get to have their wedding, but it's a safety thing. So that makes sense. I bet the decision to not have your mom officiate. When over till they find, and there was no issues at all. Right? Yeah. Yeah, actually his best friend appreciated. Okay. That's another advice and you tell people. I do a rehearsal. So we did no. Like, this is just who we are. We didn't know rehearsal. We had no, nothing written out. We. We just went up there and winged the whole wedding and it was weird, but for like maybe two minutes, the ceremony, like it was just like, I actually posted a few videos on Tik, talk about it and that's like, To Greg. Because at one by our actual wedding, like. It went viral and it brought out a lot of troll. Where does lap. I'm going to place my life. I'm 35 and I'm like, I don't care what kids on the internet think. About me. So that's one thing I do tell clients. It's like, just remember if like people are recording. I mean, or posting like people. If it goes viral. You will get bullied. So like, remember that when you put out. To social media. What happened? So we posted our wedding intro, which was a hundred percent non traditional. No, no, it was. Because I posted a couple of things. The first thing that went viral on Tik TOK, I just posted it one night. I was like wedding planning advice. If you have a friend or a community room in an apartment, you can rent it for $75. And that's what we did. And we live in a nice Portland. Kind of like the whole like modern. It was actually, I thought it was really nice. I had the furniture included, everything was included. So I posted that on tech talk and it was. Yeah. Community room. Yeah, I posted, like, I was like, I think it was just like our kiss and I was walking off or something. At tip. Oh, we high five or something. Ridiculous. Absolutely. Both just like walk in. We're not. Yeah, that was the second one that went viral. So the first one, so yeah. So I posted that tab. And people were just me. I, in that video about like 2.1 million views. The comment section is hope. People are either trolls. But it like taught it also taught me how tick top works and people are just mean. Until I can kind of get back information to clients like Hayley. Oh, I'm thinking of posting a tech talk and they just remember you're going to get both sides. Not everyone is nice. Are you in a mental place? You can handle that. Not like, maybe wait until you are. Yeah. People most to any aspect of social media, like. Yeah. Especially with like tech talks more geared towards conflict. So. There. Feed the trolls. Basically, I like commented on everyone's comment. The. First video, because I just wanted to boost the Amara them. I knew what I was doing. I was just like, hi, let's see how many we can get on this. And then I think I, it was like recap, reposting again. So I re posted it for the end of the year and I think it got almost another million views. People just they're like, oh, you're poor. You're cheap. You're this, you're that. And it's. Y. And made me realize that. We still live in a society where a lot of people are judgmental and I think. I want to think specifically. Is an indication of wealth and not. Any other metrics, apparently. Yeah, it was very interesting. And it's playful. Not everybody wants to spend a hundred thousand or if you want to spend a hundred thousand, it's totally okay. Like. Like everyone. It's no one's business. Your finances. Except you and your accountant. And I think. People just need to not be so judgemental with other people's weddings. Like that's something. I always tell people it's like, you don't understand, like, It doesn't matter what. Person XYZ does. It just do what you do, be happy with what you're doing. Don't compare yourself. We don't even compare yourself to your sister, your cousin, your auntie, your uncle, any of them do what you want for you. It doesn't spend what you're comfortable spending. Nobody needs to know that nobody needs to judge you for that. Like, It's okay to spend money on stuff. It's okay. Not to spend money on stuff. Like I feel like the narrative. I like looking at a lot of marketing and it's always about like spin, spin, spin, spin, spin. And it's like only spend it. That's what you want to spend. And that's the method I really want to spend. I know we're not the cheapest photographers. I know we're not the most expensive photographers, but I feel like we're priced for the type of clients we want to attract. And they value and respect us. And our expertise and yeah, you do get what you pay for. But if you don't value something, don't spend money on it. But if you value something, spend money on it. Absolutely. Any other wedding stuff we want to talk about. Before we let you guys go. And the other things you want us to know about, you know, style working with you, process, anything like that. I can't really think of anything. I guess our style is like more. I'm trying to let him talk. I'm just so bad at like, I I'm a rambler. So I'm like trying really hard at this interview to like share the spotlight. So basically our styles, like more true to life and put a little pop in it. Some candids, a little post. No fun. Seriousness, maybe some romance, if that's what you're into. Basically, we just want to capture the day as it was, and you can look back. Share it with your family and friends. And remember the day just through photos. Because we don't do video. I leave that to the video experts because. It's a whole other thing. And I. That is a talent. And I always tell people like that, that. I'm always like you want like good. The footage like invest prepared, just invest money in video. Video is awesome. That's what your heart is in spend it. I'm like now I'm trying to sell videographers. Like. Sponsor me videographers will talk about how awesome you are. But yeah, just the end of the day, like, Follow your heart? Yes. Yeah, society puts a lot of pressure on you. But be true to yourself because at the end of the day, you only answered it yourself. And we're really trying to like tailor. To just be kind of a neutral. Party. With what our clients want. Like just asking them questions, trying to flush out what they are actually looking for. Yeah. There'll be times when we'll tell them like, no. That seems like a good idea, but it's really not. Or like, Or offering an alternative. As much as possible, but. Yeah, we. You get a wide spectrum of weddings because it's just. What do you want? I'm not, I'm not going to tell you like what you, what formula you should follow. Like. Yeah. Literally, whatever you want to do. We do weddings. I love the more that'll I love elopement. I love micro weddings. We do shoot bigger weddings too. We shoot Catholic weddings. I've shot a Waco weddings I've shot. We shot a wedding at a concert during a live music show. I mean, we've so many different things. It's just, we just attract the people. Who are. Ready to for an adventure, I guess. I like that. If people wanted to check out your website and you work, where would you have them go? Psych last photo.com. And I almost did the WW. HTTP. So, yeah, our website we're on Instagram. It's like last photo. Yeah. I'm going to watch our horrible tech talks at a think. I keep changing the name. I think it's just the panders right now. I'm like debating. If it's like a business, more personal, like I just post random stuff of us in our dog. Like. And some wedding tips, some weirdness. Let's just think I'll just try and just kind of figure out tick tock, tick tock. Very much like pigeonholes you after awhile. And you really can't like get out of it, particularly like after you're in there. And so just kind of still kind of like discover that. What's actually what we actually want to. The social media brand to beat. I only got on Tik TOK because I was bored and then I heard you can monetize it. And then I did monetize it. And then I was born again. They pay you like 2 cents per thousand clicks. And I was like, yeah, these $9 checks are odd. And then I was like, I'm bored. Or ever, Eric, this has been fun. I'm glad that we get to get some new voices on here to meet some new people. If you are like Eric and Amber and you want to be a guest on the podcast. And you've got the best videos.com/podcast guests. I'm glad that we have a new get to know your wedding pro here, moving into 2022. And thank you guys for your time.

Kate Faoro Wright, Tapestry Event Company

Well, I am excited today. We have another new get to know your wedding pro interview of Kate Farrow, right on who I have seen posts. We've like we were saying before we recorded that have existed in the online space together for a long time, have not had the fortune of working together yet, but, but obviously, you know, weddings and everything. Coming back. Kate, how are you doing today? Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Sure. Yeah. Hi everyone. My name is Kate Farrah. Right. I am the founder lead planner and creative director at tapestry event company. I just returned from a week in Hawaii. So I'm feeling rested and energized for, for the off season. But when I am not traveling and vacationing for fun. I travel all over the Pacific Northwest and up and down the west coast and sometimes even a little bit inland to help people plan their mindful outdoor centric, weddings and elopements. So that's interesting. So that's, you know, more specific, right? In terms of kind of what you guys do. I guess, walk me through that a little bit. First off, I, you know, the name tapestry event, and then, you know, just like you said, just kind of having that, that focus that you have. Totally. Yeah. So I come from a background. I guess you could say a combination of yoga studio management and leadership. So mindfulness is very much at the core of the work that I've done in my career. And then to also drawing on my passion for nonprofit work and values centered employment for myself, certainly, but also value center work that does good for human beings and in the world. And so I think the origins of tapestry really come from wanting to create a values. Centered wedding experience that feels woven together or integrated. With the way, the couple already lives their lives and comports their lifestyles. That's very much so what our processes is tailored towards. And then when it comes to kind of the outdoor piece or the outdoor element, We. Love in living and love rather than Pacific Northwest. It's where I was born and raised and have chosen. To live and set up my life. And many of the members of our team also to love it here and a big draw. I think for people, whether you are born and raised Pacific Northwest, or whether you move out here. Later on in adult life is the outdoor lifestyle has such a huge appeal. Like there's just a part of this place that resonates with people, souls. And I think when that chord is struck, you stick here. And so a lot of the couples that we work with. Whether they're from here or there they're recent transplants to the area. It's really important to them that they show their friends and family why they've chosen to live their lives here. And what's such a big element of that. Being the outdoors, we try and integrate what they love about the Pacific Northwest region into the event itself. It's interesting. You were talking about. Managing the yoga studio. I used to be a Yogi before I, and then, you know, with the business and things, it's, it's. Do you still practice? Is that something that you incorporate into your life? Absolutely. So I still practice yoga. I still teach, I still teach one class right now, a week. I'm up in a studio at the studio up north. That I've taught at since the pandemic began. Oddly enough. And I have been a certified yoga instructor since 2012 with no gaps in my teaching since then. So it's definitely a big part of my life. And then almost every member of the tapestry team. Is either a Yogi, a yoga teacher or a scribes to some sort of regular like healing and intuitive practice. And so do you feel as though, you know, just be mindful of being present right. Is helpful in terms of, you know, going to the wedding days, right. And dealing with maybe something that's not. As a peaceful ride. It's a little more active though. Yeah. One of the big things we emphasize for our clients is often when you're coming on board with us, you're someone who has those outside systems of support built into your life more often than not. So whether that's a strong community or network of family and friends, you can lean on. People who help heal your head? Like therapists, people who help heal your heart. Hobbies crafts. What we look for in the people we work with are people who are, what we call supported elsewhere or supported outside of this working partnership. So then you can show up and be supported by us in the specific space of wedding planning. And get the most, I think from the mindfulness tools and exercises that we weave in. Something that I want to touch on it. And especially when it comes to wedding planning, right. In that client relationship, I've talked a lot with my wife kind of just is we're getting done with the season. Right. And you know, people are tired. Eh, you know, having different weddings and. We're it, it still does seem as much as you know, we talk about this. It seems like it's important, but the connection between right. The vendor and the client, right. At more. So even than like, how do the photos look or how do the flowers look, or how does, you know, You know, DJ, whatever, it's, you know, the personality, right. That you're going to have working with you. Right. And obviously that starts at the top of the planner. What do you say to all of that? I mean, you know what, I think what I'm talking about just in terms of like making sure that's right. Fin and all that. Where do you fall on that? Yeah. So we see ourselves as community builders. And I think there's the community that we build around our couple. There's also the community that we build within the larger kind of wedding industry between vendors. But when it comes to the community, we're building around the couple. We put in a lot of time, effort and energy in getting to know our clients, before we ever introduced them to a potential vendor match, we spend a lot of time, you know, in the application process to work with us and getting to know them and having consultations and having them do blood pre-planning homework to establish their values, to set. Really clear and realistic budget expectations. So we try and do as much of that heavy lifting upfront as we can to just flush all of it out. And then by the time we're making vendor recommendations and proposed matches. The couple's really clear about what a fit looks like for them and can enthusiastically opt into a conversation. And then we can enthusiastically recommend them to, to the very few, like the couple of vendors that are like that 95% match. And then it's just a matter of. You know, choosing from that conversation who they felt. Most at home with, but are, I think a lot of our pre-work really helps us set up our clients to expect we're going to match you with two videographers. And these videographers are 95% of what you want. There are a couple of key differences. We're going to let you decide. Which ones weigh more heavily in your decision making process, but we're also, we're not going to waste your time interviewing 10 different videographers and kind of like spinning you out into that space of. Of dividing your energy and your attention in a lot of different directions. And so I think we, we, as community builders, we take a lot of pride and responsibility for how that whole relationship looks. It's just hard. And I didn't know if it was this year with all the reschedules and it felt like maybe vendors were already spoken for right. Certain ones. It seems like. You know, you always have that question of like, okay, we want to work within our budget. Right. But you can't just rely on that. Right. I mean, you know, And make sure. And so. You know, cause especially like when it comes to some photographers I've worked with lately and video, right. We exist past the wedding day where like we'll need to yeah. Either whatever that fit is or not. And then ultimately there's going to be this product after you're like, oh, I liked that. Or I don't. And so with. Yeah, you want to make sure from the top down that. You know, As we move hopefully into more open availabilities again, right. Where it's not for, you know, four weddings a weekend or whatever, trying to fit in everything. Now that. We can re kind of establish this, making sure that it's right fit. You know, both in terms of like wallet and then in terms of personality, Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that there there's a lot that can be done. In order to help build that relationship that people just didn't have time for necessarily in the last year consistently. Right. You know, it's getting to know people through time spent together is getting to know your clients. By asking him to fill out questionnaires and then actually taking the time to sit down and read those questionnaires and consider how to integrate that information into the service of the product that you're rendering their way. I think. The last two years have just been bananas in so many different ways at different times for different people. And we've all, we've all been out here doing our best, but I'm really excited to see. To see the wedding community of vendors lean back in to. Building their businesses in a way that gets to know their clients better and spends a bit more. I think. I think the best way to put it is it's quality time for everyone building into that, into the relationship. And, you know, And for some, I think the energy still has not yet returned and that's okay. I hope they take a restful off season this season and start to kind of regenerate some of that energy for themselves. But. It's I think it's, it's going to be a rebuilding process where we recognize the value. Of our time and we want to invest that value in higher quality relationships. And I'm excited to see where that leads in the next couple of years for, for the industry as a whole. So, how did you, you know, going from you're managing yoga spaces, right. And then coming into talk me through, because it's always fascinating to me. You know, different vendor types and then how people got into that. Right. It all kind of dictates that path that we're on. How did you get involved in wedding planning? Yeah. So I got engaged in. Man. 20. 16. I got engaged in 2016. And at that time I had graduated from grad school. I, you know, had done my penance selling software for about a year and didn't love it. Moved into the space of, of yoga and started teaching more full-time and eventually managing studios. And I was kind of in that space of managing, you know, the studio when I got gauged and. Play my own wedding. Didn't even have a thought in my mind for hiring a wedding planner, which I look back and think it's just kind of the most hilarious thing ever. Was supported by a really awesome group of vendors in my own journey. And I think I was really conscious of, of how easy they made things for me. And how fun they made things. For me, it was just like a very magical experience. And, and I'm not the person who ever dreamed of my wedding day being magical or fairytale. Like, so for me to use that word is, is kind of fun. And got most of the way through planning my own wedding. And I had a friend approached me who had recently graduated from, with her MBA. And she was really interested in getting involved in the industry. She had just been married and, you know, kind of said, Hey, I see your skill sets and I see how much fun you're having with this. Would you ever want to, you know, get your, start in the industry with me and. And we can see where it goes. And that was my invitation in. It wasn't something that ever came out of my own brain, but it was one of those things that was like, yeah, that feels like a fun kind of natural extension. And, you know, with no pressure, we'll just see what happens and. You know, about a year into that relationship, we decided we each had our own. Different vision that we wanted to fulfill on in the space, but we both really enjoyed the space. So amicably. Amicably split as business partners. And I started tapestry the next year and kind of took off into the future with it. And. I think it was in 2019 where tapestry was just so busy. I couldn't manage the yoga studio anymore. That the time trade off was, was just asking for me to get pulled in another direction. And I looked at what I had built and decided. I don't think I can't not give this a shot. I'm just too curious to see where it'll go and what I can do next. And so I scaled back the yoga to teaching, which is the core of what I really love doing in that space. And amped up the time I spent behind my own business. Would you go to grad school for. I got my master's of public administration, which is not a really commonly known degree. The way that I describe it to people is it is a business school for people who want to work in government or non-profit or in social enterprises. So, what was your, I guess game plan E going into school? Going into school. Well, let me just say in the first grade I thought I would be the first female president of the United States. So, and that still has not happened yet. We're an inch closer, but so, and I've, I think I've always had a real passion even going through, you know, middle and high school and being a. Student body representative all those years. I think I just had a real passion for. Working with people and hearing and listening for what it is that they need and using. My talents and skills to just advocate for them. And so going into grad school, I, I had my eyes set on either being like a. Project manager at a local nonprofit. Or being some sort of, I think, contributing position to a social enterprise. Or a. A member of the board on someone's co corporate social responsibility division. So figuring out how to harness money from the private sector or from other donations and transform it into public. Good coming out of grad school. Still had those ambitions. However, I shot straight from undergrad, right into grad school. And everyone was like, you're awesome. Come back with five years of work experience. So that was reality. And, and I think the next closest thing I found to that kind of work was at the yoga studio was connecting with people every single day. And. Facilitating a, a transformational experience for them that left them and their, their world better off for the time and the energy and money they had spent inside the studio. And. There's a, there's an ambitious five-year plan for tapestry in my mind, have a, a more formally established corporate giving program. We're going to be carbon neutral by 2023. I think there are lots of ways that I see for me to navigate that desire and that passion. Into the work that we do at tapestry in a way that feels really values aligned. It's just really figuring out those posts, puzzle pieces in a new environment. So how does that? That's interesting. So, so. With that mindset that when you approach your clients right, and, and, and their days, and kind of, you're living with them right existing with them for a year, you know, a year and a half or however long. How do you incorporate that in then to that? Yeah. So we start the, the entire planning relationship with values based exercises. So it's us trying to get to know who the couple is in their day-to-day lives. What they value most? You know what their culture of family is. Like, we get really into the nitty gritty. We almost treat them as if they were their own non-profit organization. And we're trying to just like build the nonprofit business model of those two people. And then we create a plan for them to invest in their wedding or their event in a way that is aligned with their mission and their values as a couple. And so if someone is really passionate about the environment we coach in how to create a carbon neutral event. That focuses on sustainable waste models. And brings in vendors who, you know, leave no trace and are aware of their impact on the planet and try and reduce that or try and come up with different transportation solutions. So that way. We are minimizing the ecological footprint of, of their event. So I think there's there's ways to do it, but it starts with us getting to know them really intimately first. And then we build a, a methodology for them to make investments in their day that that are aligned with their mission and their values. That's interesting. So not like having a caterer dump out all. We can help it. No. Yeah. And also right. It's. It's having a conversation with the caterer on what's a reasonable amount of over-ordering that isn't gratuitous, right. Because that's, that's one of our client's values. So it shows up in big ways, but also in those, those small kind of conversational tacks that we take with our partnerships. So, yeah, you'd rather buy a lot, you environment, carbon neutral, right? A lot of these things. So, I mean, it seems like it's obviously very driving force right. Of a lot of the, the mindsets that you have. So where does that come from? Oh man. That's such a good question. And I probably have a million ways I could answer it, but I think, I think when I would say is that. A wedding in our eyes is just a really big opportunity. And I think. That opportunity. Is best leveraged with our clients when we allow them to see and be seen by their families. In the light of what kind of legacy do we want to leave behind as a couple? What are our values? Can we invite the people that we love and that are closest to us into that kind of culture and into those values. So that way we can continue to live life side by side striding along. On the same page. And I think our couples are very motivated by that. I think that they're excited that this is more than spending time picking out the perfect shade of terracotta for. For your napkin and, and, you know, fussing, fussing over what kind of garnish to put on your plate. We're super clear that we are not the wedding planners for those things. Certainly we have an odd set of skills that really makes your day look beautiful as evidenced by our portfolio on our website. We have those talents too, but that will not be the core of. Of what our conversation is with you. And I think inviting people into a world of wedding planning that is less superficial and more deep and rich and values basis, something that. People have been yearning for, and we just put out the call and they've been responding. It's interesting because weddings, it's so hard. You are, you have so many kind of outside forces, you know, cultural, right. Things that are you're, you're kind of expected to deal with everything your parents have stuff or, yeah, it's hard. If I remember a couple of years ago, we. It just felt like we were at a point where. It'd be like our seven or eight in the wedding. Right. Hey, do you guys want to go out and do that? No, we're like, we're done. Like, we don't want to do that. You know, just very like that will be you you've planned all this, right? Like you've built, you know, And I understand, like I said, that there's a lot of these forces that maybe. Cause you to plan certain things or not, but it is. Interesting. You know, you, you certainly would hope that people will enjoy their own wedding. Right. And a lot of the different things about it. I mean, w. What do you, what do you think about that? Yeah, there's kind of, there's kind of two sides to that. That we, we talk about very head-on with our clients. We're really honest because some weddings, some wedding traditions have meaning, and if they have meaning, let's find a way to incorporate them. Into your day, that is energy rich, rather than energy core. I think when people start to fall into the trap of doing things because they are. Prescribed. By wedding tradition. Or they are feeling the outside pressure from friends or family members to follow through on their expectations. I think that's when things become energy, poor. In the planning process. And if you're there already energy Corp and your planning process, they're going to be energy draining on your wedding day. And so we pass everything through a filter of is this energy richer energy pour for you, especially as we're timelining and making the decisions of how the day is spent. And we iterate that a lot with our clients, as things get changed or added, we always want to check and make sure we're making energy rich description or decisions. And then two, we also try and resource our couples really well. I'm a big writer. I write tons and tons and tons of blogs very much from this, like. HeartSpace of reflection and decision-making. And so we try and offer coaching both through blogs and also in our planning sessions with clients to help guide them to the best answer that's right. For them, rather than leaning on models that they've seen before. For their answers that just may not speak true to them, but it is, it's a really tricky space to, to navigate, especially. You know, if there are financial contributors to the event and those contributions come with expectations implied or explicit. So we're always, we're we try and be really just like aware of, of those factors and try to help our clients externalize what's going on as best as possible. So that way. We can build a day. That reflects the two of them best and feels like their home. Not someone else's home. It's hard. It's challenging. I said, I mean, I'm sure it's always, you've always had, you know, family things and everything else. I want you to really incorporate that in. We had Raven Winkle on, it feels like a million years ago. Now, one of the first podcasts. You know, cause I was talking with Ray and I think at that point he had officiated some 1300 weddings. Right. And I said, well, you know, talk to me like. You know, cause there's all these things nowadays, you know, weddings are so exorbitant, right? It's all this excess money waste and all these things. I said, well, you know, w why do you, what do you think about all that? And he was saying, well, It's almost just the act of actually planning the wedding is more important even right than the wedding itself is, is, is. I've seen a lot of these, like, well, what, what do you, what's important to you? What's important to me. What do we believe religiously? Whether we believe spiritually, whether we believe with all these different things and it's. And that, you know, the wedding itself is the by-product of that, right? The experience. I always thought that that was, and that's always stuck with me as a really fascinating to look at that. And, and. You know, I think the last year or two. Has challenged a lot of people in to figure out, right? Like, well, what do we really care about? Or what don't we care about? And then, yeah. Or alternatively, I think we've had a lot of, like, we just need to get married. I think it's kind of, yeah. That's on that. Yeah, absolutely. I think I see, and I I'm very much. So I started being informed by my own partnership and have since found a large community of humans who seem to agree with me, but. I think that the planning process is a huge opportunity to dig into. What about your partnership enriches the two of you and to dive even deeper? And we, we, we set up our planning meetings as such, right? We, we set up the expectation that. You're showing up equitably for the planning process. You know, it might not look like you're splitting every task, 50 50, but the two of you are equally involved in this because it's a. It's an incredible opportunity to work together on something that reflects the two of you, something that communicates about the two of you to your guests. Should you choose to have guests? And also to a springboard for those deeper conversations that Ray pointed out. And I think that there are lots of deep rich conversations that kind of hide behind some of the wedding planning decisions. And you can choose to dive into those or not. Right. That's totally your choice, but we say if you're going to spend a year, year and a half, two years being really. Mindful and intentional about planning your wedding. You may as well ask that next question. That's hiding behind that step, right. And have that conversation and develop an even deeper, richer relationship. So I think it's an incredible opportunity to do so, but at the same time, I also recognize that. People can have those conversations outside of the context of, of planning a wedding and that that work can happen. In other other areas or entrees in people's lives. And so the choice of put it in your wedding planning process, I think is a very naturally aligned one, but certainly not the only opportunity to do deep work like that with your partner. Yeah, it is. It's a little easier though. Okay, well, we're working on this together then just like, well, we're going to actually like do some counseling. We're actually going to do something. You know, some, some, you know, self reflection projects. It's a little bit easier. If I go here, we're planning, like we're getting something out of this at the, you know, right. We're we're working towards this party. We're going to get. Yeah, absolutely. I I'm a big fan of this. And shouldn't see on surprising as being a wedding planner and managing 5,000 details per event. I'm a big, big fan of efficiency. And so when I look at something like this, I go, oh, what a lovely and efficient way to go deep with your partner inside of something you already want for yourself. But also to, I work with plenty of couples who, who just rock and roll with a two person elopement and we still get some deep, rich conversations. Out of that process, but I also know that they are likely using the extra time they have not planning a 100 person wedding, just spend quality time with their partner, go on walks and have deep conversations, or do their own version of that, that work together. When you, when it comes to consulting, right. You know, meeting new clients, having them come on board, I have to imagine that your onboarding process right. Is very different right. Than, you know, other planners in terms of the conversations. So then, you know, when you're meeting with the couples, cause it's the same with video, right? Like people have no idea, right? They're like, please explain this to me. Like what is going on? And you know, I have to imagine with wedding planning. So, I mean, talk me through those conversations. Like. You know, if people have met with other planners and then they've decided to go with you right. Where they feel that connection. I mean, what is it that draws you guys together versus them choosing someone else? Yeah. You know, I will say we've been through quite the evolution the last five years. I'm getting more and more specific and niche even inside of our onboarding process. And you know, in the last couple of weeks, we actually changed our contact form on our website to an application process, simply because. We have a lot of interest for people in working with us. I think they get bits and pieces of our messaging. They see the imagery on our website and they're like, yes, I like what this looks like. This is touching on a lot of things. I know. I like about myself getting outdoors, connecting with my partner, intimacy, like I think. I think we do a good job of communicating that. But w the, our approach to wedding planning is so specific. And we do, we do ask for a lot of buy-in from our couples. We, we asked them to. You know, do kind of like deep soulful homework from time to time. And we ask them to reflect on their values. And so by not being a cookie cutter, kind of like wedding planning entity, we asked for a lot upfront and we get to know people. Deeply quickly is the way that I put it is we are, we are slow in the onboarding process because we think that slow means fast when it comes to being able to execute on, on the actual planning process together, once you're on board. So we take our time. We go deep. We get rich. You know, people come in having answered a lot of questions about who they are as a couple. What they want from their day. What about our values? And our team resonates with them. Whether they agree to our safety and inclusion policy. There's kind of, there's a lot wrapped up in there that we do to pre-qualify. And by the time we're having a consultation. I know, probably 90% of what I need to know about their event to know if we're a fit for them. So then it's just kind of confirming and qualifying and getting to, to know if there is going to be a strong. Relationship of trust in order to have the conversations that we need to have together. And, and for those clients to be able to open up when things get sticky or tough or an unexpected conversation happens, or a change of heart happens that may be hard to navigate through, right. We want to be able to be those people they lean on first and foremost, to have those conversations. So our consultation has to kind of start. From that super deep layer. And then we bring in a lot of that. Again, values-based work once they're, once they're onboarded to continue that conversation forward and, and to help navigate alongside them when. Tough stuff happens because it, what I'm planning does kick up a lot of dust and we're here for it. It's just hard. I, and I've had I, again, these conversations with my wife lately about. You know, vendors being people to write and write. Like you said where it is kind of this two way street where I think, you know, everyone gets into the business and they're like, why is it, you know, We just want to book weddings right there. Like I just need you, we're just trying to get clients, right. I just need, I just got. Y. Yeah. But then the longer, you know, like we've had some weddings lately where, you know, I've heard you. Feedback about like other vendors and things and trying to like talk with people and be like, well, no, like. You know, these, these things are going on, like outside of, right. Like the actual right. Yeah, we it's, we can't just walk in and be like a 10 out of 10. Every time, right? There's things going on or, you know, we're, we're managing reschedules and kind of all these things. So it is important. I think, to establish kind of that two way. St. I dunno. More than more than it ever has been, just because of like everything we've dealt with the last two years and all the reschedules and living with clients longer than we ever have. It feels like in terms of, you know, can we. And even Mike into next year, that with already had, you know, And so I just say more than ever just establishing, like, you know, I have a person to write this as a two-way street and we need to make sure that we work together sort of thing. Yeah, super important. And my goal is that, you know, especially at my company, every single one of our couples is a couple who gets in seasoned prioritizes that. I think from the, my last five years of experience, one of the kind of strongest messages. That's come through is the clients who recognize their vendors as people and hold a reasonable degree of space for them to be people. Those are the clients and the couples that get the most creativity. From their vendors because their vendors trust them to trust their clients, to take care of them. As much as their clients trust their vendors to take care of them. There's that reciprocity there that makes for just like a really lovely, communicative relationship. People feel more comfortable communicating if and when changes need to get made. And that's a two-way street, right? A couple might have a last minute idea they're curious about, and if that trust and reciprocity isn't there, they might go, oh no, it's, it's too much to ask. Or, you know, we're past the deadline or, or what have you. And same thing with the vendor. They may not feel. All that they have the space to, to ask to show up 15 minutes later because stuff is happening. So I think that reciprocity is super important and. I think what I've also observed. In the past year, especially. That I didn't expect to, to learn is that the couples who hold the most space for those kind of small tweaks and changes to happen, that kind of need to happen in order for a group of humans to get together and work together. Well, The more fun. The couple has had it is I think it's when anyone including the couple, but when anyone gets really attached, To, you know, everything's strictly executed the way it's planned. There is suffering when that expectation isn't perfectly matched and it's suffering because of. Attachment to the expectation, not because the actual thing that's happening may be bad, or maybe having a real time. Negative impact. And that's something I on surprisingly with, you know, the return of, of weddings when we're still grappling with a pandemic. I think that's where I seen. The most pain from couples is when they, they stay attached. So those original ideals and allow for no, no flexibility. And it's getting caught up on that stuff rather than just in. Enjoying the way the day is flowing and allowing for that flexibility for the humans, they've invited. It's hard. It's I. I remember the summer that we were getting married. We, we got married in August and we had the wedding in June. And it was just like horrendous weather, you know, just pouring rain and all. And it cleared up like miraculously cleared out for the ceremony and then the sunset beautiful. But you know, kind of a lot of like the pre and I remember sitting there talking with the bride and she's like, you know, this is a disaster. Right? And I'm like, well, no, no, it's fine. Like in the back of my head, I might, man, this was my wedding. I will be still, you know, like it's way easier said than done. Going with the flow, right. But it is something that especially now with, with, you know, you have a vision and then it's changed and. Yeah. We've had some couples that have rescheduled four times and here we are in our. Yeah. It's an evening in October when it was supposed to be Memorial day outside somewhere. And you're like, well, this is. You know, it's reality. It's just, it. I'm being aware. I've always said, like you're told right. Your whole life, like your wedding day is like, it's supposed to be whatever you want. Right. It's your day. But then. You know, the world happens and then. UDAR and this is not, this is not exactly what I did that. Absolutely. Yeah. And, and it's, it's been interesting to observe, you know, obviously I think a lot has been shaken up the last two years that is like really made some of those things tricky to navigate for people it's no longer just, oh, you didn't get a tent and it's, it's raining on your wedding day. So we have to rework things. Some of the knock-on impacts are big and complicated and family and politics and all this stuff gets wound up into it. And so it's been. A lot for, for couples to digest the last couple of years, what I, what I've observed as interesting as the couples that I have had, who have rolled. Not only to the, to the next year, but two years and three years following is, you know, some of them said, Hey, you know, we've hung on to this original vision that we've had. It feels really true to us. And as the years have gone on life is changing. Things are evolving. It actually feels. It actually feels untrue to them now. Just stick with this vision that they had originally. There's like this increased tension for trying to hang on to that original thing rather than evolving with the needs and the times. And. Having babies and moving houses and all of these other big milestones that have been happening for people. So it's been interesting to see how those, how, of course there's no. Right or wrong black or white answer that applies to all here. It's all shades of gray, but it's been just really interesting to watch how the dynamics of decision making and how that impacts people's choices around their weddings have, have flexed as the circumstances change. And you have these longer relationships with clients and you're trying, you're trying to. To stew still give them the, the feeling. That they want, which I think relatively remains the same. But help them understand. It might look a little different. Than it did cause you have different priorities now. Well, I mean, we talked about that. I mean, At nauseum last year, it felt like where. You know, it's so easy to just flip the calendar, you know, for okay. We're moving to 2021. We're ina. And you're like, that is a lot of life that is going to happen. Like you said, in the next year, you know, Moving to job changes. And we, I remember we had a couple that it was the first, one of the, you know, it was like right when everything, and they were one of our first couples that moved. And, you know, they're in Texas now, right? He's. I've worked. I mean, we're coming back up and he's doing that, but I mean, they're already on, I mean, they're on three steps ahead in their life's now. Right? It's like, okay. Now we've got to backtrack and go back to Seattle and then have the sweaty. Is this a weird thing to go through? Like you said, where your children, all these other things happen in the meantime, we're still holding on to that. Whatever that was, you know, Yeah. Yeah. Aye. I laugh because I just, everyone is I go through kind of like my Rolodex of, of couples that I've just really enjoyed working with and how different, all of, all of their different journeys have been and all the factors that. That are at play. And I think that the thing I've been grappling with now, like current state, as a planner with some of my clients, Is the very real sense of fatigue that set in. So perhaps their lives have changed and perhaps, you know, their vision needs to change with it. But also I think the feeling of starting and stopping over and over again is another factor that I'm really, I am really starting to see, take its toll on people who originally planned for 2020 and are now bumped out to 2022 as. You know whether or not a lot of extra work has happened in the meantime or whether or not we've been on just like a full pause and stop. Cause we made the call early. There's just a very real sense of fatigue for kind of picking up and putting back down this thing that in their heads and hearts, they thought they thought would be kind of already like a sewn up. Beautifully put together chapter and that's, that's one of the things I'm helping coach my postponements through right now is, you know, listen, how are we listening to that fatigue? And. And what does it mean for you? And is there a way of, of mindfully reworking, what you want, what do you want to hang on to? What are you, what are you willing to let go of? And you know, how does that play with, with the resources you have available now, two years later, you know, you might be prioritizing remodels on your home or preparing a nursery with that money rather than investing it on a wedding. And it's okay to flex this wedding sphere. Of your life. To live in proportion to the way that, that you feel is most aligned with life. Here and now, but it's still like, Aw, even just saying it, but doing it as such a, it's a heavy lift. It's, it's a hard thing to do. It's hard to let go of old expectations like that. Yeah, I mean, I would, you. I think Dorothy, and I would plan a different wedding today than we, you know, And so then, yeah, it's like, we're, we're asking these couples. You know, it's yeah. I just see a lot of different metaphors you could use for that, but it is interesting. I think, I think that's a fascinating, I mean, during these, the teacher and a lot of that stuff too, in, in kids, in the development right now, and there's just, there's so many, like. And products of everything going on. Right. And obviously, Two weddings is like a super niche. Yeah, whatever. But it's just, to me, it's very interesting. All the, you know, the extra. Waves and everything that's come because of kind of what we've been dealing with the last couple of years. So, yeah, I agree. And, and weddings are certainly niche. And are they the most important thing that's been going on in the pandemic? No. Aren't you bleed? No. But at the same time, I think what they represent for couples and for families. Lives very big inside of your own story. So while in like the larger ecosystem of the health and welfare of our planet, Is it a big deal of a wedding is postponed or canceled? No, but to an individual life. Or, and the lives they touch. Yeah, absolutely. That takes up a huge amount of emotional space and bandwidth and rightfully so it's so it's just. Ooh. Ooh. It's. It's been a ride y'all. So before we let you go, you know, when you're not. You know, navigating right all over the, these decisions and everything else. You know, obviously you, you were with your family traveling to Hawaii. What do you do around at the time when you're not, you know, wedding planning and running the business? Oh, such a good question. I am really focused on creating more work-life balance for myself. I think as many entrepreneurs will, will tell you at any stage in entrepreneurship. But right now, I think especially in 2022 and beyond, I am really focused on creating or rather like holding more free space and creative time for myself to just think, and. And innovate whether it's in the business sphere or otherwise, I love yoga. I would love to get back to taking studio classes when that feels safe inside of my season. And. And with the variance going on, I've been getting into a lot of very tactile projects lately. So I started working with resin most recently. I have a Wood's lab out in my garage that I have ambitions to turn into some furniture and. Doing some house projects around the house that I bought a little over six months ago. I love hiking. That's my like outdoor sport of preference. So love getting outdoors. And slowly getting into cooking vis-a-vis Tik TOK and becoming my husband's sushi. So I'm spending some more time in the kitchen in the off season. And then I also, I think one of my favorite things to do in the summertime when I am not onsite at weddings is going to festivals and music events with my friends and. Building camps and displays and backdrops and attending and Denson my little butt off till the sun comes up. It's so much fun. Okay, this has been a fun, you know, always happy to meet, you know, new vendors, especially planners in the area that I haven't had that, you know, the honor of working with yet. So I really appreciate, you know, coming on and, and. And like I said, I knew we've existed kind of in the online space together for a while now, but it is good to get. Face-to-face Ash. Right. And the kind of have a conversation, I think has been very interesting. Yeah, I agree. I am so stoked to, to have this long extended form for a conversation with you. It's been really great and I love what you're doing with this podcast. So just thank you for having me along for this and. I will keep tuning in for all the future guests that you have getting to know my community better. If people want. Find out more about you. And, and I do think, you know, your unique right process to wedding planning and working with your couples, where would you have them check out? Yeah, a great, a great source for kind of like that deep, rich work. I would say go to our website. We have a really extensive blog. So www dot tapestry event, co.com. We have tons of free resources on there. Lots of inspiration, more and more getting posted all the time. And if you're more of a visual learner, Instagram as always as a great spot, you can find this at tapestry event co and in both those spaces, if you want to sign up for our free newsletter or other ways to stay in contact with us, we make those real obvious and available. And I guess we need to be on the lookout for, I guess, Tik, TOK cooking videos to hear. That could be the next foray, right? We'll see, my, my marketing director has encouraged me to be a content consumer on Tik TOK for a while before becoming a content producer. And I think that's probably wise from a time management perspective, but who knows if you find me. We'll see what happens. Okay, this has been fun.

Allison Ullmer, Ringed

Well, this should be a good one today. I'm so excited. We have a friend of a friend of the show here. We have Allison Ullmwe with ringed in Portland. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Reid thanks for having me. How are you? We, I always was joking. We laugh, you know, when people reach out and they say, Hey, I have a friend. That's a wedding vendor. They would like to come on and it's please, we do this every week. So the more the merrier <laugh> Well, I'll nerd that with you whenever you want me to. This Is great. Thank you. That's good. So you're in your workshop here. I can see everything behind you looking good. Why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? Yeah. My name is Alison Elmer. My company is called ringed. I teach couples how to make their own wedding bands in my private metalsmithing space. And I also do a lot of custom work as well. So custom wedding rings, engagement, rings and surprise pieces for loved ones. I think the, if that's exciting is someone that I, when we got engaged, you know, my wife very much wanted to, we reused re repurpose my mom's old engagement ring, cuz she didn't want to, you know, wanted to kind of preserve that history. But then when it came to me as a man trying to find rings too, it was, oh, here's a, a box in the drawer with like six different options. Right. Is that kind of the general experience? People have Very much so very much. It's, it's amazing how few options people have no matter the gender, really to express themselves and express their love. And that's, that's really why I created the space to, to really create objects that represent your in individual love. And so many of us really don't prescribe to these aesthetic views that each person is supposed to have in, in the public right now, if that makes sense. No, absolutely. And it's funny cuz you know, obviously, you know, videographer, when we go out and do ring shots and stuff you know, I have my little, whatever this is Tungston or whatever, and it's so often how many grooms we film and I go, oh we're ring buddies cuz there's just, there's not that many options. I mean, especially, you know, for men and women, but, but I just, especially at least the, the kind of weddings that we do, I see about the same six rings for grooms, like all the time. Absolutely. Yes. And there, you know, you wanna express yourself just as much as you're wife does. So it's, it's so much fun to show everyone how you really just tell me what you like, not what you see on everyone else's finger, but tell me what you like and I, I will help you make that there's there's really, there's no wrong answer. There's just a lot of happiness here, you Know? So, well talk about how all this process works. I wanna learn more about you first and kind of how you got involved in all this. So, I mean, obviously you didn't wake up yesterday, you know, making jewelry and rings. So how, how did this process begin? Well I just realized I have now been a jeweler for over 20 years, which is crazy to me. But I, I have a bachelor of fine arts and a master's of fine art in metalsmithing. So I, I really dug deep into that world. And then I became a teacher in the academic program at the Oregon college Barton craft for metal. So I've taught adults. I've also taught a lot of children and I love teaching high schoolers. And at some point I just realized one O C was going to close. And two, there was another way for me to teach and really be surrounded by love all the time. And so it was about almost five years ago that I made the switch to range where I can still teach, I can celebrate and I can be super nerdy in my studio. The idea of studying metalsmithing though. I mean, there's obviously not the most traditional of, of, you know, of thing, you know, crafts to study. So what was it about that that drew you in, You know from a very early age, I loved to make things like show me, someone showed me how to make a friendship bracelet. And I said, okay, but what have you used 20 strings and make it circular. And what happens then? And when I was 15, I ended up taking the first furniture class available to high schoolers at the OCA campus. And I was obsessed and I knew that I would make for a living from that seminal week. But I thought no one in the right mind would major in jewelry. And so I really focused on interior architecture and a really a freak accident. I had sports fellowship to university of Minnesota cause I was a nationally competitive role were and I, I cracked my kneecap and I ended up going to U of O at the last second cuz I lost the scholarship and they had a metalsmithing program and I'd been making jewelry and I had no idea what I was doing. And I thought, well, since I can't get into, into, into your, into your architecture, let me just see what what's happening here. And <affirmative> within about two weeks, I finally had the Kaho to go to my professor and show her all the things I've been making. And her name is Tracy St. She's the head of the Rhode Island school design a program now. And I adore her and she just said, Allison, this isn't normal. You belong here. I'm like, okay, but seriously who in their right mind major in jewelry? Well, after two years I was obsessed. I couldn't do anything else. And I just knew I had to focus there and that was a five degree program. And then I just, I kept trying to do other things and I'm just kind of an if I'm not in the studio, you know, <laugh>, I just, I, I see how much it bound me and I love the focus. I love the creativity and it never stops. It's so interesting. You know, the story that gets everyone to where they are. I can't remember one of these, we did, someone was a track athlete and it was the same kind of thing that was kind of the path got derailed because of injury or whatever. And then next thing you know, you know, here we are today and it's just interesting, the different paths that everyone goes on and, and winds up. That's kind of one of the impetus of starting this podcast, you know? Oh, I love that. I also think it's funny. Like I think everyone in the wedding industry is a little, you know, the, the amount that we work and the amount that we focus for our clients and for ourselves. And I do think that that's very similar to very competitive athletes, like, okay, I can't do this anymore. So I'm just gonna put that focus and attention in another path about that. So it's like you know, we were talking about my little football podcast. I do. It's like, I want to be as competitive in that as we are in the wedding industry. Right. Because it's like, this is this thing that I felt, you know, we, I would like to think that we're, you know, reasonably successful in what I do, you know, the like, you know, keep a roof over our heads to whatever I'm like, no, I also have to be like the best of this dumb podcast thing too, you know, versus anything else I get. Yeah, yeah. Rowing, what was that how hard was that to kinda have to transition away from that? Well, it was a fast transition. I cracked my knee cap and so even with surgery, it was still never quite the same. But that was hard. And it was so interesting because as I started growing when I was 14 and it really was my entire identity. And I, I think too much so, you know, I just, I am, I'm a very tall, strong woman and I just thought most of my value was in my physical strength. And so in many ways, I I'm very glad that that didn't continue. Cause I could really see how much value I had outside of that. That's interesting. That's very retrospective. I mean that's or intros, whatever the word is introspective, but that's just yeah, but you know, it, it, it forced you, you know, whether it would happened today or, you know, in 20 years, right. To transition into. So something more that is probably more sustainable for the, you know, your duration of, you know, what you're gonna be doing professionally, right? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So I still dream of it. I would still like to go back in a non-competitive way. There there's nothing like the high of being in a, in a race with seven or other bodies in a boat. I still remember that. And it was absolutely phenomenal. I'd like to do that a much, a much more mellow level <laugh> so what is that movie with Meryl streak and Kevin bacon where she's in Boston and she's doing her lovely single rowing before they do the whitewater rafting. That's what I think of. I just wanna be that serene person on the Willamette river at some point. Yeah. You know, it's always fascinating to me, someone that can, you know, work and build things with their hands. Right. You know, as a videographer, I just capture kind of whatever's there. Right. I have very little artistic, you know, value to give, you know, writing or drawing or doing anything else. So you know, the idea of, you know, especially with jewelry, you know, molding something metal, you know, creating something basically from scratch into a finished product. What is that like for you, You know, it's, I think for some of us who know another language, I think craft ends up becoming another language for you when you've done it, as long as I have. And I'm sure even with your camera, it's the same thing with filming. Have you just kind of understand the tools at some point? And for me, it's, it's like old friends, but also of old friends that UFS can have some tricks up their sleeves. And it's, it's a lifelong commitment to being a student to be a jeweler. There's always something new to learn. And I love that I am such a voracious student and when it comes to rings and like even a simple one, which is what most folks are gonna make in the works job, it, it really is easy. It's such a simple step by step process. And like I said, teaching kids literally from eight year olds to I just had my oldest clients of 72, a couple weekends ago, which was so thrilling to, to celebrate their second marriage together. It's, it's really excess, even if you've never used tools. So I use that skill and I know that skill and I'm really comfortable with it. And then I just share my excitement and my knowledge with all my clients. And it's, it's fascinating cuz it's, it's such an old tradition, right. And the technologies and everything, you know, it's this ancient craft right. That we still do. And it's it, it's really weird to think of how everything's changed so much and you know, the millennia, right. And it's still, we're still, you know, making rings and wearing rings and using that to be, and you know, the, the idea behind metal working and kind of all that stuff is there, you know, taking on such an old craft like that, right. Is it intimidating? Is there a lot of new things to pick up or like you say, continuing to work through, You know, it's, it's, I wouldn't call it intimidating as much as just very rich, just a really rich history and culture. That's so awesome to be a part of and knowing like some of the history of craft and is that a lot of the other than like fine jewelry, which is what wedding bands and engagement rings are. A lot of this almost got lost. But in, you know, world war II, which all the veterans came back and they actually had the, the GI bill so that they, a lot of folks could get education for free. And a lot of veterans went to ceramics and metalsmithing and all of these amazing crafts that otherwise were kind of gonna die out. And there were a lot of people that just needed to use their hands. And that's how it kind of continued for a while. Which is it kind of, not exactly what you're asking, but I find it really interesting. And I, I mean, you can see a little part of my studio, but the, the 20 years of collecting tools and I, I always have a new list of choice. And I always wanna learn more. Yeah, Well, it's just, it's, you know, it's as someone that works with camera, right. And it's always trying to find like the newest high end, whatever, you know, it just were, you know, pixel and then all this stuff and resolution, and then like, this is such an ancient craft, right. That, I mean more or less exists similarly in, in scope, is it as it always has. Right. And obviously there's refinement and things, or am I speaking wrong? Is it totally different than you to be No, you're right. I mean, the big difference is technology is making quite a, how do I say this? A different path for many jewelers in that can like the CAD and cam process allows a lot of things to be built without the hand. So literally be printed and wax or usually it's wax or a type of plastic. And then what's called a lost wax casting process where you build this perfect ring that might have a ton of stone settings in it. You cast that, and then you finish it, which is a classic way that we make a lot of rings. But before, you know, even 20 years ago, you had to build it all by hand and now you don't. So at the end of the day, it, it allows for things to be a little bit faster. There's still a ton of skillset, but there doesn't have to be quite as much. You just have to be really good at like rhino, which is not my favorite thing. So that's the only thing is you pick and choose as a jeweler, you can be really good at stone setting or engraving. You could be really good at carving. Most of us choose something we love the most and really hone in on that to be, you know, the master at it. And then sometimes we have to use contractors. Like I have it engraver that I use, and I'm super honest, like, Hey, these are beautiful designs, but I I'm gonna give it to the, the absolute master rather than me try to test this out right now, which is important to have enough to be humble enough to say, when you can't do something and make sure it's still done really well for the client. So when it came to transitioning to offering the service, right. You know, cuz I've never heard of anything like this before. Right. So where did this all come about? Hmm. Well, so I'd stopped teaching and I was, I, I was definitely looking for my come to Jesus moment of where do I go next? How do I move forward? How do I stay in the studio? And my really good friend Annie Hiko who owns a Eugenia jewelry, said, you know, sat me down and said, Allison, I know you're trying to find your way. You really need to look at wedding ring workshops, a close friend of ours does that. And there aren't that many of us, there's just a couple of us on the west coast. There's a couple in the Midwest and some on the east coast. And I took a while to really think about it in, you know, a couple of months. And I, I actually remember the moment where I decided my now husband we'd only been dating for four months at the time. We had taken our first vacation together into the San Juan islands and we're on the ferry back to the mainland. And <laugh>, and it's a beautiful morning we're facing it and I'm just go, okay, okay. I think I'm gonna make this jump and really commit to this because this is my second business. I, I am the fine jeweler, Alison jewelry. You can look it up. There's I really tried to go the the, the crazy fine jewelry route. And, and I just learned from that experience of how expensive it is in that world to be a business owner. And so I, I was worried about it, but I did all my research and I took business classes, which in art school they should teach and they don't. And I, I got a, a grant for even more tools so that I could be more autonomous and I slowly made it work and I worked what I called a part full-time job or for part-time him jobs. Just saying that I would not let ring be a, a point of stress until it could totally financially back me up. And, and my husband, as we were about to move in together said the most romantic thing he could have possibly said, and he just said, can we be poor together for a little while? Can you just quit your horrible day job? Cuz you can't have the energy for that. And this let's just be poor for a while. And I, I will, I I'm so grateful that he did that. And it's yeah, it's all about conviction. Right. And knowing you're, you're gonna make it even when it's hard, but that's how it else It, yeah, it's always interesting to hear kind of the, it was like, it was my mother telling me, you know, years ago, like, well I think you should go do this video thing. I'm like, well, I, if this fails, I can come back to you and say, Hey, you told me, you know, you gave me the go ahead of this. Like mm-hmm <affirmative> so it's good. It's always interesting to find the person's jumping out point. So the what do talk me through what you then do offer now through the workshops and through the custom, you know, ring making, because now we've, you know, it's this long winding process we've gotten to this point now in the conversation. Well, so I have basically a couple really clear options. So I do make I a house line so made to order wedding rings to really show off all the work that I love to do and that you know, art isn't really guided by my clients and then I have my in person or virtual wedding ring workshops. So the main thing that I offer is the in-person workshop where you can make one ring or two rings. I have a lot of clients that love to surprise their spouse or their partner. And so that's real. I love the surprise. I love being able to make something and then hearing the big reveal. So there's that, and the way that we do that is either we get a strip of metal, there's two workshops, it's a fabrication workshop, which means you take a strip of metal in the studio and I actually show them how to bend it, basically form it. And then you solder, which is like a basically a, a metal glue that's heated melts in and is the same carrot of gold or metal that we're using. And then we get to form it into an actual ring and then pattern it in any way we want. So that's one option how you can make a ring. The other option is wax carving, where if you want, I don't know what's going on. It's okay. They usually say it just fine. A wax carving workshop where usually it's, if you want a more organic shape, like bulbous shape, two rings that you wanna fit together or, you know, have some interlocking thing or an interesting stone setting. Then I show people how to literally take a piece of wax. It's a, a ring of wax and then carve it down to what they want. The, the couple I just talked about the 72 year old couple, they just carved the silhouette of the sisters, the mountain range, and it just looks gorgeous. And so both of them have that. And that's the kind of thing that you do with a, a wax carving workshop. The other thing that I offer, and this is based off of how my husband proposed to me, his name is Kama Clement with a French Canadian accent. And from the get go, I told him, do not ever buy me jewelry. I am too picky. I know what I want. But he, he very much wanted to propose. And I just kept telling him me better he up sweetie, because I've almost proposed you three times, like, you know, I'm, we know we're gonna do this, but he wanted to. So I was trying to be patient and he wanted an object. So he went to a close metalsmithing friend of mine and she made a 24 karat gold ring. And 24 karat gold is a hundred percent gold. It is too soft to be worn on the regular. So the whole point was he could have an object to propose with, and then I can melt it down into whatever I want. And so now that is something that I offer is a 24 karat gold ring that you can propose with. And then you and your partner come and we design that ring together, or, you know, be melt that ring down and make two wedding rings. You know, it's, it's really, you define what an engagement ring or a ring means to you. But so many of us wanna participate in the ring, we're gonna wear the rest of our lives. So I thought that was really important to have that as an offering as well. Well, I like that because yeah, then you get this whole, well, we're gonna go pick out rings for our engagement. And you're like, well, that's not fun because I mean, this obviously it's fun, but like now, you know, okay, this is coming. Yeah. You know, at some point in the future. So I I'm imagining these, when you talking, you, the people are designing them from your professional experience, do they turn out really well? I'm in picturing like my at home pottery shop or whatever. I mean, do they look, I mean, is this something that you would, you know, and you can be honest here, like, I mean, does it is a hit or miss or how does it work out? No, Every single ring is gorgeous. So I mean, gold is beautiful. <Laugh> now do I have to tell my clients UN imperfections could happen? And those are just going to be part of the story. Yes, absolutely. But you can look on my Instagram, you can look on my website. All of those rings have been made by my clients. I am really proud and grateful to realize I now have worked with almost a hundred couples and all of the rings are individual and they are gorgeous. I, I, and I'm, I'm so proud of all of them, but I know it's from them being patient and my guidance. Anyone can do it, but everyone asks me that <laugh> everyone asks me. Okay. But I I'm really worried and I don't wanna mess it up. I definitely have some anxiety when couples come in and that's why we start with like local coffee and a local pastry. And let's just take a moment, take our breath. We're gonna have a great day. And then we get a into it. Cause I just, I'm imagining, you know, my wife has friends that like, oh, here, like shop on my Etsy. And you're like, yeah. Did your daughter make this? Like, did you make this like, what is happening here? There are, you know, there are some great self-taught jewelers and there you know, just like any art and then there's some that I personally wouldn't buy. And that's, that is not what's happening here. This is not a craft kit that you're, you're gonna play with and give to your daughter. This is a very intentional guided professional experience. I am always there. I've had clients that are afraid of fire and so I've ended up soldering for them. You know, I'm it's their hand that makes it, but I, I talk them through it the whole time. And if I see something's about to go wrong, I just intercede and it doesn't happen. Yeah. Well, I, I like this. I idea, I like this idea of this thing. That's gonna be with us forever. Right. It's going to be the symbol of our, you know, love and everything. And just I think that this is neat. Like you said, you know having, especially if you wanna have the mocking, whatever to propose with going in doing this together, do you find that more couples are doing this together or that one wants to surprise the other and is doing it that way? Or do you, do you could do it like both people could do it separately. Right. And then, Yeah. Right. Which would be fun. For the Mo I would say it's like 25% of the time I have one per and then the rest is couples, you know, it's because I, what I've been so honored by, and I wasn't really expecting when I started this business was almost every couple has come back and said, this was one of our favorite things about getting married, because it was a day of just the two of us. We unplugged we to learn something. We viewed these objects with each other's love, and it's such a great story. And they, there, wasn't a bunch of, of the small details that we all get a little anxious and crazy about. And I'm just so honored that I could help them with that. Well, I can imagine, I can imagine this being a highlight of, of, you know, any of that whole engagement wedding, you know, whatever part of it that you want to call that. So then when they're purchasing these things, right, obviously they're purchasing your time expertise, the materials that come with that, right. This is kinda all inclusive. I mean, how does that work? Yeah. So it's funny, you said that because in the next month right now everything is all apart and pretty soon I'm gonna gonna be just doing packages cuz it gets a little confusing. But in general, the things that are still gonna be added are if you want stone setting settings or in gradings, cuz that's, you know, per everyone's project. But yes, they, they pay for the workshop fee, which is my time, which includes a zoom design check and sketches from me emails as much as we need. And then the day of which starts always at 10:00 AM, usually it doesn't go past 4:00 PM, but sometimes that's gonna happen if it's an intricate piece in December, in a, in about a month, I have a, a day and a half workshop cuz they have such an intricate design and sometimes I work on rings before people get there and that can be part of it, but this they really wanna do on their own. So we're doing a day and a half workshop and it's a ton of fun. But usually I think what you're asking too is the cost of a workshop. It goes anywhere between about $1,800 up to probably 3000, depending on what you're doing. It is unfortunate that the metal market has risen as much as it has gold now costs almost $1,900 an ounce. And I believe at the start of this year, we are closer to $1,600 an ounce. So, you know, that's, that's a cost of the material that's out of my hands, but I always navigate tell me what your budget is. And I will tell you what is possible Because then are there other materials then besides if you don't wanna do gold? Well, I use there's white gold and there's palladium. I don't do Sterling silver. I don't feel that Sterling silver is a strong enough material to last a lifetime. So, but we can talk about different carrots of gold, right? So there's 14 carrot or 18 carrot gold. And I'm talking in what is it? Peach row, yellow or white. But with white gold, I only do 14 Kara palladium, white gold, which a lot of people don't know about. Typical white gold has nickel in it because white gold is not a natural metal. You have to add something in to make it that color nickel not only can you get an allergy over the lifetime of wearing it, but it yellows. So with a 14 Kara palladium, white gold, it stays the same color that you buy it that day. And it is hyperallergenic but palladium is also rising. It sounds negative, but I, I just try to be so transparent with everyone about the cost. I don't want there to be sticker shock and you know, there's, there's a reason this is a, it's called a precious metal. Well, But it's, that's the same thing you're gonna navigate if you're buying rings in general. Anyway. I mean, it's just the cost of it is just something, but, but like you said, I just, I, I have to think that, I guess to go back to it again, I think that women are off for, there are many different varieties. You say it there's not as many, but I just have to think, especially for the, you know, the people out there, you know, guys, especially that just to have a little bit more uniqueness and say kind of in what it looks like and, and what it kind of what it represents, like you said, adding you know, touches like the, the engravings and things like that. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>, I just have to think that it, it makes it so much more meaningful than just, well, this was just what, you know, the kind of the last option they had at the store. What kind of reactions do you get from the couples? I'm sure you have testimonials and stuff to you, but afterward, you know, after they've gone through the process, what, what do they say? <Laugh> I love it. And it's something it's so interesting. I, I definitely have clients they're like, wow, this is, is so much easier than, than I thought it was gonna be. This looks so much better than I thought it was gonna be. <Laugh> I think about this experience every single day when I wake up and see this ring and all of I'm I'm just so, as I said, honored by that, and I, I guess I wanna go back to what you said too though about, I have a lot of clients who are gender fluid or in the LGBTQ plus community. And that is why I, I really wanna speak to not just, you know female leaning individuals, because that, it's so interesting cuz I told you how I started this business, but the more I'm here, the more I see how, especially the LGBTQ plus community is looking for spaces that celebrate and are so excited to work with them. And almost every couple that's worked with me in that community has said about the negative experiences they've had at jewelry stores. And they haven't found something that matches who they are. And, and I it's it's, it just means a lot to me to be able to create that experience for them. I, I have this amazing client Jess and Gemma who are about to finish a ring and Jess said, you know, I'm a woman, but I don't identify as a bride. And so we made this super rad C ring. That is the biggest ring I made in the studio. Like there's so much gold, that's what she wanted and there's gonna be a G in inscribed on it to, to represent Gemma her, her soon Tobe wife. And I, I just really want S speak to that because the jewelry is such an interesting thing. And I think you, you talk about it, but I just don't believe jewelry has to have a gender or jewelry has to have a specific style. And that's, I just wanted to make sure I talked on that cause it's, it's a really important part of my ethos of this business. Well, Absolutely. And I mean, that's something that I guess not a lot of, as much thought is put into the jewelry aspect of it, right. Because obviously, you know, and especially here in Seattle and I know Portland, you know, very inclusive kind of vendors, right. And, and celebrating, you know, all different kinds of whatever. But when it comes to, you know, you can kind of wear what you want. Now you can get married where you want, but when it comes to those rings, it really is like, these are the feminine, you know, bride rings and these are the it's black or whatever, you know, man rings. And there is not a lot of, well, what if I don't want that? Or what if I feel like it's something, even if I wouldn't want either of those things anyway. Right. Even it doesn't matter. So I think that especially, you know, when it comes to those to kind of, so weddings, like I think there needs to be a space right. To, to offer stuff like that. And I just don't know where you would even find that if stuff, you know, if vendors like you didn't exist to kinda offer that you, what, I mean, like, I don't know where you find that otherwise It's pretty much exclusively custom work. Yeah. you know, and you, you can look on sites like dancing with earn equally. We dash of pride is gonna be doing more soon, I think as well. But you, you really have to find them it's, they're not nearly as accessible as they should be. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and, and then, like I said, if you're gonna go down that route of, you know, finding this custom better to do might as well just make it yourself, you know, I mean that's right. Yeah. Even means even more. It's so great. <Laugh> I love it. So when you're, when you're branching out and you're doing this you know, obviously I'm even looking at your site, you know, features a lot of places and things. I mean, obviously you're successful in doing this, but the reaction, you know, to be able to offer this sort of unique, you know, service, you know, across you know, not just from the couple, from like other vendors from the industry, right. I mean, what do you, I mean, clearly you talk with, you know, planners and everyone else. I mean, what is kind of the reaction when they find out that you have this service <Laugh> they're really excited and like so many others, I hear, I didn't know you could do that, which is really hard for me to hear. You know, I, I <laugh>, I'm not the best at social media, but I try to get out there. It is, it is my weakest link. And as a mom of a 17 month old daughter, that doesn't help right now. But you know, it's, it's just a, about making it happen. But I, I think it comes down to, they're really excited. They wanna find clients that will, would fit this sort of space and be excited about it. And sometimes they find out about me a little too late. People either get rings two years before they get married or six weeks, but forehand. And so that timeline can be hard. But it's something they're interested in and I even have vendors come and I'll, I'll do a fun little lunch and show them how to make a Sterling silver band to just kind of understand the process. And that's really fun for me to like nerd out and not be so professional and just be silly with them. And there's no nothing like having that community around. I, I bolster them and they bolster me. It's great. Yeah. I just, I have to imagine, you know, we work with some high end planners in Seattle, you know, I don't, I wouldn't say we're necessarily like high end, but, you know, but we have these planners that work with these couples that I guess high end, isn't even the word just that, that want to, we really have expressive kind of control over everything. I just mean not like they're hiring someone and go, I mean, they want their touch on every single thing. I don't mean a high end. I mean, maybe like not even, you know, particular just wanting to really con you know, control all the aspects of their day, really have a vision for it. And I just have to imagine that that couples, you know, if they're gonna go to the work to, you know, design their own dress or get these other things done yeah. That, that, that they wanna have control over this as well. Right. And have be able to just express that. It just, I think that we've talked with so many vendors on here, couples wanting to be able to express themselves, especially in the Pacific Northwest, you know, express what they want, their interests or hobbies, their hobbies, everything else through their, we their wedding, and to be able to kind of filter it into this as well. I just have to imagine there's a lot of interest in this. Yes. I mean, we, we are renowned for an area that likes adventure. Right. <laugh> and so that's what it is. It's just happens to be an indoor adventure with tools. Like, that's, it, it is definitely okay. We're gonna put ourselves out on a limb and have a really rad experience. That's definitely the feel. And I, it is the Pacific Northwest, but I've had folks travel from Hawaii and North Carolina and Alaska. And I'm, I'm, I keep using the word, but I'm just grateful for folks how far they'll travel to come make some beautiful rains with me. That's great. Well, it's something that you can't get, you know, anywhere else. Right. I mean, it's, it, it truly is one of a kind, not only the experience in the end product, but just going through that and having, you know, your creativity with that, you know, it's, it is the same thing when we interview calligraphers or whatever. And they're like, you know, I'm working with clients all over the world because they choose to work with me right. When they could find anyone and especially with the internet and being able to track down, you know, your services that way, and then make a weekend out of it and go to Portland and design. I just think that that's a really just thing. I don't know. I think it's neat. I, we talk to a lot of different planner or a lot of different vendors. And so I think it's an interesting service and a really cool way to really have ownership over every aspect of your wedding. Thanks, re I really appreciate that. <Laugh> so what do you do when you're not you know, helping to forge lifelong memories kind kind of in the in the smolder? Well you know, my clients will actually see it because my studio is in our backyard. <Laugh> is very personal. We, we do live in Portland proper. So I do a lot of gardening which is super fun. And like I said, I'm a mom to a 17 month old. So my sweet girl Freya is a straight up COVID baby. So that's, that's been an adventure. And I, I do hike a lot. I actually put her on my back and, and she's like 30 pounds now. And we hike all over the city and all over forest park and do more adventures. And I'm, I'm a super nerdy cook and wine, a fishing auto. I used to sell wine and beer. So I really love to pair wine and food. I even make duck proto sometimes if you wanna get real nerdy with me and I just, I love to make a fire and really laugh with my friends and play silly games like Kaan and stuff like that. Yeah. I, I I've officially, I wanted to know in Kaan we had our friends who were very excited about it, and we came over and I, the only game I've ever played, I beat him. I was very happy about that. And then I, I retire them to feed it. So that is, is where we'll go from there. Oh is there anything else you wanna make sure we touch on? Is there anything else you wanna make sure we touch on or, or make any you know, new aspects or anything before we let you go today? Well new aspects, you know, speaking of adventures I am gonna be talking about a big surprise in mid-December. And I can kind of start, I'm gonna do a really exclusive weekend. That's a little bit more advanced that has more a local vendors involved and is a real kind of luxury intimate experience for the whole weekend. So that's, that's what I can say right now. I'm really excited About, well, and to keep, you know, keep creating these experiences. I think, you know if all, everything everyone's went through the last 18 months has, you know, led anyone to want to do, you know, it's more experiences, right. And it's more participating in things and doing things right, where maybe you know, you would've passed up on that dinner party or whatever, you know, two years ago. And now you're like, I would do anything in the world to go to that dinner party today. So you know, creating you know, these custom, you know, weekends and the events and stuff. I think that I could definitely see that being a thing here kind of in the future as well. So Thank you. I'm excited. I'm only gonna do 10 a year to start with and kind of see how things go. That's good. So I'm even judging up the space, which is really fun. It's gonna be a little bit more boutiquey but don't worry still, it's gonna be tool nerd central. That That's good. If people would want to learn more about you and what you do, where would you have them check out? Yeah. Check out my website at www dot ringed, R I N G E D pdx.com or on Instagram at ringed Portland. Here you go. Well, Allison, I appreciate Elizabeth connecting us and getting you on. And I, I always, like I said, like to feature unique wedding vendor types. So I appreciate that and will be in touch in the future. It's such a pleasure re thank you so much for having me take care. If you are like Allison and your intern coming on the podcast, you can go to best made videos.com/podcast guest. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire that we have that you can fill out. And we'll see you next time with another wedding vendor interview you. Thanks so much. Take care, everyone.

Kameron and Natalie, The Reseve Vineyard and Golf Club

Well, thank you all so much. I'm excited today. We have another new get to know your wedding pro out of Haloa Oregon. We have Natalie and Cameron with the reserve. Vineyard and golf club. I'm excited to have you guys on, how are you doing? We're doing good. We're really excited to be here. And I appreciate you having us today. So who is who for people watching the video and then obviously the audio you can hopefully track along as well. Hi, I'm Cameron. I've been at the researcher since July. I'm a little bit newer to the reserve, but we were super excited and we had a very wonderful season and we are super excited for 2022. Yeah. And I'm Natalie. I started at the same time as Cameron. We've gotten super close working together. We love it. And we're yeah, we're super excited. So this is good. So we have a venue down here, always good to get venues on. Tell us a little bit about what you guys offer specifically, you know, obviously events as well, but for weddings and people interested in that. Yeah. So at the reserve. I think one of our best qualities is that we are a one-stop shop. Obviously you do kind of have your outside vendors as far as like Flores and desserts and that kind of stuff. But as far as linens, go set up. Food beverage. Your onsite coordinator, we really kind of have it all. And I think that stands out to people when they're looking for a venue, because they don't have to worry about a lot of things that you might have to kind of stress about at other places. What kinds of couples specifically, do you find gravitate towards offering as you guys have? Yeah, they gravitate to us just because we're only we're golf, but we're also a wedding venue. So we have a private and a public golf course. And so people gravitate to us just because we have been around since 1997. And so we have a well known name for ourselves. As well as weddings. For golf too. So we bring in a wide variety. We have a lot of cultural weddings. We have a lot of just traditional weddings. We have. Just a lot of people come to us from out-of-state from in-state. So we actually pull in a wide range of groups and families and people. In terms of logistics, because that's obviously important to employees. I've talked about size and things like that, that you guys are able to accommodate. Yeah. So we're, we're kind of all over the board. As far as that goes, we have an indoor area inside of our venue. That can accommodate 80 people, 90 people, if we're kind of all closing together. So for more intimate kind of quaint events, we definitely highlight that area. If you want to have a large-scale wedding and you want 300 people, we can accommodate to that as well. We have what we call the crossing, which is actually right in between both of our golf courses. And that's where we typically hold our ceremonies to beautiful area, beautiful views. And then right after that ceremony, we'll go into the pavilion where we have, we can fit 250 comfortably under the pavilion. And then in the hotter months, we can push it out onto a patio that sits right next to that as well. 'Cause. I mean, I know that that's a big thing, especially in Seattle, we see a lot of, you know, looking for larger venues, looking for, you know, as things are opening back up now. You know, especially, but you'll being able to accommodate right. That, I mean, especially in Seattle, there, there's a finite amount of space that can do that. Do you find a lot of couples are traveling from other states? You guys, you attract a lot of local people. How does that work? Yeah. You know, it's kind of back and forth. I would say it's about 50, 50, either way. We do have a lot of locals. We have a lot of people coming from bend and Eugene and even seaside area, but we also do have people coming from California and New York. In New York. Yeah. So we bring in wide range. I wouldn't say that it's more, you know, in-state or out-of-state, but it's definitely about 50 50. And we have, we see a wide range of our guests. I. So it's really nice just to see kind of where people are coming from and what they do, and just to see their background. We. Yeah, we really enjoy it. I would say. I was especially managing people moving. You know, from California up, maybe. Slightly less expensive. Right. Getting married. And then, you know, like wine country or whatever, but it's still getting obviously beautiful. Are you guys. Talk about. Your weather and things there. Yeah. Being outside, having the, you know, the beautiful grounds. How late does your season run to a typically. Yeah. So we will have people come in that want to do a March wedding, may, April. Obviously you kind of know, being in the Seattle area that we, we definitely can't count on the weather at those times. Fortunately for us, we are able to have our ceremonies pushed into our reception area. We'll kind of flip it, which I know some venues will do that. If you live in an area that does tend to rain a lot. So our wedding season does stretch from mid-October. That is a people are comfortable obviously kind of thinking on the weather, but like I said, we're definitely able to accommodate if it does rain that day. How did you all get involved in this? How did you all become, you know, I part of this, you know, venue and obviously reaching out, coming on these podcasts and things. I want to hear more about that. Yeah. Yeah. So a little bit about my background. I've actually been so involved with just events and that community. Ever since I was younger, I just kind of taken an interest in just planning and coordinating and just being there. I love the small details. So I knew from a young age, if this is kind of what I wanted to get into. More recently, I have been professionally involved with the community, other events and wedding community for about three years now. I originally started with a lady named Nicole. She has her own business with party to go go, and she kind of introduced me with. Kind of the planning industry. Yeah, baby showers and weddings and anniversaries and birthdays. And it was so much fun. And I was like, this is my passion. I definitely, really, really love this. As we got more into weddings, I was like, oh my gosh, I really need to specialize in weddings. Weddings is what makes me, I love. Just the outcome of weddings, making the couple feel happy. And so I, as the researcher had an opportunity come up, I was like, this is for me. Please take me. I want to specialize in weddings. I want to. Just have the love. Like I just, I, I resonate off of a, like, I just want it so much. And so I got this opportunity at the reserve and now just specializing in weddings. I know exactly like where I want to be, and this is kind of my future and stuff. And so it has just been so, so just beneficial for me to kind of just start at the reserve. And that's just kind of how I found my passion. Yeah. And for myself, I am pretty similar in the sense that I love events. I love seeing it from start to finish prior to doing weddings and events. I did interior design for a little bit, which is still love. I still do it for family friends. But it really made me realize that I love being a part of like a bigger project. I had so much fun when clients would come in and we would kind of visualize them, they plan it out and then getting to see that whole project come together. It just made me so happy. I love being a part of it. I loved like seeing their goals become a reality. And so then I was like, I'm a more of this and I want it to be like more intimate, more special. And that's kind of what geared me towards the wider community as well. Are you guys balancing a lot of corporate stuff there and tours and things like that versus the weddings as well. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So we do a lot of tours. I not only for weddings, but also for our golf events, our holiday events and stuff like that. So. We tailor towards weddings, but we also accommodate, especially during our slower times too. Bingo nights. Just the golf events and fun wine things at the reserve. So we do a lot of just other things besides events. And so it's really fun to kind of dabble in a little bit of other events. We definitely specialize in do mainly weddings, but we do have, you know, a birthday party here and there. It's been really, really fun to kind of just see. Other events as well and here at the reserve. Yeah. When it comes to weddings. In terms of like other spaces besides the ceremony, you know, like getting ready areas like that. Is that something that you guys are able to accommodate onsite? Absolutely. Yeah. So we have a bridal suite, a Grimm's room. We actually also have that upstairs area. I just mentioned earlier. That area is really nice too, because kiddos can go up there and kind of run around and get some of their energy out. Sometimes people have decorations that they just don't know what to do with, so we definitely have a very large venue. Which I know our clients tend to really appreciate because they can spread out. They can bring decorations or kids can run around. And then we definitely have a really nice space for our brides and grooms as well. Well, this isn't, you know, because we have golf courses up here and not to like throw you under the bus, but you know, you have in, in like, maybe it's beautiful, right. Where you get married, but then it's like the golf shop is like right there. And then. Gary. It's like the side of the parking lot, where you train. Very G where it's not like, oh, we wound up like exist in this space. I be able to relax, to be able to get ready. So that's why I asked that because it is something. I don't think enough concerns is always put in, like, where are we going to get ready? Where are we going to hang out? Where can my mom sit and be while we're doing stuff, you know, it's just nice to have other areas that you guys can offer to the clients, you know? Absolutely. That's kind of, our idea is we want to be the one-stop kind of shop. So we want to, you know, do everything in house that we can, so we do a lot of our liquor. We do all of our food in-house and then we want to make sure that bride and groom, when they come, they are at ease, they really don't have to focus anything outside of the venue. The only thing that we really don't I do for them is the hiring of like a DJ or a florist and such, but everything else should be really in-house. We're trying to make it as easy as possible. Give them as many options as possible. That's why we have such a big, bright and gross Ram. We put the focus on so many different aspects of space. We are technically four stories. And so there's a lots of room for our golf events and our golf side, but also the far out of weddings. Such as well. Yeah, definitely. And we also have a lot of people that come in to like this. It's a golf course. So like, are we going to kind of, like you mentioned, like, are we going to be kind of like moving around the golfers? Like what's your priority here? We take a lot of pride in our weddings and we know people are spending a lot of money, a lot of effort, time planning. So we certainly make sure that it feels like it's their day. They rented that space. We are, we have our marshals making sure that. It's fully their area. And I think that's one thing that makes us stand out is that like you truly are renting that space and it feels like it's all yours for the whole day. Because it's tough. You know, where you want to have it be your day. Right. And you want to be able to have the venue, but also like, you know, I always try to be respectful and like, if someone's golfing or whatever, We got married. You. And our venue was also restaurant, right. So we were cognizant of like, okay, there's other activities going on here? It's that tough balancing act. So it's good that you guys. Are you cognizant of that? Because it is, it is a balancing act. It is. Yeah, it's definitely about being in the middle and same thing. We don't want to like disrespect our golfers, like they're, you know, they're really important to us as well. So same thing on both ends. We're making sure that it feels special and you know, both these groups are coming out to have a great day. And so we make sure that that happens for everyone. So I was Googling. I was looking at trying to figure out mapping and stuff of my knowledge of Oregon. You know, west the Portland. Right. Are you guys finding a lot of couples are, do they stay out in a LOA? Do they go back to Portland? I mean, do a lot of family and friends and stuff stay out like in Beaverton. I mean, how does that work? Yeah. So we've actually found it's kind of varies. So we have a preferred vendor list and we do, I have hotels and such for families to stay on that are kind of around the area, but we do pull people in from Beaverton. We do pull them in from Portland. We actually had it. Couple from Eugene recently as well. So we do pull from a lot of different areas. We do try, especially for the family. Who's traveling out of state. For them to stay as local as possible. So we do have a lot of hotels that are, you know, within the five mile radius or 10 mile radius to make it on a little bit easier. But we do pull from a lot of different talents and stuff around the area, I would say. Yeah. This is interesting about that, you know, with, with accommodations and stuff. Are you guys, and then when they come to, to work, are they working with you guys? Are you kind of the point? People have to talk me through that process if like, if I want to get married that, you know, at the reserve, how does that work? Yeah, absolutely. So when you come, like you're typically, you're going to schedule a meeting with one of us to, we're pretty much your point person from start to finish. So you'll be coming in and, you know, deciding if you obviously want to book or not. And then from there we're going to do tastings. Do you want to do a wine tasting, lots of tours, lots of meetings going over your linen colors. Like I said, it is a one-stop shop. So you're going to have a lot of selections. You're deciding with us. We both are really passionate about it. So it'd be like to be part of the full process. So we like to see the DJs timeline. We like to see what time it takes, getting there, what it's going to look like, all of that kind of stuff. So we get really excited when they send us as much information as they can. So, yeah, we'll be there from start to finish. And then the day of we're typically going to show up in the morning, make sure they have their mimosas or food, whatever they ordered for that day. And then we stayed pretty much through like the cake cutting end of the night. If it's a high, you know, it's kind of like a really busy. Crazy wedding we'll stay from like, right, like early in the morning, all the way until the very end. But typically we'll have a big boat manager that stays. Towards the very end of the wedding. It's interesting talking to you about going through design processes and stuff. Cause I immediately. From what I know, that's a little atypical right. To. I feel like a lot of golf. You know, you get the room, right. It's pretty bare, right. It's really on to, you know, the DJ to bring in lights or whatever. Again, So talk about, you know, those design choices and how maybe those unique things you guys offer. Yeah. So as far as in house decorations, we don't have too many. So we definitely suggest if you are doing any kind of decorations, definitely make sure that your florist is very seasoned. Someone who is willing to decorate the Arbor to decorate the tables or whatnot. As far as the DJ, typically a DJ will bring you the whole setup. So if they bring in the lights that actually extra touch, you know, But definitely as far as just kind of accommodating to the unique style of writing groups, we can move things around as such. We typically have a standard layout of like where the head table's going to be or the sweetheart table, but we can definitely move things around, especially for, you know, smaller weddings compared to the bigger weddings. We can definitely move things around in such that way. What kind of feedback do you get from couples, you know, after they have their big day there after having kind of worked with you guys for so long, We have had a really, really great response. And we're honestly super happy. Yeah. We've had a lot of great reviews that we've seen. Like, we kind of said, we're both new to the reserve this season. And so we were, I mean, we're obviously nervous going into it. We want to make sure that people, you know, have a great experience with us and we've gotten amazing feedback. There's definitely things that we want to like build up and do even bigger for the seasons to come. But I would say that the response we've gotten from this year is that we're accommodating people feel like they're heard, they're taking care of. Do you have to love the food? Our chef Marisa is awesome. We've been getting really great feedback. And our whole team is just really, really happy and honored to be a part of it. Talk to me about the food. We, I just, I had a wedding in a golfer. And it was, you know, a little sad. So far. I know they, obviously, the food is a big thing being in-house right. Obviously that's something that you guys take. Great pride. I talk about that in kind of the offerings in as much as you know, and I know that that's not your purview is like the actual cookie and everything, but as much as you can talk me through the in house catering, Yeah, absolutely. I actually get really excited about the food. So chef Marisa is amazing. She has a very versatile kind of background. She's very accommodating to all dietary restrictions. For this year, we offered family style, buffet and plated options. And so going along the process dependent on your wedding. It has been so amazing to see the food that transition and what our chef can do and what our kitchen can do. And so offering these options to our guests has just been outstanding, I would say. So for 2022, we have super high expectations. We have a full new revamped menu. And we are so excited, we have duck on it and we have just all these crazy things. And so we are so excited. We actually have done about four tastings. Before 20, 22 and everyone that has tried, it has just been, you know, they're in awe at the look of the food, the taste of the food meeting, our shaft is a huge thing. Just kind of chef Marisa being out and saying, hi, this is my food. This is what I created. This is what I tailored to you. It's such a customizable kind of experience. And we're so, so happy that she is just, full-blown like, Out there willing to accommodate and willing just to present herself and show really what her talent is and what she offers to the reserve. And we are so lucky to have her. Super excited just to see her and see what she can do with her experience. Yeah, definitely. It's exciting to me. And you can tell obviously the passion you guys have for that as well. So it's a huge thing though, you know, I mean the, the, the weddings in the food and, and so she went in the house, you know, there's a lot of pressure with that. When you're talking about scheduling for 20, 22 and beyond what, what is it been like this last, I mean, probably not the most ideal time to get brought onto a wedding venue. Right. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So. And that, you know, with COVID and everything, it has been really hard. We've talked about it a lot. We've like I said, we're both just really passionate about it. So making sure that all of our clients are super happy as important to us, but also like following our own guidelines at the venue, making sure that like our venue is protected. It's hard to meet in the middle. Sometimes I think that's been our biggest complication is just making sure that everyone's happy. Like we want them to have a great day. We want to make sure that we have a great reputation at the end of the day. And so, you know, it's been a struggle, but I think. Every single wedding, even if it's come up where it's been like, ah, I wasn't expecting the mask mandate or this or that we have. I think they've all been happy afterwards, even though some things maybe didn't go exactly how people were anticipating with things that were out of our control with next year, we're also to super excited. We're hoping that things open back up and that, you know, everyone can have a safe fun event and we don't have to worry about mask mandates and that kind of stuff. Obviously we follow all the rules and make sure that it's all taken care of, but we're hoping. That it can be safe and fun for everyone going forward. Are you guys local to the area? I am. Yeah, I'm like a 15 minute drive from the venue. I'm like 20, so not terrible. Enough time to get some coffee and enjoy my time. Where'd you guys, did you grow up here too? Yeah. So I grew up, I actually, it's kind of funny. I went to high school. Probably like the closest high school to the rosary. So when we were in high school, everyone would go and like take their senior pictures there. It was like this like fancy, cool venue when I was growing up. And so now working there is actually quite an honor for me. But, yeah, I've, I've been familiar with the venue for, for quite a long time. Yeah. And I'm actually from bend Oregon. I moved. To Eugene about six years ago and spent a couple years in Eugene. And I'm kind of newer to this area. About two years in, we moved here for just some more opportunities, some more job opportunities. I really wanted to focus on getting into the industry. And so what better of an area to have a versatile kind of. And that industry area. So you can go more into the events or you can go into the weddings and then my boyfriend and kicking here for more. Have a software developer kind of job position. So it was just kind of the perfect area for us, but definitely my hometown is bend and my heart will always be in bend families and Ben. So definitely a good place though. I think we'll probably settle down in this area. Yeah, you guys have talked a lot about the excitement of events, right. Being in the industry. You know, it's, it's not the least stressful right. Industry, the one they get into. I mean, what, what is it that, that drives that passion? Yeah. So, I mean, we were just talking about this extra right before we started recording. It is a high stress job. I mean, these people, like we've kind of talked about, they are like, this is like the most important day of their life. So. You know, they have very high expectations and there's a lot of people that need a lot of things from us. You know, bride and groom obviously are a priority, but then there's the mom of the grim, the mom of the bread. And they also, this is their day too. So they need our help. They need our attention, you know, all these different things. So. We definitely take it really serious. We try to cover all of our bases. We're fortunate to have a really amazing team. Between our banquet manager, us, we're kind of running the, like wetting the bed show. And then all of our staff servers, waiters, all that kind of stuff. So it does take a little stress, having a little stress off, having such an awesome team. As far as how we manage the stress, we definitely like having a good friend in the industry is really important. We definitely are able to like roll things off of each other, you know, kind of talk about things that have been difficult. Good ideas on how we can better manage things that have been really stressful. So I think like friendship and a great team has been something that helps me cope with like the high stress of the job. Same goes for you. Yeah, absolutely. Just having someone kind of around the same age and just, you know, coming into it with new eyes has been just huge and super beneficial and being able to kind of add the more modern look in the more modern ideas I would say has been really huge and. Like she was kind of touching on our team is so, so helpful and they, no matter what it is from start to finish, they are there and they're there to help with bride and groom, but also with the family and the friends, because like Natalie was saying family and friends really want to be involved. It's obviously about writing group. But there's so many families and the families are coming together and it's such a special moment. And so for our team to kind of acknowledge that and just be like, we're here for you. I know that you're stressed. I know that, you know, we lost a groomsmen once. We found him. But to be like, you know, kind of accommodating to no matter what situation. You know, some of our struggles at the reserve is sometimes the wind. A little bit later in the day. And so for our team to kind of accommodate two napkins flying in the air or, you know, sign happening. Our team is so, so sweet. And so I think just having everyone as a big community, and it's a big family here at the reserve. That's what I've just kind of. Thrived off of is just the love from everyone that you meet at the research from our golf side to our wedding side wig, we are just a big family and a big team. Yeah, definitely. I do need to hear about this loss Greensmith. It's been story now. I knew it. Yeah, so it was okay. So it was about 10 minutes before we were ready to walk. So the ceremony. And groom's may. Yes. I had to text her. I'm like I lost. So, and so he needed to get some batteries, I guess it was a very important request from, right. So he thought he'd be back in time, but you know, there's construction, there's traffic things get caught. I'm about to line everyone up. I'm like we're missing somebody. They're like he's at the store and he'll be fine. He'll be fine. I'm like we, I have 10 minutes to go. I'm texting Natalie. I'm like, you need to stall. We need to stop. Things, it turns out he made it just in time, literally a minute right before. Out to walk. Everything's fine. But in that first 10 minutes, I was not okay. I was like, I'm like on the hunt for this. It looks like. We're trying to look for him. It was a disaster at first, but we pulled it all together. That's the biggest thing at the reserve is no matter the situation. Yeah. We always come together. We always pull it off. And even if we're, you know, we're 10 minutes late to walk it's okay. At least they walked, they're happy. They're married. We have a beautiful venue. Beautiful bride and groom. Like they are happy. You did it. So absolutely. Yeah. It's all right. It's. It's interesting. I don't know. Yeah. If I have gotten more disgruntled over time with, you know, with yeah. If it's 10 minutes late or whatever, like it's going to be. We have. This was years ago, we had a, I think it was, it was either the best man. It was one of the groomsmen. And he had forgotten his pants, like at the, at the, yeah, they got ready at the hotel somewhere. And it was like really far away. It was like 45 minutes away or something on the other side of the town. And so like, luckily he had blue jeans that was like the same color as they, they were in blue suits, but yeah, they. They went and got, you know, they went and got his pants and I asked him afterwards, I said, Hey, like w when did you get your pants? Did you see me pull it up? My zipper as I walked down the aisle. That's. That's as close that's as close as I got. I mean, it's a good, that's a good story. And it's. I'm sure. You're a couple too. I forget that. And. Or maybe she didn't know, you know, maybe that's another thing that they don't know that all that was going on, you know? So w when you guys were brought in right in July to the venue here, What was kind of your charge arrive, improve the weddings, improve the events, right. Outreach, obviously, you know, come on, you know, these goofy podcasts to me, what was kind of the charge for you guys to, to do all this? I think a big thing for us is that we're like ready to go. Like we both came into this like very, very excited about kind of revamping things. And I don't say that to like, make it seem like it was bad before we came in. It's it's always been like a wonderful venue. But we wanted to kind of like bring a modern touch. Like she mentioned, I feel like we both have fresh eyes to the industry. We are both kind of on the younger side. And so I think for us, like, we are really up with the technology and social media and Pinterest and like, We're able to see things that were like, you know, that was great a couple of years ago, but like it's time to kind of update things and let's try this. Let's try that. So, I mean, there has been a little bit of like trial and error, but I think our biggest thing was just coming in and bringing fresh eyes. To our particular venue, bringing some passion and excitement, which I I'm assuming all the weddings prior to us were wonderful as well, but where does. We're just really excited to kind of bring something new to the table. We wanted to get our name out there, the venue out there. So we've been really revamping the social media. Trying to make it as updated, accurate as we can, and really help people visualize what their wedding could be like if they book with us. Well, it's hard. And that's why I asked that is. There's so many venues now, right. And it's such a competitive. Land PBO. I years ago, you. If you have the venue. You kind of ruled the roost, right? Because it was. Like, well, who, where are you going to get married that right. And now. It's really competitive and there's so many good offerings. Right. And I get everybody it's. So, and so. Having that social media, right. Having like the accessibility, right. Being up to date on a lot of that stuff. I mean, there's so many where if we're booking and I'm trying to add the staff and like I'm on the website and the address isn't on there, I'm like emailing. I'm like, Hey, did you guys know like your venue and your addresses on your website? Yeah, it's just stuff like that, where obviously, you know, bringing in you guys right younger to the industry, right. ISA fresh. Your background's for you guys, where wherever you acquired all of this knowledge that you're bringing in. Yeah, absolutely. So I am super lucky. I worked at Lincoln was kind of talking about previous to the reserve with lady named Nicole. And she had her business since 2005. So coming in and working with her two years prior to the reserve was so beneficial. He really taught me about decorations and the importance of the overall standard of a event. And it was just so nice to kind of go with her. And she did her events where she. Did all outside hires and she contacted all the other vendors and staff and we kind of worked in, we were kind of the one-stop shop. And so she really showed me just kind of different angles and different types of events. So like I said, we kind of did a lot of anniversaries and birthdays and all of these things. And so. Coming into it. I just had such a wide knowledge of different types of events. We did a lot of weddings in session. Rather with her, we weren't necessarily a venue. We were just a planner. And so going in. Doing all these different events at different areas and different venues and stuff. It was so nice. And so accommodating to kind of just learn my experience from her. Obviously YouTube is really good for us. Pinterest is always good. And you can always look at tick tock, tick box. Really good to learn things as well. I think the most beneficial thing also is just kind of staying up to date with what's going on in the world. What's the, you know, what's the trends right now, not only for wedding dresses, but for venues and vendors and yeah, what's going on with the flowers and what's going on with the months that your weddings are booked. And I think is the most beneficial looking at magazines, even though magazines are kind of out of date, looking at Facebook, looking at what other people are doing and. A big thing that we have been doing recently is going to other venues and kind of just seeing what they are doing as well. So not necessarily to compare our menu, but to learn from them. And so we have been reaching out to a lot of different areas and being like, Hey, can we come take a tour with you? Can. We see what you're doing. Can we just look at your chairs, your tables, your linens, like we just want to see. We don't want to compare. We just want to say, Hey, this is us. This is Natalie and I, and you can come take a tour at us as well. And I think all of these things has really shaped us and me individually into the person, into the wedding coordinator that I am today. Just kind of learning from other people's experiences and what they have done in the past. Yeah, definitely. I would say kind of touching on what she was just talking about, what the research, the social media. I think that for myself, I like love to know a lot of details. I mean, I probably like kind of a nosy person. Like I, you know, I'll go to white and I'm like asking, like, what do you love about this? Like, what would you change? Not our weddings, but like, And another wedding, like I'm, you know, I'm looking around, I'm taking pictures. I mean, I was at a wedding the other day. I'm like sending her all these pictures. I'm like, this is so cute. I love this, you know? And so for me, it's like, I want to know like what makes that day so special for you? And even in my previous work as an interior designer, I just, like, I wanted to know like, what would make us stand out. So I don't want to be like the, you know, in a box, generic, like, this is what you can expect anywhere. Like, I don't want to have like great ideas and I want to be able to like, offer something that like, maybe you didn't even think of. And so I think for me, it's just like, knowing like everything, I mean, you can't know everything obviously, but knowing like a lot of different varieties of like what you can do. So I think research and like research enjoying that has been what got me really passionate about it. It kind of makes us unique though, too. She'll do research and I'll do research and then we'll come together and we will be like, Hey, this is what I learned about. This is what I learned about and you can make it are. Kind of version for the reserve. And I think that's what our passion kind of thrives from is just seeing what we can do and make it. To our custom style at the research. Yeah. And so that is something that we are huge about and kind of, we have so many plans for 2022 that we are so excited to just kind of revamp and. To do for the research. And so, like I said, for 2022, it's going to be outstanding. I can't even describe. I had planned. I thought you were talking about doing the other tours and I thought maybe you guys for like, oh, we're playing in the wedding. Checking it out. But no, you said. You're being forthright about it. I mean, that's good because you could sneak in there too, and you could tell me. We love it. And like, we, I think it's really important. Like you can't have everything as much as we like to think that we're like amazing. And we offer all of these wonderful things to our clients. It's like, We just might not be the right fit for some people and that's, and that's okay. And we understand that and we want to have like great connections in the wedding community that we can recommend. And people that we truly like where they're like, wow, like we appreciate the reserve for recommending someone who was like, absolutely what we wanted. So, you know, going and seeing other venues is really important to see what they can offer their packages. Like we love and learning and seeing like maybe what we could tweak, but we also love like having those connections where we can recommend other people. And we. You know, it is competition. Like truly. You know, it is around you, but it's also like we should be learning from each other and kind of building this community up as well. Yeah. And the community has been amazing to be honest, like they have been so welcoming, like coming into this field almost thought that it would be very competitive. Yeah. You have been used, you have vendors and everyone's kind of fighting, you know, but to be honest, coming into it, everyone has been so welcoming. We can not describe just the joy that we've had, just reaching out and being like, Hey, we're a little bit newer. Can you show us what you've been doing? Or can you give us advice? We recently went to Kaiser and he went to a showcase and we saw it and in their venue, and they were also doing just a hosted event where a lot of other vendors and venues even were there just kind of meeting people. And we just got our name out there and we're like, Hey, we're so new to this. Can you just kind of give us anything to kind of recommend or any advice at all? And they were just so welcoming. We can not like. You know, it's just, it's one of those things that like, we can't appreciate it more to be so welcomed into this community. We couldn't have asked for a better position, to be honest. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. The hardest thing, you know, at any type of vendor is realizing you can't service everybody. Right? That you can't either. You can't facilitate all events or I can't shoot, you know, people want different things. And especially with menus. I do think you'll find a lot more compelling era. I like people wanting to work together cause you're, I will find books like. I'm blocked, you know, as like. At work, you know, like you might get a forest. It's like, well, I could always do another wedding in there. I could always add that. You have your venue? You're like it's Saturday, like we're booked. Let's go find someone else. That's a good fit, but it is. It's that hard. Like. Just a, you're just not the right fit for everybody. And. Aware of that. It's really hard. Right? A lot of, especially like photo, video people, you find them trying to like, I want to shoot every single client. Yeah, they'll want what you're doing and that's fine. Yeah, definitely. And we see that too. Like we, you know, we get a lot of like the photos back from the weddings, like the photographer or the videographer will send us all that content. And it's interesting, like you said, it's like, some people want this like super like washed out bright. Like it looks like it's 90 degrees out, even though it's like cloudy, but. And some people, they want us moody dark, like really? I don't know. And so we, we see a lot of it too. And. And like you said, it's like, both are beautiful. Like we love both, but they're just, some are gonna fit for one person and some are going to fit for the other. And that's why we really value, like having those tight knit connections, relationships that we can recommend. If we do know a better fit for someone. Yeah. I mean, like there's, there's a planner. I work with all the time and. And like, she'll know, like, this is your kind of wedding video plant. Or this is this other guy. And I, you know, couldn't be further from anything, right. And it's no. It's weird. Like, and it's, it's something that takes a long time for people to realize it, especially with end use, to like, It's so subjective to like that that tastes right or what they're looking for. It's so hard. And if I could go back a million times, would we pick somewhere else to get married to, you know, it's really hard. It's really. Emotionally. Where do we find that connection? That's weird. Yeah, definitely. It's like, I went to a. I would just go and Gonzaga and smoke hand. I'm like the first time we tour that it was like pouring rain and I hated that. We're in a bunch of schools and I came back and I toured it and it was sunny. And I was like, oh, I want to go here. I'm like. Yeah, it's weird that that works out. So. Yeah. I have a, I went to Oregon state and so I had some friends that were from California. And so they visited Eugene. Like, I don't know. Like Eugene Ubell. And they were like, you know, it was all dark and it was super like all this concrete and everything. And then they came to Corvallis and it was like the most beautiful day, which we don't see a lot of it, like. It's always like that. And they were like, it was so sunny and bright and then they moved there and they're like, no, it's, it's really. It's dark and rainy everywhere. Yeah. That's. Yeah. But my mom's a big, big wiser, a lot of college football. I. You know, Gonzaga has no, you know, my wife has the UDaB dogs. Right. And my mom watches the docs and the, you know, the beavers and we all just different stuff. But I am left out with just basketball. I got second. So. Any other tidbits about the venue? Anything else you want to make sure we get on here before? I obviously will talk social media and websites and stuff like that, but any, anything else you're working on, you want to make sure we get out there. I would just say, if anything, if anyone's interested, just reach out to us, ask questions. I come see your venue even just to say hi, not. Even if you're looking to book, just come say hi. I see what we're doing. See what we're offering. Like I said, we're private and a public golf course. So not only do we offer just the wedding and the event side, but we also offer the golf course side. So I would just say, just come say, hi, come eat lunch with us. Like, we're always trying just to kind of. Connections and see what people are doing. You know, now that. Kobe is, you know, it's still going on, but we have regulations and we can meet people and we can say hi, and we can have lunch together. Come say, hi, come. Yeah. The glass of wine with us. Yeah. Are your experiences. Like we have so many plans for 2022 that we are excited just to kind of show what we're doing. And if anyone wants us to come and visit them, Like, we're super excited to kind of just see different areas. Even if it's a hotel, a venue, a vendor, like, yeah. Invite us over. We. Yeah. I'd like to learn. And I don't know if we actually touched on this during the podcast, but we also do have our restaurant. I mean, I know we talked about our chefs and you know, all the food for the weddings, but we do have a restaurant that's open to the public. And like Cameron mentioned, we love talking to people, obviously we're both talkers. You know, We love wine. We love getting to know people in the industry. So come check out our restaurant or golf course. Talk events with us, you know, beyond just weddings, all of those other fun events too. So. I never asked, are you guys golfers? Are you the golfers? We're trying to get better. We're trying to hit a ball. That's my biggest thing. Natalie's okay. I've just had a tree once. Well, I, we, my. Like bosses at work and everything like that. You guys need to learn how to go if you're going to work here. So. They offered to take us out. I think Cameron had to go home. So I ended up like going with our team. It was so embarrassing. I was like, this is just the portal. And so then I, like, I looked at the maps. I'm very competitive. I was like, I need to figure this out. So I've been golfing with my dad. My sister I've been trying to improve, but I'm definitely not, not that we have a long ways to go. Just say that. We like driving the golf cart. Yeah. Yeah, I had to D we, we, I had a driver. Got, we went out and did the photos. You know, during that one of our weddings it's scary. I don't drive a golf course regularly. And I was like, oh, Just let us, like you just hop in one of these and go off. Like, I was very surprised. So. Cruiser. Or Cameron. If people want to learn more about the reserve, where would you have them check out? Yeah. So I would say that if you want to see photos and kind of like, imagine your wedding, I would check out our Instagram objects or weddings. You can also check us out on Facebook. The websites. Absolutely definitely look at our Instagram. We have really been trying to just revamp it and just really keep it up to date. And so for our 20, 21 year, we have all of our weddings on there. So just different styles. We have cultural weddings, we have tealight ceremonies. We have just traditional types of weddings. So if you're looking to see kind of our style and what we can accommodate to definitely check out our Instagram, I think that's our big focus. Yeah, we can absolutely go to our website and just check out our Gulf side as well as our Nongo side. So those are really, really good places to go. Facebook is great as well, but definitely our Instagram is our big focus at the moment for 2022, we do plan on hopefully getting a Tik TOK. Yeah. So maybe check us out in 2022 on Tik TOK. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I have, I have estimate videos reserved. I haven't done anything on, I think tacky. Yeah. I'm getting into, like, I'm just watching like the Instagram shorts, like they have their tech talk in the mic. It was crazy. I give you. 15 Seconds of the most compelling thing I've ever seen. Well, a camera in LA. Thank you so much for coming on today. As always, if you're interested in being a future guest on the, get to know your wedding pro podcast. You can go to the best minute videos.com/podcast guests. We do have your one. I think we have the flood gates going.

Aaron Siebol, Aaron James Weddings

And thank you so much for coming on. How is your day going? Absolutely. Thank you. It's good. It's been smooth. Did a little bit of editing. I think that's our life pretty much right. And then taught some dance lessons. Cause I also teach dance on the side. So. What kind of dance do you teach? Ballroom dance instructor. So tango waltz salsa. But shotta Moran gay west coast swing east coast swing. It's kind of the whole. I stumbled into a job at 25 that. With an international dance company and they. It was a Craigslist ad. Actually. And so they took me on there. They said, we'll teach you how to dance. If you essentially become like a salesperson for us. Like sell dance lessons. Once you get up to speed and true to their word. They got me up to speed and then taught me. Stuff about my body and about dancing that I had no idea ever existed. So yeah. You could do like an add on, you could teach first dance lessons, right? Have you ever. I mean, I'm dead serious. I mean, we have. I mean, I'm not even being facetious about it. No, no, no, I haven't. I think initially. Early in my web. Th the thing is I wanted to be taken, so not, not. I mean, it's like, I feel like I'm digging serious as. Videographer, but it's like, I want it to be like, cause I had like music videos and stuff and I was like, now I got to like tailor this to weddings and, and videography and. With weddings or else. You know, the market or the clients are gonna be like, what is the dancers? The video? And like, he's probably only half good at something. Cause he's, and the reality is like, I put a lot, I put a lot of time in dance, actually like pretty much like a college education, four straight years of intense dance, but I probably put in. Six years. I mean, I've been shooting for a long time. Five six years in intensely into film. So yeah. But yeah, I would do, I, I might, I might, I might put a little link that says, like, and I'll teach you, you know, or whatever. So yeah, I just got to make a demo, I guess. Right. Yeah. Yeah, it is interesting. Like, you know, I've struggled with that forever. I finally split my sites. Well, I mean, it's still all linked, but you can go to like best made wedding videos or best made corporate videos because it is this weird, like, oh, if I see someone in the white dress like, oh, you must not know how the shoe corporate stuff. Absolutely. And it's so funny because if I feel like if you can do wedding successfully with all this fun spontaneity, with all the energy, with all the clients requests, with all your personal artistic and, you know, you know, Interpretations or skills it's like, you can pretty much cause you. You're shooting product shots. When you're doing weddings, you're shooting. Emotional moments. Honestly. Part of the reason why I wanted to get into weddings was because of the dynamic nature of it and that to me, and it's just been a hundred percent true. It's. It's that storytelling, which is my favorite aspect of any. The shooting is like it's, it's got to have something emotionally attached to it that. That's meaningful. And so weddings, man, just bar none. So it's funny because yeah, I mean, you just get pigeonholed maybe, or. And I get that too. You know, you, you do want to specialize, I think, to a degree, but that's why you have different websites instead of Y. It is interesting because it's like when you can go in and control everything in a corporate shoot, it's, you're like, this is, I mean, I can tell people to be quiet and go sit down or control the light or. We have a wedding. It's like, you, you don't have, you lose a lot of that control and it is, yeah. Weddings are for filming anyway. Are much more challenging to be on the wedding side and the. You know, you have one shot to do everything. [Unknown] I'll see. What would you w where would you, if you, if you could make a living completely on one, where would you throw your hat? I would do weddings. I. I think as we, as we move. As we move into the corporate season right now. We have a lot of corporate video. 'Cause that's the thing, because I think with, with our price point and our couples and the way that we market, you know, they're, they're happy with that representation right. Of, of what we capture. Right. I think. That girl, it guys and girls that, you know, charge a lot more or are promising like this, you know, cinematic vision of, of whatever. Like that's, you know, we are going to capture your day, how it is, right. Without writing a lot of bells and whistles where, you know, you get into that corporate stuff. I, you know, obviously the money is better, but then it's also just a lot more time intensive and demanding in terms of the edits where our edits for our wedding couples. Usually aren't too bad. I will say, Amanda, I think the thing that I, that I didn't understand, and, and now I absolutely adore about weddings. Is that, that one-on-one appreciation. You know, it's like, if you. You know, like your, your goal is to make them happy. They're hopefully they're thinking I love your work, or I really, I enjoy. I, yeah, I love your work, essentially. Hopefully. And when that marriage. But intended, like comes together. That's. I just love it, man. I love when people I get messed up, I'm sure you do too. It's like we cried. We, we, we, we saw this and we cried. We bought, and it's like, this is a person's or a couples. Like most idealistic day, we're surrounded by friends and family. So. And each other. And anyway, I just, I, yeah, so the love and appreciation you get. Whereas like, I haven't done a lot of corporate, I just kind of dip my toe in. I love music videos. I like the artist collaboration. I think that is really, I just love that, that they're an artist. They get it. It's like, Hey, this isn't going to be. Like whoa, like a hundred percent locked in. V like you can plan a lot, but you know, day of talent matters, lighting matters, like depending on where you're shooting all that. So artists tend to, I think, understand that and appreciate that corporate, you know, they have no idea. In my minimal experience with it, like, so then you have to educate them and then go through the process and then shoe and then deliver. And then you have to manage expectations throughout each one of those levels. Whereas weddings, they should see your work. Music videos, they should see your work, you know, and then, and then I don't know if that makes sense and resonates with you, but. It's just, you know, The weddings, you have a client of one, right? As long as the couple is happy with it, right. As long as they feel like that adequately represents their day. You know, we're, we're a corporate stuff. Like we were talking off camera, you know, there could be politics going on behind the scenes of. What can we include or D. Did we say the right buzzword correctly or okay. That verbiage was wrong. Like we. That's not how we say we're like, You know, the couple and that goes in, that goes into the whole thing, right? Where like, you know, we give a good experience. They have, which then when they get their video that carries over right. Where like, if you're stressing people out, like I've worked with photographers, right. Where it's like, it's a very stressful situation. And then when they get those. They remember that, right? Where for us it's. Oh, Reed was cool. And this is good. And we're happy. Yeah. Well, and do the whole marketing scheme. It's it. Like there've been times when I'm on. I don't my weaknesses marketing, Instagram, Facebook, like I, I just, I barely do any marketing, which is honestly it. It's gonna, it's fine. It's fine. For right now, I'll fix that at some point, but I'm just getting by, with the, with what I got and word of mouth. And when the people do find me. It's been successful to that degree, which is great, but I, but it's weird because I ended up, you know, I watched YouTube videos. I watched Instagram little things. And it's like, I can't tell when at first I had been watching videos where I'm like, is this, are they, are they being paid? Because it looks, it looks like you're like I'm being interviewed right now. Like, oh man, this is the greatest cell phone like I've ever had. Like, I can't believe what a set like, this is amazing. It's like, it's this kind of camera, but it's like, and in reality, it's like, they're totally being paid. I like, bye. Whoever to, to sell this and Sony way, I guess. I don't know where that fits in other than I feel like the traditional Mar so that's, I guess like new age marketing, trying to make it this authentic. Not influencer kind of like vibe and then there's other, there's other companies that are, you know, still, I guess, branding themselves, which I think is. I'm still correct. I mean, you know, Coca-Cola commercials with person or Corona commercial on the beach. Coca-Cola Christmas with a polar bear. Like those positive sense, sense oriented, emotional moments. So, yeah, that's but again, I haven't dipped too much in that. And you said something else that I was gonna, that I was kinda gonna tag on, but I can't remember. I've. I've thought in my head anyway. Sorry. So yeah. Good. So, how did you, is he, I mean, you did the dancing, a lot of it. How did you get into videography? Is this been a lifelong thing? Is this recent? I mean, what, you know, I had no idea. I wanted, you know, if you had told me eight years ago, I would be doing wedding podcasts, you know? So how did you get into all this? Hey, man. Yeah. Yeah. I'm curious about your story too, cause I, cause I compare and contrast. Nah, man. I was lucky. Cause my, I think, I think what happens fundamentally was. My mom has really good taste in film. So she showed me just some iconic classics. Out the gate. Let me gone with the wind or, you know, multi-use Falcon or, I mean, just kind of some really like Doris Day, like some really. And I just, I. They didn't have the technology that would rely on the performance and that the story. And, and I mean, th I mean, don't get me wrong. I mean, it's shot beautifully. Some of that. That's the beauty, the beauty of it is something that is timeless and classic in and of itself. That was, I think the spark. I think after that I was an athlete. I was, I was kinda over sports. My junior year in high school. I went to this, I, this was so my mom kinda. Influenced me by introducing me to cinema to a degree she was in like in the cinema. She just was like, this is really good. You should pay it. You should watch this. And then, then the next layer was, I was getting out of sports. I love basketball to dad. I played a lot when I was younger. I adored Michael Jordan still do. And which, by the way, that Netflix doc, dude, Ooh. Sports fan. Oh my gosh. Anyway, I went to a show at my local. My high school Eisenhower high school in the Ackman. Data show a play guys and dolls. And I was in the audience and I was watching high school peers. I think there were a grade or two above or a grade above. They blew it, blew my mind because. Here. We're all in high school in real life. And yet here they are. Gambling. Flirting with each other. Gang cause you know, guys had all his gangsters, ladies flapper, like it, it just, it just the love, the intrigue. I just blew my mind. The performances were amazing. So after that, I was like, I want to be an actor. And so I went to college pretty much. Not knowing what I want to do other than I'll be an actor. I'll go to the theater. And feel it out for a little bit. Why ended up pretty much? I ha I have a different major, but dude, I, by far put like, 80%. No joke. 80% of my college town was in the theater department performing and then because of that. So because that you learn, you know, You learn a little bit of lighting. You learn sound design. You. You know, you learn all these things and, you know, directors directing screen or a playwriting, which, you know, screenplay. So that kind of, I didn't realize it at the time, but that really gave me a strong foundation for storytelling and a strong foundation for collaboration and a strong foundation for the art itself of. Not only acting, but, but theater. And, and then from there. I in the height. Actually right before college, I made a couple of short films. I'd samurai things. It was inspired by the matrix and yeah. And it's. In hindsight. It's cool at the time. Anyway. And like one more anyway. So I did a couple of short films. Then I, after I got out of dance, 10 Years ago would that company, I did some more. I've done like seven narratives and then jumped into music videos and then jumped in the wedding. So, anyway, that's kind of the, how the evolution of that. Yeah, I don't. And I don't know if yours is that it was that. My, I guess mine started. Yeah. Essentially. High school. And then, you know, And then evolved every four years into like a different idea, even dancing, ballroom dancing, man. It's when you do performances, that's a story it's like, you're like, if it's in my opinion, if it's a good performance, You're not just like hitting some of the beats you're you're exaggerating moments. You're, you're embracing, you're getting away. You're doing things that are telling the audience a dramatic story. Physically. And so I guess storytelling has always inspired me and changed me and moved me. So anyway, that was kind of the evolution of that, but I don't know if you, that was your experience or have you had. Some people I know because you know, the education is on YouTube or whatever is like blossomed up. People are. You know, are able to jump in later in life, realizing that that could be a cool. Market to get in and, or just a cool thing to do. So I don't know yours is. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting because you know, and this is kind of the impetus of this podcast in general, right? Because obviously we talked to photographers and florists and videographers and everybody and whatever your path is. You know, that leads you here, right? I mean, you are a different videographer than I am. Right. And, and right. Photographers are different. Because of that experience, right. What am I good friends, Michael? Oh, he's. He's a colleague. He is wedding videos. And corporate seven. He did a lot of nature documentaries growing up. So, you know, his. So his ties and his videos are alive. Slower. A lot longer cuts. Right? Lot more. Right. We're like I grew up in news and that was when I did. And so, you know, my videos was. And so that's what always in fascinating to me is, you know, everyone's, you know, what your perspective is and your view shapes, you know, from how you grew up and kind of what we're obviously like you're more into the storytelling. And I would say like, I have a little bit less of that, you know, like I don't, I dock you for you, like documenting, I guess. Is that what you would that be. Yeah. And I think that are I focus. We're more, I think we're more of a service industry than a product industry. Right? I mean, I think that the way that I look at it is a little bit more like that. Oh, gosh, man. That's interesting. I've never heard that. That's really interesting. You know, and that's what part of I'm working on a corporate thing right now we were talking off camera is, you know, they're, they're, they do stuff for homes. Right. And, and that's what they talk about too, is like, okay, well, we're not just like securing your home. Right. We're we're servicing you with something. That's going to give you peace of mind for the next, you know, 10, 20 years. Right. And so it's more of a service than it is a product. Good stuff. Like, you know, you. You know, when they get their video, you're happy because of that whole experience because of the initial inquiry through the booking, through the day of, through the, after, through all that stuff, we're like, you know, there's somebody [unknown]. Graphers right there. Like, oh, well, I'll get you your video in, you know, nine months or whatever after the wedding. Well, okay. So. You have a different level of whatever you've waited nine months, you get the thing. And you're like, okay, well, I haven't heard from this person in six months and now I get it. And like, it's different than like, oh, you know, Reed gives it to us. Like I'm posting, sneak, peeks on Instagram. You know, we're seeing the process of rides. Right. Well, That's dude that is. That's really interesting. I don't know if it's philosophical or like that's, that's a really interesting take. And I, you know, and I think, I guess for me, So, you know this, I guess this is it's interesting. I guess there's like, it's like that cat, like capsule. Which yeah. It's like these big videographer. Yeah, videography houses and then the. The boutique ones. And I guess I consider myself a boutique one because all take. At first, I was like eight weeks and then I was like, it just some. I've just thought, I didn't know that it was going to slowly ramp into. So much work initially. And so, so that's now like 12 to 15 weeks. So I guess that's right. If somebody is looking for a quicker turnaround and they're looking for something that pretty much documents a day, and again, I don't, I don't. I don't even think that's a matter of like better or worse. Cause that's just interpretation of how you want to remember. One of the more important days of your life. Yeah, that's, that's really interesting. But for me personally, it's like, and I've gone back and forth on this, man. I I've gone back and forth on, on the creative interpretation of a day. Like right when they hire me, they're hiring. I'm not there to do a one-to-one documentary. I could. I could, and honestly, I err on the side of real, I like, I like. I'd like organic and natural. I try to avoid a lot of. You have to, I pose a little bit, but honestly, if the photographer is posing, which 95. A hundred percent of the time they do. And that's great. I'll capture that. You know, and, and people do need that kind of direction to get them to loosen up and to, to, to connect with one another in front of somebody else in front of a camera. I understand that that's abnormal. You don't do that in your home. You don't do that when you're out on a walk. So it's been this really interesting. I guess conversation with myself to be like, I it's, it's coming through my eye. You're hiring me because you like how I capture. The essence of your day, it's less about the document Terry documentarian coming in and just getting a one-to-one. And it's more about doing part of that. Cause I w I don't, I don't. The thing is I don't ever, I don't want you to watch your video and be like, Like, whoa, like this is so beautiful, but it's not us. Yeah. To me, it's a marriage of those two. It's like, this is so beautiful and you capture things I didn't know were going on. And also you captured very much the energy and essence of me and my partner and also our friends and family. And you also have an artistic slant and bent that I, we just love. That to me is like, like the that's where I want to live. So it's in that realm versus I'm so artsy and cool because I've been editing before. I'm like, I can't do that. It takes away the focus from them. And like, what's this film about it's about them. It's about their day. It's like, it's not about how cool. My editing tricks or my, my visuals are. It is to a very small degree because that's why they hired me. But it's, it's not about that. Does that, does that make sense? So it's really interesting that you frame it as a service. Because I've almost wanted to go versus like a product. I've almost cause I've in a way I've tried to safeguard my art, the artistic integrity of my filming sensibilities. And we talked about this, right, right. At the start of like, you know, why it's kind of written in the contract, you know, you know, final cut final say, because as far as like, because you should have done your research to understand. Oh, this is what they bring to the table. And yeah, like we'll collaborate. I'm totally open to some insight, of course, like insights of the day, these people are important or, you know, these moments, of course, of course. But as far as how it all comes together. Yeah. That's. Really interesting, man. I'm glad you brought that up because it's something I've thought I've thought about a long time. I don't know if that makes sense. Do you have any thoughts on that? But yeah, it's, it's hard because you know, If we, I mean, you know, we balance that out too, you know, I really want. The couples to know like what they're getting from us. Right. And I've always looked at it, you know, I think videography, especially photography to an extent, but, you know, Photos. Right. You can take a hundred photos of any event, right. And put together an album. You know, with videography. You know, you really have to have a purpose. Right. You know, what are we putting together with this, whether we telling with this, right. And you know, it's always been this balance and I'm sure you belong to a lot of these like wedding videography. The wedding videographers, Facebook group rides. It's like a whole national, whatever. These ones that are like, everyone's talking all the time and stuff. And I think they got first get caught up in, in the art versus the business. Right. And there's like, well, no, well, this is like, this is what I want to do. It's like, yeah. Well then go do your short film. Right? I mean, if you want to do. You know, but like, if you're, if you're trying to sell a service. Right. Cloud team for it is that. But it's always those two sides. And I think, especially with the geography has struggled with that the most. Well, I think with that, I guess that's where that's where the secret swim. Right? Because if, if you're going to be artsy, fartsy, and it's your way or the highway, and it's, I'm going to cut together. These birds and that ocean lick of the wave and that flower, and then your hands, and then, you know, that smile. And then, you know, and then finally 10 minutes and I, you know, You know, and then finally you get to the couple or something. It's like, you know, I can see where yeah. That, that would take away from the, the idea that for me, what I found that I, what I started doing with my films was I was like, okay, five minute highlight, but then. I started to shoot so much and I was like, man. I, I personally do like the. It's like that day. What was the weather like? So like, I'm like, what do the clouds look like? And that sounds like, why would you shoot the clouds? What like, why? Like, Why would you actually throw the clouds in the cut like that? Like who was looking up at the clouds. And for me, or that tree that was waving, you know, in the wind or that bird, that perch itself in a very obscure spot on the, on the lawn or something. And I guess for me, like, Even though it is about the couple and the wedding life. Itself is, is continually going on. And, and I guess for me, that's nature always is that th th the humbling beauty, I guess, of, of the existence of every, of the universe or of us, or whatever, without getting too crazy, but it's like, and so I guess, For me, I try to interject some of that. So that I, so that it, it was captured that day. And so the, the couple. Understands. Or sees like all the other beauty surrounding their beautiful day. I totally understand where and I, and I've seen some man it's the, the spectrum is wide, right? Hardcore artsy, artsy. And I've, I've seen some hardcore artsy that I love, but I'm like, I don't know how the couple felt about that because it seemed to kinda. Out shine, but maybe, you know, we're kind of in a weird thing with Instagram and like Tik TOK and like, so whatever makes you look the best, even if it's at the cost of. You too. To a degree. But I don't know if that'd be fair to say, but anyway, you. The RCRC, then you have like the hardcore, just black and white. It's like it's and you captured as it is. And there's no, you. The cuts are, are, are from segments and segments. Getting ready to. Showing up to the venue to, you know, groom's shots and bride, bridesmaid shots, and then, you know, ceremony and then cake cutting the dancing, you know, and that. That formulas. But I guess, I guess for me, when I, when couples seek me out, I hope they're thinking. We've looked at a lot of wedding films. He marries the two together really beautifully. We are excited to have him. I do the artsy thing and trust him. Cause that's what it comes down to too, is that that trust would with where it's like, you know, the corporate stuff, they see your work, they trust you to deliver. And then also he's going to capture us in our, in our most. You know, best, but I haven't, I haven't been on a. I'm in one videography group on Facebook and yeah. And it's pretty positive. I mean, there's some good constructive criticism that's launched. I should probably post one of mine. I don't. I don't know. Kind of shied away. I've shot away. Cause you. It's a very. Interesting place and show. I don't know what to make of it, but yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, it's interesting, right? I, in, in certainly it evolves over time. Right. You know, we're, we're the style and everything that we, you know, we, I we've done some. Like very tuned in right to like how we do videos now. Right. But, but it is that like, my videos are terrible Instagram videos, right? Because they don't, they're not flashy enough. There's not enough condensed. Beautiful shots in 45 seconds or whatever. Right. You know, we get lots of cocktail hour and we get lots of, you know, mingling a couple of memories, I guess. Maybe would you say? Yeah. And. And so, you know, like those things are great for the couple, right. It's terrible for like Instagram, right? Cause you're looking at. You know, But like God. Right, right. But I've ultimately just been like, well, I don't care about that. Right. You know, we can post some still frames and things, but like that is not. You know, you have to edit again. It's are you editing for yourself? Are you editing for the art? Are you editing for the couple and really Mary, you know, like. I have a whole questionnaire that we go through with the couple about, you know, what is important to you and what do you want to see? Cause I always tell them, like, you know, w what is important to me or what is important to, you know, brighter groom or whoever a is different than you. Right. We need to know what to capture. The example I always give is we have this questionnaire and the first one I ever sent out, cause it tells everything, right? Like how detail, shots, dancing shots, you know, reception D to all these other things. And they have portraits. Couples portraits. One-on-ones like all that sounds like one, like not important. You know, guests mingling 10. Casual dancing 10. Oh, That's cool. And, and, and, and so I'm, I'm looking at this, I'm like, well, this is who wants, who wants that much, you know, cocktail hour. I know, you know, and so I asked him, I go, Hey guys, we're trying this thing. I mean, this is, you know, five years ago and they go, well, We like, we get photos of us all the time. Right. Our, our, all our friends are coming in from the east coast. We haven't seen them in a year and a half. That's what we want to see. Right. We don't want to, we don't really care about us. We get photos of us all the time. I go, oh, well then that's great. Then we're going to focus our energy on the things that you actually want to see. Whereas if we hadn't have done that, The diligent would have been right then. Right. So, so that's why. And obviously it differs from couple to couple. Right. But that's the most glaring example of that. Really good to know, like what. W w why do you want the video? Why want me, because I wanted to see my first dance with my grandmother. Okay. Well, that's really great to know, right? Right. Yeah, right. And it's interesting because I was thinking about this earlier with who you editing for, because there is a. That that comes into it a little bit. Right? Obviously you're editing for the client in the couple number one, but, you know, I showed one of my films to a really good friend of mine and she. Katherine shout out to her. She's she's awesome. But she wants it. And then at the end, so I, so I had the shot and I'm, I'm focusing on a different couple of, I can't remember who, how they're related, but somewhat close. They were in a lot of the family photos. So I'm on them and they're pretty big on the screen, like here. And, and then I go around them and I see the couple and they're dancing together. They have no idea that I'm there. Shooting them. And I react to them and he says, I love you. And then kisses her, I think. And then she says, I love you too. You only sit them out. You can't, you can't hear them so far away. And then I cut the film. That's the end of the wedding. Or the wedding com and she, my friend goes. Oh, like, I don't know if I'd want to be. Like s**t, like video in that moment or whatever. And at first I was like, yeah, it's kind of not invasive because they know that I'm bouncing around and doing whatever they hired me. But yeah, like that's a very intimate in my mind. Extremely beautiful. But intimate moment. And that, but I was like, you know, for me, part of the reason I left that in. Well, a lot of reasons, but the, one of the main ones was, I just was thinking, oh my gosh, You know, if they pay, if they have kids or. You know, they show this somebody like 20 years, 50 years. If I saw my parents. And in a very [unknown]. Like unrehearsed, like, cause you know, when you, when you're shooting and they know you're there, that's a slightly different energy you get, then if you're, they don't know you're there and then you capture something so organic. And, and so I told her, I essentially like, man, I would, if I could see my great grandparents in that moment or my grandparents or my parents, even in the, in that kind of like intimate moment, that would blow my mind in the most beautiful way. So in a way it's like you're cutting for the client, obviously, but, but. Assuming that they want this to be somewhat of an heirloom or even just something that's made. Cause I would definitely be watching. I wouldn't be watching my parents every, every six months, but it's like, man, if I could pull that out once a year or once every five years or something, it would just rock my world. So anyway, part of that too goes in into the equation, I guess. Yeah. It's just, yeah, there's a lot of components, man. Artistic choices regarding shooting and editing that, speaking to another videographer. It's cool too, too. Kind of understand. You know, you're, you're taking your perspective on it, so, yeah. Yeah. Well, it's, it's one of those things. And I do think that if anything else, like COVID has helped. Increase the interest in video. I, this, the conversations we've had with consults lately, I mean, obviously with live streaming and things, but having, you know, capturing these moments and having them exist, right. We, we shot a wedding years ago. Not a, it was not a wonderful right. I mean, we were the most expensive vendor and like, we're not that expensive. And, you know, But they're there and they're dancing. And we w w like, we captured everything. We were only there six hours and like, you know, they're dancing. We just let the cameras roll on the dance floor. They're just doing whatever. And I'm like, W, you know, in 40 years or whatever, they're going to be able to watch that and be like, God, I mean, cause they were really young or they were like, you know, 20 whatever. And they're going to be like, man, look at like our dumb ass is dancing here. Like, but it's like that exists now. Right? Because we were there to capture it. Right. Right. We're not there. Those moments don't exist. Right. Doesn't exist unless it, unless you, you know, I mean, obviously it happened, but, but you know, it exists. Well, And preserve it. Yeah. And, and, and I think. I was chatting with another buddy of mine and Jason, he was. We collaborate on some films up and, you know, he was like, you know, the flowers are going to go away. I mean, you've probably heard this, you know, the, you know, the dress might go away or whatever, but you know, the, the, the photos. The, and nowadays, because video. It's like those won't ever go away. And. And I just, and I, you know, it's interesting because I was after like the third or fourth one, I was like, what? I get a video. Would I get a video of Monday or what I. It's almost like videos, like. It's so oversaturated, like everything is like shot now. And so everything is shot. It's like you can capture. You know, something you've made at dinner last night and then posted or whatever. Yeah, I guess, I guess. But I guess his essentially his, his point was dude, that that lives on for as long as that video exists. And as long as somebody is around, that cares about it too, to watch it. And assuming that, you know, I guess, you know, family families go on. You know, for generations, which I guess definitely is a thing for some, you know, then that kind of. That kind of detailed accounts of something meaningful and special. I like even. I, you know, and that, that would be monumental in a lot of ways, I think. And for me personally, I think I would, I think I would get one, cause I was like, I don't know. Like I like, even though like I just acting background, like filmmaking it's like, I kind of like love big behind the camera because I don't. Go out of my way to be like, Hey, like this is, you know, and obviously wouldn't be on your wedding. Sort of, but some people who. But yeah, I, I would, I would get one just so that, yeah, I guess 30, 40 years from now, my kids, whoever would be like, whoa, The cause for me, you know, like, like what you were just saying about those. That couple was like, we got friends flying in from out of town, but what's. It's like, yeah. I would love to see my grandparents and like them, but if I've seen photos and maybe if I knew them for 10 years of my life or whatever, 15, 20 years, like that would be awesome to see them. But man, if I could see there. Best friends. If I could see their grandparents, like who would be, I guess, my great grade or something like that. And so. If I could see their clothing, can you imagine the clothing choices you made, like versus, you know, like all of that says something like how, and again, it's not necessarily how important, like you went, you spent a hundred thousand dollars. It's not, it's not about that. It's because you can do that with a hundred dollars. You know, if you, if you really want to. You know, go and go and do the work to find it a dress or a suit or whatever brides are like. Yeah. Right, dude. Yeah. Right bro. F. And that's not a hundred bucks, but anyway, Yeah. I, I still, for me, it's like, there's, there's a lot that could that's gleaned from that. Isn't just the couple in a video that I think is powerful and might live on beyond what a person might even think it. It would. So anyway, It's funny because when you talk about people like not wanting to capture, you know, we do like a lot of wedding shows in Seattle and we'll be talking like the brides will be walking by on their phones. Oh, Hey, like, do you want a wedding video? And they're like, no, like I'm not air or there'll be like, And like you said, like where everyone's captured everything and you're like, Why wouldn't you want this of you? Like in a, in an actual, you know, good usable is is, is very funny to me. Well, do you know. And what gets me. So I'm a part of some of like the Northwest wedding groups or whatever. That's how I've gotten a little bit of my business and, you know, they'll say something. Usually it's a bride, but you know, someone will post and it'll be, Hey, can I get a reasonable videographer? You know, a reasonably priced videographer. And I guess to me, I'm sitting here, I'm like, okay. What's what, what would you. Yeah, what's reasonable because, and again, and some are, and then some are really great and they're like, Hey, we just, we don't have a big budget. Like we're looking for somebody 500 bucks. It's like a thousand bucks. It's like respect. That's your budget. You don't want to blow that. You just, you just want somebody that's like learning the craft or, or that's just their price point. And that's what you want. Totally understand. But I guess, you know, whenever they say that, it's almost, it feels like, and again, I mean, you know, you don't take it personally because you can't because it's business. But it's like, it feels like, you know, your pricing might be unreasonable. And it's like, well, it's, it's reasonable based on the skills it's based on the. The artistic. You know, Vision. Oh my gosh at the time. Well, yeah, when you price all that out and then you compare somebody that's $500, somebody that's $1,200. Somebody that's $2,500. Somebody that's $4,000. Somebody that's. $8,000. There's a, usually most of the time there's an. There's a. There's a climbing quality for audio, a climate quality for that, the gear, you know, it's just, you can just tell that they're using some high Rez or their camera gear, their dynamic ranges again, and, and. Layman people that aren't. Our crews cinematographers. That's not their language. They, they just, is it, does it capture what I needed to kind of capture end of story. And again, I respect anybody. That's. As a budget and is looking for a specific. Needs. Or somebody that's within a specific price point. But, yeah, I just, sometimes you can tell the tone of the, of the thing on, on that group is like, And I'm like, I, well, I guess I won't put myself out there cause I don't want to, like, I don't want you to be like, what are you, what, Hey, anyway, I dunno. But I see that on an occasion. It just always makes me, I guess, laugh a little bit, but. Well it's and it's it's, you know, at the time. Just the experience and time and everything. They busy into it. We had a console the other day and they're getting married down south. And that was her question, right? She goes, Hey, yeah, I'm looking at you in someone that's about 40%, right. Of your rate. And, you know, can you help kind. 20%. Wow. Yeah. And like I said, we're not. Well wildly expensive. Right? And so it's like, what can you? And I was like, well, you know, we've done 350 weddings. Like we've done this many hours, you know, like this. I can't like right. You know, what do you quantify that like, There probably have not been doing it as long. Right. So, you know, there's just a lot of intangibles that go into it. Right. There's a lot of. Yes. Just like having spent a lot of time at weddings. Right. And like how things should go were, Hey, don't forget to go pee now or do the. It's just like all these intangibles that you can't put a price tag on the bike. We do this a lot, you know? Well, well, Now, not only do you do this a lot, so you understand the th the wedding and how to best capture the, the, the most anticipated moments. Like the most. Likely moments to occur. Like when the, when the bride is walking down with her dad, like she's probably gonna hug him at the end of the aisle. That's. That's a pretty critical moment. If you've been to weddings. That's the thing, the first case, obviously a critical moment, like. So like you just now have a library of moments that, that really usually matter to the couple. But, but dude, the trigger time involved. And understanding your camera and understanding the settings. And that's all just like technical that's that's. That's not even artistic at that point. It's like, I should shoot this at 24 frames. It's a 30 or higher if I need to. I need to get an ND filter because man, that sun is blaring, you know, like to understand all of that takes. Hours if not years, but definitely tons and tons of hours, usually years to develop. And again, I mean, hopefully I guess for me, I just hope that when somebody looks at my work. They probably don't consciously or, you know, know that, but some unconscious subconsciously, like not unconscious, but subconsciously they, they realize, oh, wow. There's something that. Like. That's really clear. That's that's he captured that at a weird, weird angle, but my mind I'm like trying to elevate them so as low or, you know, and, and so hopefully that resonates with them, but yeah. It is the intangibles. There's no way. You know, it'd be like, I was trying to be, you know, like a plumber gives us. You know, or an electrician it's like, I don't know what you're charging me. I just know you're telling me what's going to cause, and I believe you are. I don't and you explain it and it kind of makes sense, you know, that kind of thing. So it's like, You just go with good reviews. Good people. Good. References, whatever, you know, I guess so. Well, Erin, I really appreciate you coming on today. If you want, you know, if people were curious about seeing a lot more of your work, right. Social media said, where would you have them check out? Absolutely. I appreciate you. Thank you so much, Reed. Aaron James weddings. Dot com. And then I think it's Aaron, James weddings across the board, Instagram. Facebook. Yeah. email@gmail.com. So yeah. That's that's I would say are the best places to find me. And obviously you're basing Yakima, but yoga or have camera will travel. I have camera will travel. Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Canada. If they're open. So yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I appreciate, I always appreciate, you know, having, having other videographers come on here and it's going to always stop. If you are a wedding vendor, here are some coming on in the future. You can go to the bestmadevideos.com/podcastguests.

Crystal Wolf, Blush Strokes Beauty

Well, I'm so excited today to be doing new, get to know your wedding pro episodes. Again, it's been a few weeks since we've had a new vendor on, we had Paige Lindsey on, on Monday. I'm so excited to have crystal Wolf on today. A makeup artist from down south crystal. Why don't you introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. Hi, I'm crystal, as you guys heard. I am the owner of bless strokes, beauty makeup artistry. I work primarily in bridal, especially this time of year. I have a whole team of hair and makeup artists that we travel all over the Pacific Northwest for big and small weddings, all of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and sometimes as far south as Northern California, but that doesn't happen all that often. And how is everything going for you now? You know, we're, we're trying to open up again, you know, having weddings come back on, how is everything going for you? So far this year. Honestly this year, my team and I, we keep making jokes. Like we're just trying to survive it. Because we have, all of our brides are weddings from last year that had to cancel last minute that have tried to keep their same dates. And that have sort of doubled up with all of the weddings that were already scheduled for this year. Plus the elopements and people who are afraid of lockdowns, trying to get theirs and really quickly. So we're, we're about triple booked this year, compared to previous years. And I didn't really see that coming. I thought that maybe we would struggle to come back after last year's lockdowns, but if anything. We're busier than we've ever been. And I know on Monday. You have. You know, we did weddings, which is always great. Right? We like to have the, to fill that counter. Do you guys prefer more of the, you know, traditional, larger weddings, more of the elopements where you. Do you hit both sides? Where do you guys kind of fit in? So I have a hair, a hair artist who actually prefers the big sort of grand, your formal weddings. Those are just more her style. She loves the Appcues and the glamour. And for me, I think I have a soft spot for elopements. I have always wanted to go to Vegas and just get married in front of Elvis. That was my dream wedding. So when I have small weddings, especially ones that happen, you know, in the rain. Or, you know, last minute or an elopement, those are really, really close to my heart. And so those are my personal favorite. I like this. Cause I, I have an opportunity to give a really like special, personal touch to whomever I'm making up. Those tend to be a little more relaxed. As opposed to the big formal weddings, which live and die by their timeline. Yeah, that has been the benefit this year with some of the rescheduled, you know, whether we do any things where it's a little smaller, it's a little more. DIY, not necessarily in wedding, but in pace, like, okay, what are we doing here? How is it going to look? And I definitely think in terms of, you know, bringing in the, your makeup artist and everything, doing all of that as well, have you enjoyed. That the, the pace this year with some of the weddings where it does seem a little more deliberate, like, okay, we're trying to do these things and make sure itself on celebration. Absolutely. Yes, that's actually one of my favorite parts of my job in general is just how intimate it is. You know, I'm, I'm touching people with my hands, I'm touching their, faces, their hair. And so I. I'm joke all the time that I'm in the business of emotional management. She just really sort of take that opportunity and make sure that everybody's very happy, very confident, relaxed, no runners this year, which was really great. It has happened once or twice where someone has just said, Nope, I got to go. And we have to sort of bar the doors and calm everybody down. No, one's done that this year, everybody, this year has been super sure, which is great. Well, that's the thing when it comes to the maker bar, these two, and you know, I see the posts all the time online, you know, w. You know, last minute, this are looking for that and, and not taking into account that, you know, your makeup team is, you know, the first vendors, right. You're going to see in the day either you see the bride kind of during the most intimate times, all, all the friends and all of that, it really helps kind of set the tone. And so it is. Overlooked. I think sometimes where it's like, okay, well I only have this much to spend, or I need somebody last minute, or I don't have that and not taking into account. Like, no, this is really someone that's going to be with me for a really important part of my day. Right. And a lot of times. They, they don't think about little things. Like who's helping me into my dress. Who's helping me put my Gardner on. Who's putting my shoes on. For me. Those are something that as a makeup artist, I find myself doing it's. If you are halfway dressed and your hair is being done and you have to go to the bathroom. That's me holding your dress over your head for you. It's very, very vulnerable and intimate. And so a lot of times when I see that there is somebody who's has a very, very small budget because they, they didn't consider it beforehand. I do my best. To try and. And. I work with them as much as I can, but sometimes you just have to recognize that that's not. It's not going to be a good fit for one way, you know, one reason or another. Yeah, sorry. I mean, it's, it's the same. I feel similarly with video where sometimes we just get higher because, okay, we just need this. Or it's a service that we need, whereas, you know, Being one of those vendors, that's with you all day. It's not like someone that's dropping off the rentals or whatever. I mean, this is, you know, and with your makeup, this is especially that, that beginning hours where you're with your mom or your family or your sisters or whatever, like. It's such an intimate getting ready time and where you're, there could be like, you know, four in the morning and six in the morning, whatever, you know, getting there and really dictating kind of how that pace is going to go. Right, right. Yeah. A lot of times too. Like if they remember me, then I didn't do my job properly. My job is to get in there and be involved in all of that intimate sort of vulnerable stuff when nobody's had their coffee yet. And then, you know, when it's time for me to leave, I should be able to leave. And they shouldn't really remember that I was there. So trying to just keep things as calm and relaxed as I can usually is, is how. That goes. It's always. You never know. Things are going to end up too. And then, especially with. I think going back to what you said about the last minute brides for like, I only have this much to spend. A lot of times they haven't considered to how much of a liability. My job is so it's not just getting in and setting the pace for the day and making sure you look beautiful. It's also making sure that everything is hygienic. Everything is sanitized and there's no risk of someone getting sick. And also your makeup is going to look bad. If my tools are dirty, that's just the way it is. So coming in and setting up basically a clean room. In order to start applying hair and makeup and then keeping everything clean throughout the processes. Is really difficult. And if I'm sick. Everybody's sick. Yeah. So. It's a big deal. So, how did you get involved? Are you from the area? Are you from the Pacific Northwest? So I grew up in Southern Alabama. And I moved here about 18 years ago. I started doing makeup. As a hobby, like 10 years ago, I want to say 10 or 11 years ago. And at the time I was working in volunteer positions in victims advocacy with the sexual assault center for Pierce county. And then I was also doing some of the like crisis Textline work with LGBTQ youth. Those are both really hard jobs emotionally. And there was a point where I was not super healthy dealing with my own stuff and I just couldn't. Emotionally handle. The weight that those jobs carried with them. And so I had to step away and once I was, you know, all better and I had been away for long enough, I didn't really want to go back. But. I also didn't have any kind of work that was terribly fulfilling for me. And so I started doing makeup. All the time as a hobby and pretty soon it snowballed into people. Asking me to do it for them, for parties, or if they could pay me to do it for their wedding. Which led to me taking some classes, hygiene and safety courses. It sort of snowballed from there and I've been doing business. As a legal business entity in Washington. Insured and everything for going on six years now. And it's the best job. It's the best job ever. My absolute dream job. That's fascinating. We ha I was racking my brain. I, Jessica van Campbell, she's a forest she's I think was on like episode a really long time ago. She is also a grief and crisis counselor. Right. And so she also, and, and I think she was, I can't, you know, this was years ago now, but was using forums and everything as a way that balanced that. Right. Because it is so emotionally taxing. Did you have, I got background to prepare you for that? Or what was that like to go through the processes of, of that work? So my background is mostly through experience. I was a foster kid in Alabama. And so I saw a lot of. What I dealt with on a regular basis through the crisis center firsthand as a kid. So when I came here and I was looking for work that wasn't just, you know, Receptionist or working in a pizza place or something. I wanted to do something that would make a difference. And I saw a lot of. Really positive and beautiful things in that work. But I also saw a lot. A lot, a lot of ugliness. And while at first, like when you first start doing the job, it's really easy to focus on the good things that you're seeing. But it does, it does get heavier and heavier. The more you do it. And so just sort of balancing that with something that. Was unique and considered beautiful, like. Makeup is beauty. Was just a really easy way without spending thousands of dollars in additional therapy. My friends, call me at therapy junky. Cause I'm a big fan. But yeah, it was just a nice way to sort of balance it out with beauties. We've got the ugliness. And the beauty and I could work some of what I was feeling or I had seen or experienced into some of my more graphic makeup. Especially working with photographers in the area. It was easier to. Get that done. Yeah. That's. I know it's I. And I absolutely get it. I used to work in news with, with. My camera stuff. And it was a lot of negativity. Right. And it was a lot of things. I mean, nowhere near as, as, as heavy as is obviously, you know, counseling and dealing with that. But the first wedding I went to and I was like, oh my God, like, everyone's happy here. Like everyone wants me here. Right? Because my, my now wife, but I think, I don't even know if we were engaged at the time. She goes, well, how was it? I go what's I'm so used to people not wanting me around liar. Like nobody wants like a news camera around. Right. That always means. Yeah, that happened. I'm going to get so weird to have like everyone want me to be there and be excited. So I absolutely understand, like trying to balance that out. What was it like making that transition and going through the process of kind of establishing and then becoming a makeup brand. It was hard. It was really hard because when you first start. Charging when people first started asking me, like, what can I pay you? Like, I didn't have a business name. I didn't have separate brushes for myself and them. Like, I didn't have no idea what I was doing. And so after the first couple of times of just saying, you know, whatever you think is fair is totally fine. And realizing that I couldn't continue to do that. Either had to say no, or I had to come up with something that was going to be reasonable for all of us. And then taking the health and sanitation classes that I did. Cause I'm just a tiny bit of a germaphobe. And realizing that in order to do this and, and take money from people for this, there's actually kind of a lot that goes into it. And comparing that to what's available out on the market. I mean, you can go on Facebook marketplace now and find anywhere, just type in makeup. And you'll find people selling used makeup or people offering to do a full face makeup application plus lashes for $40. And like, how can I make this worth my while and still compete with that? And that was the hardest part for me. When I first started was figuring out that I didn't need to compete with that, that I just needed to focus on doing what I do really well. Doing it in a way that is safe for both me and the person that I'm with and doing it in a way that benefited both of us and the people who are doing, you know, $30 Makeup application, flush lashes. Someone who wants that is not going to be my client. And so we aren't, we aren't in competition and they're learning the same way I learned. On other people. And there's no reason for me to feel negatively about that. Yeah, it's, that's the hardest thing in starting out or doing anything new. And it is that comparing that. And I'm still guilty of it in stuff that I do. And it's like this learning process of, of, you know, and you see it all the time. People like I'm in these video groups and you see people. You know, complain all the time online. Oh, there's, someone's offering the, you know, ever your drone in 20 hours in $500 to one of them. And you're like, that's not, but it's so hard, right. Because it's, it's your. You're trying to grow and you're trying to expand and you're trying to find new clients and it's right. Yeah, and it, I mean, it's still hard even now to cause a lot of the groups that I'm in on Facebook, which is by the way, the ultimate networking resource for wedding vendors, I'm still in a couple of the budget groups and a lot of times they'll post their budget. And I have to decide, like, do I want this wedding as a creative? Does this sound like something I want to be involved in? Can I meet that budget or not? And it's still hard for me to turn that away. Sometimes to turn that off and say these, these people weren't ever going to be my clients. And so when I see a lot of responses on the like really low budget, Posts. There's a part of me that wants to jump in there. Still and compete for that. I'm getting better. At not doing that. No, I just, I just had a client like that and it was. Yeah, it was kind of like a non-profit kind of thing. And every time we talked, it was like w w they wanted more and more. Right. And like, we had tried, you know, we're trying to establish guidelines and this is what we're going to do. And I'm like this, if this is going to be every time we're talking, it's going to be. You know, you're not there three hours, you're there seven hours. You're not there this year there that I might give it. If it's every time kind of thing, like it's hard. Cause you, you go into it where you're trying to establish, okay, these are the parameters that I'm willing to do it under, but they still cause it's a lot of money to them. They still want. Right. They want that, that larger scale. And so it is it's trying to fit two different, you know, sculpts into each other. So. And yeah, we. Especially for like, you guys are usually there for. The duration. You're here. Usually there. From set up to tear down. And for me, it just depends. There are brides who do you know, these crazy wardrobe changes in the middle of their ceremony. There are traditional, you know, Chinese and Hindu brides who have three different ceremonies a day. That require complete hair and makeup changes. I'm going to marry those who just want someone available to touch out. Throughout the day. And so it's just deciding like, okay. Am I going to show up? And leave. Or am I going to show up and be there for the whole day? And you know, what exactly are you hoping for? What are you, what are you hoping to get out of what you're paying me for and asking them? That question upfront usually gives me a pretty good idea of how long I'm going to be there. But just recently. Just, yeah, just last week I was contacted by someone who had paid for their makeup trial with another artist and just did not, was very unhappy. Super-duper and happy she was crying when she called me. And so with her, I was able to say, you know what, you're not very far from me. Let me. Give this to you for, you know, this super low amount that you're not going to see on my website, because I want to be able to help. But what she missed out on was a trial with me. She missed out on a lot of the communication that she would have with me. But she was really happy in the end. And I was glad that I was able to do that for her. So it's really a case by case. Yeah. And it is, it's one of those, like, you know, I used to have the like, well, if I'm around kind. Like, well, if I'm around, like I can go, you know, I got, okay. You know, Sunday afternoon, like, okay. You know, maybe, you know, but you know, if football's on or something, maybe I don't want to get, you know, I gotta, you gotta decide. So when you, so, you know, we're setting up the. You know, your makeup business, right. We're doing all that. In terms of like branding in terms of what you wanted to represent. Right. I always ask, who is your ideal client or bride, or, you know, whatever, what did you want kind of your branding image to be. I wanted my branding image to be very focused on the person not looking different. So really fresh. Like if you go to my website right now, when you look at, I have a couple of pages, one says before and afters, and one says, pro work. My before and afters that I post are not retouched. I don't even change the lighting in them. And so if you go and you look at those photos, you can find some of those same women in the pro work section. And compare. You know what. What are you going to look like in person versus what are you going to look like on camera? And for me and my brand, it was really important that. That I show that you don't look different. And I do, I do meet with brides occasionally who want, they call it a full beat. They want that full beat, that sort of Instagram. Complete contour and highlight. And sometimes I have to break up with those clients because that is 100% not what I do. And there's always that concern that like, please look at my website, please check and make sure that. The style of application that I can do. Is going to match up with what your vision is. And so for me, it's all about like making sure. But when you look at my website, you get this idea of like fresh and glowing, but you know, not just because you're young. That's for everybody. So, yeah, I, I coming up with like a brand and making that part of my brand. Was hard for me to visualize because anybody can take a pretty picture. And edit it. So deciding to post the before and afters. As well as the pro work that I have on there was really hard because before and afters can be very easily picked apart. By just about anybody, you can see all of the mistakes. You can see the pores and the texture on the skin. If they're scarring or hyperpigmentation, you can see that in the before and afters, but the reality is you can see it in person. So people should be. Confident that they're going to look their best as Tuesday as who they are on their wedding day. I think. Trying a different look. Is not something you should do on your wedding day. You should try to look like yourself. Any other day? Absolutely. Let's. Let's see what console. Can do for you. But. Well, that's the thing, I mean, in my wife is very non, you know, this desert makeup, but. But, you know, not a big to do all the time, but when it came to getting her hair figured out for her, you are why they knew it was like a huge deal. And it was either we went in the trial and we did another trial when we, and it, you know, so I got it. And I'm like, no, cause it is, you know, you're going to have those photos forever. Right. You know, hopefully, and, and you're going to have them, you know, hung up somewhere and. It's it's, it's a lot of pressure on that. You know, you got like, even for the guys, like I got to make sure my hair is right there with her, you know, you're going to have that forever, but it's such a personal thing. And the, the looking like yourself. Yeah. It's like, I'll see. I'll I'll, I'll do the, I'll be with like a bride all day and with the video and like, I'll go back and I'll be edited and I'll see like the pre stuff, you know? I'm like, oh, wow. Like, Then the completely different person. Yeah, cause you get so used to seeing them, you know, at the end of the day, you're like, wow, like that. It's interesting. In terms of, you know, starting out growing, attracting new clients, how did it go? I know we talked about, you know, the competing to get some, you know, some budget vendors and things, but how. Networking things. How did you do the, kind of get your name out there and grow to where you are now? So for networking. When I first started, I, I kind of took the approach of like, Hey, if anybody I know needs their makeup done. And I ran out of friends really fast. Even acquaintances on Facebook. Like I just, I ran out of people super fast and I didn't know what to do after that. I didn't want to place an ad on Facebook because I was doing makeup out of my home. And so. Now what. Who do I know? And I started going to photographers. And so working. Closely with photographers. And any time I would end up doing an event like I did. Military ball for like teenagers. And so I would find. The photographers at those events and make sure I exchanged information. And I started paying for certain photos from photographers, which usually ranges in price from 25 to $75. An image. Just so that I can have them and doing a lot of study on. You know what the photographers in my area were doing, what they were looking for and making sure to create those contacts. And that was probably the number one. Best thing for growing myself as a business entity. That I ever could have done was to find other people who were in the same business. I was. And network with them because then the photographers started referring people to me. And those people started referring me to other photographers. And it just sort of went from there. It's the hardest thing. We have a lot of friends that do a lot of those, like Norwex or like the tough night. It's not, you know, used to be like the Tupperware party. You kind. All these things. And I always have to explain the Dorothy, I go. It's it's getting outside of your Facebook friend list or whatever, right? Like, It's when you make that step, right? I mean, it's like I spend. Tons of money every year now on email, like wedding wire and the nod and the website and all these different things. Right. And it's because, you know, we do the weddings to kind of like, Eat that cost right. But I go, it's hard for me. Yeah. To really support these like, oh, cause I did the same thing, you know, when I started out I'm like messaging, like all the college acquaintances, like, Hey, I see you work for such and such. Do you think they need a video? But it is when you're, when you're making that seven, it is the hardest thing it's like getting outside of, like I said, that Facebook friend list of like, how can I attract people that don't know me already and how can I get their business? Right. And do I want to do it? Just to get the business or do I want to do it because I'm ready to start making a profit. That was probably the. The biggest jump. Was once I started introducing myself to all of these people and I started actually getting work. For some of those people I had to decide to make the shift away from like, I have the work now. I have the images. Now I can prove what I can do now. I need to actually start making money this cause. Makeup, our makeup artistry is not expensive. But it's not cheap either. So I'm either going to spend a ton. Of money in my time, or I'm going to spend a ton of money in my products. And somehow or another, that all needs to pay for itself. So that was the hardest part too, is once you decide to move away from just. Networking and into actually. Marketing. Like you, you mentioned wedding wire and the knot and there's specific Northwest weddings and Thumbtack. Like little things. With that. Thumbtack and I can't with them. I mean where I was, that was like, oh, oh, gee man knows those requests would come out, man. I mean, they they've changed that business model so much sense. Yeah, that was, I lived in bags with the Thumbtack notifications back here. Here's what I'm, I'm so glad that I'm not doing that anymore. That was terrible. Cause they were, they were like 12 or 15 a day. And it was the sort of constant anxiety about, you know, is someone gonna pick me? Are they gonna reply? And then if they did, that was $5. Just to talk to them. And so, yeah, we're not, I'm not doing that anymore. I used, we, we did have a, our washing machine broke like two weeks ago and I was trying to find like, You know, it's one of those, like, you can't call best buy anymore. They don't like you have to call like a call center. And I was like, how the hell do I find it? I read downloaded Thumbtack and I was like, I'm going to get the book. And it was like the war. It was such a terrible experience. I have one 70 people messaging me. This is why no one ever hired me on here. It's because. Yeah. I live in the other side and it wasn't like we booked. One guy came out. But then we, I had another one. And I had messaged back is okay, we don't need you anymore. Like thank you. Like we figured it out. And he braided me about he's like, well, how did you, like, how do you even know? And I go, well, because I had. We had someone else come out. So. So then two days later when the appointment was supposed to be the guy he's like, oh, Hey, I'm, I'm 20 minutes out. I'm coming to your house. I'm like, I was like, I canceled. Oh, yeah. That's that's it. That's a nightmare on that. I do think smart though, for you. Now we're here with the photographers that way, like you said, that and paying for those images. Cause like that's a spoiler alert, like photographers. Want to have, you know, brides ready to go on time and, and people that look good. Right. And the people that are like fun and easy to work with. And so like most of like the makeup artists, I know, like I was at a networking thing last night and, and Tim's is there. And she's like, you know, big and Tim slides all over the world. So. Well, you're in with these photographers. Cause like they could just get it ready to go. We're we're ready to go. There's not an issue. And so it's, it's smart to, to make those relationships with them and then they will definitely like refer you out because Hey. You're always ready to go on time. And especially too, if you, if you manage to work with the same photographer, more than once you begin to learn their style too. So when I see someone I know, walk in the room, when I'm getting ready, I'm like, yes, I know what to do. So I know exactly the moments when I need to like, Get the deck. And get under the table so that I'm not in the photo or. You know, if I know who I'm working with an advance, I know to like, get my nails done because my hands are going to be in the picture. Helping people get ready. And who knows who like. I always wonder, like when my, like, there are so many photos out there of me, my hands putting shoes on brides, I always wonder like when they see those, do they know. And those are. I don't think so. I think they must think that it's like maid of honor or something, but it's nice because we, I learn what to do. And when to do it. And so it's good that we can, we sort of move around each other in a room when I'm working with a vendor that I know. That's always just so fun. It's it's. You know, obviously you can work with anybody, but he gets to the point where I, I very much do look forward to the ones where, like, I know the photographer and I don't have to, like, it's just not in, in like our wedding last week, we had never worked together. She was like, it was great the whole day, but ever right. But it's so nice just walking in and being like, I can just send them a text or something like, okay, we'll be there at 11. Like, okay, we're done. You don't have to have. Yeah, because otherwise it's like, I like email on that. Like, how are you doing. Yeah, because I've tried to be like, proactive about all of that, but it is nice. Undervalued yes. Vendors, you know, knowing each other had the time. So yeah, having those relationships, it's just, it's, it's just fantastic to, and then also like knowing what everyone's role is like your, your role for the day is to document. The photographer's role is to document everything like the good, the bad and the ugly. And then the coordinator's role is to make sure everything happens at a specific time and that everyone's working together and sometimes. I think with hair and makeup artists too, we can get a little bit lost in that. So my, my job is not just to make the bribe. Look nice. It's my job is to make her feel nice and make sure that she feels. You know, really secure in not only how she looks, but in how the day is going. So with a lot of times we've got some sort of conflicting stuff going on, where the photographer is just snapping away, getting all of the details of the day and the coordinator's going. We got to go. So when I can feel the nerves in the room, sort of start to ramp up. I sort of step away from being a stylist or makeup artist. And I step into the role of being an advocate too and saying, okay, you know what? I think everybody needs to take a break or, you know what, let's go ahead and get your lashes on. And. You can have a minute to relax and I'm, I'm a super nice person. You could, you could walk all over me. And I would probably not even notice, but if somebody so much just gives one of my brides aside, I like. I get, I get kind of mean about it. And I don't mind being that person that, you know, nobody likes in the room. Which is part of why having a relationship with other vendors. Especially, you know, keeping too. I wouldn't say that I keep to a small area because we travel across three states a lot. But keeping to the sort of area of the Pacific Northwest, where we're interacting with a lot of the same vendors over and over again. As we begin to learn each other's cues. So if the, the bride or the mother of the brightest sort of ramping up in their anxiety, sometimes I just need to make eye contact. With someone from across the room and we can sort of communicate with each other, like, we need to get everybody out of here and she's going to freak out. Which has only happened a few times. Well, it was like I said before, where, you know, the trial is important, you know, to have a makeup trial, to know the UI, but it is also to get to know. I mean, that's why, you know, most photographers, I know do engagement shoots. Or, or they'll do like free engagement sheets, just so they can get to know the couple before the day and kind of know what works and what doesn't work. And, you know, I always limit without with video. It's not as much of a thing, but you know, it's much more than just like checking the trial and making sure we like to make a bit okay. What is this person? You know, like when I'm doing their makeup and kind of get to know them. It's like you said, you can read that room and read the personality day off, so, oh yeah, absolutely. The trial is super important for that. I, I operate a little differently than a lot of other makeup artists in the area I've noticed. I offer a complimentary trial after I've been booked. As opposed to charging for a trial and then, you know, maybe not getting the booking. And that's part of why my website. Is it's important to me. I always ask the brides, like go to the website, look at my work to make sure. Because it's important for them to get to know my style. But then during the trial, it's important for me to get a feel for them so that I can help set them up for, you know, what. What it's actually going to look and feel like on the day of, you know, Sort of set their expectations up based in reality, as opposed to based on what they see online. Which is. My number one. Like hurdle to sort of overcome. It's like, yeah, you saw beautiful YouTube. Makeup application done. I can't make you look like that. That person was using a filter. That technology does not exist in real life. If it did. I would look so much better. All the time. Ever wear makeup again. I remember we had a. Just the Pinterest stuff and all of that. We had a wedding years and years ago. And bride did not like anything. Good. Photos. Didn't like video didn't like anything. We're sorry with the photographer. She's like, well, you know, I, I was, I was trying to preface all of this. Like we're looking at the Pinterest board, right? Well, you seem to like, like water photos, there's no water at your venue. You seem to like the size of photos or something like that at your venue. Your venue is very dark. You very, that seemed like very like. Yeah. It's, it's look at, you know, look at the website, look at these things, especially with like video, but makeup too. Yes. Yeah. Please look at the thing. It's like, you know, you can like me and that's fine, but you also really need to like the work and you really need to know because that's what I do. You. Yeah, well, sometimes I'll get six, six or seven photos and the bride will say, I really like these. And there'll be all completely different from each other. I'd have to go. Okay. What is it exactly about each image that you like and try to piece together? A look from, you know, All of these people. And then the first thing I do is remind the bride, like, okay, you don't look like any of these women. No, I, I can only do what I can do with your face and then reminding them too, that like makeup moves. Because your skin moves. So all of these photos and you know, these like three minute tick talks that you've seen are these images on Pinterest. They're very, very styled. That model did not move her face for like 45 minutes. And that's part of the reason why, you know, these looks so amazing and you are going to look amazing. But here's what we can realistically expect to happen. You know, throughout the day I do always ask. After the trial for the brides to send me a photo. Before they wash their makeup off at the end of the day. So that I can see. How it lasted. Like, are we, do we need to powder more? Do I need to send you with blotting papers? You know, did the formula work on your skin? Did you look greasy or oily or all of that? And that usually offers them a little bit extra of. Level of confidence. That I can see if something needs to be changed. I'll just make a note in their chart. And I'm old school. I do all paper. Nope. So I have face charts and, you know, I write down every product I use. So when it comes to the day of, I can just kind of slap it on there and be in and out really quick if that's what they need. And they don't need to be worried about the makeup going anywhere. Which was. I like that. I think that's a good idea that the end of the day photo, I think that that's a. So much. When it makes them feel like you're doing more stuff or you, even if you don't. Like, maybe not all the time you need that. Right? Like we send out this big questionnaire for all of our weddings. Right. And maybe we don't always need all of that information, but it makes them feel like, oh, wow. Like Crystal's like really, like, that's a, that's going that extra mile to get. You know, service, right? Yeah. Sort of, yeah. The, the feel it makes them feel like I'm really. Invested in the whole day, as opposed to just invested in the few minutes while that I'm there. Contracted to be around. Realistically, I'm kind of not invested in the whole day. If drama, like if T happened, if drama happened, I definitely want to hear about it later. Yes. But I am invested in, in my work and making sure that it stays in place and does what they need it to do. So, yeah, I think it, it does. It makes them feel more confident and secure. And sometimes none of that matters. Occasionally. Once I should say once, twice now, twice it's it's happened so that it did. Matter. Once I had a bride who had like very specific plan in mind, we did the trial. Everything was great. We put her makeup on. And last minute she decided to throw herself into the ocean. For a photo opportunity. When nothing was prepared, like she did not have that kind of makeup on. So fortunately I was nearby and I was thinking to come back and help. Cause they did that at the beginning of the reception instead of the end. Yes. And then the second time we did a trial, this was for a McMinnville wedding. I drove down to bend, did the trial, everything was perfect. And then we had a record heat wave and it was 115 degrees the day of her wedding. So everything we had done for the trial was completely out the window. And we had to. Do something totally different and hope for the best. And it worked out great. By the way makeup didn't move her hair. Maybe didn't. Didn't fare quite as well, but. 115 Degrees. What are you going to do? I can't fight the sun. But that was that one, that 103, whatever degree weekend, like last month. Yeah. Our bride. It was just like, like, like melting down. Like we were just doing the live stream. So we weren't like, we weren't there. But like, I, I just went and said, hi. This is like, it's like the wax figure. You. And there's nothing. I mean, There's not a lot that we can do about it. And not, not very many makeup artists are prepared for that. I. Direct youth theater. In the off season. So I, I do a lot of makeup under the hot lights. So I have those sort of heat barrier sprays. To prep the skin with just. By chance. I feel like a lot of wedding artists, our makeup only needs to last for like eight hours. And usually not under a spotlight. So I got lucky. I happened to have that. That kind of product available to me. This is nice. Well, crystal, this has been fun. We'll we'll have you plug all your stuff. Anything else before we let you go? I plans here for, for the next set for the rest of the season. Anything big coming up. Actually I'm super glad you asked. Because I do have something super big coming up. And it'll be ready spring of next year. Ready for booking spring of next year. Let me, let me just real quick, give you a little backstory. Two years ago, 2018. I was contracted by a bride who was having sort of a beach wedding. She had a venue, but she told me that she had to rent a tent to get ready in which that's fine. It's no big deal. It happens all the time. But I got there and I usually dress in all black. I wear like a black, long sleeve t-shirt and black leggings and black doc Martins, just to make sure that I look like staff. And so I got there. And it wasn't like a, an event tent that she had rented. It was a Coleman like two person camping. Yeah. And I ended up on my hands and knees. In my doc Martins in a blue Coleman tent. Trying to put this bride together with her big poofy dress and all of the makeup. And I was plugged in my curling errands were plugged in behind the port-a-potties. And I just, I decided at that moment, Never again. I will never do anything like this again. So I saved up and I purchased a 1968. Jet travel trailer. And I gutted it. And so it should be ready this fall for me to stage a shoot, but I now have. A traveling mobile bridal suite. That's awesome. How we'll set up to seven people, including me. Inside and out with a little like getting dressed area. And so it's basically a mobile. Getting ready rooms. So anytime there's a beach wedding or a garden wedding or somewhere. Where the bride is going to have to rent a space. I can simply bring it. And not only is it a beautiful vintage trailer to use as a photo backdrop. I can also take it to places like Skamania or upon a scenic over. Overlook on highway highway 1 0 1. Plug in, get everybody ready and just perform elopement ceremonies, just like that. So, I'm very excited to start marketing that we're almost done with everything we're just putting in the flooring. And finishing the paint job this week. I think that was a good idea. I think, especially for, like you said, those. Got off the beaten God venues, right. Where you don't have that, but then especially the allotment, right? I mean, how often is the bride? Getting ready in the trees or trying to read. They'll hide off so often, so often. I think that, I think that's a great idea. I think that that's great. And I think your photographer friends will appreciate that as well. So I think that that is good. Good work on that. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I'm very excited. To start marketing that we named it. Betty suite, the bridal suite. Very very exciting. And it's, it's big for my, my business too, for my team. Cause a lot of times we find ourselves in tiny hotel rooms. You know, bumping into each other and trying to work as quickly and efficiently as possible with this much space. So it'll be nice to have that. Or even just to be able to spread it out right. Where like, I'm even thinking like Craven farm is like, is a really tight like bridal suite. Right. And being able to say, well, Hey, maybe part of your girls could get ready. Right. Like, I don't know. I mean, just, just being able to spread it out a little bit to where even if they do have a getting ready, if it's not like the biggest room, because once you get like two photographer video, all the makeup people. Yeah. Mom, everybody, grandma. It's like all of it's tight. Yeah. And with the camper too, we'll have space for them to sit. And I have a little outdoor space right outside the door. That's nine feet by 13 feet. That has curtains and stuff too. So we have additional getting ready space if they just need to be getting dressed. Or if they want to sit outside, but we can also put away the table and chairs. So that we have more floor space to do things like hair and makeup. It's just so versatile. I can't believe I didn't already do this. Years ago. So, yeah, I'm super excited. For that. Well, good. Or crystal, if people would log over more about you and all the stuff you do, where would you have them check out? I would have them check out my website. It's www.crywolfanddevores.com. You can get an idea for just about everything I do. Pretty soon, the camper will be up on the website as well. It's not currently listed cause I'm not ready to start marketing it yet. But you can get an idea for everywhere. I travel the weddings that. That have been both the most complicated and the easiest ones to do. And you can see both before and afters that are in real life, real lighting, exactly the way these people look as well as getting an idea for what your makeup's going to actually look like. And your photos. I think that's the biggest part of my website that I like to encourage people to look at. Like, if you look at. Our parents' wedding photos. Our moms had big poofy hair and red stripes on their face. And. It's really important to me. That my. My couples can see themselves. And their photos. For the rest of their life. So if they, you know, Check out my website and see the difference between the before and afters and the photographer's photos. And it's a lot of different photographers, too. I also have a page on my site. That was the vendors that I work regularly with and recommend. So that's always a good resource too, for someone who maybe doesn't doesn't have a coordinator yet, or. You know, a venue. I get a lot of that. Well, I agree. So this has been so fun. I'm so glad to make new connections on here, and hopefully we can cross paths are coming up here soon. Awesome. I look forward to that. If you're like crystal, you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to the bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest.

Paige Lindsey, Paige Lindsey Design

Well, Paige Lindsey, I'm so excited to have you on today. I think this is a great vendor grouping type, right? And I think. Had we have gone back, I think Dorothy and I would have done this as our wedding. There's not a ton of the, you know, painting during the weddings events sort of thing. I love that. And I see people ask all the time about that. We met, I know at this newish wedding tour a few months ago, Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are, what you do. Awesome. Well, first of all, thank you so much for letting me be on your podcast. I'm super excited to be here. My name is Paige. My company is Paige Lindsey design, and I am a painter. I specialize in watercolor and acrylic paintings and I paint a lot of flowers and part of my business. I paid custom wedding bouquets. And then most recently I started painting live at weddings. Which has been super fun and really, really cool. All I moved to Seattle from Boston about a year ago. And so when I moved here, like in the middle of COVID. It was so hard to just start meeting new people because I feel like I just started from. Zero building up my network. And so what I did was I reached out to so many people via DM, like just cold damning people on Instagram being like, Hey, I do this type of service for, you know, couples like preserving their memory through like the painting with the wedding bouquet. Just like gaining as much knowledge as I possibly could. And I've been really lucky enough to talk with so many people wedding planners event planners to help me get started in this whole live painting thing, which has been awesome. Well, I think it's, I, I do mean that. I think it's great. And we get asked that a lot, you know, we've done a couple of weddings over the years. We've had them. I know there's some, I think it's central Washington years ago. I did one way out, kind of in the middle of nowhere, but. You know, nowadays where there's so much, you know, digital stuff and even like the wedding videos and, you know, we're, we're just, it's on our phone. I think having something like that, that you can, you'll play us on your wall right. Somewhere in prominence in your home. Right. And enjoy what was. The thought process to add on that the live. Events and obviously not just weddings but events as well. Yeah, no great question. So. When I was thinking about like what my business looked like for myself, I really loved. Well, just like a little backstory. I like to call me, I'm a cloven bride. So like I got engaged in 2018 and my husband and I had a long engagement, so two years, and then. You know, like so many other people, we had to change and alter our wedding plans cause you know, 2020. And I was like really bummed out and I was like, oh, what can I do that will just make me feel better about this whole situation. So I started. Just like painting my wedding, bouquet that I was going to originally have. And I did this like giveaway on Instagram. Where I picked like six brides that, and I was like, I want to do this for everyone else. That's going through exactly what I'm going through. I know it's like a lot to handle and like, just like a really s****y situation, but like, You know, at the end of the day, like you will have that special day and it's kind of like, Re put everything in perspective. It was like, it doesn't really, at the end of the day, it's all about like you and your partner and being with that person for the rest of your life. So I did this giveaway where I chose like six people and I painted their bouquets. And then that was super popular. And then when I moved, I was like, okay, I want to do more of that, but what else can I do in the wedding world that would also align with like me and my vision and what I'm truly passionate about. And so then I was like, Looking at. And like, I have a podcast called pages, pod where I interviewed a bunch of artists and one of my art friends. Abby Len of Abby Lynn art. She's a wedding live wedding picture down south. And I was like starting to do more research. And I was like, oh, this is pretty big down south. Like Texas, Alabama, like really huge. I was like, I haven't really seen that. On the east coast where I was living on also in Seattle, I was. There's maybe like one or two other artists that do similar things. And then I was like, oh, that's something that I think I would really be interested in. As an artist, you're by yourself, in your studio a lot and it can be very lonely. And so I think for me, I'm definitely. An extrovert and like to be around people. So having that opportunity to do something that I love, like paint. In in alive. Environment, like live in an environment where people are interacting and engaging with you and ask you questions and be like, oh, like, what is this? It was like, oh, I definitely, I was super interested in it. And so I guess that's the why behind I started why I started doing earliest, wanted to be more involved. In the whole wedding world and doing live wedding painting. But, yeah. And then I realized, I was like, okay, well, I feel like a lot of live one-pagers incorporate people. So like, when you say like live, when you feature, I think. Right away. People are like, oh, like there's people involved, which is true. Like a lot of wedding. Painters and the people. But I was like, I don't really paint people. I'm more about the aesthetic of the environment, the landscape, the decor. And so then I was like, why do I have to follow the rules of what everyone else is doing? So my live. Running painting is a little bit different where I specialize in. Like I said the decor. The floral arrangements, the actual landscape, the venue, and less about the people. So, and I think it's, like you said, like we're such, we're in a digital world now and. Having a memory like of your big day kind of captured through the lens of an artist. That you can then put on your wall and cherish forever is like really special because I know that's what I would, I would have wanted. So. Well, absolutely. And like we said, you know, I, I get, we, I see a lot of the posts online and I see a lot of people ask about that and it's, it's great to have a variety. It's so hard when there's only, like you said, one or two that do it in the area, then you really are like pigeonholed into like, well, I want this. I don't know if I like this style or this person or this way, but yeah, this is kind of what we want, where it is nice to have at least a couple of different options here. Like videography, you know, where I don't like the way read those videos or everyone. That's fine. Yeah. There's a lot of other people. And so I think that that's great. And then obviously with, with the water colors and things to ride the it's a different look and feel as well. Do you want to talk about kind of the style of art that you specialize in? Yeah, totally. So I went to school for painting and my degree is like my background's in oil paint. And then when I graduated, I kinda like took a hiatus from P Tang. I was just exhausted. Like I can't do this right now. Like I need a break. Because art school is just. It's a whole other conversation, but I just, I was like, okay, I need a break. And then when I started. Getting back into art and my own creative practice I like was in Boston at the time. Like. Pretty like pretty bro. Cause like right out, like. Just graduated. And I was like, what's like a cheap way to get back into art because oils are so expensive, like oil painting, like all of this stuff. So I got into watercolors. Which was, I've never really painted before. I wasn't really taught that technique and style in school. I think I took one pigment making class, like a water color class where we've made our own pigments. But so I just started dabbling in watercolors and. I fell in love because you know, the water really controls the pain and you can travel with it and you can be in a really small space. Like at the time I was at this really tiny apartment in Boston, like. Zero lighting. It was, it was, you know, It was great because it was super small, compact, and I can shop with it. I can go outside. I can move around with it. And so my particular style is I would say more loose fluid. Not very realistic. I wouldn't say all the way abstract, but kind of in the middle of like realistic and abstract. So that's like my general style. Did you go to school out in Bali? Where'd you go to school? Art school. I went to university of New Hampshire. Are you from east coast? Yeah. I'm from New Jersey. What was it like making the transition to Seattle? What brought you out to the west coast? Yeah. So it's funny because everyone's like, why did you do that? Which I never thought I'd be the type of person to move across the country ever. I'm very close to my family. I have a lot of like friends that live on the east coast. So. When. We were, I moved to Boston in 2013. And. My. Like my then boyfriend, who then became my fiance, who is now my husband. We were there for almost eight years. So, and I will say like, I love Boston. It's clean. It's like very accessible. Like it's, you can travel from one end to the city in the other, in such a short amount of time. I think. Boston is for about four years is really great. And then past four years, I think you're ready to move on to other things. So I think we extended our stay a little bit. Too long. You know, and so are. Are cause we, we were very like comfortable and we saw what there. Just to see like in Boston as well as like on the east coast and our lease was coming up, we like officially got married and we're like, well, what's our next move? Did we stay in Boston? And that was like, during COVID, like, we didn't really want to, so it was either move closer to our families, which honestly we just weren't weren't ready for that. We're like, we still need to like, explore. So we had like a few friends in Seattle, which we both went to go visit. And we're like, oh my, my husband's from Vermont. So Seattle, I feel like for him was like, oh, there's mountains. I like love bodies of water. There's a city, there's a lot of other things to do. And just, we've never explored that part of the country before. So we were just like, well, f**k it. Let's just try. And if we hate it, We can always move back. So that was like, it was kind of crazy. Cause we moved during like covet and then I got there and I was like, I think this was a terrible mistake. I don't know anyone. I like his, like the people we knew were his friends. So like, I don't know any, I don't have any friends on my own. I've definitely left all of my like work connections. And I was just like, what am I doing? But I will say it was one of those things where it completely just like pushed me outside of my comfort zone and like made me. Network made me like, figure it out. Okay. Like just creative problem solving, which I felt so like, kind of in a rat and stuck in Boston, just because I was there for so long. And so moving to a completely new place. With new people. Just, I just felt so inspired. I was also freaking out at the same time. Cause I was like, I don't know what I'm doing here, but I don't know it was I right now being here for an entire year. I've grown so much, I think, as a person, as a business owner and as an artist and I don't, and it's because of this move. So that's why. Yeah, it's so hard, especially like as a business owner that, you know, are you, you have all your connections, do you have all your networking and everything, and then to move? I couldn't, you know, at this point, It would be, it would be terrifying for me to have to like move, you know? And I, and I see vendor, you know, whether our good photographer friends here, you know, she moved to, or that, and I was like, oh my God, You know, like I just don't even know how you did just the process of having to set up again and make all those connections, like you said, and reaching out and doing a lot of that work. Was it. Was it easier to do with all the digital means? Now with Instagram and stuff, like you said, to send out DMS and stuff. How did you feel that the networking went out here? Yeah. So I actually, to be completely honest, people are super friendly here and like we're willing to like have conversations, which I love being from New Jersey and very proud to be from New Jersey. But I think. Being close to like, you know, the tri-state area, close to New York city, Boston. Too. It's like, people are always like, go, go, go like super competitive. And I feel like. I was just expecting a lot of people to just ignore me. Because I was just kind of used to that. I was like, Alex, I'm a little venture. Every job is going to take awhile. And I think just. Networking online here I found was so much easier because people were just truly just. Honestly interested. They're like, oh, like this wedding live wedding painting. I've never heard of this before. Let's let me learn more about it, but also just so willing to share knowledge and like who to connect with and who to reach out to and what events to go to and how to like dip your toes in. You know, the Seattle wedding world. Where, like, I just feel like there's no, no, one's really like super competitive. Everyone's just really friendly and like has one another's backs, which I was like, oh, this is awesome. It is it's because it's not the biggest market in the world. Right. I mean, it's not overwhelming number of vendors, you know that, I know that like we have, I film like the Wippa stuff and there's an event like a networking event tomorrow. I have to fill me this. Yeah. It's generally the same kind of groupings of people every time, but it is. Nice to kind of know that once you get in there, right. It's really easy to kind of have those connections carry on and feel. And especially where you're, I think like me and video. You know, and you're obviously a little bit more unique, but like there's not a ton of videographers, right. I get a lot of like, oh, you should go talk to Reed. And I would imagine it's a similar thing where not a lot of people do what you do. And it's like, oh, well here you should go talk to Paige because yeah. Bye. Bye. By process of, I don't have anybody else. You. Totally. And I also was using this whole networking thing as a way to like meet people because I was very determined and adamant to find my own friend group. Because I was like, I need other, other people that I can like hang out with. Eventually and like connect with. And so I would use. My my business. I mean like, Hey, like you seem really cool and interesting. I'd love to talk more and pick your brain. Like let's grab coffee or like, let's go on a walk. And to my surprise, people are like, Yeah. And now I've met like a bunch of people and I'm just, it's, I'm very grateful for it. So even though like social media, It can be a beast. I've only had had with meeting people and connecting it's been nothing but positive. What inspires you to get into painting and art work? I think because, well, there's like so many things that inspire me, but for me, painting has always been just an outlet. Four. Everything like for how I'm feeling or if I'm dealing with something that is really hard, or I just don't know how to. Process something I'll take all of that and put it onto. A painting a piece of paper and like, It's just kind of works through a lot of. Emotional stuff for me, it's like, A free form of therapy in my, in my eyes. But yeah, but I'm very inspired by like flowers have always inspired me because truthfully in like dark times of my, just in general, like no matter how s****y my day is, if I buy myself flowers, I instantly feel better. And I think I just portray that feeling. That sense of happiness. Mood shifts change through a piece of artwork. So then what was the decision like to go to art school and then try that you really make a go at it and, you know, cause like, well I'm not artistic at all, but I think there's a lot of people that are artistic. They don't decided to pursue that as a career. Yeah. Well, I mean, because you go to art school, it's like, you won't get a job, right. Told that from the. From day one, I think. I don't know, ever since I was little, I've always loved creating and painting and making stuff with my hands. And I just always was like, oh, I'm going to go to art school. I never really thought about any other. Degree, which is, I don't know. I had just never really, I was always like, I'm going to art school and going to art school. And, you know, my parents were very supportive and my decision to pursue art. They were very like, it's going to be very hard. Like if you want to pursue art full time. It will be challenging. And I always, that always stuck with me because. It's so true. And I get, I talked to a lot of younger artists and I'm like, Or people who aspire to go to art school or become an artist. And by the way, you don't have to, if you're an art, like you don't have to be an artistic and go to art school to. Like you don't being an artist doesn't mean you have to go to art school, but. I do find that if people are pursuing art school, like minor in business, like I wish someone was like, Hey, minor in business. Or like double major business and art or major business, minor in art because. I mean as an artist, if you want to, like, you know, Be an artist full time. That's a business and you need to know the ins and outs of what a business even looks like or what to do. Which I've been, you know, Googling and just YouTube thing along the way and figuring out how to go. And so. I guess, like, I always wanted to go to art school. I was always just whenever I told people I went, I was getting my major in painting. They'd be like, oh, well, you know, Good luck with that. And I think I always just wanted to prove to all the people that told me that I would never really make it, that I could. And so, I mean, I'm, I'm turning 31 this year, so it's taken. A lot. A lot of messing up and a lot of like stepping stones to get to where I am, but. I mean it's possible. And I also think a lot of people. Least like the old school way of thinking is being an artist only means like you make paintings, you have gallery representation. You're all you're in all these publications and there's just so much more opportunity for artists nowadays. And it's just a different way of thinking as an artist. Which they don't teach you in art school. Well, it's hard because like you said, that that being an artist in, we have a lot of people on the podcast because we talk, you know, running the business, you do all these things right. Where you're forests, but you have to be an accounting person and you have to be a social media manager and all these things. And I, you know, and that was like me, you know, I had done video in, in TV and whatever. For years. And then I remember the first time that we like got a gig. I was at a, you know, we're going to go private. And my buddy Paul and I at the time. You know, we, we got this gig and they're like, okay, well what, like what, you know, give us a quote, like, what's it going to cost? And we're like, we have no idea. And they're like, and we had both, you know, collectively shot video for 20 years. Right. And we're like, we have no idea, like at all. Cause you know, it's different when you're like, Hey, now I'm running the business and I have to do these things. Is it extra challenging as. Eh, do you find it more challenging or not as an artist? To, to run the business or is it the same, like as a forest or as a designer or as. Like a videographer in doing that, or is there an additional layer. I don't know, because I mean, even as a florist, as a videographer, you were creating something out of nothing. So it's like, My friend, Ryan Kelly says, he says it, bats were like, Or like when just magicians are like creating the product and then we're going in marketing, we're like pricing, we're doing all of the other things that go into running a business. So, I mean, I would say it's. It's comparable. It's. It's the same. I think. I mean. I don't know, it's just, there are all the, sure. There's different layers than like a florist and a videographer. Like there's like the process, there's the research and like, okay, where are you pulling your in for inspiration? But I think that goes for you guys too, you know? So I think it's the same. Do you find that you Excel at both sides? Because there are some people, right? Like I'm, I am much more on like the business side than I am like an artsy person. Right. And then there's some people that are more like they don't, you know, can't do their books or whatever better. How do you balance the two out? Cause I think everyone there's some split there. Oh yeah. Well, I'm definitely like, I'm not the best at managing my time. I would much rather be painting all day and doing fun, creative stuff that has like that. Doesn't really push my business forward. It does like the creative process and like the painting aspect. That's like the core of my business, but I mean, I am very, very lucky that my husband is very business finance oriented. So he's taught me a lot of how to like be in control of my finances. Finances be super organized. Like when I get a commission, when I get. On events when I booked something like right away, like, just make sure you have everything down, how much you're making. What materials are you using? I will I say I'm a, I'm the best at it? No, like I definitely I'm getting better, but it's, it's hard to manage the business side versus the creative side because my brain, I always kind of. Just more gravitated towards. The creative, the painting, the fun stuff. Which like I need to flip my mindset and always be thinking like this business stuff is the fun stuff too, because that's, what's helping me. Improve my business and just, you know, make it grow and expand. It is nice nowadays where, like you said, even though I didn't either major or anything in business or finance or anything, but. Where you can, we have the resources to learn a little bit more on the go, right. And I see a lot of the Facebook groups that I'm in for business. You know, like wedding stuff, there is a lot of these questions about things and Hey, what, like what should I do in this situation? So it is nice to feel like even if you don't do that, which obviously I would tell anybody about. Please learn the county and then please learn finance. But they, that you can't. I just think it's nice nowadays. It's not this like nebulous. I don't know what to do. Like you can find resources to help figure out your business as you go, but it is very hard to grow a business and also learn at the same time. Yeah, it's really hard because you just want to be like, oh, I wish I knew this already. Like, I wish I was knowledgeable in this because it just makes my life easier. But. That's never the case. I mean, I'm constantly learning and growing every day. As far as like the business side of it and. Yeah. When I chat with younger artists, I'm just like, Do this now, like help yourself do it now. You know, so. But. Yeah. I had another thought, but it'll come back to me. Oh, I wanted to do a, and we brought this before then we were talking before we started recording. You just did Claire Mike's wedding and Claire's friend of the podcast. Claire Fernandez has been on multiple times, both on this one and my best mate weddings. And, you know, it is where you're in our list in the CDO painting. Right. You know, at home or at your studio all day, and then doing these live weddings, right. Where people are around, you know, people are wanting to come up and interact and talk to you. I mean, I, you know, it's a learning. It was a learning process for me going into weddings to, oh, Hey, what's going on? What are you doing? I mean, How do you, obviously the energy and everything is good. How do you vibe off that? And everybody kind of gets. It has to be different than being at home and doing that. Oh yeah. Well, yeah, like you said, we were talking about this before we were recording, but being an artist you're for me, I like paint out of the corner of my living room. That's my studio. So like I'm there all the time. Like working by myself and in my own thoughts and my own head. And it's very lonely. And so for me, I I'm an extrovert and I love being around other people. So having the opportunity. To do something that I love and show people, something that I love to do and have them interact and engage in that process. Is so freaking awesome. Like people coming up to me, I will say, like, I have to sometimes cut the conversation short because I'm like, okay, I'm only here for a set amount of time, like hours. Like I have to make sure I like. You know, complete the painting, but being around people who come up to you, like at the beginning of my painting, who come up to me in the beginning, my painting process. And then come up to me in the middle. And then when it's done, like seeing those reactions and having those conversations and just enlightening people. Of what I'm doing because so many people are like, what is this? Like, what is, what is this that you're doing? Like, I had no idea. This was even an option. And it's also a way to like market myself to and tell them about all the other things that I have going on, which is, you know, Part of the business and it's been, I love it. Sure. Is it stressful? Yes. I honestly think that the most stressful part is like the end. I'm like, I really hope the couple likes when I created it, because if not, then I have to figure it out. You know? So I think talking to people like throughout that process doesn't really make me nervous or. Makes me whatever anxious, but I think that ends like seeing the couple, I'm just like, I really hope they love what I've created, but yeah, I've never had an issue with that. Not liking it, but the end, but the people coming up to me and talking to me. It's great. I love it. And sometimes, you know, you have those random guests that are like maybe a little too drunk or a little inappropriate. Learn to like work around it. Do the best you can. Well, I have to think from a marketing side, it is. For you being there, you. Doing the thing while the thing is going on, people can see the painting. You know, we run around. You know, the couple gets the video weeks, months down the road. We're not there. Right. The baker or someone that dropped off the cake or the flowers, right. They're not there. Right. When everyone's eating the cake, it is a unique situation where you're there painting and the people can see the painting and then they go, even if I don't have a wedding or something, I have this other thing coming up. Or I would like this done rather. I would just have to think that that is a good way to really network once you're at the events, like the wedding shows like the wedding tours and things like that as well, but like it's going on while you're there. Right. You know, we always joke. With video I've, we'll be packing up and someone will go, oh, you guys did a great job today. And you're like, well, you don't know that yet. You haven't seen it yet. You know, we could go home and pick it all. Be garbage now. It is, it is different where I just, I have to think that it has to be a unique opportunity for you to, to help grow that more. Totally. And I think, you know, people like my supporters and my clients and my art collectors, they invest not only do they invest in my, my creations and my paintings, but. Like I am my business and for them to get a little snippet of my personality and who I am, I think goes a long way because I think who I am just, I mean, I am my business and when people can see that, like, Face to face and get to know me a little bit more. I personally think it kind of. Is grabs people into my artwork because they then know who I am like the face behind. The work. Is it easier nowadays to be, you know, and are this with all the digital media stuff with all you. Or social media and digital and everything, and, and being able to kind of leverage Instagram and things. Is that, what is it like being an artist and you know, 20, 21? Yeah. Oh, I love that question. So I think it's very like things like networking with artists has never been easier networking and like reaching out. If you have someone you want to work with. Like you can just go and. Direct message them or email them, or like connect, be connected. To someone by another artist, you know, or whatever, or just gain information based off of having a conversation with someone online. I will say also being an artist online. Like in 2021, there's a lot. There's a lot of us, there's a lot of us doing the same thing. So you can kind of get stuck in this. Compare and contrast game where it's like, oh, this person is doing this. Like I'm not doing that. Which can be very toxic. I find. And so sometimes I have to like mute people or just take a social media break, which I find that we all need to do every once in a while. But I mean, there's pros and cons, but I use social media as a tool. Like to connect. And to have conversations. And I really tried my best to not use it as a way to put myself down because someone else is doing something that I'm not doing. And just trying to really stay true to who I am and what I'm doing and what I'm creating and just kind of. You know, pressing pause and everyone else, because if I find myself comparing contrast, It's never good. So it's good and bad. I would say for me, mostly good. Yeah. Are you saying, you know, being able to reach out right. And network that way where, you know, obviously you do the live events and things, but, but otherwise, you know, someone can find you anywhere and say, Hey, you know, we'd like to do this or whatever do you do? What's the balance between the weddings and other stuff that you do. And then obviously the other commissions and things, I don't even know how that cause my life is all in weddings, but. How does that work otherwise? Yeah. So, I mean, in addition to, so I will say like I'm pretty new at the live wedding painting like that just this year, I really started. Doing that. And so I have. I will have for live wedding, like. Luck for life. Meeting events like in 2021. Which I think was really cool for my first time doing it. So commissions is a huge part of my business. I would say it's a really big chunk of it. From the commission's leads to conversations about live, live event, painting or live wedding painting. Another part of my business. I teach watercolor workshops. So I teach people how to paint with watercolors, whether it's like small groups, private lessons. Corporate collaborations where, you know, Corporations want employees to do something fun together. And yeah, so I do, and I have like my own podcast. So I'd find like I do a lot of different things, which I'm so passionate about all different aspects of my business. The live wedding portion I would say is not as big of a chunk as say commissions or my workshops. But I do want the wedding live wedding painting and live event painting in general. To eventually be the bulk of my business. So just for future stuff for Paige Lindsey design. Well, and yeah, I mean, I think that it's, it's one of those things where like, you know, we do all sorts of video, right. You know, in corporate, whatever, but just like, it's easy to say, like wedding videography, like, that's a thing I can mark here. Right. I can Google SEO that and then you get the other step or they just, it needs, it was like when I was in, in broadcast. And I can like tell my mom, like I'm at, you know, this is what we do, right. And if you can still, you know, do all the other things and workshops and podcasts, and that's, it just speaks to, it is like how many things we have to do to like, keep what we want to do. You know, The 80 hours a week to not work 40 hours for someone else. But yeah, I think that like, I get it and where you have to find something, you know, and really drive without, and then let everything else kind of come alongside that as well. So, yeah. So I think I, for me, Established. I have my buckets of my business. It's workshops. Commissions specifically wedding bouquet, commissions. Like that's really all that I do and then live painting. So those are my three buckets of my business that I really kind of focus on. And then I would say some buckets, I focus more energy on. Than others, but those are the three. How do the bouquet opinions work? So how they work is someone usually either. Whoever's sending me the bouquet there, send me an image and I just paint their bouquet. That's really hats. Easy as that. It's not like with Claire, she, she wanted me to paint her bouquet, but she just wanted me to do it live. The wedding, which I thought was a super cool way to do that. But in a, in. In a live event space. So, yeah, people will reach out to me. I like put them on my calendar for my commission's calendar and then they send me a bunch of pictures. And then depending, because what I usually tend to do is I pull from different photos, like. Because like a bouquet, there's so many cool different ways to look at it and it looks differently from this angle and that angle. So I kind of pulled my favorite. Shots and angles and. Place it all on a painting. That's how I do. Well, no, and I mean, this I, that was kind of going to be my follow-up question was, you know, cause we'll, we'll obviously get detail shots of the bouquets and stuff at the weddings and yeah, it is very, you know, It lives and breathes right in the way that it, you know, if you lay it or if it's, if it's standing or leaning. I mean, I would just have to imagine that that would be difficult to find the best way. Oh, yeah, totally. And like, I do a lot of sketching beforehand and I kind of do, like, I there's a lot of conversation between, you know, my clients just like kind of seeing. Their vision and what they really want in their, in their painting. And it's really awesome because so many. Of my clients who I've done wedding bouquets for, they just let me do my thing and let me run with it. But I always ask them like, okay, well background, color, like what. Like your home aesthetic, like, let me know the colors. Are your wedding colors, like colors you don't want in your painting. Like that's a, we have a really honest conversation about that. And then from there I'll do a few sketches and then start creating the masterpiece. And it's fun because. Some people will want to incorporate. Table settings in the bouquet. So maybe not necessarily followers that were in their bouquet, but maybe they pulled from other decor. But they use in the wedding, which is really fun and different too. And do you get, do they ever send you the, like the photos once they're like in their home or one stands replaced or whatever, what do they do? What is that like? Oh, it's the best because I'll get messages being like Paige. Thank you. So like just the kindest messages, about how much they love the painting. Which that feeling never gets old. That feeling of someone sending me an email, a text, a DM, whatever. I'd be like. Look at it, the pain Amy it's coming up here, like look how beautiful it is. Thank you so much. I can't thank you enough for preserving that memory. In a way that's just so unique and different and special and something that I'll have for the rest of my life and that hopefully it will be passed down. So like future generations. So I think that's, that is the best part I think, is getting those messages because I don't know. It's just the fact that I can make something that. Creates this feeling for other people is truly magical. I love it. Well, and, and I said, you know, maybe it's just getting older or whatever, but even I, I. The limited number of, you know, the art that we have, you know, we've had, you know, forever, right. I've had I studied abroad in that. The guy that was with us was a priest. And, you know, he painted and, you know, I have like, you know, a canvas or. I don't even know whatever from that. Yeah. I've had for 15 years, right. That's something right? That you, you know, you chairs in this the same with these, you know, the weddings and the bouquets and all these things where it's, it's, it's made for you and it's about you or something that you experienced. You know, I just, I have to think that. The longevity of having something like that. It's tremendous, you know, how so far exceed, you know, like. Just having, you know, follow them or whatever, hanging on the wall are. Like a print out. So yeah, it's. I mean, I love supporting other artists. I have a collection of work from so many of my art friends and, you know, you invest in artwork and then it just has such a great meaning because for me, it's like, I know these people and I know they put their heart and soul into what they made. And I bought a piece of their heart and soul that is now hanging up in my home and that. I don't know. It's just, I think a lot of people. Need to know how special it is when you, when you buy from an artist or someone that is making something with their hands and it creates this. This like magical energy and just like these feelings, like that's what you take home with you. And I think. Yeah. It's it's great. I love it. Before we let you go. I. These want to hear about a little more about the planning, the wedding over the last two years. And, and, and what, you know, And I know that Claire, Claire, I'm sure can speak from experience too about it, you know, as, as someone in the wedding community where you're working through all these things, but what has it been like? Cause obviously you can. What's the right word, sympathize, you know, whatever, commiserate with a lot of other people going through stuff. Well, what was the process like for you? Yeah. Oh, I love this question because, and I'll give you the whole, whole story. So. Aye. I got engaged in 2018 and my husband and I decided to do a two year engagement because. 2019, we had a bazillion weddings that we were both in and we're like, there's no way we're planning our wedding in 2019. It's too much. We'll just like, take our time. Enjoy it. Long, your engagement, whatever. So. Then, so were original venue was. In Vermont, which is where my husband's from and, you know, 2020 came around and they're like, so the same is happening. Not quite sure what's happening. Okay. So then we realized that our original wedding date was just no longer a thing. Meanwhile, I'm like. Sam. Who's my husband, we've been engaged. We've been engaged for two years. I'm like, let's just get married. Like I don't want to wait. Like who knows how long we have to wait to get married, like let's just get married. So we did. We officially got married in my parents' backyard in New Jersey on August 1st in 2020, just start, just start immediate family, super small. Backyard, like very, very DIY. It was not what I envisioned for. Like, I like to call it wedding part one and wedding part two, like it was. So high, but it was also very, very magical because, because it was so intimate and just Sam and I in our, in our immediate family, like. We wrote vows. And then we just had a nice, like quiet, intimate dinner, and then we were officially married and we still just had no idea about. Our original venue. And so we're like, oh, let's just plan on having wedding card too. We still had no idea it was happening, blah, blah, blah. And so. We actually were able to have our wedding part too, where I wore my dress. We had our bridesmaids groomsmen. Like everyone can come party with us on. June 17. So this past June is when we had. Or wedding part too. So I will say it this whole three years. So from start to finish just three years. It completely consumed me. I was crying all the time. I was like, overwhelmed. I didn't know what to do, or like I, cause you just don't know. Right. And so you have all these plans to do stuff and you can't do any of that. So then when we got the, okay, that we were going to have winning part two in Vermont, like everything's a go. It was craziness because everything was just so last minute, like. I like, I thought my head was going to explode, but we did it and we did it. Being in Seattle and like the wedding was in Vermont. Which was also an added layer. And yeah, so I can sympathize because I just know the amount of stress and emotion that goes into planning a wedding, just a normal wedding. But then on top of that, a covered wedding where it's like, You plan. Plan stop. You rearrange, you pivot you, you come up with scenarios. Like we were coming up with guests, listeners. Okay. Like 50 people, 75, like one 50 to. Like, it was just, it was insane. I'm like, I can't do this anymore. And so when that day actually happened, like when he part two. It was just like a relief, but I'm also like, it was the best day of my life. Like we had, it was the wedding we planned and envisioned originally, and that was able to happen. And. Yeah, it was, it was a lot, but it was, it was the first wedding that people went to in the past. Like, you know, for two years, like not doing anything in our, in our event was like the first event for a lot of people. So it was a lot of emotions, a lot of energy, and I just, I'm still kind of an odd that it all came together, you know? Yeah, well, congratulations. Yeah, I'm glad that I'm glad that that all. You know, it's been a trying time. So. Yeah, it was, it was insane, but we, and I think I mentioned this to you before, but at the end of the day, all of this stuff, Originally that was worrying about it just didn't matter. None of it mattered. You know, and I think I learned a lot. I was like, I just learned to let a lot of stuff go. Because it doesn't matter at the end, it just doesn't matter. It's funny. We got our wedding on Saturday. We got brought in later into the conversation, but I was talking with the mom beforehand and she does. Yeah. They, they, they was to the auditors and the one they had been engaged. So this would have been back in 2019. And they were going to have a family dinner and they said, Hey, we're going to, we're getting married where you get married, October 15th, like we've picked our date and the other sister goes, oh my God. Like we were just going to tell her buddy. Like we're pregnant. That's our baby. Right. So the other sister goes. Oh, well, no worries. Well, this will push it. We'll do it in March. We'll do a spring wedding. Like all, everything is. So now, you know, two years later, whatever, it's now, you know, It was August 14th. And they finally got it, but yeah, it's like who would have thought planning all these things and, and like you said, doing the, you know, wonderful Vermont wedding. And then, you know, next thing you know, it's yeah. It's June and it's a, you know, two years later. So yeah. And I also think I also just laugh at some of the friends I had that also just been through the same thing. The salmon I've been through. It's like, there are no rules. Like, I feel like with COVID. Like, there are no rules anymore. And so it's just, anything goes. I have friends who officially got married and like, they're running for two. Like now they're now they have a kid and like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. There are no. Like right or wrong ways to go about like getting married or whatever. It's just as long as you want to be that person and love that person you're together and align with. The same things like the whole wedding thing, it just cause it can get out of hand. It can get so crazy. And it really just kind of sheds those layers of what really matters. Yeah. Well page. Thank you so much for hopping on today. This was good. I'm glad we could get a new, fresh voice on the, get to know your writing pro podcast. If you're like page and you're interested in coming on in the future. Besame videos.com/podcast guests. That's the place to go that fill out the form page. Anything else from me before we let you go? No. I was gonna say, thank you so much for having me. You can find me those of you who are listening. Paige Lindsey design.com is my website. And you can find me on Instagram and Tik TOK at pH Lindsey design. And my podcast where I interviewed a bunch of artists pages, pod. Wherever you listen to your podcasts, but Ray, thank you so much. This was so fun and so awesome. And yeah, I love your podcast. It's great. I'm going to look up pages, pod, and. How has the tech town going for you? That was the one that is the one that destiny video says yet to, I think I have the, I have the URL, you know, I have it reserved somewhere, but how is that going for you? Well, it's, you know, I'm, I'm a millennial on Tik TOK, so I'm not great. I'm trying, but you know, what I've learned is just like anything new, you just have to start somewhere and yeah. It's not going to be the best. I'm definitely like. It's it's, it's just funny to me. I'm just like, oh, it's something new. Like, I know it's another freeway to advertise what I do, but I will say with my podcast, I interviewed a lot of younger artists who are just like blowing up on six hock and I've learned so much from them and it's just. You just gotta try. Who cares if you're failing miserably? It doesn't matter. Just try. Very well, maybe we'll do a, maybe we will do a best made weddings around table about best Tik TOK. Thanks again!

Jolly Sienda, Jolly Sienda Photography
Welcome back to another episode of get to know your wedding pro. I am so excited today. We have Jolly Sienda here. She's a photographer out. Out of Bremerton. Exciting. We're we seem to be building on that side now. Right. You know, one refers another refers another and that's great. You know? It's so funny, people reach out and they're like, Well, you know, Are you sure you want to do this or. When are we going to do this or what? I'm like. I published one of these every single week. So whether it's whether it's someone like new, like you coming on, which I very much appreciate. So that's the thing I tell people just today. I said, you know, we didn't have anyone else, you know, here is a [unknown]. Airing of Jeff Evans was just on, he was a magician and then we re aired his today. So yes, every week we Erewhon. So I thank you so much jolly. Why don't you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are and just a little bit about what you do. Great. Well, thanks so much for having me on today. I'm based in Easton Bremerton. I'm a professional photographer. I come from a background in communications and public relations, and that got me into. Event photography. And I actually started in Germany when I was stationed overseas with my former military husband. And then we got relocated to the Washington DC area and I sidelined at night moonlighted as a photographer. And then did communications public relations during the day. So that's what got me into it. I met a photographer and an event and a ballooning events, and he and I had struck up a conversation. This was in Virginia and he said, you know, I can tell you're, you're pretty good. You live in Northern Virginia, you. We kind of got friendly a little bit and he said, what'd you like to shoot some weddings with me? And I said, oh my gosh, I would love to shoot weddings. And I don't have any experience at it. This was back in 2006. And he said, well, I can teach you and I need a second shooter and I can see you have a different eye and you look at things differently a little bit, as I was sharing some photographs that I had done of the balloons alongside him. And we started working together and I became his second shooter. And then from that, I gained the confidence and experience to start my own business. So it's nice to work with somebody that's already in the industry that knows what they're doing. And so I was pretty well established in the Washington DC area. But my life partner and I decided that we wanted a different change. Of pace and I'm from Seattle originally born and raised, but you know, marrying a military guy years ago, we went on the road, went overseas, all of that kind of stuff, and then landed at the Pentagon, that sort of thing. And I never thought I'd come back to Washington state. We'll never say never. Back in July of 2015, we decided to roll the dice. We kind of closed our life in Washington, DC area, sober house, all that kind of stuff. Moved to Bremerton bought a great place. Loved it restarted my business. And unfortunately I was in the position that I didn't have to go work for somebody else. I could work full-time as a photographer, and I've been doing that ever since. And I specialize in weddings and events and engagements and lifestyle portraiture. I also do commercial work as well. I'm a writer as well. So I've, I kind of fit photo journalism. Yeah, in that sort of segway of telling a lug story of a couple that starting from engagement. Getting married. How's his family, all that kind of stuff. It goes together. So it's, it's a lot of fun. I really enjoy it. Yeah. And what I really like about it. The, the photo journalism aspect, you know, I too, you know, I. Studied broadcasting everything right. And, and worked in, in news for awhile. And, you know, we talked before we started recording you. Every videographer is different. Every photographer force, whatever you have it. And. It's interesting to me, you know, I approach weddings very, very different than someone that's, you know, tends to be more for photo journalist. Then if you were, let's say someone that did commercial work, you know, primarily for a long time, right. And then entering weddings where you felt like, well, I'm going to. Maybe we try to, you know, stage a little bit more control a little bit more, whereas obviously for the journalists, you know, it's a little bit more as it unfolds, do. How do you find that you apply your background and skills into what you're doing now? Well, it's interesting. You know, I'm constantly looking and seeing is trying to figure out what am I seeing differently. I. I try to go to the venue before the wedding to check out, to see what it's like first to find those special nuances that I think the couple would like and what would be good for their pictures. So that on the day of the wedding, we get there and we're fully prepared, but what are you. Never happened. Through Z, even though, you know, there's a timeline and hopefully a wedding coordinator or a day coordinator, that sort of thing. Sometimes a lot of that falls on the photographer too. Especially if it is a smaller. A wedding. So, you know, photographers made to be kind of ready to try anything. Be very spontaneous. We all have the regular shots that we like to get. Like you don't want to miss that kiss. You don't want to miss them putting the rings on you don't want to miss the perception or the perception of the recession. But, you know, I think for the journalism, with me, with my background in writing. And putting together stories. I try to find a theme in that wedding and every wedding is different. And I try to build that story around that thing. Like for example, we recently did a wedding. That was in conjunction with an apple orchard and we put their rings in the apple orchard. Really terrific and took some really cool scenes of that. You know, that's really different. A country theme with people sitting on hay bales, we have gorgeous Pacific Northwest scenery with beautiful water and that sort of thing. So I think anything that we can sort of pull the couple into, if they're willing. Helps to make really beautiful pictures. Yeah. And I love how you talking about, you know, scanning, viewing, you know, I feel the same way, but you know, especially as a photographer where, you know, video, it's a little, you know, we're trying to get. As a photographer, you can catch just like such, just, you know, just that one microsecond right of life. It's hard, you know, and especially at weddings and all this stuff going on, and you're trying to manage the timeline and you haven't eaten in 10 hours and you've been on your feet. And you've got, you know, the mom asking you questions, but you're still trying to find these moments. And I do. Do you find that having that photo journalism background really helps you. Kind of weed out that noise and really focus like you need to, oh, it really does. Because first and foremost, you know what the couple wants is number one. And. And we always have to be cognizant of their day. And even though I might have this terrific picture in mind. If they're stressed out or, or the wedding is not going as planned as they would like to, you know, you kind of have to throw that out the window and sort of keep it in your back pocket and hope that things will turn around and that you can maybe convince the couple, Hey, let's take 15 minutes and go try this shot is, I think you're really gonna like it because it'll go beautifully in your book and all these kinds of things. And I can just imagine. Willing up to 20 by 30 metal shot for you and all of this. But, you know, you can't, you can't think about what the photographer would like to put on the photographer's website. You have to think about the couple and what they're going through and what is going to be stressful. I think a lot of couples. And did they want it to be really perfect. And there's so many weddings that are, but nothing in life is perfect. And, and there's all sorts of things that can happen. People can be late. I've seen weddings that the music doesn't work right. I'm seeing weddings that the officiant. Something goes wrong and they forget the lines or something. And then people just start laughing and, you know, Everybody sort of calms down and I've seen people trip and fall. One time when I was doing a wedding, I almost backed into candles that were. That's why we carry liability insurance. Luckily that didn't happen. You can just imagine. Yeah. You know, Weddings. There's a lot of balls up in the air, especially if you have 250 people at a wedding. That's busy. There's a lot going on. Yeah. Like you said. But really he it's so hard, you know, because. Keeping it the couple's day. Right. And I think we're in the same point in that, you know, when I started doing weddings, you know, it's like every single one. It's got to be perfect for the website. You got to have all this stuff and maybe they want it. Maybe they don't. And it's, it's nice. Now, at least I've, I've found in the last couple of years. You know, really just letting them kind of the day speak how they want it to be. Right. And then we get to go do stuff. I mean, we were just saying the wedding on Saturday. And. You know, like the photographers took them off again to do some like some night portraits just in the hotel we're at. And I'm just like, you know, I'm just going to go let them do that. We're going to go get the dance for like, do we need to get back in and boggle? You know, get in the way, right. For them just to let them go take their time, get those portraits. We can go capture the day that they're not going to be there, but you know, maybe me. I'll be years ago when I tried to be running. Okay, we got to go do all this stuff. Right. We gotta be in there and make sure we capture. So it's, it's that, that balance we can capture what you need to caption and also kind of giving them the day that they want. You know what I mean? Yeah. Absolutely. That's the beauty about what weddings and I think that's, what's really nice. In today, there's a lot of people that are willing to do first looks. And so when they're willing to do a first look, they see each other before the wedding, it's not traditional. And so a lot of those really cool. Romantic gorgeous photo journalistic, creative style weddings. Pictures can be done. At the first look after the couple have seen each other. And then you build in that cushion of time before they have to go do their ceremony and actually get married. A lot of those really great photos can happen. That it just depends. And it really helps. I think re I have found if you can meet the couple beforehand, I've done some weddings too, that I don't know the couple at all. They've just reached out to me over the internet that live in a different city. They're coming into this area for a destination wedding. They just don't have time or their wedding coordinator. Or wedding planner. Is just doing the business for them. And I don't meet them until the day of the ceremony, you know? So. It's tough. If you don't have that sort of relationship. When, when the customer. To sort of inject your own idea, even though, you know, and you got the background as we do as professionals to know that I know this client is going to want. Some gorgeous sunset picture, let's say, or a gorgeous picture there on the mountain where the ham, you know, or her. Reenacting putting the rings on or whatever it may be. You have to kind of keep in mind that. The client. Is hiring you and trust you to know that you're going to get that done. But, you know, if you have to kind of weave it into your own. Projection of time, sometimes that may not work. So yeah. Flexibility. Number one, you gotta be flexible. It's tough. The medium, the couples beforehand, you know, we always used to just be, you know, like email, maybe a zoom call. We just booked one of the, when did the venues we have up here, they book like really, really far out. Right. So we have like, they're not getting married till like 20, 23. Right. And they're like, we gotta, you know, we gotta. Yeah. I'm like, okay. Well, I mean, I don't care. Right. But he was so nice. Cause we were just at a different wedding show over the weekend and they were there just kind of doing the engaged couple of things, but it was so nice to like see these people and be like, Hey, we have. You know, years of a relationship we're going to have. Even before your day where, you know, like I said, most of the time, you didn't know it is just email or a phone call. I mean, at least now with, you know, the pandemic, we do the zoom thing, but it's so nice to have that relationship going in. I really. I guess, I didn't know. I needed that until now. And I'm like, man, I really, I need that a lot more. Maybe I'm just getting older, but right. Well, you know, something, relationships are key. I think in any kind of business I found. In weddings with people I've been doing weddings now for 15 years plus or minus. You know, I'll meet the couple. We'll do an engagement shoot. They like what I do then they'll hire me to do their wedding or sometimes engagement shoot is included in their wedding package. It just depends. And then they have this lovely wedding and they're all Google doggone about the pictures and it's great. Everybody's happy. And then of course they have babies and they asked me, oh, jolly, I didn't realize you do family. You do babies. Oh yes, I do. So you're building that relationship over time. And I have several couples that I've worked with over the years. Now that I'm doing their family pictures, I did their wedding pictures. I did their engagement pictures. I'm doing their reunion pictures. Unfortunately, one person passed away during COVID. So they're doing a celebration of life. So they're hiring me for that. I mean, there's all sorts of things. So it's all about. I think really enjoying people and building that relationship as best as you can and, and delivering a really great product. Yeah, absolutely. I, that is, and I've, I've probably said it before and here in the past, even that my biggest lament of being a videographer versus a photographer is you guys are so blessed to have all those more opportunities, right. Where very rarely it's like, oh, but we need you to. We really need you to. They either, you know, they get married and then they may be, their sister is getting married, but it's not so much like, okay, then we're going to have our baby shower. Then we're going to have the, you know, the portrait sessions then, you know, the newborn and the school photos and the family photos. I mean the needs. There's no videographer is, is a little bit less sometimes then. Yeah. I just, I'm always jealous of that with these photographers. Yeah, I see this family six times a year and you're like, well, I don't, they don't need me that often compared to what they need. You, you know, I never really thought about it that way. But we're going to have to think of some things that we can get you involved with. What I mean, and it's fine. I'd make it what it is, but, you know, I mean, Back to school photos, and then we do Christmas. And then we do spring, whatever photos, and then we do, you know, it's, it's that. Abby the professional. You know, what, if you go through your wedding and you like how you like your photographer, having that professional photographer on speed dial. Isn't a bad thing to have. It's not, it's not at all. As a matter of fact, we just went through a new iteration in, in my business, jolly Sandra photography. If I may. We just opened up a studio. I mean, I've been dealing remotely and you know, everything's at the hotels, everything's at the park, wherever it is that they want the photos done. Sometimes they come over to my home, but I've never had a set space. I've always had to rent. If, if people want back. So now we have that as well, which is really great. Did did you, was that a part of like a pivot in the last year? Was this kind of in the works already? No, you know, this has been something we've been thinking about for a long time. I had all the specials, strobes and lighting equipment and, and. Not in Virginia. We used a little bit in my house in Virginia, but I never had the right space. And so when we moved to the Pacific Northwest, when I moved back here, My life partner he's from the east coast. Luckily, we bought a place that had a little land and we were able to enlarge our home. And at a studio we just got done. It was a 10 month private project during COVID believe it or not during the pandemic. Started in June, 2020, and we just opened the doors in end of March. All right. I'm sorry. End of February. March of 2021. Yeah. We had 660 square feet or our house. So it's great. High ceilings, strobes, backdrops, everything I can do. Commercial work. I can do beautiful bridal portraiture. I can do babies. I can do whatever. Without fighting the Weller. Yeah. No. It's exciting to see. Yes. Congratulations on that rate. That's good. Yeah. Cause, and we were talking before we recorded about, you know, the, the variety of things that you do right. Where, you know, a lot of the, you know, even videographers, I know it's like they do weddings or the other videographers. I know do corporate, like we're very much in that, like where we kind of do an equal mix of both. And obviously you do as well. And, and looking on your website. So besides weddings, what else do you focus on and what do you like about those other things that you do besides weddings? I love working with people that have small to medium businesses and they need imagery for their websites. And so we think about their brand and have a consultation. So, especially if I don't know them that well, I need to understand what their business. Is, and what their goals are to reach on their website and how they're, how they're wanting their imagery to log. And so we figured that out together, and then we do a photo shoot with it. Sometimes there'll be several photo sessions. For example, a bakery that I worked with, we went inside her kitchen and she made a cake and I'm taking pictures of her inaction, doing all of this with her products, that sort of thing would their beautiful work. And then we did portraiture for her because she hated new shots for the local chamber of commerce. And then we went into her real retail store and she had eight new cake designs. So I'm photographing every single design. Every single design is different. And then folding grabbing her and action. Working with clientele. So that to me is pretty rewarding. I like that. Not that I don't like weddings. I love weddings. Weddings are normally really happy and everybody is, you know, smiling and some people are crying, but everybody is happy. The current work is very challenging and, you know, I like to see. The creativity of that come alive. It's it's so undervalued how important it is to just have like, kind of just a wealth of, of photographic, whatever, as a small business, if you're building your website. Right. And there were so many people nowadays, it's like I do Squarespace or I do whatever. Right. We ex and just. Having, you know, like where you could spend a half day or a day with them, right. Have all this stuff and then. Oh, I need to make a new page about whatever. Oh, here we go. I have all these wonderful photos and it's it's yeah. It's so undervalued how much better that looks as a customer, right? Like looking at a bakery that had. All these great photos and, you know, displays, and you can see what the owner looks like, and you can see what the place looks like. Then. You know, it's, it's one of those, like, yeah, my, it costs a little bit more than having your friend do it or whatever, but it's one of those, like just, I just think, you know, you could do one session and then, you know, for two years you're set, right. You have whatever you need and you. Okay. Yeah, content is so important. David beautiful content that speaks to your brand. Is so important. And one of the things that I've learned over the years, that's very important. Not just to my business and being found in the Google sphere, out in the universe, on the internet. But to anyone with pictures and with content that they want to put on their website is you have to have metadata and a photographers. I hope that all photographers, I learned the hard way. And now I do this for all my clients. I put metadata embedded into their pictures, so that that picture goes out in their website. It will say XYZ company and what it is and keywords and they are landscape experts or whatever it is. Yeah. So that's, it's funny. Yeah, because we were talking before we started recording about, you know, why we do the podcast. And I said, you know, I went to a wedding MBA years ago and that's some of the stuff we talk about there and you get these people and they're like, I had no idea. I know. Well undergrounds it's like, no, actually, like that's it. That's a really big part of like everything. I'm like, you have your address on your website. Oh no. I don't like, okay. Let's, you know, let's make it, Hey, people don't realize that. So. Us as the professionals you're in your videography. I honored the business. And I mean, as a photographer, that's, that's something that you can, you know, have in your back pocket to always express when you're applying, when the time is right, that you'll be giving them this, in addition to. You know, the beautiful pictures. So it's, it's really important. W, what do you find that the challenges of doing commercial versus doing weddings? Yeah, well, commercials. In an entirely different situation. I, I think commercial the client. Really has for the most part, an idea in mind of what they're looking for. And, you know, they've obviously gone through. Your website to make sure that you're the right photographer to hire. As a photographer, you've got to be on point with your lighting. You've got to be able to have the right space. If not, you gotta be able to take your, all your mobile backdrops and things to the client. For example, we worked with a major manufacturing company last year during the pandemic, and we took all of our backdrops to the client. They had a warehouse. We set up all the backdrops. We had a couple of different color of backdrops, taping it down with the, you know, the appropriate tape there. Bringing all of our strobes, all those kinds of things. So. That work. This happened to be catalog work, for example, photographing chairs and tables and this sort of thing for a new line that they manufactured. Pretty precise, detailed work. I'm not saying it wasn't creative. I really enjoyed it. It was different from photographing people and different from photographing families or weddings, for example. But. Just. Different. And, and then of course the client said, well, I don't want all these pictures. I want just 20 of the best pictures. So you send them 20 of the best pictures and then they come back and said, oh, well, can you lighten this picture up? Or can there's a little tiny blurp in the metal? Well, I'm thinking to myself, Well, that was the way you manufactured it. No, I'm a photographer. I've got to be able to. Snap my fingers and, you know, through editing, get rid of it. So yeah, there's that. Not to say weddings are the same. I mean, I have rooms and I have brides that come to me and say, well, I've got this. Can you remove it please? Or can you make me look 30 pounds lighter? Yeah. So there's that too. So I think you have to kind of set expectations. It's hard. We there's a photographer over. We did the wedding and the groom had like, you know, the gauged ear. Kind of things and he did. I either had smaller someone and they looked like whatever. I mean, this is very graphic and. He's like, oh, Hey, do you want me to like, clean that up in post I'm? Like, why would you ever even offer that as a suggestion? Girl like this crazy time, but now. That's why I like video. Cause I'm also OCD, but there's only so many things I can do in video. Right. Whereas like photography, we can erase the sky and put pink unicorns or whatever, like yeah. Video is it's kinda, it is what it is, you know, and it's a little bit more we're in that structure. You know, That's true, but I guess you would call me as a photo journalist, more of a realist photographer. If client wants me to completely change the colors and that sort of thing. They may not be the right photographer for them. You know, I I'm okay with, I had one client. In fact, I've done everything for her for engagement, her wedding and Buddha law, all these kinds of things, and maybe babies when they start having them, it'd be my joy. I had to go back to the drawing board in my own education about trying to complete the service that she asked me to do. She wanted me to. I get rid of all the color in the photograph and then just bring back one solid color. And I had to put my thinking cap on and think. I know how to do this. I've seen this, I've seen this a particularly in England with the red. Telephone booths. Yeah. And they bring out the red in the Tillamook boots and everything is black and white. But I had to go back and resources on the internet to figure out how do I do this? And I was so pleased that I was able to do this and now, you know, I offer it so. Thanks to my client. Thank you. And the other thing with, with a commercial versus like event, or, I mean, even, you know, obviously the ways we even like, like portrait sessions where it's a little bit more. We're in the world, right? There's only so many things you can control what it is like a corporate, like. We are setting up everything just for this shot. Yeah. And then, then if it's not perfect or they want something, then it is hard because you're like, And I do that all the time where I'm like, oh, you know, I didn't turn the off. You can hear the AC unit in the other building or something like, oh, I share the wind. You. Because when you're controlling everything versus other wedding, you're. What w what, what am I going to do? Unplug the thing in the corner. I mean, it's the wedding. You know, Right, right. Yeah. Corporate is, is very different. I enjoy it. And I'm very grateful when I get corporate work, but a lot of times you don't have the time. To figure this out ahead of time. When you're on set, you've got to kind of have all that background and all that research done before so that, you know, especially if the client is on set. You know, maybe the only giving you an hour, maybe they're giving you 30 minutes if you've got two hours, three hours. Great. But sometimes you don't always have that luxury. Weddings. If it's a six hour wedding, you know, you have time, there's things you can do. And you know, we're not, most of us, we're not shooting in film anymore. We're shooting digital. So take lots of pictures because you're going to get some really good ones out of, you know, the bulk. But in corporate world, sometimes you don't. Have that luxury. So. I want to switch gears. I want to hear about living in Germany. And what was that like? Oh, sure. Good. I lived in Germany for eight years, actually. First time was 1986 to 1990. And that was the fall of the German wall. And I got a chance to see that. I was actually in former east Berlin two weeks before the wallflower fell out, which was really cool. And I did a lot of different things when I lived in Germany. And I learned photography in Germany because you're traveling, you're seeing Europe, all this kind of thing. So you have a camera. And the second time around in Germany was 2000 to 2004. And I got a chance to freelance with a European stars and stripes newspaper there in Greece time, Germany. That was really terrific. And then it led me to another job working with the government there, being able to interview people for human resource or human research stories. Build a story around the military community and take pictures of what was going on. One of the funnest things I did was I got a chance to ride in a Huey, a Blackhawk kind of thing over in BRAF and beer. And interview the soldiers and take pictures and write a story about what they were doing over there at the base and graphing their training. It's a training base. So that was where you working for an organism. How did that work out? Yeah. So I was a government employee and I was in public affairs. And in the public affairs office, we had a relationship with the local Hanauer newspaper for the military that covered four or five different basis. And so these newspapers came out. Once a month, I want to say. And so I presented a couple of ideas to the person that I worked for. You know, why don't we start doing more human in human interest stories about what's happening in the community. You know, what, what the kids are doing. Soldiers that are coming back from. Iraq during the time. You know how families are dealing with separation, how families are dealing with reconciliation, all those kinds of things. And they liked that. And so I got a chance to do a lot of really neat stories and a lot of these things were published in this newspaper. And of course, along with it, I did the photographs. So. So that was through the military, sending you over. No, I was already living in Germany. I got this job, a lot of family members when you're over in Germany. Or other basis like in Italy or wherever. Us armed forces. Are there are jobs available through department of defense? Through military exchanges through atheists through not appropriate fund. Various jobs, GS jobs and not appropriate fun jobs. And so I was able to get a general status GS job. Based on my communications education background, writing background, that sort of thing. And part of the job was. Writing stories and oh yeah. You know how to do a photography. Okay, great. Then you can be the photographer too. So it helped to have that kind of background and sort of built my own sideline in the job, which was great, which obviously opened doors for me when. Like ex military husband, and we were trapped, transferred back to Washington DC, and I was able to go to work in DC and utilize my experience. Oh, I think that's fascinating. Like I said, I spent a large portion of my life in news and, you know, dealing, you know, with a lot of, you know, foreign correspondence and things and all that. I just think that's fascinating that you got to live over there and work and. Oh, it. Joy. I loved it. I guess. Yeah. I can only imagine. That the people that you got to meet in the stories and everything I just had to do, that has to be such a fascinating chapter of your life, that then to bring that back and all that knowledge and experience. If I can share with you one of the coolest things, I was in a managerial position at Bryan mine air base. And. Leonard Skinner. Contacted armed forces news, television, radio AFN in Frankfurt. And they want to do a concert for the military. And so they contacted our base because we were the closest and I was the communications manager there. And I got a chance to spend an entire day with Leonard Skinner and they actually played and performed. For us they're right on the tarmac. So it was a really cool experience and that was in 2003. And you did you get to document that too? I did. I wrote a little article. It wasn't people magazine, but actually we called it people in the news and I have the article and it's by Jay. Sally C jolly Sienna and it shows pictures of them that I took. Of the day and then just a little, you know, like four or five paragraphs of what went on in this sort of thing. So. That's awesome. Yeah. It. It's interesting. Yeah. That's such a cool story. Yeah. I. I have all this stuff in a drawer. I'm happy to share with you sometime, Ray. Sure. And so then moving back to DC and starting there. You know, obviously transitioning from living in Germany and film, you know, photographing all of that stuff too. Transition. Yeah. What was that? What was that like? Yeah. So then I went to work for the federal aviation administration in communications, in writing. And I brought in my portfolio what I did in Germany and they said, Hey, we're looking for somebody that can interview people here. And tell their story in our local online blog. For the FAA. And if you can, you know, Drill down and find out what they're doing and write about it and then take their pictures. So I will. That into my job. So that was a really neat thing that I was able to do. Again, keeping the photography, going, keeping the portrait. Portraiture skills and that sort of thing going. So I did that and that opened up some traveling doors. I went actually get down to San Francisco and interview. Some people. Majority of people I worked with were people that worked in the trade hots, actually there at the airports that guide your planes in. What'd you refer to it as. Okay. T R a C O N. It's a thing that straight up. You know, and they're watching all the planes come in and they're telling people how to land or when you can go that sort of thing. It's a very stressful job. And these people have a lot of, you know, really great background and. History. In flight, some are pilots themselves. And so I interviewed quite a few people and created those stories. About them and how their contributions are helping the FAA and helping the people that fly. And keeping us safe in here. Yeah. And then from there. I stuck with DOD. And then I met my friend, Jenny, who at the, I told you we were looking at people flying in. Hot air balloons. And I met him and he saw my style and how I was photographing. And then he asked me, he said, well, have you ever, do you ever, ever do weddings? I said, yeah, I want to do, I want to do weddings. I want to be a wedding photographer. You know, I don't really know how to go about it. And he says, well, I do. So then we got together and ended up doing a lot of weddings with him, which was great. So that really sort of paved the way for me to get into my own. Business in photography. It was interesting to me, you know? I said I was in news, you know? Videographer. You know, transitioning and, and what always struck me was, you know, with news, it's very much like this organized chaos, right. And I'm sure you obviously, you know, traveling. Some of that. Yeah. You know, it's but you're, you know, it's like, you're trying to just frame it the best you can with like everything going on. Right. And so I always felt like transitioning into weddings. It was very much the same thing because everything's going on and you're trying to find the right corner of the room to make it look good or. Deal with all the stress or, you know, all these different things, but it still is. It was a very natural transition for me. It, I didn't know. It would be, what was that transition like into the weddings field then for you? Well, weddings are something that. You only get really a couple of chances to get it right. You know, especially if you're the solo photographer. If, if you don't have knowledge about your lighting equipment, if you don't understand the ability and workings of your camera, If you're indoors and you don't know how to change the camera to the right setting and you end up getting this really gunky, horrible, yellow looking. Light. You're not going to. Very long as a photographer. So there is a certain amount of pressure to learn. If you're going to be going into this business as a wedding photographer. You better understand lighting and you better understand your equipment and understand all the nuances and how the light changes naturally outside and versus indoors. You know, all of those kinds of things. It's funny. It makes me smile. When I'll, I'll talk to a client and they'll say, oh, you know, I'm just going to have my. Brother do the wedding. And I'm like, okay, good. Good luck with that. Now maybe their brother is great, but I've also heard horror stories that people have had their relatives do their wedding photography. And they're like, oh gosh. I just really. We didn't have good pictures. So, yeah, there is. I take it. I take pride in, in all the years of experience and different things that I've learned over the years from other people that I've worked with being a second shooter and then getting enough weddings under my belt so that I felt confident and had the experience and had the pictures to be able to go out on my own and start my own. And, you know, now, What, when a couple hires me. I mean, there, there's a big responsibility and I feel. You know, Wait of gratitude towards them for hiring me in trust, but also knowing that, you know, I've got to get it right, because sometimes there's not a second chance. You're not there at the right time, especially if you're the only single shooter, because they don't have a budget to have two photographers. And you miss that kiss when they are going in for it. You miss certain shots? Oh my goodness. Not good. No. And it's, it's one of those things where, you know, Hiring, whatever, like. When you get to a point where we're wedding. It's like you just breathing, you just walk in. Like, I don't need to think. I mean, I've, I've been my last year of my life has been live streaming and all of these stupid things because we couldn't do anything. My life is, is cables and internet. In all of these things and it was like, it's so nice to go back to just like regular weddings now, as we're opening up and not, not to have to think about anything again, and just be like, okay, this is what I do. And move, move through it. As opposed to. You know, like you said, hiring someone and having to be on their own. And if something changes or they're not ready or something doesn't work. Right. Or, you know, we had a photographer fly up from somewhere and she only had like one camera lens and the thing didn't work. And I'm like, you flew up here and you have one. Like what or how to have back ups. You know, so, but yeah, I just. They can be understated, you know, just living through it and just having that wealth of knowledge. So. Hello. I know there are weddings that I've done the last couple of years here, and I've had things go wrong, but I carry three cameras with me and I have like four flashes and I have strokes and I have, you know, my assistant with me and I have work arounds, but, you know, The equipment is equipment. You know, like if the car breaks down, the car breaks down. Well, you met her. Have, you know, second, third, fourth, camera's in case because the things are gonna happen. Rain. Rain. They don't, they don't go together. Just in may, we did three weddings in may, just starting to get going now from things opening up, which is great. And one of my cameras. Yeah, shutter. Out, so got to get the other camera's going, you know, that's what happens. That's part of doing business and that's also why I think. You know, people need to understand when they're hiring a wedding photographer, why don't we charge what we do? Because our equipment is expensive and our knowledge for those of us that have the experience to deal with all situations. Because they're going to come up. We our word. We are worth. This has been fun. Is there anything else you want to make sure we touch on before we let you go? I don't think so. I really enjoy talking with you. Thank you for your questions. It's been great. It's a yeah. It's something that it's, you know, This is a fun experiment and it is interesting, you know, interviewing all these wedding pros and being like, yeah, I've never really just sat and really talked about what it is I do for this long and why you like to do it. And in the passions you get and everything, I think. I mean, it sounds like a fascinating backstory and an origin story as I call it to kind of get, get into everything now. But. You know, all the different experiences that you've gone through, you know, shapes how you view things now and shapes how you capture things now. And this obviously handling, I mean, I'm sure like. The stress of a wedding now compared to probably living abroad and doing these other things. Right. I mean, it's all a, it's very interesting to see how everyone comes about. So. It is, and it is. And, and I think, you know, we all have a lot to offer people. And I think if you're just upfront and honest with people and, and you have a website that shows all your work and great references and those sorts of things. You know, it's building that relationship and the trust of people and, and we're all human. But you gotta have your ducks in order and be prepared. If people would want a little more about you, who you are, what you do see your work and everything else, where would you have them check out? Sure. So I'm at jolly Sienna, photography.com. So www dot jolly Sienna, photography.com. If you just Google jolly Sienna and it's spelled J O L L Y like jolly like Christmas. See under with an ass, you'll find me. I'm also on Facebook. Jolly Sienna, Facebook. I'm also on Instagram. Let's see, I'm going to be here with you. So there's lots of, lots of ways to find me. And we've been doing weddings over here on the Kitsap now since 2000. 15. So I'm pretty well known. Well, that's good. I, like I said, I appreciate it. Expanding our web, expanding our, you know, our, our. Cool and everything else. I joined this library. I really appreciate it. If you're like jolly and you're interested in coming on a future episode, you can go to best meet videos.com/podcastguest.

Andrea Parmalee, P5 Photography, LLC

Welcome back to get to know your wedding pro. I am so excited today to have Andrea with PFI photography. Joining us. G mini. Minnie Ricks is one of your friends and you saw her come on and you said, I'm going to do that too. She helped set this up. So I really appreciate it. Always enjoy, you know, seeing new faces, hearing new voices, meeting new. You know, vendors, you know, here, you guys are out. [unknown]. You know, we're all in the same kind of world here. So why don't you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are and what you do. Sure. I'm Andrew Parmalee. I am. One half of our wedding photography team. My husband photographs with me. We do all the weddings together. And we've been doing this since 2009. So a little over 12 years. We started out in Colorado. That's where my husband's from and I'm from here. So in 2012, because of family, we moved up here and started, basically started the business over again. Kind of from scratch. But we've been doing it for a total of 12 years and we mostly photograph weddings and we do a lot of portraits as well. We just put in a portrait studio on our property last year. And so we've been able to utilize that a little bit. Things are picking up. Of course. Things are changing. And going in a better direction with that, but we're excited to have that as well. So yeah. That's kind of our history. Yeah. Yeah. Especially the people that photographer is in video too, that, you know, we're, we're the events only. And there's like, well, no, like. Yeah, it's definitely now, you know, that pivot. Yeah, everyone using that word, but pivoting to portraits food war, which I meant we'll talk about, which is obviously. I think a really the more cause I'm a dummy dumb when it comes to a lot of that stuff, but the more I've interviewed these photographers, you know, male and female, they, they do that for [unknown]. Guar, both male and female, you know, it's just been, it's been a really fun thing. And I just think so we'll get into all that too. It is crazy to me that you guys have been here so long and we've never worked together. Cause that is. You know, I mean, In 2009 and then 2012 is, is certainly what's it been like just the last nine years. Photographing weddings here in the Pacific Northwest. Sure. And so part of that is, as you probably know, In the beginning, when we first moved up here, we tried to get into the Seattle wedding show. And at that point I think there was a four year waiting list. So to be able to get in. And start advertising on that side was a challenge. So we really focused over here in Kitsap county Tacoma up to, you know, clear up over to port Angeles. You. You know that whole area and really concentrated on this side. So that's we add? We've never done a wedding over on the Seattle side, actually. So that's, and it's not something we aren't willing to do. It's just not where we'd focus our time and attention in terms of advertising over there. So we just focus on this area. There seems to be a lot. There are a lot of. Country. There are a lot of barns and things like that. People love that. We do get clients that come over here. From the Seattle side, often, in fact, we've done a lot of engagement sessions over there, and then they come over here and get married. They love the. Venues that we have to offer in this area. So that's probably why we haven't worked together yet. But we've definitely. Had a lot of fun over here in Kitsap county. So it is, yeah, it's remarkable. How. Vast Washington is when it comes to just the different areas and landscapes. You have the oceans and you have, you know, just rivers and every, I mean, it's just crazy going through. So your husband's from Colorado. Is that where you guys. It is actually a funny story. I was working at a vendor booth at the Denver stock show and rodeo, and he used to ride bulls. So he went to the. He was always at the sock show and. We met there and we spent just a few weeks together. The rest is history actually. Day after tomorrow, the 16th will be our 20 year wedding anniversary. So we've been married 20 years. Okay. Congratulations. Thank you. And what is your husband's name? Raymond Raymond. And so you guys. I that isn't, I'm looking, I see the photos on the site with him, with the cowboy hat and. Definitely see a, a, a rider. There. Was that. Was he sad to transition away from that? I assume to doing weddings and stuff with you guys, what was that like? Well, it was the children, the transition. Hello. He decided that was not something to continue to do. Kids. And in terms of us becoming business partners and doing this together. It just sort of organically happened. I picked up a camera one day. He bought me a nice camera at the time. I think we paid $50 for it. So. So it was really exciting and had all these fun. Buttons that I started doing macro photos of. The flowers and things in the garden and whatnot. And what's the mom with the camera. And pretty soon that moved. I didn't as a little kid, I didn't say, oh, I want to grow up and be a photographer. In fact, I was a florist for almost 20 years, so I love the creative aspect of it. But wanted to get out of the floral industry, just because hi, missed every holiday, you know, mother's day. Valentine's day Christmas, all those it was working. Ridiculous hours. I wanted to do something different. And I had people saying, oh, you got, you know, this is five, love these pictures of your kids. I think a lot of people start out that way anyway, kind of turned into. A few family portraits and then working at the flower shop, I had a gal come in. She was a regular client and of the flower shop and she asked me one day we were talking and she said, do you want to come photograph a wedding with me? And she kind of caught me off guard because I didn't never photographed a wedding. I had no idea what to do. And I told her that I said, I don't. Okay. Just show up. I'll give you a camera and a couple of pointers and. I fell in love with it. So I was a second shooter for her for a little while. And then went off. Wanted to go off on my own and was having some technical difficulties with the camera. So I handed it to Ray one day, he's a button pusher. And I said, help me figure this out. And he helped me figure it out. It just sort of grew from there. I was like, you have to come with me. Because if I have a problem. I need you to fix it for me. And I need you to be able to have my back on this then. When we moved up here in 2012, we photographed. Really our first wedding together. We'd done a couple of. Valerie noodles and things in Colorado. But. We did our family, a lot of family portraits and things. So we'd been doing it for a while, but not really the weddings. So I moved up here in 2012. We photographed my friend's wedding high school. Well, I've known her since I was a little kid, but. Friend. That was getting married and we did it just for the experience of doing the whole day. She wasn't even going to hire a photographer and let me cut. You know, I'm going to come anyway. Let me bring the camera, let me do photos. And. We just clicked. We really ran. I work well together. We we've not even discussed it a lot over the years. We just, we just work well together. He gets what I don't get. I get what he doesn't get. He gets the other angles. And we kind of fell in love with doing this together and. It went. You know, kind of exploded from there. So. Well, I definitely think it's something to be said for having a compatible couple, right. And, and balancing that. And then that would make sense right there that would translate into right. You know, I mean, now obviously there are a couple of states aren't. Can that make sense? Like, you know, my wife is definitely the more like social, right? Maybe I'm a little bit more of like the analytical would, that would make sense. Bounce where you maybe a little bit more more of that creativity. And then he can bring in a little bit more of that technical, you know, it just, it makes a lot of sense. And it also, to me makes sense, you know, where you got started. Photographing your kids doing those things, obviously being married. I think couples really obviously relate to. Their vendors having gone through similar experiences, right. And when you're doing portraits and things, and you can do family sessions and obviously. Absolutely. Very well at that. How many kids do you guys have? We have three. So. Yes, that'd be. Is that the P five? Is that for all five? We struggled with naming our business. Of course, because I did a lot of research into, you know, what not to name your business. And. And all the research that I did, they used to use your main username, username. Well, we thought Ray and Andrew or Raymond, any other your photography? Too much. RNA photography didn't really make sense. Like nothing really fits. So he came up and nobody can say Parmalee and, and. And it rhymes. So I think it sounds funny. Normally photography. I don't know. We didn't like that. So he came up with that. He came up with the P five. Yeah, there's five of us and P is for our last name and it just sort of it's stocking. We we thought about rebranding at one point and changing it. But we decided not to. And so we rebranded our logo, but we kept the name. So it is it's. It's one of those where sometimes you have the rebrand isn't worth the. Yes. I, I w. I know that very much. We do a photog. Football podcast. And we very much went through that same kind of identity crisis. Right. Yeah. So it's the, I would say yes sometimes. And not that P five is a bad man, but it would be, sometimes it is better to have a bad name and keep going and it is down right. So, what is it like for you guys? Living and working out in, in poles, bow, and then the Kitsap county. Well, and I grew up in, in Simak I'm I grew up in Jefferson county and my grandparents, both sides of my family lived in Paul's bone, grew up here. So I spent a lot of time in Paul's from, as a child. Definitely busier now. And it. It poses its own unique. Situation. I wouldn't say it's, it's always a challenge. Sometimes it's a benefit, but two things, one we're separated from Seattle by the water. So. We are. In a lot of ways, separated. It's tough to, as you know, commute back and forth, take the ferry. And make all that happen. So we, that's another reason we really concentrate over here in this area. The other thing, though, that is an interesting, and not, not prevalent everywhere in the country situation over here is the military. And so we're, we're very close to the military base. So we get quite a few, not repeat customer. You. So that's one thing that we're often getting new clients and not repeat clients because they move out. They come and go so often. Which poses a challenge, but it's also exciting to meet. And see new people and. Hear about where they're from and that sort of thing. So. It has its challenges for sure. I think every area does. But we enjoy it. I mean in a lot of ways, it's home to me. So I love the little town of Paulsville. We just did an elopement downtown. A couple of weeks ago, the couple of flies up here often to visit. They're not from here. They're thinking about moving here, but they live in Arizona. And when they decided to elope, they flew up to Paul's boat, eloped and flew home the next day. So. Paul's was definitely a tourist town and a destination town. And we've had lots of fun. Just getting involved in the community and that we have Viking fast. So we've been quite involved with that. We've done a lot of photography for biking Fest and all the things that go on here. So we've enjoyed being part of this community in this area. And doing photography here. So I'm lots of beautiful places. Lots of, of course, that's all. Washington, but I love all the variety. You know, we can have forests. We can have beach. We can have, you know, pasture. There's so many different options around here, so we love that aspect of it too. It's interesting that you bring up the, having to, to find the new clients. And that is cause that's always as a videographer. I always limit it to my photographer friends. I go, yeah. Well, you can. Do the engagement and the wedding and the baby photos and the family photos, all that I sent, you know, me like they get me one time and the baby. All my sister is getting married in five years or whatever. So, I mean, it is. It definitely poses different challenges, right. Where you have to always be marketing and finding new stuff where it's not that. Photographers rest on anything now, but it is nice to know like, oh, I have these families who are going to come. That is cool too. The, obviously the, you guys get to service a unique client base that way too. And I'm sure that that has a lot of cool stories and things. You know that you guys are able to experience. Definitely. Yes. A, what. Talk about your, your guys' style. Photography. And that could be either you, what does it look like? And then I also want to hear about what you guys make, want to make it kind of feel like w when you're there with a client. Sure. So one of the things that, and we dabbled a little in, I do all the editing. So dabbled a little. It back in the day of adding, you know, the actions and different things to get those different looks. But we really just settled on the, we love that authentic. Natural look, you know, we, we want to see. What the environment was like. So we don't typically add, you know, we don't make them too warm or dark and moody, or you know, that none of those things. Describe our style. I always tell people it's just, you know, true to your day. And that's what we really aim for. Style wise. And then also in terms of like wedding photography, Style-wise. Very journalistic. Of course there's both of us. I call Ray the paparazzi because he's the one always hiding in the bushes and the. Wedding guests are looking at him funny, like, what is this crazy guy doing over here in the bushes? But he's the one that gets the, you know, the creative shots through the bushes and things like that. And the more candid things. And I'm the one that is out there saying, you know, look here and smile and, you know, posing and doing the more formal. Portraits day. And actually we do that with our engagement sessions and everything as well. So they get a nice variety. Photos that way. So, yeah, we do that and I forgot what the second part of it. That's perfect. Cause I had a follow up anyway, so that's good. That is funny to me. It is always on these husband and wife teams. It's always the wife. That is the one that does the editing tells everyone what to do. And then always is the husband is out. You know, Farting around in the bushes, get me up. But I mean, it is it's, it's always the strong, you know, smart business people that are running it and doing the creative stuff. So I will commend you for that. My second question is what do you guys make it feel like day of. As are there. Yes. So. What are the biggest things that we talked to our. Clients about, and we want them to really think about. And for the most part, this has always rang true. Is to be fluid in your day. Of course, we always sit down and talk about how the day is going to go. We talk about a timeline and that sort of thing. But it kind of a go with the flow and that's that's. We try not to bring stress to the table. So even if it's even if in our. We're not gonna have enough time to do this. We try to bring that calm and that flexibility to any situation because. Gosh, I can't think of one wedding, but went exactly as planned on time. And everything was away at wa you know, Here's a thought. I'll tell you a funny story. A quick one, but is sort of pertains to this. And I don't tell anybody this anymore because. I have to do it, but now the whole world will know, but because I have that Flores to blood in me. One of the first weddings we did up here in 2012. The bride was going to go. Her plan was to go to the local, just down the road. You pick farm and get some flowers and put some bouquets together. But. That was kind of the extent of her planning for flowers. So day of the wedding, no flowers. No idea who was going to go get them or how they were going to get together. So. The venue owner ran down the road and got some flowers. And I gave her a quick class on and how to make. Boot nears. And between her and I and between taking, getting ready photos. I got a bright, open painting. I think. For bridesmaids. And then we had five. Boot nears that we made. All while running back and forth. But getting, you know, getting ready pictures and I set the camera down and run. I don't even make a move back and forth. We got it done. And she had flowers for a wedding, but the other thing that we try to do is help out, you know, I so. Buttons on the group. Talks before and you know, anything that we can do to be there, especially since there's two of us. We're never going to not be covering something and getting those photos. And man, if they need help with something, if they need us to run, do something or anything, that's what we're, we're also there to help make their day go well. And. That's always something. I always bring a, an emergency kit with things in it, just in case. And we really try to do the best that we can just as, as people, not necessarily as their photographer. To help them have the best data that they can. So, no, and that's, that's great. I mean, we were talking before I, you know, we hit record about, you know, personalities right. And wanting to do. And it is. I mean, we talk about this all the time on here, where. You were there all day? We're going to be there and finding someone that you're comfortable with. If you need help. Getting into your dress. Your dress or, or I, you know, I remember a guy, one of the first ways we had, you know, one of the bridesmaids, like split a dress and someone had to sell his stuff and you're like, there's all this stuff. And so it is, it's hard where. I was laughing because we, I was at a, like a vendor thing earlier this week and we were talking. The idea is. With with COVID and everything else, it's become a lot more like, okay, what about this contract? And what about this thing? What did we do where we really are a service industry. Right. And we want to, ultimately that is what we're there for is to serve and do it. It's it's. Just sad. How kind of, you know, everything's kind of falling apart in the last year. Ultimately, we want to be there. Like you said, helping fix the makeup before we got to go down the aisle or do whatever, either the things that you are used to doing and helping out with. So hopefully we'll get back to that point here soon. Hopefully that's been a challenge too. I'm used to just going up and fix, you know, positioning a hand or fixing the hair doing so. And hands off and that's been tough. So even though we had very few. Small weddings last year, we still, and this year we, gosh, this spring, we haven't done much of anything. We've had a couple of small elopements, but the fall is going to hit us hard. We have a lot books, you know, starting. Towards the end of July and into the fall. I think people are putting, they put it off for the spring, hoping that things would be closer to normal in the fall. So. So, yes, that was a challenge for sure, but I I'm a hands-on person because, you know, it's. We got to go at a pretty good pace. And especially when we're doing portraits and things, you've got to move it along. So. I'm used to doing that. Now I have to use my words. After doing that for so many years. Not doing that. Telling yourself not to do that and use finding the right words, to tell someone that, you know, To move this strand of hair or do this. Was challenging at first. I'm getting better at it, but it was tough. We're all. Yeah, we're becoming better communicators verbally. Wow. I was asking is another best way, but E ideal client, what, you know, what kind of clients do you find gravitate towards you? You know, your guys' personality and work, and then who do you gravitate to? You know, cause it's kind of a simpatico, you know, relationship, but what what's kind of your ideal target client you guys like to work with? Sure. And that's pretty easy to answer. The easy going couple of course is always, you know, Our favorite. Those are the, those are the best days. The ones. That are just willing to roll with the punches. To be honest, not just for our sake, but for theirs, you know, they're the ones that have the best day. When they can just go with it and enjoy it and have fun and not be stressed about it. Also, we really gravitate a lot towards, you know, Country folk, I guess you would call them. I mean, we do a lot of barn barn weddings. We do. We did one in somebody's pasture where they wrote it on horseback. Because both my husband and I have forced experience livestock experience, we get hired often because of that. I showed horses for years when I was younger and we had a barn full of them. We had. I don't know, 14 or so at one time. So you don't have a lot of equine experience. And so does my husband, we in fact, are doing a wedding. I'm very excited about an August. And would be island. That is a two day wedding. They are going to do. It's kind of a medieval theme. They're going to have jousting. They're going to have, they have a horse that we're possibly going to hook up with a cart or chariot to do some formal portraits. And they specifically wanted of having, and they're going to have people bring in some horses for the jazz thing and stuff. So. They wanted somebody that had that experience and they hired us. You know, of course I would hope based on our style and personality as well, but it was a big selling factor that. We had horse experience because that's important and they want everybody to be safe on their wedding day and they don't want people in there that are unfamiliar and, you know, not able to be safe. So we do that translates into all kinds of things. Senior portraits. We have a lot of seniors that we. That we. Take their portraits with their horses. And we're kind of known, I guess, for now. I don't know, they seem to find us. So anybody country, anybody. You know, of course with animals and seem to seem to find us. And I think that's probably because a lot of the portraits that we show. Have, you know, are a barn wedding or, you know, somebody with their horse. So I think you show, you sell what you show. So I think that people find us based on that too. Well, I think that's cool. I think that's a really unique selling point and just that familiarity there, because, you know, I. It's a little different with, with video. I mean, sometimes people just want, you know, what, that were a little more documentary, but yeah, sometimes I'm with photographers and we'll be at a wedding and I'm like, this is not your guys's like, right. I just know people and I'm like, I don't know why, like, why we're here, you know? But that is, I think that's a unique, you know, obviously besides the suing, you. Beautiful. Portraits and things, but I think having that as a thing. Especially with just how crazy, I mean, who would have thought that barn, wedding country thing forever now? I mean it's. Yes. Seems to be the thing. What are your thoughts about that? That's crazy. I am surprised sometimes by the people that want that, just because they're not, you know, they're, they're city folk that want the country life. And I think they're just looking for something different, something out of the ordinary, or just simply like that sounds because they don't live in the country. Doesn't mean they don't like that style, but. I don't know. I sometimes it can be a little over the top, but I love it. It's my environment. And same with Raymond, you know? This is about, we grew up in, I grew up in a barn practically, you know, I spent most of my time there as a child, so I love the country feel and we had one bride. Specifically asked us if we would be able to wear our jeans and cowboy boots, the wedding. And of course, yes. More than happy to do that. So we had a wedding. Oh, was it like three years ago? And it was, he was, she was Chinese. He was, I kind of, he was more just kind of like. I wasn't even rugged was in the work. Cause he was pretty well put together, but he was, he wanted, it was like a country. They were in like Jean jackets. But then like, Like we still have like the tea ceremony and everything else. Yeah, it was, it was, you know, and like all their boards with and stuff. Like he had jeans and they have like, Not like Burleigh vest, but like, kinda like a suede. I mean, it was, it was a whole, but it was still, yeah, it was. Chinese, whatever. But then with the Asia, it was, you know, it's good to. Flop out around, I guess. And do you make it your own? So, absolutely. That was we also, that was one of two couples in this. Summer made their own last names. And I was like, wow, we are. And now I have not heard of that. That is interesting. Yeah. Two different couples that same summer one was in June and then we'll visit in September and they both, yeah. May their own combined names and made their own last name. Well, that's fun. Yeah, it was. Creative. Yeah, it was like, it was weighing and then his was like Hopi. And so they were the Wang opiates. Well, that's fun. I love it. I want to hear about your and Raymond's wedding day. Okay. I will. It's very easy to sum it up. I was wearing a $15 dress from Walmart. We went to the justice of peace in a little tiny town called buoy, Texas. Stood in front of a corkboard with a no smoking sign pin to it. The gentleman that was probably also the secretary. I don't know. He was the only person in the building. Pronounced our names wrong and said, do you, do you, yes, you're married. The only one, there was my mother. We plan to go to the mall. And get in one of those photo booths and get our photo taken. But it wasn't there when we got there. They had it there, but it was gone. So we don't have one photo of our wedding day, not one. This was, you know, 20 years ago we didn't have cell phones or anything. My mom didn't think to bring the camera. And we went out to dinner at the olive garden, and then we went to see the third pocket Al Dundee movie in the theaters. And then we went home. So. I think one of the things that I love most about weddings as a kind of get to live vicariously through a couples, because we did not do that. We've talked about renewing our vows and having a big shindig and one of these days, maybe we will. But yeah, that was our, that was our wedding day, him and his Wrangler and me in a blue dress with flowers on it from Walmart. Well, I think it's, so I always ask that if, you know, obviously people are married, but. Because I, you know, I feel cause I was not married or anything when I got into wetlands and then my wife and I, you know, and now I do weddings still. And I feel like I'm such a better wedding vendor having gone through that process and whatever that looks like. Right. Cause you could be. We've had event planners come on and go. My wedding was horrible, and this is why I wanted to be an event planner or. I hear that often. Yes, based on their own experiences. And I get, we get asked that. So, what did you do about this or that for your wedding? We always kind of laugh and tell people that, you know, one of the things, one of the reasons we really value. Wedding photography is that we have not one photo. Of our wedding day. However it panned out. It would have been really nice to have some photos. So, and I have nothing, but my fading memory as I get older. No. Then it, it helps you, you know, cause it. Everything, you know, to, to lead us to where we are, you know, you're able to speak to that so much. Right. And really, and, and, you know, when you guys are working and capturing. You know, these memories. I mean, that's what I mean is, is it's having gone through it and you just know it's like, you're, I just, I remember I used to, like, people would be planning the wedding and I'm like, what are they doing? Or don't they, like, I emailed them last week. Like, what is the hold up? And then you go through it and you're like, oh, I understand. Thanks. So, no, I mean, I think that that is certainly, but like you said, you, you have that added care and thought that goes into capturing those memories. I think that that's still really special and helps, you know, kind of work that out. So yes. So we talked to, so you guys have a new studio, is it on property or is it out of place? It is, but we have eight acres. We're just outside of. Town. So we're very easy to find and yes we have. So the studio is about six at 640 square feet. So it's, it's actually one of those. And pre-made, you know, store storage said, basically that we can, we did the whole inside wooden floors and insulated and drywall, and we did all the work ourselves other than. The building itself. And it took us. Oh, about eight months to get it finished. And yes, we have it on. We have eight acres. And so we have some forest and pasture and outside options also. So we do a lot outside too. And so are you guys, are we rolling that out to you starting to get reactions now and utilizing that more? I mean, that's a pretty new thing you guys are adding on, right? It is, and we've had the, so we've been here on the property for almost nine years and we've used, so we've done a lot with the pasture and the, the forest and, you know, the property we've used over the years for photography a lot. But having the building is really nice because yes, it's something that we can. It's not something we really even wanted for a long time. Thought about it back and forth. But of course at that time it was, do we rent something versus, you know, w we didn't think about building something here on the property. But we didn't really want the expense of that. And the overhead of that. Because it's something that we figured we wouldn't use very often. Why were we wrong? We use those plays all the time and really been enjoying it. So for all kinds of things, Lots of portraits. And, you know, of course, with the boudoir. That's opened up the possibility to that. Although before the studio, we did do a couple of mood-wise sessions out in pasture, but you gotta be really brave for that. We have a couple of neighbors. Are you, are you in the studio right now? I am. That works well for a podcast. So talk about the brood war. And what I like about this so much is a it's, it's another thing that photographers, you know, can sell work on market. That's not weddings. And also it really, for the ones where it leads to a wedding, you know, where it's like a gift or a pre whatever. It just adds so much to the comfortability of the day, right? Where you guys. You know, you've gone through something with them. So I don't want to put words in your mouth. So talk to me about the brood war. And how did that come about? And what do you see as the benefits of that from a, you know, a client working with a client point of view? Oh, of course. Well, a couple of things for that one, having the studio. Now we could really. Advertise and, and do that. But also our business mentor was a photographer here in Kitsap county for 10 years. And she said, oh gosh, you guys have got to, you know, There is a market here for that. And you really, she encouraged us to really add that onto what we were already offering. And she came in and she brought in some models and we did a whole bunch of. You know, working with lighting and that sort of thing. And. I'm kind of getting, cause it's different. It's like, it's like being a newborn photographer. We don't do that because it's a completely different world when we do our kind of is too. And although we had done a little here and there, it was fairly new to us. And so we worked a lot on that. One thing that we do. And this seems to be, I'll be honest, a little off-putting sometimes. But we try to explain it this way. So Ryan and I both do the boudoir. If people want us to, of course, if they're not comfortable with him doing it. I am the only one that does it. But he did some pretty amazing creative stuff. And we love working together, so it's comfortable for us, but it has to be comfortable for them. So that's something that we leave as an option. If they want to work with him also. Absolutely. They're going to get some other creative. Images as well. Or they can choose to just have me. But yes. So one of the things about doing Hoodoo are. For bribes. As a couple of things, one, it doesn't have to necessarily be bridal boudoir, so it doesn't have to be your veil or something white. It could be anything because it can be a gift for your. You know, For your wedding day. It's perfect gift. And it is an opportunity it's such a vulnerable experience. But it really. You know, once we've been through that together. The wedding day is no problem. You. You know, We've experienced that. And we've built that relationship that is. Gosh, every time we come out of a VR session, it's. It's empowering. And we use that word a lot and tend to almost overuse it, but it really is. That's probably the best word you can use for it. So even though the idea might be for our brides to be. Creating a gift for their spouse. It's also an experience, but most of them haven't had before. And it gets them more comfortable in front of the camera. I mean, if you've done boudoir and then you go and do an engagement session or a wedding, you. That comfort level is you're already comfortable in front of the camera. He would spend two hours, you know, In your lingerie. You know, so it's easy to, to move on to that and it, and we build a great relationship with our clients. They do hair and makeup here at the studio. So we have about an hour to chat and get to know them. And. Some of them have some fantastic. Stories to tell. We've had some, some great ones. We get to laughing together and we build that relationship before we even start doing photos. So it's definitely. Definitely a benefit in lots of different ways. For sure. Absolutely. And like I said, from a, just a quiet photographer perspective. Yeah. Along besides all the wonderful things that, you know, the deliverables and everything you get out of it. Sure of course. It's it's so cool. And then. To get the study and follow those. I will say the. I will, I will never get over how funny it is if the guys or whoever are getting those books. On their wedding day. Like if they're going to do a first look or not, You know, maybe they don't feed them to the ceremony, but they get the book. Air for video. It's great. Cause there, I was like, oh wait, this is, you know, and they usually don't know and they'll be like, oh right. But we have, we have some funny videos of like some big tough guys. It'd be like, Ooh, like let's. No. I mean, I think it's. It's one of those things. I think we've gotten away from the joy of weddings in the last year with everything else going on. And I think that something like that is a great way to, to add on some kind of fun stuff to do during the. You know, while you're young and engaged or whatever. And even if you're not. We've certainly had, you know, I've heard stories of, you know, No, you don't have to be married to do that stuff. You could just be someone that wants to have a wonderful day. And have photos taken right. Yes. And many of our clients are single. Yeah. In fact. Yeah, I just got off the phone with a gal that wants to absolutely do this for her. Yes. The thing that she wants to do for her. And that's probably about 50% of our clients are our clients are single. So it is something that a lot of people do for a lot of different reasons, but it is definitely fun when they're doing it for a gift and we even. Offered the option to leave whatever product that they've purchased here at the studio to hide it, essentially from the nosy. Yeah. So. This is a good, is there anything else you wanted to make sure we touched on today before we let you go? I'm glad that we got to talk about the studio and the boudoir. No, it's. Gosh, business is booming compared to last year. So we're, we're just in the swing of things and really enjoying it and yeah. Excited to start using the studio more. We. Finished it up right before they shut everything down last year. So we've been able to use it, but not as much as we wanted necessarily. So it's been fun the last couple of months, even to see that upswing and clients and to be able to utilize it more. And, and then the weather is beautiful. We just did some shooting outside and loved the property and the spring time. And. We're just excited for wedding season and really excited. Hopeful that things are starting to, to track back to somewhat normal. I'm. Gosh. I can't imagine being a bride in these times. Cautious. I just can't even imagine. We've done our best to, you know, convert everybody and get people through it. But yeah, it'll be, it'll be good to be moving on and hopefully, and. You know, we're looking forward to the fall and all the things that we've got, we've got graduations going on and all the things that are going on. This spring. So we're, we're quite busy, but it's wonderful. So is, and I would be remissed if I didn't let another three share at least one story about your family and what you do when you're not, you know, photographing and doing everything else before we let you go today. So why don't you paint us a little picture of, of what you have at home? Sure. So we have a 19 year old and 18 year old, both boys. And then a 13 year old girl. And we love to do outdoor stuff. One of our favorite things to do is beach combing, of course. That's a favorite. Hiking and beings, we got. We are also spontaneous sometimes. And a couple of weeks ago we were sitting around, it was about two o'clock in the afternoon, and we'd had some things going on that morning, but we were all home because you know, now the boys have jobs and you know, it's hard to all be together. We were all sitting in the living room. Asking each other, what are we going to do today? And somebody said, I think we should go to Leavenworth and somebody else said, well, it's kind of late for that. And I said, well, let's just go have dinner. So we jumped in the car and we drove, it took us four hours to get there. Usually it's a three hour drive. She goes four hours to get there. They're a little after six o'clock. We had an amazing dinner. We walked around town for a few minutes, got in the truck and drove home. So. Sometimes we just do spontaneous things. And, but we love to go out. We'd love to go down into Oregon. That's one of our favorite places to go. And every, until the pandemic hit every fall, I tradition was to go down to roll off farm and get our pumpkins. So that was always our fall family trip. As we go down there for a couple of days, we love to stay in a story. Yeah. So yeah, those kinds of things. That's what we love to do, but the kids are growing up. Our middle son is graduating from high school in a couple of weeks, so that's starting to get real. I got the, I. I got his photos in the mail the other day and present and out. Announcements and two down one to go. So. You let you do the photos. Yes. That's good. I could see another way I could see a yes. No hell no. You know, so that's good. So they've heard stories of that. So, Although our children. Are very gracious. And we'll model for us and our daughter loves it, but boys, then they can take it or leave it. We've always. Ask them, if they're interested in doing that or not. And generally they'll say yes sometimes they'll say no, but we've never really forced that upon them. So they, so they're more willing to, you know, Have us do that when, when needed. One thing we have told them though, is that we will not photograph their weddings. Because we want to be part of their day, so we will help them by. Help them find the, exactly. I cannot see through the tears. That will be happening. I don't know if I, yeah. I've heard of a mother photographing her sense of whether that would be a LVA tricky. A lot of emotion. Nope, not going to do it. And I leave the camera at home. It's tempting, but in some ways, because you know, but Nope, Nope. We'll find them. We'll find them a good photographer and we'll enjoy their day. So. My, one of my he's kind of a cloud, but he's a photographer over here. One of my friends be he, he did photograph his own wedding and he was very proud of that. They just alone. It was like, I mean, it wasn't like a full. They just did that. I think they got married at the courthouse and then it was downtown Seattle, but he said, he goes, no one, no one told me I could do it and I'm going to do it. And I'm like, That's funny. Well, you killed it today. I know you were a little nervous. There's no need to be at all. We did fantastic. I think this was great. If people want to learn more about you and Raymond and your family and photography and everything else, where would you have them check out? Sure. So we're most, mostly on Facebook and Instagram. We're [unknown] photography. LLC, because believe it or not, there's a pizza in photography in Oregon somewhere. So. We are LLC. And I think it comes up with Paul's. Though Washington also, but that is us. And then we are P. [Unknown] photography.com. And then our email. His smile@petefivephotography.com. I liked that one. Yeah, we're, we're pretty easy to find. So, yeah, that's those are the platforms we're mostly on. Well, perfect. Thank you again. If you're like Andrea and you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to best meet videos.com/podcast guest. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire. We have to get you in the system. Thank you again, like I said, it's always great. To meet new voices. I haven't had the opportunity to work with. And like I said, it's, I'm amazed in however many years we haven't crossed paths, but hopefully. Right. Hopefully we will. One of these days.

Sara and Cara, Seattle Tiny Wedding

Well, welcome everyone together. Get to know your wedding pro kind of a special episode today. We'll probably post it on the best made weddings feed two. We have the team behind Seattle, tiny weddings. I'm taking part in this as well as a video streaming partner for that I do in a couple of different dates. You know, these smaller kind of elopements. Really kind of getting a one-stop shop, if you will. You know, if you're a couple that's looking to, you know, find something to work, save a little bit of money and kind of get all your vendors taken care of. So I have the team here. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves? And then we'll get into conduit. You know who you guys are, what is Seattle tiny weddings, kind of the whole shebang. So why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves. Give us a little background about who you are. Cool. I'm Sarah and I am co-owner of laundry bent rentals and Seattle tiny wedding. And I've. I don't know really what to say. Other than that. I'm Kara. We call on, like she said, wander event rentals. Creative agency with a large collection of specialty rentals. We're launching this new. Offering of Seattle tiny weddings, which we're super excited about that. You're also a part of, so yeah, we've got our start in. Buying and selling vintage and handmade goods at larger markets across the Northwest. Transitioned pretty quickly into rentals, specialty rentals and kind of just hit the ground running. And there was definitely a market for that in the, in the Northwest Seattle area, specifically working in corporate. But obviously a lot of that is no longer happening, at least not for a while. So. We just decided off for the Seattle tiny weddings does this sort of moment of definitely COVID safe. Everything's a little bit smaller. It just seems like people are so excited about just. Having this opportunity to sort of just hand it over and have it taken care of, you know, if they've had enough. To deal with in the last year or so. Absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, that's something that we've talked about and I've had a lot of elopements lately. And I don't know how I'm going to handle going back to like that. You know, 10, 12 hours a day. Just because it's so nice being able to, you know, downsize, have everything be a little more focused, you know, and especially in the Seattle tiny weddings case where a lot of that's taken care of for you as well. But I do mean that, that I feel like the time that we've spent with our couples lately in these smaller Loveman settings, it feels like their time is much more well spent just without a lot of that stress. What do you guys. I guess in terms of just the dots behind that, first of all, and then we can move on. Yeah. I feel like, you know, COVID has created this. Timeframe of, you know, what is the most important thing to you? You know? And so that's sort of where we start, honestly, it always have started. You know, is it the food? Is it the music? Maybe it's the decor. I hope it's the decor. We have a lot of decor. You know, but we call it a lot of time to call it the vibe, you know, and I'm in the Pacific Northwest, we're a little more casual, but we like a nice, elevated experience. And I think that's the word experience, less about traditions and these things we have to do, you know, what do you want to do? Do you want to have an oyster bar on the beach? Let's do that. You know, and we'll figure that out. So I think that's something that's gonna stay. It's not going to go away after COVID and I think that's great. Yeah. And I think what it's done is it really kind of took away all the extra stuff that people felt like they had to do in a wedding. So it's a please. Mom or your aunts or whomever. It may be the things that they felt. Kind of stuck me. But I didn't, now we can really do a, what. We want to do and what's important. And so it's simple. It's much more simple. Right. Aye. Aye. Aye. Then with Seattle. I just say, yeah, I totally, yeah. I think the zoom was like in there for a second. I said, no, I totally agree with that. Yeah. And with Seattle tiny weddings. What's unique about that is. It's done. It's literally add to the cart, show up, you know, it's definitely for the couple who just. Isn't that invested in making the decisions. They take a long time to make all these decisions and to make them cohesively and to have the day run smoothly. And maybe they don't want, you know, 200 people. In a more formal situation. Maybe they're a little shy. Maybe they're too busy to plan a wedding. You know, this is a high style, highly produced event. Literally, like we said, click add to your cart. You show up, you can then take your tiny wedding party and go to dinner, go back home, have a catered dinner. And obviously we work with our couples to help facilitate some of those needs as well. So. Well, and I think definitely being able to, you know, and I guess we can kind of define what this is. So you guys are, there's going to be multiple dates set up and we have those in venues. And then couples are able to pick a time slot, you know, throughout the day vendors taking care of her, you know, Photography streaming. Why don't you guys list maybe what all comes in that, and then we can get into some like benefits. You know, kind of throughout that process. So Sarah, what, what, well, I guess before we even get into that, what you, as a rental company wanting to obviously pivot as I think a lot of people are right now, right. Figuring out like, okay, what can we, you know, I started this XFL podcast. So like what, what was the emphasis behind pivoting to this and starting this. Well, that's a great question. So last summer. Just coming out of the initial, like. Well, we're shut down and things are totally different. We started working with our clients on. Matt doing larger rental orders. And really helping them plan out their backyard. Off grid venues. So like if they're getting married in national park or grandma's lake property, we were coming in and really working with them too. Get the whole, their whole event planned out rental wise. So we're bringing in bathrooms, lighting. Generators all of that stuff more than just the decor, which we had done previously. And we quickly realized that there was a lot of planning that needs to happen. So we're helping them actually lay out. What rentals they need, but then they needed a planner to come in and really execute it all. And so we were finding that was missing and what we were offering and our clients were asking us to do that. And Kara and I quickly are like, we're not wedding planners and we don't do that. So we started having this conversation. We should bring on a wedding planner because this is something our clients are asking us for. It's something that would really seamlessly fit in what we're with, what we're already doing. And so we started having the conversation like let's, let's start looking into actually bringing in wedding planning as something we offer under wander. So, and then Alyssa. Lissa Lawton from gap formerly of gathered events. She we've been friends with her for a long, long time. We've worked with her a lot. She's been a wedding planner for 10 years in the Seattle area. She was in the right place at the right time. We just kind of came together and she came on our team with us in January. So that was really the, the, the start of this. And then it was like, okay. So how do we launch planning under wander? What does that look like? And we found this idea of the tiny wedding. And it's being done in other cities. So it wasn't, it's not like something new that we invented. We just, we know some people who are doing it in Dallas and Minneapolis and Birmingham. So, yeah. So we knew that this concept was. Successfully happening in other cities. So we really started looking into it and it's like, this could be our little niche and the planning market, so, and a way to offer some, another type of service to clients that maybe they don't need the huge big rental order, because they're not doing a big 200 person wedding in the backyard. We can. Offer that planning services to that person. Who's ready to just click and buy. Perfect. So, yeah, so, and obviously great, you know, that pivots across the board. So you guys are focused on this now. So now I wanted to get into what we have going on. So we have the dates, we have venues so curly right now, I went on the side. It looks great. You know, I know that we've been sending off everything to the vendors and whatever too. So. Walk me through whether you guys envisioning so far and whether we have going on. So we're super excited. We have four dates on the calendar for 2021. And basically what it is, it's a whole wedding. So a beautiful ceremony, backdrop, all of your rentals, your venue. Your photographer's included your live streaming, your personal flowers cake and champagne, the officiant, everything you need to have a wedding. Is included and it's done on a big scale. All of the vendors and the venues that we brought in are professionals that work at a very high level. So you're getting a very quality product and you basically get to split that with four to five different couples. So instead of having a 50, $60,000 wedding, you get to split that four or five ways. So you save on the cost and you, but you still get all of the things that come with that wedding. Like the florals and. Cake and champagne and all that fun stuff. Yes. And so what venues do we have so far that we're working with? June 12th is mad art. Studio and, and south lake union neighborhood at Seattle, it is the design for that one is really bright. Poppy colors. Like geometric shapes. We really try to play off the, the artist studio. Typically, what is in the matte art space is actual large scale exhibits from local artists. And so, and then between exhibits, they'll rent it out as an event space. So we're really trying to play up the artists theme there and, and bring in like loss of bright, fun colors and geometric shapes. We've got a huge fabric installation. That's going to be going in. Things like that. So it'll be kind of dramatic and fun and very spring, spring in Seattle. So we're really excited about that one. And we have four spots still available for that. And then we've got axis in on what was August 28th access pioneer square. So that's in pioneer square. That's a really fun venue, big brick walls, huge brick arches, very another dramatic kind of industrial. Historical space in downtown Seattle. That one, you want to talk a little bit about the design? Yeah, that one very romantic, but modern, various cereal. One thing that's great about the Seattle tiny weddings is that at some of these iconic venues of food and Bev minimum is pretty high. And so doing the tiny wedding, you can still get into these venues at a much lower price. So access pine is pioneer square, downtown beautiful venue. Like she said, lots of different options. Beautiful. A theorial very romantic. Like I said, next we have on Quist, which is going to be a little more. Full vibes. As we like to say, kind of a later summer. Still really beautiful. We've got Colibri. Bloom's going to do a giant art instill. Art, excuse me, floral installation. That's going to be in their greenhouse, which is a great space. That is going to be, remind me the date on that, Sarah. That one is September 25th. Yeah, yeah. Table catering. That's their venue space. They're immaculate food. So good. I won't disappoint extended except extended reception, probably candle light, you know, as we move into these darker. Months, we're going to have to incorporate some lighting, definitely some candles. Then we moved to only Olympic ballroom and other iconic. Beautiful venue. Limpic I call it Olympic ballroom too, but it's not. I always call it Olympic farm. It is. The Olympic rooftop pavilion. So that is a really cool one because it is actual rooftop with a view of Seattle. So that was, and it's in November. So it's going to be darker. Those later spots that five o'clock seven o'clock spot is going to be like very dark and the design on that one as much more upscale, sort of a black tie situation. Although you can be as casual, the couples can do whatever they want. But the design itself will be a little more like lots of blacks and creams and a little more kind of a black tie vibe. That'd be a black tie. PNW black tie. We don't do anything really. Black diets. It's all pretty casual. But it's, it's a little more elevated for us. So that's going to be a fun, one, really fun things. Planned floral wise for that space. Possibly a hanging installation. Ceremony in the round. Really pushing our design skills outside the box, if we can, in these spaces. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I mean, this all sounds great. And this is, I mean, I speak candidly about this, right? Cause I have no skin. I mean, obviously the com you know, helping and perform, but I mean, just as, as a outside observer on this, and I know we talked about this. You know, when we were kind of coming on board. What I like the most about this is a lot of times with these. You know, the, the, where you getting kind of the package deal or whatever, it's like some random venue or it's on like a Tuesday or it's a lot of these things that feel discounting right? Where these are stunning venues, like access partners, square. You know, we've been there half a dozen times, you know, stunning venues. And the same with the Olympic rooftop pavilion, you know, fantastic with hotel Ballard. I I've been through math. I haven't filmed there and then same with on quest. But. You know, it it's, it's prime dates. It's it's prime venues and it is things that you wouldn't necessarily be able to get into otherwise. Right. Cause like access part in your square. Is a very expensive venue. Right. And so I love the idea, like you said, of. Sharing that cost. And then from your vendors perspectives too, you know, like for, for the streaming services, that might not be something that's cost accessible for every couple, but if we're able to set up and be there all day and provide that service, it's something where. I think you're just getting a lot more than the sum of the parts. And especially with the vendors that you brought on with photography and forests and things like that, it is it's like you're getting. These top tier. You know, and me. Yeah. As, but you know, you're getting these top tier vendor. Vendors and venues. You know, honestly, for a fraction of what that would be normally to do that. And as someone that. You did get married. You. It is Mary went through the whole, you know, spending all that money. I know how expensive these, you know, see all the weddings are right. And it is cost prohibitive sometimes to be able to do the things that you want. So I really like, I think there's a lot of positives about that. Yeah. We did too. Yeah. Absolutely. That was a big consideration. All of the dates are Saturdays. That was really important to us. Not to say that in the future, if we add on more dates might not, maybe we'll add a Sunday. You know, who knows, but all of these dates that we have on the calendar right now are Saturdays. The vendor teams are top notch. Like. And they, and we have worked our deals and our connections and to get these affordable for couples. But you are really getting. A big bang for your buck, with what, with the teams and the venues and the actual, what it's going to at the end of the day, what you're going to receive from this and what you get to enjoy with your family and friends. Is is worth every penny. Yeah, it's really like, you know, and I, I not obviously right now with everything, but I used to do a lot of stylized shoots and it was kind of the same idea and we would get these couples or whether they were couples or friends or whatever you go. Man, like, you know, you get, you have all these people come in and set up all this stuff, and then they're able to come and get like the best photos in the world, right. In this world. Where, how would we ever put this wedding together? Right. You know, normally it would just cost a fortune. And it's the same thing here where it's like, And I know that we've talked too about, you know, doing maybe some styled shoots in the space as well, but it really is like each of these couples is coming through and getting their own. Stylized shoot. That they didn't. Really have to pay all the way for, and be involved in you. The six months of planning that it would be to put these things together. I mean, is that kind of, you know, obviously you guys have done shoots and stuff like that too. I mean, the work that goes into it, that, that the couples aren't going to have to deal with now. I mean, talk about that. Right. Well, we're not limited on. Budget and design the way we would be. If we were designing just one individual wedding, right. We can really take and maximize our collection and work within the budget based on to the space and based on. The venue and the team, what we can do with that and where we can maximize that. So I think really is going to you get that Pinterest worthy moment, like you said, without the price. In terms of the vendor teams. I know that I'm consistent for the streaming through. Is there. A mixed amount of share out the other dates or how was that working for the couples? I know obviously all of this will be on the site. You know, to, for the couples to book through, but I mean, talk me through a, is each team built individually or is it built kind of over the dates? It's built individually. So we you're on all of our dates. Definitely. But most, most of the vendors are individual per the day. A lot of these vendors are in very high demand. Yup. So it like for you in particular, it was kind of crazy that the dates worked out, that we could get you. Cause most of the, you know, so it, you can get that particular photographer, all four dates. In 2021, it just, and it was sorta like that throughout. So, but, and, and we also chose the vendor teams based on the venue too. So for instance, the photographer that we chose for Ahlquist, that's a greenhouse, it's a really light and bright. Venue. And we chose a photographer that really excels in that environment. And so, and she's a very high end photographer. We got her. You know, For a great. It's great that she's able to do this with us, for the price. That we're offering that, that particular. Tiny wedding at, you know, so, and she's just going to blow it out. She's the perfect photographer for that particular venue. And it was kind of like that throughout where it's like, who's really gonna fit best. Who's available. Who's got the date available. Who's the best fit we, we work with the time we've been in the wedding industry for five years. So we work with. We've worked with so many different, wonderful vendor. So we really kind of in our back pocket, know a lot of people that we can be like, oh, this is they're going to be great at this particular, for this design, for this venue, for. This time of year. And we can. Approach them and get them on board. So it is definitely custom per event. Or, and I was just kind of flipping through the, the vendor list here. Like you said, that access pioneer square, you have urban light studios. Right. And they're, they're involved in that space. So they definitely know, like you said, how to best just exist in that space and capture it. And then yeah, Courtney Bolden photography is, I mean, I've worked with Courtney for six years, right? I mean, these are people that are, I guess I do feel like sometimes with these. The mini, whatever you want to call them, you are getting some of these like discount vendors, right? And, and I mean, it's really not. And as someone that's worked with, like, you know, most of these vendors. You know, I can speak to that. And so I think that that is something that comes into place too. Is, is it. You know, Courtney is, is a very expensive photographer, right? And, and so to be able to get that for her. I mean, I think this is a win-win for everybody. I mean, I think that there's a lot of positives. For this. Right, right. Totally. Yeah, so just, you know, shrinking it down, like just a cake and the champagne, you know, having options like that versus, you know, A catered dinner. Allows you to then have that moment on, on that budget. Right? You can then have that photographer. Right. So, yeah, we're super excited about it. We're really excited to have you on board. I think live streaming is amazing and it's never going to go away. We're going to live stream all the time. I mean, why, why are we doing 300 person weddings? Like let's do 50 in live stream. Yep. Yeah. It is interesting now, you know, cause I mean, If you think through all this occurred a year ago and all the work that I put in, like back March and April and now it's, you know, it's like that long con you know, that, that pays off. Danielle, it's a long game with that. But no, I mean, I think they, they definitely been able to, that's the thing, right? People want to elope and you want to have this, you know, save space and people and money, but then it's how do I get everybody involved with that? And yeah, just did too. I tell that to every couple, whether they book me or not for the live stream, that. Cause, you know, we're on these private YouTube links, but the couple of the people that are watching are able to leave comments and stuff. Right. And the, the appreciation for the guests that the couples, you know, spent the time and the money to make sure that people are involved in that way. Is very much appreciated. And I see that like whether people book me or someone else to do it, like people really appreciate you taking the time to do the live stream and spending that money that you didn't have to. And, and you would be amazed at the comments that we get. And then, you know, it all saves that. So the couples can go back and see it, but it is a cool thing. And they're like, man, they really span. And you know, someone, you know, me or whoever I put in all the time to set everything up to do it. I mean, they really do appreciate that. So yeah. And that's one thing I really try to get one. I will say that the, the couples that we've talked to and that we've, that have purchased the tiny wedding. They all want the livestream. That is a huge part of, of what they are getting out of this and they want out of it. So that's really exciting. And another. Aspect of that is. And I lost my train of thought. On it, but the live stream is the really cool, like everybody's into it. Everybody's like, this is an important part of, of this experience is being able to share that with a bigger. With all of your friends and family, and then have that core group with you. So that the day is the day is really important and that time is really important. And so it's a way to include everyone in that. In that day and that YouTube link then, like you said, becomes a digital guest book, right? Guests can leave comments. I love that. Yeah, it's been a really good. I mean, obviously there's a lot of different ways to do it, but the way that we do it. Has been really nice for couples to be able to go back and see all that. So I wanted to ask you, you were talking about, you know, people being excited for the live streams, but now that you guys, cause I know that this has been, you know, A brain trust for awhile. You guys working on putting this together, figuring out, you know, the vendors and all that. Now that you guys are selling the spots, marketing, talking to the couples. I talk about that reaction, that, that, that you're getting from perspective, you know, people and people that are booking in about you. What do they think about the product in the idea that you guys are doing? They are super excited about it. What is happening? What we found is this, this idea, Jen. You know, people, like I said, have been doing it for the last year in other cities. And it was definitely a COVID pivot for them, but what. They ended. This is what, when we were kind of like exploring this idea and talking to other people who are doing it, the one thing that came out over and over was that the couple that's actually purchasing these packages. They're not doing, they're not COVID couples. They wanted something like this anyway. And so they're not, if this isn't a pivot for them to, to have to do something like this because of COVID, this is exactly what they wanted. So they are professionals they're super busy. They don't want to plan a wedding. They don't really. They don't want to make all of those decisions, sign all of the contracts. Interview all of the vendors. That to them. They do not have time for that. They don't want it. They want something beautiful. They want something professionally executed and. An amazing. They don't want to have to do the work. So. It's been an interesting thing and, and discovering these couples. And they're so excited when they find this product and they learn about it. That it's exactly what they wanted and they didn't. You know, this is a new thing in Seattle, so people don't know it exists. So when they find out about it, There's so happy to have found it. That's what we're seeing. Yeah. And it's like, this is perfect. Done. They don't take a long time to make the decision. Yeah, that was my question. And, and you might not. I just mean prognosticating here, but I find are you finding the couples that, that seem more excited are a little bit older? Like I'm kind of like mid thirties where I think. Read at 26 was maybe a little bit more excited to plan a wedding. Myself and do the younger and the half. You know, we were during the Nairobi news for 14 months, right. To plan our wedding where read right now would very much like take one of those in a heartbeat. Are you guys finding that in terms of the ages? I'm just curious. You know, the ages are definitely thirties. For sure. They're not super young. Nobody we've talked to a super young yet. So, yeah, I think so. I I'm the same. I've planned a wedding. I've done it. So now I know. This is a way better deal. And I went, and this is exactly what I would do if I were to do it again. So, I don't know if it's more of that of just having gone through the experience and knowing how much work it is and how much stress it is and, and having, and being able to just. Quite literally just show up on your wedding day. Not having had to go through all of that. What a wonderful thing that would be now that we've done it right. So, but yeah, so far it's definitely people in their thirties that we've talked to, but yeah. You know, most of them are making it. You know, taking, like I said, the party. And moving it elsewhere either before or after. Right. And we have options of added on additional planning hours to help facilitate that as well, too, for our couples. But. You know, you can, you, maybe you're going to do Olympic rooftop and then you're going to move to hotel Ballard. You know, something like that. We can work with different shuttle companies to help you get transportation, things like that. So we're, we've got all kinds of different PDFs cooked up to send you to help. You know, make the whole weekend really specific if you want it. Yeah. You know, so like, if you want to add a little more, make it a little longer experience, there's lots of different ways to do that. And we've got, we've got all the ideas, so right. Yeah. I mean, just. And I think that idea of doing these, like I said, we just, it was like two weeks ago. You. They didn't the love Matt Carey park, you know, it was just them. You know, one on each side. And then they just were going to go through a nice dinner. Right. And I thought, man, how. Again, this probably a little older re talking, but like, yeah. How nice would that be? And I have to do, you know, all these other things and I think. Like you said, building those things into the weekend, being able to stay at hotel Ballard, being able to stay in south lake union somewhere. Right. And do that and just show up at your wedding, I think is a really. It feels very Seattle to me anyway, just in terms of kind of the demographic that we have here, but it seems like. Something that I think is going to become more and more just with everything with, with time, with planning, with money, with people wanting to save for houses and things. And I don't want to spend $30,000 on my wedding. I want to, you know, we want to do these other things or travel or whatever. So I think, I think it's an exciting time. And like you said, it's not. Necessarily a COVID pivot. These are couples that, that we're attracted to that anyway, which I think is important because I do think that we get that now. Like, oh, there won't be like, well, when was it going to be your big wedding? And when was it going to be your whatever, I mean, on our best meetings, weddings, podcasts, we've talked about that for months, right? Like what is a real wedding? And it's something smaller. That's more. Intimate and thoughtful. Is that any less, you know, valuable? I mean, we've had like philosophical discussions about that, right? And I think that it's just important to note that yeah, that. People have different decisions for everything and that these aren't necessarily pivots for the couple. It could be something very intentional. So. Right. Absolutely. And it allows for more like it's, it's a capacity thing. So instead of planning for 200 people, One day and it's all gonna happen in one day. You can take, you can make it a whole weekend, which is most of the clients that we work with. Really want an experience for their guests? So they would rather. You know, whittle it down to 30 of their core people and give them an experience to remember. So maybe that starts at. On Friday night and then the wedding is Saturday and then a brunch on Sunday. And this type of, of wedding really allows for the room to create that for your, for your friends and family. I love that I love they're rethinking kind of the timeline and the itinerary that way that I do think we got so locked down into this, you know, what's. You know, noon to 10 and you're going to show up at 10:00 AM and you're going to do hair then you're going to do, and then, and. You know, shuttle is picking me up at 10 o'clock at night, or, you know, whatever these, like you could put the wedding timeline together in your head. Right. And like, I think that it is so cool now to be able to rethink that and who wouldn't love a wedding weekend. And like I said, especially where a lot of these venues are in places where it's very accessible to either spend the night, you know, either at the venue or nearby. I think it was really cool. And that was one of the coolest things we years ago, had a wedding out in lake Shalane and it was just like an Airbnb, but it was like a venue and it was the same thing. Like, you know, the family and all them just hung out there the whole weekend. And I thought, man, how cool is that? You know, okay, we're done. Like you got to go home now. We'll see you. I mean, Dorothy and I, we got locked. We got married at Salty's. We got locked into our venue cause they were closed. Like the Uber driver was outside and we were like, You know, cause it's okay, you gotta go home now where it would be so nice to be able to really live and breathe out that time with all your, you know, friends and family. So, and it can be what you want it to be like. There's just a, this is kind of a fun thing. That's come out of COVID with all the elopements and the smaller weddings is that the, the creativity of what people are choosing to do with their. Wedding budgets and their time. Yeah. And the people that they want around them, it's really amazing. Like we've seen just incredible mountain, top elopements, you know, with four people and. Things like that, where it's just like, wow, what a, what an incredible thing. You've created a memory that you will have forever. And it wasn't this, like you said, that you've got the venue from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM and it's all gotta be done there. And there's really little wiggle room with how it can be done. That's I think the COVID is just sort of like rip the bandaid off and now there's just like, So many ideas, so many ways to do it, and there's no right or wrong. And it's sort of given us all permission, even those of us in the wedding industry to really think outside the box and do something different. Absolutely. I had a couple other. Logistical things. So couples. We'll arrive. Ready to go. So hair makeup is off site. So they would, and you could find this salon or, you know what I mean? We have recommendations too, for people to bring in. We worked with before and loves so we can help like give you names and stuff. If you need it. Perfect. Yeah. And then in terms of, you know, you have the couple and then what's the guests, how are we handling guest counts for, for the different, and is it different per venue or not? They're all the same. It's 30 guests. Are included in the package. So if you go to our website, you're going to see a price for the package and they're each individually priced because it's based on the venue and the vendor team. So you'll see the price and that includes 30 guests, 30 plus the couple. So you can't some of the venues that are larger, we can add on 20 guests. So like access is one Matt art and Olympic. We can add on more guests up to 50, but it's capped at 50. So, I mean, it's not, I mean, you know, and that's the funny thing about it. I mean, it's really not. I mean, we call it a tiny wedding. I it's great branding. Right. I love that, but it isn't, I mean, we had a hundred people. I mean, it's not like that. It's not that crazy of like, well, it's you and four people or whatever, you know? I mean, it is. It feels like there's tons of flexibility there for whatever couples would want to be able to, you know, I have a bridal party or do whatever they need to do that way too, to accommodate all of that. It's not like, well, it's just you two and the photographer or whatever it is with, you know, with a lot of the movements that we do, it's like, We're signing the marriage certificate or whatever, as a Gunder where it is. It is more of a, more of a wedding even then in the last minute, really, to be fair. Right. And there's options to add on different services to, through our different partners. So if you want to take the 11:00 AM spot at one of the venues and add on a bagel bar. A specialty cocktail. We can work with you to do that through the vendors. So there's, there's ways to personalize it and beef it up. If you want. But, you know, the bones are already there that are going to be amazing. Whether you decide to kind of add more to that or take it elsewhere. Perfect. Yeah. And, and I'm just flipping it. I mean, you. The side's great. It's got all the information. I mean, it's really easy to go on and kind of see what all you're going to have going, you know? Whichever venue or anything else? Is there anything else? Logistics or specifics. I didn't ask about that. We wanted to make sure that we touched on. I mean, obviously, you know, Seattle tiny wedding. You know, dot com and we'll plug the site and everything. Is there anything else you wanted to make sure people took away from, you know, what you guys are offering or ideas or anything else? Yeah, I think it's probably really great to explain the timeline of the day. Cause this is a question we get all the time. So I'm like you had mentioned. Show up, ready to go? You can show up 15 minutes before your ceremony. Time ceremonies, 15 minutes long. Then a 45 minute reception. With cake and champagne. And then if you want to add on bagels or [unknown]. Or you're bored or something like that. That's 45 minutes long, and then you get a 30 minute couples. Photo session. And that can be couple and family, whoever you want in your wedding portraits. But the guests start to depart after that 45 minute reception and you get a 30 minute dedicated photo time. You can go outside. I know like there's some really great shots of the space needle. If you want that in your background. Post alley at access as a really amazing. You know, photo spot. So, and all of our photographers are familiar with the area. So they'll be able to suggest. Different spots. So you really get those incredible photos. And then, so that's the timeline? 50 minute ceremony, 45 minute reception, 30 minute. Couple's photo session. And then D part and the party can continue. If you want, you could go home and get in some sweats, whatever you want. And each venue is the option for the last spot to add on. An extended reception, where then we can get a little more creative. For example, table catering at on-campus is going to do a seated dinner then. And, and that, if you add that last spot on, if you add it's two hours additional, then we can play with your timeline. Maybe you want to longer ceremony or have some music options for a little bit of dancing or something. Another thing to mention is COVID is still here. We're still watching the numbers very closely. These are designed specifically to fit within COVID guidelines so we can shift on a dime. Like right now, we have this the matter in, on June 12th. King county. Maybe rolling back to phase two. And no worries. We totally have plan B for face. If we roll back, this wedding will continue. It will go on without a hitch. All of the weddings we are, we design them at 30 to 50 people so that we have the most. Chance of being able to execute them. With whatever guidelines are in place at the time that it, it goes on. And we have plan a and plan B and plan C so that we can adjust seamlessly without needing to affect the day too much. Of course we are following all guidelines. So massive masks are required. They will be required. Seating assigned seating. If that's required, you know, all of that will follow all of that. There's no need to really stress about it as a couple, because I know that's one thing that people have been really stressed about. Like if I purchase this, could it get canceled, what's going to happen. And we've really done everything we can to think through all of the scenarios and plan for them so that we're ready to go. Whatever happens. Or even just knowing what the guidelines are. I mean, how often do we see online couples posts? Like w what is the rule on this thing? I don't know. You know, and people are saying why, I don't know, here's the thing, or here's the link to the PDF where you guys. You're all that. So they know like, whatever it is, we're going to be compliant. You know, I don't have, again, it's just when, like one last thing I don't have to. I don't have to know what the, what the rules are. And then the other thing I was going to mention. Oh yes. With the, with the planning, the dates. Yeah. We really need to be planning weddings. Now, like you said, that can be flexible. You know, I'm booking couples now into next year and they're like, well, what happens if a Mike. You got to have a wedding that can be, if it can happen, it's happening, you know? And so, yeah, I obviously. Being able to scale that I think is incredibly important, even if you're just planning, you know, A non Seattle, tiny wedding, but yes, having, having that. Scaling the fact I think is really smart in terms of the planning that way. Yeah. And all of our venues, one thing we took into consideration when choosing venues. We're that we could be at 25% capacity and still go on with 50 people. So that was a really big consideration. So. Just, you know, we've really tried to think through all of the, of what could happen. Of course, who knows. I mean, we've all been through the last year, so we know things could change on a dime, but we've really done our best to make sure that this, this can go on regardless and we will follow all the, everything. That's in place at the time of the event and we are doing our homework and we are very up on all of the current regulations. And prepared to do whatever we need to do to get these couples married. So. The one last thing I wanted to point out just from a creative standpoint, when you were talking about the venues and the photography. Yeah. Having just where all the venues are, like you said, where there's outdoor space and stuff as well, or they think it's important to know that you do have the option for lots of flexibility. Aesthetically, right. Like, let's say I wanted to get married, actually this pioneer square. I'm like, I don't want to have all my photos be brick or whatever, you know, you can go outside and get, you know, downtown Seattle shot through there. I mean, there's just the flexibility there where I think. You know, you don't have to feel like, oh, I'm getting the same photos as somebody else. Or like, we're able to have our own say in that. Cause I know like Courtney and people, you know, It'll feel you can go do, you could do the same set of photos. In 16 different directions at the same place and have it look totally different. So I just think from a creative. Being able to utilize the venues and then the outdoor space where I know all these are. I mean, endless possibilities for that time for, you know, family and couples portraits too. Yeah. Yeah. It's really about the experience, right? Yes. It's easy. Want to make it easy, simple chic, you know, amazing. You're going to get amazing photos. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like we did the, I did the big fake wedding couple of years ago. It feels like that a little bit. And I can't ever remember what the story was about that, where it was like a couple that was married. And then they were like renewing their vows. Like I think they had kids at that point. And so the kids were part of it, but it was the same kind of thing. Like you had these world-class vendors and then they just walked in and it's like, man, look at this awesome thing that we get to do that we could never have put together ourselves, you know? It's. Yeah. I think it's cool. That is a good thing to mention too, is Valerie Newell that feels, this feels like a perfect opportunity for that as well. You know, just put it in the car, show up instant, Valerie Newell. Yeah. I like that. Well, this has been good. It's been fun. I think it's a good idea. I mean, I think it was a good idea when it was pitched. I think talking through it and seeing the vendor list and anything. Anything else you wanted to make sure we touched on today. I want us. Okay. So a lot of the decisions are made for you. You just mentioned the efficient and I, or the, the vow renewal. And that made me think the efficient we'll work with you with each couple. To personalize the ceremony. So that's an important factor. I think it's not going to be cookie cutter. They actually. You actually meet with them ahead of time and really get a personal, so whether you're doing your own vows, Or they help you with that, whatever it is, they wits professional officiants that will work with you too. To get it. So it's a personal special ceremony and you also have the option to bring your own efficient. So if you know somebody. That's totally fine to bring your own efficient. So. I love it. I like having the flexibility within kind of the parameters of being able to have a lot of things provided. I think that that's a cool experience. Cool. Well, we're, we're going to, we're going to kill it. We're going to do good. Seattle tiny wedding.com. Any other Instagram, everything's all the same. Right. And then obviously, For your website as well. Where would you have them go just for wander event too? Rent wander.com is the rental's website. We've got, you know, all the velvet sofas and the lanterns and the backdrops and all that cool stuff that really, yeah. Take your van over the top. So we've got that too. Perfect. Well, thank you guys so much. I think this'll be fun. And I think. If nothing else I've been listening to this, can, you know, Partaking in this or just getting ideas for anything else I think is great. And I think that this is a fun idea and outside the box, and I think. Certainly something that I see sticking around here, like you said, for couples that just don't really want to deal with all the other stuff. So. Right. Yep. Thanks so much Reed. Thanks again, as. Well, this is a, yeah, this is a, get to know your wedding pro kind of pseudo, you know, chat about things. So yeah, we'll be back. If you're a wedding vendor interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to best made videos.com/podcast guests. And we'll have to get you guys on again and do a full-out flushed, you know, wander event rentals. And we'll do all of that too. So thank you guys. Story of like, Lugging antiques and COI like fairgrounds and stuff of. Because there's some interesting story events, stories, they're all around. Not a weddings, but like shows vintage markets. It's a whole other world. So. Yeah, some good stuff. Yeah. So when you guys aren't working. Not building all these, you know what it's going to end up being, you know, 25 weddings or whatever. You guys, aren't busy planning all those. We'll have you guys come back in the studio and we'll do one about it. That sounds great. Thank you guys so much again. Thanks. Bye bye. Good job guys.

Mindy Ricks, FearfullyMade Makeup

Well, Mindy, thank you so much for coming on today. I appreciate, you know, always meeting. It's good to have people that I've worked with before. It's also wonderful to find new voices and add new people to the directory here. Have wonderful. Get to know your wedding pro podcast guests. We have many wrecks with fearfully made makeup. Thank you so much for coming on the, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us just a little bit about who you are and what you do. Absolutely. Thanks for you for having me on my name is Mindy Ricks. I am owner of your fleet made makeup. I have been doing makeup for probably about five years now. And when I started this business. I pretty much was. Yes. I'm going to just go full board in the middle of a pandemic. I don't understand what I'm going through. Like mentally, why I wanted to do that, but it has been extremely successful for me. And I am incredibly blessed for all the support and help that people have given me. I am a wife and a mother of two crazy boys ages six and four. So I'm a little bit. Outnumbered at home. I have all boys. So makeup is kind of my way of bringing the girl back into my home. Which is. Amiable last. I absolutely love it. Wouldn't trade it for anything. Yeah, I was looking at your site. You have your wonderful photo with your husband and kids. You said you moved here in 2012, right? So, where were you from originally? I'm originally from Idaho. I grew up in north Idaho. Probably a good. You know, from when I was about nine years old, my family got transferred there. My job, my dad's job. And then I decided to just, Hey, let's do something fun. Or I graduated high school. I'm going to go to Washington. And I met my husband and we got married a year after and kind of all. That. I mean, it's been fun. I love Washington. I love. The communities and everything. Yeah, I think Washington and Idaho, at least in, in where you're down south a little bit, I think in terms of the community feeling, I think. Similar. You know, feeling that way. What was your guys's wedding? Like? I always like to hear, if you will have got married their wedding vendors, I want to hear what that was like. It wasn't nothing like I had originally wanted to do. Very small intimate ceremony. Aye. Didn't haze for like anything. Like I pretty much. Did it all myself. I did my own makeup, which at that time I really wasn't into the whole makeup. Gain, but it'd being eight years ago. So I mean that's a while ago. We got married at our church. A very small intimate ceremony. If I were to redo it, I definitely know. Now I would hire everybody to do it for me. The stress level. Wait from like here. And you can. Yeah. I would definitely hire somebody to do it for me. But, you know, doing your own makeup and everything certainly puts you in the mindset now where you can remember back and think, well, that was maybe a little more stressful or now we can try to make it. Easier for the people that are going through that. So, yes, it was very hard. I actually dropped one of my eyeshadow palettes on my dress. Because I had no idea that I was supposed to wait until, you know, Put my makeup on and then put my address. So my wedding dress to this day still has like a splotch of makeup on it. I'm like, okay. All right. Always wait until after your hair and makeup is done to put on your wedding dress. It is funny with that too. We just have this tiny allotment a couple of weekends ago and they were, we were wanting to do. They didn't even have there, the photographer wasn't even doing, getting ready. So I was just there. Yeah. They were going to have her do. That, but then like all of her jewelry and everything, like in her night gown. And I was like, well, no, let's, let's get the dress up. It is the order of events is very important on the wedding day. Yeah, absolutely. Don't think carefully, get the dress on and then do all they're pretty settled. Like, I don't really think we want to do your earrings and like, yeah. I mean, if it's a very important night gown then maybe, but. Yeah. I agree. Yeah, absolutely. So w we do make up for the last five years, what were you into before kind of entering in this crazy wedding world and makeup and all the other stuff. I actually really didn't have something I connected with. I tried a couple different MLM companies and I just, I didn't feel. Like I was in a good community that I wanted to stick around in. A very good friend of mine who lives in Tennessee. She introduced me to a makeup company and I was like, yeah, whatever. I don't really do makeup. I don't really do this sort of thing. She of course. Like persistent and. You are so talented at. This, you need to just give it a try. So I did, and she was right. I instantly fell in love and. After the course of about a year, year and a half. I decided, you know, I loved the confidence that it gave myself when I put it on. All the makeup and it just really built my self esteem. I'll know a lot of women are struggling with that. And that's one of my biggest passions is to help them feel that confidence. And so I was like, Hey, what the heck? I'm going to go to school for this. So I went to school, it took about a year and a half to complete. Fully from start to finish. I did some courses this last year to kind of get certified as a makeup artist and it kind of all went uphill and downhill and swirled around. And then I thought it was going to the toilet and then it didn't. So, I mean, it's a crazy. Busy business, but having that start out really did help me to just have that friend go. You need to do this and have that trust to say, okay, I'll I'll try it. Why not? It is interesting. You know, and I think a lot of the vendors that we talk on here, whatever types they are. You know, did a lot of other things until they really found what they wanted to do. Yeah. It is. I can't remember. A conversation that we are to go where, you know, society, you know, it's like when you're 18 or whatever, you got to figure out like, okay, this is what we're doing forever. Right. And it's just not how the stages of life work really. And like, you know, when I was doing news 10 years ago, to think that I would be doing the wedding vendor podcast, you. I mean it's you just don't know where it's going to go. And so it is right. What did it feel? You know, you said it was the confidence, you know, from helping the women. What did it feel like for you personally finding, you know, what you feel like you were finally meant to be doing and how, how did you figure that out? It pretty much, it hit me like a brick. I helped a couple of clients out with some booed wire photography. And I was their hair and makeup, and I could see how nervous they were coming into that. And. It just. Reminded me why I'm doing what I'm doing. Like when I put hair and really pretty loose curls and put on a dark smokey eye and a red lip. You can see their confidence go from zero to a million. You can see that their inner. Beauty is actually shining out now and their confidence grows and builds. That's my favorite part of the job, even at weddings, they're like, I don't know what I'm really going to do. Even though I do trial runs with the bride. It's still nerve wracking the day of. Cause it's like, I don't know if this is gonna turn out the thing him or that I remember. And just seeing them light up and glow. After their hair and makeup is done is. All the reason why I'm in this business. Well, that's the thing too, is, you know, people for their wedding. I mean, most women don't do that much makeup all the time. Right. I mean, it is, you know, obviously why gamut, but I would say, you know, even like when my wife got married, I mean, she's not a big makeup person. Right. And so it is, is it's challenging because you want to feel yourself and, you know, look yourself, but you also need to, it's a weird balance there, right? You know what you're doing, but is it, how do you, how do you approach that? And, and cause I do think that's something that a lot of women not struggle, isn't the right word, but it is something that they deal with in implanting for their wedding. Yeah, a lot of women are like, I just don't wear a lot of makeup, especially the last year with the Corona virus. He was like, you're staying at home. There's no reason to put on makeup. I'm not like that. I'm like, I'm going to do my makeup, whether I'm going anywhere. It just, it helps me get ready for the day and feel confident about myself. Going into the wedding. It's just, it's kind of. It's really up to them. Like, do they want. To look completely different and glammed out. I can do that. Do they want to keep it as natural as possible? Yeah, I can do that. It's really their preference. A lot of times, if a bride is reaching out to me asking if I have availability, I'll get to know them a little bit. Be like, Hey, what's your favorite color? Or what are your ideas for your wedding? Like themes and colors. And I can coordinate with that. And going in natural. I love the natural look. It keeps the natural beauty. It just kind of highlights the areas. Where full glam is holy crap. She looks beautiful. Like what. So it's a really good balance and it's really a. Case by case basis. What the bright is really going to want for the day. Is it. And I got I've obviously this is a personal ear for how everyone tends to do it, but is it tough to balance kind of what is maybe trendy at that moment versus what's going to look good on the rest of that you're doing where maybe someone like either you get all these weird celebrity, like haircuts, for example, I know we're talking to makeup, but like, you know, Then it was like, wow, that's really like gonna look good. I mean, do you have to balance out with like trends and what would actually be, you know, appealing. On someone. Oh, absolutely. Yes. And that's why I tell all of my brides, like thank you for putting your trust in me and choosing me as your hair and makeup artists. Like I want them to ultimately get what they want, what the client wants. You know, I will do my entire best to get, to give them what they need. If there is a look fast. It's just like, it's just not flattering on you. I really hope I can be tactful. And say, why don't we try this instead? Or. You know, something super simple like that. I don't want to be one to just be like, that looks ugly on you. Like, I really want to be able to. You know, provide them what they're looking for in a tasteful beautiful way. Do you ever do any group stuff? I've had certain groups that have needed. You know, shine. I mean, I still have a little bit. My chair left, but I've been that pair that I don't need to shine yet. Do you, do you have to deal with that too? Yes, I have done. I'm a grooms and groomsmen. I have a setting powder that pretty much keeps the shine off. I don't normally do a full makeup. Look on a grim, at least I haven't yet. But, yeah, they'll definitely ask me. I know a lot of the men are shy though. Like I don't want to wear makeup. But I don't also want to be super shiny for photos and all it's funny and all of that. So I definitely will ask them, be like, Hey, I'm here. Do you want me to put some powder on to keep the shine down? It's not awkward at all. And they are very grateful for that because it also helps them to be a little bit more confident throughout the day and not worrying about what they're looking like. No. Honestly, I think, and it is a weird, you know, obviously it's stereotypical women wear makeup, you know? Right. And weddings and people think about that, but like, there's a lot of guys that benefit from that and we had one and it was this. I think they were Bosnian. Beautiful couple. But he was, you know, very like strong and proud. But he was really bald and really, really shiny. And, you know, and we're out at like Newcastle and you know, this is like a fetch out. Like we got it. You got it. Knock this down a little bit, you know, and he was so. But, you know, it's tough, but a, you know, you have to trust that and know that. You know, we do know what we're talking about, you know? Exactly. Yeah. And I've worked with many photographers. In our area and kids stop. And one of the things they tell me a lot is, Hey, thank you for pointing out that they needed a little bit less shine because it helps with the photography as well. Like. For them to not do so much after editing and all that for them. It's just, it makes it easier for everybody. Yeah, we don't do a lot with our corporate shoots. We don't do a lot of makeup stuff, but whenever the client has the budget for it, it astounds me how much better. Yeah. Even just men, you know, no frill, just the setting. You know, whatever on them. It, it looks so much better and it's a shame that it's, it's just not, you. Not every, we're just not big enough budget that we do a lot of like higher end stuff. Right. But it is it's for that money to pay you. Like a half day makeup artists to come out and do it. It is tremendously better. It is, it really is. And having that as your. Was the word I'm looking for? As just like, as you're planning, it's something you should be budgeting. I go by, look, I don't go by hours. So all of my prices are pretty much that. So if I'm there for two hours or four hours, it's based on the look I'm doing. And that helps a lot of brides. Cause it's like, I don't want to have to pay an app straight. Two $300 for somebody to come for the entire day. I want to work with people's budgets because I don't want any bride to feel like she can't. Feel and look her best on her wedding day. When I got married, that was really important to me to have somebody do my hair because at the time I didn't even know what a curling iron was like. I was like, I don't know how to use the. And a good friend of mine did my wedding hair and it really did make a difference to have that budgeted. And that confidence came out and for sure, my husband noticed, like he notices. A lot, a lot more than you probably think. And just to have that little half up and do, and some makeup put on really helped him as well. So definitely budget that, and I can work with budgets as well. It's something that I wanted to talk about to circle back to. And you were talking about even confidence now with you on your wedding date, when you mentioned that you work with. We do our clients. And I know that that's such a tremendously important thing for that too. I know like Jamie, Buckley's one that we've had on the podcast that he's a photographer that does a lot of male and female, but we do our butt. Having that makeup artists, along with that to really help kind of walk. The client, you know, cause it's, it is a stressful. Scary right. Situation to go through and having someone like you that. I can make them feel as confident as possible. Do you want to talk anything else about valley about the brood war aspect? Because that I know makeup artists and we talk about weddings all the time, but just even in the last couple of years, I just know that that's become a big selling point. Artists. Yeah, absolutely. Booed wire is actually one of my favorite makeup. Places to be. Women come in, you know, In a t-shirt. Sweat getting ready for the day. They're nervous. And I sit them in the, in my chair. I give them a dream. You know, some water coffee, because I'm a magazine. Like, Hey, just chill out. This is day is for you. We're going to do some pampering. I put some music on. I help them feel a little bit more comfortable and confident in themselves. I asked some questions. I, I don't like doing makeup in violence. Like it's. Very awkward for me. So I like to have a conversation going. Music in the background. That helps a lot with the boudoir and the confidence. And when they see themselves, I don't let them look. I don't let them look at themselves. They tell me, Hey, I like these colors. I asked them what colors you want to stay away from. I think that's the biggest thing and the finished look. You can just see it in their eyes. Like, wow, I am gorgeous. I am ready for this. And I know even a lot of photographers will help them feel as comfortable as they can. Who do I can be pretty much anything you want. It can be very essential, really classy. Like I've modeled for some food bar before, and it was a lot of fun. It is so much fun to just kind of get out there and be yourself. Yeah, I think it's, it's just it's I knew very little about it, you know? Through the podcast and getting to talk with people. That have done it and photograph to aid. It really is. It doesn't even need to be like a sexual thing. It could just be. Empowering, just like this is capturing me and how I feel. And yeah, I think that having someone like you with, with. Not only the skills with the makeup, but also that personality to really set them at ease, I think is tremendously important to Gideon. Successful. You know, stuff like that. Oh, absolutely. And it really does help them to have somebody they're comfortable with, like, if I'm not the person that you want to be comfortable with. That's fine. Go find another makeup artist that you click with. I'm definitely not biased in that way, but like, you got to pick me, you know, whatever. I really want them to feel confident in who they're hiring for that. And ask him a lot of questions. If you're booking app. All the questions and no question unturned. I'm totally willing to just sit down on the phone via zoom, messenger, whatever you are asking. A bunch of questions about myself. Who I am. And I can do the same for you as well. Kind of get to know each other. I think that's a great point that we, on my other wedding planning on the best of your weddings podcasts, we do a lot of round tables talking about various topics. And recently we did photographers. And what should you know, when you're hiring a photographer? And I thought the conversation would go a lot more into like looking at portfolios and photos and things. But it was a lot more about hiring someone that you mesh with, right. Hiring. Personality. And I think the same is said, you know, so much. So for makeup artists too, is going to be one of the first people you see. Oh on your wedding day, you know, and it's going to be in front of your face for a large portion of the day. How do you kind of approach that with your clients and making sure that it's a good fit? I just like to say, Hey, I just, I want to appreciate you for reaching out to me. Let's get to know each other a little bit. See if we're a good match. Most of the time. I get a lot of clients that are like taking you work with budget. Or, you know, that really determines a lot of people are gonna reach out to me getting to know them, who they are, how they met there. Significant other. Just kind of talking about their wedding a little bit, reassuring them, that, you know, planners and doing all that they can, and it's going to be a beautiful day, you know, just kind of having that conversation. I also am just like, you know, if you are not feeling that vibe with me, if you want to. You know, take some time. Think about it. Talk to other vendors. My feelings are not going to be hurt. Like, I want you to feel confident in who you're hiring. And I think that's pretty much just what I like to say. Just flat out on the table. If I'm not person for you. Don't feel bad because it's ultimately up to you. Are there certain types of clients that you feel like you connect more with? I mean, I hate to say ideal client, but like, it is more just that you know, that it's going to be a cohesive relationship. I haven't really experienced any. Like butting heads or just like, I don't really want to do this. Like I've never really had that. I'm pretty easy going. I really like to like talk to them. Go to their, like see their venue, see their address, what they're doing. And really just try to get to know them. I know wedding season is extremely stressful for a lot of people and personalities can change a little bit during that stress. So I. I always try to step back and say, Hey, she stressed out. How can I help her today? How can I help her feel confident and beautiful during this process, even though I'm not putting makeup on her face, get how can I reassure her that things are going good. What is your day of kind of look like how do you approach that with the clients and their weddings? Like I said, I know that it's so undervalued sometimes just how much they make, you know, like I said, the first one there, you're going to be, you know, with them the whole time. How do you, do you try to make that, getting ready, feel a certain way. I mean, obviously being friendly and outgoing, how do you kind of approach that to make it be as fun as possible? A lot of times, it's really just getting them. To calm down. The last, like couple of weddings, I've done the brightest coming in, like, is everything ready? Is everything's done. Is everything here? Like, all right. Let's calm down. Sit in the chair, have some coffee, eat breakfast is the biggest thing. Eat. Some food. Like I should have packed like granola bars or something and be like, you need to eat something. It's just really important for them to realize that they hired the best in the business. For what their wedding means. And I really, that I really just want them to feel. At ease. I don't want them to stress over it. I want them to see what I'm putting on their face. I want them to hear some calming music or some fun music, you know, whatever, you know, their vibe is. I just want them to be able to sit down. Breathe and say, okay, this is my wedding day. It's going to go. Fantastic. I don't care if a napkin is out of place, I don't care. You know, little things like that. Don't matter because it's ultimately about. The new to getting married. And that feeling gorgeous. We, when you got into, you know, doing, make up, you know, going to school, things like that, and then wanting to, you know, obviously start your own business. Right. And do it this way. Any learning curves in that? Any lessons, anything maybe that you thought would be harder that wasn't or easier that wasn't. Absolutely. I have never owned my own business. This is my first like go around and the whole business industry. I am learning a lot. Like I have a lot of photographer, friends, a lot of planner, friends in the business already. And they're more than happy to just be like, Hey. I want to give you some advice. And I love taking that advice and implying it into my business. Like being organized. I'm not the biggest organization, but I am learning to be because it's really important. In this industry to know, you know, who's paid full balances, what times I need to be at the venue, you know, all of that. And just taking it in. Rotting it by the horns and going. And that's been the, even as someone that I would like to pride myself as being somewhat organized, but just even lately with all the reschedules and postponements and who's paid, what or who added, what on, or what did we talk about? You know, we have. We have a wedding coming up here at like the first week. May. And, you know, and they postpone for my class September. I'm like, okay, what, like, what did we talk about that? I'm like trying to think, like I'm pouring back through these emails, like man. Okay. I'm so glad. I at least have like a paper trail here. Not that I can. Somewhat go back to, because it is so hard with. When a lot of it's verbal now, it's like, no, we got to write it down because otherwise I'm going to forget you. Oh, absolutely. I'm that way too. I was like, all right, what time do I need to be there? And go back in my emails, go back in my files. Be like, okay, now I can put it on my calendar for the exact time I need to be there. And the schedule, all that. What do you. I, this is just an easy way to ask you, but what do you get when you wake up in the morning and you're getting ready to go to a wedding or go do an event. What gets you the most excited that imprompt up about it? It all. I love weddings. I love traveling. I think that's my favorite part. So just getting in the car, getting some coffee, driving to the venue, listening to some good music, kind of hyping myself up. Really thinking about. The bride, how I can help reassure her. And it's just, I love it all. There's not really one aspect. I love more than just getting there, seeing my brides, seeing her confident and beautiful for her wedding day. Like, oh, it just brings me so much joy. I love it. Has there been any pivots or, or adjustments you've had to make in the last, you know, six to nine months with everything going on and, and. Just business-wise or, or a day off or anything to that you're proud of that you may be, you know, pivoted there or added on or changed. Yes. I've had to learn to utilize. Social media a lot more than I usually do. It's Facebook, Instagram, you know, the whole deal. That's pretty much where my clientele are coming from now. Just cause everybody is spending so much time on social media. They want to ask all the questions on social media. You know, that whole thing. I love getting on the phone and actually talking to people. I know I'm weird, right? That's never happening. But if somebody is reaching out and be like, Hey, can we schedule a time 10, 15 minutes where I can just chat with you kind of feel your vibe. You know, you could see if we're a good fit. I think the social media aspect has really helped me. No, the do's and don'ts of what to do on social media and how to handle that in a business. Is it hard? You know, we talk a lot on here, you know? People just cause you're like a good florist, right? Doesn't mean that you're a good business person. Right. And like, I think I'm maybe a better business person than I am videographer. Right. I mean, everyone has, has pros and cons to everything. Is it hard? How do you manage that as a solo entrepreneur? You know, learning these things, learning social media, learning to do, you know, bookkeeping and client management. How do you, how do you learn and balance through that? Because I do ask a lot of people on here kind of how do they manage all that? Well right now, I just kind of like YouTube videos on especially hair. Cause I am, I'm not a cosmetologist. I've never taken any of those courses. But I do. Love. Playing with hair. And so I'm like, I don't know. I never do anything with my own hair, so I apologize. It's a crazy rat, but. I do basic hairstyles for my clients. And all of that. So. Just like getting in there, YouTube, trying things out. Finding friends, who'd be like, Hey, can I play with your hair? Things like that. So it was just really fun. I actually just started up. Fearfully made internship. So I have quite a few girls onboard with me that come to weddings and we'll do hair while I do makeup. They're fantastic. I absolutely love them. I trust them fully. With what we're doing. They're extremely talented, like, oh my goodness gracious. I can't even imagine. But I think that's where it is growing my team. Is been really on the forefront of my mind, finding people that can do a hair while I'm doing makeup, or maybe have a nail tech come along and do. A pedicure. You know, something fun and relaxing and just growing that business. I do it so low if I need to. I'm confident in that that, you know, no issues have come up or nor do I expect any issues to come up. But it's just really trying to find. Time to do a little bit more training for myself. There's that's interesting. When you talk about growth and all that, what, what excites you about that expansion and adding on just being able to provide more services for your clients? I mean, cause not everybody, you know, some people were just happy doing. So, where does that motivation come from to do that growth? I love going solo. I love doing what I do by myself. But I get lonely on car rides. So I love having my intern come with me. We can chat in the car, have a good time. I just want to be able to provide the best experience for my clients. Whether that is me or not like that. Really ultimately their choice, but. For my business. I want to be able to have a team. Of people. So if I'm not, if I personally am not available for one date, yet somebody else on my team is I can still provide that. With confidence. What? So I guess that's a good question then. So when you look at, you know, fearfully made makeup in, you know, you're going to be adding on and expanding that. What do you want that a. From a look stuff. Of sampling or from like a feeling standpoint from a client, you know, Experience standpoint, what do you want that to look like when you're moving that brand across and wanting everybody to go? Yeah. If it's through your team. I think the biggest thing is how they feel about it, because a lot of things are really how people feel about things. If they're really not happy about it, they're not going to go back for services. I am confident in all the makeup we can do. I can do prosthetics. I do special effects. Like I do it all. I was trained in that I'm certified for that. I just want them to be able to feel like they can come to me and know they're going to get the best. Does the interest in this special effects background. And I know I saw it a little bit on your website about that. What I talked me through, any of that, cause that, that is interesting. It is so much fun. I think like off season off wedding season, I get to like kind of dabble in that a little bit more through like Halloween and Christmas and things like that. I get to kind of expand my special effects. Portfolio. I like the light side of makeup where people feel gorgeous and beautiful. I also like the dark side of makeup. Where they're like, cool. I'm a zombie with blood dripping out of my mouth. Like. It is. So much fun to be able to use liquid latex. I can use prosthetics to create Elvin ears and noses and scars and all things like that. It is just so much fun to be able to have that wide variety. Maybe someday somebody wants to have like a. Zombie themed wedding and they need a makeup artist to come do like stars and stuff all over their bridal party. Like. I can do that. I can do that. Yeah. Do you guys get, do you get a kick around Halloween season just for, with your own family and everything? Oh, yeah. Yep. My boy. I love it when I can like turn them into captain America and spider Rhea, then all of that, like, My husband during the time of Halloween, he's like, you're a glorified face painter. Yeah. I am. No. It's fun that some of the, how we haven't had too many, like how wean Halloween lesbians, but it is, it is fun to do. We, we have a Halloween. What do you miss here? That was on Halloween. That was specifically not Halloween beamed. And I was like, oh, that's great. But now we've had some with like the black lipstick and the black dress and 70 it's a very cool. I would say a video, the theme, the ones to do. If you're going to do a theme to why didn't. And I do think a Halloween one is. A lot of fun with it. Yeah. Yeah, the Halloween ones would be like right up my alley. I can get giddy thinking about it. I did at the beginning of April. My bride specifically was like, Hey, we're having a pirate mermaid theme. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so great. So I actually put some scales on the side for her contour and all that. She fell in love. I had a blast. It was a great way to kick off the wedding season. Yeah, I would say. It is, you would be surprised how much your vendors get excited by something that's out of the norm, whatever that is. And I do think having a theme of any kind, you know, is, is something that. You can really have a lot of fun with it. If you're a creative. The photos and the video and the makeup. I mean, it really does help kind of spice in. Spice that up a little bit. It does. Spices things up and it, it turns out really beautiful. Talking about your kids and family before we let you go today. I round out the conversation with that. What do you, what do you do when you're not doing the makeup and, and special effects and stuff? What do you. I know you guys lived down south, right? W w what's your family and what do you guys do for fun? Well, my boys are crazy. They love being outside. So we go on walks. They like to ride their bikes. I just really like to be family oriented. My boys are homeschooled. So on top of running a business, I'm homeschooling my boys. So I'm a little busy in that area during the week. And, but we love going on adventures. We like going hiking, going down to the ocean. Like we have just super outdoorsy, really family oriented and having my husband. Be able to like have weekends off, we can go and take our truck up Mount Rainier and just have a lot of fun that way. My boys are super crazy. Did I mention that they're crazy and they have a lot of energy. I get a lot tired during the day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Being able to run my business from my home. Has been the biggest blessing for us. Over the past, like two and a half years. And also, you know, being able to homeschool and spend a lot of time with your kids and family and really be able yeah. All aspects of it. What I guess. Well, it's certainly safer right now. With the homeschool. I talk about just, I just curious about that and, and, and building that community and with your family and everything, what what's that been like? The last, you know, movie. And then you guys moved and then had the kids and stuff here. What's it been like? Building that community for your family down south. It hasn't been super difficult. When I moved over here to Paulsboro. It's just our community here is so nice. Like we're in Kitsap county. So we have, you know, the sound, we have the ocean on one side, like we really can connect with a lot of people. I love social media and I hate social media. When I moved up here. That's pretty much how I gained friendship in the area. I joined some local community groups and met moms. So we can get connected together, have play dates with our kids. And it's just really fun. I love being able to take the boys. To the park gifting to see them socialize with other kids. So it's not like we're like stuck at home. I like to go places and do things. Oh, great. This has been so fun. I'm so glad that we got to get hooked up and, and set up this doc. Is there anything else that you wanted to make sure that we cover before we let you go today about anything that you do with your team? No, I think we're good. I mean, we're pretty versatile. Can really do pretty much anything and it's a blast and I appreciate you so much. Green for reaching out as well and taking the time to chat. I love that. Absolutely love it. Yo. Well, I know. We said before we recorded it. You know, personalities with vendors is so important nowadays. And that's something that I think. Even more so now, and with this dealing with all the craziness and, you know, you gotta have people that you know, that you can vibe with for your wedding day and that you can work through. Absolutely. Yeah. Crazy stuff. So I appreciate that. And especially makeup more of these people that are there day of you're dealing with them in your face. I think, you know, getting to know who these people are, you know, is, is tremendously valuable. So now I appreciate that. If you want, if you have one, learn more about you and check out your social media website and everything, where would you have them go? So my Facebook page. Is fearfully made makeup and you'll see, I have my big logo up on there on the screen. Instagram is also fearfully made makeup. Super. And then my email, if you want to reach out email wise, mindy@yourfleamademakeup.com. My website, obviously, if you're fleeing, may. Makeup.com. There's a connect form. You can fill out. I can reach out to you if you have any questions. Absolutely. Like if you, if you contact me through any of these. No obligation at all. If you're just wanting to have questions, answer wanting, you know, priceless, all of that. Absolutely no obligation. I want you to feel confident in who you're. Choosing as your makeup artist and the first person you see, when you arrive at your venue, you want somebody who's going to be really happy to see you and really help you feel beautiful and confident for the day. So. Those are pretty much my platforms. I am starting a little bit on Tik TOK. I'm not all that. You know, technology. Technological on Tik TOK yet, but I'm getting there. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much again, I appreciate it. This has been another episode of get to know your wedding pro if you're like Mindy and you're interested in coming on the podcast. You can go to best meet videos.com/podcast guest. And that's a nice and easy questionnaire to fill out and we can start working on Gideon. Thank you so much again, and check back next week for another wedding vendor interview.

Karin Webster, Blue Bonsai Printing

Well, Karin, thank you so much for coming on today. We, you survived the windstorm. We were gonna record this and then we rescheduled, but you were very. You know, I tend to, to making sure we can reschedule with everything else going on, which is a Testament to you. And that would just, I always give people credit, you know, the entrepreneurials doing the work and trying to do all this stuff. Karin Webster with blue bonsai printing down in Oregon. Thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Yes. So, yes, my name is Corinne Webster. I own blue Bonzai printing and I specialize in wedding stationery. So everything from invitations, that's a big part of what I do invitations and save the dates, but also, you know, things like. Signs like seating charts or welcome signs or that type of thing. I will say that there are kind of two schools in the wedding stationary world. There are the digital designers and then there's the hand water. So the people who do like. Calligraphy and that type of thing. I am not a hand letterer. I stay in the digital realm. So, you know, so, and there's, there's places for both and there's definitely some amazing hand letters out there. I have chicken scratch for handwriting. So I stayed in the digital realm. That's great. Well, no. Designed is, you know, as someone that, you know, even with the podcast and my business, you have worked with EMI designer for years. I'm sure he wants to wrangle my neck sometimes, you know, but it is. Just the attention to detail and the thoroughness of that is, is very, very challenging. Yeah. And I also definitely have a terrible handwriting tonight. We're on the same page there. Yeah, I can put PR envelopes through printers like nobody's business, but asked me to write something out and it's not, it's not going to go well. Well, I'm excited to have you on because, and I've told this story before on the podcast, but when it comes to paper, goods, invitations, those sorts of things, that was really the only customization we really did. My wife and I, when we got married is we spent a lot of time on the invites. You have the signage that we have, the seating charts, things like that, you know? It's hard to be a wedding vendor getting married. It's like, okay, what do you know? You're. Jean everything and looking at all this stuff, but that was the one thing that we really did spend a lot of time on. So it is always great to connect, to get, you know, more. You know, stationers in invitation people on the podcast to share that because I do think it's, it's a way. You know, To really put your stamp on kind of, you know, everything about your day, you know, the whole way through it. So why don't you. First, I've just kind of walked through the different things that you offer. And then I want to get more into how you kind of got involved in all this. Sure. So, like I said, the main portion of what I do, our save the dates and invitations. So a lot of people come to me with their, save the dates and they say, okay, we have this picture or multiple pictures that they want to use. And we take that and, you know, find some fonts that they like use their colors. Are there elements or themes that they're doing? It's a lot of, I always say it's a collaboration with the couple because they are. You know, it's not just, Oh, I'm just going to create this and give it to you. Right. It's I want to know what they're eating. What's the feeling. Cause if they're having a barn wedding, right, we're not going to use super elegant fonts or, you know, there's a very much, I like it to fit their wedding. So it usually starts with the save the date it's going there. And then following through to the invitations. A lot of times, if even if we're going, you know, invitations typically don't have photos on them, they can, but they don't always. And so then we just take kind of those fonts and some of those similar color elements and those things. Make an invitation. And then also do, you know, like I said, seating charts, and if people want to do place cards or table numbers or escort cards, or whether it's a bar menu or kind of any of those things, and then finishing all the way through to the thank you notes. So it keeps it very cohesive. Theme across, you know, many things that are going to be right in front of your guests faces, right? They're all going to get a save the day. They're all going to get an invitation. They're all gonna, you know, Get a thank you card. And so they're seeing kind of that. Cohesive arch over, you know, basically over the entire engagement, leading up to the wedding and then even after what the thank you cards. So that's, that's a lot of what I do. And like I said, it's a lot of collaboration with the couples saying, okay, you know, sometimes you want to have a little personality or you're going for a really elegant black tie affair. And we have to, we have to take all of those and still make something really unique for each couple. Or, and it is, I, you say really sets the tone for everything the whole way through. And I remember our friends got married in Italy a couple of years ago and when their invitation came and I've seen. You know, I'm someone that has, you know, photographed and filmed the appointee of invitations and stuff, but the time and attention to detail that was spent on that invitation that they sent us, I mean really told my wife and I, okay. This wedding's on a whole different level than we had ever expected. Right. Because they had put you at the time and the thought, and so, like you said, it really does. Kind of let your guests know, you know, from, from the, save the date announcement to the invitation on like, you know, this is. Really our vision for the day. Right? Exactly. And it's, there's so many details that come into it. When you work with a stationer, it's not just, you know, the design printed on the paper. I mean, there's. Any station here can tell you, there is a plethora of options, whether it's you're using a colored card stock or white ink, or, you know, there's. Lots of LA used a lot of textured cardstock because, you know, if you go like a little bit simpler on the actual design elements themselves, you can kind of bring in some of the other. Attention to details through using like a textured card stock or like a handmade paper or those types of things. I always encourage my clients to. To use a colored envelope because when do you ever get anything in the mail? That's not white. Right. So before they even open it, they're like, Ooh, what is this like? Right. And it gets kind of that excitement going right from pulling it out of the mailbox, even because it's, and again, it's that attention to detail. And then, you know, if we're doing the guest addressing on the envelope, we can use the same fonts. And incorporate those in and then it's so it's really, it takes it to a whole new level because people are, you know, people are used to seeing like, Oh, okay. You know, I got this junk mail or, Oh, I got that bail or, Oh, So then it comes in, it's a different, you know, it comes more rectangular and, you know, with the colors and all of that. And like I said, you can I using a thicker card stock, which is a lot of what I do as well. Kind of just all those little attention, attention to details can really. You know, really elevate the. You know the day. And again, I always tell people, you know, you don't want to register at Williams-Sonoma and then send like a Facebook event invite. Right. You have to, you want to make sure it's matching everything. W what's so interesting too. And, and what I so enjoy about talking with people that do invitations honestly, is I'm was not a card person, right? Ever, like my family were really not big car people at all. My wife is the biggest scar person you'll ever meet. Right. And, and our email. Refrigerator and Island and everything is littered with, you know, A wedding invitations and birthday cards and everything else that we moved into this house. The first thing she did was open up the box that had all the Christmas cards we'd gotten. Cause we moved in in January. Put them all on the fireplace. So, I mean, this is really something that, that speaks to me, you know, I, in terms of the importance of that, how do you. Look at, you know, your role now in the role of the wedding invite, you know, it's such a digital age now. But it is still so nice to get these things right in the mail. So how do you, how do you work through and balance out and how do you talk to your clients about that? I like to remind people that it's a wedding, right? It's not, it's a once a once in a lifetime, what, you know, it's not a house warming party. It's not a barbecue. It's not, you know, it's, it's a wedding. So even if you're having a wedding that is. Say more casual or more laid back. It's still a wedding. Right. And there's, even though there's like, you know, social traditions and things like that, it's it just brings it to a whole new level, especially because in a digital age, right. People don't, some people don't even get a lot of mail in general because, okay, I'm going to turn on my bill pay so I don't get this. I don't get, you know, And so it's, it makes it that much more. More personable that you actually took the time to, you know, you didn't just BCC everybody in an email, even if, again, even if you know you have, I, if I printed the envelopes or, you know, we worked with a calligrapher who did the hand lettering on the envelopes? You know, there was there's that time and there's that. Attention to detail and it's, you know, people, I think people get lost sometimes in the fact that, you know, you're inviting people to a wedding. They're not coming to give you a gift they're coming to celebrate with you. Right. So they're coming in and you want to show that appreciation and that starts, but from the very beginning, because we're, I always tell people that, you know, your invitation set the tone for your wedding. Like you said about that one in Italy. It's. You know, if you're, whether it's, you're going to have, we're looking at it as a party. Right. Which is totally fine. You know, and that's what my husband and I said, we're, we're having a party and we're happened to get married at the beginning of it. Right. And that was kind of the tone that we wanted to set because we really, you know, it's, you're bringing people together. People are traveling, right? People don't, people don't fly across the country or fly across an ocean to go to a barbecue. Right. Like people it's, it's a bigger deal than, than just that. So it's always, you want to, you want to treat it as such, right? So you treat it and you give it. Give it the respect and you give your guest, you start that experience when they receive the invitation. And like I said, they're taking time off of work. They're traveling. You know, even people who live local or, you know, maybe arranging a babysitter or doing all these different things. And it just, it makes, it makes the event that much more significant going the paper route. Do you. Isn't something nowadays, is that a hard sell now? And I asked this to anybody, you know, it. Certain vendor types across the board, but you know, you work with, with the couples. Do they value that? I mean, I hope the answer is yes. Right? I mean, I hope that it's not a difficult sell. I just. Because it's something that's so fundamental, cheat, you know, two weddings and get him that. And, and that's always, my fear is we're going to get away from some of these traditions and things, right. That are, that I do think you're nice, man. I think there's something like you said about, you'll get you to them, the mail, you know, it's knowing that the EDA, that the couple spent time on it with the younger couples you work with, do they really appreciate that too? Are you having to kinda walk through and sell that a little bit more than maybe you used to have to. I think it depends. I mean, some people are. I mean, we talk and I'm sure you've heard the term as well. We talk a lot in the wedding industry about ideal clients, right. And so it's, I'm, I'm not going to be able to convince someone who doesn't value. Paper. Do you, you know, to pay the, you know, the design going the custom design route, and it's just not something that they value, right? It has to be important to them. So with a lot of the couples that I end up working with, they've already established that they want the tradition they want, you know, whether it's self established or parentally established. Ken Berry, but it's established because, because there is that tradition. And I think also if you have, I see a lot of people who, you know, from different cultures, You know, like I'm. My family is Puerto Rican. My mom is from Puerto Rico. So there would never be even a discussion about a digital invitation, because that's just not what our family does or what the expectation is from. You know that side of the family, it's like, no, you're, you're going to mail an invitation. Right? Like there's no. And so I think there's a lot of that that still comes into play. As you have a lot of, a lot of people who, you know, Culturally, especially, you know, I mean, across the board, they need it's expected. Right. But that's, so a lot of times there's, there's that kind of element that plays into it, or people just want to be really traditional re or they feel like, okay, this is a wedding, this is a big deal. We're going to make it a big deal. So I don't have to, by the time people come to me, There's not a lot of convincing because they've already, like I said, whether it's for a multitude of reasons, they've already decided, you know what, we're going to, we're going to bring this in and we want something truly unique. And so that's what we're going to do. So they've already established that volume with themselves. What makes it a lot easier for me? Cause, I mean, that's my life too. I mean, you know, we do wedding shows and I'll see, you know, you know, boys and girls, you know, young couples or whatever, go by. You know, and they're, they they're taking everything on their phone, you know, going on Snapchat or whatever. And I'm like, Oh, do you want a wedding video? Oh, no, I don't need that. But then, you know, but then that the parents are the ones, right? So, I mean, I speak from experience too, that way, where something that you I'm like, but you're on, you're on. You're you're digging the video on you're like, this is that, but, you know, fell. It's somebody. Definitely. I go through too. When it comes to your business now and in the wedding industry, do you have a design background in general? I mean, how did you find yourself into doing, you know, custom invitations and things like that? So I've done. I came from the healthcare corporate world. So about, as far as I could from. From this, but I've always been, you know, creative. I grew up dancing, so kind of all different mediums, you know, across the creative spectrum and. Kind of took that. And I did my own wedding invitations, which I swear I will never show to anyone because we've been married almost 15 years. I'm not, no, there's just, they're horrible now. Right. Looking back. So I even tell my husband, we have to renew our vows because I got to up my game on the paper. Okay. So I kind of, but I started just kind of, you know, designing and I had a friend who, you know, unfortunately didn't have. Like her husband was deploying and this was kind of in the, you know, Shortly after kind of nine, 11 type thing. And they were getting married really quick. And she was like, Hey, can you just design me some stuff? And, you know, we had played around with some things, so that was kinda my first foray. And then, you know, just kind of did more and more design. So I'm. You know, I've definitely learned over the years, I started my business in 2016, mostly as a I'm sick of the long commute. Right. I want to take this and do something. So now I'm, I'm lucky enough and blessed enough that this is my full-time job. So I. I've kind of gone over that, but also, you know, over the last, almost five years, I've spent a lot of time on education and learning file types and you know how to do different things. So a lot of it is, you know, I have formal education kind of in the design piece as well, but then I also have just have grown over. You know, and spend a lot of time focusing on a lot, a lot of like self-taught ways to kind of change and, and do things that not so that people aren't seeing the same things all the time. Yeah. I mean, cause I'm someone too that, you know, I work in video and I feel like I'm pretty tech savvy and I still like shutter in Adobe illustrator and Photoshop and stuff. I mean, like, you know, when I do the graphics for this podcast, you know, I have a template for my designer and I'm like, okay, I need to be able to just put a new photo in there. But, you know, but my point is, it's not an easy thing to just pick up. Right. I mean, how did that process go? You said you had some formal education before? How did it, I mean, it's, it's, it's just a more tech, technical thing to get into, especially where you're doing the digital designing as well. I'm curious about that. Well, I had actually taken, you know, like I said, came from kind of the healthcare corporate world is where my, where I was working before. I left my job to do my business and I had taken, you know, design classes. So I have an MBA specific to, with a healthcare management. Emphasis, but within that as well, there was a lot of, you know, some. Classes I could take that were. That is where I got a lot of the design experience. So. And took classes in that consists of, so they're college level classes I took in my graduate program, but it's, those were not like what, they're not. There's no formal education in wedding invitations, right? Like, it's just not a thing. So it's, it was a lot of like, you know, basically, okay, this is how you do it. And this is, you know, the different elements you can use and that kind of thing. So much more on the technical side. And then the creative side is just been. You know, I'm kind of that Instagram troll that I'm like, Ooh, I like, I like that font or, Oh, I liked that element or, Oh, you know, that kind of thing. So, and the Pinterest rabbit hole is just the bane of my existence, but. So that's a lot of it. So having the technical background of actually like knowing how to do it, but then also bringing in the creative side of, okay, now how do I take this very technical thing and make it beautiful? Because it's just, I just couldn't imagine with, I mean, design in general that way, and just having to. You know, From a video standpoint, you know, For the most part I'm just documenting what's there. Right? I mean, you know, we can. You know, pose thing or postings or whatever, but that idea of, of creating something from nothing or having to have it in your mind. Right. And then put it into a medium, whatever it is. If it's on the screen or on, on. The page or, you know, In written word or whatever. I mean, I always, it's very difficult for me to envision that. Right. Cause it's just not how my mind works and when it comes to curriculum, I can document things, but, but creating that, is it different? Do you enjoy that aspect of it that you're actually being able to. Internalize something in your mind and then, and then see it come to fruition that way. I do. I actually get my joy from, I mean, a lot of my clients will say, you know, I will say again, I, I mentioned it before, you know, Pinterest is the bane of my existence, but I'm a very visual person. So if someone has a Pinterest board and they say, you know, even if it has, I've had some people who've had like, 15 Or 20 invitations. And they're like, I like this piece, but I hate the rest of it. I like this piece. And no. You know, so they're kind of it's so it's very, it's a nice for me to see. And then that at least gives me an aesthetically idea of what they're looking for. So I like kind of taking, you know, taking all of those little ingredients of what they want to include and what they want. You know what they want to exude and making it. Come to fruition and the best absolute best thing is when the client I'm like, I still, after all this time, when I hit send on sending the proof, I'm like, Oh, But then when I get the, I love it. I'm like, okay. Okay. That's what this was all for. So that's, that's what I really like is the knowing that I was able to create something for someone else that really. You know, it was like dislike. Yes, that that wow factor. That's what I've always, that's what keeps me going. Do you find that this is something that I've had to work through? I I'm at the point now where I can really remove myself personally from projects, right? Yeah. If I send it off and. They hate something about it or want something that maybe I don't agree with or, you know, I think is. All the, you know, you're the client. I mean, do you, is that challenging for you or have you, you know, cause I know that some people are better with it than others. Is that something that you struggle with? I used to, cause I think, you know, like I gave you exactly what you wanted and then they want to change it. And I'm like, I have, I created things that I'm like, Ooh, Okay. You know, And, but the client is happy then it's like, okay. You know, it's, you know, maybe it's not something that I like, or it's not something that I feel like, you know, Shows. What I want, like, you know, for my business, but, but that the client was happy. And I think the first few times I'm totally with you. I was like, What. But, but, but. But I think now I just, I very much take the, you. It's like, you know what, but they're happy. They're happy with the final product and. That's that's the goal. And so, as long as I keep that as the goal and remove, you know, my own, I mean, cause there's been designed some times that I gave them what they liked and then I took it back and kind of like changed all the wordings. So you wouldn't notice for their wedding and changed it back to how I liked it and then printed it, posted it on social media, like and took pictures of it that way. So I still got, you know, I still got to have my little piece of like, but, but, but I liked this one. Clients are hard. I'm doing, I have a video right now and. The feedback was. Their graphics at the beginning, they wanted altered. And I was like, well, those are actually your graphics that you've made and sent me. So I would be happy if they were different. Yeah, it is, it is hard sometimes. And, you know, and with design stuff and video stuff, I mean photo too, but you know, these kind of, well, yeah, we want this different or that, and you're like, well, but actually, you know, the song is perfectly timed to the video. If you want to chop off 45 seconds of the video and that might not actually work anymore. But it is it's, it's a different. I don't know. Yeah, it's. It's hard to work through. It is, it is hard and it's something that it did. It's a learning process, but it's still hard. I mean, I've been, you know, private now for like six or seven years. I mean, it's still hard. You still struggle with that kind of stuff, you know? You do. There's always, there's always going to be that time. And like I said, I just have to be like, okay, but they're happy, they're happy. And you know, and I just move that file over to the backup folder. And then I go back and play with the one that I like. So talk to me about blue bonds. I printed what's the name come from? I'm always curious. So I wanted to incorporate a tree into my name, right. Because paper and that kind of stuff. So that was kind of where I was going with that. And then, and bonsai trees, no two are unique are the same, right? They're all trained to be very, you know, very unique. And so that is kind of where, how I landed on the bonsai tree. And I, you know, I was like, well, cause that's, that's, that's what we're doing. We're creating things that there's nothing else like it. Right. So that's where I kind of got with the tree and then. I, my favorite color is blue, so I kind of wanted to stick with that. You know, that those two things cause blue is really, you know, is me that's so you're getting me and you're getting the uniqueness of the bonsai tree. And so when we're putting those together, You get blue bonsai. That's good. That was it. Transitioning from, you know, private healthcare, you know, salaried right. Employee to, you know, doing your own thing. Was that liberating? Was that scary? What was it like, you know, kind of. You know, doing the corporate thing for a long time and then being on your own. It was terrifying. But I had just like, I always, I always I'm one of those people that it's very much, like all things happen for a reason, right? Godly universe points you in a direction. And I had gotten to a point at my job that I had been promised their promotion. And then after 14 months of kind of stringing me along, they were like, Oh no, we're just going to eliminate the position. So I, I came home and I told my husband and I said, you know what? I was like, if they're not going to appreciate me, then. I'm out. Right. Like, and I was losing out on clients because of my job. So I had hit that point where I was, you know, I was up till two, two 30 in the morning getting up at 5:00 AM to drive to my work. You know, to my job. It was exhausting. It was everything, you know, everything negative was happening. You know, I was missing out on time with my kids because I had to do all these things. And we, you know, we had set goals. We had things to say, okay, well we want to buy a new house before, before I quit my job. And we have, you know, X, Y, Z, and then we were looking at, okay, well, the kids are getting older. We have to put them into summer camps and that's going to be expensive. And I, you know, I just came home and I said, you know what? I was like, we can do it. We can, we can do it. I think it's always going to be scary. It's always going to be terrifying. But as like, you know what? I was like, I can be home with the kids more. I can take them to their activities. We can do all of these different things. And I think it's going to be better for my business. It's going to be better for us as a family. And. Again, it was terrifying. So I left my job in June of 2018. And then going into 2020. You know, it was on track to be my best year. And then we all know how that went, but at the same time, it was also a gift that I was able to be home and still be able to run my business, work on my business, even though weddings weren't happening. You know, and then be here for my kids. There was no. So looking back as terrifying as it was, I would do it a million times over because even though, you know, yes, it was hard and there's. There's been, you. There's been hardships, especially when 2020, just kind of, you know, they flip the light switch and turned it off right. For weddings. So it's. But I, yeah, it's it, it turned out to be liberating, but it definitely started terrifying. Yeah. Especially, you know, with anything right now. I mean, that's something, you know, for years, you know, The fear of you're getting clients and being self-employed and all that. And then now, You know, I feel like man, if it fell, a lot of us can get through this. You know, I think a lot of us are maybe more competent. Business owners, right. Maybe than we gave ourselves credit for, you know, before, because right. You know, I mean, you look at, you know, downturns and everything. I mean, this has been the downturn of downturns, you know, and for people to still be able to kind of, you know, pivot, I hate that word, but, you know, pivot and kind of figure out what they need to do. It's interesting where you were talking about that. You know, we're trying to work through and that either resentment. Or whatever, you know, for not getting that promotion with ever. Cause that was like the same thing. Like when I quit and I remember one of the, I was in a TV station and one of the new distractors came up and she's like, wow. So you're. Like you're doing your own thing or like what's going on? And I said, yeah, I said, I spent the last, you know, 10 months. Building this, you know, business so I could leave. And I said, you know, think of you, think of you guys have been able to harness that energy and creativity. Right. And you guys weren't, you know, I felt like I needed to go outside to get like you too. To get, you know, to prove my worth right. And to get. No satisfaction, personal satisfaction. So, you know, think of you guys have figured out a way to harness that as opposed to making me feel like I couldn't get, you know, what I need to do here. Right, right. And a lot of it. Takeaways, you know, it's I, even though 2020 really. It was difficult for, you know, weddings. I took the time and I had to really tell myself at the very beginning, you know, March was kind of a pity party. Right. I'm not gonna lie, but then April came around April, 2020 and I said, you know what? Use this time as a gift. Right? I rebranded, I redid my website. I, you know, I did a ton of styled shoots. Like, let's take this for what it is. Right. I can't change it. I can't make weddings come back. Right. I can't do anything, but I can be like, I can take ownership of my domain. Right. I can. You know, and again, I did, I spent a lot of time because I had the time to be really meticulous about like wording on my website and. You know, those types of things and really thinking about like, you know, what am I trying to convey and all of those things. So I really, I made like a to-do list of things I never have time for. Right. As like, okay. So let's. I have the time, so I have no excuse. Right. Let's just make the list. So again, I rebranded, I did. You know, I kind of, I made up a design guide. I, you know, read it the website and it's all those things that I just never had time for. So I was like, you know what, let's just use this. Time is always a gift, right? Whether it comes. Of your own accord or not. It is, it's always a gift. And so that's how I looked at it as, you know what, I'm just, I'm going to, I'm going to use this time. To come out of it on the other end, better than I went into it. And that's kind of all I could do with it. Right. It's it's so interesting. Eh, cause it is it's it seems like, you know, With all this stuff last year, you know, some people really froze. And then some people really thrive. And I remember, you know, when everything shut down, I thought, Oh man, I'm going to get, you know, a million of these podcasts. No recorded. Right? Cause we do 'em every week and whatever. And I couldn't get anybody to get on anything. And I'm like, damn, you know, At this point, like you said, when you, when you eliminate the lack of time, And now it's all it is, is you don't have that excuse anymore. Right? Like it's just you, there is no, you know, you always all, if I had time, if I have, well, now you have all the time in the world and it's really it's seeing how you're going to do so. I mean, I think that that's a Testament, like you said, you know, Figure out the processes, redo the website, do these things, you know, what can I do? But yeah, it was really interesting to me for weeks would go by and I couldn't get anybody to do anything. And it was because a lot of people I think just froze and didn't know what to do. Right. I think there was definitely a panic. Right. I mean, that's probably the best word to use is it was just like, ah, WTF like, and when, when you were so, you know, especially going right into the busy season, right. Especially, I mean, March, you were all hitting the ground, running, getting ready for busy season and all that. And it was like, wait a minute, you know, and it was, it was unexpected and exactly people froze. Right. And it was, again, it was like, I took that time and I. He was like, okay, I never have time for blogs. I know they're important. I never have time for them. I wrote like 20, you know, just because it was like, Oh, okay, well, I'm going to write this title down and I'll write a blog about that. And you know, now, as it's, as it started to get busier, it's like, Oh, okay. Now I'm glad I had that backlog. I still have to write blogs. Write, I still have to do that. But. Like that pressure has kind of been relieved a little bit. Right. I don't have to worry about it as much. And, but, you know, and it's, it's sad to me to see kind of how, how the year affected people. You know, some people were able to, you. Somebody will just throw in the towel because it, you know, it broke them, which, which is sad, but you also have, you know, you have people who are. You know that. As much as, as the word pivot. Right. I think we've all said that more times than we've ever imagined we would, you know, it's I can see why everybody was like, Oh, I got an I'm grasping at straws. I got to find something I got to change, you know, something. And, you know, also, but I think it also showed tenacity. Right. We had, you had, you had to be tenacious. You had to. You know, dig your heels in and say, no, this is me. This is my business. Life will get back, right? Whether it's back to normal or the new normal, either way, we're going to get there. You know, yes. We don't know how long it's going to take your, all of those things, but you know, just really. You know, really dig that. And I think for me, I was like, no, this is mine. This is me. This is, this is what I want. I want my business. I don't want, I don't want to lose it. So what, what do I need to do? In this time to make sure that I don't. Well, absolutely. And I, you know, I talked with a lot of people back email. Dealing with all this like unemployment and the stimulus is, and the, all the. Yeah, the grants and stuff. And I said, you know, being self-employed is a privilege, right? That's not, it, that's not an expectation. Right. I mean, that's, that's a privilege that, you know, we worked hard to do and to be able to do that. And I say to me, You have to work to continue to kind of earn that it's not a given that. You know, I hate working in the cubicle or inside the being stuck at a desk with that's, you know, unfortunately that's how society is for a lot of people and you really, I, you know, work every day to not have to do that. Right. But that's not a, it's not a given. You know, that's something that you have to earn. And I think it did make people really figure out, you know, we had guys and girls that, you know, went back and got jobs and stuff and, and some were in harder hit. Industries, you know, like DJs up your, you know, were hit a lot more than, than others, but it was really interesting to see it and the people that, that thrived more. So I'm really glad that you felt like you were able to really succeed in the. In the face of all that. I mean, that's good to feel. Yeah, it is good. And now that, you know, legacy I'm here and I'm like, okay, I'm okay. I feel, you know, it's like, I'm, I feel more calm and I think I also just feel more comfortable in my skin. Right. I just, it kind of like, I feel like it's a badge of honor, almost like yep. Survive 2020. Are you the way you operate your business, do you, do you try to operate and market more for Oregon couples or are you able to work more remotely for couples kind of across the area? How does that work for you and your business and what you try to market? I, I focus a lot of my marketing on the Northwest. Really. I grew up outside of Seattle. My dad was in the Navy and then I went to U dub. So really familiar with the area up there. You know, get up quite often to visit friends and that kind of thing. And then I'm I'm South of Portland, about half of my half an hour South of Portland. But I, so I do, I get a lot of people from Portland and Salem, just being there about an hour apart. And I'm right. Smack dab in the middle. So as far as marketing goes, you know, definitely social media is, is a big one. And so that is, you know, I don't really focus locally so much with that. You know, but definitely networking and that type of thing. I do a lot more locally, but with, with what I do, like I even have clients that just shipped out. A couple of days ago, some envelopes to Louisiana. You know, it's like, I've I had a client that was in New Jersey. I have an order I'm working on now that I'm shipping to South Carolina. So, so, and I think that's, that's been a benefit to me in the last, especially the last few months, because as other States opened up more than Oregon and Washington, you know, people were like, okay, we're moving forward. Right. We're going to our 2020 wedding. That's 2021. We're doing this thing. And so, you know, focusing a lot on. Kind of organic social media. I don't do a lot of like Facebook or Instagram ads. But I just do a lot of, you know, organic social media, you know, hashtags and getting it out there and, you know, showing different things. And yeah, so that's just, it's been, it's been really good to be able to. You know, to kind of work nationwide as, as weddings to started to pop up kind of indifferent. Timeframes and different parts of the country. Well, I think that's a great point. I mean, I actually didn't even think about that for you. You with, with the ways that way. I mean, I always just think of it, like, you know, where I generally have to travel or be, I gotta be wherever I'm at. Or you can, you know, just in general being able to work remotely, you know, just. You have a lot wider range of clients, but then yeah, especially, I didn't even think about that. How, how States. You know, started opening. Yeah. I'm sure like that was a benefit to be able to work with some of the States. There were all. More lax in weddings going along that way. I think that that's a great. I yeah, very, a more unique position for your type of vendor. There's a lot of them to be able to do that. Right. Yeah. And so it's, you know, it's a lot of being, I mean, It's really the only vendor that you can choose pretty easily, that doesn't have to be local. Right. Because even though, you know, it's always like, okay, your stationer and your dress or tuck shop are the only people who aren't there on the day of right. But you still have to go to the dress shop. You have to go to the tuck shop. Right. You have to go to those places. So it's a lot local, but first stationary, I mean, you can really do. You know, really anywhere. And so it also is a benefit to clients too, though, because if they can't find, you know, I get a lot of people who reach out to me because, you know, maybe they're in San Francisco or they're in LA or they're in New York where just cost of living and everything just costs more in general. And then they reach out to me because they have these, you know, maybe their vision and their budget don't match up locally for them. But I don't, you know, it's like the cost of living here and the prices and, you know, to be competitive locally. It's different. So it's, they're like, Oh my gosh, really? Yeah. I don't have to charge San Francisco prices. I don't have to. Right. You know, and it just has to do with. You know, different parts of the country have different. You know, financial. Cost of living, right. Is essentially what it comes down to, especially like San Francisco. I mean, yeah. Yeah. I mean, especially, you know, it's exactly. So it, it allows, allows a little bit more of that too, whereas maybe they couldn't necessarily afford, you know, working with someone in their local area, but they're willing to get on a zoom call and do stuff over email. So it works. Is there something about weddings in general, that they draws you more working with the design and stuff? I mean, would you, do you do other things, would you do other things or is it, is it something about the wedding experience that draws you to that to do more so. I definitely do other things like I've done, you know, kincenieta is I've done sweet sixteens. I've done, you know, bar and bat mitzvahs. I've done, you know, kind of those. Those types of events, but those are also same. I mean, along the same lines of that's a once in a lifetime, right? I mean, you're only gonna have one bar mitzvah or one bat mitzvah or, you know, those types of things. So it is, that's mostly what I focus on is, and weddings, I mean, I love weddings. I am such. I'm such a girl when it comes to. Like I, you know, when, anytime one of my girlfriends gets married, I'm like, I don't even care if I'm invited. Can I just know all the details? So it's, you know, it's that, it's just, I love weddings. I do. I love, I love weddings because it's, it's such a celebration and, you know, weddings for me growing up because my family is kind of. Dispersed all over. Well, actually all over the world, I have an uncle in China. I have, you know, like that kind of thing. So, you know, it's really one of those things where we get together for weddings and we get together for funerals. Right. So even so always growing up, it was like, Oh yeah, one of my cousins is getting married. I'm going to get to see everybody. And so I think that's what, you know, has really. Has really endeared weddings to me because I feel like that's, you know, that such an event and it's bringing people together who potentially don't get to see each other that often. And I just, I love that because. You know, it's for me, family, you know, family and friends and, you know, Just getting together and just that cell separation of, you know, what nothing else is going to matter that day. Right? Like we are here, we are present and we're all together. And I just, I love those, that element about those once in a lifetime events. That really, so that's what really draws me to two weddings. It is certainly something that we took for granted, I think before. Yes, right. I mean, we, we reinvented a whole new word, social distancing who knew there was a thing. Well, I did. I think a lot of people maybe would hear that they had to go. Go to a wedding and we try to find a way to get out of it. You know, I think nowadays I think anybody in the world we've got a good, anything, you know? Exactly. Yeah. It'll be interesting, you know, we're still pretty locked down, you know, we're in Seattle. You down in Oregon, there'll be, I'll be interesting to see kind of once we. Open back up again. You know, and just feeling that connection. I, I was watching big brother Canada. I watched because I'm in there. Just started there. Yeah, they lock these people in the house. Right. But they, they're all COVID tested and everything and everything. They're all safe, but yeah, last night they'd be all came in and they're like, Oh my God, like, I've never just to like hug somebody again. Or just to be able to like talk to somebody, you know, like face to face and not have all of this other stuff going on. I mean, it's. Yeah, I can only imagine reaching that into weddings here. In the next couple of years, it's going to be a big explosion when people are really able to just be a part of them again. You know exactly. I know my, a cousin of mine lives on the East coast and he took a selfie like at a new year's Eve party and he wasn't wearing a mask. And that was the first thing I thought of. I was like, Where are you? And he was like in a bar. I was like, where are you that you have to wear. Mostly like my mind, just like, that was the first thing I thought. And I was like, how did you get somewhere without a mask? And it's so true. It's like we've, we've. Come to this, to this place that yes, even though, you know, and thank goodness, like the vaccines are rolling out then, you know, and all of those things, but it's, you know, it's like, I think everybody wants, everybody can be like, yes, I can travel again. Yes. I can see people again. Yes I can. Do, you know, All these different things again, you know, and, and you're right. That people are going to be like, Oh, I haven't seen anybody. I am. So going to that wedding. My last question for you. And it's interesting. So, you know, I think every vendor has different time tables. Right? Did they really get to know their couples? Right. You know, photographers. Get to do a little bit more of the engagement session stack. You know, we as video, we generally spend a lot more time at the wedding. You. And then afterward, really getting to know. You're as a vendor that that's not, you know, physically there on your wedding day. How do you really work with your couples? In the process that you guys do to really leave your imprint on the day, make sure you build that relationship that you guys have that. You know, hopefully we'll lead through, you know, referrals and reviews and them being happy and everything else. How do you, other than me, we're, we're all kind of a different sections of, of that process that they go through. So how do you really work with the time that you have with your couples to get that relationship? I spent a lot of time just getting to know them. Right. I feel like, you know, if they're even in, it even starts necessarily before they actually book me, You know, just finding out, you know, who they are, how long have they been together? Like, you know, what kind of things are they interested in Ms. I think, you know, from the design aspect as well, you can take those aspects of their personality and kind of see like, You know, get to know, you know, cause sometimes like, so I did a circus themed invitation a few years ago. And I went like way, way circusy right. And I was, and the couple was amazing. And so, you know, having, knowing that I was like, you know what, I think they're going to love this. I think they're really going to like, embrace that. And so getting to know them very early on in the process and just kind of knowing their personalities and. Even if it's like, you know, over a text message or on a phone call or something, you know, you can be a smart Alec or you can be dry. You. You know, like your personality is going to show through. And so that really allows me, you know, to know. Okay, good. Like I know, you know, if, if a client is joking with me or they're, you know, Like, Oh my mother, let me tell you, right? Like you just get those little pieces that, you know, you kind of have to just take and, you know, file those away and be like, Oh, okay. Yes, I, I remember this. Or, you know, just make that memorable connection. You know, being that my dad was in the Navy, you know, He retired when I was 17. So, you know, it's like I spent my formative and teenage years, you know, being in that kind of life. And I connect with a lot of people on that, whether they're in the service right now, whether they're marrying a service member, whether they grew up, you know, in as. You know, one of their parents was the service member. So, you know, that's, that's a big thing that I can connect with people on of like, you know, what. That's one of those things. Like you lived it, you get it. If you didn't, you don't right. Like you just it's. So it's, it's finding those little connections and, you know, they can, they have a choice, right? I think it's always, that's one of the things I always remember. They have a choice of where they get their papers. You know, paper products or their paper goods there, you know, all of those things, they have a choice. So if they're, you know, it's like it's up to me to make that connection, to make the choice worth it. So it's, it's a lot of, like I said, just a lot of conversation and really not, you know, I'm, I always say I'm, I'm horrible at sales, right. So I'm, I'm really good at people. So that's what I do. I get to know them and I, you know, I make jokes and I, you know, I'm, I'm really like really sarcastic. So. So when I find my kindred spirit. It works really well. And it's, you know, so again, it's a, and that's how I look at it is, you know what, I'm not going to try. I'm not going to go the sales route cause I'm not good at it. Right. I'm really good at the people side. So let's just get to know people and then. Go that route and just, you know, even putting, you know, and especially if it's like save the dates and then invitations, there's a little bit of gap in between. Right. And so I'll send an email and be like, Hey, just a heads up. You know, we're going to want to start thinking about your invitations in about a month. No pressure. But you know, I know you're busy with graduate school or, Oh, I know, you know, I know you were having a baby, you're all those things and just kind of making again, making that personal thing of saying, Hey, you know what? I got you. Right. And even though life is crazy or, Oh, Hey, you know, especially if there's somebody local and they asked me for a recommendation. Oh, did you ever reach out to that Katie? You know, cause if not, I, you know, I can make that connection or do you know, I want to help relieve the stress and just be, you know, Be a person. Right. And treat them as a person. And so that's like I say, because I really suck at the sales side. So. So I'm I'm I'm good on me. You know, the fist bumps and the, you know, the sarcastic comments. Well, good. Well, I'm so glad that you reached out to come on. This has been so fun getting to know you and. You know, building this connection. And people all want to learn more about you and your services and everything. Where would you have them check out? So I'm, I'm all over the usual places. I have a website, blue Bonzai printing.com. Facebook and Instagram are both at blue Bonzai printing, no underscores or anything. But, yeah, so that's, you know, connecting with me on any of, any of those places. Totally works. Oh, well, thank you so much again. And if you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to the best meat videos.com/podcast guests. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire. We have to kind of get you in the system. We can get things underway. Thank you so much again.

Lacey Larsen, Evergreen Weddings

Well, Lacey, thank you so much for scheduling the time to come on today. We're getting a new, we were hitting a lull with, with new vendors, applying for the gets interviewed for a podcast. I post all the time online. I say. You know, it's it's 45 minutes via zoom. We. Come to my house anymore. That used to be the big turnoff for people. So I thank you for stepping up. I referral of Greg Lauder, friend of the podcast. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you do. Yeah. So I am Lacy Larson. I own evergreen weddings. I'm based up in. Skagit and walk them counties. I literally live on the County line. So I feel like I can fairly claim both territories, but if I had to pick one, it would be Skagit. I was born and raised here. So I'm a big fan of. Big fan of the Valley. I launched evergreen weddings about three. About three years ago. Gosh, COVID is like, made it seem like it's been a decade. Yeah. Why don't you about three years ago? And it has just been a wild ride ever since, because COVID really threw things for a loop, but it's absolutely my passion. I love it. I serve the couples of the Pacific Northwest. I do coordinating and creating full service planning, the whole gamut. Travel all over. I don't just live with myself here because I love to travel. I love to see what the rest of the state and the other Northwestern States offer. So yeah. Yeah, the COVID thing really. You know, we've had people on here that invite venues right before COVID, we've had people that, you know, have, have, you know, quit jobs right before COVID. I mean, it really is. It will be, you know, when I, I had just entered the news industry back in Oh eight. You know, I just graduated college and that was kind of the whole, and so it was interesting for a long time on the podcast. We would talk with, you know, Businesses that had gone through, you know, Oh eight and all of that. And now it's going to be like the next thing, right. How has it been going for you? Did you feel like you were equipped to kind of handle this? Whatever we want to call this last year or so now. Man. I, so I worked, I graduated college in 2014 and when I, when I moved home, I had no idea what I wanted to do. It's not like being a wedding planner was my passion since day one. But I always loved the idea of being with people and being organized and just planning events in general. So when I graduated, I had a job for a couple of years that I absolutely loved it was work from home. But still really involved in the community. And had a lot of responsibility. So I feel like those few years really equipped me for this shift of working from home. But then that job ended really abruptly because budget cuts. And then I started this new job at an insurance agency up in Watson County and I hated it since day one. It was horrible. Like I got pinned to this desk eight 30 to five, Monday through Friday. Couldn't go to the dentist without like, cringing about having to ask my boss if I could go. And so I just, I started. Toying with ideas of like, how can I start a business? And my, my husband and I got married in 2018. And. Didn't have a wedding coordinator. And so that, that really showed me the importance of it. So then when I'm going through this crappy job, I decided to quit and I knew I wanted to quit. I just didn't know when that was going to happen. And so I thought the best time would be to quit right in the middle of COVID so that I could pursue this. Full-time. And so I quit last June. And I just, I feel like the combination between, like I said, the work from home job, and then I'm working in this much more like professional. Structured atmosphere. Those two things really did equip me for transitioning into working from home for myself. Running this business and nothing can prepare you for COVID. Right? Like we all thought it was going to be over in four weeks, but here we are a year later. And I feel like. I mean, it sounds so cliche and cheesy, but like literally every day of 2020 taught me something new about COVID. And I feel like the last like three months have probably been just big crash and burn learning moment. So, yeah, it's been good. I feel like if we had to do it again, I'd handle it. Well, No, it it's w. Well, you'll learn it on the fly. Is so important. And it's so interesting where, you know, we talk with a lot of people on here that have transitioned to full time are working through it or, or, you know, some people aren't right. In, in view the wedding stuff, you know, as a part-time thing, But it's so interesting where when you make it, your full-time thing. That time that you open up by not having to do that balancing act, you really are able the right people, you know, are really able to fill that time, right. With, with what they're wanting to do versus what they're feeling like they have to do. Right. Totally. Oh, absolutely. And it's, and that that's what has been so fun is that. The hardest part about the first job out of college. And then to this insurance job was going from having a lot of flexibility too, to kind of running things the way I wanted and paving do. Pathways for the. I mean as a soccer club, so it wasn't business, but the organization. And, and doing that and then getting stuck by, and this desk, it was like my, my creative juices couldn't go anywhere. And it just. I just had to conform to exactly what the handbook says. And so being able to go full-time with this has just been awesome because it's like, I can do whatever the heck I want. And it's really stressful. Like a lot of pressure, but, but it's still so good because you learn as you go and you figure out what works, what doesn't work. What makes you happiest? It's been, it's been really good. Yeah. I mean, if nothing else to you, good to come from everything we've gone through the last year, it is the empowering, the work from home and. Yeah. Yeah. We're utilizing the time that, you know, people just in general have, have spent, you know, centuries, you know, community and, and doing all these things. And now the idea that we could be, you know, Oh, a little bit more building your own schedule, I think would benefit everybody. Right? But especially the entrepreneurs, we were, someone was asking how old are our dog was this weekend? And we've had her ever since I quit my job. So we've had our like six years and I was like, I can't imagine going back to, you know, a death can be in change, you know? It's it's a crazy thing that we get so used to, but then I do feel like you get to be much more productive. The right. People building their own schedules, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely a balance. My, my husband works at the hospital up and walk him. So he's on just a really sweet schedule of like a lot of days off at a time. And so. Even a bigger benefit of running things my way and doing it on my schedule is like, I can work like the days that he's on and he's sleeping all day. I work my butt off. Day, like day to night, the whole time. And then when he's off, like we get to go peace out for a few days to go camping or whatever. And so, yeah, it's good. There's a lot of benefits to it. Not for the weak at heart, but there's a lot of benefits. Where'd you go to college then up in Bellingham. I went to a small school called Hillsdale college. It's do you know the Michigan mitten map? I guess, I don't know how it'll work on the video, but I'm like way down here, right next to Ohio. So went from one small town to another. Even smaller town. But it was good. It was really good. Cause you're from here. I'm from here, born and raised, lived in Conway. Alberta high school. Right. Yeah. I know comma. Yeah, my good friend. They used to live up in right. Right out by the hospital actually up there, she lived, she did. And worked there for awhile. So what drew you to Michigan for school? Ooh. Not lazy anymore, but I was very lazy in high school. My sister actually went to Hillsdale and when it came my time to start looking for colleges, I was like, Don't know what I'm looking for. Donut. What I want to do with my life. And, and it's so hard cause you're surrounded by all these kids that are like, I'm going to be this and this and this. And you're like, Oh. Can I like work at a store. You just don't know. And so I followed big sister's footsteps. I applied. It was the only college I applied to because again, I just didn't know what I was looking for. But I liked the values of the school. I liked that it has a. I want to word it a core curriculum, I guess, that you have to go through. So it's a lot of like us constitution, American history, American heritage, Western heritage, and I love history. And so. Being able to take all those classes from really well-renowned professors was exciting to me and that's all I knew. So I went and. It was really hard. I almost transferred out. Definitely did not prepare myself well enough for the kind of studying ahead to do. But I ended up joining a sorority and they actually, it was a huge godsend because I went from like a 1.7 GPA to a 3.8 and then consistently stayed on Dean's list. So. It's already, these aren't all that bad. They can be good. What'd you what'd you study over there at school. I ended up majoring in speech and rhetoric studies. So a lot of people will be like, Oh, so are you going to be a speech therapist? And no, I can't even say that. It's like the first time I've said speech therapist. I haven't messed it up. If I really wanted to take that major and utilize it the way it should be, I would have gone to Washington DC and written speeches for politicians. But here I am in Washington planning, weddings. Yeah. Well, I was just going to say, it's so interesting how, you know, This society it's like, you know, Decide where you want to do a 20 years old or whatever. Right. And, and it doesn't, you know, it's really hard. It's really hard. And how everything's set up that way, where you really have to. I think it's getting easier to pivot later on. Right? We have different, you know, stages of our, of our lives. I have on our other wedding planning podcast, we're talking about. Kind of divorcing transition coming up next week. I just recorded a, with a w. Recording the episode about that and talking about how, you know, we do go through different stages of life. Right? I'm like, you know, I look back at, you know, at the time I was in news or I might look back in 10 years of the time I was in weddings. Right. We might. You know, you might get it. It's so interesting how nowadays I do think it's way easier to pivot and in big those changes, right? I mean, obviously. You know, fell into wedding planning now. What I want to hear about where you guys got married in 18. Oh, we got married at hidden Meadows in Snohomish County. We loved. I mean everything about it's a gorgeous venue, right? And so we, we love the open air barn. We really wanted to have the vibe of just. Everything that you can't do in COVID right now, like mingle don't sit down. Like we didn't want people plastic to their seats for three hours while we did Towson a dance and a cake cutting, and a bouquet toss. Since we wanted it to feel very free flowing. And we felt like that open air barn with the yard. Really accomplished that we ended up actually doing our ceremony. At swans or a chapel on Swan's Hill, I think it's called just dream come true. We got married in the middle of may. Actually on mother's day. So like our moms were very excited. And it was, I think like 85 degrees. It was like the free caught day that we get may up here. So it was like everything about it was perfect. It was so much fun, but I like I'd mentioned earlier, I didn't get a day of coordinator. And so even to this day, I'm like, Ooh, There's still things that didn't happen or did happen that shouldn't have happened. And so that was my biggest learning. Moment and just really reflecting on what that experience was like without a professional on your side. It's it's so difficult. I I've talked before on here, you know, DJs and the wedding planners, you know, slash coordinators. Are to have an AMI. I'm sure every vendor would say whatever, but two of the hardest selling points for prospective clients, because, you know, obviously lacking. Have a tangible product. Right. And then, you know, I mean, I've been to plenty of weddings who didn't have a planner, right. Yeah. They happen. Right. I don't know if they were as successful as they could have been. Right. It's such a thing. So what, what do you, you know, w when you're meeting with clients now, I assume on zoom or whatever, but what are you. What is your, have you been a bride that's gone through that? What do you, what do you say to them now? Whether it's kind of, you're a sales pitch for that? Yeah. So one of the, I ended up writing a blog because earlier on when I was. Trying to come up with that sales pitch. I was like, okay, well, how do you convince someone that a damn coordinator's necessary? Cause you know, like you can drop six grand on a venue, but then like a $1,500 day of coordinators, like, Oh, Breaking the budget. And so they don't do it. And that's how I was at the time I realized I needed one. They told me the price. And I was like, yeah, I can't like maxed out on the budget. And so I just Googled, like, why should I hire a day of coordinator just to see what the reasonings were out there. And there were always the same five, three to five reasons of, I can't even recite them cause I shouldn't remember them, but it felt so surface-y and just very obvious. And so a little while ago I wrote a blog. It's 50 reasons why you should hire a day of coordinator. And a lot of it, it stems from. Two main things. I tell people you are investing so much time and money and energy and emotion into your wedding day. You like, you could expect to show up on your wedding day and just have everything come together and everything works to fall asleep, but it. It needs the glue, it needs the team leader. And so it's kind of an insurance plan, I guess. Like you're, you're just guaranteeing that all of this stuff that you have put together for your big day is going to be handled by someone who knows how it should work almost, even better than you do because they've gone through it. And they've maybe even worked with those vendors before. And then another big selling point is family. A lot of people, including myself, will use a family member. Like my, I use my sister. She was like, Oh, I'll hear Dave coordinator will be great. And I thought that was awesome. A great gift. But then when the day came, I never got to see her. I barely got to spend time with her cause she was too busy trying to handle X, Y, and Z. And bless her heart. She's amazing. Even she had things fall through the cracks that she wasn't aware of because. She didn't know what questions to ask and I didn't know what to relay to her. And so I tell people, if you were planning on a family member or a friend doing it, you have to think about what the day will look like for them. It's your celebration, but it's also their celebration in a sense too. So, so aunt Shirley. Cool. She's like playing the church potluck and like, Nephew's birthday party, but that's not a wedding. Aunt. Shirley will also be casually drinking wine throughout the night. And she may forget to check her watch. Aunt Shirley has to be in family photos, so she will be needed elsewhere. If you don't have somebody who is strictly designated for you. On your wedding day and your plans. You're going to have somebody who is as has obligations elsewhere. So those are kinda my, my two big selling points. It's an insurance policy for your, for your plans and your money and your time. And it's also a gift to your family. Because with, with my day of coordinating and a lot of coordinators do it, they'll show up and they'll do a lot of the setup that frees up mom to go. Be with you like my mom, she didn't help me put my dress on because she was so busy setting up. And I, and I hate that. That's like one of the things that I still cringe about, so yeah. Do it for the family. Do it for you. Do it for the family. And also just, it's so nice having someone that, you know, As vendors. The we can ask questions of, right. That's. Yeah. It's more of just in that role. Right. And I think it's interesting. I was thinking, you know, I work with a lot of vendors and like some photographers are like really, really Chitty chatty, like all the time with a couple, I do. Yeah. Yeah. That's what you know, and that's great and that's fine. And we just have one last week and they really like, what do you think about all those kinds of stuff? And that's, you know, and, and I. The wedding day. Yeah, and I get it. It kind of gray sheets them and kind of builds that relationship. Like. I'd rather not bug them that much. The couple absolutely. I don't want to. That's fine. And if that means it and I've, I've shifted over the years. Cause I think I used to be that way. We're. I'm going to have a lot of questions. Yeah. And now I like just being able to ask the planner, like, what do you think we should do about this? We, we had a thing. Was it last, well, probably two years ago now with, with COVID, but we were out of venue up North. We were at that, not view a state up in Lake Stevens, that kind. The backyard that overlooks. They have this water feature up there and it's like, wow. And it's so loud. And I remember sitting there and I was like, you know, this is going to, you know, the audio is going to be really bad, like, whatever. I was asking, I can't even tell you who their coordinator was. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, you know, here's the deal. Like, I don't want to go bug the bride about this. You know, I don't want to bite the groom. Like. You know, I'm this me is this the most important thing anyway, but, but the fact that we have 20 minute discussion with the coordinator about this. Have to buy the couple and that she was empowered enough to make those decisions. Absolutely. And that's just one of a million things that are gonna happen that day. And it's so anyway, I just, the older I get and the more I do this, I really like dealing with the professionals and not happy to go bug. Someone that's emotionally charged, right. For better. They're like in the moment, getting ready and. I that's, that's my biggest thing too, is I tell them, like, if you don't have a coordinator, if you don't have anyone in charge, Guess who people are going to be coming to for her, for answers. It's going to be you. You're gonna be like sipping your mimosa, getting your lipstick put on, and you're not going to want to, to try and envision what it is they're explaining to you and how to. It's it can just be a mess. And so it is, I mean, it is super helpful for a lot of, a lot of the other professionals. And one of the biggest compliments I received from a lot of the PR pros I've worked with is that I'm just incredibly hands-on. And I remember when I was. So my first year I wasn't in business, it was my portfolio year. So I was really scrappy buy, sell trade pages. I'm like, who wants a free day of coordinator? Like just trying to learn. Build my portfolio. I ended up having seven weddings that year, which is so fun. And they're still my good friends, but one of my girlfriends who was kind of helping me at the time, she was like, she goes, you, you go above and beyond. And like, I know that's just who you are, but you're going to get so burned out. You're getting like, it's just, it's not T it's not sustainable. You can't keep doing that. And that really bothered me. I don't know if you know any much about the Enneagram, but I'm a two, which is all about like serving people and doing whatever you can to help. And so it irked me that. I was being told that who I was, wasn't going to be sustainable. And. Call me a rebel, but I kept with it. And so one thing that a lot of pros have told me is that I'm super hands-on that I communicate way more than a lot of pros that they work with because I, I see my role as the one that glues it all together. Like you have this team. Who's going to lead the team. And here I am, like bringing everybody together into this cohesive vision and maybe it is above and beyond, but it works. It works well. My clients love it. I love it. I love building relationships with people. So. I don't know. I'm not changing anytime soon. Well, and I've said it before on here. I mean, if nothing else, the last year, too. You know, The importance of having the planner, someone that you can. Just that you're there with them to kind of go through everything in a way that like a photographer isn't in the videographer. Like we're not in that the same way at all. Right. Your lane kind of. Yeah. Were you, you know, and, and some of these, you know, and now maybe you got to move it to next year and that, you know, you have lived with this couple now, right. For. For so long, it just, it really has really set up that different dynamic of that relationship versus like, even, even like, if we, if we move away and I'm like, okay, I'll talk to you in nine months. Okay. Whenever my night. He always been a planner almost. You got to, you know, ride them along. The question I had, you know, having been married recently, I always say I am because we, the way he was before. We got married at NIDA. The vendor when I got married. I felt like I was a better vendor having gone through the process. Right. Were you right. Got married and kind of restarted at the same time, but having gone through that process, do you feel like you, what things have you learned from going through it yourself now that you want to help your clients with. Okay. So one thing I'm currently working on is trying to figure out how to publish a book. I want to write a book. And I don't have. Concrete title yet, but it's going to be something along the lines of like, like how to for dummies or whatever. It's like how to bride. How to be a bride because when I went through my wedding and what I'm noticing. With all my current brides. Is there, there are certain things that like, you just. Most of the time, like you haven't been a bride before. And so there are things that you don't realize are so important. And, and one thing in particular is like communication of expectations. So one thing that I'm constantly having to do, like therapy sessions with, with my girls is like, Hey, my maid of honor, or my bridesmaids they're, they're not helpful. They aren't stepping up. And I always ask him. Have you laid out your expectations for them? Like, do they know that you are expecting them to come sample all the cake with you? You know, like, are you expecting them to do week long sock shopping trips for dresses? And they're like, Oh no, I know I have it all. I'll try that. And so it's, it's how to be a bride, how to work with your mother-in-law. Like. I'm sorry if she's listening right now, like one of the things that I regret the most is how I treated my mother-in-law. I don't know why, but I just was, I was a huge control freak. I'm like, no, I'm going to keep things like between me and my sister and my maid of honor and that's, and that's it. And so I, wasn't very inclusive and. So how you work with your mother-in-law, how to have the conversations about money and like, Hey, mom and dad, are you paying, are you not like it's okay if you're not just need to know. And so just a lot of those. A lot of those things that you don't think about or that like, I don't know, you just consider awkward. And so you avoid it, but like you can't blending. A wedding is different than everyday life. And speaking of everyday life, that's a huge, other. News flash to a lot of people is that life still happens when you're planning your wedding. We were engaged for nine months. And in that time, Was when I lost my job. Started a new job. My apartment flooded. We sold. Our childhood home of 30 years of my parents built by hands. That was emotional. And then there was like another crap thing that happened, but it was just a really hard nine months. And I'm trying to plan this wedding. And my whole bridal party lived out of state. And so it's, it's kind of just helping people recognize the reality of what it means to plan a wedding, what it means to be a bride, you know, how to set boundaries, how to include people, how to not be control, freak, like Lacey. So it's, yeah, I'm super thankful that I didn't try to pursue this before I got married, because I think that experience is so invaluable and it's been really helpful for a lot of people. Yeah, no, I totally agree. And it's, it's tough. You know, I am in a lot of like videographer groups and there's a lot of men, especially men, but women too, but people that haven't been through the process, right. Aren't buried at all right. And not that, not that you can't be, you know, a successful Whitey men are having not been married at all. But, but I do think, you know, just with anything in life, having gone through it yourself, you're makes you more aware of yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I always remember that I was, this was years ago and it stuck with me and they, there was this whole post in this it's like a worldwide VR, you know, wedding videographers out there. Or whatever. And this guy was like, you know, my contract says that they owe me the money, you know, three weeks before the wedding. And it is either it is Tuesday now of that week. And I am like, I'm not going to show up if I don't, you know, this is ridiculous. And I'm like, do you know what the last couple of weeks before you get married is like, there's a lot of Munis going on. Right. And I used to, I used to think that way too. I remember one of our brides, Anna Burdette, we're still friends to this day. And her, she had paid whatever, and it was like, you know, after the wedding, but before the edit or something, am I correct? Her check bounced. Right? I was like, This is a, you know, this is a scam, right? What is going on, all this kind of stuff. Right. And I email her and she's like, Oh my God, you know, we have like six checks go out and we did the math wrong. All right. It's all these lights. Things. But if you haven't gone, you know, now have you been married? I'm like, Oh yeah, I totally get how that would work at all, because we were writing all these checks. Yeah. And so it, it's, it's really helpful. And I, I especially think as a planner, you know, man, or a woman having gone through it, that you can, you know, talk with your couples about, I think is. Yeah. Is a really helpful thing. Cause I, like I said, I deal with photographers and never been married and they're shooting it like a photo shoot and not like a wedding. And it's. You know, it's helpful, so, yup. Yup. No, you're absolutely right. It is. That's probably one of the main reasons why. So when I structure the timeline, I'll never forget. I was sitting at my photographer's house. We're kind of going over the last few details and they were basically the stand in day of coordinators. We were going through the timeline and it just in a really three days before the wedding, and it just occurred to me that I didn't like finalize some kind of detail with the gal that was doing our cupcakes. And I just. Burst into tears. I have sucked like. Cupcakes. Totally forgot that I was supposed to like, give her a final details. Final guest count, like drop off time and just the whole slew of things. And so I was really worked up about what the day was going to look like and how to make those logistics happen since we were doing it in two different locations. And I used to lead young life. And so I actually had 15 on my young wife, baby girls come to the wedding, which is really special and unique. And, and so I put them in charge of a few. Which was awesome. But that timeline stressed me out so much before the wedding. And so how I structure it as like, my goal is to have a, a rough draft pretty close to final timeline, two months before the wedding. So then that way, like every vendor has it at least four to five weeks before. Then there's a buffer, if anything has to change, but then that way, like, all you have to worry about the last month is communicating to family. When you got to show up for pictures and it's yeah. Whatever I can do to alleviate that stress and make those last few weeks just. You'll oddly calm. That's my goal. Yeah. I'm having flashbacks and. Yeah, that used to be the biggest concern for the weddings. You know, now it's like, you know, can we even, you know, breve on each other during the wedding. You know, wanting to timeline, you know, far enough. And not having it. It's it's it's weird. Yeah. And working with a variety of that, you know, I, we, we have a planner. I remember we were my other associate with shooting it. And my wife and I were actually out of town. One of our friends got married and I remember cause it was the day of the wedding. And I was looking through the stuff just to see if there's anything to message. I'm mad about. I was like, Oh my God, they have a planner. I had never, like, I never heard, like, never. Never heard. And I knew this planner. I was like, this is wild that we are going into this. Today and I am. You know, they have yet to hear from them. And in the six months, you know, that we have been going along. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's, it shouldn't be taken for granted is I guess my point is, is having that, that thrown this and, you know, just attention to detail. I mean, it, can't not all vendors are the same. Across categories. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. So with evergreen weddings, do you, I, what, what's your. What do you not prefer to what's your flare in terms of weddings that you like to do? It could be specialty. You could just, it could just be once you, you really like more than others, but what do you, what do you view as kind of the weddings, the UI to do the best? Oh, that is a good question. Oh, man, I got such a range that I think. I mean, maybe it sounds really cliche. I love the weddings when the couple is just so laid back and they're like, let's meet and grab a beer and, and they just trust me. And that I don't feel like I'm constantly like. Trying to convince them that like you hired me, so there's a level of trust and you should just continue to trust me. I. Yeah. I've been thinking a lot about my ideal client and maybe I'll get some flack for this if it gets into the wrong hands, but I really am starting to appreciate young professionals, even older professionals. Like I've had a few couples that are in their 50s and those. Those have been such fun weddings. And to this day, I'm still good friends with them, but I've had a, several weddings where the parents are just like, Really involved and. And that's been a learning curve and it's been. Challenging at times. So I've learned to structure my contract differently and like making it clear that like this service is between me and the couple. And so just those, the young professionals that have a clear vision of what they want. And are just ready to get down and, and get, get it done. But then my dream is to just have somebody come to me and be like, here's my credit card and the budget go design it for me. I used to work at pure one. So anything like decor colors, like cake stands. I love it. So that's my dream, but, but yeah, people who are just they're like clear headed, they know what they want and, but are also just open to suggestions. Just good and humble. You said. A couple of different times, you know, I I've had this client, you know, they're still a good friend. I've had this other, I'm still frustrated. You know, it could be a mix of your personality and the way you work or whatever, but you do maintain friendships a lot with your clients afterwards. Oh, yeah. I I, to me. Like, there are some that, like, we leave on the wedding dinner. We're like, okay, bye. You know, and like that was that like, okay, whatever. But, but those that I worked really closely with. I'm trying to kind of go through like who booked what package and like with day of coordinating, I'd really, don't start working with them until about three months before. So I don't get a ton of time with them, but really those who have booked like full service planning. Or even partial, like where you're spending more time together. It just. I don't know. It's just fun. Cause I, I want it to, I want people to show up to their consultations, whether if it's in person or zoom or whatever, And not make it feel like it's a business meeting. Like I want them to just, I want to just catch up and hear how they're doing because. A huge. Pillar of what I built this business on is, is really being an advocate for the couple. And you can't do that unless you know them. And so it's a benefit for me. To just get to know like the weird quirks throughout their week. Like, Oh, that's really stressful at work. Oh, you have a really stressful week before the Y you know, whatever it is. I want to know about it and it helps me know you. So then on the wedding day, if something comes up. Like you were talking about, you don't want to have to go bother them. I want to feel like I know them well enough that I can say, Oh yeah. So-and-so would hate it if I did this. So I'll do this instead. And so it's, I don't know. I'm such a people person, like I just, I love people. So COVID has been horrible. This year. But if, yeah, I just, I see them as friends and I see them as people I just truly care about because. Your wedding day is so important. And I don't know, it naturally happens and I love it. We'll keep in touch. I had a phone call. There was. I actually went, Oh yeah. Last year. Like I like months after the wedding, the Goudas call each other once a month just to catch up. It was awesome. I yeah. It will be nice when we can move past all of these other things going on, because I do feel like so much of the conversations we have now with our clients are about like, what if we have to cancel it? Is there, and then it wouldn't get, get back to, like you said, you know, just getting to know them, you, whether their wants, whether their likes and dislikes, when it comes to the wedding, you know, what, you know, what do they want through day to feel like, or whatever those questions are we all used to ask reform? It was like, well, not telling me about your cancellation policy. Right, but like, It feels like a foreign thing now, like so much of the discussion. For a year now. I mean, literally a year now has been like, well, what about this? What about this? Whether others and not about like, tell me how you guys met, you know, Have your dog, we involved. Okay. Why'd you pick the venue, you know, all these. You feel what I'm saying? Oh, I totally do. And I, and I try really hard to make sure that. COVID does it. Take over the whole conversation, you know, I mean, there, there are some couples where I've gotten to a point where like, That's all we can talk about because I'm going through like second, third postponements right now. But like just the other day I met with a couple and it was the first time we met in person. Cause everything was over zoom and phone calls before and were approaching their wedding day in may. And. And, and we just sat down and just pretended that Cobra didn't exist for a minute. We're at twin sisters brewing. It's like the best place ever. If you have a bed. And, and we just, we talked about how they met. We talked about their love story and their plans for after the wedding and what they want to do. And I just really want to. Help my couples focus on their marriage and not just the wedding, because isn't that what almost everybody does. The cake and the flowers and all this stuff. And then you get married and you're like, Oh, we have to be husband and wife now. Like, we've got to figure this out. And it's a huge shock. And so I want to help. I don't know, just. Start conversations in a sneaky way. Not a creepy way. Get them to focus on that. Our our couple on Friday, we just have this tiny little wedding and they were so young. You know, and sometimes you meet them when you're like, God, you know, Like you said. We were planning this way. And then during their vows, every time about how they've been together 10 years and they met in high school and whatever, and I'm like, wow. That's a horse of a different color, right? Cause, you know, you do start with like, Like man, that is COVID and all this other stuff. Yeah. I just want the best for everybody. Then they're like, Oh, you know, we had our first day back and we couldn't even drive or whatever the hell it was. And you're like, okay, mom. Mom dropped us off. You know, I feel good about that. Right. Cause you it's. Like I said, it used to be even on the wedding days, you could really spend time with the couples and see that. Fractions and stuff and everything right now is like so stilted and we're covered. And then we're a different things and all that, like, Cause I used to be my favorite part of the day is coming home and being like, man, that would be like watching. We all just had a good time hanging out. It is more, it does feel more like work now than it ever has. There's just so much more you have to monitor now. I mean, like in. I've lost track of like what documents came out, but in one of them is it talks about like every professional at the wedding has to have a. Okay. COVID ambassador. I don't know, like. So like for me, like technically I should be having an assistant, they're just monitoring to make sure that I'm following COVID pro. It's crazy. But they'd said that if it's just you, then, then that's fine as well. But, but yeah, it just, it feels more like. I don't, all I have to say is I give major kudos to people that are still having their weddings right now, because with everything else, that's kind of overshadowing it and just like, what rules do we have to follow in? Like, Oh, they're not stepping out of that six foot gap. And it's just the watt. Yeah. So, but I'm happy to see people are still getting married. It's every wedding I had last year that went from big to small. And just like how to adjust their plans 50 different times within a month. They ended on a smaller guest count. A more simplified day and they're like, you know what? We would do it all over again that way if we, if we had to do it. And, and so I've been just taking that feedback and trying to help my current couples when they're like, Oh, do we postpone to 20, 22? And. It's like just get married. Go start your life. Have fun. We just, we, I just had an email over the weekend about that, about, you know, it. Their concern was. Yeah. Even if they push the next year, was he going to have. Back in the field, like. I feel like your wedding day. I mean, whatever it is, whatever. I mean, I feel like. You know, everyone, I think. I don't know. It's interesting. And this is probably a topic of discussion for our wedding planning podcast. But I do think that you had the, I think wedding, not all couples, but I think. Most or all wedding vendors, we have all very much changed our perspectives on everything, a million different times in the last year. I feel like a lot of couples haven't like, they're like, they still want my we're all doing all these drugs. Right. To where we can do it. And then I will know this, but this is what I want, but this is why it's like, okay, well, no, but I think both sets of us, we all need to adjust everything where I do feel like the vendors are jumping through hoops and the couple's like, Well, no, I still want 200 people on the open dancing. Yeah. Yeah, I got an inquiry. About a month ago for like a 350 person wedding this August. And I was already bugged, but. Oh, wait, I just wanted to write back and be like, you do realize this is probably. Gonna happen and it's, and it's so sad. Cause like you want to be hopeful and I think that's been one of the hardest. Pieces of COVID, especially in Washington, like there's just no, Like here's a little bit of hope. There's something you can look for. And it's just been sitting and waiting, like, you don't know what's going to happen next week. And so you want to be hopeful and you want to be encouraging, but you also have to kind of be the bad guy because you're the one that knows the restrictions. You're the one that. That knows kind of what to expect. And I joined the Washington state wedding and event advocates group a few months ago. Which is how I met Greg. And that has been hugely eyeopening and very educational. And I feel like it's given me a little bit of insight that I can help my couples with, but. It's also made me realize, like, you, you can have 350 people, like you're not going to have the mush, but dance for, it's just not going to happen. And so you have to ask yourself, what is the most important thing to you? And going back to the core of that day, like I said before, like, what is this day about? It's about your marriage and celebrating. You can do that. Just maybe not. Maybe not in a foam pit partier. I have one more thing on this and I want to move on. I Le I haven't called this week from a mother for a, like a live stream or whatever. And she was, she was trying to tell me about like all the regulations. Please. Tell me more about what's going on right now, please. Which document are you reading? She's like, did you know that you can't even do on Mike? Yes. I literally have spent two hours on a, on a, on a zoom call with Greg. They talk with the government. Please tell me more about the regulations. That is, I really do appreciate you telling me about that. I felt like I haven't known for the last year. And followed it. That's one of the, that's one of the things that they're, that they're trying to work on is a lot of the counties. Cause like you got your state and then your County and counties put their things in place. And that overrides what the state does. And so a lot of people will be like, Oh, Washington opened up. And when King County and whatnot went into phase two, everyone's like, Oh, we can do this. But King County still had restrictions on weddings and. Ooh. Yeah, it is. It's a lot to keep up with. I want to hear about, you know, starting this business now and, and, you know, obviously, you know, you've been married, know about the wedding stuff. Learning stuff. Being, you know, entrepreneur self-employed that way, you know, harder than you thought it would be. I mean, Kobe decide, you know, harder than you thought. Your last three years easier than you thought it would be. What, how did that process go? You know, obviously pandemic aside. Man. Gosh. I feel like I'll answer one way and then I'll think of all the reasons why I need to answer the other way. You know, it's, it's. Like I said before, the, the two jobs that I had before this for those is about two and a half, three years. In each job. And I feel like each of those taught me really helpful things. Probably what I have a hard time with is I wouldn't say like time management, but. Like with my husband's work schedule, like he's a big outdoors guy. Like we love to hike fish, camp hunt, like whatever. So if he's like, Hey, it's really nice. Let's go for a hike. And if I have on my schedule, like a day of batch work, I should be doing. We were like, Oh yeah. Let's go. And so like, like I'll always get the important stuff with my clients done. That's always that's first and foremost, but it's all the backend stuff. Like keeping up with the blog and. Like posting on Instagram. Like that has been the hardest thing because I, I mean, some people live and die on social media and, and I just, Oh, Like I can't, it's hard. And I mean, Wedding planner aside, like just as a human being. I fall into that comparison. And so when you have to constantly be posting on social media and being present and having a, having a face that it's, that's been probably the hardest thing. And so, but you know, there's tools out there that help with that. And that's been tremendous for me, but. Definitely like keeping up on the back. End of stuff. Like, like getting my rentals up. I've had so many of these things for so long, but I'm like, Ooh, I got to take the pictures and I got to upload and edit and type out the description. Like how many times can you explain a cake? Stand to somebody? So yeah, it's all the backend stuff. All the not fun stuff. So, are you going to transition more into rentals and design stuff as well? Or has that always been kind of a part of it? It's so the rentals, I just launched. A couple of weeks ago, they're going to stay exclusive to my couples for now. I just, I don't think I would be able to. Balance. Like having a wedding on one day to deliver rentals on the same wedding that day. So it will be exclusive to my couples, but I really do. Want to incorporate more design work into what I offer. So if somebody books me for something, I want that to just be part of the package. Right now I'm just offering it all a cart because not everybody wants it. Like most people in the Northwest or like would round flowers voting. Like, that's it. But things that I want to really specialize in are like decorating your head table or your sweetheart table, or putting together your ceremonies, like more of those little. Not just your centerpiece, that multiplies by however many tables, but kind of the bigger pieces, your dessert table, just making it a little bit more elegant, leveling it up a bit with bigger, bigger rental pieces, more unique things that. You know, you're not going to find. Just at any old store. So yeah, hopefully, I mean, we'll see where it goes right now. I have a lot of brides. They're interested in what I have, but. We'll see what happens. Where does that love of design come from? Oh, gosh, working at pier one and I've just, I've always loved decorating. Like when I was a little kid, my parents were ready to toss me out the window, but I would. Rearrange my bedroom, like every four weeks, I'm like, Ooh. How can I like angle my bed in a certain way? Okay. This bookshelf. And so I just, I loved, I loved organizing. I love the rearranging and just finding new ways to maximize the space. And then I worked at pier one for about six and a half years. Just on and off seasonally. And I went there straight out of college because didn't know what I was going to do. And, and I loved it. I mean, my, my boss, both of my managers that I went through. They like one went to design school and the other one was just incredibly good at it. And so that got me really interested in being able to like, I don't know, learn about like the, like the rule of Heights and the rule of threes and the odd numbers. And I just, I love it. There's one thing I'm incredibly passionate about outside of this. It's it's decorating design. Yeah. It's, it's so much fun. Well, I think it's important. I mean, because as a planner, there's a bunch of different, you know, factors where obviously you need someone that's, you know, detail oriented high management. But I do think that design thing, I mean, it's, it's a lot different. You know, it's all the aspects you're trying to put together into one. Right, right. Versus like, you know, I mean, you can be a photographer and be good with your details, whatever, but like you, you don't have to see the whole. You know, as like a player, you guys see the whole bag. Right, right. Design and keeping everyone on track and the, and like dealing with relations between the families. I mean, there's a lot of. Do you feel like there's a lot of balls to juggle sometimes. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's just in a spec. Like I had this one. One of my younger couples, they booked me. And then through one of my design packages on as well. And, and like that. You talk about all the different things to juggle, like the daughter, the bride was like, I don't really care. I just want to, I just want to get married, like throw a lantern on the table and call it a day. But the mom was, was, had been saving like juice bottles from Hawaii for a year. I mean, the mom was really involved in the decorating and so they both had two different visions. So that was probably like the trickiest place to be in, because again, like, I want to be an advocate for the couple, especially for the bride, if she has a certain vision and her vision was like, I don't care. Just like put a couple of lanterns out. And so trying to balance both of their preferences. And. And helping with that, that was. That was a lot. We just had a wedding. And I had heard from all the vendors that you have, if the mother was, was the most. That was who we were all working for, you know, the, and she was very nice as well. And so it was. Yeah, everybody was really nice, but it was really like the same thing. She just wanted to get married, but, but, you know, I mean, yeah. Yeah. It's it's a, it's a thing nowadays in, and I had talked to, I've talked about this a time on here, but. When I felt like before everything went awry. We were booking a lot of you, big weddings, long hours, lots of things. And the couples were losing a little bit of steam, right? Because it was. Social norms at the had to go this long or the family wanted it or all this. And, you know, I had hoped that with everything. Going smaller a little bit that maybe we'd be able to focus more on what the couples really wanted. Right. My family is still going to have. And even if it's a smaller wedding, the family's going to have as much say just on that four hours as they want. Yeah. It's, it's funny. I mean, going back to that whole book idea, like maybe throwing a chapter about like how to mom, because, or like how to like insert whatever family member, like very important person in your wife. That you like, I just want to tell parents, like you will be more helpful. To your kiddos, if you can just. Be like, what can I do for you? You know? Or like, how are you doing? Or like take them for a pedicure, take them for a cup of coffee, like do something that's not wedding. And I think in. In a lot of people. Well rewinding. I think when I, when I have a tough dynamic with a family member and the couple. I always have to go back to where their intentions and it's simply to make sure that this person's wedding day is perfect. And so when you, when you go back to that, like, you know where they're coming from, it makes it like, that's how you deal with it. And that's. You can get on board with that. Everybody wants a good wedding day for them, but, but yeah, leading up to it. It's like, you just want to tell him just. Don't talk weddings and just go do something else. And you will be way more helpful than like trying to shove 30 different design ideas down their throat. Yeah. I'm going to write that down. I've got a chapter in there. It's so hard. Yeah. I mean, you want Fabby and what you didn't have or what you learned from an EO. It's all that family stuff from what your sister had or what your brother had. It's all these different things and, you know, combined with everything going on now. I mean, there's really hard. To balance all that. I mean, you know, even COVID aside, it's very difficult to get married. I think in society nowadays. There's all the expectations, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And shameless plug. So one of my services. Like talking about the. Standards and expectations or whatever. So like one thing that I had noticed when I was planning, my wedding was hopping on the not because like, it's like, Oh, I finally have a Rite of passage into the knot. So I made an account. I got all gung ho about it. And, and then when it said, like, create your planning timeline. It had crap in there that had nothing to do with my wedding. And so I'm like going through and spending more time, like deleting the items that have nothing to do with what I wanted. And then like, same thing on Pinterest, if you just like type in like, Oh eight months, wedding planning, timeline, a lot of things on there that didn't apply to what I wanted. And so when I was thinking through my services, I thought, gosh, why not? Like, why not be the, not for somebody. And so for a couple that really wants to do a lot of the planning themselves, they, they, they're confident in talking to vendors, they have the time, they know how to research. You have a general idea of what they want. But they, but they don't understand how your budget affects, who is a tangible option for you, or like, Oh, I want this design, but the person that I want for photography, does it meet that kind of style or whatever. So. It's like a start and finish. Type package where set you up on a budget. We go through your budgeting style. I feel like there's three different ways. People budget for a wedding. Either have your overall number. 30 Grand, a hundred grand, whatever. Or they have like a categorized overall number. They've done their research. They have an idea of like, okay, a good videographer, you know, like five grand that's, you know, like that'll, that'll get me a really good. I mean, at least I think. Good options there. And, and then there's also like values based budgeting. And when my husband and I were planning our budget out, we were like, okay, three grand for a photographer. That'll be good. We met our photographers and we're like, Take off our money. Like we love you, but, and so we were fine going above budget because we saw so much value in that. And so I helped the couple figure out their budget style, help them just figure out their vision of what they want and they help them prioritize. Like some people like food is number one. They're like we don't care for a picture stuck. We just want lobster. So, you know, so we'll prioritize how you want to play. No, I'm kidding. Right. No seriously though. So like through all of that, I will create this document for them, with all of the different recommendations in each category. Of, for like, you know, photographer, caterer, all of it. And I vet them. I make sure that they're available. So then that way, the couple isn't like, Hey, read, are you free on my day? My wedding planner sent you and you're like, no, sorry. That sucks. Like to be constantly contacting people and they're not available. So. Give you that help you with your budget tracker. And then I give you a planning timeline based on all the things that you have already done that you have to do based on your vision. And, and it's been so helpful for people. And so that's like, That's my middle package that I'm trying to really. Show the world that like, this is a good way to go. Like Duke coordinating is great, but if you're just really lost, like, and you don't need a full service planner, you can still get all that help. That's personalized, customized. Takes all the guesswork out. I love that. Cause I know exactly the not thing I wouldn't use. I was like, I know exactly what that looks like because. We have a planner, but I made the not thing for the website and yeah. Like the couple's website. People could, you know, whenever RSEP whatever. Cause I was like, I know exactly what you're talking about. I feel like one of the items was like, So talking about buying doves. Ceremony. I'm like, I'm not getting DMS. Why is this on here? Oh man. Yeah, there's a lot of information out there. It's overwhelming. It is overwhelming. This has been so fun. I'm so glad that you could come on and then we'd be. I love meeting new voices and new people on here, especially on the, get to know your wedding pro side. So thank you for that. If people want to learn more about you and all your services and everything else, and where would you have them check out? So I'm on Instagram, evergreen wedding planning. My website is an evergreen wedding. There's a photographer. A couple, I think like in Connecticut, that's evergreen weddings. They always come up and people think I'm a photographer. So I'm not, I am an evergreen wedding planning. Or an evergreen wedding and yeah. Facebook Instagram. You can just call me and we can talk. I told you I'm a people person, but yeah. On those places and anybody even just wants to talk about weddings. That's what I want. A lot of people that know is like, I'm, I'm fine. Dishing out 10 minutes of my time. If you just have a question ask, but you don't want to hire me. Like I said, I just want to be helpful. Want to make the day perfect for you so I can do that. I've investigated the, I think that is what we are trying to build with these podcasts are people that are interested in education and building. So I do. I appreciate that. I think that that's real good work. Read. If you're like Lacey, you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can go to the best meat videos.com/podcast guest. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire that we have to get you in the system. This has been another episode of get to know your wedding pro check back next week for another wedding vendor interview.

Ernesto Lara, Big Ern Productions

Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. We have Ernesto Ernie with big earned productions. I was saying before we started recording. Come highly spoken out from friends of the podcast. I want to thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are and what you do. I sure. Thank you so much. I appreciate that Reed. Yes. My name is Ernie Laura from Yakima Washington here. Been in the business for 21 years. I run bigger and productions, which is a mobile DJ entertainment company. I specialize in weddings charities, fundraisers, corporate events, school events, private events. All across the West coast. So from Washington, Oregon. California, Nevada, Idaho, and a little bit in Arizona as well. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of one of those things where, where the business found me. Yeah. I used to do retail for the longest time, and I remember helping out a buddy. And it was one instance where I was helped filling in, you know, carrying gear for him and stuff. After we both worked from our day job. And next thing, you know, he got sick one time and he asked me to fill in. Like I go, do you have confidence for me to fill it for you? I was like, Oh, absolutely. People I'll be a PIP. You'll love you. You know, you're going to do a great job. So I jumped in. Helped them out filled in and everything. I had a great time. I felt like everybody else had a great time. Long story short. But he calls me up the next day she goes like, so I just got a call back from the owner of the other venue that you just did. How did you feel you did? I was like, Personally, I thought I did great. I thought I had a great time. And he goes, okay. So I want you to just, just take this in consideration, just constructive, but. Exact words from. The owner was. Never to have you back again. Flat out. Yeah, it's an interesting story. I. It gets, it gets better. I was like, Oh, Okay, well, you don't, I can't say that I'm upset. You know about this because I had never done it before. I've only seen what people do. So I was just interpreting it. And I, and I told him, I was like, I guess if I want to learn the trade a little bit better, maybe I would have done better in, in the owner's eyes. And he's like, okay, perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to hear because you're at a crossroads at this point, you know? Yeah. This, this is, could be a side job for you, or it could be a career. Just depends, but you've got the personality. Personality to do it. It's just the skill. So you could either say, well, it's not for me walk one direction, or you can learn, you can get educated. And that was the, that was my pivot at that point I wanted to learn. So I just kind of dove in. Learn the trade learn the skill. But at the same time, it was just keeping my personality, keeping who I was to the business. Five years later. That venue. After I started building my business up through it. He called me up directly. He was like, yeah, I want to have your show in my bar. I just, I, I was like, Hey, hold on one second. I put the phone call on hold. And I laughed and I just like, okay. I've done. What I needed to do for this level, then it was just a matter of progression ledger. So 21 later, 21 years later, now I'm here where I'm at now today. So that's great. I love it. Cause it is, it's so hard because it is whether it's DJ video photo. I mean, there's so many roles that we all do where people do do them as hobbies or side hustles or like that weekend warrior or. I got a friend that's getting married. I got a camera. I'll go do. And. It's so hard because it's something we've all been to weddings. We've all seen, you know, I seen like wedding videos, we've seen DJs and seven it's. Yeah. I trying to try to replicate that and also. There's just so much that goes into it that people don't think about. Right. Right. Absolutely correct. Because. A lot of people think that it's, Oh, I got to get a laptop and I could have all my music, get a controller, a couple of speakers and a few lights. And I I'm a DJ. And I guess that's one issue with the business that there's no true accreditation, you know? No true. Certification. To become a DJ. And then what kind of gets lost in translation is that all these entertainers that have different levels of talents. Whether it's M scene, whether it fits the mixing where their Fritz is scratching. There's just so much that goes into a DJ. And so everybody has their own perception of what their version of a DJ is, especially for a wedding. And you ask like brights. To be saying. So what's your, what's your idea of a DJ? And they tell you, Oh, well at the club, you know, they have their, you know, Fist bump in the air, you know, getting the crane. The crowd hyped and everything. I was like, okay. What do you order? What type of DJ are you looking for for your wedding though? What type of DJ? That's there's two different things. It really is. Because their idea of what they think of DJ is versus what they want. If you don't nail that, then yeah. You're gonna basically. Under delivered completely. And you're going to do a disservice, not only to the couple by misrepresenting what they were looking for, but also the trade. Cause now you put a sour taste in that person's mouth, and they're going to tell everybody. Don't get a DJ. Well, and there's even just, like you said, even just within the wedding DJs, there's so many different, you know, you have guys, guys and girls that, you know, Excel at, you know, being the MC. You know, leading the room and they couldn't care less about mixing or song, you know, theory or whatever. Right. I mean, they're just. You know, th th that's where they Excel. And then you have other people that, you know, really are into the mixing and the beats and all that stuff. And, you know, we even have them up here where they have someone else totally come out and do the MC you know, because, and so, you know, even just within what would be considered the niche kind of wedding DJ range. Yeah. There still is so many different varieties. Where do you off. I feel like you fit in to kind of that, that mix of everything. I tend to describe myself as. An experience. Not a DJ. When it comes to the DJ and there's just all tailored to music, then it's all music driven. It's all music focused. When I explained that I'm more of an experience. Then people were like, Well, I like to know a little bit more when you mean my experience. It's like, well, it's about the experience that your guests are going to have with me when it comes to the MC and the announcing. Okay. It's taken it to that level where. I'm speaking to your guests, not over them. I'm not insulting them by going and saying, ladies and gentlemen, how are you doing today? Let me hear ya. And then you get that, eh, you know, and then the moment the DJ goes, Oh, you can do better than that. Let's do it another time. How's everybody feeling? What the DJ did right then. And there was insult everybody. By saying you didn't do good enough. So. Being able to actually talk to the guests, you know, don't be that. I've noxious. Person on the microphone and everybody says, Oh gosh, this guy's talking on a microphone. I'm tired of him already. Rather than wait, he's getting on the mic. I need to hear what he's saying right now, because that's important. I love what he's talking. That's the experience. Okay. The experience also in the planning and the coordinating, you know, not, not just the music itself, but the order of events. Maybe there's some details in there that the clients wanted. There's those little extra touches, those little nice, those. Affirmations of, of gratitude. When it came to who made the cake, maybe it was a family member of the music kicked. Maybe it was a family member that did the flowers, you know, the decorating, they wanted a special shout out for that. How to deliver that. Not just say, Hey, everybody look at the flowers. They look beautiful right here. Let's clap for this person done. Now we can do a little bit better than that. And. W when you dive into it more, it just shows. That you care. And when you convey that to the client, look, what's important to you for your game. Then they say, I would just want my family, my friends to have a great time. I want them. To basically. That be stress-free. So it's looking at things from another perspective, always having a conscious eye and ear of what's going on around you. And without putting that, what would that making your gut, your clients make executive decisions on their wedding day? Oh my gosh. They're hiring professionals to be professional. Work together. As a team. Behind the scenes. If there's chaos, that's happening. And if they don't see it throughout the day, You did your job. Yeah. In your mind, what makes a good DJ in your mind? And it could be things that, you know, your guys. Good out there trying to Excel out, you know, what, what to you makes a good DJ. For one. Being able to rock the dance floor. Absolutely. But number two. Definitely providing that extra level. Don't only wear the title of DJ and MC. Be that helpful hand. Be that person that, that kind of steps out when you see like garbage being thrown away or somewhere, what's it going to take for, you know, 30 Seconds to help them out, strike up conversation with the other vendors that are there, especially the venue. My gosh, you know, you, you spend that extra little time to help them. Knock down tables, you know, while you're still there tearing down gear. That's awesome too. So being personable is the huge part of being a DJ playing for the guests. Don't play for yourself. Every DJ has got mad skills. I get it. What the biggest skill is to be in that personality. That can flow with everybody. Be flexible, be water, right? Like Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee says be water. It's so interesting. Weird. Do I, my other podcasts. It's more wedding planning that focused. And we did, we're doing this series kind of like, Hey, I just got engaged. What should I do? And I talked with a bunch of photographers, DJs, and you know, we're going to do, you know, videographers and whatever. Devin thing. And what's been interesting to me so far is the conversation with that about like, what do people want the couples to know about them? You know, in bookie, Andrew real questions, it really has like the photographer one. It really had nothing to do with even the photos. They wanted people to connect with them as, as people, right. And them as. Kind of that vibe that you're going to have, and it's the same with DJs. Right. And it's really establishing that. Do you think that, that there is enough importance placed on that nowadays with, with. When couples are selecting vendors, especially DJs MCs, like, Hey, this is someone that's really gonna dictate kind of the feeling of my whole night. Do you think that there's enough importance on. Placed on that. And should there be more usually when I get an inquiry, I try to bring that up. What's important to them. And. It's later on in the, in the, the conversation that'll come up to, you know, w well, on a scale of one to 10, how important is the DJ to you? You know, In your wedding. And they'll say, you know, seven, eight or nine or 10, you. They realize how important it is. And then some people are like, well, you know, w we just wanted to use it for the ceremony for when that happens in the background music, you know? So it. I would say four or five. Then you know that they're not valuing it as much, obviously. And when you asked the next question, well, What's the budget then, because you already know how much that I'm charging for it. You know, obviously budget might be the King of then, and then they say, yeah, I go, so. You know, the venue that they, that they booked, you know, if it's 3,500, $5,000. And then, you know, the caterer that they booked in, the photographer that they booked. And then when they decide to book a DJ and it's only three figures, The budget that they prefer, that you're like, okay, You see the sloping part. And then that's when I try to explain to them. You're hiring a DJ, which is going to be the focal point. Okay. Throughout the reception itself. That's going to be your emcee, your master of ceremonies. I mean, did you just take that word alone? Master of ceremonies? And they're going to be your front runner. They're going to be the one, announcing everything. I'm there. They're the Q person. Okay. And if you put somebody in there that doesn't know what they're doing, or don't have one at all. You're going to have that awkwardness throughout the day. And if you paint that picture to them and they get it, there's a chance of like kind of reaffirming what you do as a. DJ RMC, but then some other people just, no, I'm just, I'm fine with just, you know, a three figure DJ it's. Okay. We're just looking for that. That's our budget. It's like, okay. You're not going to change their mind. They've already set their, their ways on that. But there's the other people, when you show how much more that you do as an MC as an entertainment like that, then. They get it. They understand like this is what we're looking for. The personality, the mesh. They're like, okay. We can flow with this person very well. And as much as I like to be for everybody. As as much as I want to match everybody. I know I don't. I know I don't at all. But there's other people out there. That do. Okay. And that's why I, like, I love networking with locals and stuff to let them know, look, this is, this is the guy you're looking for. This is the gal that you're looking for. And this is where they're at. They're more in your local area and they'll definitely help you out. So. It's so hard because, you know, and we talk about this a lot because you know, to every single vendor, when they do is the most important, I mean, even if you're the, you know, if you're doing the rentals, if you're doing the calligraphy, if you're doing the fly, I mean, it's, it's. That is, you know, all that you're putting in your life. This really hard, you know, and I, I actually just had an inquiry a couple of weeks ago and it's like, same thing. Like you said. Super high-end venue, really expensive, super high end photographer. Really expensive. Yeah. And then, and they, you know, they, and they said, well, you know, video really isn't. You know, as important, like this is our budget, you know, can we cut things out or whatever. Right. And it is. You know, I think I read maybe five years ago is like, why either. You know, maybe you get the love, but yeah, you really got okay, well, yeah. Can we make it work? Can we not realizing that, you know, what was important to everybody? It's, it's really, it tried to meld those things together with, with, you know, how your mind works and then how the couples might work. It is interesting sometimes. Yeah, without coming off saying, you know, You know what you're worth, you know what you've put into the, the event, you know, what you do for them, but they don't know. You know, and I've learned over the years is like, when they say, well, no, we're not interested. I take that. No, instead of it being an O two K N O w like they don't know enough, you know what I mean? So, If, if they're, if they're willing to hear me out, like, look, I think you have. A different idea, as far as what I do. I just really want you to understand as far as. What you're looking for on your wedding day. And then what you are willing to invest in that. Are at two different levels. Okay. Or they're not gonna, you're not gonna find something if you do. You're blessed. I'm saying, congratulations. That's great. And run with it. But the idea of what you're asking for. On your day. We've got to come to something, you know, w let's let's break this down as far as what you're looking to get and we'll get there. So. So you, you were saying at the beginning, you know, when you kind of got into all this and you were helping the buddy out, you worked in retail for a while. Is that, is that. I guess. That experience of working with the public, right? It's the same thing, your retail, like I was in the service industry forever. I worked, I get the Arby's drive through, you know, it really gets you. Just have that mindset right. Of. Dealing with people, right. Goods and bads. Do you feel like that that past experience, you know, obviously outgoing guy. You know, you're working in the room, does that, does that correlate and, and, and that service and running the business in that way. Absolutely in my, in my experience with retail, because I actually invested in. Sales trainings. Okay. Not only for the equipment and stuff, but it was more so how to interact with clients and come in and. You have that genuine personality. It's just a matter of asking the right questions. Then at that point to the clients. That. Okay. This guy's not trying to sell me something he's actually listening to my needs. So they don't. They're listening to who I am. So they're not going to just force, feed me whatever they want, you know, and get a big old sail out of me. You know what tech deal. So when you learn what they're saying to you and you're like, okay, so based off what you told me, I'm going to recommend this because you said you need one, two, three, and this device does have one, two and three. And you said you want to stay within this budget. Here's the budget for this it's right in the same. So on that I say, this is going to be the best match for you. And when you put it to them in the same way for. Wedding services or charities or fundraisers or school events. It's the same thing, you know? School dances. What do they want? They want the kids to have a good time. They want lights. You know, if he got games, you can do some games. Great. Let's break it down here. We're going to do this, this and this. And you wanted all that. And here's the price for it. Perfect. If it works out, let me know. It's that simple. It really is this listening to what the, I, I get it. We have thousands of things that we can offer under the sun. You're like, Hey, we can do this. Hey, we can do this too, but don't overwhelm them really. Pull that information from them because they're there. They're going to tell you everything that they want. As long as you ask those questions. So, yeah, when it comes to, from what my, my sales experience, a lot of it had to do with those seminars, those conferences that I go to for sales, training, and sales experience. There's interesting too. Cause you kind of said you went above and beyond even in your previous life, right? I really wanted to make sure that you at succesl kinda, you know, educate yourself and me. I think there's a way to even like I have guys and girls that do video for me. Right. And then there's other people that kind of are more running things, right? There's more, some people are doers and some are followers and that's not necessarily a bad thing. That's just kind of the way. You know, it works out. So what was it about that drive even, even before they're really educated, they make sure that you were the best of what you were doing. Well, in order to want to be the best you got to see in your eyes, who is the best, you know, Start off locally then kind of expand further and further out. Who, the people that you look up to, who they look up to, then those people who they look up to the next next and, you know, and it's, it's a matter of like, okay, you know, it really does take time too. That's the biggest thing that you're going to invest as the time. Second is going to be the income, you know, the, the dollar amount, what you're going to invest in later on. So going to mobile conferences, you know, Midwest. 80 Days is I'm so excited that there are they're opening back up this year. So that's going to be a great conference in June. Mobile beats no longer anymore, but they're going to do the photobooth DJ expo next year, February. So that's good. That's great. In Vegas. But before that, yeah, it was putting yourself around those successful people, you know? Reaching out to them. See if there's a time that you can meet, you know, or see them in action. You know, type deal. But that's the thing. If you don't put the effort to it, if you think that you can just self-educate. Go on YouTube and learn that way. I mean, that's only going to take you so far. It really is. You get, you get that hands-on experience. You put yourself out there, travel down there, go do it. There's you're going to get wowed a million different ways because it's not only going to be in front of the people that you want to be, but also like-minded people you're putting yourself around the same people that think like you, that's why they're there too. And then your network is just going to get bigger and bigger. So. That's the, the reinvestment that you do, not only into your business as far as gear and stuff like that, but within though the talent, that is the biggest, biggest thing, because that's what clients are really buying into. You could pitch your equipment all day long to clients and they don't give a rat's ass. All they care about. Is like you're going to mesh perfect or better than we expected with our guests. Yeah, it's interesting. When you talk about that too, you know, I've done the, we don't have as many like videographer conferences. I know DJs, and like for the booth, that's the big thing. We did the wedding MBA a couple of different times down in Vegas. And I remember it's the same kind of thing. Like I went in there. And you're like, Oh, well, you know, look at all this. And I was like, you're eating it up. Right. Cause it's, you know, all this different like education and then there's some people that go down and you just like. Like totally over their head. Like be, I don't even know, like it's so overwhelming. And so it is like, you gotta be, I think, in that mindset to want to succeed. Like you said, putting yourself around people that want to, I used to film actually today, I just saw. On my Facebook thing. I years ago, Tony Robbins was here and I got to film them. And at the time that was like a really big deal for me, that felt huge. Like this big. Conference thing. And I remember like, I filmed a lot of like motivational speakers, you know, doing video a lot of really bad ones, a lot of, you know, good ones and whatever. And it's so interesting because I always, I always say like, You know, just going in and doing that stuff isn't enough. Right? You really have to want have that drive within you. Like you said, you know, to want to be better, to want to educate, you know, just going and sitting in on, you know, Einstein talking or whatever isn't going to make you be any smarter. Right. You really got to. Have that self-drive right. Do you find, have you always had that, have you always had kind of that entrepreneurial bug? We talked about a lot in the podcast. Like, is that something you grew up with or kind of discovered, you know, where did that come from? I've always found since I was little, if my heart is into it, I'm all in for it. That's the thing. And. So when it came to sporting events, when it came to schooling, you know, whatever subject, as long as I was in the class that I wanted to be in, I was all in if I had to do it just because I had to fill in. You know, my credits and stuff like that. And I wasn't into it. You could tell him my grade because it just wasn't there. You know, I was not passionate about it. You know, People ask me, why did you take geology? I was like, because I wanted to know, you know, I wanted to learn. That's why I asked it because I was so into it. You know, and you put me into anthropology and I'm like, Okay. I'm here. I'm just here because I, I got to take it, you know, type deal. But yeah. Yeah, absolutely. When I'm best in. And I could tell that that emotional connection, the twit, that subject, whatever it is I do, I am in, I really am in, as a matter of fact, I just got my certification. I just became ordained in the state of Washington to marry couples and then rats. Yeah. Thank you. I just had an overwhelming response from a lot of clients asking me. There you go. I like that. Yeah. If I could marry them. And. I'll admit. It was never on my radar the last few years until this year. It really hit me hard from a lot of people saying Ernie, you know, we're just having a tough time finding an officiant. Are you ordained? Or you're ordained. And I'm like, I think this is the year to do it. I really did. And I pulled the trigger. I did it. And. Yeah. I'm just happy that I'm able to do that for, for these couples. I feel like I've got a closer connection. Because of. We had more time to talk and interact over the last year and now other weddings are coming up this year. It's like, wow, this just means much more to me now. Well, I think two, a and like I said before, especially if you don't, you know, if there is no planner, Or, you know, maybe there's like a day of coordinator or whatever, you know, the DJ really is right. Not the whole way through. And I mean, that's what we talked to you earlier on. I asked you if enough importance was placed on. You know that relationship. It isn't always the case sometimes where people just don't realize like, yeah, man, I hired Ernie. Like we're going to be going through a lot of stuff together. And then what it would absolutely make sense that the couples that you feel a connection to. Would want. You have to be in that position in their day. I mean, that makes total sense. Just based on the, you know, the connections that you're building with your clients, right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I mean, we. We do so many calls on zoom. We'll go out to dinner. We'll sit down and we'll just have some fun interaction. I asked them those questions, like, how did you, so how'd you meet? You know, what was, what was the connection like when you first met and we're laughing and, you know, And that's how I actually came up the other night where they're like, Ernie, we've kind of talked about this one. When we talked to you on the phone, we just love how you sound. You made us feel so much at ease that. Are you ordained? And it was just the same question again. Boom. I was like, okay, I'll tell you what. Just because we've talked so much like this and you asked me. If I can do it, I'm going to do it. I'm going to get sort of, I'm going to get the certification. I'll get ordained for your wedding. There you go. And they were just like through the roof, they were related at that point. And. That was, that was the defining factor though. I was like the last. The straw that broke the camel's back. Do it or just do it now. Better done than perfect. Right. Yeah. I want to ask you about that, you know, building these connections, you've done a ton of weddings. You. You know, on the, on the thing, you know, we have everyone fill out the survey, you know, it was like over a thousand weddings, you know, I, you said 21 years. Is it, is it those relationships you're forming that keeps things fresh with the weddings? What is it? Cause that's a ton. You know that and, and to, to, you know, I do put it in, we've done 307, whatever, and I feel like that's a ton, right. And this is, you know, exponentially more and over decades in through. You know, economic crisis and now, whatever. Hell we have going on now and everything else. So, I mean, what is it about, you know, weddings and. And obviously you do other events too, but what is it about that that keeps it fresh after a thousand plus weddings? Every wedding that I've done is unique in its own way. So that's my excitement about it. I've kind of worried at the beginning, when I started doing it, I'm like, it's going to feel like mundane. I thought it was going to be like the same thing over and over and over. So I always made a promise to myself to never let it feel like it's going to be this wedding's going to be identical to this wedding. So that's why when I sit down with clients and I meet with them and I talk with them, I get more of a better sense of who they are. And then what they're looking for. So. I know there's, there's other DJs that maybe, maybe do a different, but I invest like 52 hours. You know, the, for the wedding. Into the planning. You know, If there's a planner coordinator, planner, or coordinator for their wedding, I don't want to step on any toes. Okay. So if the planner says whatever information you need from them, do you get, get ahold of me? So yeah, not every single wedding that I've done has been the way I want it to. But at the same time, I'm not going to butt heads with another vendor that has the controlled, I mean, planner, the planners and the coordinators on a number one, hands down. Those are the people that are going to be handling it. Emphasis, facilitating everything. If there isn't one in place. Then I will let them know that I have experience. In, I don't want to say that I'm, I'm going to plan and I'm going to coordinate your wedding, but I'll give you helpful help. Hello. Helpful tips, you know, just ask me, I'm a resource I've done over a thousand weddings. So I've got a little insight, you know, but just let me know what you're looking for and I can give you ideas as far as what to help you out through your day. It's hard because yeah. And we talk about this a lot because you know, Everyone's weddings, it's generally their first wedding, right. Or, you know, if maybe they've been married before, you know, it will be it's, it's always the first kind of in whatever circumstance it is. And it's hard to. I want to do something yourself have been told your whole life. You can have it be exactly the way you want it to be. Right. The second you get engaged it's everyone is telling you, you know, whatever you want, but then you might not actually know. The right way to do everything right. And you might, and you know, years ago I had started putting on our website, like, you know, hours on side and the number of weddings when I calculated all of that. It did try to do, like what you said, a similar thing where, you know, I might know a thing or two having gone through this and I certainly, you know, you don't want to step on any toes, but I, you understand it's a weird dichotomy with weddings where everyone wants to do it their own way, but yet no one really has any idea what they're doing sometimes. Right? Yeah. It's, it's being flexible. It's going back to that thing to be water. Because. It really is. I mean, even on the wedding day, I, and I know how important to photographers and videographers are to get the, the money shot when it comes to sunset. There's that. That perfect Twilight time. And. You tell the DJ, Hey. I need to pull them right now because I need this light that's happening. And the DJ has to say no problem. I've got you covered. I'll take care of the guests. I'll interact with the guests. So they know that we're the couple of lens. Cause I've heard of stories where the co the couple went away, they did their sunset. Sunset sunset photos. And then they came back and like half the guests were gone because the DJ did not announce to let them know they were going to step off for a little bit to take photos. And then there'll be back in just a bit. There was just that. Dead Mike air, you know, but the music was playing in the background. You know, they had a playlist playing their background or whatever, but there was just no communication on that. So the, the Bragg was upset when she came back and half her guests were gone. So. We, yeah, we have one years ago they had it. Wasn't a big wedding and it was like 65 people. And same thing. Like we went to go do family photos. It wasn't even nighttime. It was like, You know, in the afternoon. And we came in from doing family photos and there was like 15 people left and were like, Oh my God. And we're like, we have like the hole nights zil, I give, literally had been like Sarah money. And this was like during like the Chi I, but I know one, you know, th I, the DJ was setting up or wasn't duel, you know, whatever, no one conveyed in. Like, I felt so bad for them. I'm like, yeah, this was more than probably five, six of their guests cabinet. Yeah. And that, and I was, and that's the thing it's like, that's not, that's not in your mind. You're like, okay, well, we're going to step off. You let the DJ know, Hey, we're going to step away. And you. When you start to. Does zoom that there as professionals you are, had the experience that you do. That's where it gets tough. It really does, you know, and you don't want to be. You're not trying to be rude, but you know, you're telling him like, Hey, can you make an announcement to everybody while we step away type deal? I ego put the ego out, get the ego out, you know? If you're in the business as a vendor, you're all working together for the same cause. So just be mindful and be, and taking everything, you know, to heart when it comes to look, I'm just telling you this, because it's just going to make everybody's lives easier. And the ultimate goal. The bride and groom are happy. Their families happy. That's the biggest thing is do it for them. Not for us. We you, you said when you came out, you know, and. I'm being facetious, but kind of stuck it up the first wedding. Right. You know, you came out, you thought you did good. Yeah. And then you said you, you went and really tried to get better. What were those things that you worked on or where did you feel like there were things that maybe you thought I didn't matter as much or whatever. What did that growth process look like? Cause there's, I mean, every day there's a million people jumping in to do all this different stuff. So what did you learn from taking that time? It was making sure that I actually had the idea of what they were looking for asking those questions, you know? Just for my sales history. Going back on that, that made sense. I was like, okay, I'm going to pull this life experience that I had from retail when it came to selling. Being genuine, as far as asking them the questions that matter, basically asking you the questions that the couples didn't really think to ask, but they want to know. And when you dive into it like that, they're like, wow, this person, you know, is wanting to know me, not selling me. You know, not saying like, Oh, do you want a photo booth? And they're like, well, we didn't really think about it. Oh. Because I have one, you know, type deal. It's like, no. If you ask couples a simpler question, you know, like, so, you know, I'm going to MC you know, I'm going to DJ. Did you ever think about maybe an alternate entertainment as well? You know, if you have. The DJ booth right here by the dance floor. And you have the bar over there and then you have your, your. You're going to have your frame where everybody's signing as far as their guest book. All around the dance floor. Have you ever thought about, maybe on this side, having a photo booth here to keep that circle, the entertainment circle all in one area, kind of keep the, rather than having stuff spaced out where you have. The photo booth clear across the other side of the venue and you start separating people. And then now your group looks smaller because now you have a line of people over there trying to use a photo booth. But if he kept everybody close together, now you have a full entertainment floor. So those pictures are gonna look amazing whichever way they come from. If you paint that picture now you're, you're, you're basically. Educating the clients, as far as how to. Move the next level up the level of the experience now for the wedding. Yeah, we there's a hotel over here that they always do that. And they always do. It's like the dance floor and the, in the ballroom. And they always put the photo booth or like a side conference room, like, you know, out the hallway. And I'm like, you are, you're just begging for people to get bored and walk off or, you know, get I'm invested or you're standing in line in this hallway and you're not part of the event. I got talking about stuff like that. Don't you miss the real, like not, they haven't been real weddings last year. Were don't you miss? Kind of like being able to direct a real dance floor again? Yes. I do. I do. It's. It's just, it's just another level of feeling, you know, it's just one of those, like, You're. You're having a good time with them. You're. About the party here, not being in the party. If that makes sense. I mean, there's two different levels. You have the DJ that, that makes the party about them, but then you have the DJ that makes the party about everybody else. And it's not about me. It's everybody out there. So yeah, I do. I miss it completely. I really do. I, we were talking. Before we got on in, in the questionnaire about, you know, pivots and things, you know, obviously it's a weird time right now. You said you started kind of, you had had a pivot earlier this year that the movies under the stars, right? Do you want to. Do I tell her about that and, and w we'll get into specifically what it is, but I also want to talk about just the mindset and know. You know, wherewithal to say, Hey, I'm going to need to, you know, begin pivoting into adding new things here. So I guess first off, talk about that and where you realize like, Hey, maybe I would need to figure out some new stuff to do. Sure. Biggest thing that happened, obviously when everything was shut down from the entertainment aspect. So when all weddings or corporate events, all PRI private parties or all charities, all fundraisers, all school events got canceled when it came to DJ entertainment. That shut my business down completely. So. When I heard that we had to wait out two weeks. Okay. I was like, okay, this is a great time to do like business audit, you know, kind of do a website, audit, clean that up, find any dead links, things that didn't work within that. Update contracts. The, the other biggest thing that was gear. So making sure systems were running good lights and cables and stuff, but then I also had an, an. Alternate equipment, which was the big inflatable projection screen. Cause I do slideshows as well. And the projector system. And I just had a, just a, an idea to. You know what I'm going to take a break from this, and I'm going to set this up in the yard. Pull up my, my truck right there in front of the screen, I'm doing like a mini, private driving. And had the sound system actually had the FM transmitter. So I put it on the half watt, so it was a half mile. I played it through the sounds were all amazing and everything, but I also had the sound coming out from the, from the sound system. They hooked up to the, the spring, just in case it didn't work within the vehicle. But then I noticed the neighbors across the street. We're outside in their yard with their kids and they were watching the movie. And I, it, it just kind of like clicked. I'm like, I think I can market this. I think this is something that I could really put out there because all movies were closed. You know, There really wasn't a driving insight anywhere. And even if it was it wasn't open. And I just remember seeing a lot of people kind of. Complaining, you know what I'm saying? I wish the movies were open and I wish, you know, I could go to the drive-in. I wish somebody would open a drive in. And that was that that's when it hit and I'm like this, this is exactly what everybody's been asking. And that's when I figured out a few ways to market on social media, especially, and. When the first review popped up from people that I'd done it for, it was like wildfire. It just blew up. I mean, even that night, I was just getting a lot of inquiries, asking more questions about it. So I was, I was growing, I was going through a lot of growing pains, super, super fast, because how do I. How do I Mark it for the rate? So, you know, what's going to be the right rate. What am I going to find resistance on the rape word? Where do I have to call it? You know, that this is it, you know, so. I, I then kind of thought about it. What's the better way to up the experience. So when you go to the movies, what do you want? You want popcorn, right? So I actually invested in nostalgic popcorn machines. So I would actually make popcorn while I was there running the equipment and people ask me, so how do you get past the licensing fee? You know, the other da DJ's are they're entertainers. They're like, you know, how are you getting past that? How you can pass that? Well, I positioned it as an equipment rental service. So when I say movies under the stars, all I'm offering is just the equipment to rent. So. I wanted to make sure that it was something that was granted as something that you couldn't just go into a best buy or a Walmart and just buy it off the shelf or order it, you know? And, and it's, you know, going to cost minimal just to get ahold of, because people have tried that they're like, Oh, you know, we can buy that. You don't offer. Hundreds less than every thousands, less and stuff. But when they get it there, it's just like, Oh, wow. Maybe we should have went the other way, you know, like, because for the rental service, it's, it's one thing. But when you bring a 5,000 lumen projector, when you bring a quality 20 foot screen, when you're busting out to [unknown]. [Unknown] you know, so that's 2000 Watts of sound coming out from each side of the, the movie screen. But then you go to the next level. I actually curate the. There's a movie scene that I do right before the movie starts. So if it's a birthday party, I actually put an overlay on the front saying the birthday person's name, you know, whatever the favorite characters are, you know, if a Scooby doo, if it's somebody, the hedgehog, or if it's Elsa from frozen, whatever movie they're watching, I kind of curate that on the, on the screen too, before that. So it it's up in that next level for them, they experienced, like I said, it's just different from everybody else. Is it. Is it exciting? That whole. Yeah. Having built a business, right. You know, done the DJ thing forever. Right. And there. And when you're presented with a new idea like that, where, you know, it's related, but it is kind of a separate thing. Is that exciting to kind of go through that building process again? Is it, is it. Nauseatingly cause you've done it all the first time and you kinda know how hard it is. I mean, how does that feel about that? To give you an idea of what I went through last year to do it. Between. June. No actually, may I take that back between may. And all the way through September last year I did over 150 showings. I had three screens going. I had three popcorn machines going. Every night. Okay. So. Mentally physically I was beat. I mean, it felt, it, it felt like doing a bar gig deejaying just at an earlier time. So I would start showing a movie around seven 30, eight o'clock at night, rather than starting DJ in at nine o'clock at night, and then going for a few hours like that. It just. Basically the timestamp just moved, but it was still a matter of like, I'm like I'm still setting them speakers. I'm still setting up cables, soundboard projector. It felt like I was doing the gig. And then when I hit play on the, the movie. I had to go do popcorn. You know, I had to go run popcorn and get that going. So it was really nonstop. And. What I went through. Doing that I think. If there was like a give and take, there was a win, but there was a loss with it. One, yeah. The loss of business with the deejaying, all those, all those gigs were gone. And then the gain was from the movies under the stars, which saved the business. But it put a really big damper on my relationship, my personal relationship that I have with somebody. In fact, I think it really hindered it so much because we never really saw each other. At that point. We're always working nonstop. And it was exhausting. I'm not gonna lie. It was exhausting, but it was more so what I was doing for people. That gave me like, this is worth it. I mean, when. When. Sorry. When. A family that booked me and at the end of the movie, And as, as Ontarian down. Dad comes up to me and he pats me on the shoulder and he's like, earn, I just got to say. Thank you very much for doing this. Thank you very much for offering this because my son came up to me at the end of the movie and said, dad, This is the best birthday I've ever had. Thanks to you. And he goes, you're the best dad I could ever ask for. And. It's those stories like that, that really, really hit me and make it worth it, you know? So all that exhaustion, all that. That the pain, sweat, blood tears, and everything that went into going in at night after night after night after night. That one story just puts you at another level. It makes you drive to do it again. I, you know, I. I have a big heart. You know, so I'll give up my free time for somebody when they call me up. And they, you know, they explained to me what they do. Hopefully not a whole lot of people will hear this. Now we'll get blown up too much, but I've given up vacation time. To help out on a wedding because either their entertainment. Wasn't under contract or couldn't do it or got hurt or got injured for whatever reason. I've dumped my vacation time to go do that, to go help out on the weekend. And. It's just that it's just a different level. Of commitment to the trade and yeah, I mean, it's, it's stuff like this, that. I still had this around. It's creative without the movie business. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's just. It's stuff like that. That, that they didn't have to do anything like that. You know, they didn't have to reach out to us and, you know, ask. So what made you do it? And I'm like, well, if I get to the same reason everybody else wants, you know, we all want to be entertained. We love entertainment. You know, we love movies. And so if I, if I can do it, I'm going to do it. You know, if I can provide that for you. The next level was providing a photo booth. Cause there was a lot of like birthday parties that I did. And mentioned the same thing. Hey, this is the extra level you want to do a double movie. You want to show one movie and then have an intermission and then do another movie afterwards. It's just setting up ideas. People got creative one and I did, they're like, Hey, can I click it? Can I hook up my PS4 or PS five to it, or, you know, or hookup my next box to it. And I was like, that's a fabulous idea. Absolutely. You can, you know, so. Kids would be playing on a 20 foot screen on their X-Box with that. That set up in it, man. It was just wild to see playing football. I remember Madden somebody playing Madden on them. Like. I feel like I'm auditing a game right now. It was, it was great. It was really, really nice. Yeah. It's cause it's just so hard to hear. And especially obviously, you know, everything has affected so many people in so many ways, but you know, when it's someone, you know, has spent years and years, you know, building things like that and to have things taken away or moved, you. And we've done. You know, podcasts. Talking about, you know, next year. And what is that going to look like? And are we ever, is anyone ever going to get made whole right. You know, there was this whole, for a long time, there was a whole belief. Okay. 20, 21 is going to make up for 2020. And now at least here in Seattle and stuff we don't know. And then going forward. And so it is, it's so hard. It just affects people a lot. When you have something that you've built the UTL, put your life into for two decades and then to have it. You know, taken out from under you, right. For really nothing that any of us could have possibly done. Right. You know? So it is, it's a tother work to make that pivot. And I think that. I don't know. I think everything that happened, I think really showed who is really invested in, in certain industries and who isn't. Right. And you know, where we, I spent have spent the last year now, almost I'm doing not this podcast, but you know, Besame weddings and trying to educate you have conversations about things, right. You know, educate people and couples and everything else. And then, you know, you see people that are, you know, just trying to undercut and discount to get by, you know? And so it shows kind of like, well, who is, who is invested and like you, and especially like, In your community. Right. And trying to give outlets for people and things, you know, I mean, it just, it really shows who is invested and then who is just trying to get things out of the industry. Right. We're good. Because it's really easy. People all have weddings are great money. I'm going to get it. I'm going to do that. Like that's, you know, I can charge whatever. As aunt. You know, when, when, when the crap hits the fan, it really shows, you know, who is there for the longterm and who's not. So I think that's an incredible story. Ah, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I kind of going off of that with everything that got stopped in 2020, and then moved over into 2021. Everything basically doubled, obviously, you know, Pete. All those weddings. I got put off from 2020 that moved into 21 and all the people that want to have their wedding in 2021. Now you have double stacked. And then I, what we're seeing is a huge influx of entertainers. DJs. That have a laptop that have a controller that have the speakers and like, Oh, okay. You know, and they get mentioned to by friends. Saying. Oh yeah, you're looking for DJ. My buddy just started deejaying this year. You know, he'll give you a great deal. We're going to see a lot. Of of new people that come into the business. And I think there's going to be a lot of mixed reviews. You know, some positive, some negative, whatever I can do for the community to better the trade for everybody. So basically it ups the level experience for everybody to keep a positive note on it. And not have a huge separation where. You know that curve, right? When they, when they talk about the. You have your DJs that are starting out and then you have a huge selection of, of DJs that are at a. At a mid-level. Experience level. And then you have your, your DJs that are. They know what they're doing, like flat hands down, you know, they don't have to work for another company. They've got everything down, Pat. But, but also learning at the same time, you know? So you, you have like your three percenters. You have your, your 90, 94 percenters up here and then you have, your 3% is right here. So. Yeah. It is. Oh, I. And might, you said. W with an influx coming in, you know, we've had, I just in the last week, we've had a couple of different video for other people. One company with, you know, they were looking for alternatives that they were double booked, you know, ha have a bunch of dates you were trying to offload. And then we had another company where they've had quite a few weddings booked for this year, and now they're trying to find us. Lead lead people to cover those right. Right. Yeah. You know, I have, I have Matt, that's worked for me for five years, you know? And when people, you know, we have consults today, right? Obviously zoom and people that know that it's like his wedding, you know, we all meet or if it's my wedding or whatever. And like you said, where people are trying to pass off these weddings, you know, if you have 70 weddings for this year, and you're trying to find people for them, that means that the couples that you have booked don't know who their photographer or videographer or DJ or whoever is going to be. And that's a scary thought and like, You said, I do think there's going to be a mix of. Whatever people trying to come in or pass stuff off and do whatever. And it is going to be interesting to see how that all pans out. Yeah. Yeah, it's a. I've even had gone to the extent of. Actually working with DJ's out of the area because I'll be in the winter months, this year from November, December, January down, South in Bakersfield, just out of outside of LA. Doing weddings and everything because weddings aren't. As big up here during the winter months, but since it's just cooler, it's not cold. It's just cooler down there. It's like perfect weather to do weddings there. So I was able to work with them and see what they do. And they got a chance to see me what I do. And we oughta, we like immediately fell in love with each other because as far as what we emulate, when it comes to doing weddings, it's the, the personality just ma. When the clients and guests. Tell you stuff like. You know what I was going to get it when I was. Going to get my speech. I was nervous. I was dreading it. I was scared. But when you introduced me to the microphone, the way you did it, it just automatically put me at ease. It just like, wow. Okay. I can do this. So. Just hearing that and working with them. And them inviting me to do that. I told them, Hey, I, people would love you up here. So if, if we could, you know, let's collaborate. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get a lot of inquiries coming in and they're going to ask, you know, if I have availability or who I recommend. Then I'll let you know. So then I tell them, look, I do have a team. They're from Bakersfield area. I know what they do. They emulate what I do. And if you like what I do, you're going to love them. Cause then I can actually put my name behind them wholeheartedly. And I could send them to their website. They could see their videos, they could see what they do. You know, they, they got it down and I feel confidence at that point. So. And that's where the networking comes into place. Just be basically who you trust, because I've done that once before where I put my name behind somebody and just because they said that there were DJ and yeah, they did the club thing for awhile. And then I get a call after they come back from the honeymoon. My earned, Hey, I was like, Hey, how you doing? You know, how was your honeymoon? Oh, it was great and stuff, but I just really wanted to call you because. Yeah. The DJ that you recommended was quite what we were looking for. They were DJ. Yeah, they were DJ. Yes. But they weren't you. So that's what we were expecting was when you put your name behind somebody that they were going to do what you do. And I was like, ah, see, that was me not listening. Just saying and not, not thinking that the. Are just assuming that the DJ was going to ask them the same questions and make them feel the same way that, that I would then. So, yeah. Before I let you go. I spent two years in Baker show and working at the NBC station down there. So that's the whole world. So yeah. It's. [Unknown] part of the country. Yes, it is. You know, as, as someone that they grew up listening to that. The band Korn for most of my life. And then to, to see where they came from. It makes all the sense in the world to me, the corn would be from Oildale outside of Bakersfield. That met me at a lot of sense. Later on in life. So, yeah. I wish she was amazing. That is amazing. In fact, a funny story that you bring up corn. When I did a new year's party at that, I did the corn new year's drop as a matter of fact. So when the ball dropped and it turned one, exactly, yes, I did a corn song, right. That's been in there by request of the party that I did it for. And when you say all the time. Oh my gosh. Yes. A funny story there, their biggest real there's a, ah, A. I believe it was a $9.8 million compound mansion. That became a venue. For weddings. And I believe it's called the Hawthorne restates. If I recall correctly. In Bakersfield. About 15 minutes outside of Bakersfield going through all your fields. I mean, yeah. When my friends were taking me out there, I was like, you guys are gonna kill me out here. Aren't you. Kill me and bury me because all there were were just oil, oil, fields, oil. And then we stopped. And turn left and went over a couple of Hills. I'm like, Yeah, I'm dying. I'm not going to be here anymore. And then all of a sudden this like a vineyard or dried up vineyard showed up because it's still January and it's kind of cold. Nothing's really growing, but you can tell it's a vineyard and then out of nowhere, This compound. It looked like a, I mean, drug Lord's house. This thing was huge and it had the driveway that went around a fountain. So you could tell people would pull up in a town car and get dropped off and then kind of go off. And then there's another road that went behind and another roundabout right in the middle of these two big compounds with this staircase that goes up to the house with all these huge trees, the ridiculous pool with a slide that went down with the letter H that represented a horn. And then you had the event back area, you know, that was a huge slap patio, but it had four walls that went around it and then had the strong lights that went everywhere. This place was just out of control. But out of. But in the middle of nowhere, I mean, but it was set up so beautifully that when you're in it, you totally forgot. I'm in the middle of an oil field. I am right in the middle of an oil field and he wouldn't ever even on it. It's funny. Yeah. It's a small world. Well, I hope, yeah. I hope you have fun down there. Yeah. Yeah, we'll see. This has been great. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your time. If people want to learn more about you. And your DJ and everything else, you service, you know, quite a few States here. So wherever they check out. You can go to my website, big earned productions.com. You can go find me on Facebook and Instagram as well. It's under bigger and productions DJs. So yes, bigger and productions. DJs and yeah, you'll find me there too. And. Yeah, that's, that's pretty much it, as far as they get ahold of me. There you go. Well, I'm glad we could make this connection and it's. I never thought I'd be talking about bigger. So California today. And thank you so much. Again, if you're a wedding vendor like earn, you can go to best meet videos.com/podcast guests. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire to get you in the system. And we'll try to get something worked out.

Jeff Evans, Amazement Productions

Well, thank you so much for coming on to get to know your wedding pro podcast today. I'm so excited. We have Jeff Evans, a magician. I'm very excited to get into this. Plus he's promised a little, you know, a show today a little bit. We'll go through some trucks as well. So that's a, that's a good tip. If you want to get on the podcast is promised to do, you know, to do activities and games and Trex. I think that's very exciting. Jeff, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Sure. My name is Jeff Evans. My company has amazement productions and I've been doing magic full time since 1998 in the Western Washington area. I'm very excited for this. And I told you before we started, I love magic. We've only had one other magician on I'm the one I, I think two years ago I drug my wife. Dorothy, we went down to Vegas, saw Chris angel front row. I was very excited. So I mean, I'm really all in the other Copperfield. I remember growing up, you know, with Copperfield and all those Sunday night show. So I'm very excited today genuinely to talk to you and kind of learn all about everything. I think it's fascinating. You know, when I was growing up, I remember Copperfield would have a special, like once a year. Right. And you'd stay at, I put on my calendar and my buddy and I, we both did magic and that was the thing that we would watch and, well, how did he do that? Yeah. So it's something that strikes me and I want to get into how you got into all, this is someone that, that does magic full time. That is something that I think is incredibly difficult, right? Because obviously that means that you're, you're a skilled enough and in demand enough and good enough right. To do that because I think plenty of guys or girls, whatever, like do it, you know, on the side. So how did you get interested in all this to begin with? So all through high school, I was doing magic on the side and in college, I was doing it more on the side part time, evenings and weekends, as much as I could, but it might only be a couple of gigs a month or two or three a month. But even at that time, I knew that I wanted to do magic full time. I didn't really want to go and work for a company. So at the time I was living with my folks. So it probably took me a good couple of years to build up enough clients from school assemblies and parks and rec departments, County fairs, the occasional corporate gig, private parties, to be able to actually make a living doing magic. I certainly didn't start right out of college, June magic, full time. But still, I mean, to be going from such a young age, I mean, that's truly remarkable. Did you, have you ever had that hasn't like a quote unquote, like a real job or have you always been like an entrepreneurial person? You know, I think I'm lucky that I was doing magic as a kid and in high school and college, because it would be really tough to quit a real job to do magic full time, but I haven't had. A real job since I was done with college, which is pretty crazy. Yeah. And I mean, I always, you know, we always add. Yeah, put that preface, right. Because certainly, you know, anybody that supported and it's the same with, you know, With video with ever, but yeah, having that, like whatever people think of, like, you know, like, like a day job or like a real job, I think that's incredible. So, you know, early on, what was it about magic that inspired you so much? Because I know a lot of kids, you know, especially like. You know, my age older either really grew up. Like you said, with those, you know, the specials and everything else, it seemed like it was more Ellie, even like the David Blaines of the world is, it just seemed like it was a little more in the vernacular for a little while. What was it that inspired you? Actually I got started when I was a kid from a book. It was just a book at my grandparents' house on coin tricks. And I still have it. It's like the worst book ever to start learning magic from because it was written in like the forties. And so the photos were terrible. It was some serious sleight of hand and coin tricks are not easy anyway. So I'm trying to learn these. Luckily then I went to the local library and checked out some books and those were more kid-friendly. But that's how I got started was just as a kid. And then I think I was fascinated with learning secrets and wanting to know how things worked. And then the main reason that people enjoy doing magic is the reaction that it gets from people, because some people are amazed. Some people laugh, some people get mad. But in fact, I think one of the most interesting things is not watching the magician at a magic show, but watching the reactions of other people, because you'll see it in their faces that some people are so focused on magic. It's just kind of interesting to watch other people watching magic. Yeah. That's like my wife is constantly to, you know, to this day, you know, you could show her any check on the world that you would be. Absolutely flabbergasted. I have absolutely no, you know, conceptual, I'm trying to figure out like, how is that done? You know, do you, is it, I think it allows people. Mmm. Just, just some fun, some levity, I don't know. I mean, even we'd done a couple events where like, you, you know, like a magician's going around and doing like table with table and things. And it's fun. I mean it, what day do you wake up and you think I'm going to get to see a magic show today? You know, it's a fun, I don't know. I just think it's a really is a lost. Just a interesting thing that people could go to and see, you know, Yeah. And here's the interesting thing, even though. People love watching magic. There's not a lot of performers who do magic and I'm, I'm kind of surprised at that. Like I belong to some magic organizations and magic conventions. And over the years, there's fewer people. Going to the magic clubs and maybe they're all doing it online and maybe magic in the future's just going to be on Instagram and tic talk. And. I don't know, but there's not. Like, there's not a lot of competition, other magicians out there and makes it hard for me to refer you. I mean, everyone, all the good magicians are booked on those prime Friday, Saturdays it's like, who else do you refer work to? It's kind of weird. Why don't you say, especially with online, I just think like of all the dumb things in the world, Viral on Tik TOK or whatever, you would definitely think that, you know, a skilled person doing tricks and whatever on Tik TOK or Instagram or whatever would be just as engaging as some dumb girl, like switching or either like they have those, like they changed their clothes or, you know, it's like the filters or like, you know, having, I think that, yeah, there's a real. We'll be a real creative way to get on there, to do that. I think like you said, that that could be the future. Yeah, I mean, In the old days, I would go to the magic club and the other performers would say, well, you know, as a practical, you want things that are good from all angles that you can real world magic that you can do. And. Carry in your pockets and it resets instantly. And now most of the magic that I see is especially being at home right now is on social media where those constraints. No longer matter, you can do things it's good for just a very specific camera angle. You don't have to worry about people looking over your shoulders or what the setup might be. So it's kind of interesting. I think there's, there's some great magic online that probably wouldn't work in real life, but. On video, it looks amazing. So you said you, you started with coin tricks and then, and obviously developed, you know, from the very limited things I did as a kid, I always like the card tricks and things. I always say that that was fine. What do you specialize in now? Or what are you known for the best that, that you, or maybe just that you enjoy doing the most. The only thing I don't do our big illusions. I don't have, I don't bring my own assistance to my show. I don't have a panel van and I'm unloading big illusions. So everything from close-up to stand up magic. And I do things. Everything from kids' parties and school assemblies, too. Fairs and festivals and corporate events. In the wedding. Niche wedding receptions. It's all. Close-up magic, strolling magic for receptions. And I love doing that because I walk in with my pockets loaded. I don't even bring a table. So I'm literally just working out of other people's hands or a table if it happens to be there. So it's super flexible. Yeah. And that's the thing. I mean, I think people, you know, and they hear like, Oh, I can magician. Like, what does that, I mean, it's really, you know, at the, at. At the end of the day, it's it's stand up entertainment. Right? And you, you have your own flare versus, you know, if you have a comedian there, if you had a storyteller command or if you had. You know, someone do it, whatever. So it's it's anywhere, right? Yeah. Where you would have people congregating around and need to have that entertainment. And I just think it's such a great way. And the weddings. You know, maybe the half dozen that we've done over the years. They've had, you know, strolling, magician, things like that. The enjoyment that the, that the, you know, the guests get from, you know, being able to kind of go through that and watch it and see it go all the way down. I mean, it just can't be overstated how enjoyable that is for something that. You know, it could be a little, my damn, okay. We got the cocktail reception here waiting for the, you know, waiting for the bride and groom to come in or whoever. And then here you have this like real life entertainment that's walking around. I just think it's, it's something that maybe isn't always considered indefinitely obviously should be right. Especially coming from someone that does it professionally. Yeah. And one of the cool things about magic, is it really as good for all ages? I mean, there's some people who maybe don't like magic or feel that it's a mental challenge. Like I've got to figure out how this is done, but in general, most people, most ages like magic. And it's a great icebreaker because especially right after the ceremony, when maybe the couple's going to photos, you've got all these people who a lot of them don't know each other. Maybe. They don't know anyone else. They're kind of standing there awkwardly, you know, what are you going to talk about for the next half hour? And so magic is like the perfect ice breaker to get people to gather around and focus on something and then they'll turn to each other. And again, it's that reactions that they'll say, Oh my gosh, did you see that? You've got to show this to my, my cousin come over here. And that sort of thing. It really has to be something to where you can really read people. Right? You have to be, you know, immediately personable. Right? You have to be quick on your feet. I mean, there's a lot of like social skills and cues, right. That you, I mean, how is that? Just have you always just been someone that's kind of like being. You know, not the center of attention to the bad way, but I mean, it really is. Right. You need to have certain things. I don't think you can teach people right. To be able to do that. How did you, how did you get into all that? Actually, that is a great question because knowing how to approach a group is makes a huge difference between people who are. Or maybe upset that you've broken into their conversation as opposed to people who are really curious and, and welcoming. About sick for six months, I worked at a restaurant doing close-up magic and it was a great. You get a lot of experience because over two hours of doing close-up magic for, you know, maybe 40 or 50 people, you learn how to break the ice. You know how to look at people. And if they're in, you know, an intimate conversation or they're worked up about something, you don't approach them, you go to another group. If people are eating, I don't like to perform while people are eating, because then I'm a distraction to their meal. And, you know, they can't concentrate in the magic. And a lot of the things that I do it is interactive for. Where people are picking a card or looking at something or. You know, getting their phone out or whatever. So I like to, so the timing is important and how you approach a group is really important. And, and I don't immediately start by doing magic eye. You know, if they don't know that there's a magician there first, I'm going to introduce myself and kind of segue and gathered the group around and then we'll get into the magic. So you said you got all into this, you know, interested in this, you know, growing up high school college, you know, taking the step to do it full time, you know, what was that like? You know, cause obviously this applies, you know, we talk about this with any business, right? It's one thing to be a hairstylist. It's another thing to start, you know, a hair salon, right. Or, you know, do video and start the video service. So what was it, you know, Saying, Hey, I'm going to be Jeff. You know, I'm going to make this, you know, be a company, do this full time challenges, things that maybe you didn't anticipate. I'd say that. 50% is being a good magician and 50% is being a good business person. And it just, I learned that the. Well, I did used to listen to a lot of books on tape, on business and marketing and a buddy of mine. Who's also a magician. We would. Bounce ideas off of each other. Hey, are you doing postcard, mailings? How are you doing your SEO? That sort of thing. So certainly I've worked with other performers and people on the marketing, but a lot of it's just been trial and error. You know, like, do I pay 50 bucks a month for a yellow page ad? Obviously not anymore, but that sort of thing. You know, our Google ads worth it. And interestingly, most of my business comes from word of mouth. People who see me or referrals and recommendations. It's not, for me, it's not the paid stuff. Paid advertising. We, you know, starting that. And then, you know, obviously, you know, it's one thing to be doing. Like like corporate events or like you said, birthday parties, you know, school activities. Kind of trying to break into the weddings and other events like that. What was that like to try? What was it difficult to, to, you know, It might be a difficult pictures. That'd be all right. Have a magician at your wedding. So what was that like? And that learning experience. So I approach wedding or the venues. Whether it's sales and catering, banquet managers, catering managers, directors of Caden, and those people who are working with the brides and event planners. And then I also try to connect with the event planning the wedding planners. Honestly, weddings are a relatively small percentage of the shows that I do. I love doing them. I do several a year. I'd love to do more. So probably I need to do a better job of reaching out to those people. Like people who may be watching this program. Well, I did. Different things that maybe you would do at a wedding that you wouldn't do otherwise, or are there certain tricks that land better at certain places or another, or is it just depends on kind of the audience and maybe the age range of who's there? Receptions are really fun because people are there to relax and, and have a good time. As opposed to maybe a convention where I'm there for the reception, where people are also doing business, they're more in business mode. I have a blast dune receptions, because people are there to celebrate. As someone that's been a, you've been doing this a long time, right? I think you said 26 years. Right. And when in your questionnaire, has that always been in the Seattle area? Did you, did you grow up here? Yeah, I live in Olympia, so I definitely do a lot in Tacoma and Seattle, some down in the Portland area, but mainly Western Washington. You know, for some gigs for some County fairs during August, all. Take five days or a week and head wherever Idaho, but for the most part, Western Washington. What things have you seen grow change? Just, you know, almost three decades, right? I'm doing this, you know, events, everything else. Ah, Yeah, obviously shifting more online now. I mean, other things. You just have gone through a lot, right. In terms of like the event, world and time running the business through, you know, like the market crash and everything. We talk a lot of people about that that were in business. Then what are some things that you've learned about it just from running the business and doing stuff in the event industry. Probably the biggest change marketing-wise is social media and websites now are really big. You know, 15 years ago. I wasn't so much into that. It was more doing postcard mailings and. I was really big into networking in person stuff like chambers of commerce and organizations, catering executives, that those sorts of groups. And now I've really dropped. I've really cut back on a lot of the marketing, just because I do have quite a few repeat clients. And again, the best way to get more work is to be working. The more you're out there performing and handing out your card. People see what you do. They have a great time. That's really been the biggest thing for me. And then as far as differences in my performing. I've got a lot of little niche markets that I do so receptions or one. Library programs every summer. There's summer reading programs at libraries in June and July. So I do a bunch of those. Parks and rec frequently have like events in the park. And so every city does something. Of course, 4th of July annual celebrations. And then of course, corporate meetings, conferences, private parties, everyone's having birthdays. So there's all these little niche things. And just learning how to target to those is important. You think I, and I know, like you said, word of mouth is such a big thing. Referrals. Is that, do you think the liar performing lends more to that? Or obviously you've been doing this a long time, maybe a little more old school with marketing. And I think a lot of guys and girls, you know, they have been doing it a long time have just. Just built that up naturally. Anyway, is it something about doing the live, performing that lends more where people see it, they refer it out or is it just people know you and they know just a solid guy we're going to refer them? Or is it kind of a mix of both. It's a mix of both. I just find that I kind of make it a goal for every event that I do. I try and book another event off of it. You know, of course it doesn't always work out that way, but that when I go to an event, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Of making those connections and planting those seeds. What are some of the, your favorite tricks that you're known for? I know we were going to do some today. Do you want to go through any of those and just, Oh, I guess when you're developing the trick. What is the mentality behind? I have no idea even how that works, right? Like, is it, do you have the end goal first? You read about it. I mean, how, how does that work? Trying to figure out a trick. Well, there's different ways. You might just have an idea in your head and say, how can I make this idea happen and work at it from that angle? Or you might. Learn as slight or discover a prop that you like and then say, okay, what routine can I make using this idea? Or you might see another performer and, and take ideas from different places and put them together. Or you can also just purchase the rights to. You know, basically just by a trick from a dealer. Or you can go to magic lectures. They have magic conventions, which are super fun. And I'm kind of sad because this last year they were all online, which is not nearly as fun. Basically a magic convention is a couple hundred magicians. They're most mainly guys, unfortunately, but you know, a couple hundred magicians in a hotel banquet room. They've got a dealer's rooms you get to walk through and they'll demonstrate all these new. Whatever the newest card trick is, and you get to see it performed and then you can buy it on the spot if you want. And they have magic competitions where people come in and do their five to seven minute act. They have lectures and seminars, just really a blast. Yeah, I'm always curious about that. Cause you know, I've, I've filmed a couple of different magicians over the years and there are like certain tricks that. Modified slightly, but repeat sometimes. Right. And so I'm always curious, like, well, how does that work? Was that was that one that was like on sale. There's a bunch of people bought or. It's always interesting, right? Yeah. And they obviously they have their own spin on it and they do it different, right. It's it's, you know, it's totally different, but like, you know, even just in the slot, You know, in this thin slice of things that I filmed the g*****n like, Oh, that seems like that's kind of connected to that. Is it just coincidence or is it like things that are, that's like the hot trick that people like to do? There's definitely some of that. And then there's also just classic routines that a lot of people do because they're really good. Like the bill in orange, you know, it might be an orange, it might be a lemon, but where you borrow a dollar bill, you. Light it on fire or rip it up or vanishes, and then you take out an orange, open it and the bills inside there's different ways. Most of the methods are fairly similar, but there's different ways of presenting it. And the reason that you see a lot of performance do it is that it's really cool. And if you haven't seen it a bunch of times, you're always like how the heck did my dollar bill with my name on and get inside of that orange or whatever. Do you like? Yeah. Do you like seeing other tricks like that and trying to figure out how they're done or do you prefer the like, let them add. I mean, does your mind, how does your mind work when you see something like that? Well, cause I'm a magician. Of course. I always am thinking, how is it done? But it's actually, I love it when something fools me. Because it doesn't happen as much when you're a magician. So when something does, it's like, Whoa, that's really cool. And then I don't want to know how it's done. You know, my mind will be thinking about how it might be done, but I'm happy to just wonder and kind of be in awe. Yeah. One of the ones we were talking about, like the repeating it's like we have the stick figure and the person draws, like they have all the markers and they color the different, like the pant legs is one. Right. And then. Then they ended up like opening the envelope and they have like a hundred of the same. But they're all, it's all painted the way that the audience is crazy. Yeah. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. If I didn't know how it was done, I would watch it. And I would never be able to guess. It's just, there's a lot of little things going on. And is there, like, you know, we're, we're like I'm filming that. And like, even if I'm going back and like editing the thing, I'm like, yeah. I mean, that's a pretty good. However, they're masking everything where like, if I'm going back and editing it and trying to like put the video together, if I can't figure that, you know, I mean, It certainly is a, is a remarkable skill, you know? Right. And by the way, watching things back on video more than once is. Really, it's really easy to figure out how stuff is done when you watch it a couple times on video. It's a big difference. It's still transitioning. You know, online doing zoom stuff, you said, you know, you're doing a lot more performances online. Right. So how is that going, making that transition. And then do you want to get into some of the zoom things that you're doing? We teased a little bit. I want to see some of this stuff. Absolutely. What you mean? You just wanted to see a free magic trick. Yeah. But first off it hasn't been good. Had. I mean, it has the transition. Is this. A medium that has transitioned well to doing it online this way. Yeah. I'm really lucky that magic does work online. There's a lot of entertainment that doesn't so fortunately, Now a lot of times people wonder what's the difference between a live like us over zoom. Like we are right now, as opposed to just watching a YouTube video and the answers that we'll be able to interact. So I'm going to ask you questions and you're going to determine the outcome of stuff. So magic does work well online. And in some ways it works better because I've done a corporate gig where the company had an office in Atlanta and one in Seattle. So both their offices were on the same call. That was really cool. I've done a nice family get togethers where they had people in Hawaii and California and Oregon, and they all got to see each other and talk to each other. So in some ways, The virtual shows are awesome things you couldn't do in real life. But in other times, it's awkward because there is, I need to interface with zoom. So I'm not always looking right at the camera. I've got to look at my other screen. I've got a spotlight, certain people. So there's a little bit of tediousness, but fortunately. I'm just happy to be still doing, doing shows. Well, absolutely. And I think, like you said, you know, the different Institute watching on YouTube versus doing the zoom is night and day. It's the same way. You know, I know that we have, Nigel's a bartender, we've had him on the show, but, and he does interactive, bartending and stuff. Right. And it's the same idea, you know? W why would I watch a YouTube video, the guys making the thing or whatever, having, you know, in the flash, you know, via zoom, the expert they're teaching you and interacting. And obviously, you know, with your expertise of. You know, dealing with the social stuff and, you know, asking the questions and. I mean it's a night and day difference versus like just pulling something up on YouTube and trying to watch like a magic trick or a, you know, someone cooking something or whatever. Right. Right. So I do have something and I realized this is going to be great for people watching the video on YouTube or Facebook. It's not going to be good for the podcast people. That's true. Most of our stuff does come from the Facebook video views. So you're. Yeah, you'll be in good, good hands, but you can go to the best made videos.com/podcast, and that has all the links to the video stuff as well. Cool. So what I'd like you to do is I imagine that last year you were planning on going someplace and that trip was canceled. Is that right? So now I'd like you to imagine not necessarily going on that trip, but maybe have a place you might like to visit in the world, but I actually don't want you to think of a place right now. I want you to think of a number between three and 15. So think of any number between three and 15. Okay. And I'm going to bring up a picture of. It's kind of a clock face. Can you see that? Okay. [unknown] okay. So I want you to take your finger and point to where it says start here. And then you're gonna move your number. Like, let's say that you were thinking of the number four, you'd move one, two, three, four, and you'd end on Las Vegas, but I want you to do that for your number. Okay. And anyone watching at home, they can also do this and everyone's going to end at a different place because you thought of a different number between three and 15. Now to randomize it just a little bit more. I want you to move your same number, starting from wherever you ended up. Move your same number in a clock counter-clockwise direction. Okay. And isn't it amazing that in this coming year, we are all going to be staying at home. That was good. It's the saddest magic trick ever. Yeah. But I brought a real, I brought a real thing. That's great. I thought that was. That's funny. Do you know what this is or used to be? No, I got per Aja top of like a, like a purse. Like actually I should probably zoom in a little bit, so yeah. It's the top of a coin purse were magicians. Carry their money. Oh, wow. Now I'm using a 50 cent piece, just so it's a little bit bigger. And I always do the gravity check just to make sure it's real money. So if you drop something, it falls down. That's good. Gravity. If it falls up, that's not real gravity. Oh, I just remembered. I wanted to show you this. When I was growing up, I did TaeKwonDo and everyone else learned how to break boards with their fist. And here's what I've learned. I'm going to try and break the coin in half with my finger. Hi. That's how I got my black belt. I'm wearing it today. So I've got the 50 cent piece. I also have a bunch of other coins in a container. And actually that's the only 50 cent piece, but I've got some quarters. Nickels a bunch of pennies. And what I would like you to do is take a random guess how much, let me kind of slide the surface. You can see it better. How much money do you think all of these coins are worth now? I'll give you a hint. It's between. It's between $2 and $10. I don't want you to try and to zoom in and actually can just use your intuition. What do you think these coins are worth? Okay. And you can say it out loud. Three 25, maybe. Three 25. Sure. No way. That's exactly. That's exactly what sort of $3 and 25 cents. Now I have to prove it. Oh, I should probably mention that I've been calling these coins because they look like coins, but actually this is the Mirage of coins. Wow. But it was actually $3 and 25 cents because after I took this picture, I dumped all the money out and I counted the coins. And then I wrote the value on the back. It was $3 and 25 cents. That's good. That's good. And I love, I love that you have all the different cameras and stuff too. I mean, it really is doing a good job of selling it right. As, as someone that's. How did they die? Dynamic in this and having, you know, the hand camera and the clothes. Okay. I mean, it really is a good little setup. Yeah, I, I do need to have something shooting down so I can do some of the closeups. I think it's great. Yeah. Yeah. And having the screen share and everything. I mean, I think it's really good. I mean, I think it's a really good setup. Yeah, thank goodness for technology. Yeah. Now earlier, right before we went, started recording. I asked if you had a book or magazine nearby and you, you had something, what do you have? I just, I grabbed the novel from downstairs. And what's the name of it? Chris Jericho. It's a, just an autobiography. Okay. Perfect. I made a prediction in this envelope and I don't want it to be like sitting on my desk. So. Hmm. Oh, actually, hold on. I want you to, I'm going to grab a piece of paper real quick, cause I need to write down a prediction, but I want you to open your book and see how many pages are in the book. Okay. So we're looking on here for the number of pages. And Jeff is getting his paper for the, the prediction. Okay. And don't tell me how many pages yet, but I'm going to put this back on this banner. Hold up the book. I just want to see it cause I need to. Okay. Or, you know what you can tell me how many pages are in the book. 506. 506. I want you to think of a page number between one and 506, but don't tell me what page number you're thinking of. Because I'm going to try and read your mind. Do you have a page number in mind? I do. Okay. I'm going to use my mind reading glasses because these always, always help. Alright, just gazed into my eyes. It's actually harder with the glasses. Yeah. Okay. I am committed for the first time. What page number are you thinking of? A two 47. Two 47, which is crazy. I actually wrote page number two 47. Wow. So now open the book to page two 47. I don't even know what's on that page. That's fine. You don't need to. Okay. But I want you to find a word. They kind of catches your eye for whatever reason. Okay. And what is the word? Adamant adamant. Yes. Can you read the sentence that it's in. So we get kind of context. You as adamant that we shouldn't go out and party. Okay. Perfect. So, this has been here before you crack the book open. And just, you know, I'm the only one here. I don't have like other people hiding behind the banners, walking around. But before we began the podcast, I wrote one word. On a piece of paper and the word is. Adamant. Wow. That's great. That's good. That's impressive. Really impressive. I was looking at a bunch of different words too. So that's, that's very impressive. Yeah, so. The weird thing is all almost all the things I do in my virtual show. I don't do in my live show. So over this past eight months, I've come up with a lot of new stuff. It's been, it's been kind of cool actually. So you've, you've I retooled and, and read jiggered, whatever, some of the tricks or come up with new things. Yeah. I mean, there are a couple, there are a few things that I do in my regular show that I do online, but. I've really. It's different, different things work well online than work well in real life. Talk me through that as someone that it's been doing this so long. You know, Knowing that you're, you know, not stuck in this medium, but you're able to use this medium. Right. Zoom is different. How does, how do you go about, is it just the one dimensionality of it or is it. Huh. What changes were, where you're trying to develop a track for this. Like, how does your mind work differently to do something on this? Well, for one thing, I don't have to worry about lugging equipment in so I can set up my room just the way I want. So what you can't see as I've put in kind of a grid over my head so I can hang lights or move. Things or if I wanted to hang a microphone different and it's actually fairly big. So like if I wanted to do something bigger, I can, and I've got some, some bigger props. So that's one nice thing. The other nice thing is that I can have. Plenty of things just in reach, I can reach over and grab props. I've definitely invested in some lighting and cameras. I've got three cameras that I could use. As it been. Are you exciting? Are you excited for a challenge like that? I mean, I know it's hard. Right. And, and with COVID and everything and shut downs and, and, you know, pivoting, right. That's kind of the word of the day. Yeah. With photographers and videographers to is like pivoting. Right. You know, how can we take something that we used to do? Maybe we were really comfortable. Even kind of stuck in our ways for a lot of people write kind of like, well, I've, you know, I go shoot all these weddings every year. I don't even think about it. Does that excite you to have to pivot and find new things like this to do? Or is it, was that really challenging for you to work through. It's actually been fun. I'm enjoying doing some different things. But don't get me wrong. I love doing the in-person shows because I have done a couple of small private parties for like a family that has having a birthday or something. And just, it's so much easier performing in real life. But there are some nice things. Like I can easily share video, like at a touch of a button. You know, I can do that stuff. I can share photos. Like I did actually put some photos of wedding type stuff. That's great. You know, so it gives you some other options that you might not be able to easily do. In person too. So, you know, when you're not performing and doing magic, I want to hear about the, you know, kind of the man behind, right. You know, in the background, right. Like wizard of Oz, wherever, what do you do when you're not performing? When you're not, you know, doing magic? I love doing things outdoors. Like kayaking, hiking. Cycling. Even in the nasty weather. Yeah. I went kayaking and over the weekend. As someone that is from the Pacific Northwest and grew up here. You know, obviously, you know, proud to call home. I. You said you enjoy traveling around and seeing all the different areas of, of the, you know, the West side of the state and then otherwise, right. Yeah. In fact, one of the cool things about getting to perform is visiting all these little towns that otherwise I'd never would have been too. Especially when I'm doing like school assemblies or County fairs. A lot of times they're in little towns that are like, You know, small population may be Northeast Washington that I wouldn't would never have gone on a vacation, but I get to see these places. And actually, that's one of the things I love doing. What do you wish more people knew about the services you offer about the things that you do? You know, that you obviously you're on here to, you know, Not only share about yourself, but kind of convey what you do. What do you wish more people knew about, you know, live, you know, stand that magic. You know, different options and things you can offer, you know, things that they should be thinking about. If they're, if they're looking at like an event coming up. Sure. The reason I actually put together a bunch of still photos and I'm going to bring some of these up. And even if you're just listening to the podcast, that's okay. Cause I'm just kind of using these to jog my memory. So this picture shows. It's the reaction that the reason that people love doing magic is for the reaction that gets from people. And I love doing close-up magic because it happens right in people's hands. It's totally different than watching something. You know, on a, on YouTube or even from a stage. When you're doing close-up magic. I worked totally from my pockets. I'm not carrying around a table. I'm not bringing a suitcase with me, literally. It's just, just me and my suit and tie and my pockets loaded with several decks of cards and coins. And. And that sort of stuff. Yeah. Tons of props, tons of fun. Tons of fun. Interactivity. Oh, another thing I should mention is that. You know, it really is great for all ages. Kids teenagers, even teenagers that may be normally are not going to like the band or aren't going to want to play the wedding games. They love magic. Like I love doing high school grad parties or college shows because that age, they just are really fascinated by magic. As long as it's done well. Yep. So that's. I love it. Yeah. Well, one question I had and not to, you know, Don't have to throw anyone under the bus. I'm always curious about it. Have you ever had any tricks go wrong or not the way that you are anticipating? And is that a good thing? Cause it keeps you on your feet or, or how, how does that work? I'm always curious. Oh, absolutely. That always happens. In fact, it happened in the trick that I just did for the earlier. I know that when you go back and watch the video, you're going to see a couple of little mistakes. So that happens all the time. You just keep going. Is it, does that excite you? Just the unpredictability of it. And especially maybe if you're out in the crowd and you, you have some people and. Maybe they don't want to play a long ride or maybe they're trying to like sabotage the track. Right. Oh, sure. There's a lot of dynamics with audiences because when you pick someone you don't know. How they're gonna react. So there's always an unknown. And I think the kids are the biggest unknown because they have no filter. Well, I guess at a wedding, if they've been drinking, they've got no filter either. But yeah, that's, it adds kind of the wildcard item that makes it interesting and fun. It's every show is different. Any, any memorable? Stories about that or anything else to share before we go? Any, anything that was, I get nothing. I want to throw anyone under the bus, but just like, you know, memorable, you know, near mishaps, anything like that. This was not at a wedding reception, but I do a trick where I used to do a trick where I would borrow a woman's ring and supposedly clean it. And then advantages and repairs in this locked box. And one time I borrowed a woman's ring. And when I give back to her at the end, the stone was missing. Fortunately, it was not an expensive ring, so I just, I paid her for it. But that was one of those moments where, when she said that, you know, what do you say? It's like, well, I, you know, I looked, we both looked around, but apparently the stone had been loose and fortunately it was not like an expensive item, but. Yeah. That's probably why I don't do that trick anymore. Yeah, right. Well, this has been fun. This has been so fun. I I'm glad to see the tricks and everything. And like I said, I do mean. It, where I say that this definitely works in this medium, right. As someone, you know, You know, pivoting here and trying to figure out new things. I definitely think that this has been a good sales pitch, right. For how the zoom, you know, magic works. Right. And it's a good showcase for you. Is there anything else you wanted to touch on before we let you go to that? Yes. I wanted to show you my favorite Mirage. Got it right here. Okay. Can you see what that's worth? $20? Yep. So I'm gonna use all just bills, but whatever bills. I've got, I'm going to use. Okay. So I've got all twenties today. I've got 20. 40 60, 80 bucks. This is my favorite Mirage. Now, if anyone watching is law enforcement maybe close your eyes for the next five seconds. Cause I don't know that this is totally legal. Now do you invest? You have like have money in stocks or yeah. Yeah. Do you have any cryptocurrency? I T you do. Okay. Okay. Then your advanced that's good. That's good. So, this is like, this is my retirement plan. I don't have fancy IRA's and stuff. This is, this is what I do. And I don't know that it's legal, but it's been working out really well. Oh, my gosh, it just worked again. So 100. 200, 300, $400. I'm rich. Great. You're killing it. And so this is in my real show. Maybe you've seen other magicians do it. It's it's really popular. No. So you called out the Mirage, not like an illusion. You can call it whatever you want. I'm just curious. Yeah. Yeah. It seemed to me to be there. They are real $100 bills. And of course, when I do it in real life, people want to grab them and touch them and check them and they can. But I can't let people keep them because. It might burn a hole in their pocket. Because if you have a lot of money, burns a hole in your pocket. Oh my gosh. Hold on. Whoa. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Alright, take it easy. Take it easy. That's awesome. What am I at? That's great. Combines the virtual magic in the live magic. I love it. What a, what a climax to end on. That's awesome. Well, good job. This has been so fun. Thank you so much for taking the time and putting together. You know, I know that you do some of these anyway, but thank you so much for taking the time to put everything together, to show today. I really appreciate that. So is that because I know that it. I appreciate people that prepare for the podcast. That's been very, very much appreciated. So thank you. It was awesome meeting you. I hope that we get to work a gig together in real life. Sometime if people want to learn more about you, the magic, obviously the zoom magic, everything else going on, where would you have them? Check out? Sure. My website is amazement productions.com. And if you're on social media, you can find me at Jeff Evans magic. We'll leave that up. We'll do the NDA. And I'll take a photo here before we go. If you're like Jeff, and you're a wedding vendor, that's interested in coming on the podcast, we do these each and every week. You can go the best made videos.com/podcast guests. That's a nice, easy way to reach out to me. Get you in the system. I know that you got referred from Alan. I appreciate that, but you know, we're always looking for new vendors to spotlight on here. And the weeks that we don't have a new guest, we re feature and old guests. So it's definitely, I would encourage you to reach out to come on. And Jeff, thank you so much again, and I hope you stay safe and everything works out. Thank you. I had a blast.

Christina and Ashley, It’s Your Day Events

Uh, well, thank you guys all so much for coming on today. Friday afternoon, uh, end of the week. Uh, the workweek, we're getting this going. We have Ashley and Christina with it's your day events. I'm so glad. Um, I just, I feel like we've been connected for years and then we had Sarah on one of the best made weddings podcasts, and she was great. And it's good to finally. Get put faces and names and see everybody. And I get you guys on. I so appreciate it. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves and tell us who you are and what you do. Yeah. That's kind of the problem that we always have is, you know, we are a team and so we always, you know, we can finish each other's sentences. Who's gonna go first. Who's going to answer this one. So I'm Ashley [unknown] and I am one of the co-owners of it's your day events. I'm Christina and I am the other co-owner of it's your day events. And we both, um, Spearhead the company. So. It's not necessarily what, who does, why it's kind of what we do together. Yeah. That's good. And well, I hear your dog in the background. It's okay. But just if people hear it, people here a little crying dog, I do. I know. Well, I can pop out real quick and go put them in the car, but that help, I think it's okay. I just, I like it would just reference it if it gets too bad, it will be fine, but we just, yeah. It's work from home time. Well, this is great. It's I, this is something that I definitely don't have. Right. It's kind of a solo, whatever. I think it must be great to have someone that you can bounce ideas off of it and everything. I mean, You guys said that you kind of have both spearhead, whether each of your guys' his passions when it comes to the business and, you know, cause obviously some people like stuff more than the other. So where, how do you guys kind of balance that out? Yeah. So we initially started the business. Kind of from two different sides. So, um, we started the business back in 2009 and initially is because we had our two separate passions that we wanted to bring together. And, um, mine was for event planning, so I, Mmm. I went to Western Washington university and got my degree in communication with the folks in event planning. And I had been out of college for a few years and, um, I wasn't really in the event. Roles like, Hey, this isn't really what I want to be doing. I want to be planning events. Um, and Christina, I think at the time, were you still in restaurant? I was in college. I was in dental. I was in college and also have like side jobs, trying to figure out what it is I wanted to do. Um, but I was getting crafty, you know, it's getting crafty with them, making him wedding invitations. You know, things of like paper nature for weddings. And so we just kind of were like, Hey, you're doing this, I'm doing this. Let's do it together. Yeah. Yeah. I saw that she was doing something wedding menu or something, and I was like, Oh, Hey, you know, what'd be great ideas if we combined our forces and, you know, I kind of focus more on the event stuff in the beginning. When you focus more on the creative side, the design side. And so over the years, we've kind of really meshed those. But I would say still to this day, I focus more on the planning side of things and she focuses more on the design side of things. So, yeah, I know. It was something that I, I guess I didn't even realize it. Well, we had Sarah on to do. I can't remember what it was so long ago, whatever the topic was. Uh, it was just how long you guys have been in business. Right. And how long you've been doing it? I'm either all the time now. You know, there's all these new planners event. I mean, vendors of any kind and you haven't been doing it a couple of years. And I mean to start an Oh nine. And kind of, you know, Probably not the most ideal time when the world has started a business, right. With, with financially and everything going on and just survive all of that and then may get to this year. I mean, it just speaks testaments to what you guys have been able to do. Right. And, you know, tenacity and knowledge and whatever. What do you attribute that to just the longevity of how long you guys have been in business? Turtles. Yeah. I mean, we have seen, we have seen vendors in all industry or in all avenues of the industry, kind of like take these huge chunks, not be able to manage and Peter out, you know, And we don't like to see that obviously from our, from our peers, but, um, we just really have just been watching the tides and just kind of focusing like with a focus. Okay. We're going to focus on this year. We're going to focus on what we want to do. So just kind of slow and steady wins the race, you know? Yeah. I mean the very first year we have like three weddings, right? In 2009. So it's just been, um, yeah. Slow and steady. We've grown the business over the years. I think. 2014 or something like that. 2015, we had like a really record year and that really motivated us to keep going. We're like, Oh, we're actually doing this now. We're getting in the swing of things. You know, we, our summer looks pretty packed. Um, and I think around that point is when we promoted Sarah from, she had been an intern for a couple of years and he promoted her to a planner as well. To take on her own weddings. Right? And just kind of not spreading ourselves too thin, you know, not like adding all these different facets to the business, but just really becoming experts within our fields. It's so interesting because it is such a tough balance too. You know, stick with what's working, right. You know, kind of not staying in your lane, but kind of go with what's going and, and keep building on that and then kind of getting complacent, right? There's always this tough. And then like you guys, I see all the time, you know, new things and new this and new companies are starting, and then we're going to go do this thing and we're going to start a podcast and we're going to go do this and we're going to go do that. And so it's, it's a tough, where do you find that balance of like, Hey, this is what we're good. And this is what we Excel at. And then also like, Hey, we need to innovate. Or like you said, keep it kinda keeping the eye on trends and things. Cause it is, I think it's a case by case basis for everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. It is a balancing one. And it's, again, we don't want to spread ourselves too thin with what we have going on. Um, I think it's also really just us realizing what it is that we are good at. And knowing that and not. You know, taking a huge step outside of our lane. Um, you know, we do offer destination weddings. Sarah also, or at least, you know, she wasn't until this, uh, this COVID hiatus. She was also a flight attendant. And so she can travel around the world for free. And so we really were focusing on destination weddings, but at the same time, we don't want to make it a huge thing and spread ourselves too thin since we have this. You know this following in the Seattle area and we're, we're getting enough business here. Um, and you know, we were thinking about that with COVID like, okay, do we need to, do we need to pivot? We need to do something else. I think we started throwing a couple ideas around, but then really when we thought about it, where like, you know, that's just how it is this year, we're going to bounce back. Things are hopefully going to get back to normal at some point, you know, we don't, instead of really investing in some completely new to him, Now a side venture Avenue. Let's focus on what we're doing still. And let's really hone in on that. And, you know, maybe we can improve our processes and our downtime. Um, you know, maybe we can learn a few new things. Um, you know, Sarah, I know again, Sarah, she's fabulous. She attended a, um, Pro comm wedding convention. Yeah online. So we're just really trying to learn and grow and. Really focus on how to better what we have rather than, you know, take a whole new, huge leap into something completely unknown. Because at one point you can't deliver on everything. You know, it's just, we want to be able to deliver 100% on our one thing instead of like 66% on the other. You know, it's just like, why, why do you want a 66% good. I dunno, burrito. Nobody does. Who do you guys find is, is kind of your ideal client or who you guys really mesh with and who you guys, you know, they mesh with you, you mess with them. Cause that's a big thing we talk about on the podcast is. It's gotta be that two way street. Right? I mean, you want to find the right client that you're right for, but then they also need to be right for you guys. So, so what does that look like for your, uh, for your planning? Somebody. A couple, that lots of planner that is, that is heeding the advice of a planner for a reason, you know, I mean, we find these couples who, who get a planner and then they're like, I will always things and I'm not open to any collaboration. Yeah, exactly. And we're just like, we want it, we're here to elevate your event and make sure you have, you know, you're not in a box. We want to break you out of that box to see all the options, you know? So I feel like. Couples and not in the realm where they're like, okay, let's sit down and be in partner on this instead of like, you're the wedding planner and where the couple. We're coming at it with a very. You know, Focused team effort. Yep. Um, definitely. We love working with the easygoing couples, of course who doesn't. But, um, we, I, something I've noticed that, um, a lot of the couples we work with, they. Are a bit adventurous. A lot of them are dog owners. They, you know, they really tout the fact that they love well, not all of them are from the Pacific Northwest, but those that do live here, they just really love the fact that they live here and they oftentimes want to represent that as part of their wedding. Um, so whether that be, Oh, we want to show all our guests are beautiful view. We want an oceanfront or, um, or waterfront venue, or we want them to have a great view of. Seattle. Um, but yeah. We really love working with easygoing couples that are just like Christina said, open to collaboration, feedback, working together. To really create that elevated event. Yep. Yeah. No, that's great. One of the things we've talked about this year is. Just with everything going on, especially planners. I mean, you guys are at the front line dealing with all these, you know, questions and regulations and what. Advice, what should we do? Have you, have you felt like. First of all. I mean, hopefully you guys have been able to kind of survive all of, it's just been a nightmare for everybody, but have you felt it's giving you even a stronger relationship with your clients in terms of obviously they trusted you in the beginning to, you know, hire you, whatever, but now they're really kind of relying on you guys and your expertise, however, How has that kind of the process for you guys? I feel like in the very beginning when everything was up in the air, like, um, you know, starting in March, we had a lot of lean in from our clients just because they had no idea. And at the same time was the uniqueness of what was going on. We were also learning as things were going. So we were just kind of, you know, breaking news, like. This is what's happening this month. This is going on now. So we kind of came together with our clients and we did kind of bond over that. A bond over the pandemic, I guess, is what you would say. Yeah. And a lot of them really, Dan, look to us for feedback and support. Um, we unfortunately had a lot of couples that had to make the decision to cancel. Um, or pro postpone of course, but we did lose some clients. You know, we supported them in that decision because just taking everything into consideration, there's only so much you can do, especially when, you know, for example, we had a couple, we were working with. That lived in Europe. Oh, right. And so they, they just have no way to even get over here and they don't know when they can get here. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I would say we've definitely had a few more check-ins with our clients and, um, just kind of checking in on them, making sure they're doing okay mentally. Um, making sure they're ready to move forward. I know, um, you know, some of the clients who are getting married to like in the first half of 2021, it's already creeping up, even though. Yeah. Things on pause for a while that it's already fast approaching. So yeah, I would say so, um, We definitely have some good relationships. And I mean, we found out one of our client's lives across the street from. Stena. Yeah. I was like in the middle, in the first while her. Her wedding. I was in the middle of stuffing, her invitations and she's like, hold on. You know, I had to stop like mid, like a literally stuffing her irritation. She's like, I think we have to postpone. I'm like, okay, we're going. And luckily we did, because she would not have been able to have her wedding this year. Yeah. Yeah. So, where were you guys kind of met? You know, When did all this, I mean, did you. W w what did you guys study before? And what, you know, I'm always kinda curious about what either, what people were doing that. What you went to school for what you're doing before you kinda got to where you are. So maybe each of you guys walked through, then I know you met after college and whatever, but what did each of you study or go, you know, plan on doing or, you know, what were kind of bad? Um, the aspiration to have that led you here to where we're at. Yeah, actually, we met in eighth grade, so. Yeah, we, we have known each other for 20 something years. 23. Along for years. Very long time. Um, but it was just after college that we came together with this idea. Because we were already best friends. Um, but I think I already mentioned, I went to school for communication. But the focus in event planning. And so I didn't really have wedding planning in mind while I was working on my degree. I just knew I wanted to do something in the events world, probably more corporate event or, um, Or nonprofit charity work. I think I used to tell people my dream job back in the day was to plan events for the Make-A-Wish foundation. Um, which I still think would be amazing, but, um, So, yeah, that was my focus. And Christina, I was a little bit more bouncy. My focus, I was pre-med pre dent at one point, and I worked for one too many crazy dentists'. So I decided not to do that. Um, I eventually ended up getting my degree in social psychology, which fits beautifully within the wedding industry because there's a lot of 'em. You know, personalities that you come in contact with and just being able to have a good way to deescalate situations if they arise is really nice. So. Um, and I think I can also come from a background of entrepreneurs in general. My whole family is owns their own businesses or did. And so. What really gets me motivated is the business aspect of our business. So creating those things that make us a good businesses is really fun. And also just the execution of the events. What actually, like when we really can like, be like, wow, we did a great job and get those hugs from like, Grandma. Betty. It was great at the end of the night. Yeah. Yep. And then Sarah, she's our other lead planner up in Bellingham. Um, she came on board in 2012, but she also, uh, she studied business management as well at Western. So you have kind of all, a little bit of different backgrounds. Um, and then I'll just throw this in here also as well, randomly. Um, we have two other employees. Um, Katie she's based out of Bremerton and she has a background in, um, creative design. Um, and then. Uh, Mercer is our newest employee and she actually is a math teacher. Um, so that is, that's pretty awesome. We really do all kind of have these different backgrounds. It's so fascinating to me because, you know, even when it comes to videography, right, like I'm a different videographer then whoever else did, it's all kind of is built into you. All these little things. It's like you pick up all these traits along the way. Uh, I'm curious for you, Ashley, when you said that you grew up wanting to make a. Do Make-A-Wish events, right? That's. Fascinating. Just interesting. That that would be something that you would, that you would think about. And, and, you know, it's tell people that you have wa what was the thought process behind that was that giving back and helping people? What aspects were in about the interest you. Yeah. Um, I don't know. Originally because, I mean, it was so long ago, like it was in high school. I think that was my dream, but I just think the fact that yeah, giving back the whole, their whole charity aspect of it and, um, just hearing the really awesome things that they were doing for people, you know, such as. Uh, planning trips to Disneyland and that kind of thing, or we're planning some kind of a big party or a local event for them. Um, but really I would say yes, it was the giving back. The working with kids making a difference in their life or, or what would be left in a lot of their lives. Unfortunately. Um, mixed with the, the event aspect and kind of the custom fun excitement that goes along with that. Yeah. I, you know, I've watched professional wrestling for years and that's always a big thing for them is they, you know, they work with a lot of Make-A-Wish and so it just, it's always interesting when I hear people bring that up. You know, I have a long history of watching these video packages and things where they're showing kind of, you know, just the joy and the events and kind of all that stuff. So that was interesting. And then Christina, [unknown]. Pre dental. Pre damn pre-med. Yeah, but what, so what I mean. You know, that's a heavy load to take on early in life. What was the thought process? Uh, I really wanted to be a dentist. For some reason, I don't know, like. In high school, I went to Snell skill center, became a dental assistant, and I was just like dead set on being a dentist. But you get in the real world and you get real life experience. You're like, No. No, not for me. Not for me. Yeah. So I was on the run curriculum. Gosh, it's such a funny, it's like an inside joke between us because she, you know, she took a while to finish her bachelor's degree. And I just remember at one time she said something and she's like, Oh, I was on the wrong curriculum. So that's kind of what I always say when I teased her about and taking so long to finish her degree. We'll have it all. That'd be, I mean, obviously, you know, attention to detail, I'm trying to think of things. Yeah. You know, you, you still pick up aspects, right? Kind of going through all of that. That are applying, you know, today, right? Yeah. Uh, so w when you guys, you and your team. Uh, yeah. Sarah's nor that you guys, are you able, do you feel like you're able to kind of spread out and kind of capture the whole kind of Pacific Northwest? Is that the thought process behind having people want you to walk me through that and being able to kind of service. Um, you know, different areas and things. Yeah, so Ashley and I are centralized here. So we, we. She says here we're just North of Seattle. Linwood convert area. We capture. Those couples pretty. Pretty head-on. Um, if they go North, like, let's say past. Snohomish then, um, we, that would be a Sarah referral so she can capture our North end. And then we also have Katie. Who is South who would capture. She has the Kitsap Kitsap County area and kind of like the Tacoma area down there. Exactly. Yeah. All right. And the Olympic peninsula too. Right. If anything comes up, she's really adventurous. Katie is our super adventurous one out of the group. She goes on. It seems like she goes on a hike with her dog every single day, maybe twice a day. Um, but she is really wanting to get into elopements over on the peninsula. And so that's another thing where it's like, okay, we really want to do this, but we can't just like completely. You know, focus on that. Right. So Katie's kind of taking on that aspect of things. What's interesting is I think you guys are doing what lots of vendors try to do, right. Planning there otherwise, and, you know, have, have a little team, right? You. People that you can really count on, you know, maybe they're in positions that work well, location-wise. Uh, and kind of ride that out and it seems like, you know, for better or worse, you know, people have people go away or they find other things to do, or are they, it doesn't work. You know, what, why have you guys been able to, to have this year because Sarah is there with you guys forever, you know, obviously you guys have been, you know, you started like, what is it that it's kept all you, you kind of. Focus on, you know, the same thing. Right. And count them all being together and working together so well, because it seems like it's obviously gotten a lot of success for you guys. We have promoted from within. From day one. So all of our employees that we have now are, have been interns. So we have an intern program every summer and every one of them has come up through that. So I think it's just this commitment and really the, um, They're allowed to do what they want. So we kind of asked her like, Hey, what do you want to do? What, what's your part in this company? And she was able to make it her own. And I think having that stake in there is. You know, fuels her own passion for it, as well as Katie, you know, we don't put these like stipulations on them. We just kind of, Hey, Katie, what do you want to do? You're now in the South end, you're now kits up. What do you want to do with this elopements? Great. Monin run it. So they empowerment through our staff, I think is what keeps them, keeps them close, but also far away. But also adding to that, um, I would say a major thing that makes us work together well, is the friendships. Oh, yeah. That is. Huge part of it is that, you know, Sarah is now one of her best friends. Yeah. Um, Katie as well. And you know, it's, we've worked with them over the summer and it's kind of like, okay, we've gotten to know this person. They're now our friend. They're so awesome. We can't let them go. Right. We need to hire them. Like we can't just say goodbye. You know, having, you know, good year, we'll talk to you later or whatever. We'll see you on social media. East three girls. We just love them to pieces and we love their worth ethic work ethic and their personality that we just couldn't let them go. And, um, Obviously they felt the same, hopefully about us since they accepted. Except a jobs with us. So. Yeah. Uh, when you guys decided to kind of join forces and start this, um, you know, sometimes people have gotten married and stuff before they, you know, start planning or yeah. They gave it like you. Dorothy. And I like, I was a wedding vendor, you know, before we got married. Uh, did that any of that help shape kind of how you wanted the experience to be for your clients and what you wanted that to look like? You know, when you formed your own wedding company, Well, yeah, we both got married after you started the company. Yeah. Um, so I would say that that really helped in planning our own weddings. Yeah. But definitely helped in planning our own weddings. Like I knew. Cause I got married in 2017, so it was only three and a half years ago. So I knew really like what I wanted and what I didn't want. And I knew that, um, if I was going to stay within a reasonable budget, I was going to have to make a lot of hard choices that a lot of couples probably have to do. Yeah, a lot of our couples, you know, work with a bit of a higher end budget, but I knew like the little kind of tricks, I guess, to, and, you know, working with our preferred vendors to make it work and actually read. I think we got married at the same place. Right. Assault. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's kind of a little bit of a hidden gem venue. It's not. One that everybody thinks of, but it has such an amazing view. It's such an amazing feat and the food is amazing. So, but it's actually one that is not super, super expensive. You can still have an, you know, a great event there without. Taking out a second mortgage. Whatever it might be. Um, but then Christina, for your wedding, I got married in 2011. Yeah. So. Only a couple years into our business. Only a couple of years. You know, I still feel like we had to learn so much in our, we had a lot of growing pains in the beginning. I feel like which was fun because, you know, If we were to take what we knew then and apply it to that, wouldn't apply because there's, so things have changed so much. So. Um, Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. But also now for the weddings that we have today, we can take the experiences of our own budding. Right. And, you know, get that. Advice. And yeah, the advice. Vice to our couples as well. Right. Yeah, that's kind of always one of my follow-up questions then. Yeah. First off Salty's is great. I mean, I tell that to everybody. Uh, and it was funny cause we didn't, uh, we have like just got engaged or we were like, we just started talking like we were going to get whatever. And I had a wedding, you know, I booked a wedding there and it was the same thing. Like I didn't even know that was a thing. Like I didn't even know. And then we got engaged. My kid, we just booked this wedding. Like, do you want to, you know, think about that. And so then Dorothy actually came to that wedding because she was still, you know, how. How you get that spousal assistance for that first little bit when you don't really need. You know when you need it, but now like they're nowhere to be found and you're like, well, Cause really useful. But, but yeah, but to your point, it's so interesting. You're going through the wedding. Uh, process yourself and then be the vendor. And the things you learn right. Are the things, you know, I use it, you know, growing pains or otherwise, like I know that I'm way more patient when it comes to like response times and things. Cause I think if you haven't gotten married, immunological, what is the deal? Why aren't they getting back to me or, you know, what is the hold up here? And then when you go through it, you're like, Oh, I absolutely understand why it might take him. You know, a week or two where there's some things that you've learned. I mean, I feel like I'm a better vendor having gotten married. What are some things that you guys have learned from kind of going through that process and seeing it? I mean, I know it's been awhile now, but it just, it's still interesting. Oh, gosh. That's a tough one. I would say at least the emotional aspect of it. Yeah. You know, like there's really a high emotions while you're planning a wedding in the days or the weeks leading up to the wedding. And so, um, I would say that's a big one that we know, like when we get to our final few details with the couple. Um, which is a huge part. We meet with a couple, um, usually four to six weeks out for what we call our final detail meeting. Um, I always feel like we, we check in with them. Like we always checked in with them before, like, how are you doing? But now we're like, how are you doing. Yeah. You know, how's your stress level? What can we help you with? Right. Because we know that just getting close to that day, there's a million things running through their head and they might feel like they have a million things to do. When really, you know, we're going to be taking a lot of the burden off of them, but still they just feel, you know, they might feel stressed out. So I would say that's a huge part of it is just making sure they're doing well, emotional, emotionally wise and, and thinking of themselves. Most couples put themselves last. I mean, they they're thinking of so many things other than like, Hey, how am I doing? Like checking with yourself. Like put in that buffer time. I think we see them give us these like preliminary timelines and we're like, where's your chill out time? Like, what are you doing? You're going to be like, you know, on the floor at nine, eight or 9:00 PM. If you don't put some buffer time in, so. Knowing that they have never experienced emotions and the excitement and everything that they're getting experience on the day out, we try to offer like, You know that advice and that guidance on how they can take care of themselves that day. Yeah. And also just, I guess, from knowing from experience too. We already knew this from seeing, you know, uh, hundreds of weddings or what, or whatever it might be, but also from experience, we know that what's really important after the wedding is said and done. Like we know that photography and videography are the most important things. And so after experiencing that first selves, Um, Christina can probably share a little anecdote about, um, video. Um, we, that's one thing that she likes to share his, um, here, we'll just go ahead and tell them. So I had, if I didn't have a videographer for my wedding, because they weren't. They weren't trend back then, nor did I know the importance of them. Um, I was like photographers. Well, my photographer flipped over his camera to video and recorded my ceremony and I, and he put it at the end of my now CD. Of pictures. Um, and we watched it for the first, we didn't know it was on there. It was like a surprise and it, you know, it was so amazing and so priceless because we're not there, we're in the bubble, we're not outside the bubble. So being able to see that and you know, I really do push. Now it's one of the things that I consider and if they can't, if it's not in their budget, then maybe like uncle Tim has a GoPro that he can like flip on real quick. But you know, it's one of those experiences that I have that I want to. Give good guidance on for a couples. Yeah. So, yeah, I guess that's actually one. Good example. Yeah. We had a console. The zoom console. The other day and the girl. Like the aunt had. I kind of thought it was sold, right? Like the aunt, we had gone back and forth. And she's like, Oh yeah, like peninsula soon, but let's do a zoom call. So we get on and, and the bride and her fiance were like very much not sold at all. Right. And she's like, she's like, so not to throw you under the bus, but you know, why should we have a videographer? Like, we're really not thinking that we wanted to do this. And I'm like, you know, Terry, like, could you have given me a heads up? Like I couldn't. What about this is going to be like a slam dunk, just like, Oh, Hey, how's it going? Whatever. And so she's like, why do we even need video? I said, well, I see your photos. Don't talk. So that's. Probably. Yeah. It's like your ceremony. It's definitely something to be able to go back and relive it. Where did you guys get married? We are made on this camp, Sonia. The more, it's very boot in Seattle. Cool spots for both. Yeah. Um, what was it like? I could only imagine. As someone that tried to solo start a business, what was it like trying to come together, figure out all this stuff, figure out what you guys wanted to do. I'm sure there was a variety of opinions and things and philosophies and all of that. So what did that process kind of go like. Clunky a little, yeah, a little bit clunky, clunky, definitely a learning process for. Sure. Um, and I feel like we jumped in the deep end, honestly. Yeah, we just really kind of, I feel like we jumped into it. We did a wedding and then afterward is when we came back and came up with like our business model. And look backwards. In our goals and stuff. Um, we just really were just so eager. We're like, yes. We have a couple, let's do this. Yeah. Sweating. Um, and we learned a lot from that wedding and every single wedding. After that. We've, you know, we've learned something. And so when we, again, going back to our final detail meeting that we have. We have a list, huge list of questions that we go over with our couples. And those questions have been curated over the past 12 years. That we've worked to find like, Oh, we, you know, this is a little question that we never would have thought to ask. And it all started from that day. One point where we did a wedding and they, the couple. Um, forgot to order enough forks for their dessert. For their cake. And so we're like, Oh gosh, what do we do? So what did we do? We went in the kitchen and wash the forks. Um, but from there we learned a lesson, like, okay, when we're going through our questions with the couple, we need to ask them, do you have dessert forks? You know, and just. Every single little detail that we have as should. You know, It's come out from that. So, um, of course some of them are standard, but some of them. Seem kind of weird and repetitive and that's because of. Times like that. Some of them are very pointed. We're like, we're asking this for a very specific reason. Yep. Like does, does your aunt Susie know that we're going to be putting the gifts in her car? Right. Because, you know, we have couples we'll, we'll put gifts in and, um, and cards and decor and a family member whoever's car at the end of nighttime, they don't have to worry about it. And one time we had a very mad drunk aunt. We had, she was like, who are you? You want the keys to my car? And so from then we were like, okay, can you please make sure that your aunt or your friend or whoever knows that we're going to be asking for their car keys? Right. So, yeah. Things like that. It was like, I can't remember. I always try to like, we're getting ready for the ceremony and I'll always be like to the groom or whoever will say, Hey, you know, just a heads up about, you know, 10, 15 minutes out. We're going to put the microphone on you ever just to try to like, yeah, we talk about it, like in the bookie meeting, and then we talk about it, you know? And it still never feels like you get there and it's five minutes for this or my what's going on with you. We thought about these things, but you know, there's so much stress. But you're like, this is why we talked about this many different times. Exactly. Exactly. But do you find it a. The people are obviously appreciate that, but, but when you go through these questionnaires in the attention to detail and things, it's so interesting to think, you know, the things that the couples don't even think about. Right. And that you're constantly, it obviously, like you said, that comes from just a years and years of doing it. Is it, does it continually surprise you of just how, um, Not like, but just naive. The couples are just things that you're like really thinking about, but they haven't even begun to process yet. Yeah, I think it's because we are so focused, you know? We are only focusing on one thing and they have a whole. You know, Family to think about, you know, and they have to be diplomatic and with, you know, whatever's going on with them. So it's just, it almost really does. Come as a surprise to them, these questions well more so our clients that we work with that are just, um, month or day of coordination, because we haven't been there with them the entire time, too. You know, guide them through the process. And so are our personal and our full planning clients. They're more clued in and they know what to expect. But our month of clients where we come in, you know, just the last six weeks or so out, that's where they're like, Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that we hired you guys. And I'm so glad we've gone through this because we didn't even think about this. Right. So, yeah, definitely. Have you noticed a, uh, This is something I used to really ask about with planners and then we kind of got away from it. But now with COVID and everything, have you found that, that there is a much more appreciation that clients have? I always felt like forever. Why do you play? There's really had to sell themselves because it's something where it's not like it's the same with DJs, right? Like you don't have a tangible thing. Right. I don't have a wedding book that I'm looking at or whatever. And for a long time it felt like. Planners. And then as we kind of started doing more higher end weddings, we had a lot more planners. Were that worried about that with everything going on now, do you think that there is going to be more appreciation for what you guys are going through again and being able to like, not only manage the wedding, but, but you know, all the family members, all the things and now with. Regulations and all this going on with health and wellness. And everything. I mean, are you, do you feel like you're appreciated? I hope so. Friend of like, you know, we have this hashtag it's, at least they have is our hashtag you know, like I feel like it's a service that, that every couple deserves and I don't think they, they know it yet. So I hope. That this is some silver lining. Come on with the pandemic is that people realize that they, they do need help in this situation. And it's for everybody, it's not just for them. It's for like the entire guest experience overall. Um, I guess to tangent. And from that, I feel like it's an industry. It's kind of an industry-wide and bridge that we have to create. Like, you know, like just as much as we promote, like, Hey, you should, you should think about a videographer. You should think of IDG. DJ you think, you know, don't hook it up to your iPod, right? Um, it should be the same with like venues are like, Hey, we want to take care of the venue. Make sure that this is running well, you need a planner or you need a day off. So. Which can create that value. Yeah. And the need. So on and so forth. Yeah. And obviously you guys, like you said, he balanced between you have the full, full package, you know, And then more, you know, they call it like a month out of her, whatever. Uh, w what do you want? You know, When a couple of books with you guys, where do you want that experience to look like? But then also the field, like, right. I mean, what do you want them to kind of experience going through you guys that's different from, you know, anybody else that they would, they would think about hiring. Yeah, well, one thing is that. They have a team behind them. Um, Christina and I, and the weddings that we work on, we always tag team them. And, um, we kind of take different aspects and focus on them. And again, usually she kind of does more of the design stuff with some help from Katie. Katie does. Um, really, um, helpful and mental work on, um, helping with our design and mood boards for. For full and partial Clint planning clients. Um, But, um, Oh, what makes us different? And I was like, wait, where am I going with? I feel like we were just talking about ourselves nonstop. Um, but anyways, yeah. It's here for the two of us. Yeah. We really work together, um, to support the couple. And one thing that we really want our couples to feel is that support and that we are taking the stress off of their plate. Um, and a lot of the times we get couples too. They book us and they're like, okay, well, let's get going. You know, I want to work on design and I want to work on this and I want to do this. And it's, we try to instill in them the fact that, okay, well, we got this, there's kind of a, a process to this. You know, we start with your big vendors. Obviously, if you don't have a venue yet, we're going to start out with the venue and your guests, listen to your budget and all that good stuff. And then we kind of work down from there. Then we, you know, we move on to a videographer and photographer, kind of an order of those really big vendors that you have to get out of the way. And I know. Design is the fun part and every couple wants to do it. Um, well, not every couple, but, um, we have to already have them. Yeah. Um, a lot of brands are like, yes. I don't want to do. Take a look at my Pinterest. Um, so just really knowing, having them know that we are there to walk them through every step of the way and to take the stress off of them. Um, and the fact that we will help treat the vendor list for them. Um, we, when we work with couples, we like to bring them a smaller list of, of great options of vendors that we've vetted over the years. Um, and so just instilling the confidence in them to know that we've got their back and we are going to get them the best vendor team and the best. Wedding day. Possible that will fit their vision. And everybody can stay calm. Yes now, freaking out. No. Wedding planners hiding in closets. You have anything like that? Yep. Which we've heard a story about. So I start about what someone told us a story about something went wrong and they were looking for the wedding planner and a wedding planner was hiding in the closet and just trying to avoid. We had Matt, my map that works. He, we split ways over the year. He had one and it was a [unknown]. The planner or a coordinator was with the venue. And I won't throw this venue under, but he said she was upstairs, like totally off on champagne, like her. And you know, one of the guys that was working there, just, you. Tossing them back. Right. He was trying to find her, the ask a question goes upstairs and it's like, Whoa. So he's. Their own party is what you get. You know, that's what you get when you're, you know, whether the first way is we did, they hired the bartender off Craig's list than they were in the immigrant, blacked out. You know, because. Yeah. Yeah. That's a big rule is vendors should not be drinking. Yeah. If you're a professional vendor. You should not be drinking. Even the friend hers were like, okay, we know that John Smith is your friend and he's going to be. Deejaying or whatever, but he needs to not drink. Right. He's going to have a drink. Okay. Maybe one or two, but you know, When open dance has still a vendor, you still ain't vendor who has to be professional. Yeah. I'm kinda on that too. I think I know there's some DJs in the world that like to, you know, have a beer with dinner, but I, I, uh, that, that's something I've always kind of struggled with. Just cause. You just got to stay on. I don't know. There's just. I'll have to kick a wrong, especially for you guys. You get a question and Hey, we need an answer. I don't know. Yeah. So there's that one thing what's interesting that you guys keep talking to you, the planning, right. And then did design and where it really does seem like it's you get both sides of that, right? We're we're, we're working with you guys. You get. Not only, Hey, this stuff's going to go correctly. We're going to have all the timelines and logistics, but then also the design stuff. Right. Because like I'm a dummy when it comes to, you know, I don't know anything about any of that stuff. So how does it, do you agree with that statement that you guys try to feel like you round out both sides of kind of that picture when people are looking to book for their weddings. Yeah, I feel like I'm within scope. You know, I just, I really feel like it's, they're wanting some huge floral install. Then we do pull in, we do pull in the design from maybe a florist or some sort of drapery or something like that, but we do try to round it out so we can connect them with the right design. Yeah. And designed vendors. And does that mean exactly? Yeah. Yeah. Try to make, not a one-stop shop, but a one-stop shop to find all your connections. Yeah. And then have. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. This is I, I, I asked a swath of vendors. What is something that you wish more people knew? The questions that you're always answering? I beat you just wish more people knew about. Either, you know, planning the wedding or hiring a wedding planner or going through that process, like what is something you're always answering? You're always kind of wished more people didn't ask me about this, or I wish the people thought about this. What is something when it relates to what you guys do? That we're not out of budget. Actually for, for full and partial planning, right? Yeah. Because, um, a lot of vendors that we work with do give us, um, some small discounts and so we always pass those discounts on to our clients. And so in the long run, we're definitely saving them some money. I mean, we're, we're not recouping their full cost or anything, but when you kind of take out those discounts it's yeah. It's definitely worth it. And. Um, you know, think about the time that you put into planning. Do you have the time to do it? How much is your time worth? How much is your sanity worth your stress level? You're fighting with your fiance or your mom or whatever it might be. Um, so that's always a huge one is just kind of thinking about the, the investment versus, um, the amount of stress and time that the couple would have to put into it themselves as well. Um, and I would say the other thing to think about is, um, just on the day of itself, people are like, Oh, well, I don't need a planner because, um, my friend is making me a timeline or my aunt is going to set up my decor or something. And so they don't realize what all goes into an actual wedding day and how. You know how much work it takes to make it go smoothly. Because to your point, we don't have a tangible thing that we can hand over really cures your day in a box. And snow globe shake it. It's going to happen or another huge thing we hear is, Oh, there's a venue coordinator, but it's not, you know, There's no differentiation. So the venue, it's kind of like, uh, It's like, I'm gonna hook you because I have all this help, but it's not really to the depth of what the couple is looking for. Yeah. It's definitely a, a big, a big one. Yeah. They just don't realize how much goes into the day of making it go smoothly. And if there's nobody there to say. Hey, DJ Tom. Um, Jenny and Jeff are taking a bathroom break right now. I know it says on the timeline or introduce them, but they need like five more minutes, you know? Yeah, things can get. You know, wild, wild West out there with no. Nobody. You're keeping a rope on everyone and collaborating with vendors. So you have all these vendors like firing off at different times when they're not, we need to be like, Yeah. Going off their own timelines going rogue photographer has this timeline. The caterer has this timeline, nothing matches up. Right. Yeah. Well, that's the thing too is, I mean, even when it came to, I remember when we were doing Salty's, you know, Salty's has, you know, they have their, their venue, people that worked through. And that was sort of trying to explain to Dorothy too. I'm like, yeah, they're going to make sure that like the food is on time. Yeah. They're not worried. You. Like they're carrying. Okay. Where are the doors unlocked for us to come in? You know, is the food there? And then what's the food serve? Like they're gone. I. We need someone, all that other stuff. And that's people think, Oh, well, they got the venue person that was like, you know, the venue is, is worried about the venue. Things they're not worried about. Is your photographer in the bathroom when you're trying to do toes or is it. Know that you guys are doing this extra thing. I mean, they just. But that is that misconception. I think a lot of people, Oh yeah. Our venue has some money. We don't have to worry about that. It's like, yeah, but they're, they're, they're sliver and they're good at it, but it's just their sliver of what they're responsible for is just such a smaller scope. I mean, it's either, if it was like the pie chart, you. It's like 3% and then everything. Yeah. But it's fine, but like, they're going to Excel at that where you got to worry about the other stuff. Yeah. And I think another thing is that we would like to say about it. It's just like we take care of our vendors as well. Like we're kind of like, we don't come in as this, like, Hey, we're the wedding planners. Like, we're just gonna, you know, Whip it right now. It's like we come in as like, Hey, how can we be a value to our vendors? So you guys can do the best job. Like basically, Hey photographer, they're about to do toast. Do you need to go shove a plate of food in your face real quick? So you can have this energy. DJ. Do you have any water? Do you need to get water? Like, you're just like, you know, mixing it for like an hour straight here. Can we get you something? So it's just like really making sure everybody has what they need to perform at their best. Yeah. And especially for those venues that have a really small window of setup time, we've definitely been instrumental in helping. People get set up, like, you know, we've had to take flowers up elevators for floors. Edgewater because there's only a little bit of time there, you know, huge floral installations. So we really like Christian was saying, we really do try to help. All the vendors and, you know, work together as a team as well. Because we want everyone to succeed. We want the day to go as smoothly as possible. So, yeah. Uh, well, this has been great. I'm so glad that you guys could hop on today. We can schedule this. Uh, any other tidbits and the other little tree that you said, man, I want to make sure we talked about this today, or I don't want to forget to talk about that before I let you guys go and enjoy, uh, enjoy the weekend. Hashtag at least day out. At least they haven't does that mean like at least a day I was given. Yeah. A day of month of coordination. Yeah. At least. Yeah. It does have all the reasons we just talked about. And more and more and not a shameless plug for us at all, but just like whoever is in your budget, like get somebody that can help you out. Yeah. Yeah, it's the same with Agnes. At that point now with video too, where it's like eight years, we got to get this going, you know, whenever you need to do with that, but yeah. Make sure and the same. You want to have a stress free day. You want to make sure you have a team that's going to, you know, get your back. And so, yeah, obviously you. Like it to be with you guys and, um, yeah, I think it's a good, I think it's good. I'm glad that we. You know, all these years later and everything we finally got on here and did this and, um, Something I definitely procrastinated on, sorry. I was like, well, we, you know, I was just thinking like, Oh, we probably need to have a good like elevator pitch or anything, but I think it also works doing it too. Yeah. People want to learn more about you guys and see all the fun stuff you guys are working on. Where would you have them check out? Well, we have our website, which is it's your day events.com. Really great. Um, we also aren't Instagram. We have Facebook, but we don't really update it as often. Um, just cause I feel like people aren't really checking. Yeah. You just stick to Institute in our website and that's all. Yeah. And so on Instagram, we're at. It's underscore your underscore day underscore events. It's like, yeah, that's a long one. Um, and yeah, I think that's it. That's all we are. We're not on, um, tech doc or anything like that. Personally, it's just. Yeah. I I'm kinda with you on that. I just. We also have toddlers, so we don't have the, yeah. That's a lot. I can't learn a whole new, I can't learn the whole new process. I'm gonna leave it to that generation to have that one. Yeah. I mean a couple, I don't know how many years ago, but somebody was like, Oh yeah, the new thing is parachute or is that what it was? Yeah. And so I know it doesn't seem like tech talks going away, but it's yeah, it's just something that's like, No, I've got to draw the line somewhere, right? Oh, perfect. Thank you guys. Again, this has been another episode of get to know your wedding pro uh, if you're interested in coming on the podcast, so you can go to bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire. You can. Fill out and get you in the system. And I really appreciate it again. I'm glad we could connect.

Jackie Harbour, A Standard of Grace Events

Well, Jackie, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. I know we met at a, I think an open house a couple years ago, and I've been. Bugging you about it and bugging you. And eat. You know, it's, we're 2020 getting near the end. We're going to make the best. And this is going to turn the year around right now. It's going to be you coming on to get to know your waiting for podcasts. I knew it. So introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Yes. We've been waiting for you all year. This is this. Is this going to do it? Well, everyone I'm here. Aye. I'm, uh, my name is Jackie Harbor and, uh, I'm the owner of a standard of grace events. And we're based here in Seattle, Washington. Um, where a wedding and event planning company, and we do coordination as well. Um, we really like to focus on the relationships, the relationships between myself and the couple myself and the clients. Um, and the relationships between the client and their family members and their friends and how that all comes together for a really wonderful, wonderful event. And. If I can, if I can focus on those relationships and really get to know my couples. And their family and all their family quirks. Um, I can really help them make good choices. Make good design choices and ultimately put on a fantastic event. It's the toughest thing for planners, especially with everything going on this year, like you said, you're talking about your relationships and in building that, and you guys really have been just the counselors that the grief therapist, you know, Yeah. Everybody. I mean, I mean, 100% serious. Like I know that any message I get from any one of my couples, any planner that's with them has had that a hundred fold right before it even comes to me as I do. I mean, more than ever, you know? Always advocate for why the planners, you know, and, and having someone help. But especially right now with everything going on, I think it's just crazy to try to do this by yourself without knowing what's going on. I, and I've gotten that. I've gotten that from my couples that, you know, Once we've postponed the event. They said, you know, gosh, I don't know how I would've done this without a planner. Like, I'm still glad I hired you in the first place before. 2020 head, but I'm so glad I have you now. I think to what you said, there's a new light and there's a new, um, Understanding of what planners do and how they can be helpful. And. Going forward. And right now there's just an added benefit to having someone who, you know, we don't have all the answers, but we can definitely work with you to find the answers and to stay up to date on all the current regulations that are constantly changing, as you know, Well, that's the thing is I just think that, yeah, even if we don't know. It's just some semblance of just knowing that there's someone else there that you can bounce ideas off of, you know, am I crazy to be worried about this? Or should I be worried about that? I mean, it's just, yeah, no one has the answers, but knowing that you've kind of got you guys are, are, are doing the research and keeping up to date, you know, Yeah. And I've definitely had to be, you know, I'm of course, one of our, one of the many hats of being in a planner is to be a sounding board and to be a therapist. But especially this year, you know, couples come to you and say, what should we do? Or we want to wait, what do you think. And all I can do is come at them with all the information I have and give them the best possible situations. And. Just have hope, hope, hope for 2021. So. To get into a little bit about you, you know, I know. And we've talked to the events and stuff. Are you you're from the area or? No, I can't remember. Um, I'm originally from California. Okay. That's right. And so, you know, we. So 49 years fans, we were talking before we got on the call. So, sorry. Sorry, sorry to all the Seahawks fans, but you know, sorry, not sorry. Uh, so what brought you up to Seattle? Wa wa. How'd you find your way up here. Um, I had been up here a couple of times on vacation for a couple of friends, weddings, but what ultimately brought us up here was my husband. Uh, went and got his MBA and he pivoted and he pivoted to a career that brought him. Uh, to Seattle. And so at that time I was working. Uh, corporate nine to five job, um, you know, supporting a software product and training and decided at that point. You know, If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it now. And I'm going to do it full time. Um, and I had gotten my I'd went to Cal Cal state East Bay. And gotten my wedding planner certification two years before that. Um, and then we moved up here in 2016 and. Helped out with a couple of wedding planners, um, assisted a couple of wedding planners, got my feet wet and then last year, Uh, opened up a standard of grace. I'm always so curious to hear for people, you know, all I know is Seattle and we kinda. You know, stumbled our way into this wedding stuff, but. You know, entering in maybe knowing that's what you wanted to do right. Coming to Seattle. What was the industry like here? Was it, was it challenging to make connections? Was it easy to make connections? You know, it was the Seattle freeze. And I know people have said that. A bunch and people warned me about it. And people from Seattle warned me about it. I did not get that. I did not get that. I the first people we met here on either side of us, both of our neighbors welcomed us with open arms. Helped us gave us stuff, told us where, you know, here's this Facebook group. You should be a part of this one. This is where you should go for groceries immediately. We hit, we had a great, um, A great introduction to Seattle. And then when I, you know, once we moved into our house, I started looking at planners in the area and, you know, Hey, can I, can I assist for you? Can I buy you coffee? Can I talk to you? Everyone was very, very welcoming. And networking events again. Very welcome. And. I, you know, I think the greater Seattle wedding community is very community over competition, which I love. Any, even the planners, you know, the subs, the subsection of the wedding community, the planners. I have a lot of planner friends that I can go to and say like, Hey, what'd you do for this? Or, you know, like you said, am I crazy? Is, and I handling this, right. Or what did you use for your software? You know, your client management software. So. I never have felt left out. I've always just felt welcomed. So you were talking about working in corporate before. How did you get involved in that? You, you said you were managing software. Uh, what was, what were you kind of doing in your corporate side before he transitioned out? Um, so I was doing, I was basically like a client. I managed, um, a software product. Once, once the product was sold, it came to me. It was a very small company. So there was probably about five or six of us. So I did the training, the management, um, any questions they had, they came to me. I became very knowledgeable in the product. And. It just was at that point, I kind of hit a wall. And I wasn't passionate about it. I was good at it. I was, I could do it. It was very good security. Um, but I just wasn't passionate about it. And at you. Quarterly reviews. They, you know, our performance reviews, they would ask you, what do you want to do next? And I could never come up with something because. I couldn't see myself doing it for 20, 30 years. And I've really thought, what could I do? That I was passionate about. Good. So interesting. Kind of figuring that, that line. Cause there's some people at, you know, And they, they pick what they want to do if they're in something and they go, and then there's people, you know, like, you know, I was a news and I just like, you just kind of hit a wall. And it's, it's, it's weird. Cause there's some people that do the same job for 50 years and never looked back and they do, I think. Some they say that, you know, nowadays it may be, is a little more common to kind of bounce around a little bit more. Um, were you, did you just not feel challenged enough? He just felt like you had ideas. Yeah, that you could, you're like, I want to, I want to go more than kind of this box is holding me on. Yeah, I think, I think it went back to when I graduated college. Um, I was initially going to be an attorney. So, um, I was, I thought about being a criminal defense attorney. I thought about being a prosecutor and I was. Ready to take. I took the LSATs. I was ready to go to law school. Um, but before I applied to law school, I had kind of a. Kind of a. Come to Jesus moment and thought, you know, is this something I want to do? Am I passionate about it? There's aspects of being an attorney. That I really liked, but. What job could I do that? Where I could translate some of those skills or my passion behind why I wanted to be an attorney. To something I actually liked. And I initially got into one job and that led me to another job. Um, and I just kept going along that route. I was good at it. I could do it. It was fun. But then I thought I can't do this forever. And so when. After I got married, I still continued, um, staying involved in wedding trends and wedding magazines and all that. And that was a constant behind the scenes when I would help friends when I would help family members, when I would, you know, Help them out with their weddings. I still found myself enjoying that. And I thought, well, could I do that? Could I do that full time? Because I, I do like that and I am passionate about that. Yeah, I could see you being like a defense attorney. I mean, I think you're. No, no nonsense in a good way, you know? And we're like a prosecutor. I mean, I could, but you know, it's just so interesting. Uh, you know, cause we were just talking before we recorded. You know, nobody knows a lot of these things about it, anybody right before they got on and like, you know, who would know. Either. Studying the Alsace and wanting to be a lawyer, wanting to be all these different things. Right. And then wind up, you know, I think sometimes weddings get like a weird rap or like a weird, you know, Oh, well, I even for video, I always deal with that. Like, what do you do, weddings? Like, do you know how to do other stuff? And it's like, we all have all this different knowledge and experience, but it's just interesting. It's always interesting to find out, you know, the people's stories behind the stuff. I know, I know. So, uh, So you said you had gotten married and that kind of inspired your interest kind of in the industry. Is that right? Yes. And so how did your guys' wedding go first off? Ours. Uh, we got married and way, way, way, way back in 2009. So many trends ago. But, uh, we got married in Michigan where my husband's family is from my extended family is from, we lived there for awhile. Um, we were very focused on making sure that all of our, all of the most important people in our lives could be there. Whether it be college friends, whether it be family, we both have big families. Um, and it was important for our grandparents to be there. Um, and they all lived in Michigan at the time. So. Uh, we were actually living in California at the time. So we were doing all of this, um, out of state. So. Any couples that. Plan weddings out of state. I've gotten a good chunk of them because I say, well, I planned my wedding. I helped, you know, I had, luckily I had to, uh, family, friends that were wedding planner, that we're event planners. Uh, sorry, corporate event planners. And they stepped in as my wedding planners, but I have background in history with planning, weddings out of state. Which is a whole nother. Layer to wedding planning. Um, so I really. Overall had a wonderful, wonderful wedding planning experience and a wonderful wedding day. Partly because I had two people who were. You know, Stepping in and running the show and helping out. And I was never stressed. I always knew my wedding was being handled. I always knew that I could talk to that person. Um, I always knew that relationship was there. And on my wedding day, I was present. I was happy. I was relaxed. I never had to worry about, well, are all my bride's maids lined up? Is the officiant Mike. Ha has he talked to the DJ yet? Has he talked as a videographer there? I never had to worry about any of that. And so since I had such a good experience, I wanted to make sure that other couples. Or was it we're able to have that same experience. It's tough right now, because you know, with, with 2020 weddings, we've either had. You know, the really small. You know, legal elopements, you know, with a planner in and like five people. So like everything is, is run really well. Right. Cause it's just not, uh, you know, hopefully a lot of room for error on that, but then we've had a lot of, kind of the DIY DIY, you know, more than. Usual lately, you know, I mean, we kind of started in that. We did a lot of DIY starting off. Yeah, that's great. But it just, it does. We, I think like what you said it'd be present. It just leads to a lack of, um, then being able to, you know, bride groom, whoever being able to be present on their day, because they are facilitating a lot of questions, a lot of, you know, setting up things on their own or directing where things are. Needs to be set up. And it's been really interesting to me lately to pay attention to that. Be like, man, I would hate to have to be answering all these questions if it was my wedding day, you know, it's tough. Exactly. And not only for the couple getting married, but for the family, because ultimately sometimes it's not the couple that gets the questions. It's the mother of the bride. It's um, you know, the, or the mother of one of the partners or one. You know, friend, who's also a bridesmaid. And everyone already has their signal there. Their roles or their purpose in, in the greater ceremony and reception. Let's let's focus on that. Be the mother be the mother, be the father, be the officiant. Focus on that and really be present and really enjoy that moment because it's going to go by so fast. And you're going to sit back and go, well, gosh, I wish I wasn't running around the ceremony trying to set up chairs. I wish I was practicing my, my. My speech. Yeah. I had a video consult last night, um, for email for videography. And they were asking that, well, you know, we're not really sold on this or what. Whether we won the deal. And I say the amount of things you will forget about your wedding day is, is insurmountable. I can't even express to you, right? Like I can't even, unless you've been married, you just can't. And so the less things you have to do, and the more, like you said, you can be present, I'm focused on that. They'll all helps to kind of retain part of that thing because otherwise you're going to be even more spent and distracted and pulled in a bunch of different directions. But I, you can't even describe how much, like, you'll forget about your wedding day. And, you know, You've been married. I've been married. I look back and I think, gosh, I remember walking into my, my reception space and seeing it all put together. And I remember that I remember being present right before I walked down the aisle. I remember what that felt like. I remember. You know, dancing with my mom on the dance floor and I didn't have to worry about queuing up. You know, the first dances and all that I could be. And I, and I ate, I ate my meal, I ate my meal and I had a drink. So that's another thing. If you work with me, I will make sure you eat. And I will make sure vendors eat too. I'm the last to eat. I will make sure vendors eat as well. So you said you wouldn't study, you got your wedding planning, uh, you know, certification too. You're kind of interested in this, right? Um, What, what was it like to be? And because that's the staff, right? I mean, that's the one step into doing that? What was that motivation? Just like, Hey, I want to kind of dip my toes in this now and see what's going on. Yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't sure how I wanted to get in. I kind of researched it. I was living back in California at the time and I was researching the market and. The San Francisco Bay area market is. It's very saturated. Um, there's a lot, there's a lot of people there. It's wonderful, but there's a lot of wedding planner. So I was very hesitant about joining the market. So I wanted to make sure. I had, I don't know, a leg up, um, or, or something to distinguish myself. So I started looking. I found this course, um, and it really gave me a basis, um, a good introduction to what an event planner does. Um, It was just a good basis. And from that, you know, I went and just did my independent research and just. Did my research on the Seattle market and. Um, went from there. When you, you know, when you decided to make your own business, Yeah. And do your own planning. What did you, I was going to ask us, like, what did you want that like your thesis to be like as a wedding planner, you know, standards of grace events, you know, that definitely has like a certain. Just a feeling that peace, you know, for lack of a better word. I mean, what did you want? You. I keep hitting a missed you wanted. How did you, how did you want to do that? Don't worry. I talk with my hands as well. You might. You might see my hands. Um, I always loved the word grace. Um, as a, as a name, um, one of my favorite actresses is princess Grace Kelly. Um, my cat's middle name. Yes. My cat has a middle name is grace. Um, but I I've always loved the meaning, the meanings behind the word, grace, and there's various meanings for it. But the ones that I focus on, um, are simple, simple, elegance. And courteous Goodwill. And that's something that I really pride myself on. And I really wanted to make sure that that came across in my plant, in the planning process. In my relationship with a couple with the friends, the family, with the vendors, with the venue. I wanted to make sure that they got that from me. And that your event will also feel that way. As a sense of peace, a sense of calm. Goodwill. I will, I will, I will do as much as I can for my clients. I will do as much as I can for my, uh, for my vendor friends. Um, As I said before, I really value those relationships and even more so 2020 has. Instilled that in me and how important are relationships and the people in our lives really are. What did you, when you wanted to get into the Seattle area, I know that you reached out to like a lot of the different venues and planners. I mean, Obviously thought behind that and wanting to kind of educate yourself, you felt like, I mean, obviously you made it. You know, to where you are now, but it, would that be advice you would give people or what would you give advice to people starting off in and wanting to kind of figure out, get their feet wet and not kind of make a fool of themselves and maybe take off. Well, I think 2020 made a fool of itself. So I think, I think anything we do going forward, we can't compare, but I think the. The best, the best advice I can say is don't try and do everything at once because you can't, you can't do a website. You can't network, you can't. Build your processes. You can't, um, get 20 weddings in a year. You can't do everything. Focus on one thing, get it done and move on because. Me I'm I'm, you know, a type a, I want to do everything and I want to do it. I want all the details. I want everything to be just right. And I've learned, especially this year that I can't, you can't, you can't control everything and you can't do everything at the same time. You have to give yourself grace, you have to. Take things one step at a time. But on the networking front, I mean, I have some wonderful, uh, vendors that have become some of my closest friends here and we'll be my closest friends for. I don't ever. So I think networking and getting out there not only. For someone new to the area to make friends, because we all know it's hard to make friends as adults. But it's also good to, Hey, make my, get my name out there so that when vendor a is, you know, looking for a planner, a client comes to them and go, Hey, I have, I really need a plan. Or do you know of anybody? They can go to their list and go, wow. I just talked to Jackie a couple of weeks ago. I think she'd be really great. Let me give them her name. It's to make it's to get your name out there, but also to make those relationships. Yeah, I think it's so just. Supporting each other and kind of helping out. I think it's so. I don't know. I would hope 2020 is push people more towards that. Right. And wanting to be it's so interesting that, you know, we do this XFL dumb podcasts now. Right. But, uh, It's. It's a really small community. Right. And what I've noticed about trying to promote things on there. Versus, um, the wedding industry, right? You. If we have a new thing or someone's got a new thing, you know, people are cross promoting and sharing and commenting and liking all this stuff. And then I go on to like my weight and stuff and it's, Hey, we're giving away this thing for free come book with us, or, Hey, we're giving 50% off can book with us, you know, trying to undercut and undercut. And it's so interesting to have, you know, podcasts in both worlds and then not. Our thing is a business on the exhale. You know, it's just fine, but to have kind of a stake in both of those sides and it is drastically different. And I just wish that, you know, and that's what I try to do with this podcast and the wedding planning podcast and all these things, like you said, you build these relationships. You know, if you're not a good fit, someone else would be a good fit. Or if you have advice or someone else. You know, but it's not as much competition. It needs to be more kind of helping each other out. And that's really what I've noticed kind of the last couple of months. Both of these. I can. I completely agree, because I think we were talking about before. There's so many couples. There's so many clients, there's so many people out there and there's not. There's not just one planner for everybody. There's not just one videographer for everybody. I think. We can only help each other by, like you said, if I'm not a good fit or I'm not available. Hey, I know planner, I know. Sally. She's a great planner. I'm going to. I'm going to give you her information, um, because ultimately she'll return the favor or I'm just putting out Goodwill. I'm just putting out I'm, I'm helping somebody, you know, because someday that may come back to me and we're all working together and we're all helping each other because. We all need to be kind to each other after, after this year. It's just, I sit with that call. So we had last night, you know, she, they were very hesitant about doing video, right. Why, why should we do this? Or, you know, Oh yourself. And like you said, there's so many people and other people that are good for, you know, I did my best kind of pitch, whatever. We're talking, but you know, I was telling Dorothy, I said, I, this will probably not be one that I follow up with a lot. To, to really try to convince them, right. Like if they got me and they got whatever, that's great. And if they didn't, I don't want to be, you know, the pressure coming down the line, like, Hey, are you sure? We'll get it right. Because our, and then of course, you know, they email me today. Like, Hey, we loved you. Let's do. Say, but like, but to make that conscious effort of finding the people, cause like you said, there, you know, there are so many and just really making sure you have it, especially as a planner, You know, and people that work so closely with the clients having that good fit, I think is so it just, especially for you guys is like paramount and necessity. You know, It's it's really, really important because I mean, the couples that I have from 2020, I will now be with them for like, Double the time. Um, and I love my couples, so it's just, Hey, I get another year with you yesterday. But, um, Working with someone as much as we do. And as much as I like to do, even with my, you know, day of coordination packages, I'd still like to be. A. A support line. Like, Hey, I'm, we're, I'm not heavily involved in your wedding. We're we're doing day of coordination, but if you need to email me about a question about, I don't know, Tips for your website. Don't hesitate. Just email me, you know, send me a message. I can help you. Because ultimately, if I'm still. Connected to them, and I'm still involved in their plot, in their process. They're keeping me updated. I can help them better. When I do step in full time. So you said that you, you Excel in doing these planning, the wedding out of state, which I couldn't even imagine. I think that's. Sounds like a nightmare, but, uh, what, what is kind of, what do you find clients that are attracted to you that you're attracted to? Because it does work both ways and what's kind of your idea. You know, I hate to sound like ideal client. What is your ideal client? Who do you tend to work with the most and enjoy working with? You know, I enjoy I, this is gonna sound corny. Every planner says this, but I enjoy working with couples that are fun. Um, I enjoy couples that can laugh that we can. Just have a good time with, but I think I've, I've had a lot of couples. Across the board. Um, You know, different races, LGBTQ living in different places. Um, but I think a common thing. That they've all value is their close relationships with their family and their friends and their focus about putting on a truly wonderful and meaningful event. Where they are present and they are having a good time. Um, something that from my own experience that I really have. Try to instill in my company is enjoying the process. You're you're planning your wedding a whole lot longer than the day. So if you're hating the process and you're stressed out and you're miserable and you and I both here, this is just, Oh, I hate planning my wedding. I'm so stressed. That, that, that hurts. That hurts me because I feel sorry. I feel bad for them. And I want to, I want to take that away and I want to say like, no, no, no, I can do all that. I can do that. That's stuff that you don't like. Focus on the cake flavors, focus on the fun stuff. And enjoy the process because you want to look back and say, wow, I wasn't stressed. I had a good time. Yeah. I was stressed out the seating chart. You know, my mom wanted this. My dad wanted this. But overall you have a good experience. And that's something that I really want for my couples. Yeah, you're either going to spend time or are you going to spend money? Planning and doing all that. And it is, and you just have to decide, you know, I always tell the story. Um, Uh, my good friend from high school got married and we did the video and they wanted to do their own flowers because, you know, they were just trying to save, you know, any, anything they could save. And when they really tried to do everything on their own. You know, and I saw him day off. I said, how'd it go? He goes, we were up till four in the morning and doing them, you know? And I said that. That is a decision you made, whereas. You had to decide, okay, what's that $500 we saved or whatever we saved worth. Being able to be, you know, Resonant with your soon to be wife. The night before your wedding. You know, I don't, and it's, it's not, I mean, you certainly know where, where my feelings are on that, but it is different for everybody. Right. And so, but yeah, if you don't hire, you know, a planner. There's just so much other crap. And I just couldn't imagine, like, even quantifying all those things that you have to do versus like, just hire the planner and knowing that's all, like, it's not even. Equatable to like that. The amount of money that you would be spending in time trying to save all that, you know, Uh, no, I, I completely agree. And I've, you know, My, my husband. He often assists at some weddings. So. Um, a lot of my couples have met him and, um, he's been, he's been a wonderful assistant. I will, I will plug him. Thank you, Adam. Um, but he, he really hears me, you know, Talking about the couples talking about the process, you know, Hey, I'm, I'm doing this podcast. He really hears a lot about my, my business in my life. And, um, when he's out with me on wedding days or site inspections, You know, he'll he'll let me get back in the car or whatever. He's like, gosh, I, I could not do this. Like. You do so much work and you have to remember so much, and there's so much, there's so much that you are remembering and thinking about, and you never sat down. I had to make you eat because you were just running around and not that anything was. There was any emergencies or anything. It's just, I have to be in a lot of different places. And I love that. But someone looking out and going, you do so much and you. You don't make. You don't charge what truly. Vendors don't charge truly what we actually accomplish. No. And just the things that, um, When you've been doing it a long time, and that's why like, I'm really, and especially with 2020, I've gotten so exacerbated just with everything. I mean, not, not, you know, not couples, especially, but just, you know, across the board. I mean, everyone's just died. But I really have gotten to that point with some of this stuff where I'm like, I have forgotten more than you will ever know about, or think to ask or wonder to ask or what, you know, So like, please. You know, whether it's me or someone else like trust these professionals, like we're really trying to, you know, I spent hours every week doing these dumb podcasts, trying to educate you, but, you know, you're like, Yeah, let's, let's, let's look at this stuff versus, you know, The freebie Craigslist, or this is trying to mooch off, or, you know, it's like, let's like, let's put value to you. And in this knowledge, In the, in the work that you've done to set yourself up, to be able to like, be in a position, to answer these questions and do everything, you know, I just wish more people like. You know, I agree. And I hope with, with this year, and especially, you know, here in Washington, the past couple months, The importance of small business. I mean, we're all small businesses. We're all trying to survive here. And I hope that. And I, I see it. I see it now. And I hope it continues. That people are realizing the value of what we do. And especially. With all the postponements and the rescheduling and all that. Seeing the value of having a professional and. Not, you know, someone who does it, you know, A couple times a year, or your cousin who. Planned her baby shower. Like that's great. And that's wonderful. I'm sure it was a wonderful shower. But there's something. Well, there's a lot. That comes with hiring a professional. You were talking earlier about, you know, family and balancing all of that. Do you, do you make a conscious effort to kind of reach out to, you know, the parents and everybody involved? I mean, where does that you just cause. Especially nowadays, you know, the couple, but then there's all these other needs and everyone else has their ideas and all that. Like, I don't would never even know. Right. Like how to manage that as a planner. Really, um, for the most part, I am dealing directly with the couple, um, I'm talking with them. Communication is going with them. Uh, it's when it's maybe a site inspection or it's some vendor appointment, uh, or the rehearsal. Um, that's when I get to meet them, I've heard about them. I obviously know their names. I know where they're sitting. I, I know a lot about them and then I finally get to meet them and that's really wonderful because then they say, I say, Oh my gosh, it's you know, Mrs. So-and-so. Oh, it's so good to finally meet you. I know so much about you and we. Build that rapport, you know, maybe the day before the wedding. And they're like, Oh, you're the girl that's been helping them out. Thank you so much. It's usually the moms that are like, thank you so much. And we're so glad we hired. We hired somebody to cause it would've, it would've been me. Uh, I was going to ask this before. How, how does it go? Does your husband do a good job helping out? Cause I know. Like Dorothy helped me for like that first summer. I think the first, you know, I was still working this out for the first summer. I did like four weddings, you know, blocked him off Craigslist and she was in everyone that knows, but then the more and more weddings I got, then it was like, we're we are gone. So how did, how did first off, how did you tie him into this long-term contract? But is that, do you enjoy that? Do you enjoy being able to share that experience with him? I do I do. I, I enjoy, I enjoy spending time with him and I enjoy him. Knowing a lot. I love. I love to talk. I'm an extrovert. I love to share things. He's an introvert. So sometimes he's like, okay, pump the brake. I need some time. But I love sharing everything. And. So I really like him being onsite with me. And sometimes, you know, if we're, if we're traveling to California for a wedding, It's really nice to have him with me. Um, Traveling and, um, being there the day of he's a very good. He follows instructions. He's he's wonderful. He's wondering a plus a plus effort. If he's listening to spar, A-plus. No. It's so funny. Cause like you said, where he's an introvert, cause like I'm, Dorothy could talk to people for a million hours right. There never, we'd never be enough hours in the day that she would run out and I'm good for like, you know, the eight hours I'm there and I'm like, I get home. I don't think like, Oh, how was I'm like, don't talk to me. Like I'm that was that. One is my, you know, I I'm done for the day, but take us empty. But you like for you, you thrive off that. Uh, yeah. As an extrovert, I thrive off. Talking to people being around people. Of course, we all need our time to recharge. So sometimes when I've worked a 14 hour wedding and I come home at 2:00 AM and. You know, I don't want to talk. I'm like, I'll, we'll talk if he wasn't assisting me or I was out doing, you know, assisting another planner, I'm like, I'll talk to you in the morning. I'm tired right now, my feet hurt. I need to, I need a glass of wine and it needs to sit down. I've talked to people for 14 hours. So we don't have, we need to recharge. That's the disconnect. I've answered questions for all day. I don't care. I just can't answer anymore. Right now I can help you. You need to find that. Uh, so besides just surviving 2020 and everything I goals, whether we working on here trying to move forward, just continuing to kind of expand, or do you have any like fun projects or anything? You know, I, I was thinking about, I've been obviously thinking about that all 20, 21. I think a lot of us are trying to think about how can we, how can we work with the trend that's happening right now of. Micro weddings and elopements, um, because even with a vaccine and going into 2021, they're still maybe people that. No one, a smaller event. And I think that's wonderful because there is something so special. About small weddings and elopements. Um, there's wonderful things about large weddings. It's truly what you want for your celebration. So I've been looking into, um, expanding into micro, um, micro weddings, elopements, and possibly officiating. And just, um, thinking, thinking about that. So. Um, I want to be able to serve, you know, if, if it's a right fit, if we're right. Personality fit and goal fit. I want to make sure that I can tailor something to them and not say, well, I have these three packages. Can you fit? Because as we're seeing. People just can't fit in the packages. And. I want to give people that, that personal experience, that, that good relationship. And that we have going forward. So. Just thinking how best I can. I can help. It's interesting. You continue either using the words, wanting to serve. You know, serving the client, you know, back to where you wanted to be a public defender or whatever, either, but wanting to stir. But it is it's so it's, it's interesting. I mean, there's so many different, you know, people that do weddings and some do it to make money. And obviously everyone wants to have success in whatever, but. But yeah, just that idea. I appreciate where you keep you really couldn't cut me back to that. Have you. Serving the client of being of service. What do they need? How can I help benefit that? You know, I mean, that's obviously great for any vendor type, especially as a planner. You know, I think that that is. Uh, you're where you are meaning to, or not is interesting. How you keep going back to the same thoughts, which is good. Right. That's good to have that consistent through line. Yeah, that it's authentic. It's something I believe in. So yeah. Yeah. It also, I'm spending a lot of time with people. So you want to, you want to surround yourself with good people, with kind people with. People that have the same values and focus. Whether they be clients, whether they be vendors and 2020 has shown us that that's very, very important. Yeah, this whole, you know, booking for the deal and then being stuck with this vendor for a couple of years, it is like, you're really got to think about it now. Like, do I want to deal with these people for a long time, both as a vendor and the client, right? Like we're in this for a long time now. So you're right. It's not just a, you know, Hey, come to my store, buy this product and I see you later. It's I'm with you for a year now. Two years. Yeah. It's. It's kind of like a marriage, you know, it's gotta be it. It's relationships. You have to surround yourself with people that you want to be around. Well, I just remember you had the first, like postpone that we ever had was, um, you know, with all the COVID stuff was you, it was way earlier than like a. They wasn't Mart. Was it in March? Yeah. They were very on top of yeah. He was very like, Hey, we're like no air fans. And they just said, Hey, we're, you know, You know, next August, like we don't even want to talk about it. And I remember thinking like, well, cause he was the first one, you know, I'm like, well, what do you, what do you do? And I was like, wow, you know, We, I better handle this right on my end because yeah, I got to, you don't want to have this impending doom in a year and a half. I remember when I was a jerk about them or try to do whatever. And then now I got to see, you know, We're in each other's lives for a lot longer. We already were as vendors even now. A lot longer with everything going on, that people necessarily anticipated. Right. Right. And it's, it's so important too. To be. To be kind to them from the start and through this whole process. Even though we're going through our own, you know, turmoil as business owners and, you know, PR as people trying to deal with it. And you know, you, I really have to keep coming back to that. Like, I want to be kind to them because they're going through something that is. You know, just not, not unimaginable, but in, in their view, it is. And it's just something that they weren't anticipating. And we have to really come at them and, and. Be kind to them. Think about how best again? You know, to serve them, even if we don't have the answers, we. That's a great question. I always say, I will get you that answer, or I will find someone to get you that answer. It's a good, yeah, there's no dumb question. That's a good question. No, there's no dumb questions, especially after all these postponements, which is a new, which is a new skill. I think we can all. All put on our resumes of being able to handle postponements during a pandemic. Uh, Boeing this time here. Anything else? Share or let us know about any other, you know, fun, fun tidbits or, uh, Anecdotes. Well, I know, I know you watch the bachelor and bachelorette. And I watched that as well. Um, so that's just, that's a whole nother podcast. Um, this whole season as a whole. It's been good if you're not watching, I highly recommend it. Um, last night's episode was really good. Um, What do you, what did you think about this is my question for you. What did you think about the season of big brother? Um, two things first off. Uh, so fans. Bachelor and maybe you'd be a fan. On our XFL podcasts, the Seattle dragons quarterback. Is a one for one match. We chasing deck that got voted off. It's if you go on my Twitter. Uh, XFL Mark. It is as well. It is terrifying how, and I've been trying to get Jason and Brandon silvers on our podcast to prove if it's not. This is the ongoing demand. Like the last four weeks. Has being on the podcast. Bachelorette coverage on our XFL podcast, but it is it's, it's a spitting image of him. You would think it was the same person. I big brother was horrendous. Did you, you watched the all-stars. I got about halfway through. I was really excited. I was really excited for all stars and I heard who they were tapping. You know, Dan. Derek I'm like, Oh, okay. You know, Dan and I, we don't know each other. We just went to the same, uh, college MSU, Michigan state. Um, so I followed him and I, I love his game play. And I was hoping he would be on it, but with COVID, a lot of people were on it. So we had kind of a. I don't know. It wasn't I wasn't happy. I was not happy with the season. Yeah. Dan was like, no, this is one of the greatest players of all time. And then we got a lot of people that like made it to third place and then just. In, you know, like in Christmases case, literally just quit the game at final three. You know, You know, she's, she's dating Memphis. I kind of suspect. I mean, they were kind of had a weird relationship in the house. I, I sent that. I showed that to my husband, the other, I think yesterday I'm like, Oh, they're dating. So there you go. So. I'm happy to talk. Big brother bachelor. Um, I love Ru Paul's drag race. Um, started candle making this, uh, this quarantine. So. For pleasure or trying to like Etsy shop. Uh, just pleasure right now. I mean fine. If you want a candle, you can have a candle. That's great. Yeah. Bachelor big brother. It's it's uh, at least they made it through the season. Cause I was watching big brother Canada when everything started and they shut down their season. So at least we got a full season. Cause it was, I think we were that's right. Three weeks in and if I move, but it wasn't enough time to like, you know, Jordan and I were watching stuff and then just to have it be like, okay, there were all done. So that was, I was interested in. Well, if any show is built for quarantine, it's big brother. Yeah, exactly. I mean. Uh, well, I so appreciate your time today. I'm so glad that we could finally kind of get this together, you know? I know. We do this. And so we've gotten it. And I think we even scheduled this like a month in advance. We scheduled this a long time in advance, so we really got it. We really locked it in. Um, if people. You know, obviously wanting to find out more about you, where would you have them check out for all of your stuff? They can head over to my website, www.astandardofgraceevents.com. They can check me out on Instagram at a standard of grace events. And, uh, you can see all the, all the fun we create and a little bit of me, um, yeah. Good times. It's fine. I appreciate it. I think, like I said, when we met. You know, sometimes you just connect with people and you just say, okay, this is going to be a good person or this. I don't know about that other person. No, this, this is good. I'm glad that I meet them. I'm glad that we could get you on and share your voice. And I just think, yeah, especially for, you know, for planters right now, you're doing the Lord's work and you're really out there. You. You're the frontline workers too. Right? You really. I have to grade what they're doing, but you guys really are dealing with the massive everything. So I appreciate it. Thank you very much, and it's been wonderful and you know, I'm always happy to come back on and you know, maybe we have a separate podcast about a big brother and batch. Yeah, w we'll get through, we'll get through it tonight. This, she, uh, Oh, she did the wedding photos and have like the panic attack. We, we got there. Ooh. That's. Yeah. Yeah. We've got to be, you've got a good episode. You've got to get episode. If anyone's even, so let's say they do like these fake wedding photos and she's been married before and Zack or whoever the guy was. Has he been married before? And so they do in these photos, but, but. They just like kept standing in front of this Arbor in this cake and then like they would take photos and then they would change outfits. Take photos of the PC, like the worst. I've made at least like, pretend to go through and get photos at them. Like nobody wants OC eighties. Go around the property, like get different backdrops, but then they, they did change outfits. So they did the, I saw like the trampoline and stuff, but, um, you know, cause what wedding doesn't have a trampoline, why she had like the big, they have like salsa outfits. But yeah, check out, uh, uh, uh, the XFL Markcast, check out my brand and Silver's theory, but this is your die. Like, if you don't know any of that, This has been going on for weeks, but it's really funny. Yeah, it's on my to-do list. Thank you so much again. We'll uh, we'll we'll connect your hopefully or they're in a real wedding. Uh, here again soon. And thank you. Yeah, this has been another episode of get to know your wedding pro.

Gina Thresher, From The Ground Up Floral

Thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are. Yeah. Okay. So, hi, I'm Gina thresher. Um, I own and operate from the ground up floral. Um, lot of the times, it's me. I'm pretty much a solo preneur. I have a team of freelancers here and there, but um, most of me, me designing me running the show. I really love what I do. Uh, plural has been my passion for about 12 years now. And, um, I kind of dove into it. Uh, I did my own wedding. I was one of those. Crazy DIY per night. So I have that aspect going for me. I can totally recommend like, you know, those DIY brides. I'm like, Hey, uh, You might want to reconsider, you know, it's, it's kind of insane. Theming. Here's what I went through doing that from my perspective. So, um, I help, you know, The Jenny, the way I can help people with in that aspect. It's, it's kind of cool to be able to come at it from both sides. It's so tough when you have that. My, uh, one of my good friends from high school got married a couple of years ago and we did the video and yeah, they were really budget conscious and really trying to didn't even know if they were going to have a video. Yeah, they did their own four walls. And I saw him that morning and they got married at the great hall at GreenLake. I was like, Hey man, how's it going? He goes, we were up till four in the morning and put. Literally same, like I was up till three in the morning. I think making good years. And I was wrapping my own. Okay. Um, While people are all yelling at me. Like I need to get in the car. It's time to leave. Like I was literally putting ribbon on my bouquet as we're walking out the door. So I get it. Yeah. It's and it's not, I mean, like it's a fun bonding experience. Sure. But like, you're gonna ruin your nails. 100% going to ruin your nails, not even gonna lie, like my nails. Always. Look. Like crap. So Amanda here in a florist rolled is just not a thing. Just because of your, because of all the, I never even thought about that. Yeah. So it's funny. Cause I spent about 80 bucks on my own manicure for my wedding. It was like back in 2008. Of course, I'm sure it's a lot more expensive now, but like I spent $80, went all out, got a nice manicure. I even paid to have all my bridesmaids, have their manicures done and like trashed, just trash, like chips. Gunk under my fingernails. The works. So there's that. But you guys got married. I mean, Yeah, it was good. I think that that's good now that you can look back and yeah, definitely give advice and maybe, you know, Obviously you guys aren't like a DIY thing, but just being able, just to, to give advice to, Hey, let's let me help you out with this. Let me kind of get right. Yeah. I mean, there's certain things if you want to DIY some stuff. Sure. But like, you know, I would definitely, definitely recommend a professional for at least doing your wedding party. You know, that way you don't have to worry about what that looks like, and those are gonna be your most photographed pieces. Anyhow. So. Yeah. Or you just aren't cause yeah, you always see that like, Oh, we're just going to go down to the pike place and you're like, man. Three days I play. I want to hear it. It's like, you know, we got married and like, you don't, you aren't doing anything the three days before your wedding, except like dealing with family crisis and trying to. Spending time with your family not making your mom do like 20 center abuses. She's going to be. She's going to be tired and grumpy. Yeah. So I wait. I I've seen you guys around forever, right? I mean. I know the name. Uh, what kind of just describe like your guys' style or what, what are you guys known for? I mean, Just in terms of like, for us, there's only a couple of them. I know when you guys are always, definitely kind of like top of mind. So it just died. Yeah, for people that don't know. Talk us through that. I'm happy to hear that you, you know, that comes. It's good to hear. Um, so I am a classically trained so I can do literally anything anybody asks me to do. Um, I got my European masters certificate about three years ago. Um, I'm also on the American Institute of floral designs. Um, I'm actually their marketing, um, Head of marketing committee. So I'm pretty involved in the floral community and they stay on top of trends because I think it's so important to do. Um, you know, I can do anything from a fully wired cascading bouquet to your average, you know, boho, let's get married on the forest situation. So I do tend to gravitate towards the little more wild and free bouquets. I, I love them. They're beautiful. Um, that I, I do also like to make every individual flower shine. I'm not one to just cram a whole bunch of stuff. In, uh, in, uh, okay. Um, there's always some little piece of goodness in that you're gonna not gonna find anywhere else. Like. I don't know, let's say like I have some hops growing in my backyard and they look perfect. So I just, you know, I'll grab those and incorporate those or any unique elements I can find. I like to put those in there too. I love that. And I love just how on top of everything. I mean, I just think it's so important and that we were talking kind of before we record, they just with everything going on. And it just, it always means a lot to me. The people, no matter what vendor type they are that are truly investing right in their time in the industry, in. Um, because it's, it's so easy for people to come in and try to make money or do whatever. And I do think that everything that's going on has really shined who really is in it for the longterm. Right. And is interested in, I mean, it's. It makes you sad. Like I'm truly like, I'm depressed about it. Like, I am sad that I don't get to do here guys is weddings. And like it's, it's not only the brides and grooms and couples that are getting married that have to deal with this. You other wedding vendors are like, It's depressing. It really is. They are staying relevant in the industry. I've been starting to come out with a little bit more like. Videos on YouTube. Blog content trying to stay on top of that. Um, Instagram's always hit and miss with me. I swear. I can't see on a schedule for some reason. I don't know what, I don't know. I really don't. It's so hard. They make it, they Instagram with anything trying to explain to my wife, like w you know, she'll try to post I'm like, well, no, you actually can't do this. Or you have to do it this way. It should be like, why I go, I don't know. I do it for work and I can barely figure it out. Yeah. I don't have a personal account. I just post stuff. I mean, like, My Instagram count, border lions, personal. I like posted a little bit of personal stuff and I'm not like posting my kids on there every day or, you know, stuff I'm doing my grocery shopping. Try and keep it relevant to the wedding industry. Um, yeah, so. I don't know. It's crazy. And you can't just sit still. I'm not a sit still kind of person. So this has been really like, I've really dove into trying to create more content. Um, You know, for my couples, creating packages of maybe people who are loping, I'm just trying to figure out the technology behind offering things easier for people. Um, Yeah. And I've been doing video conference, like we've done. Online option. Um, you know, consultations for quite a while. So it's kind of cool to see everybody kind of rolling this out and coming up with new ways to. Be in the industry. Well, not having to drive across town at five o'clock to do a 10 minute consult or whatever is very nice now to be able to divest this. The traffic, I mean, Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's the new way of doing things, which I don't really mind. I think it's kinda cool. Oh, I think it makes us more efficient as a society for sure to do it. I mean, I know that my wife would say you lose a little bit and I agree, but ideally. Do, but like, you know, that initial meeting, you don't really know if they're going to book with you or not. So why not have it this way? And then when they book, you can always be like, Hey, I'm offering, like, why don't you, why don't we meet up in person or let's do a venue to her. Like, I would love to maybe go somewhere so we can kind of. Brainstorm a little more. Yeah. You, you were talking about guy keeping up with trends and things, which is, I think interesting for, you know, florals is that trends in obviously marketing the things that you're doing, but is that trends in. You know, the actual design of it, right? Like how are we constructing everything? Is it designed air? Is it, um, you know, what types of forums are more popular? I don't know. What does that mean to keep it up? It's kind of all of that encompassing, um, I feel like we're starting to come out of the giant messy bouquets situation. And a lot of people are looking towards like dried florals are huge right now. Um, And you know, a little bit more of a curated look, um, it's kind of coming into fashion, I think. So it's not going to just be like tons and crazy, huge, messy bouquets. It's going to be a little bit more fine tuned. I think. Um, That's kinda my aspect on where our trends are heading. Uh, I just feel like, you know, Creating within the means of what you have is really important too. And that's kind of coming into play a lot, I think, um, You know, um, maybe not like the huge, abundant crazy over the top, but like, Very impactful and meaningful, like things that are equating to something special for the couple. Yeah. We just see him sometimes, you know, and it's like this mammoth, like you could just either you could strike someone. On down. Are you saying, is that a little more going out now or is it. I think so. I mean, we're just with even how crazy things have been lately, just picking a few things that are very meaningful and creating a look, um, Around those things or, you know, a color aesthetic, it's basically gonna be a lot more curated as I think what we're leaning towards. When you, when someone reaches out and they're trying to construct that, I mean, how does that go with you, working with them, trying to fine tune what you keep talking about, you know, curating and finding out what's important. How does that. I mean, I'm a man. I don't know a lot about floral stuff. Oh, usually the first thing I will do is ask either if they have a Pinterest board started or if they have, um, kind of like a style or colors is like the very base. Okay. So like, If you come to me and you don't have your colors picked out yet. I'm going to be like, okay, um, you need to sit down and do a little research and figure out what you want to base. Your whole aesthetic on, because that's kind of like the number one is color. Um, and then from there, I mean, it just goes into how a Pinterest board reads because. A lot of the times, People will come to me. And they've had these Pinterest boards that they've had even before they were proposed to. So you kind of have to weed out stuff and, um, you know, you kind of see recurring themes within their Pinterest board. And I like to stop and ask them. Okay. What about this picture? Are you digging? Because I'm seeing it happen a lot, like this. Sort of style. Is it the style? Is that the color? Is it this particular flower? Um, you know, tell me what you like and what you don't like about this particular picture. And then I kind of go from there as far as building upon that, um, It's it's a lot of like internal. Process. Um, but it's, it's really cool to see how it progresses. And then from there, like I will go and build them like their own personal mood board. Um, with like, Intended. Colors and flowers and the look and the style. Um, so. It's just a lot of like taking the pieces and making them fit into what they actually want. Where do you view what you do and what you create, whether it's a bouquet or, you know, if they have pieces that, you know, the, the altar. Either, like I would ask the same thing of like, you know, someone that's doing like a wedding dress. Right. You know, what does that represent it? What do your flower? [unknown] I can never say that word. I have a terrible list. Am I in my mouth. Uh, but you know, where do you see your role in kind of creating that ideal wedding day for your client? So I like to remind my clients a lot to like, If you're not spending a ton on floral, we need to figure out how to get the most impact for your budget. But on top of that, they need to keep in mind. These are going to be the pictures like they're going to be in the pictures forever. Um, And the videos. I mean, that's, that's basically the overall aesthetic. It really helps create the mood for a wedding. Um, you know, bright, colorful flowers. It's going to be a lot more cheerful, like. Soft blush. You know, romance, it just really helps. Set the stage and the mood for your event. Um, even like with corporate stuff, like if you're going for something very bold, you're going to use something that has strong lines and it very much. Just kind of rolls right into what you're trying to portray. Do you think. Cause, you know, obviously this is something you lived through all the time is do people understand the importance of like, you're tired? These lines. Yeah. Some do. And some just don't like, some are like, it's not important. I don't really care. I'm going to spend my budget on food. Totally fine. But like, Just to know that going into it. I'm not gonna put as much emphasis on creating something that's, you know, gonna be stunning and visually, because if they don't really, if that's not what's. Um, you know, on their heart for having a priority, then I'm, you know, Well, we'll do a very pretty okay. Yeah. So I had a lot, not a lot of clients really understand me, end up like design part of it, but they show me like what they love and it kinda. Either goes in this category, they love floral or are they just kind of are like, eh, it's fine. I'm probably gonna spend more on food, you know? Who is your ideal client that you get really excited about that? You know, when they reach out to you or when you meet, you know, and what do they, whether they looking for, or what do you try to do together with them? Um, so my ideal client. Loves flowers. Of course. Um, But I really love it when somebody comes to me with ideas like. Oh, Hey, you know, they have this like chandelier that I think it'd be really cool to maybe put some stuff on, but. Um, ultimately like my favorite clients are the ones that trust me, the ones that are like. Your work's beautiful. Um, here's my budget. Here's kind of what I'm thinking. Style wise. Let's let's go. Like, what do you have in mind? The ones that really want to see what you can come up with? Um, it kind of creatively challenges me to think outside of the. Average everyday wedding. Um, those are the ones that are really fun. And I really look forward to doing, um, not that I don't look forward to every wedding, but it's the ones that challenged me a little bit, kind of get me excited to get going. Got to think outside the box and yeah. Experiment. Uh, how did you get wrapped up in all of this wedding for all stuff where he, was it something, I don't know. How, how did, how did you enter it? Because it's always so interesting to me to hear how people kind of got involved in it, not being about weddings before I got into this. How did you get involved in the wedding industry? So, like I said, I did my own wedding, but the precursor to that was, um, so I was, I had been studying, I was probably in my third year of. Pre-med for going into, and I was studying in vertebrate biology. I was collecting specimens for Highline community college. Um, Diving probably two or three times a week. And, uh, my husband was like, are you going to be spending four hours on homework a night? Like, is this a thing that's going to be. Yeah. And he's like, how are you going to get a job in this field? I'm like, Uh, You know, some old guy is going to have to die and then maybe I'll get a research assistance. It's not going to pay well, like. So I kind of was like on the fence. Am I going to just continue to go to school all day? Like. It was. It was a lot, um, So we, you know, we started planning our wedding and I was like, Well, maybe if I take some. Basic classes. That's, that's where I, I actually did that. Right. I took some very basic floral design classes before I attempted to do my wedding. So, and I started really liking it and, um, it just kinda grew from there. And I'm such a nut for education that I just really, like, I dove off the deep end. After that, um, after doing my own wedding, I kind of did it part time for a little bit while we kind of got the family started and all that. Um, but yeah, I just. I'm a nut for education. So I really love keeping up with everybody in the floral industry and. Um, seeing what's capable. It's really cool. It's, uh, my father-in-law has taught at Highline for. Probably 45. He's been there. He's a lifer in the whole time. Yeah, no. So we know. Yeah. We know how I'm very well. What was, so what were you studying? What was the interest you or biology? I was in vertebrate biology was my, um, my main focus. Yeah. What is that? Little creatures like crabs in vertebrates that live on the ocean floor. Um, I got offered a internship to count yoga grass. Uh, because they needed people to make sure they enjoy. They do environmental studies as well. So like, you'd go under, you'd spend about 45 minutes of your dive time. Basically like you'd count each square inch. How many pieces of. Yeah. Um, Not super exciting, but it was really, it was cool. I still, I haven't dealt for years, but I still love it. That's going to ask, if you keep up on the diving and all that. It's expensive and it's a very expensive hobby, especially with my kids and stuff and finding time for it. I still have all my dive gear, but yeah. Do you, I mean, obviously though, Uh, a tremendous attention to detail right in Silva. Does that translate now to obviously building and doing the things that you do? It's really funny because when I took my European masters, everybody was super freaked out because there's a section where you have to do nomenclature, which is learning and studying the botanical names of plants. So. I'm like, Oh, No problem. I got this. Um, so yeah, having a, more of a biology based background that really helped me to just kind of switch it to, Oh, like we're gonna learn what plants are poisonous and which ones aren't. We're going to. You know, learn about. Basically the categorization of what you're working with. And it's very important to know, and not a lot of Flores, uh, go that deep, but. I think it's important. Uh, There's European, uh, certification. The study. What, what is that? Talk to me about that. Um, so it's called EMC. So that's European masters certificate and, um, it's basically a, so over in Europe they spend a lot more emphasis. Like you could go to school for flora street and it could be a four year pathway. Um, so basically what this is, they offer it as a. Year, basically like they, they boil it down to a year, but you're doing, um, a week of in-person. Um, very close. Workshop style. Learning. And then you take, uh, like the next few months, our self practicum. So you're doing all your, um, nomenclature study. And putting together, um, Basically a nomenclature study sheet that you come up with, like you have to make it. And, and then the final test, the final exam is in Belgium. So I got to go to Belgium. I kind of dragged my husband along on that trip. Because when you, you know, yeah. Why not. Um, we got to visit a castle and they do this. Um, big floral element. They're called flora more. And, uh, they basically. Deck out this gigantic castle. Um, With floral it's it's insane. And then of course, after that, you go and take your test. Um, Just really cool to be involved with. Like, if you ever want to see some crazy stuff, like look up the European floral design people like the people over in like China, Russia, Japan, all of the European countries, the Dutch masters it's they. They take it quite seriously. It's it's cool stuff. It's interesting just in. I love just how, um, just educated and in depth. Right? Cause there are people that do things and then there are people that really just, I w. Right now, there are a lot of videographers that are offering like live streaming, for example. And as are we, but I have spent the better part of the last seven, eight months with COVID and it just really trying to like fine tune in. And so it was interesting to me, you know, someone like with a, you know, for all our industry and everything that you do. And just trying to, I guess, be, be the best at that. Right. And be educated and where. Like you made the comment. Well, I don't know if other people necessarily care about this, but I do write, like, I think it's important. And that to me is always interesting, right? The people that really try to Excel in what they do, where does that drive and desire come from? Like you said, you, you love to learn and educate. I mean, where does that motivation come from? Yeah, I don't know. I've just always been that way. It's been instilled in me from when I was little. I, um, my grandpa was a biology teacher, so education has just kind of. My family loves education. Um, but on top of that, I think for me personally, I think it just gives me the confidence. Um, you know, I'm not going to panic if like, My. Saturday's falls off the table because I know I made it correctly. Like I know that I put forth the effort to make those mechanics solid. So, if something were to happen, I know what to do or how to fix it. If you know, Which I've had to do, like I've had moments where I've had to fix something on site. Um, You just think you can't panic. You just have to trust that you know what to do. It's just interesting. Cause we have four. Uh fluoros it seems like there's, you know, the construction of it right in the, well, I guess there's many different layers. I mean, you know, there's the construction of it. There's the design of it. And then there's obviously kind of the living things that go into it. It's just. Uh, talk to me, I guess, just about melding all of that together. I may just seems like there's so much that could go right and wrong. Right. It just talks about melding all of those different components together. So it basically starts on a Monday or a Wednesday for me if it were a wedding week. Um, and that's. Like I'm, I'm getting the procurements I'm going and I'm checking the wholesalers for that particular thing. Um, prepping the flowers. Like people don't actually think about that, but the flowers have to be prepped. I was like, you have to make sure they're in their prime. You have to make sure they're opening up. Right. Um, you know, that, that PNE and that's rock hard solid. It's not just gonna burst overnight. You have to really baby these things until they're ready to go. Um, The creation part of it, the design, the mechanics. That all comes like later in the week. Um, And it does. There's a lot that goes into it. Um, you know, some, sometimes there's stuff that has to be done onsite. Which is really like, Stressful cause you have a really short timeline, so you have to be prepared. Um, I tell you about a Thanksgiving. I had quite a while back, um, at the Fairmont. I don't know why, but that hotel and I, um, I it's my, like, I love it. It's a beautiful hotel, love every piece of that hotel, but for some reason I just don't have the best of luck. When I worked there. Um, I had a wedding that had a lot of glassware. Okay. So I get my dinky little card on that elevator that goes all the way under the building. Right. Literally everything fell off my cart. And basically almost peed my pants. Um, so I'm standing there and then this guy. He's like, do you want to cage cart? I'm like, yeah, that sounds amazing. Like, I don't want my stuff to fall out. Going a mile down this. Road underneath the building. Um, so he, he helps me out. He brought all this stuff up to the ballroom for me, and I'm setting up. Um, the ceremony pieces for this Persian wedding and. Um, I go to get the big, large pills or base out of the box, right? Um, And I get it out, but then the other one goes Schunk. And the pills surveys. If you don't know what that is, it's basically like a vase that has a foot. At the bottom, it's a very large, tall days that has a foot of bottom. So I'm like that didn't sound good. Yeah. Like, you know, nothing is broken up until then. And I have basically had a heart attack, like. Multiple times already. That happened. I look in there at the foot. Clean off just like clean fell off. And I'm like, Oh, That's great. Cool. So what do I like? I let myself panic for about five minutes, because it's what I think it was the day. The Saturday after Thanksgiving. Nothing's open. I'm like 30 or 40 minutes from my studio. Am I, who do I call? It's like, What do I do? Yeah. So I let myself panic for about five minutes. Um, I contemplate and calling my husband to have him bring me another vase. The lesson I learned from this has always pack an extra Vegas. Of course you learned something from every issue like this. Right. But. I, uh, I, I kind of went in the back kitchen area. Grabbed a butter dish. And I was like, you know what? You got to figure this out. So I took my Flores tape and I taped. And taped and taped this butter dish on top of this. This. Um, and it worked, it, it held up. Right. So I just made sure I was, so we had to do it the other way. Like I had to flip over the other base to make it match. So it was like, The foot part was on top. And then the summer piece was on top of that. But I had to tell the planner. I'm like, okay. This one's great. You can move this one on your own, but if you need to touch that one. Let me know, I'll help you. You can't move that one. Okay. And even you don't, you don't have to panic. You don't have to freak out bread. Never needs to know that. Yeah. I don't there's many instances where you just, you have to figure it out. Yeah. The light that goes into that. Yeah. And setting everything up and then, um, yeah, before they come or yes, I don't. Yeah. The couple never, never knows kind of all the different hoops that go through. Great. And they shouldn't like, there's no reason. That should ever be. Any stress that they need. That's a lot of my brides say that to me, they're like, you know, you just made this so enjoyable and it was so less stressful. Like you just have this calming presence. Good. Like, that's what I'm here for like to take any stress off of my clients is. That's what I do. I was just that we had one cop. Was it last summer? And we, uh, it was with Lori actually, which I had just recorded the podcast here with Laura low C before we got on here. A wedding planner and. Like they had a band. They didn't have. Like we were missing some connection or something. Like they didn't have a piece of something that they, like, we needed it to also record. From them, but like they also didn't have it, or it was some weird situation. And, uh, my assistant was at the aquarium with his wedding, and then I just happened to be at like the edge water. And he like had to Uber D I'm trying to remember all this. We had to like Uber down before their ceremony. And like, we're sending that for our ceremony. And then, you know, he's like running back. You said, it's just the things that happen where like no one ever. You know, we're very good at managing stress. I don't know. You know, it's crazy. It's cause it's it's that moment. You just got to get through that yet. Don't move that vase. Or we just got to get through this and no one ever has to know. Um, In terms of, uh, you know, From the ground up for Oh, And running your, was it you starting a business? Right. You know, being an edgy, you know, Studying everything, you know, going from that transition. And was that a large process to get all that going? Do you feel comfortable as a business owner? We talk a continuing theme on our podcast is. There are some great business people that are not great creatives, right. And then there are great creatives that aren't great business owners and the managers too. Right. Cause it's two different sites. How is that for you? Um, I love the marketing and the networking. Like that's my jam. I love it. I love talking to people. It energizes me and gets me going. Um, but the backend with the numbers, I don't know any florist. He's particularly good with them. So I really try to outsource that as much as possible. Um, I look for things that make my life easy, like QuickBooks, um, You know, it has been who knows spreadsheets. My texts professional, like. Texas scare me. I didn't know. Nope. Yeah. So I think more than anything, it's knowing what you can outsource and what you need to be present for. That's very important. It's a tough yet. People think that they want, they need to be able to do everything and it's not, it's a tough balance. You can, it's good to be able to delegate to. And I'm learning. I mean, I am not. That's why I have such a hard time. You know, I do have freelancers that come, but they're usually already trained. It's like hiring somebody brand new. I'm going to have to entirely train that person. And that takes time like, So, you know, Delegating is definitely a learned skill. Well, and also just where you have people come in. Like I email, I have video people and it's, it's. Charlie take someone that knows what they do or thinks they know what they do or has their own thing. Right. But then it's trying to incorporate them in. It's like, well, no, this is how you know, this is how we do things in, in your way. Isn't incorrect. It's just not correct. Like in this situation, right. Right. And I think that's where you look for. Um, good freelancers. There are some that just, you know, they're set in their ways, but. You know, a good freelancer at Cannes. Be your right-hand person and know what you're doing. And. Take your brand and run with it. Like. Be an extension of you. So, um, yeah, those good people are hard to find. What do you want people to think when they hear of your company? What would you want that? Um, not trademark, but that you have that perception to be of you guys and what you do. Yeah. Um, I like to think we're fun. I mean. It's a good. I like I can do any style you'd like, but I really want that person to feel like they are taking care of like, I am creating pieces for them. Um, you know, a little more curated, a little. Something that's special. Like they come to me for something that's special. Are there. Um, what, what are some challenges that you worked through in, in working with the clients and constructing things, you know, like you said, Pinterest is the best thing in the world. It's also the worst thing in the world. Sometimes, depending on what they, you know, whether some challenges that, that you worked through that people might not think about when it comes to formal design, Um, I think the number one thing is budget. Like people don't understand how much flowers costs, like. Yeah, they grow from a grounds, but. They do have a price tag and. You know, a lot of people that live well, can't you just forage for that? I'm like, yeah, but I can, I have to charge for my time to go forage that material. Like. It's not just going to arrive at your wedding. All pretty and without bugs. You know, Um, and there are flowers that are more expensive than others and people just don't. Quite realize they see all these really cool designs on Pinterest and they, you know, breaking. Breaking a little Pinterest. Crush. It's it's tough. It's a hard one. Um, you know, a lot of things don't have price tags on them because if you saw the price tag for that design, it's gonna make you cry. You said, you said you had a pike place, market flowers. It's fine. Yeah. Okay. So I don't normally. Recommend my brides get stuff at the pike place market. There is another option, which is. Even better, which is the Seattle wholesale growers market. They do have public hours. Um, usually it's on a Friday between 10 and noon. Um, highly, highly don't recommend them over the pike street. Flores. Stalls. Um, I got Abe. Okay. At pike street. One time. And got it home. And went to unwrap it. They had taken all the heads that had fallen off of the ground. Put them on wires. And made a bouquet out of it. I mean, I had some greenery and a few full stems, but like they had actually taken the time to pick up the crap that had gone on the floor. Put it on a wire. And hide it. So you couldn't tell those were wired in. I was so mad. Well, and they're thinking, you know, okay. We might ruin the tourist day. Right? But you know that you're getting mad. Hey, you know what I mean? That that's probably what they're thinking is. Yeah. I mean, you can pre-order there are some of them I give, I have to give him credit. There are a few of the floral vendor stalls there that they do take wedding reorders and stuff like that. But. Um, on a scale, you're getting like the flowers that are more leftover. Like, you know what I mean? They sell the good stuff to the Flores, of course. And then you're getting the kind of stuff that didn't sell. So you may not be getting in long-lasting. Okay. And that's funny because we had, um, that national organization has a symposium every year and a couple of years back, it was in Seattle and all my friends were like going crazy at the floral, the pike street. And they got these bouquets and take them back to their hotel room. They last maybe like two days tops, two to three days tops. So, um, you know, if that's. That's your end goal? I don't know. My creations will usually stick around for at least five to seven days. It just depends on what the goal is. I guess, you know, if you don't really care too much for the floral designs, You can definitely go get a pike street, bouquet. It's not, you know, just don't have high expectations. We'll say. You have what you said, it's just, it exists, you know, it's one of those. It serves a market for sure. It's one of those things where, you know, when you have the good photos, you know, Those are the works that you put together. Well last right for forever. Right. And so it's that. It's investing in now for the forever, but it is, it's something that I just don't think people. Yeah, maybe even we really value about you when we got married. You know, we're like, okay, we'll get some things, whatever. But then like that's in every photo of our ceremony of our reception of our everything. Right. And that, you know, so I always like to point out maybe like, well, we were also guilty of these problems. You know, things to write that people can learn from, but yeah, you definitely don't. You know, think about that. And then you're like, Oh, that's an, every fricking photo in the album. Crazy, you know, like. They're going to be there. You're. Sean, your, your grandkids. Uh, what's what's next. Once we get past kind of all this craziness for you, I mean, as someone that seems to invest so much time and energy and in just education and innovation and everything else, where were you wanting to grow? Kind of after all this. Um, Right now, I I've really, you know, The next year season is it's booking and it's busy and I'm going to be crazy Hoben, but, um, I've really done a lot of, more like the floral education side of it. I started taking a students for floral education. So, um, And just stepping into the role of an educator has been, um, you know, kind of the season I'm in and, uh, also educating rights and people in the wedding industry, like, you know, putting a video together on how to put on a boot near or. Things like that, that I can actually put up on a blog that are helping and educating instead of just like, Oh, here's a pretty palette, but I did a while ago, you know, you have to come up with ways to make it relevant and to actually help with your content. So. Yeah, I think it's so important. I think, um, just, I can't remember this before we start recording or not, but just, just shining the light right now with everything about who is really invested in the community. People that aren't like you were. Uh, not only, uh, obviously, you know, helping for us in the future, but also, you know, trying to educate people that are getting married and, you know, these are things to look out for, or if you are going to be a DIY, you know, here's, here's some advice from a DIY bride. You. Okay. Yeah, it's important to keep that in mind, like everybody that. It's one of those things, the couples that are getting married. They don't they're brand new. Like they don't know what you know, and, um, you kind of have to turn that and think about it that way. Cause. You know, yes, you do this time and end time and time again, but this is their first time. They don't know. So. Given that up, like extra help makes you really stand out and, um, you know, puts you in the position of being like a helper and, you know, offering care for your clients instead of like, Oh, yeah, we don't do that. We'll tell them why. Or explain it. Cause they don't know. We have no idea. Yeah. Yeah, I think, yeah. I tried to explain, I think that that is, yeah, this is why we can't, or this is the alternative that we can do presenting options as opposed to, um, like roadblocks, I think is. Yeah. Yeah. That's where you find people that are a little more, more willing to be flexible, too. I'm very flexible with my client's like, okay. Yes, I do have a clause in my contract that we don't have outside floral, but I put that there because I don't know. I can't even tell you how many people have stopped to ask me. And it's basically, I just want to protect the integrity of your design. I, you know, if you want to do DIY. Great. Let's talk about it. I want to know what you're going to bring. So I don't show up with. Premium flowers and you're maybe working with something totally different. So. Which, you know, I tell my brides, let story of, I showed up. To a wedding and they had taken off the Pew arrangements from their order. And I, I was like, okay, fine. They're not doing it. No big deal. I show up an auntie had put. Gerber daisies and baby's breath in tuna cans. That were hanging from the side of the pews. And every brand I tell this story to gets like a huge like sheep. They just like, Oh my God, really? Unlike. So I just like to be aware, you know, I'm not saying can't, I'm not saying it's a no, I'm saying that's that's. Coordinate and plan. So. So we don't have end up with something completely weird. Buda cans. That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably, as you could totally see that they were. Yeah. I can totally see every mechanic. And it was, I was like, I knew the photographer says, can we make sure we zoom out a little? And she's like, I had, no, you didn't do those. Uh, Just when you talk about education. Is it pricing? Is that the biggest thing that you're educating them about? Or what else? Cause I always ask, like whether some other, you know, things that you're constantly, but you know, is it budget or other things? Um, a lot of the times it's it's that, you know, how they could get the most out of their arrangements. Um, I do a lot of stuff that goes a dual purpose, like, Oh, we're using those at the ceremony, but did you want to maybe think about using them on your tables or at the bar? You know, if you have somebody that could take this down, maybe it could be your head table arrangement. Um, I don't really like to limit people on that and I, you know, it might. I also don't have a minimum for that same reason. Like. I'm okay with what you feel comfortable spending. I'm not going to be like, nah, we have to start at $3,000 and that's, you know, My minimum. I don't. I'm not saying it's bad to have a minimum. I'm saying I prefer not to, because I understand I had to pay for my own wedding if you're flexible. And do you want a few beautiful pieces? It's just as impactful. Sometimes it's having. Flowers everywhere. Just depends. Yeah, I think the budget is kind of mainly my biggest shocker. I think a lot of people don't realize how much the flowers cost. And then the labor that's involved, like people don't realize I start doing their wedding florals, like. Basically Monday or Wednesday is when it all starts for a Saturday wedding. Like theirs. So many hours of prep work, then there's the design. And then there's the. Logistics of getting it all in the pan. Yeah. Um, before we let you go. Anything else you want people to know about you guys? You have working on thoughts, feelings. I'm doing a lot of elopements. I love elopements. Um, I've had so many people pick up stuff, go to the mountain and get married. It's it's fun. It's really fun. And it's a great way to incorporate some gorgeous pieces. If you, uh, Peer in the market for an elopement. Um, I love, I love doing them. They're really nice. I think it's just very personal. So it's very fun. Honestly. Yeah. Uh, uh, nicely curated bouquet out in just, you know, cause I see. These folks have some really Epic photos just up on the mountain tops and stuff, or by the beach. I'm like, I like a little bit, and these are great. Good photos. Yeah. And plus I think that, that gives you just a more, like you said, personalized experience with them where it is like you are just designing like one or two, maybe. And you can make it so catered to them. Um, you know, It's really cool. It's just a really fun experience. Yeah. Well, this has been great. I really appreciate you coming on and it's been fascinating to get to learn about you. Just your, I love it. It never ceases to amaze me, but you know, we do these and I find out, you know, we're studying biology and all these things. And my. Who is it now, but it is. I think it's so indicative, you know, it really helps paint a picture of who you are and the company, what you guys do. And, uh, no, I mean, I think it's always cool to find these stories out. So I appreciate that. And it's so fun to, I love learning about our other vendors too. There's certainly I'm like, man, I didn't know that. That's really cool. So I totally get the feeling. I lived for networking. I think it's so much fun. So yeah. Very cool. You got, you have a lot going on with, with everything, the education in forums and everything. Where would you have people go to check everything out? Yeah. So from the ground up for all.com. Super easy. And then, um, you know, Instagram's from the ground up floral. Pretty all around, just from the ground up florals where he can find me, you Google it, it should come right up. So, yeah. Nice and easy. Yep. Uh, Gina, thank you so much again, if you're a wedding vendor and you're interested in coming on a future episode of the podcast, you can go to bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest. Thanks again and stay safe.

Nathan Allan, Swantown Inn & Spa

Well, Nathan, thank you so much for coming on today. I am so glad that you reached out. We were talking kind of off, you know, before we started recording here. I love to get venues on. I love to get venue owners on. I think it's so great that, you know, I think a lot of other vendors, Oh, I'm like a photographer. I want to come on and share my personality. But I think when it's the venues and people know the venues, I think it's so great to get to know, you know, the history of the people that you know Oh. And, and run them and the personalities there. So thank you so much for coming on. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do? Well, I'm a Nathan Allen and I own this one town in, in spa with my wife, Casey. We actually started doing this about 16 years ago. It was December, 2004. We took over an existing in that had eight, eight or nine years under its belt. And they happened to do weddings and we hadn't really thought about that as part of life, the bed and breakfast experience, but we quickly realized, cause the manifold girls, we got that, how we better learn about weddings a little bit more. My wife and I, that point weren't even engaged. We didn't get engaged until like the first year that we would be doing this. So like 2005 and got married 2006. But we quickly realized that, you know, weddings could be a good little side sort of side hustle. And in the first year or two, we realized that, you know, you can only really do a big wedding in the house, how it stood then during the summer, when the weather's better, that's Washington, it rains and, and touch wood. It's the ever rained on a wedding once. And that worked out perfectly. It was like magical. The, the S the sky opened up and Sunbeams coming down on the spot where we do weddings under an Arbor. And we had about 15 minutes for an outdoor wedding. And then they rushed back inside and their numbers got so small that we were able to do the food and that inside. But that three years ago we built an expansion to the inner ballroom that has the capacity of 85 and has a two bedroom suite underneath it. So it gives us a better place now to, for people to get ready for weddings and then an indoor space, which is got heating and cooling. So even though you can do outdoor weddings here, the months that you can do it here, it gets hot. Everyone wants to get married at three o'clock on a Saturday or Sunday. And with the, the sun out and fading down and, you know, brides are traditionally a little bit late, half an hour behind schedule, and grandma's sitting out there looking like she's going to pass out and you've got to get to that water. It's like quite, you know, it's one of those little side dramas at a bride and groom. Nymphos see. Well, sometimes the groom see, cause they're out sweating like anything else too. It's like, hang on, we gotta get this under way before people pass out. But now, now we have that option that if it's, if it's a 90 degree day, they can do it inside air conditioning. Fantastic. Yeah. It's funny. We we were doing a lot of live streaming weddings right now, just obviously with everything going on. And yet we've definitely had them where they're running that traditional, like 20, 30 minutes late, but we'll have like a hundred people waiting on line, right. To watch it. And I'm like, Hey guys, like, I understand that, you know, the 12 people here that were running late, but you got a hundred people waiting on a computer, then they're like, Hey, what's going on? You know, so yeah. It's, it's funny with that. So we were talking before your accent, how did someone, you said you're from Australia, right? How did Melbourne, how did someone from Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, right. I, Y Y ended up owning a bed and breakfast in Olympia, Washington. I'm so curious to hear the story. That's a long story. So I used to work in it in dot-coms and I was offered a job in Des Moines, Iowa of all places. Yes. I knew Iowa was the center of the country. Not a lot going on pretty cool little city though, for a Midwest city and a half a million people. There's some things to do in that. Keep yourself busy. But I actually owned an old house there too. I owned the older post-master's house, which was sort of cool. Couldn't get over how cheap it was compared to Melbourne. It's like I had a one bedroom apartment in Melbourne and I thought I was lucky. And here I have this like postmasters, small Manx and stuff. The thing that cost me, like nothing like 80 grand, it's like, that's ridiculous. That's the Midwest. There's nothing else to do there. That's why it's a little bit cheaper. You've got to drive for four to six hours. So I am, yeah. I went over for that. And then ended up in the Northwest through some, through an investor so-called in restaurant lease. And that's when I met my wife, Casey. And we quickly moved in together and it was quite funny. Like the first time she cooked for me that I, I think it was our second or third date. She cooked me dinner and I say to her, wow, do you cook breakfast as well, too, but also had three bottles of wine by them. But my prompt was, we'd been talking about how I'd traveled a lot to Europe and stuff, and I really liked bed and breakfast and paint Sean's. And then I said, you know, it at the moment, I'm either going to get burnt out or I'm getting ripped off at the moment. So like, have you ever considered doing something different like that? She worked in banking and we pretty quickly started looking online and then went and visited some Bain bees that were for sale in a very low price points. From today's sort of standards, I suppose real estate around here has got a lot more expensive, but we looked at like land up in the San Juan's. We'd gone kayaking and really funny story because we were kayaking through the San Juan's camping in that. And we paddle pass a sign on to cater Island, which is first Island on the left while second James Island, then Decatur Island is an Island on the left. As you go out to San Juan and orcas Island the Wikipedia thing back to the other way, and here's his signboard land for sale. And it was our phone number, except the prefix, you know, the area code was whatever it is up there. I can't remember. I was like, well, at least we can remember that. So when we got back, because there's this cool little Cove and that, and this point, we're thinking, Oh, we could, we could build like a year villi gins. That would be cool. Could we get back? And we, we really investigated that and grew up pretty close to buying some land and that, and it, it fell through we'd gone on a trip to Australia, my parents and family to meet Casey. At that point we weren't engaged or anything we're just dating, but we came back and we were really disappointed. I looked up online and I found this one town in, I dunno how I hadn't seen it or found it. We we're pretty lucky to find it. And so it just wasn't being marketed as Indiana. It was being sold by a traditional real estate agent and we found this, but an offer on it and it took six months to close on it, but then, then we bought it. There's your long-winded answers? How did I end up here? That's how I ended up right here. And yeah. And then years later, yeah, here we are. That's it. 16 years later, we're married, we've got three kids and it's, it's going okay. Considering current circumstances. I love it. So describe a little bit about the end. You I've looked at the side of like the post I've never actually been there, which is weird. Cause we, you know, we travel all over and down at Olympia, but describe kind of you know, the look and the aesthetic and feel of it. And then I, then I have some obviously some other up questions. Okay. So the Swan tannin is actually the William G. White historical home. He was the builder, he was an actual builder and lumbermen here in Olympia 1887. It was built. It's built in a queen and East Lake style. It was foreclosed upon in 1893 is all the historical houses here where there was a run on the bank. Something like when, you know, when Martienssen mutual went under a few years ago, very similar, but on a smaller scale sort of thing, money-wise it was a lot of money back then that yeah, you could have picked up this place for like two and a half grand back then, but of course you're only making a dollar a week, so inflation. Right. so it's now a five room in, it started off as a four room in, or with private bathrooms, King size beds. We do a three-course breakfast in the morning, but over the last 15, 16 years, we've we've done a lot of, a lot of upgrades renovated, a couple of bathrooms, just a little bit finished floors, changed from painted floors to finished floors. We upgraded all the rooms, having things beds we took breakfast stuff with notch, ed and Lillian bless them and everything, but, you know, they'd had, they'd had enough, they'd been doing this for eight or nine years and they'd had a, a smaller BNB back in Colorado. That was the previous owners. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And they did a great job, but we needed to take it up a knock and it wasn't like a retirement job. It was like our job. That's how we going to make money. Neither office wanted to work outside the home anymore. And w we knew once we had kids and stuff we'd want to both be around. And that's what we do to, probably to our detriment. I probably should have stayed in it and made some money, real money. And then you know, Casey worked in banking VCU, and she has colleagues that she was working with then, you know, 15 years ago than an hour, like VPs and the staff it's like, hang on, you're pretty Chloe. You could have been running the joint by now. It's one of those things like you do. I don't think you do this to get Rick. ALGOL had always been to expand the in or actually flip the in and then get a bigger rain that had a restaurant few more rooms. And that because the, the bigger ones you can have staff but, you know, thanks to the recession in 2008 we really weren't going to be able to sell it then. And then we decided we really love the Limpia Limpia is a great city, and we decided we pursue expanding the in instead. And that's, that's what we've done. I love it. So, and so you said that you traveled a lot to Europe, obviously from Australia. So was the idea that, like you said, you loved the idea of like a bed and breakfast and that whole, you know, feel a book. And so you wanted to kind of bring that, help, bring that to Olympia and kind of elevate that, is that, is that accurate? I wasn't, Well, the fact that there was the Olympia was just by chance, this is where the building was already going concern, but yeah, it's trying to do hospitality. It was something I liked and enjoyed. And my wife liked the idea. She's always loved cooking. Yeah, it was something we could do, be more in control of our own destiny. Like, you know, being self-employed sounds fantastic until you actually are, and you don't have that steady paycheck and that, but, you know, we have good months, we have bad months. It's like this business really has a lot of untapped potential. You know, one of the reasons I'm talking to you is because lots of people haven't heard of us, you know, for a smaller boutique venue. I think we do a really good job, but we have some great reviews in that online. And it's a great way of adding to the happy, calmer feeling of the house to knowing that there's been like literally hundreds of weddings over the last 25 years here. And people typically have good memories of a place then. So if people were to get married there, then do they have the option? Like the bride and groom or the wedding couple, I would say I hate st. Bride and groom, but the wedding couple they're able to, to spend the night and get ready there is that how that works. We have all different sorts of packages. So before we expanded and had the ballroom we have a small parlor and lounge and you can sort of fit 20 or so people in, but we really worked out quickly that we could be specialists in elopements. So we've done that for a long time and we still do. And at the moment it worked really well with the, with the pandemic and that cause you can keep the numbers small and do it safely. We've done a few over the, the time that stuff has been shut down well, all within the governor's guidelines and everything that so we really specialized in a low payments and yes, that would include like a night in our big fancy, a story room that has a jacuzzi tub. And we didn't include the cake then my wife and I can both act as, and, or you can bring your own. We always say though, like for, as far as efficiency go, if you, if you want it like a Catholic priest or a rabbi, you would probably go to the synagogue or the Catholic church for your actual ceremony. So although we have, have we have, we actually, the local rabbi loose across the road from us and we have done a full Jewish ceremony here, which was a lot of fun. But it just, it adds some sort of like mystic feeling to the house, hosting weddings and happy events. That's, that's a great thing, but yes, we, we do offer all different sorts of packages. But really we're sort of, we've been doing this for so long now. It's, it's learning. What's going to be working for people moving forward. I think there's like a new normal happening and people don't always see the value in our packages until they do it because we, we offer rooms. We can sleep now up to 14 people here. So you can have your, your wedding party stay here the night before, or the night of you can have like guests that are traveling in from out of state. We also try to partner with local hotels. So if there is a big sort of more destination type wedding that there's overflow capacity, this is gonna have 14 people. Isn't a lot, But no, but I think it's good. And that cause, and that's why I always like to share about venues like yours is I don't think it can be overstated how nice it is to be able to spend the night before your wedding at the venue that you're going to do it, you know, and it could be like a big hotel too, but, but being able to do it, I always, we had a wedding years ago and it was like an Airbnb out in like Manson out by Shalane. And it was, it was a similar idea where, you know, the wedding couple could stay, you know, a couple, you know, the brother party, whatever, I mean, same, you know, 14 people, whatever. And, and being able to come in as vendors and have them feel just a little bit more comfortable in a space then, you know, we're trying to drag in all the crap day up. We're trying to set up everything. People are losing stuff. Okay. Now we got to get ready to go. We gotta pull all this stuff out. Being able to kind of just be there for that time of your wedding, I think is a really understated how nice that is as someone that, you know, we got married. Obviously we do a lot of weddings, you know, to and from and everything else, being able to inhabit that space for the duration of your wedding, I think is a really understated how just much more relaxing that can be, you know, for us, It allows people to settle in, especially if they do the night before. And like you said, dragging in all their stuff, they're not doing it two hours before the wedding time. They're doing it and able to, when those extra people start showing up, they already know how to navigate the property. It's simple things. I know where the restrooms are and that sort of thing. It's, it, it really is all about not stressing out the bride in particular, but the couple, you know, we always say we do stress-free weightings here. You can stress out and micromanage your wedding to the ends degree. And we've literally had a microbiologist stay with us who did that for a tiny wedding like that. She had the, the time that when they played here comes the bride type music, she had the exact beat where every couple in the wedding party had to take off. And what's that walking down the aisle is like, wow, this is pretty full on. But if that makes them happy that that's great, that made her happy. But we, we also have a lot of weddings that are a lot less formal show up as you are, if you want. That, that doesn't happen very often, but people doing themes even, but more casual. W we always say that a wedding should be about the couple your guests are there to support you, not the other way around. And th there, there still is that sort of wedding that you go to, that it's a huge event, and it's all about the food and the venue. And you sort of see the cuff all gets forgotten a little bit, but we really like, we call them more. We, we name our weddings elopements for the little tiny ones and then a petite for about 30 or so, and then intimate for the 85 or so they're not huge weddings. They're not like two, 300 people in the past. We've gone up to about 110 outside, but we've changed the way the property works and that, and we enjoy doing those smaller weddings more. Yeah. It's more, more relaxed. Well, and honestly, that's probably going to be how the trend goes for at least for a little while here and now is, you know, I think we are not going to be seeing these big 300 person weddings for, you know, a couple of seasons just while we kind of figure out what this new everything's going to look like. Yeah. So I definitely think being positioned in that allotment and then the, and it's not even like a small wedding, like I think Dorothy and I had, I think we had 112 people at our wedding, and that was a big wedding. I mean, 85 people is a lot of people that have that way. I mean, I know we owe it, you know, and I'm guilty of it too, you know? Oh, you know, unless it's like a 200 person, whether you're just a small way, deaths is still, it's still a ton of people coming to celebrate. I mean, it's still definitely. Yeah. Oh yeah. It's definitely fun, but you'll, you'll the way I always put it when people are looking at the numbers and going, Oh, I don't know if I could get it down to that many. I'll always use the example of like, do you really need, you know, aunt Betty that you've met once in your life, that your mum really wants to have their, like, is mom paying for the wedding? If mom's paying for the wedding. Yeah. Aunt Betty gets to come, but if you're paying for the wedding, it's going to be about you. I could see you being a good person the yet to walk through, like, do you really like that person? Do you really think I've never gone through a list with anyone, but it would be interesting. I, the people, and, you know, I only say that to people that I feel have a good sense of humor, too. You have to sort of be careful because, you know, on Betty might mean a hell of a lot to the me, even though that they've only met her once. It is tricky having that small, a number because people have expectations through like, you know, the media, they see the, the pilot it's in your round two and it'd be like, Oh, they want that perfect wedding video, but they don't realize that it took 12 hours to set up the lighting for that just one shot. So you can't get that Pinterest wedding without spending a lot of money. So it's smaller weddings, I think are great for people on a budget. And yeah. Anyway, That's good. What did being an it person from, you know, Australia and then to Iowa, has that set you up well for, you know, what, what aspects of that have set you up well for success now and owning a wedding venue cause right. Cause I can't imagine back when you were in Melbourne that you fell, I'm gonna own a, you know, a bed and breakfast wedding venue in Olympia. So what, what, what kinds of, because I'm always so curious when we do these podcasts everyone's story, you know, kind of the traits they learn along the way that they're able to write, reflect and where, you know, like I'm a different wedding videographer than someone else that has different, you know, perspectives. So what things have you learned along the way in your travels that make you Excel now as, as running the, you know, whether you menu? Well my area of expertise was like product and project management. So that's sort of like that, that translates to other things like managing all the little ins and outs of weddings and making sure you've got enough of everything and yeah, the little micromanaging stuff. And we take care of a lot of that stuff as part of our packages here and don't necessarily need a lot of outside vendors. And that's how we keep some of our pricing more affordable. Having that tech background too, and having done a lot of online marketing, you know, build our own websites and host them and everything that helps somewhat saves on on costs from an app perspective something that I'm working on with I've got a, I've got a great friend back in Iowa where the does photography and some videography stuff. And that, and he's helped me get set up a little bit doing live streaming. I got myself one of those ATM mini pros and not that I've done much with it, I've just fiddled around with it and played. And it's great fun to play with tech stuff. And I bought some cheaper cameras and we'll offer it to start with as like a free add on because we realized that these people that are getting married with like that eight to, I think the top number we can do is 30. They did want grandma to still be able to see the wedding, but it's not safe for grandma to come anymore, so she doesn't have to miss it. We can stream it and do it with a few different camera angles and you know, I've got to get some more practice under my belt for that. And it's probably not going to be the same anywhere near the same quality of something you do, if it's, that's your full-on area of expertise, but it's a way that I can provide more value to couples. And it was always the plan because, because of that whole thing that we can only do 85 people or the people that can only afford to do a wedding for 50, how can we get it out to their biggest circle of friends? And it's not stuff that's not, it's not rocket science. We hope to be able to do it well. You know, if I had thousands of dollars, I'd be setting it up with the black magic cameras and mounting them and all that, like this awesome tech out there, the stuff you can do now on a budget is stuff that was real life TV, 10, 20 years ago, thousands of dollars worth of equipment put into a, a tiny little box. Do you, so you guys are very involved in everything, right? Like you said, you can help officiate, you know, obviously you guys help with the food and everything is that do, do you enjoy just like, cause the kids is different, right? Like there's some, you know, some venue owners are really, hands-on, some are really hands-off somehow, you know, staff or, you know, I mean there's a whole bunch of different varieties. Do you enjoy being a part of that celebration? And, and what kinds of experiences do you help provide for the couples that want to get married at your guys' venue? I mean, how do you, you know, re like kind of coming up with live streaming stuff, I mean, how do you rise above and kind of help give them the good, the good that experience? Well, I think Jen here in Olympia that the County tourism VCB visitors and convention Bureau runs a wedding collaborative, which is like a group of wedding vendors and venues that sort of work together and meet normally a few times a year and throw, throw together some ideas. We've done some fam tours for event planners and wedding planners, that sort of thing, just to make them more familiar with what's available down here in Thurston County has up where you are. Some of the venues are very expensive nowadays, not if people can afford it, but we also noticed to maybe a lesser degree there's people, even from our area, they can't afford our area. They get pushed down into the Centralia Shayla's area. There's some venues down there that are really affordable that what we like to try and do by providing like a one-stop shop is that we can work with vendors for you. At the moment we can't do catering ourselves. We're working again with the EDC to actually commercialize our kitchen. And so we can do that. We do do breakfast for overnight guests. That's what we can legally do, but we're, we're working on commercializing our kitchen so we can do the catering as well. Now, One Of the things that may change at the moment because of the pandemic, but at the, in the past, it's been caterers don't really want to come out for less than 50 people. So typically we would work with restaurants that have small function spaces and that they do their wedding here and maybe the cake and that, and then we'd recommend for the very small weddings to head off to a great restaurant, because for bang, for buck, why not get table service and that at You know, being Able to be full service and also be able to provide like a commercial kitchen Fourcade or is that we've worked with, we, like, we like to work with local vendors. We've had a couple of occasions where people have gone and use someone out of Seattle and that, and it hasn't worked as well, especially for food. But it's having those relationships with, you know, everything from florists to chocolateers to photographers. That's that that's a tough one. Photographers seem to come and go a little bit around here or they're extremely expensive and were, well, people are paying more for the photographer than they are for the actual wedding, eh, which, yeah, I don't know, but we probably need to look at our price points in that too, because we would like to be in more that upper, less Exelon of of weightings where it's full service, they're getting a really premium product, but it's like tapping into it too. That can be a little tricky. One of our problems is we've now got this ballroom now that we call it the grand Victorian ballroom. And it's great. It's a fantastic space, everyone that loves it, but it's not how people see us. And, you know, we're adjusting our marketing at the moment breaking out the, that is a separate website so people can see it and sort of understand. So Google, so Google and the likes of Google, look at it a little bit differently. We're not just a bed and breakfast. It does weddings where a venue that also has a bed and breakfast, those the other way around. And I, I think there's a lot of value to that, that people don't see the ability like we're talking before about being able to say here the night of night after, even with the smaller light allotments, it's turning it into a mini honeymoon. We do have the on-site spa, unfortunately not running at the moment, but it's a great way that people can relax. The next day everyone's gone home. They spend an extra couple of days and they get massages and everything, and Olympia is a more exciting, I don't know, exciting Stripe hood. There's a lot more to Olympia than people sort of get over our 15, 16 years here. We've seen so many people that stay with us and that may be nothing to do with weddings, but they'll look and go, ah, it's this, the state Capitol function of boring politicians and, you know, our state workers that have it way too good sort of thing. But there's a, there's a really vibrant arts vibe here. We'd have a couple of arts walks and out that a fantastic, we have a beautiful waterfront and boating really close to national parks, state parks. There's this a ton to do here that I don't think a lot of people realized until they stopped for a while. W what's interesting is, you know, where you guys are kind of always trying to innovate and continue to expand. It's, it's difficult, you know, for every, for every type of vendor, you know, if you're a photographer for us, but to have a venue and continuing to try to like innovate and add new things, you know, where can we provide value? I mean, it's just, do you enjoy that, that constant self-improvement, you know, as someone that, you know, that worked in it that had other jobs, but now this is your guys is, you know, for lack of a better word, it's your creation now that you guys bought them, you know, bought the Airbnb, you've owned it long enough. I mean, you've invested so much of your time. Do you enjoy that discontinuing self-improvement that way and figuring out, like, how can we innovate and add new value? Yes. like it really is it's, you know, it's taken probably, ah, I'd say until we built the expansion, the instill felt like from some perspectives that we taken over someone else's, you know, when we first moved in, we got rid of the doilies for the most part part and, and made it a little more modern. I, I put in things over the last few years, like, you know, USB plugins and that by the beds. And we moved in and we put in great wifi. That was the first thing we did literally. And you know, I keep that up today. Like we, a couple of months ago, we upgraded our wifi to wifi six and we want to provide a premium product. And sometimes it's really unexpected, especially when you look at the younger millennials and that, that haven't stayed in bean bees when they do, they're like, wow, this has got everything I expected. You'd like, you've got some tech stuff up there and that, and no, we don't have TVs in the rooms. This suite has one in our lounge has one, but that's not why people come to BnBs. They come to you to like reconnect and get away from the tech. And everyone now carries around a tablet. Anyway, if they desperately want to watch something, they can use a tablet, but, you know, America is just so fast paced. It's nice to provide a, not back to basics, but you know, just a more relaxed sort of environment for people to chill out in. I guess that's a really good question. So, and obviously people stay in tube and especially the weddings. Is it, is it millennials that find it almost like a novelty to stay there? Or is it like, what is the demographic of who is, who is attracted to get married at your guys' place? It's really broad. It's we, we scan a lot of second weddings, like people getting remarried that are a little older thirties, forties we've even done like people in their sixties. We've done a couple of recommitment type ceremonies predominantly I would say it's 20 something through to early thirties. We do. But it's really all over the spectrum, but that's our marketing or the appeal of our property is that, you know, if you don't like an old Victorian home, you're probably not going to get married here. Right. it's not generic in any sort of way. It's, it's, it's themed without being themed deliberately, if that makes sense. Oh, absolutely. But so, but then you think that they, they enjoy like the novelty of being able to do that. I mean, like those, the younger, the 20, 30 year olds, I mean, what, like, what do they say when they tour? Like, what is their reaction, you know, do you hear like, Oh, this, you know, I mean, like I said, is it that novelty that, that they enjoy it? I think, yeah. The, the historic viewpoint, like, Oh, wow, this house is old, it's old, it's historic. And there's extra details put into when it was built. Like the Eastlake style was a very short-lived star, the last seven or eight years. That's a subset of queen Anne Victorian. And it was because in that little short period of time, people had way too much money. So they made their houses look fancier and put all these extra doodads on the outside. Reaching out to take 10 times longer to paint and stuff though, you know, but people don't build houses like this anymore. They re they really don't. Unless you're extremely wealthy, you wouldn't go to all the trouble of putting in the extra staff, extra adornments, that sort of thing Is there that is tremendous for a house of that age. Well, let's take an S like I was saying, it's taken us probably 12 of the 15 years to sort started getting it to where we want building that expansion was like a 10 year dream. We worked with the small business development center here, and we had to get alone and all that sort of thing. And at BNB is just like something, it's a business type that people just don't understand. They really don't like we live on sites. So this and benefits financially that way. But people don't understand that we've had lenders go, well, where do you live? I was like, well, we live out the back and a little bit of it that it has, it's making this, our own has taken a long time, the maintenance and that really it's, it's nonstop. It's everything from like, we have some gardens out the front page, double gardens that we tend to, and they get a little bit better every year. And, you know, we still have some hardscaping we'd love to take care of in our parking area, we've got a gravel car park where it's functional and it's what it's been for 25 30 years, but I'd love it to look prettier, but no one's going to pay any more for a wedding while perhaps they would. I don't know, but, well, perhaps it'd be easier to sell a wedding if you pulled up. And it was a beautiful cobblestone parking area, but we're always working on something and there's, you know, there's those projects. You think that they're only going to take your week and they ended up taking a month. You know, we like to host a lot of different events and that here give back to the community. And we normally host like a Santa event and Santa can't come this year. I even thought about creating like a plexiglass, like box to point them in. But like, it's one of the things we do in Easter bunny. One, which we canceled this year. We do a Santa one and we do a Halloween one, which we canceled. We're only up after our second on that, but we've been doing Santa here for free for seven or eight years. And we raised some money for the food bank and take some donations. But this year we're working on a, like a little project we're going to put up like a community notice board and we're going to do letters to Sandra and stead. And because my mailbox was taken out by some sort of drunk driver recently, Claire, re-purposing the old mailbox. And it's the latest to Santa one now. Yeah, it's like turning a positive, a negative into a positive, but you know, just trying to do cool things show that we're part of the community that as well. I love that. Yeah. Especially being down in the Olympia where it's removed from Seattle and really just embracing kind of the, the community and the culture that is around there, I think is great. You know, and especially like as a, you know, as a hotel, more or less, you know, you're having people come and be there and, and, you know, yeah, look at all this great stuff you can do and look at all these different things. I mean, you're, you're selling not only your venue, but also the area that you're in as long as to attract people. So, yeah, It's a great little neighborhood. I've, I've like lived all over the place. I, the country and other States, Aaron limpy is really good from a community viewpoint. And that's something we want our property to be part of the community, not just to the people that, that come for weddings and that because who knows, we might see them on their anniversary. We might not. But long after those people have left, we've still got our same neighbors. And, you know, we want to provide some value to them be more than just a neighbor When you're not running the venue. Obviously you're married. You have your kids talk about it a little bit. Cause obviously, you know, you guys are part of the venue and everything too. And, and you live there talking about your family and what's going on with all that. Well I have three little kids, eight, eight, 10, and 12. Of course they're, they're doing virtual schooling at the moment. We dropped out of Olympia school district and we're doing a Wilder, which is a K-12 program and they're really excelling. It's been a great decision in these weird times. I feel like my life at the moment revolves about around doing little projects and eating. I love food. That's a problem needs to get back to the gym. We stopped going to the gym when we was starting to build the expansion worst decision of our lives. We didn't think we had time for it. And we're actually starting to look pretty good now, thanks to my wife, being a fantastic cook and me liking the ate too much, put on a few pounds. And it's a great thing, keeping fit and active, but yeah, we, we like to get out there and hike and stuff. It's something you can still do at the moment, which is great and go out for walks and do a little bit more extreme things are not extreme but longer hikes and that when we can having this sort of business ties you to the property a bit. So we work on things like growing more in our garden. We, we are my oldest and I started beekeeping about six, seven years ago. So we have bees out the back of the property which is sort of cool that, yeah, it's sort of, I suppose, we've, we're quite, family-focused sort of weird at the moment though, because of the whole pandemic thing, it was like remembering what was life like before? And like we, yeah, we, we, well now you can't go out for meals or anything. Not that we were doing that a ton, but you know, try to support your local restaurants and that it's, it's still, you can see the bones of limpy are still there and it's looking great. Like, like I was talking about the waterfront, we went for a walk there the other day and there's a lot of development happening along there. It's a it's a great waterfront, or it really is. I think people take it for granted, some new restaurants going in along the boardwalk. It's really, I suppose in the last 30 years, I know I haven't been here that long, but I love history, but you know, 30 years there was a place to park boats and that's a place that you can sit and in a restaurant and look at the boats. Anything else before we let you go, anything else you wanted to make sure you share? I do. I think it's important to know, you know, looking at your site and everything, just like you said, the flexibility of, you know, packages and sizes and things, and being able to accommodate, you know, smaller weddings up to the, you know, obviously the, the government mandated weddings now and then, you know, later, but I think it just provides a lot of flexibility kind of for whatever couples are looking for and wanting to partake in that. Any other I thing about that you you'd want to share before we let you go to bed? Well, yeah, we, we do provide packages that are sort of preset, but we can also do our carts, but the reason why we provide the packages is because a lot of people don't realize what all the costs and that again, to be when you go out like heart, Leah, you're paying for all those different services and vendors separately. I really don't think people put that all into their total budget. I I'd say most of our weddings are somewhere between the five and 10 grand Mark, the bigger weddings, but we do do allotments that are $800. We even offer like a quickie drop-in elopement that literally is like Vegas style, you know, for 300 bucks, it's a nicer place than going to our Thurston County courthouse. It's, you know, there's, there's nothing pretty about the 1970s building. But yeah, I think we like to try to be really transparent with what we do here and make it so it's stress free for you. So that's probably why we do get a lot of second time brides and grooms. But we can do the full-on weddings too. They just gonna cost more. We where you have your videographers and photographers with backup photographers and a wedding rehearsal, dinners, all that sort of thing. We can do it all. It's just, you know, just depends on your budgets. I like, I like the flexibility of it. And like I said, I liked the being able to you know, be there and be present and be a part of it too. I just think I appreciate venues that I think, you know, I think some venues you get so locked into, you know, this is what we provide, or this is the hours, or this is whatever, and it's difficult. It's challenging for people. And especially now with everything going on, I mean, people have different needs and there's different things, you know? So I, I think that that's great to have that flexibility and be able to offer different options for people is great. Yeah, It definitely is. I also think from a location viewpoint Olympia is a really great central spot. We get a lot of couples where it's, you know, Portland versus Seattle and we're a great central spot for families to stay. And now those people can turn their stay for the wedding into longer, you know, if you're flying in from other States and that Washington, state's a great state to explore. It's, it's not a very well-promoted state tourism is a big deal, but you know, and that from our national parks, what I always say is that within two hours of Olympia in just do about anything you put your mind to, you really can from skiing to surfing, hiking and biking, like it really does offer it all. It's a very diverse area. It's fantastic. So, you know, maybe the wedding industry needs to be involved more with the tourism industry and, you know, get that little bump, especially with as we reopen up in that. Yeah. Anyway, I've got an opinion on everything, right. I think it's great. Well, I'm so glad that we could connect about this. Like I said, I love, yeah. Obviously having new voices come on and then new vendors that I don't know and especially venues. And so I really appreciate it. I think it looks like a great property. I think you guys have a lot to offer in terms of, like I said, flexibility, you know, beauty looking for that sort of aesthetic. I just think there's a lot of the positives about it. So thank you so much for, you know, coming on today, taking the time. We're always trying to find new vendors to come on. And sometimes it's, it's easier than not. We post one of these every week. And so I encourage if anyone's listening to definitely reach out, you know, and make sure that we can get out there and just share these stories and the people behind it, and, you know, the people that maybe have seen your venue online or have driven by it, or I've heard about it to know, you know, the people and the family and everybody behind it. I think it's incredibly valuable. So, Yeah. Thanks a lot for having me read. It's a interesting thing to do. Yeah. The more people know about us the better, hopefully see you at a wedding here sometime 2020. I would love it. Where would you have people go check you guys out if they want more information for, so for the BNB There, you can go to Swan tan in.com. And like I was talking about with our marketing, we've also have Olympia weddings.com that has our wedding packages and a new site that we've got up and going is the grand Victorian ballroom.com. Now that has a virtual walkthrough on it at the moment, which is handy saying, you know, w we'll still do it to her mosque up and come and do it to her. But if you want to see it looking pretty and everything, you can do a a walkthrough of the venue from the comfort of your home, It was pretty well, thanks again. I think I, obviously the it background, you bring a lot to running the venue. And so I definitely think that that pays off, you know, and being able to market what you guys need to do. So, yeah. Yeah. this has been another episode of get to know your wedding pro check back next time for another wedding vendor interview.

Quyen Huynh, Song River

Well Quyen, thank you so much for joining us today. Uh, I, I was telling you before we started recording, I still appreciate getting either the venue owners, you know, managers, people that are in charge of the venues on this podcast. I think a lot of the vendors, you know, if they think, okay, well, if I'm not like a DJ or a photographer or whoever. Um, people don't want to get to know me. And I think that that couldn't be further from the case. Right. Were you are, you know, one of the faces of your, of your venue, you know, uh, regularly posting online sharing, which I appreciate. And so thank you so much for, um, you know, reaching out. I put out kind of my bat signal last week, looking for new guests to come on. And so I really appreciate it. Uh, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do. Sure. Sure. So thank you so much for you for having me on the call today. The truth is I totally thought that I wouldn't qualify to go on your podcast is I've seen your podcast so many times and I love it. I'm like, gosh, all these fun people on there. And I thought, Oh, he's probably looking for more interesting people. So. I'm glad I saw your post last week on, uh, online, because I wouldn't have known otherwise to reach out to you. This is, this is fun, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. So my name is Quinn. I own some river, it's a wedding and event venue in Monroe, Washington, which is about 15 minutes. East of Everett and about 35 minutes East of Seattle, um, It's been, we've been having the venue for a couple of years now. Um, it's been a fun, exciting time for us. Um, COVID has been really interesting and, um, I look forward to talking to you more about how COVID has been affecting us, but generally who I am. I'm kind of, I tell people this all the time read, I'm kind of a professional community. I've done so many things and so many fun things in my life. And they also diverse. So about 15 years ago, my husband and I set out to start a restaurant. We did that for a few years, enjoyed it tremendously. And then we had more kids, you know, which did you know that they actually take up your time? And in most societies, it is frowned upon to neglect your children who knew right. So we did. To sell the business. As you know, restaurant business can be really busy. And, um, we've been active. Are real estate investors and entrepreneurs for the last two decades. We've been doing that for a long time now, but our day job or a day-to-day job is actually in healthcare. Um, my husband is a pharmacist. He specializes in psych and addiction, and I am a family nurse practitioner who specialized in working with underserved and disenfranchised population. I'm also a college professor of teaching doctoral students at Seattle university college of nursing. So how the heck did I get into wedding? Um, about three years ago, we had a tenant who was interested in turning one of our buildings into a wedding venue. They started some renovation, but then their business partnership broke up. And they couldn't move forward. So my husband and I decided to take over, we thought, well, you know, weddings, Sounds like a lot of fun. We've done a lot of fun things. So let's try this and how hard can it be? Right. Well, We were in for a ride and a steep learning curve. So that's how, that's how we got here. Uh, now I definitely want to hear about all of that and I don't, you know, when it comes to COVID stuff, You know, the venues, I mean, Hit harder than anybody just because, you know, back in, in March and April, when all this, you know, I told my wife, I said, I, you know, I can kind of just hibernate and not really, you know, do a lot, right. Try to like conserve resources and all these other things. You know, when you have a venue and there's upkeep and you're trying to take care of everything. And you're trying to, I mean, it's just, it's a whole different world and paying taxes and B properties. I'll all the different stuff that goes into it. Uh, but I think it's so interesting hearing your, um, Backstory because I, and I've always said this on the podcast from the beginning, you know, Everyone's path to get to where they are as a, as a wedding vendor. Right. So kind of. It makes us all different. Right. And it's just so unique to hear you. You could have two photographers and they have totally different paths and they both do the same thing. And it's the same with venues and trying to figure out, you know, You know, why someone owns something or is running it and what they want to, you know, create out of that are, you know, have it be a thing is, is awesome. So why don't you. Describe a little bit about your venue for people that haven't been there. You know, I see you post all the time and I've seen the website in your photos and stuff, but talk about your, what your venues like. Sure. Yes. So small river. And as I said, it's located in Monroe, um, and it is an indoor venue. Um, we don't have outdoor spaces is strictly indoor, but we try to bring the outdoors inside by incorporating certain elements. Like Riverstone's like floral. Um, like arbors and arches. So we do a lot of that. Um, it's quite a large space. Uh, the main space is about 8,000 square foot. So technically we can host 400 person events. Now, of course that's not happening right now. Uh, but what that also means is that we have a lot of space, most social distancing. So we've been able to hold smaller weddings and been able to keep, you know, pretty much everyone as far apart from each other and as close as possible. Um, it. The venue has a, um, Classic elegant, um, indoor field. Ballroom field. So it's, um, you know, I always tell my clients as they are interested or when they're inquiring and ask them, what kind of venue do you envision your wedding to be in? What, what do you see? As you think about your wedding and oftentimes they will, you know, have an idea of what they like. And ours is the classic elegant. But we also are very chic and modern too. And depending on what decor you utilize, um, with your, with your florist, or would you don't call artists or if you use our decor closet? Cause we have a big closet. We can use as well. Um, they can do that and it can really transform this space into the field that they want it to be. Whether it's modern, chic, classic, elegant. Or shopping sheet. We've had some of that as well. Um, and just little bit of elements of rustic. Um, so yeah, that's, that's the venue and we've had it and we've been running it for a couple of years, having lots of fun. So as I'm looking here on this side, so it used to be the Eagles club up in Monroe, like a, like a social gathering spot. Right. And, and it's kind of going through, so when you guys I'm reading here, you know, it w it was kind of a watering hole and then, you know, a barbecue and then the restaurant, and then before it. Um, Became your guys' has been used. So when you guys kind of took over, were you able to really put your own touches and everything into it and really kind of tailor it to how you and walk through that process? Cause you know, I know like some people, you know, by venues and they're kind of preset or you're building from scratch, but where you're kind of inheriting this. You know, more or less historical, you know, it's been, they're building, you know, you're taking over, what was that process like? Yeah. So we bought the building over in 2000, actually end of 2000 early, 2007, early 2008. And at the time it was the Eagles club. Right. And so I don't know if. A lot of people know about the Eagles club, but it's really kind of like a friendly family friendly community space where people come together and hang out. Um, and so we want it to retain that feeling. So what we did was, um, we saw that we, we need it to actually do a lot to the space because it was much more enclosed. There weren't very many windows. And, um, not a lot of lighting in there. So we took down a bunch of walls. Opened up the space. Added three huge, large picture windows at the front. So to let the light and, um, and then of course we, they also have a commercial kitchen in there. So we went in and looked at the commercial kitchen. And totally redid the commercial kitchen and brought it up to code. Um, because at the time when we started taking over this building, we wanted to make it a restaurant. So that's what we did. We turned into an Asian fusion Northwest, uh, type of restaurant. And we had a lot of fun with it. Totally transformed the space. Um, and then of course, as I mentioned earlier, kits, I've been writing a lot. Things. And so we saw the space out, we sold the business. That we, we still held onto the building. We sold the business of. And so it became a steak house for a while, and that was a lot of fun. Every tenant we had the common there, uh, they had put their own touches. They would, you. Floor, we do the walls at decor. And then when they were out, we had a different tenant. Then it was a barbecue joint for several years. So every five years or so, it kind of took a little transformation. And then three years ago, when we finally took over, because the last tenant we had as a, they wanted to do a wedding venue. We went in and we said, okay, well, they started the process less finish it. And, and so we took down some more walls. We opened the space up even bigger because previously as restaurants, they headed sectioned out to be, you know, meeting space, you know, dining rooms and things like that. We opened it all up. Uh, we looked at some of the storage spaces and thought, Oh gosh, you know, we need a, we need a bridal room. We need a glimpse room. We need to get ready rooms in general. Right? So for the couples to get ready. So we took some of that space and gut it, everything out, put in, you know, mirrors, putting furniture and just read it, the floor, the walls, everything. So we are very excited because we just did it again in that crazy. We did it again with one of the other smaller ones. We decided that we're going to make it pretty too. So we just went in and did that same process. Um, and, uh, I just learned. And, uh, recently that I have an addiction to buying pretty things. So, if you ever hear anything pretty on sale, you just give me a ring and I'll be, I'll be right there. Where did all this, you know, you said you walked in and you, you know, it was partway through the process you guys, you know, had to, had to kind of take it to conclusion. Is that just your knowledge from years past, I'm kind of going through all the different work that you've done. I mean, how do you, not everybody just walks in and knows, right? Like, well, this is clearly, this is what needs to be done to turn it into a wedding video. I mean, where did that knowledge and expertise come from or was it kind of trial and error? Well, it's a little bit of both read. Um, as I said, my husband and I have been in, uh, in. You know, as real estate investors for a while. So we know how buildings work, we know how our codes and working with the cities. We know how all of that works. Um, we also have, uh, a lot of colleagues and friends in the fam family and friends who own, um, spaces for events and. And venues and weddings and things like that. And so we actually, you know, called up and said, Hey it this way. This was you, what would you do? And so we depended a lot on the expertise of those around us. Um, what I also did the last couple of years is that, um, I just thought how colleagues in the industry read. I really feel like it's all about networking. Um, I remember making a Facebook post in one of the wedding vendor groups, uh, asking if anyone was willing to mentor me. I was like, I will cook for you. I will take you out. We're going to hang out. You know? Um, and I met a lot of really nice to find people and conversations and working together. At these events, I began to learn on the job, right. So it's been a process. We didn't just jump in two years ago and she just boom, turning into what it looks like today. It was just little bit by little bit by little bit. So what clients saw a couple of years ago? Is not the same thing they see today. And in a couple of weeks, it will be a little bit different because we're working on making those changes as well. Um, Like I said, I met a lot of really nice kind people and there were absolute, absolute moment of me saying, gosh, I don't know the answer to this. But if I have a thick. And as long as I think it with the professionals by my side, maybe I'll make it. And I think I've, I've made it. Um, and then I also went and took an eight week course on how to run a wedding venue. I hired a coach. I read a lot of books and the best part, my husband and I spent so many hours scheming and dreaming, and it's been just a fun and fulfilling, fulfilling adventure so far. Scheming and dreaming. That's good. Uh, I want to know what was the biggest surprise for you kind of entering the wedding industry? Like you said, you know, obviously you, you call on colleagues and ask questions and stuff, but you know, in your head when you fell, okay, we're going to do this wedding venue thing. What was the. Yeah, most surprising or thing that you learned. Yeah, maybe that you didn't expect Gideon and all this. Yes. I think the biggest surprise is how much my husband and I love it. We we know, we like a lot of things. We know we like adventure. But we didn't realize how much we love this. It just, I mean, it would, it just came so natural. Like we started meeting with clients and the next thing you know, I'm sitting there talking to them like we're besties and we're just like, what do you, what do you want on your wedding? What do you see? You know, what are some of the things that you imagine could happen? And I just felt like home. Um, I think that's, that's a huge surprise is I, you know, in healthcare and in education. There's a lot of, part of my brain. That's very much analytical. This is totally different read. This is very much, very much artistic, right? So it's like a part of my range is switched on that. I didn't realize was there before it's like a completely different set of muscle. Um, I absolutely love it. I think that's the biggest surprise for me. Um, the other surprise that's less fun. I would say would be. Maintenance of a building, according to what couples want. So, you know, we went into it thinking, Oh gosh, If we weren't getting married, this is what we would want. Well read, we haven't been getting married since 17, 18 years ago, so. Our idea of what, what things should be like is not the same thing as a 24 year old, you know? Newly engaged, couple of thinking, gosh, this is what they want. And so my husband and I have had many, many disagreements where we are like, no, that's not what somebody else would want. And he would be like, but I think it's artistic. And I'm like, no, no, no. But remember we took that coaching section and they said, it's not what we want is what the clients want. So that was a little bit of a switch for us because in our own fields we've been experts for so long in healthcare and in education. That it was easy for us to just be like, this is what should happen. But this, we are novice now we've turned completely one 80 and now we are new. And learning that is not about us. It's about the couple. And suddenly it's actually a lot of fun because it's just like so much. Inflammation and everybody you meet is different and being able to make it happen for them. It's exciting. So, yeah, a different kind of challenge. It's it's so tough with that. Cause you know, as someone that, you know, puts together videos for people that was when the, the, the things I struggled with the most for a long time, right. Is. Is, um, you know, being invested in the video, but still being able to remove the, uh, my own personal taste right. At the end of it, because, you know, I might spend 40 hours, right. Putting together a wedding video, and then you send it to the people and they're like, Oh, we hated. Or we want something different than, you know what I mean? But I mean, to, to. But it has to be even more challenging, right. When it's able, this is, you know, I've always spent, you know, a couple of days working on something. I mean, this is your guys's venue, right? I mean, you own it. You've put in, you know, a lot of blood and sweat and tears, you know, as. Then to have people come in. I have to just imagine that there's a learning curve. I mean, it is. It was really hard, no matter what kind of industry you're in any way, but it's really hard to remove that your personality from. What you do as a business. Right. And so, yeah, I could definitely, I could definitely see, uh, you know, you set something up one way and then someone comes in and then you're like, Oh no, Yes. Well, exactly. And I mean, an example of that was, um, last year my husband bought this beautiful, beautiful. Huge setup of a fireplace it's made of teak wood. Okay. So teak wood is very, very heavy, very high quality. I mean, one of the best wood around. And, um, it has a beautiful cherry finish. So he was like, this is great. Everybody's going to love this. You put it on what? In the room I looked at it and I said, Oh, I don't love it. And he's like, well, don't worry, everybody else will love it. And so we had couples that come in and we had clients and some loved it and some didn't. And finally I sent, you know, as not neutral enough. So what did we do yesterday? We went out and bought a new fireplace. This just happened yesterday. We bought a brand new one that is now more neutral in color is white, so that it allows for more easier to core. Whereas before, I mean, just beautiful. Teakwood that has the cherry finish looks great in a really nice home. Right. Not so much. Well venues though. My husband and I, you know, we're constantly learning and we're constantly taking feedback. And I think that's one of the biggest thing here is to learn, to take feedback. And to incorporate it in a way where, you know, Uh, it's not all about you. It's it's your venue is your space, but it's not about the people that are going to make beautiful memories there. Yeah, it's tough with the venues because you want it to be, you know, it's got to have personality, it's got to have traits that attract the couple, you know, to want to book there. Right. But then, like you said, it does need to be neutral enough or have the ability, you know, be malleable enough or whatever, so that they can bring in their essence. So it's tough. It's really tough with the venue because yeah, you might. I remember, um, we. So Dorothy and I got married at salty is in West Seattle and it's like looking over the water. Right. And the, you know, the backdrop is like the whole city of Seattle. And she, this is a true story. And, but the dock is only like six feet wide. It's a really, it's a really shallow, so you don't really get an aisle, right? You don't get to walk down the 50 foot aisle that she wanted. And so they said, well, you can, you can turn, um, you can turn the ceremony sideways and then you can walk the whole length of the dock. Right. Then you get this or you come out and you walked down the whole thing, but then you're basically looking like at a parking lot, right. You're not looking at the, you know, the city you're looking. And my life goes. Oh, I think that sounds like a really good idea. And I'm like, no, the whole reason of us getting married at this place is that be able to look at the city in the background. I was like, I'm not, I'm not going to come and set up our ceremony sideways. So everybody's looking at the parking lot just so you can, but you know, But, but you know, they're, they're trying to make it work. Right. And we're finding stuff that we like about it than not. And it is it's that give and take, right. You know, whether we want and then what can we change? And I, yeah, I, I, that was the one thing I really did have to put my foot down on and say, You know, we're not going to do that. Yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think there's always pros and cons to every venue that you're going to go to. And, um, I think that one of the things that make song river. Easier to work with is how flexible we are and how willing we are to work with our couples. We provide a lot of things with our venue. We provide all the tables and chairs and we actually, one of the best. Investment we made was we actually went out and bought Rodney Shibari. Sorry, chairs. That they're beautiful chair. If they don't need your covers, they don't need really any decor. And most people read them for like 10, $12 a piece. Well, here they get them all for free with some river, right? All the chairs, all the tables. We also throw in table in him. Which a lot of venues don't look, we are like, you know what, if you are. I'm just imagining if I'm a bride and I'm trying to find my wedding, if I can take away one more thing that I don't have to plan, then I can do that. So we do that. We also recently made this year, bought up lights. So that's included too. We will set it up. We'll change it to the color that the couple wants to, to the match, the decor. And it's all throughout the building applied everywhere and it's really fun. And if they don't want it, they don't have to use it. We also have a decor closet, something borrowed, do core closet. It has hundreds of items. And, um, people can borrow from that. And again, at no cost to them. So. I find that, like you said, with your story of getting married and having to be malleable, but at the same time, there are certain things that you just can't give up. Like staring at a parking lot. Right. Um, for us, we, we, you know, try to, that's one of the first things I ask couples, what are some things you absolutely can not give up? And then to see, to make sure that we can meet that and then everything else, we will be flexible. What we provide everything we provide a song river allows us that flexibility. Okay. So you don't like a certain look. Um, you can certainly hire your own decor. Send your floors to do that. Oh, you have a smaller budget. Look, we've got a whole, whole closet full of stuff that you can borrow from. And they're mostly brand new because I'm a new venue. I went out and like I said, early, I have a problem buying pretty thing. So somebody please stop me. Um, are there is take away some of the next question. What kinds of couples do you find are really like your venue that they work with? You guys there? Whether email. Aesthetic wise, personality wise. I mean, you can take it however you want, but what kinds of couples wanting to get married that you guys had sent you? Yeah. So I think that, um, one of the things that I think makes me different that draws people in is connection, human and connect. Um, I find that of course, Bobby that comes through the doors, they have to. Like the space. It has to be, you know, meeting their minimum requirement, right? Like you said, you know, we're not looking at parking lot. Um, so they have to meet those tough boxes. And once that's done what couples have really enjoyed. With me is that we connect so well and, and the couples that want to be there and want to create beautiful memories and to work with others. That field. That's what, that's what we're looking for. So I, you know, It's um, What, what had, what I had found that, um, people really like is that at salt river, we believe that. For weddings is not just that. It's not just the beautiful elements, the space, the delicious food. Like we have all of that. It's more than that. It's the people. It's how kindness and grace and joy just exude at these events. Um, you know, I, I think that we attract that kind of energy. So I'll, I'll give you an example of, um, of something that happened that I think really described the kind of couples that we enjoy working with, who want to come and work with us. Um, We had a couple who called me hysterically last year. About this time, it was like October. So yeah. Um, their venue, which sold them an all inclusive package had unfortunately shut down. And their wedding was 11 days away, 11 days. So I stayed up for 24 hours straight to help them get new vendors. I called everyone. I could think of, I sat down with a bride. We went back to the drawing board of what her vision was. Again, some of the things that we absolutely have to have. And then we just took flight. And I asked the couple, you know, I told her, I said, do you trust me? And at that point she said, you know, with my interaction with you so far, I do trust you. And I said, then give me a little bit of leeway to help you to make some creative calls. Right. And so she did. And so in 11 days I was able to pull out, pull together a vendor team and they were still kind of, they all pitched in and they gave this couple wonderful discount and they gave it their all right. So by the end, everyone just assumed that I. Was the wedding planner? Well, I'm not, I I'm just a wedding. I'm just a venue owner. I cannot take credit for being a wedding planner. I know how much more work it takes to go into that. But in that situation, the couple needed me. And, um, all the vendors. Went above and beyond. And I think that's what clients get up. Song river. We attract that kind of energy. You know, the kindness, the grace. And all around a positive energy of human connection. It was a beautiful wedding, the couple, and the parents kept seeing how it turned out even better than their original plan at the previous place that fell through. So I think really to sum up and answer your question, I think that we have that beautiful space. We have all the decor. We have a lot of the things that you see with a typical venue, but what couples find here is that connection with me. And I give it my all, um, I don't ever promise perfect because. Perfect. Doesn't quite exist in this world. Right. But I give it my all. And the kind of couples that work well with me are the really also exude that joy, that positive energy. And the grade, the gratefulness and everything that comes with it. Really well, and so far, I don't think that I've had a couple that hasn't been that way because I think we attract that. That's good. Yeah. We hate that other venue. We want to talk about that other venues. Well, we won't, we won't. We have the venue. Uh, I actually liked that venue for a long time and it was really unfortunate how all that went down. Um, no, that's great. And I do now that you do send that story to, I remember all that going down and I feel like I saw the photos and everything from that, because I do remember that. Um, just be in the big part of the industry because it kind of, everyone knew all this stuff was going on. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Um, how, uh, Since, you know, since it's you and your husband, I know we had talked about potentially having him come on to, but I do want to hear, how did you guys meet and how did that all go since this is a wedding vendor? Podcast. What was your guys' is kind of romantic tale, like. Okay. So my husband and I we've been married for so long. It's almost like, do we really have a romance? I'm kidding. I'm kidding. And kiss. My husband is listening. He's going to be like, I could try so hard and every day, what are you talking about? No, we met as a, um, As volunteer teachers at a language school in Seattle. Um, and, uh, I was in college and he had just finished college and was working and we were both volunteer teachers. Uh, and, uh, we just met and started teaching and he was my assistant. Um, And, uh, we were teaching Vietnamese. His Vietnamese isn't that great. He came here way too young and he di he, you know, isn't very good. And so he was too old to be my student. So I let him be my assistant. So that's, that's what we did. And then one thing led to another and, you know, I will. I was at university of Washington studying and he decided to go back to school and kind of couple extra. You know, he's the kind of person that likes to do. And then we just started hanging out and just chatting. And then next thing you know, I mean, one month into dating, he asked me to marry him. Really. Yeah, one month. And it wasn't even like the romantic on the mountain top with beautiful cascading waterfalls, not up, none of that. It was in the middle of the night. We were tired, but we were chatting on the phone for a long time and he just said, you know what? This just feels right. We, my wife. And I was like, did you just ask me to marry you on the phone? Like with no ring, like nothing. And he was like, yeah. And I'm like, well, obviously, yeah, that makes sense. Sure. You are members and said, this makes sense. Like in my head, I was like, analytically. This makes sense. Seems like a good guy. I'll do it. So that's what we did. Uh, we got, we got married at the embassy suite hotel. In Bellevue. And funny story you read, because this is kind of like, uh, Really full circle. Uh, this past weekend, actually on Friday, we met a new vendor that we recently, um, he's been contacting us. We met a new vendor of food vendor or a caterer. And we went to his, uh, establishment and looked at his kitchen and we were chatting. This is just Friday. So three days ago. Um, and I found out that he worked our wedding. Back in 2003. He worked on wedding at embassy suites hotel in Bellevue. Oh, yeah. Would this be? Does he have a venue up in Linwood? Uh, yes. Uh, this is, yeah, so it's not these, uh, catering kitchen. Now if he's a friend of the pie of chef. Chef now he's found the podcast. He's a good, yeah. Yeah. It's great. And so I was just chatting with him and he started telling me. It's story. And then I was like, what year was it? Where was it? And then my husband, I looked at each other and we're like, wait, Did you happen to work on that day? He's like I worked weekend that year and I was like, you worked our wedding. So that was awesome. And I love embassy suites, Bellevue. We've had some good throw downs there at the day. You know, we've had some good ideas there, so that's great. How funny it's a small world. It really is, and really teaches you to always be kind and nice to people. Cause you never know when you're going to work with them again. Right. That's the thing it's it's, uh, you don't know, you don't know. And, and, uh, you know, we've had, I've had run-ins with. You know, photographers and then six years later we've had weddings together again. And you never know. I mean, yeah. You always want to make sure that you're good with everybody. Um, I I'm looking at here. You sent over some notes before we got into it. Um, do you want to talk about. Kind of the connection between what you do in your non-wetting life, right? With your, with your health care work and everything else. And then with the way that you want to talk about that a little bit. Cause I know, you know, and even before we started recording, You got a lot of stuff going on and a good way. So, so kind of get into all that and how that relates. Sure. So I think that, as I mentioned earlier, I am a family nurse practitioner, and I worked in that field for a little over a decade. And then just recently, this past year, I went into teaching full time as a professor at Seattle university, while also doing this. And so it's, it's a lot of fun because I enjoy working all the time. It's a, maybe that's a problem. I'm not sure, but some of the things that the crosswalk between healthcare education and wedding industry. So number one, I think organization and prioritize station right in the healthcare setting, especially when I'm teaching three or four residents simultaneously, and they're all seeing 20 patients a day and, um, managing that that's 80 patients in 10 hours. So imagine you going into see your doctor and somebody is managing 80 patients in law. It's a lot. Um, that means that every moment is accounted for. It has to be well organized, well thought out which patient has higher needs, et cetera. So this is similar in the wedding industry, right? Think about the wedding day, right? If you think about the flow of a wedding from the prep, work to the walkthrough, set up time to the time when the cleaning crew is done with the venue, finishing, turning it over for the next one. Every moment, it's all also accounted for. We have to look at it from the business angle that the staff's angle and absolutely the customers angle. Right. So I think the organization and their prioritization, even though they're vastly different fields. But the ability to do that in such a, um, a natural way for me has been really helpful. The second crosswalk between healthcare as you've been a wedding is caring. Um, as much as I care for all my patients and all my grad students, I also care about my event. Clients be a couple. Or. Administrators put together a fundraiser at song river. Right? So I tell couples this all the time, as much as I want to have their business. I also want them to have a good experience. A wedding is a huge deal, and there are times when clients come for tours or higher about my name. D that I have what they envisioned, like what you said. The absolute, right? No looking at parking lot, even though we don't look at parking lot, but there are some other things that might be there a lot. Um, we have to be honest about it. Um, so for example, I've had a bride come to me about a month ago, wanting a rustic venue. We are not rustic. We can have elements of it, but we're not true. Rustic. And I was very transparent. So I asked her what she meant and what her vision looks like. So we shared our Pinterest boards. So we discuss what is important to her and her fiance. And then I told her about three other venues that I consider to have wonderful rustic elements. And by the end of our meeting, the couple chose to look with salt river because they felt that we actually care about what they want. It also helped really like the venue. Right. But. I think what really sold them was that I truly am genuine about wanting my clients to have to Nate's med. And that comes first. As I want their business, I think is important for them to get what they need for their important today. Um, one funny story about how I actually got to use my medical knowledge at a wedding. Right, because there's always something interesting happening at a wedding. And my husband and I have gone through so many scenarios and we'll like, what will we do if somebody has a heart attack, what will you do if somebody passes out and I'm like, what do I do in the clinic? When somebody passes out, I do what I do. You know, that's like every day, no problem. But. There was a wedding. Uh, where I was standing by the bar and I was just looking and just suddenly I saw in a corner, there was this little six month old who was struggling to breathe. And I saw grandma, well, mom, I couldn't tell at the time holding the baby and started running, running right. Just running. And I was like, what's going on? So I just took off and I ran after them. I was like, forget, you know, if, if I see somebody's having trouble breathing, I'm sorry, but the wedding is important, but I go to make sure somebody keeps reading right. Ran. And we went out to the front and, and. And the baby was struggling to breathe. And so I'm like, okay. I asked grandma what happened. And grandma said, I think he has something in his throat. And he looked like he was really choking. So I took him from her. I turned him over. That was really ready to do the, you know, the pediatric version Heimlich maneuver. And then I turned to her and I give him a few seconds. Can still, you know, Kind of trying to do that cough and I, you don't do the Heimlich maneuver until they, you know, just let them work it out first. And within five seconds or so just by simply turning the child over, he just f****d just bat out this huge chunk of fruit. And then he started screaming and crying and I was like, good. He's crying. That means he can breathe. Perfect. Here. And grandma was there and mom and dad was there and they were all freaking out. And luckily you. They were smart. They took the baby outside so that it didn't interfere with a wedding. And at the end of that wedding, you know, they all came up to me and there's so much, that was so awful. We never thought he would choke on a piece of fruit, but he did. And so we had a nice little conversation about what food is, grateful, little kids like that. And then we should tip and I was appreciative because I was like, Oh God, I really, really do not want my first year to go down as having a six month old going to the hospital. But. Oh eight. He ate a ton of food after that. So we had fun. So that's how I use some of my medical knowledge in a situation at a wedding. That's awesome. And then in a funny turn of events about whether the last times I was at that venue, that we won't speak of, a guy had a, had a heart attack or something in the, in the. Ambulance had to come. We were at that, we were at the Monte Cristo and the guy like collapsed out of, uh, one of the reception tables and they have to come call the cops. So that was, yeah, it's always scary when something like that happens and you're like, Oh my God, like, what's going on here? Right. Uh, If you came to the rescue, I tried to make sure we got all your other stuff here. Uh, challenges as a venue owner and things you enjoy clients you work with. I feel like we talked about that. Any other funny stories or any other tidbits you want to share about running the venue? Yeah. So I have to tell you a couple things that I really love. One of, one of the things I really love since we started working on the venue. Is the fact that my kids get involved. Um, The we'd get a chance to kind of work together and family, and it's been so much fun. Um, you know, we thought, okay, this is going to be more work. Right. Everybody keeps saying, you guys already have like how many jobs this is. When are you going to ever have time with family? And we were like, okay, well, let's see how this works out. Um, we have a 50 year old who's turning 16 soon. And we found that he actually likes doing things with his hands. So one day my husband was doing some maintenance work at the building. And my came along and next thing you know, they're working together and as father, son bonding time, and he's also learning new skills, you know, learn how to end the wall paint, you know, how to screw a nail and using a net, you know, a nail gun and, and. And take that. And then I found out this year or the. The last year and a half, that my, for my 11 year old daughter, Ashley is so creative and we would not. I mean, he eventually, I think we would have known because it will come out in some other ways, but it came out when I was struggling to decide on what you want to have the laws at the venue. That I know mom. I know what to do. And that's how the Kendall walls came into existence. Uh, she came with me and we started drawing what we want on that wall. And so she created this whole wall of candles. Um, and since then we've changed it. A few months ago, we went in and we decided to put in honeycomb design. And again, that was initially her idea. And she played with it and I played with it. And so we did that. And then a few earlier this year, she kind of came to my room one day and just showed me her sketches. She had been designing wedding, weapon, dresses, and backdrops for wedding. And I know, right. I was like, what? You can do this. And I looked at it. It was beautiful. Had her sketches on paper as well as in her, um, in her iPad. And that was amazing to me. And I felt like that really. For me, I got to spend with Mike in a way I didn't expect would this venue. And so when you look at fall river, There are little pieces everywhere in the building where kids were there. We work together as a family. That was just a lot of fun. Um, you know this with the pandemic, we couldn't go anywhere. So we spend a lot of this year hanging out. I'll play a little and the kids love, pitching their ideas to help us. And we let them imagine, um, which I think has been so much fun for us. Um, so other thing that I really enjoy, um, working at sun river. A full, I do have other stories I want to share with you though, because this is, this is why I love weddings. I have to tell you that. I can't speak for other venues, but somehow it sound river. We have so much. City. We've had a turn. Um, we've had a lot of Mexican, Hispanic weddings. We've had a lot of Vietnamese Chinese. Um, one wedding where, um, The, the people from the Wahaca, Mexico. Apparently part of their culture is to have a turkeys. With a live Turkey. And so. And so one day. You know, a couple of weeks before this one wedding, the bride called me and said, is it okay if we have a Turkey at the wedding? I said, sure. I mean, I love Turkey. I mean, you can have any foods you like. No, not food, a Turkey alive, moving Turkey. And I was like, wait, what? But we, you know, the Turkey was contained in a, in a little basket and, and they did a dance and it was a cultural dance and it had meanings to the culture. And, you know, as part of like the culture of, you know, abundance, they have that they have. Livestock, they have all of these things. And that was, it was beautiful to witness like the whole day. All I could think about was I can't wait for the Turkey dance. I can't wait for the Turkey then. And so. Got the Turkey. And I was texting all my friends and like, you will not leave this. There's a live Turkey here and there. No Turkey that. So that was a lot of fun. So that's a fun story that I wanted to share with you. That's not. Yeah, it's, it's gotta be, you know, as you know, aye. If there's interesting things, right. We're just kind of documenting that, but you actually have to kind of like, okay, how are the logistics of this? Okay. How are we going to get all this in here? You. You know, I mean, cause you're. You're you will a little more in charge of what's going on, where I'm just kind of like walking around like, Oh, well that's neat. Like I'm filming my camera, you know? Um, this has been, uh, I think, uh, really, uh, I think you've done gray. I believe you. We've had some good jokes and funny, and, and I think your personality has come across really well. Uh, as you know, Uh, people that are interested in finding out about the venue. I think, um, this is kind of the perfect role, right? For the venue owner, being able to kind of talk a little bit about, you know, the venue and then a lot about you guys. Anything else about you or your story or anything before we let you go. Just want to make sure we get all your. All your notes and everything out. Cause I think you've done a really good job. Well, thank you. Thank you, Rita. I just want to say how much I love my vendors. Um, they have made my life. Just that much richer. I've met so many amazing vendors. And, um, before do this business, I never knew how diverse, how amazing, how fun and how rich the wedding industry is. Actually the word wedding industry never even existed in my world three years ago. And the vendors I've met. They're just amazing people. The people that you work with on a day-to-day basis, you know, like caterers DJ's photographers and everyone, they make your life that much easier. Um, so I just love networking with my vendors and I just want to give a shout out to all the vendors that I've worked with in the past. And I imagine being able to own you and continue running it without really, really awesome vendors. Thank you Reed for giving me the opportunity today. I, like I said, I truly did not think that I would qualify to go on your podcast because I was like, Oh, they want fun inviting people. You know, I'm like not fun though. This has been, this has been wonderful. I appreciate having a chance to talk with you and cannot wait to work with you because I don't think you and I have put each other in the past. We haven't. Yeah, I'll have to get up there. We'll do it. And once this COVID stuff gets out of the way of, well, we'll have a we'll film, a big four. 100 person party again, and we'll come up there. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. And one last thing that I just also wanted to mention. Is, um, You know, Some river. We do a lot of events for the communities too. So we worked really hard with communities in Monroe. We've done several events for the community, the, um, Holiday dinners for, uh, folks that are less fortunate or, uh, folks that really needed a place for a warm meal. We do that. We're doing it again this year. Trying to figure out how to do the logistics of it because you legally, can't just have people come in and, and hang out for the night. Um, we also work closely with different nonprofit organizations in that community. And so, you know, just a shout out to the, my. Nonprofit organizations. Just amazing work. I've learned so much from them. They really kept me humble. Um, I can imagine the work that they do day in and day out and just look forward to doing more of that. It's been. Fun. Awesome. And if you want to learn more about your venue and see more of the. You know, the story and your photos and everything, and get in touch with you guys, where would you have them go to do all that? Yeah. So our website is Song River Monroe. Um, just song S O N G river monroe.com. Uh, we're also on Facebook. We're also on Instagram. Facebook is song river banquet and event center. And Instagram is song river Monroe. So, you know, keep in touch. Uh, all of our information is on our website as well. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again for reaching out. And like I said, you know, if you're a vendor you've been involved, you know, obviously we, we go through the vetting process, but you know, if you're someone that's involved, feel free to reach out. You know, we love to. To build this network of, you know, interviews and kind of build this directory of, you know, just people in what they do in the industry. So I thank you so much. Again, you can go to www.bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest

Carey Rayburn, Good Co Music

Well, Carey, thank you so much for hopping on today to join, uh, get to know your wedding pro I, I did my bat signal as I sometimes do, and the wedding vendor group. And I said, Hey guys, um, You know, uh, we, we do this podcast every week. We need wedding vendors and luckily you stepped up. Really last minute. I always appreciate that. And I did get a bunch more. Ah, there, fill out here, hopefully another five or six guests coming on to the next couple of weeks, but I want to thank you so much for coming on. You know, kind of in the middle of the day, last minute, it's election day, there's lots of things going on. Uh, so Carey, thank you so much for joining us. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Yeah, thanks so much for having me Reid. I'm just really excited to get the invite to be on. Uh, I am a trumpet player and a musician and the bandleader and I sing and play a little bit of ukulele. Uh, and mostly what I do with my time, uh, well, pre COVID was run several different bands. So I run the band good company, which is primarily a swing and electro swing group. Although we will take whatever covers. The client wants. Um, and I also run a band called the chancellor's, which is a funk band. It's kind of variable in size anywhere from like four to 11 pieces pieces. Um, and then I play in several other groups around town and do a little bit of booking for, for different people there. And I do a little bit of promotion work for different bands. Yeah, it's a year. It's kind of like the Jack of all trades where it's kind of like me, like, you know, have, have video camera will travel where you're kind of on the other side where you're here, I'm, you know, this musician, you know, I have all these different talents and then kind of fitting in the different things to kind of filling out the calendar. That sounds good. It's similar but different in the world that like that. Um, I, I'm so glad that you're on. As you know, we have a lot of DJs on the podcast and, uh, and that's obviously great. And with the weddings and we'll get into it more later, too, just the benefits of having the band, it kind of that live. Uh, atmosphere being able to kind of play off the crowd and everything I think is so awesome too. But I want to get into you first and kind of your background. How did you, did you grow up just musically inclined? Like I have zero. I took guitar and I was terrible. So how talk about kind of your growth and music and how you got so involved in all that? Um, just as a kid, my family always had music on in the house, all sorts of different types of music. So I've always been really obsessed with music. I got started playing trumpet and, uh, elementary school, like a lot of people do they start off on that instrument to be in band? Um, I started trumpet because, uh, I wanted to play drums and they sat me down at the drum set when they let all the kids try different things. And they were just like, okay, can you do this? Bop, bop, bop. And I was like, yeah, totally. Bup bup. And they were like, all right, can you do this? Bop, bop, bop, bop. The alternating hands. And I was like, yeah, but. He's in the same house. And they were just like, okay, we have like 10 other kids that can do that. Why don't you pick another instrument? So I picked the trumpet because it was compact. Didn't have, I could make a sound on, I can make a buzz and I didn't the trial. I'm bone was just too. So Trump spread there. Uh, and I got really went to university of Washington for orchestral performance, uh, trumpet, but also say Jasmine. Um, when I graduated, I just started gigging and, um, eventually I just started my own group. Yeah, I was gonna, it was curious about the trumpet thing, cause that's not, I think the first thing that people go to right. When they're looking for an instrument to learn, was it just, like you said, suddenly compact, uh, was that, was that popular? Was that, were you, uh, was your family like enthused or was hat where you kind of. I mean, what was the thoughts that picking up the trumpet? Uh, my parents were really supportive. Uh, every step of the way, the only thing they made me do is head to the basement when I practice a lot of times. Uh, but they were always very encouraging. Uh, neither one of my parents are musical at all. No one in really my family and my sister played the flute, but nobody in my family has a background in the music industry or had really plays any instruments. Uh, But it kind of became my thing. Um, and I grew up out in rural area Kitsap and Seebeck uh, so that was just a thing that I really, really got into a very competitive kids. So, um, That made me really strive to, to be the best. And I had a teacher that I had some really great teachers that really pushed me when I was younger. What, how was it? You know? Cause I think a lot of people, even, not me, I'm terrible, but I think a lot of people maybe know how to play an instrument, do that, you know, as they grow up. But when was that decision? Like, Hey, this is, I'm passionate enough about this. I'm good enough at this that I want to, you know, make a, make a career and make it go. For that. That's a really great question. I, people, um, the advice, the best advice I could give to anybody that might think about a music career is to not do it unless you absolutely deal, you have to. Cause it is a, um, Terrible career. Um, so I personally that happened for me was it was probably it wasn't until, um, Well, I don't know. That's that's a really good question. I actually set myself some goals were. By the time I was 30, if I wasn't feeling I was successful to certain levels that I was going to think about doing another career. I'm very lucky in that my parents were, I've always been very supportive. Um, and didn't pressure me to get a real job. Um, but yeah, it was, it took a long time for me to be comfortable with this being my career. Now, it really helped. That I ended up marrying a very kind woman that took pity on a poor musician and, uh, has a great job with dental and healthcare and all that good stuff. So, um, I didn't expect. I'm in the garage of my home right now. And I, I, I expected to be renting forever. On a musician's salary. So, um, That's. Yeah, it's a, it's been an interesting journey, but, uh, I would say that. Everyone should do music. If you have an interest in it. Only make it at your career. If you, if you really feel you can't do anything else. Okay. Cause you're gonna, I was just talking to my dad earlier about this today. You can have an awesome time playing music, doing it as a hobby, doing it, doing it professionally, but not as your full-time income when it becomes the thing that your Alliance on. It takes on a whole different sort of meaning. So I think it's really great to enjoy music for itself and only, only really focused on it as a career, if that's like, That's it for you? Well, it's interesting because in, and we do, uh, I do, uh, uh, XFL football podcast too, with my friend. And we have a lot of these conversations on there too, where there's a lot of guys that, you know, want to play football or want to play sports. And the same thing with music, right? Like a lot of people. And it's when, when is this, you know, how early do you devote yourself to that? And then how long do you ride that career at now? Obviously you found, you know, a really great place for yourself in very bad. It just, it always is that question when it, when it comes to anything, uh, you know, um, sports or music or, you know, uh, I guess video. So I don't know, but you know, it's always just this question of how long do we go with it before it's, you know, it's going there, not so did you enter college and all of this and you were gung ho you said you studied that. I mean, what was the passion behind studying the things that you did and, and focusing in college on that. Yeah. So I actually got, um, a degree in political science as well as orchestral trumpet performance. Um, with the idea that. Um, you know, I would have this real useful other degree to fall back on, which, um, if anybody knows it's about it's useful, it's like, you know, I don't know that she had a degree at a comparative history of ideas degree at UDaB. No offense, anybody at UDaB that's starting that, but. Everybody knows that that's like, Not useful. Um, so. Aye. I actually went into school to study orchestral trumpet with the idea that I would be a. I play an orchestra is that I would audition for orchestras and perform, um, Foreman, one of them for my living. Um, and it wasn't until about my junior year that I decided I really wasn't interested in doing that. I still get that question to the day when I meet people. They're gonna go, Oh, do you play with a symphony? And I know I've never played with a symphony symphony. Any symphony is really, I probably never will. Um, but there's still that the idea of like, Oh, well, how successful can you be? You're not playing with the symphony. Right. That's what you studied. Right. And I think going back to kind of what we were saying before, I think that. Myself included. People put a lot of emphasis on if I'm not doing this, I'm not successful. I'm for musicians. I like where you're kind of talking about before I do a lot of different things that play in different bands. I run other bands. I do booking, I do promotions. I do teach lessons as well. So you have to find what's going to make you happy. And what, what's your definition of success for a musician? For me, I kind of originally was thinking, well, my definition of success was I'm going to be touring all the time and on the road and playing for big bands and doing all this, all this. Stuff that you see in movies. That's not really super fun all the time. When you're on a tour for several months and you're away from home. Um, and you're eating fast food all the time. I can get all the really quickly. So. Having that definition of what success is for you is, is really important for me. I've kind of come to realize it's doing what I enjoy, which is playing music, but also getting to teach. Also getting to work with other artists to help support them and working with other clients to make their, um, whether it's corporate or wedding to make their days really special. So. Well, I think it's so interesting too. And I, part of the vantage is just the way it kind of, we are nowadays in society with, um, you know, everything online and. You know, millennials and people wanting to start their own thing, but it's it's, I don't know, like when I grew up and it was like, okay, if, if I'm going to be like a video guy, right. I gotta go, like, you have to be in Hollywood or I got to go work in like TV or that's it. Right. And now, you know, I can deal, I can do a video podcast and I can go do weddings. I can go do other stuff. It's just a lot more different stuff that you can do that it's still all in line with what you're passionate about. It's the same thing. Like you said, you know, maybe 20 years ago, 30 years go, we, you know, you gotta be a musician, you know, you gotta. Gotta be touring around and that's the only way it's going to be, but you can do a million different things. You know, give back and teach some kids. Do you know, do you do all your other things, but then it's just cool. It used to have a lot more freedom within, within the realm of the world that you want to build now, still being involved in what you want to do, but just not, not being tied down to one specific thing, if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. And in the music. Um, just world that. Uh, if you're going to do anything like original, then it also gives the opportunity to get that out and build, build. A fan base that you wouldn't necessarily be able to before or in the case of like, Wedding or private event industry. You get the, have these connections that you wouldn't necessarily, um, Have been able to easily make before. Um, I want to talk about, you know, So you, and when you're being, as you do a lot of jazz, right? You do a lot of things like that. What is it? I do a lot of videos for, um, Seattle jazz ed or whatever. However you say it, but you know, they, they teach a lot of kids and they bring them and they do these concerts and stuff. Uh, and what's always cool about that is they're pushing the, you know, comradery and the friendships you build and, and, you know, the community and all those things. What is it? Do you enjoy that aspect of music and being an engaged with other people and talk about kind of that community building and what you get from being involved in music, you know, personally, Yeah. So, um, I don't know that I even really recognized how much it, how big of a part of. Bat. Is part of your, of my life until COVID happened, honestly, because, um, My typical lifestyle, I'm playing with several different groups. On any given week seeing so many different people. Um, and that was a really, really big wake up call of how much these connections you have playing with other people. Um, make your life enjoyable. Are a part of the career? Um, I think I also kind of experienced that when I finished college. Uh, because after, uh, I went to university of Washington and you're seeing these same people all the time. And then when you finished your school and it's just, you're okay. You're out in the world. And I didn't really see any of these same musicians that I've gone to school with. Had, you know, a lot of experiences with. Unless I was on a gig with him. So making those connections, um, Is really important and is, is helps us be honestly like grounded and connected to our community. And things like, even things like this. Uh, and, and reaching out online, uh, being connected, going to each other's shows and supporting each other is what makes, uh, what makes it a strong community as opposed to just feeling isolated, because it is a really isolating. Industry. Um, it's. It can be really overwhelmed. And so I think it's really important to make a concerted effort to, um, even when we're not playing like times, like not to reach out and be engaged with each other. When you graduated from college, did you have a plan of what was going to happen next or was it kinda, you know, I'm obviously took it and I have for that, but what, what was that. You know the path after college. Yeah. I was planning into different, a couple different groups, but I was really relying on other people at that time to make my, um, success happen for me. And it wasn't until I started writing my own music and started. Uh, my own projects that I felt any sort of agency that I was had a little bit of control of moving myself forward. I remember my band, good company. We got a newer, um, new saxophone player. Our previous one had moved and he is straight out of Cornish. And after playing the band a couple of months, he gave me a call. Uh, and I remember taking it, Michael. His name is Michael. He said, Hey Carey, can I ask you a question? I was like, yeah, sure. Michael what's up. And he goes, How do you get gigs? And I remember being like, Oh, that's a great question. Um, cause I feel like a lot of people come out of college and they're like, all right, I have the knowledge. Let's go. And then they just sit back and wait for things to happen. And it just, that's not the way. That life works. You can be. You know, A really great musician and not have any of these opportunities. You need to say. With any creative industry, you need to make your own. Opportunities. So when I first came out, The short answer. Oh, well, I guess it's a very long answer is no, I had no plan. I was waiting for, uh, you know, the world to take me on this magical adventure. Um, and it wasn't until I finally started doing my own thing that I, I actually had started having a path and I really enjoy getting to work with other musicians and talk to them so they can avoid all of the, uh, Sideways path. I took on the, the journey that I'm on right now. It's so funny that how. I do. I think some people, and, and even like I said, my friend, we did this podcast and I think he just thinks like I just have my website. Right. Like I just made best made videos and like everything comes and it's. Yeah. It's like, no, it's really not. Right. And I even think a lot of like my wife's friends and stuff, they think that same thing, like, Oh, it just all comes in. Like we have no idea, you know, it's one thing to be talented or have a camera or, you know, have a business or a business card or whatever, but then you actually have to go like, get the staff. And it really does set apart of the people that can do it. And then the people that are, like you said, asking, how do you do that? Or what is this. The way to do that, I just had a guy messaged me today about something like that. And I was like, I don't really know, like I just work hard. I don't know. There's no good answer to that. Right. I mean, w what's your thoughts on that? I think that building that reputation. It's so important because, um, if I have a choice between somebody I've worked with before. And somebody, I haven't, even though they, they might be a much better player. I'm always going to go with the person that's the most reliable. 'cause that's that's and the end of the day, that's way more important than being. You know, technically better at your instrument, you know? Uh, so the idea of being easy to work with being a, you know, punctual. Uh, being reliable. Uh, most of our work comes from referral now. When we started out, we were lucky enough that our John HRA is, is pretty niche. So we got found out and we still do get found a lot. Cause we're kind of the only band in town during this specific. Uh, thing, which is electro swing. Um, but now most of our work really comes from. Um, referrals from the people we've worked with in the past. So I think that. When you're first starting out in developing that it's important to take everything you do really important or really, really, um, Uh, seriously, and because it's, you're defining yourself as not just the musician, but also as a person being your work as, as the person that's working with others. What was it like? So, so you're out of college. You're kind of trying to figure that out. I mean, getting into weddings and events and things, right. I mean, that's probably, wasn't obviously the first thought. You know, I don't think anyone goes in same with like video. I am going to go be a wedding videographer. Right. So what was it about weddings and events and things like that that drew you in to, to be involved in those. Yeah. So, uh, really there's just practicality of, I want to make a living doing this work. Um, so I think that I have had some work. Uh, I'd had a lot of work previously being a sideman at weddings. So playing in other bands. Uh, the or wedding bands, not being the band leader myself. So I think for me it was a more, it was there. More or less natural transition to, um, to doing it for our, our own bands. I do remember sitting in, Oh, with, uh, when my first bank good company started up and talking to everybody saying, listen, this is where I feel like I'm I'm. I want to take as much work as we can because I'm interested in being just full time, musician, blah, blah, blah. Does everybody feel the same way? And everyone else. And I was like, yes, of course. Yeah. That's what we want to do his music. So, um, There is a lot to being a band leader, as opposed to just a side man. Um, I really enjoy just being a sideman now. It's kind of like a vacation when I'm playing in a band and I am not in charge of anything other than playing the notes, but, um, Uh, but for me it was a kind of a natural trans transition. It wasn't too. Um, I had had the luck of being able to observe what worked and what didn't work for. The bands I've played in before. Yeah, I was just going to ask you about that too. Cause like I have guys that I sent out and whatever, and it's a way different when it's, when it's your thing and when you're kind of in charge and you're, you know, managing, uh, you know, the client stuff and all that. So yeah. What is the difference between, like you said, being an OSI person or being the band leader and where does that distinction fall? Sure. So I think as the band leader, you're just in charge of everything being right. Going right. Working with every aspect of it. Of the, of the event from the planner to the client to, you know, all the preparation beforehand. Uh, all the technical aspects of it. Um, I you've, you've learned to delegate things, even if it's something as simple as, as set up and break down. Um, but really in the end, it like the buck stops with you. So you need to be responsible a lot more responsible. I'm responsible for a lot more things than if you were just, uh, in the band. Do you think that the people, cause I know the answer to me, but sometimes it doesn't feel like the people behind you get necessarily all the responsibilities and things like I want to say I've been in that situation. And it's not. I mean, it's not like a criticism. It's just like, unless you've had your shoes. You know, it's just not the same day. Do you feel that way? Yeah, absolutely. Um, Not to call up Michael over and over again. But I remember when he first started and we would be packing up and he would just kinda be standing around or, you know, get a drink at the bar after the gig. We trained them up real good. Be like Michael, you need to be coiling cables right now. Like we want to get out of here. And you were part of the band. This is part of it. So. But I remember when I first started, I just did everything and everybody else would wander off. And, um, you know, are you learn real quick after you haul out enough speakers that okay. It's just going to have a band meeting and talk about this. Um, but no, it makes sense because, uh, unless you, as the bandleader get them involved and talk to them about this it's it's. Not on the forefront of a musician's mind and they're musicians. Mind is okay. I played the show. That's it. I'm done. So you have to get them, get your. Get on the same page in terms of like, okay, this is what it takes to be professional. And this is what it takes to be, um, like a unified group. And a lot of times bands are playing and you're playing as a sub or you're playing an assignment and you're playing for a group that's out of town and you don't have that same connection. I think that going back to separating yourself out from other people or when you're first starting out, if I hire a. You know, a drummer and that drummer is, is showing up on time. Uh, helping pack out is asking me if, uh, If everything, if I need anything, I'm going to be like, I'm going to work with this drummer again. That was awesome. Um, every time he's going to be first call on my list. Um, So it's so much more than just. Um, just the music aspect of it to be successful. And it's really, it's not. No, nothing. No secrets really? It's just like being. Um, Being helpful. Being a good person and all that good stuff. Thinking, thinking about. How you can make the, um, your band leader or you can make the event better. It's so funny. I have a, one of the kids that were for me, Matthew he's, uh, he's younger, but he kinda delayed went to college. I keep, he took a couple of years off and I'm like, so OCD, when it comes to like everything, but just like painfully OCD, when it comes to like everything in the world, it's so bad. And everyone that works for me hates it. Cause they just sit there. I like, I put everything away and it's so bad. Bye. His friend who also works for me was telling me that because he went away to the East coast to go to film school. And a lot of the kids he works with now, uh, are either his age or younger, but they haven't cause like Matthew's been doing weddings for me for like five years and they just don't have that experience. Right. And so now they're getting to be like, they're shooting with like cameras and doing all these things. And he's now being like the OCD one for them, like showing them how to like take care of everything and you have set up everything correctly. You put everything away correctly, like all those things, because yeah. That's what he was taught. Right. And a lot of those people and say he goes, yeah, like actually that was, you know, reads lessons over the years, I guess did finally pay off isn't it. Annoying it, but because it is, I mean, it's, you get all these different people and then like abandoned and you got to. You know, people have different attention to detail and different work ethics and different things. And, and it's, um, It's a yeah. Interesting. That way. I was going to ask you, when you were talking about doing the, um, Hey, we're going to focus on weddings and things like that. Was that, do you ever get any, any pushback where people are like, well, I just wanted the music. Like I don't want to do weddings or I don't want to deal, or is everyone just really wanting to practice their craft and be involved in that? Oh, sure. Um, I've had musicians before, and I think it's still an issue of, of. Not as, um, well, we, we tend to have really busy seasons and so. By the end of the season. I think some fatigue can set in and, um, We've had musicians in the past that have not taken as seriously or, um, And. I think that that. You have to, I'm lucky right now, because most of the good company is also. Lead their own bands as well. So they have a lot of experience knowing what it's like being the band leader. Um, and they, after. Planks for so long together, they understand how things that people might not think are very important at the time. Really. Um, Ken are important and, and really, um, can lead to either further success for, or a bad reputation. So, but no, for sure. We've had. Um, instances where people are. Either burned out or just not as into it. And I think it's important to recognize that and important to, to address it and not just ignore it. Um, Because, you know, we're all humans and, you know, sometimes plant we've just recently played a socially distant wedding in Sandpoint where. Uh, it was, uh, a bar and that was two floors. We were on the top floor borrowers on the bottom floor. Guess where everyone was. Yeah. Yeah. So you're literally playing for nobody. And this is the first gig that this band has played in seven months. So that was unique. That was a struggle to be. Okay. We're gonna. Let's do the neck. It's good to do that song. It's going to be the we're going to do as best we can. For ourselves, if nothing else. Yeah. So it wouldn't as it, you know, cause, um, It's when you're dealing with, with people, and this is only with video, right? I mean, it's way easier to do some corporate stuff sometimes. And then when you do weddings and you're dealing with family and friends, as you, just a lot more stuff and you just have to be, it's not, everyone's cut out for, and it doesn't make anybody more or less of an artist or more or less of a professional to some people can deal with the staff. And some people can't, you know, Yeah. Like I'm dealt with a lot of mothers of the brides and stuff. And like, you can just do it. And some people are, you know, stay away. You. I don't want to touch on at all. I just wanted to be. Kind of do my own thing in the back. So it goes both sides. And I think that it's really good to make, uh, make it really clear for the people that you work with, what the expectations are. So I try to make it so. The rest of the band members, don't have to deal with that as much as possible. And I put all the information that they should need in. In an email beforehand that they should be able to access your on their phone at any time. Um, but I try to take the front of like, okay, like, If there's a problem, just find me or call me or text me, or you shouldn't have to be responsible for this. And that allows them to not. Um, focus on something that they might not have all the information about or have, you know, As much experience on, or they say the wrong thing, right. They have the right answer and you're like, no. Tells you that he was supposed to be? Yeah. Um, I want to talk about. If you're. You know, obviously a lot of DJs at weddings, right. There always needs to be someone kind of in charge or a band kind of feel flow or what's happening, whatever. But if I'm a, if I'm a couple or, you know, or a vendor wanting to work with like your band versus like, you know, a DJ, whatever, like what does that process look like? How does that go? The higher you guys in. And I guess I, and I know the benefits from the videographer that film's receptions and like Steve get a lot of happy people dancing and things like that. And a lot of emotion, but talk about some of the benefits of hiring the band too, versus just having like a, you know, a DJ in the corner. Sure. So I think that a four. Um, some of weddings, a lot of events, the DJs are amazing and like, not necessarily the band is a band is not always the. The best choice. I DJ as well. Um, and there are sometimes where I'm like this. We'll play gigs or something. I'm like, you know what? They want to hear X, Y, and Z, which they just hired a swing band to play. And I'm getting, we're getting people come up requesting lady Gaga, Macklemore and blah, blah, blah. And it's like, You really should, you know, This crowd wants to DJ, not a swing band. I don't care that it's a twenties themed event. Like. When everybody nobody's dressed like the twice or whatever, you kind of miss miss your Mark here. Um, so I think when you. The benefit of having a band as opposed to DJ is just that, that. Uh, interactivity. And that energy that can be brought by live music. Um, With. And, and the bill. Just the, they also, the, um, person personification of a band of it can be a such a personal thing. Mostly for a wedding. It's Mmm. It's I remember the wedding, the band at my wedding. Um, I probably wouldn't remember a playlist, you know, um, and just that it can add a lot of, of extra specialness, I would say. Um, That's if you get a good band that, and you have good communication with them. And that's, that's one thing that I take really seriously and work really hard to do before the wedding begins is, um, Is communicate with, with the clients I'm working with to make sure that I am doing exactly what they want, that I'm, I'm providing. Um, the specialness that they want, not, it's not about me. And I think a lot of musicians and bands. Um, don't realize that that you're there to make an amazing experience for your client. Um, I think a lot of bands think about it as we're awesome. And we're giving a show and you're lucky to have our awesomeness. Um, I think that that's not. That's just not going to, that's just not the right approach. Um, so I know a lot of musicians when they get wedding requests, they like, they tend to grumble about it and think about it as like, Oh, you know, this isn't, we don't want to do that. That's not our, what we do. Um, whereas you could think about it as like, okay, this is a song that's really special for years and we're getting to play it for you. It's kind of turning around and being like, this is all about you. Let's figure out how we can make this just amazing for you. Um, that being said, if you want, um, to hear. Um, Like Frank Sinatra for your first dance and you got to in your head, I'm not going to sing like Frank Sinatra. We're gonna play a. You know, we will play the prerecorded Frank Sinatra, if you want some Frank Sinatra. You should play Frank Sinatra. No, what I'm saying? We get that a lot now. I will actually recommend to, to brides and grooms that, Oh, maybe we should play. You know, the original, if you've got a special dance already worked out to it, and you specifically, you love Frank Sinatra. Let's, let's, let's do the original recording of that. Well, we can certainly play a cover of it for you, but it's just, it's going to be a little bit different. It's not going to be maybe what you were. Um, having your mind. So. Yeah, it's interesting. Cause I mean, we don't have bands as many weddings as I would probably like, but the ones that we do, you know, the couples are really invested. Right. It's really, nobody just is like, Oh yeah, we're just go hire. I guess it's a thing. They do the research and they find the people that they like and the music that they like and the personality and the show. And so it's really, it's a really personal thing and all the ones that I've done it, it's a focal point of the reception. Right. It's a focal point of what they care about. I mean, it is, they want to entertain their guests. They want them to have a good time. And so, yeah, like you said, you want somebody that's going to be good at that communication, making sure all the different. You know, what, what are they looking for? What, what do they want to see out of everything? Because nobody hires. A wedding band just on the whim. I don't think, right. It really is a personal decision. W we really, really try to be as flexible as possible as well. So we, we perform a lot of times for the ceremony for the cocktail hour, as well as the after party. And we try to offer as many different, um, options for, for performance as well. So like we started off a swing band, most of our. Music was electro swing or swing, but over the years, we've added a huge catalog of just crowd favorites and top 40 and pop. And rock and funk and all that stuff. So we, that's one thing that I think it's really, um, Important. If you're going to be a good wedding band is you want your, the people you're performing for to have a good time. And that kind of goes back to the, again, it's all about. Uh, the people you're performing for. Um, and so like, If that means, you know, Not playing your original music. If you're an original bath, that means taking a cover that maybe not your favorite song. Um, like I think it's more, it needs to be more important to you to make the people happy. That makes sense. Well, is this tough? And that was kind of do one of your questions before I was going to ask, you know, cause a lot of times it bands. Yeah, you are. You know, your higher, that's the thing. People come to see, you know, it's, it is a focal point. And with the wedding, you know, it's not your day. Right. And it is that balance. And that goes for any vendor, right? Like I might have decisions as a videographer that, that disagree with what my couple wants. Right. It goes for all different. I mean, it's not just the band specific thing, but where. A lot of the time, I think a band is higher to be more of that focal point. And like you said, it is that remembering that you're brought there and it's kind of a part of their day. It's just, it's a tough balance because I've seen decisions all the time that I wouldn't make it, you know, in terms of. Timeline or aesthetics or whatever else, but it doesn't, it's not, I'm never usually on that other side where I think with a band, maybe sometimes you are on the other side to see what it feels like, you know? Um, the one thing I would always say going back to like the decisions that are made. I would say the most important thing you can get, uh, for your wedding. Not the band, not the videographer, no fence. I know I'm going to figure it out. Awesome. What is a wedding planner and a day of coordinator? Um, a lot of times I'm sure this has happened to you. They don't have the wedding. Won't have a day of coordinator. And so you become the day of coordinator. And I've had brides and grooms come up to me and be like, should we do the cake cutting now? Should we do this now? I'm like, I don't, I don't know. This is your wedding. Like, I don't know how your day is, you know, I don't know all the details of it. Um, I don't really know the people that are here. I've just met them, you know? Um, so. Yeah, that's the, I would say that's the most stressful thing for me is when I become a defacto a day of coordinator, because it really affects everyone's enjoyment for them. Being able to do their job properly. And especially as the, as the Dan leader, like you said, you would be kind of did the fact that like, Hey, what's going on in a year, you're in charge, right? Like what. Well, no, actually I have about a million things. You know, with the band and we got to kind of a lot of other stuff. Uh, but yeah, it's, it's not, um, It's you don't want to be put in that situation? Absolutely. I learned really early to ask a lot of questions. Um, such as like, do you have a day of coordinator? And I might even make a subtle, like, Hey, you know, you don't have to, if you know, You don't even have to hire one, but if you have a bridesmaid it's particularly organized. I have a schedule for him. Um, we've played weddings where, you know, we're hired to play for four hours and we ended up playing for 45 minutes because speeches went for ever, or this didn't get to here. We're still waiting on. This or that. And for us, it's like, Like we'd have loved to have played for you more, but, you know, This is what it is. Um, Is there going to say there was. For, yeah. So I think they have coordinators worth their weight in gold. No, we've definitely have, and I was trying to remember, cause we've had a couple of 'em and I know that we've done. I swear at even, and even when you came on the podcast before, I know that I've done well with you guys and so familiar, I was trying to even look at my notes here, but. Um, But I've had that. I've had that really nice weddings with bands and yeah, like you said, you had, the speeches are going long or, you know, something's up with dinner and I'm just sitting there and I'm thinking like, man, they are paying so much money for this and they're like, you can't play or you're supposed to play. Like you say, you know, we're supposed to have two hours and it's cut in half or four hours. And you're just like, Oh, my God. It's just a nightmare. When you think, you know, it's one thing. You know, like if you got the DJ, okay. Maybe dancing was supposed to be 45 minutes, half hour, whatever. And the band and everyone in all this set up and hauling everything in. And I mean, you know, more than I did all the hours of set up and everything. He like, man, they're not, it's just it's you really want to make sure you're getting the money's worth out of it, right? Yeah. There's actually been times where we'd be like, you know, we only played for X amount of time. Do you want us to play a little bit longer? And I remember one wedding and they're like, that would be amazing. That'd be awesome. Like, okay, great. So we're playing and then they come about five minutes and then they go, actually we have to get out of the venue. Um, but, Oh, I remember what I was going to say. I I've learned a lot, ask a lot of questions. Um, one of the questions, uh, always make sure to ask us what's what's the sound situation are we always provide, we're always happy to provide our own PA, but do you need mikes for speeches? We're happy to provide that. Do you need music during the ceremony? Because when I first starting out, there was a lot of times when I came up and be like, we bring our own sound system. We always started bringing our own sound system, but we'd be like, alright, great. Where. Or are we setting up and they're like, Oh, you're setting up here. And then you'll set up the sound for the ceremony over here. And be like, we're not playing during the ceremony. Oh yeah. But you have the sound for it, right? No. We'd never talked about that. So specifically this is kind of going back to what we were talking about before the, uh, before we start the interview is, um, Uh, it's we shouldn't expect. Rides and grooms to necessarily know all these things. So if they, I try to think about it from their point of view, they thinking I'm spending all this money to hire a band there. Of course, they're going to be providing the sound. Right. And then I'm praying I'm paying all this money to the venue. Of course, they're going to have all the outlets. But when we play it tuns out, that's why I'm running. Uh, cable for, you know, a hundred yards because there's no, there. Their ceremonies outside. There's no outlets out there. But if you're a bride or groom, you got a hundred things to think about, especially if you don't have a planner. So like that's something that could really mess up your day. If you don't plan ahead of time. So we have a giant. Case of cables. And I always make sure to ask ahead of time. Because, you know, at the end of the day, That's no fun. We want, you know, as vendors, we all want you to have an amazing time and have a great day. We don't want you to be worried about something dumb like that. So I, it makes me feel good afterwards. You're like, Hey, I got to be the hero that brought the, you know, extra long extension cord. I was so guilty about that. I just had a wedding on Saturday on Halloween and I was so guilty. You've got the, normally in the prep and everything. I was doing the live stream and it just cause he was kind of like on and off again. And they was just, we didn't know it was going to happen and it happened. And then whatever. But I saw it. You know, the timeline she had sent, you know, ceremony, and then we're going to do an entrance and then we're going to do. Dances. Like four different speeches and we're going to do a thank you. Toast, all this stuff. And never once in my head did I think there's not going to be a DJ. I never once, even in my, in my head, I'm like, there's like eight different things here on the timeline that are all going to need audio video. Audio visual support. And I show up and I'm, you know, luckily I got there way early and, um, I get to the room and I'm looking around and I'm like, there's no, like how is this not? But he was totally my fault. Right? Like you said, you know, we, we assume these things like Matt, It happens to all of us. Right. And I made these assumptions and he was fine. And I ended up running some wireless mics for them, like eat is we assume sometimes, and they're not even thinking about it. And then by the time you show up, you know, they're upstairs somewhere and it's too late. I was like, God, I really should have. That was my one, you know, my one a. Thought we could get through the year without any big. We get a lot of times, okay. The band's going to be playing here during this time, and now they're going to be playing over here and now they're going to be playing and it's. You want all six, six? Yeah, the whole band. How bands going to switch spots? Like there's a. Do we need. We've we've set up like three sound systems before. Um, which you know, there's no, not pretty much fun. We end up usually charging a slight fee for that. Um, but you know, if that's. I, if, if you don't find out about. Head of time. It's going to be an issue of the day up. Uh, we played at the ruins, which was an awesome wedding. It was really fun, but they had us set up and I'm. Two three. One two, three, yeah. Three, no forest, poor spots, four spots. It was too many. But we talked to him like, do you really need the whole band here? Okay. Maybe we can just have piano here and over here. It's three P's. Okay. Like let's make it work. No, we needed to move everybody each time. Um, what are they. The people that you have for, for the weddings, what, what is the kind of couple that hires a band for their wedding and what do they care about? What do they want to see? Yeah. That. Is huh? Seems to run the gamut. Uh, really, really, uh, we've had. Really a easygoing couples that are just like, we want to have a great time. We want you to have a great time a lot, you know, just you do your thing. That's awesome. We love your music, play whatever you want. And, um, we've had. Brides and grooms were like, Down to the minute, like this is how it's going to go. You're going to play these songs. I wasn't playing as a, uh, I was deejaying, but we had this one bride and groom that. Very specific of every song. They wanted to play it on the DDLs DJ list. Um, and to their credit, they really knew their crowd, but I did have a guy come out to me and go, wow. You really liked George Michael huh? Um, so. Yeah, I haven't found anything that is specific to. The people that want a band of over, over. Um, I don't know any, I haven't seen anything that connects them all together, I suppose. There's that threat. Okay. A lot. We get a lot of people that like to dance. But that being said, we played a lot of weddings where they just want good music and they literally don't dance. It always, there's always weird and happens more often than not in Seattle, as I'm sure you're aware of. Of the a. Or more, I would say the most often is nobody dances, nobody dances. And then they had enough drinks at the bar that everyone dances. Uh, we saw, um, my lifeline gold back in February before all this happened, it seems like 10 years ago. Uh, we went and saw Michael Bolton play at the Tulalip casino. Nice. I dreamt my life. But you couldn't dance at all. With kids, it's all the old people and it's all like they're all wheelchairs and like canes. But you couldn't dance at all. Like if you stood up, they would have to ask you to leave in. My wife was like, what is happening? Like you said the people. Yeah. They just want like listen to good music and not dance. And it's very challenging for, you know, a lot of people that really would like to dance with me again. Yeah. Uh, Oh, I, I question, I should ask you a long time ago, we were talking about kind of getting into the band and everything. What is it about the style of music that you guys like to do, that they got you so involved? Is it just, Hey, I'm a trumpeter, this is like a natural kind of fit to do you, I mean, what is it about, you know, cause it's like a whole thing. It's a style and not, you know, the website and the light, not the costumes, like the outfits. I mean, it's a whole, it's a whole brand. Right. So how did you get. In that. I think so. Uh, sorry. Sorry. I think my it's okay. Yeah, it caught up. It was like, Matrix mode for a second, but, um, Uh, so the music we play electronic sign. Um, I previously had played in, uh, uh, Uh, sorry. Vince is jazz trio. I'm sorry. I started getting really into vintage jazz. And then I've always been an indie electronica. Um, I love Def bunker basement Jackson. Semi-mobile at this go and, you know, tons of different artists. Um, and my buddy knew I really loved these two John Rose and he introduced me electrospray, which was coming out of. Of Europe at the time. So I just got really into it. Um, I've always been big into funk and anything hormone-related. Um, since I picked up the horn. Um, so, and then really for me, I've come to really enjoy a ton of different music over, uh, just my career of playing it and hearing it and getting exposed to it. When you work with so many different artists, that's one of the musician's favorite things like, Oh, have you checked this out? If you check this out, And, um, Like our, our pianos for, for the band Jake, he's really into like cheesy pop music. And like, there's something to be said for really, really good cheesy pop music. So like, I think no matter what genre it, there it is. If it's done really well, it's going to be awesome. Um, so personally for me, Um, we've, we've started really expand out from just doing swinging electro swing. I think a lot of that's come from playing so many different gigs and having to be so malleable. And that's one thing we really pride ourselves on is being able to. Provide so many different sounds, Latin music. Me and Jake playing a bunch of different salts of bands around town. So just having this different exposure, it keeps it really interesting. Keeps it really exciting. It's great. When there's a guest that requests something like, Hey, can you play a chord Tila? Tila tequila or something, and then we can do it. It just like, I think their minds kind of bloke, uh, a little bit, because they're expecting yeah. We've just been playing jazz all night. And then you're able to play, you know, uptown funk or something, something that, you know, People love, you know, it's a great tune. Um, maybe a little bit over done. That's my, but see people still love it, right? Cause you're at a party, so, and you can do it. You know, it's fun. That's that's really fun. Um, So, yeah. I don't know if that really answered question. It did. Yeah, no, the thing with that. Frankly people don't, if you're, if you're a wedding vendor, you've heard that it 10 million times. Anybody else in any aspect of the world. And that's like, even my wife, I have to like expand. They get, you've heard that song a couple of times. I've run every day for like four years, but we worked with this one singer, Pete Kirkland. Who's amazing, amazing performer. Uh, he like will force you to have a great time, like. We'll get you out of your seat, like by force. Uh, but he sings. Um, I remember the first time playing uptown funk with him and he says, uh, bring what's he say. Brings a, bring a D dragon out of retirement. Not makes drag you wanna retire, man. Bring, bring a dragon out of retirement. And I wait for every time we play it. And then he does. I'm. I'm like, ah, I didn't know for the longest time what those lyrics were at my old assistant was Sean was like, what is happening here? Yeah. It's like, what is, I don't even know. It was like over my head. Yeah. Uh, this has been great. Uh, anything else that you would want us to know about you or the band before we let you go and, uh, feel free? Yeah, so right now I'm trying to, uh, I'm working with our web developer to create a new website. That's going to combine all the things that we do. Like I mentioned before I run the van, the chancellor is by also run good company. Uh, I also plan a bunch of salsa bands. Uh, and we also do karaoke and we do, um, Uh, uh, DJ, um, we want, I, it's always my goal to make people think, uh, they need great music that they can come to me. And even if we don't do it, so you need a bluegrass band that you could reach out to. Carrie Rayburn to find an awesome, um, Awesome band. Awesome group. Like, it's my goal to be like a resource to everybody in the community. That's what helps like make my community awesome. Like the people that I work with, um, We're all support each other. So hopefully we'll get that, that website gone. Uh, pretty soon it might be something cheesy, like Rayburn entertainment.com. Um, but that you could go to that and you could find salsa band, you can find funk band, you could find a pop band top forties, uh, whatever you need. So that's my new quarantine quarantine goals to get that done by the end of all of this, which I'm sure it's only, only last another week or so, right? Yeah. Just a couple of weeks. No, I'm so glad. And I think that's great. It's such that I don't know. I just like being a part of, um, communities that really, uh, you know, support each other and build up. And I do think that's the one thing with the podcast and with everything and with the weddings. Uh, just vendors, really supporting each other and try to do these and stuff too. And I do just appreciate that. Like, cause there's always people that are posting like, Hey, I need a band. He knows the thing what's going on and said it. To kind of have a, a hub for that and people to be able to figure that out. I think it's great because ultimately you just want people to find somebody that's good and reputable and it's going to do a good job. Right. And like, Whether it's you or someone else, you always want to make sure that like, A day goes off without a hitch and that the people, how to get, um, Yeah, good experience with it. So yeah, absolutely. I think in the music, community and arts community in general, like the rising tide raises all ships. So, um, yeah, I think it's super important to, to. To support each other. I think that. And our industry is it's really easy to denigrate each other to think that that's going to make you. You know, Be be the top choice, but, um, I don't, it doesn't work that way. In my experience. Now free. And I, I just, uh, it was just having a conversation with someone yesterday and it's just, I guess people are trying to give away free staff and eight. Like you said denigrate or whether I like it just now it's the rising tide helps everybody and you don't want to get you that you want to help support everybody and keep everybody at a level I think is really important. So. Ah, you killed it, man. I really appreciate you coming out of today last minute, and I'm glad to make this connection. Uh, can you please plug any websites or any social media before we let you go? And then we'll tag everything on this when we share it. Yeah, absolutely. And thanks so much again, read for having me on this has been super fun. Uh, The websites that we have, uh, our good co music.com. Good co.com was already taken. Uh, so it's good co music.com. You can go to the chancellor's band.com. Um, All our social media is, uh, like good cards. facebook.com/good calm music, instagram.com/could come. Music, all that good stuff. Uh, youtube.com/ go-go music. Um, and that's, that's pretty much it for us is those two ones. Hopefully coming soon with Raber and entertainment thought calm. We're gonna hopefully have some interactive videos on it, getting super into that. Have you have. Have you seen those stuff? That stuff read. What's that. That's where it's like, you can choose your own adventure through the video. I still have a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good. I like that. Rayburn entertainment. It's like, you're out. Uh, media mogul. I like that. Yeah. Uh, so yeah, check us out. Uh, and let us know. Also, I would love to hear from anybody that has, you know, is, is interested in collaborating or things like that, or I'm always. I have a roster of people I work with. And, um, I love getting to meet new people. Um, like you read, like, I feel like we've also worked together, but like, I didn't know. I'm going to have to look at that maybe tomorrow. There's a lot going on today, but. Maybe tomorrow I'll look online. And I looked through my emails and find the wedding that we did together. So cool. Uh, well, thank you so much again. Uh, I said, uh, I think before we started recording and I got a whole bunch of these lined up now, people are coming on, you you're setting the wave again and we're going to happen. A whole set of these, but I think these are great. And just getting the voice out, finding new people. I know that, um, we just had Kevin, the lighting. Uh, from Bellevue lighting on and I have a bunch of people come at me and go, you're like, I never heard of the Kevin. So thank you so much.

Jay Curry, DJ Jay Curry

Well, Jay, thank you so much for coming on today. Kind of last minute. Uh, we had a scheduling conflict for our episode this week and I saw, I posted my SOS on the, on the Facebook groups. And you graciously, uh, hopped up. And I really do appreciate that people that, you know, our entrepreneurial self employed and make that time and effort to do stuff like this, I still really do appreciate it. I thank you so much for coming on JZ. DJ, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. Cool. Uh, yeah. Hi, I'm Jay. I'm a DJ. Um, Who I am and what I do, I'm a 31 year old. Dude. I live in Seattle. I've been up here just over three years. Um, I grew up in Olympia, Washington, not too far away. So I've known the area and I've been working in the Puget sound area for the entirety of. The career here. Um, With COVID not a lot going on, but you know, trying to make pivots and make changes. And I'm sure we'll get into that, but, uh, I've always been. Into music and interested and allowed weird dude. So. And you also said you also have a podcast too, right. That you do with that because you kind of got this set up here, which is a little more advanced than a lot of our guests do. Yeah. Is that something you guys just do for fun? In the off season or what is that about? Yeah. So my buddy Brian, he's a graphic designer. He actually designed my logo. Um, we've been friends for a while and we started a podcast called silver, silver boys. Brunch squad. And it's just the ramblings of two guys with add and talk about anything from, you know, Squatty potty is to the presidential election, just all over the place. Um, It was pretty fun. It's really random. It's typically like two hours long, but if you. Like random stuff. Yeah. That's what we do. Um, The rest of this is like, I I'll also produce. So I've had this mic for awhile. Um, to get vocals from other people actually just recorded. Um, Kelsey's intro for her podcast song. Um, that she's coming out with soon. So, yeah. Yeah. Kelsey has been on a, get to know your wedding pro three weeks ago. Now I think, and then was on Bethany weddings too, as a business coach and yet launching her own. I excited to hear about that too. So I love I'm getting DJs on here because in the questionnaire you filled out too. Cause it's so much more than just, um, Uh, you know, like the gear you have or like being able to play music, it really is about, you know, who you guys are, guys or girls, you know, personality wise, right. I really be involved in that. And I do think that that is underrated or under appreciated sometimes. So, uh, what, what do you, you know, w what are you like at weddings? What do you like to, to bring, you know, as an MC and there's someone that's kind of helping dictate the course of the evening, Totally. It's a great question. I think it is really important for people to know that, um, I mean, oftentimes people don't even think about the role of a DJ until it comes down to deciding who's going to be a part of the most important day of your life. Um, that's kind of a fortunate, so it is cool to be able to like let people in and no. Um, and it is one of the challenges too, like. Put that. In their lap. Altogether with like with the first, hello? Hi. Um, what are your pricing? And I was like, okay, well, first of all, I like to. I want to be a good leader, which is important. I don't know if you know this. Um, but yeah, I try to bring energy. Um, I've been doing this like seven years and you know, at first it was just like show up, play music. Um, I can do that. That's easy. Uh, and then after meeting a couple other professionals in the field who are like way more organized than I probably still am today. Um, just showing what they brought to the table and the reaction of the crowd and the bride. On things that weren't music like interacting with the photographer, interacting with the day of coordinator, the caterer. You know, getting to know all the names of the bridal party. The parents. And just becoming a more integral piece of the event. Because no matter what you do a wedding, we'll go a different direction. Something's going to happen, right. So being able to kind of like. Get all those moving pieces kind of together and kind of help lead that. And on top of that. If there's no host, it can be kind of awkward going from like situation to situation. You know, I mean, it's as simple as like when the bride and groom kiss and they walk away. Like we practice that in rehearsal. But then when do the guests get up and leave? Like, you'll see if people are like, can we go yet? Do we grab our chairs? I don't know. You. So it's, I mean, it's as simple as being like, all right, everybody, grab a chair, come meet us for cocktail hour. We're going to get a little funky now, you know? I try to bring a little humor, a little. Joy. Pinash you know, I'm not super a. I'm not the most professional. I mean, I'm very organized, but as far as like my voice. I try to have more fun. I think humor is really important. And it can be very high stress day. So. That's what I try to bring that good. The long rambling answer. Yeah. But that answered that. No. Cause it is. And I say this too for, I think DJs in video people, both, there are plenty of like videographers to that, that, um, just show up, right. That don't really, you know, like email, anybody talked to the photographer at the time, they're kind of not involved. And I think if they get a bad rap, right. I think a lot of videographers. And I think like you said, some DJs, you know, where you're starting out, you're just coming and doing whatever and leaving, and then it really is getting it to that next level. Then you are, you know, Getting to know everybody figuring out, you know, how to make everything work together, because ultimately they're going to remember that later on, right. The caterer is going to be like, Oh yeah, I remember, you know, that they helped us facilitate all of that and making sure everything came out right in. Exactly. Oh, I'm just playing music. Like I'm just here. You know, even for me working with DJs, right. There's very various levels of like some are really involved and then summer, like, I I'm just here. Like, where are they during the first dance? Like what. Yeah. Or like you just hear like horror stories. Um, you know, like the, the videographers in the back. Eating dinner. Hey, we're starting to tell us right now, like, Oh crap. You know? But no, but that's good. So how did you get involved? Did you grew up loving music and all of this? Like you said, you know, you produce to do all this other things. I mean, how did you get involved in all this? Yeah. Um, Why I always tell people is, I mean, I grew up coloring and just doing the weird way to do things. Like I was the first born son. So I was my mom's favorite. So anything I did was gold. And so I think it's just, that allowed me to kind of do. Actually do whatever I wanted to do. Um, whether it was like writing. I love that I had this piece of paper and it's like, my favorite color is, and I just scribbled everything in there. And there was no words. You know, uh, so I've always been creative. I used to do Legos. I hadn't Lego magazine and that was all fine. And then my grandma bought us a piano. Because her brothers and sisters played music, but she never did. And then my parents never did. Um, and I just. Played by ear. Like I would learn songs. And then I met a friend who like absolutely loved classic rock and yet a guitar. So he just taught me chords. He'd be like play this note, this note that that's a C that's C major. So that's how I learned is just like having a. Classic rock. Friend and a piano from my grandma. And then. Around age 17. I bought reason. Uh, which is the software that's still out, but it was like version three. So that was like, 12 years ago, I was like, I want to make beats man. Like there's more than piano. So, and then, uh, was about four years of doing that. And then I met this photographer down in Olympia. And he introduced me to. A DJ down there doesn't DJ anymore. It was DJ native havoc, um, at a club. And he was like, you need a better reason to do what you do. Your beats are good, but you got personality. You should be a DJ. And I was like, okay. And so I just went. But he was like, yeah, come in whenever, play with the tables. I'll let you practice whatever. I f*****g loved it. I went to event and I was like, this is amazing. Can I do this for real? Can I make money doing this? And then yeah, then bought my. First tables with one of my first paychecks when I was working at Verizon, like then just practice all the time. It's crazy. How much, like word of mouth gets you gigs at first? Like I was like, Oh, I don't know if I'll ever get a wedding. And it was just like, Hey, you DJ. Right? My brother's getting married. It's like, Oh, cool. And that really helped me build like, A good base and then like, be able to say, okay, yeah, I've done 20 weddings. Like I can. Advertise I can charge more or whatever. Um, so yeah. Uh, Professionally. Seven years. Um, On paper for the government. A year and a half. But, uh, yeah, I don't intend on ever stopping. I love it. And weddings for sure. And my favorite thing to do, which is. Not as common. I mean, I know a lot of DJs and I have not done the club scene. Really? Like I've done maybe one. It seems very fun, but a lot of these club DJ's, um, They don't love doing weddings seems like it's a stressor former Sunday night. But people have always been my passion. Like I've always been a retail or sales. So the whole people aspect and organizing that and like, Oh man. Like I'm at my literal happiest. When I met doing a wedding, no happier. Well, it is, it's so much more because like you said, you can DJ, you know, you could do, you know, corporate advance, you could do the clock, you know, you could do better, you know, Once you're in that wedding. It's you gotta deal with all this other crap that's going on, you know? Yeah. And mom and dad or whoever. And I remember even we just had 'em. We had a wedding on Saturday and it was like, We were, it was, it was safe. Like it was COVID safe and everyone had mass. We were just like, in this like Airbnb. All day, like, you know, 10 hours all day. And I'm like, I am like, no, all this family now, like all the drama, all of. You know, and you're like, man, if I was a videographer out on like a corporate, she right now, I would not be like, I'm in, you know, it's the same with the DJ you're in this stuff with them. And you really got to decide if you liked that or not. For sure. Yeah. I mean going into it if like, Like, whether I'm sure whether it's your being a videographer or photographer or, you know, any of those like artistic crafts. The wedding adds just this whole other layer. That isn't your craft like it's, I mean, you can take pictures all day and love it, but once you get involved with that day, there's a whole nother dimension to it. Same with deejaying. Like I know really good DJs and they're fantastic. They blow me out of water. They always will. Um, but they don't love to interact with people like that. So they'll never love doing weddings. And so, I mean, it does take a certain person to be able to do that. Um, and I think it's almost more important, like. It's weird to say that, but I think it's almost more important to have someone who can manage guests. Obviously read a crowds very important, but like manage the event, get to know the people. Cause it helps you customize like every moment possible. Um, for your people, which makes her happier clients, if that's your main goal. Boom. If you're making, if you want to make money and that's your main goal, you're going to get recommendations from that. Like, if you make it more memorable, like someone's gonna be like, man, it was amazing. He did everything. He was in touch with me, made it easy. You know, It's fantastic. Yeah. I mean, you can be the best we've talked. I can't remember which one that we just had a timeout photography, but you can be the best photographer in the world, but if you are stressing the people out and if you're barking orders and you're trying to get whatever, uh, you know, they could be beautiful photos, right. But then you're going to be left. You. You know the client, or if it's a family, you know, you're going to be left with those negative feelings. And it's the same way with the DJ, right? I mean, you could be, have the best whatever thing going on, but if. But if there's no dancing or if you forget the mother of the bride's name or something gets done. But, you know, but then it's going to be, it's the same thing. It doesn't, you know, technical skill only gets you so far. And then it there's a lot of, like you said, being able to interact and read the room and stuff like that, for sure. Yeah. What was it like? Um, I always ask, you know, I'm sure. You know, when you were like working at Verizon and all this, I feel you never pictured yourself being like a wedding, DJ, you know, what was it like kind of entering, and I knew nothing about weddings, but I did my first wedding and I've told this story before, but. You know, I just got like a Craigslist thing. Hey, we need a wedding videographer in two days. What was it like going in and just kind of experiencing all of that. And especially as like a guy to wear, you know, like my wife had friends and stuff and, but what was it like on the entering that yeah. Um, that's a, that's a fun question. I don't think I've thought of that in a while. Um, Especially when you ask, like, as a guy and I'll try to get to that. But, uh, at first I was just like, I want a DJ, anything, um, corporate events, birthday parties, clubs just want to do. I want, I want to use this to travel. Especially like still waiting to do that. My sister's living in Hawaii now I'm like, get me a wedding. Um, But yeah, I mean, entering it and then. Jay I fell. I mean, at first it was like, I wouldn't say imposter syndrome, but like, I definitely was like, this is not where. This is not where I shine. I'm just going to like, Do the bare minimum stay in the corner. Make sure everyone's happy. I don't make anyone mad. Um, especially when you talk about being a guy. The wedding industry, as far as professionals is. Fairly female dominated. Um, nothing wrong with that, but like, The bride deals with the clients most of the time. And so when the, when you go to that and there's all these like boss women, and you're like this. Kind of 24 year old DJ, which it's like a running joke on it. Any sit-com being a DJ is like, dad's not going to improve that. You know what I mean? So you come into this industry and it's like, kind of intimidating, like it's a very professional world compared to, you know, clubs and birthday parties like that. So it was, it was intimidating at first doing those, but. Um, regardless of whatever panic attack I'm going to add. Prior. It always felt amazing afterwards. And so I was like, I just want to do that again. Like it, it makes it all worth it. Like any stress that leads up to the event. That like four hour window where people are grooving and you've made the day and you get hugs and people's like, salute you just like, man, that makes every hour worth it. Were there things that you thought it would be easier, things that you thought would be harder kind of getting into it now, looking back. Yeah, I definitely thought rock and the crowd would be harder. I don't mean just like flex or anything, but like, um, I generally, and I've talked to other teachers about this. It is easier because. A couple of reasons. One, people want to have a good time at weddings. They're there to have fun. Like love is in the air. It's about joy. Um, and some of these people, especially now need a reason to cut loose. Like they need a reason. So you're not trying to show off as much as you are just like allowing them to dance. You know what I mean? So I definitely was like thinking it would be a lot harder to get. Age ranges from like six to 80 to go on a dance floor in a hundred person wedding. Um, it's not as hard. Um, like I said, most people, their death, I haven't had weddings where literally no one dances. Um, but that, I think that's just like, you know, you're going to fail. You're going to eat dirt sometimes. You're not going to know your crowd every single time. Um, that's part of it. Uh, as far as what I thought would be easier. I don't know. I like, I always look at these challenges. I'm assuming that they're going to be. Tough. Because I just, it seems like a smarter way to go about it. I have definitely come unprepared to handful of weddings. Um, and when you said, forget the, the name of the moms or the name of the bride's mom. I'd done that. When I was supposed to be announced them, it was just this long pause. Uh, so yeah, being prepared as huge, and that was something I learned. Probably like three years ago, I'm at this DJ and he does real estate. He does photography. Um, Do you know, Jeremy blue beats. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So he taught me a lot. Um, I think even mentioned what I believe is it. Yeah, it makes sense. It's the whole Russell Wilson separations and the preparation. Okay. Leading up to the event. There's a lot of work that you can do with the bride and groom, um, that not only allows you to like make it better, but it gives them more peace of mind. Cause I've had I've. I mean, before that I've definitely had brides, probably poor. A couple of hours into making a Spotify playlist of like 250 songs. And it's like that. Thank you. But there's no way I'm going to play all this. Like there's like 18 slow songs in here. Like, that's just not going to happen. And also like, You shouldn't have to do that much work. If you're hiring somebody and paying them this much. You should not have to pay someone that much. And so him kind of teaching that and go into that, that, that really changed my outlook of like how I can affect event. And now I can really add value. And that's one of the things that I want to try and portray to new clients is like, You're not just hiring like a juke box with a mouth, like. Promise. I make it so much easier and so much more personable than that. Um, I don't even remember what your question was. I'm sorry. Answer it. Yeah, it's so funny. I, and not to, they'll never, but I did the wedding we had on Saturday, so they had a DJ and it was, he was a DJ, but like a friend. And they had come out and it killed me when you're talking about like preparation and everything that we had. I'd emailed them ahead of the time. Never heard back. So then day off, you know, I'm coming in and trying to do what the email, whether done and say, Hey, you know, can we get, uh, like a feed out for the toast? You know, what's going on? And, you know, I'm trying to like ease into it and I'm like, so. Yeah. What's your plan for kids were kind of in this house. Are you going to Miami for the toast? Like what's kind of the plan. And they're like, you know, we, uh, we had never talked about that. Like we've never, and I'm like, how long have we been. We've all been booked for this wedding for like 10 months. Like how have you not, you've never had a conversation with them at all about having like a wireless microphone for toast, which is like a very standard, but like, I'm just trying to ease into this. Right, right, right, right. Because normally I would just be like, Hey, where's the, you know, can I get a plugin or whatever? And I'm like, it just kills me. Like some of these people, they just it's all types of vendors, but just some of this preparation sent home. I just, I mean, we had like a six page thing that we send out about like our wedding and stuff. I'm like, Just basic stuff that we didn't and this, and then he goes, well, you know, I guess. Yeah, we should probably do that. Okay. Let me, should I talk to them about it? We'll know. I'm like, these are not conversations we should cap the day out today. Well, we totally were. And I was like, this is astounding to me that you guys were having this conversation right now. And you're like the DJ for this event. It was crazy. Yeah. Yeah, it is crazy. Um, Th at that. Like, I try to make it, like when I, when I talk to people and they're like, they are interested. I'm like, I want to meet with you in person at least once or FaceTime with you, at least once. Just get to know you like on a bare minimum. And then I want to have another conversation later. Closer to the date about what your timeline really looks like. And if I can help give any input at all, I've done, you know, 50 plus cities. Like I want to be there for it. And I want to know the specifics, even if in our contract and our pricing, the wireless mic was included or, or uplights weren't included or something like that. Or you need a second setup. I would like to be able to pivot two weeks prior. Rather than being like, Oh, well, that's not what you said. And then have the date kind of suck because I wasn't paying attention. You know what I mean? Even if, even if the fault is on me, You know, touching base like that and like getting all your ducks in a row. I, it just makes, it just makes sense. I don't know. Yeah. I told him, I'm talking to myself probably seven years ago. I'd have been like mind blown. Whoa, that makes sense. You know, so a practice, you know, makes this like, uh, uh, A thing we do. Yeah, well, and like, my wife will always ask me like, well, like, you know, are they paying for that? Or are they asking him like, I don't know at some point, like I got to live with the stuff afterward. I got to edit everything. And so. Cluster app. And then I got to go back and fix it, like, well, I would rather just have those conversations ahead of time then. Yeah. I still gotta, you know, at least with the DJ stuff, you're kind of dying. I still gotta live with it for like 40 hours, you know, it's better than just try to nip it in the bud, you know? Yeah. That's I mean, That's one thing I've always admired. Um, and something. I would love to just like shout out even on like weddings I don't do is. You're like my day, my weddings and. You know, at midnight, like see you later, I'm done. Your job just has begun. Um, and you, and you have to go and then you have to go turn it around. Um, keep the memory of the day. In there and pack up and you're still booking new events and you're still working on that. And then who knows? I mean, some photographers is turnaround is three months. Some are. You know, Four weeks. Um, but that that's always fascinated me that our, we meet in the middle there. And. You continue working on the wedding and I'm S I'm so done, like the next day it's over. I did it. Yeah, but generally your path starts a lot earlier, you know? Yeah. You have a lot more pre prep in that then? Yeah. I mean, we're, I mean, we try to do. Like I said, we have our questionnaire and stuff, but I mean, We could just walk in and, you know, at this point, right. Like I could just walk in pretty blind and figure it out. I mean, you don't want to, but you don't want to, but yeah. But you have to do a lot more of that pre prep. So yeah, it's definitely like median in the middle and then the diverging before and after. Yeah. So it's intriguing. How long have you been doing this? Uh, this will be [unknown] like six and a half, seven years. We just crossed wedding 301 on Sunday. So it was amazing. Yeah. So it was happy. It was like 2,600 hours at weddings or something like that. So we have, like, I have a thing that counts. I guess, cause I'm like OCD, but I keep track of all that stuff. I'm gonna hit that 10,000 hour Mark. Yeah. Uh, like, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was probably about that. Yeah. We had 300 and then three Oh one over the weekend. So that was fantastic, man. Great for you. And he kept so many, I've done. Like, like, I mean, I showed you like 50, maybe. Um, 300. Wow. I can not wait to hit that number sense. Well, I, well, I always laugh cause I, cause yeah, he always emailed out the questionnaire and some people will display, Oh, it's too many, too many of the account. And I'm like, wow. I'm counting. So do you like music and stuff and the Aussies and the, do you, like when you say you, like you produce, you do like audio staff, do you produce music too? Or are you in all that stuff? Yeah. Um, so like I said, like, you know, I've been. Working with Daws digital audio workspaces for. 12 years, 13 years. So I've always been doing it. Um, it's only been sense. The world. Started burning that I've like really started to be like, okay, I can't just bartend and DJ, because those two things. Might not exist all the time. So, um, I love producing like big soundscapes and like, I think scoring a movie would be cool, which is such a huge departure from what I'm doing as a DJ. But I've been working a lot on like crafting my sound and figuring that out and. Just. Per trying to learn, like trying to mask the program so I can. Go through the flow and get my thoughts out quicker. But one of the fun things I've been doing recently, like for, for my podcast, for Kelsey's podcasts. And there was another thing I did for some video, but just like making music for those things. Um, just a quick 32nd intro, but. Kind of being able to do the same. Back and forth rapport, getting to know, even though I've known Kelsey for three years, just kind of be like, okay, what's the, what's the vibe of the podcast? What do you want? Being able to turn that emotion into. A sound. And then use that and put that on podcast. I would love to keep doing that. That is super fun. Uh, pinging back and forth and her being like, Oh yeah, I can, uh, What did I like it? Can we just make it cooler? And I'm like, yeah. Oh, that's the goal. Uh, I just don't know what direction that's. But. So, yeah, I've been having fun doing that. Uh, as far as other stuff, I don't know if I'm gonna go back to bartending or if this is like the jump-off point. I mean, It's been kind of free falling for a while. I have not been the best with maintaining my. Business solving kind of weird and I'm sure you've been there a little bit too. Um, I've had five events. The summer, which is low. Um, Got some rescheduled, but you know, who knows what's going to happen? Uh, But yeah. Um, I'm trying to work and I was just re updating my website last night. Uh, reached out to a couple of photographers that I know, and she gets new headshots because I have long hair now. And like all my, all my stuff is like short hair. I had someone be like, who's this Jay guy, my DNS. I was like, ah, that's me. Like, Oh yeah, that doesn't look like you. I'm like, well, that's not good. Cause this is my business. So, yeah, so yeah. Trying to get my ducks in a row. Um, Yeah, that's what I'm doing right now. Uh, what, what's it been like? You know, with all their COVID, as someone in the outgoing people person, DJ, I mean, what's it been like? Uh, you know, on the other side of the bed, not being able to experience all that all summer. Oh man. Like, it's almost like I'm tired. Of pretending it's chill. Cause it's so not, but like I've gotten over the hump. Like that was like, I was in a dark place. Like I didn't want to do anything. I was like, maybe I'll just start doing real estate. Like the universe is telling me my dream is dead. I'm a white man right now. Like my voice doesn't mean anything. Like I'm just gonna shut up. Um, but like, I mean, as far as like how I view. Progress and like things getting better. I don't think everybody needs to be doing the same job. And I kinda, it took me a couple of months, but I believe that my job in this progression and the world being a better place. Is bringing joy is making people laugh, helping people dance. Uh, telling a good story. That's my job. And so. Kind of turning that around and using that as my, why. And kind of reestablishing. Jay Curry as a brand. That's my job bringing joy. Uh, I'm not gonna be reading bills and I'm not going to be, you know, The super activist posting a bunch of like crazy stuff on Instagram. Cause that's not my job. My job is to make you happy. I do want to stay informed. I'm not like trying to be ignorant to it. You know, there's a lot of things that bug me, but. In the end. That's what I want to be doing. Is that, so yeah, I mean, Especially without people. My God, like I, I went, I hung out with like, Seven people the other day. And after the car ride, like on the car ride home, I was just full of energy. And I was like, Oh my God, I forgot what it felt like to talk to more than two people at the same time. It's just like, I love it. Um, I like trying to be the center of attention in a, in a, in a party. You know, it's, that's how it's always been. I've always. Loved crowds. Being the DJ and being on the mic and talking and kicking jokes to 200 people. Oh man, I missed that. I only got to do a couple of times, but yeah. Uh, Being in the same house, not being able to like go meet up with the same gang or be having to tell a lot of people know, because. They're all doing crazy stuff. It's, it's been weird. It's been a weird mental journey. Growth is there, but yeah, it's been weird. All that stuff. Cause, like you said, you know, you can't, you see all this stuff. You kind of need to maintain some semblance of, of what you are or what we all do. I don't. You know, it's like, I'm a wedding videographer, right? Like my stress level, like my, uh, we do our XFL podcast and my, but my buddy Paul works at K TLA and just sees the horrors of the world. Right. Covering. Politics and the wildfires and Vale. All of these different things going on. And I'm like, I don't know, man. I gotta, like, I gotta play the wedding video together, state. It's different, but you're like, I can't. I said, we can't all do the same job. Right. You need to. It's it's definitely an interesting thing there. It is. Yeah. I think a lot of people got in the mindset, like, especially with like when everything we do to keep ourselves busy and like, Maybe not on purpose, but unintentionally, like not thinking about the issues, all of that was paused. You could not escape. What's going on. I think a lot of people went to that same issue. Like. Okay, well, what part do I play in this? What's my role now? Um, cause it used to be. A lot of people's role was going to a day job. Being social afterwards doing my little hobby. Um, talking about whatever with my homies and that was it. And like, if there's a problem, it's like, yeah, it's a problem. But I got s**t to do. I worked 50 hours a week, you know? Um, That pause for a lot of people. So like, we were just kind of forced. To like really? Okay. What's my role now. And, uh, I think for some people, fortunately, they already knew some people are still figuring out. Um, but it is, it's going to be interesting how this plays out. It's this year, next year. I think it's going to be a lot of. A lot of creatives like us, like really like. Grabbing it by the horns and being like, yeah, this is what I'm doing. Uh, and I'm excited to see that it's unfortunate that there have been businesses that go under, but like the silver lining is there's going to be new ones that pop up in place. There's a lot of people come now, this just. Tired of being boring and I'm excited to see all of that. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely something like, you know, I struggled with, you know, online stuff and like, I post a lot of just dumb stuff on like my Instagram and like, you know, Memes, all these different staff in your ear and you see everything going on. And you're like, wow. You know, I don't really know. Right. It's just the right time. But then I would have, um, you know, brides, like when I would post that. Oh yeah. I look forward to this all the time. Like I got my little baby now. Yeah. And I'm reading this. It brings joy and say, you're going okay. Like, I guess. Exactly. It's supposed to be, you know, my little, you know, That's my little role in the day for that two seconds of whatever dumb stuff to post to bring, you know, Yeah. As you do feel like, well, I don't want to. You know, but, but I remember back when it was a lot of the really negative stuff and I'm like, why didn't, I don't even want to be on any of this interacting with anybody. Cause yeah. It's too negative. So it's, it's a fine balance there. Yeah, it is fine balance. And. It's not going to go back to. Whatever normal was. Maybe ever. So like just kinda like learning how to navigate this is. Has been interesting. Um, I'm I'm ready for it to be not on the front page of my brain all day, though. Like I'm ready to make. Okay. Things aren't here. It's manageable enough. Uh, I need to make moves now. Like come on. Grown adult. And I've made this choice, like. Three or four years ago. That is what I want to do. So it's time to. Buckle up. I want to hear. So, you know, when you, when you talk about being the emcee and entertaining, you know, you're kind of up there in the spotlight, where does that come from? Is, I mean that the, um, the confidence to do that, I mean, did you like act or perform or anything? I mean, where does that come from having that? Like, I'm going to get in front of command, all this stuff. Yeah. Um, I don't know, honestly, like my mom, my mom has always been. Like I said, like my number one fan and so anything I had to say, no matter how much I had to say she would just eat it up. So I think that had to do with it. Um, both of my parents are very personal people. They both worked in the hospitality industry. My dad was a chef for 35 years. My mom. I ran a couple of hotels as I grew up. And so they're both, you know, very familiar with people. Um, lot of talking and I got to meet a lot of people and I remember. I think one time. My mom met somebody at a store and I was with her. And then went to say hi, and I was like, I'm shy. Like I learned that word I'm shy. And she was like, no, you're not. You're not, and it just stuck. Like I was not, and I I've always just kind of gravitate gravitated towards being that. And I died. I was a weirdo. I promise I was so. Out there, like too much. One of my favorite teachers ever. Ms. Toby shout out. Uh, third and fourth grade, we were her first class and it was like meet the teacher before school. And I walk in the room, just me and my parents. I walk in the room. Do I need to do. And I say hi, and I scratched the whole chalkboard and I say, I'm Jay. It's just like, Oh, this kid's going to be. Fun. Uh, but we got along great. Cause I never crossed the line. You know, I always knew like where the buttons. Where. I had a ton of people telling me I should do stand up. And I was like, no, I don't want to do that. I'm not your monkey. I just want to randomly do weird stuff. So I think that just like flexing that all the time, just like. Being weird often enough. Just allow me to be more comfortable in my own skin. Um, and then toning that down in order to be around. Strangers and like, Be a part of someone's day. I took some years, like I was definitely not. Oh, I wasn't like the J personality that I am now. Like the first 10 weddings. I was very like ladies and gentlemen now. You know, if you could please, but, um, I'm definitely more myself and. Uh, it's just practice. Um, Snapchat helped, uh, when, when that came around. It was all day just mean doing weird stuff into it and sending it out to whoever it deletes the where no, one's gonna see it again. And so that helped me just living alone and doing that Snapchat thing for like a year, like. I was, I tell people all the time, just keep posting stuff. Which is funny, cause I'd have not posted anything lately, but you know, there's other things going on. But yeah, I think that just comes from being able to practice it. Being comfortable to do it. Sometimes going outside the comfort zone. But I also love to hear my own voice apparently. I've just been rambling. Well, no, I mean, cause that segway is kind of my next thing is, um, it is it's that fine balance between. You know, being yourself. Because the whole point of doing this podcast, doing the good to know you're waiting for all this kind of stuff is because at the end of the day, people are hiring us as, as vendors. But like, as us, as people as the vendors, right. For sure. And like he said, you know, when you started out and you're a little more, I mean, I think a lot of people do write. I think a lot of people start off and they're like, okay, I just need to book anything I can and be just kind of a nebulous thing that people are hiring, right. If it's a photographer, videographer, whatever. And it really is interesting as I've grown and done the podcast. And I talk with new vendors, new vendors, and people that have been doing it. You know, Greg ladder was just on, he's been. Whatever for like 25 years. And it's just when you learn that stuff, I do think you, um, get more, you know, the clients that you want, right. You attract the stuff like, you know, my wife always says like, you get what you give, you know, like you always, if you have a scent, And, you know, like I see, uh, I was just on Facebook when I was eating lunch. Like there's this wedding videographer group. And it's like nationwide and these guys post like the dumbest stuff, because they're all. You know, they're not, I'm like, it just be yourself and they get the clients you want. And like, we don't have trouble clients, right. Because it's, they like someone that has like a Dragon's thing and all this stuff, like, they're not like that brides aren't going to hire me if they don't want somebody. That's like a normal whatever thing. And it's the same with you and like hiring, but it's just interesting and finding that balance. You know, obviously I get seems like, you know, you've gotten, there's this interesting kind of that progression that I think a lot of vendors either go through or don't go through and kind of at different stages. Does any of that makes sense? Yeah, totally. Um, and I liked the, you talk about your personality with it too, cause. On the other side of the fence, you know, looking at photographers and videographers. I see a lot, a lot of the same, like cookie cutter. Pinterest. And part of that is, you know, how many stay-at-home moms are being photographers, but just the same style. Without a lot of like, if any personality to it. Um, and so it's so refreshing to see someone with their own style. The first thing that comes to mind is this video on Tik TOK from the other day. Uh, It was like, It was like what people think I do as a videographer. And it's like, what you see? I'm sorry. There's a fruit fly around here. Get out of here. Um, But then it just turns to like dubstep and like all his clients are like, you're doing like slow Mo amazing stuff. And there's like, you know, riding a tractor through the field and it's just like, They are totally different than a lot of things. I see. And all their edits are different and it's like, that's why they get hired. They might not get hired by all people, but there are people that hire base specifically because they're different. Uh, and I think that's really key. Um, to finding your own clients and to liking what you do more cause you get to work and be yourself around the people who want you to be that way. Clutch. Well, I killed me. We had a, I had a, like a corporate client and so they, someone previously with that company had hired me. And then they're now at a different role. So then someone else hired me and they're like, Hey, we need to hire you. Like I've done stuff from in the past. As I will here. Here's the video we did before. This is what we can do. And they're like, okay, great. That's perfect. So I go out and film it and I added that and I said to him, and this was like last week or the week before. And they're like, Oh, well, this isn't what we want it. Like, this is what we wanted. And they sent this thing and I'm like, I literally like you hired me, I've worked for your company before we did. Yeah, this wasn't like this isn't apples to apples. Like we did this video for your other property. Now we're doing the same video for a different property. You know, didn't, I just wish you wouldn't have hired me then if you're going to hire me and be disappointed or not. Right. Cause like, I want you guys to be happy with what you have, but when I have your companies video on my website and you look at that, and then you want something different. You know, it's, it's, it's a, it's a troublesome thing where you're on now. I want, you know, you want to hire people that you want and be ultimately happy with that. For sure. It's a fun place to get to, um, which I feel like I'm just breaching their, but you know, like getting referrals from venues that are like, Hey, these people are right up your alley. Um, you guys would totally vibe and get along. Um, they're fun. They like EDM, you know, whatever. Um, that's a fun place to get you to be like, have that warm handoff or like, just be like, I see you, you know, Um, I'm excited to get more like that. And to eventually. Like have people be like, Oh, I don't think we're a good fit. And maybe like ear right. You know, And be okay with that because, you know, at this point I'm like any gig I can get, but, um, yeah, that's a fun place to get to for sure. Are you into the EDM? Is that your. I 100% am. Yeah. I mean, I like all stuff. Like if I was to choose where I could play a gig, uh, I think like a Vegas club will be super fun. Like very open format. Uh, your new pop hits, Drake, some old RNB throwback, some real heavy hitting the step. Just doing all of it. Cause I feel like painting with more colors. Can just be real cool. If that makes sense. Um, but yeah. I have a friend who said EDM isn't music and I'm like, okay, cool. Well, whenever you say, man, Just go listen to your little Yachty again. But, uh, I like, yeah, I like it, but mainly just having fun. Definitely have a fun, like I'll, I'll, I'll get out from behind the booth and go join the train and, you know, Dance with the, the bride's mom. And I try to like, get people going, you know, I was going to share, I know this is your podcast. I'm going to share one quick story, the Vegas club and get your reaction. So my wife were like mid-thirties role. I feel very old now, but my wife is a major Kygo fan. That's like her more than anything in the world. Like we went and saw him, like he played at Berkeley, we went and saw him. So he was playing in Vegas back in, like right before all this shutdown, like back in January. And so it's, you know, 10 o'clock and he's playing it. Um, God, what was it? Uh, I. Visit Encore. And the wind, the. Yeah. Yeah. So we're, we're trying to book our plane tickets and everything. And so I think, cause she had to work that day. So we were going to fly in like it like eight or eight 30. At night and the show is going to be a cab and Paul he's like, dude, he's not even going to come on until midnight. Like th this was, you know, you don't need to worry about like, getting there. You know, cause I'm like, we gotta, we gotta get there. Right. So we get, I think we ended up getting to like whatever the club was at, like 11 or 11, 15, and like, we're so tired. Like we've worked all day. We're flying. And we're sitting there and we're talking with these people and they're like, Oh yeah, We're lucky if he comes on, like at one 30. What is happening in here like this concert? I mean, I know they're trying to sell drinks and some of them, like this was like a 10 o'clock concert. And I think he came on at like two, two 15. And we stayed, we may till three 30 and I said, we got to go. Like, we were so tired, but it was like the most sort of whole, like, you. No hard. Yeah. I go see the show. Yeah. I've definitely had situations where I'm like, okay, I love you, but like two hours. It's kind of pushing it three. I'm really annoyed. Very annoyed. Uh, and sometimes it's like, you know, okay, there's sound issues or, you know, the opener got there or whatever. But, I mean, at what point do you, and just be like, wow, Like we've all that. Sorry though. Cause you're there. You bought, it takes you're already there. It's like, ah, You win, you win. Kygo. It's crazy. Um, a, any other topics you wanted to touch on before I let you go? I feel like this has been a fine. A walk through of everything, uh, goals for the future. Once we get back to normalcy. Yeah. Um, I mean immediate goals of mine are too. Like I said, update content and get more of my stuff out there. And I'm trying to work on a better way too. Have that first meeting with a client, not be an email that they send me in as an inquiry. You know, something that shows my flavor a little more. So, um, video would be cool. Maybe we should link up in the future on that. Um, but definitely working on just all my social medias and. Posting more about what I do with my personality on Instagram reels, all that stuff. Uh, and then yeah, the big goal would be only do that. Forever. Um, I'm, I'm sure I probably invest in real estate eventually. That's important adult things to do, but. Uh, not work at a bar and not work at, uh, Uh, Verizon ever again, you know, not have to worry about that. That's that's the next goal for me? Is turn this into a reality and then. Travel with it. Uh, is it that doing that job is that. Does scary. I mean, talking about the emotions behind that, about, you know, Yeah. Um, I think. How I've identified is. I just. Part of me feels like it's still like, not a real dream. Like it's not, it's like. It's something that I could attain, but I, but I might not, but that's just the, like, literally that thought is the reason I'm not like. It's the fear of being, you know, Annoying or, you know, being like, yeah, I'm the DJ again, like, please hire me, you know, um, like that stuff. Um, I think that's honestly it like just being like, am I qualified to be making a hundred thousand years at DJ? Like, I feel like I could, but like, How many people are gonna trust me with that day. It's like this weird self doubt. Like I know I kill it. I, I have no doubt in my mind, like, Every week, almost every wedding I do. It's fire and I get tipped and thank you. And, you know, thank you. Letters, but there is that like, Can I really do this? Can I really do this? That's it just kind of like. Shoving that voice down or confronting it. And. Smack in the face, you know, that's the goal. Right now. It's so hard because there are some, and I've see new photographers and videographers and people all the time. Like there's some people that they're like, okay, can I do two weddings at Campbell wedding videographer? Now they're gone. And then there's people that either really do. And I struggle, you know, it took me a year to kind of make that transition. I mean, there's people that just, you know, it's just funny how, um, Just different people are and trying to figure out what's right for them. And there's no right answer. And it's just, it's so interesting. With the stories from everybody. Yeah. What moment did you have where you were like. Okay, this is, this is, this is what I'm going to be doing. And like, after that, there was not another. Conversation internally with yourself. Um, I, we, I was building, we had started everything. I used to work at Q 13, so I've been there like four and a half years. And, uh, I remember I talked to my mom and I had said, Hey, I think we're ready to do this. And she said, uh, yeah, I think, I think you should do it. And that, that in my head I'm like, okay, well, five fail. Like she'll bail me out. Cause I could always say. Hey, you told me to do it. Sadie Sadie was going to be idea, but that wasn't any, it was so interesting that we talked about it before. I can't remember if it was Kelsey's podcast. One of the ones I just did recently, where. When you have an, obviously right now, there's too much free time for everybody, right? I mean, just with COVID, but, but normally, you know, if you're working the other jobs and stuff, And you're and you're building the gigs. When you have that extra time, then you end up filling it in ways that are either like extra pain jobs or other ways to, um, you know, support that, right. Whether it's posting things or working or whatever, but you, you find the time. Cause I remember when, uh, I quit right before Christmas of whatever year it was. And then it was like Christmas break. And, you know, we saw in the family and my wife's a teacher, so we were off and then it was like new year's and whatever. And I remember like that first Monday that she went back to work. And, you know, I'm just sitting there at the house. Right. And I'm like, I got, I got, uh, you know, we gotta do it now. Right? Like the big game. You got it. And you just end up filling you just fill the time, you know, if you're. You know, motivated enough. I mean, it's tough. I mean, it's not for everybody, but obviously you are, have been doing it a long time and say so, but you know, just not, you have to really be accountable. And like even the guys that work for me and girls that, um, Like second shoot and whatever. Some of 'em. Can fill that time on their own. And then some of them can't and it's, there's no rhyme or reason why some do. And some don't there's no reason why I've always said there was no reason why. There was 25 photographers, acute 13. There was no reason why I was the one that got to leave to start my own company. And the other ones didn't like, I was no better or worse than anybody else at being a videographer, you know? Yeah. What do you think gave you, and I'm sorry, this is turning into me asking you questions. What do you think gave you that? Like. That work for yourself and telling us. I want to follow that up with something that I like to think about. Um, my buddy, Brian, he brought this up to me one time. And he was like, You're running a business. This is your business. This is what you do. Um, you work for yourself. You. Where are your own boss? If you separated those two people. Would you fire yourself? And I was like, dang, like probably like if I was higher, if I hired me and exactly what I was doing right now to do. To run my business for me. I was like, yeah. Yeah. I'd probably hire someone else. That's crazy. And that was a weird thought. Why, why would you fire yourself? Cause I was working on my business like five hours a week at the time. Like not trying like, Oh yeah, like I got another inquiry. That's awesome. I'm doing it. But it's like, what was I. What else was I doing? You know? Spending like an hour on Instagram doing nothing, you know, not really interacting or not like learning my craft. And so that was like a big shift in mentality. Like. Yeah, this is a job like. When you talk about filling the time, like I was working two bar jobs and then my deejaying this one summer, and I was like, I'm busy. This is amazing. Um, If you take away those bar jobs. So, uh, I was not that busy as a DJ. Like, you know, it was, I was filling in the time, the way I could. Um, but taking away, you know, that day, John, that just essentially pays me to. Support the other one, like creating that other space. Totally different ball game. So like what. What gave you that? Ethic, I guess, to like do it on your own. Uh, my dad had his own company. He sends his passed away, but he had his own advertising company. Uh, and that, I think that was a, I mean, he was a workaholic and I'm a workaholic. So that was, that was part of it. Um, but yeah, I mean, people just don't get any, even like, um, I said, you know, the kids that worked for me, you know, my friend, you know, we do this, we just started this XFL podcast. And he works and I'm like, There's not one second of the day that I'm not thinking about something like doing something beneficial for whether it's, you know, best in your videos or the podcasts or the other podcasts or. You know, the weddings or whatever. Right. But it's, but it's, um, I just, it doesn't turn off. Right. And that's not necessarily like a good thing, but like, I, uh, you know, it was a really weird thing for me back in, um, I guess April, whatever, to like sit and play video games for like a week. Really. But yeah, I just did not use to, cause I feel I've always felt like because, uh, we're Dorothy has always worked and, and like I said, when I quit and then I was at home. I always felt like I was, uh, had to be accountable. Like when, when she came home, like, Hey, why did you know what'd you? What, how was your day? What'd you do? You know, just talking whatever. And like, I always wanted to have stuff to be able to talk about or, you know, like, Hey, I did this or I did that. I worked on this or I got, so, you know, at the beginning, You, you know, you would talk a lot about like the one inquiry you got or the one like, Oh, Hey, I did. But then you just you're like, well, I got it. I don't know. I have more stuff too. That kind of thing. Yeah. But it is. I mean, it's a workaholic thing. It's not, it is true that, you know, you work a hundred hours for yourself. So you don't have to work 40 hours for someone else. Yeah. I mean, I mean, that's a hundred. The most truthful thing about all of that is it's so much more everything, you know, You handle all facets of it. Yeah, but like I said, I don't even, like I said, they, they, people I send out, you know, cause I have Matt works for me and he does a lot of weddings with me and then he does weddings on his own and you know, I coordinate all of that. And I'm gonna get you for you to be there for the 10 hours. I have 50 emails with them and all this different stuff, just for you to be able, you know what I mean? Like yeah. Just for that 10 hours, there's all this other stuff that goes into it. Even on my end that you don't see. Right. They don't always get that, you know? Yeah, that's true. That's cool, man. That's interesting. Also inspiring. Bought enough. It's inspiring. It's a lot of ways, a lot of upset. Obsessive compulsive. Well, I mean, I, Kelsey talks to me about like how much you do and it does sound like a, just another level of mindset. Um, but I mean, it is. It is somewhere I got to go towards, you know, Doing more. Having more going on. The key. And I did, I mean before anyway, but the big key for me was, um, and its digital this year, but they did the wedding MBA down in Vegas. It's like the big contract. And there's a lot of different conferences and stuff, but. I've always thought that the wedding MBA and not all the talks and all the people, and there's a lot of, even like the videographers that show, there are a lot of them are just blowing smoke and tried to like, you know, tout their own, whatever. But it's just that idea of running your business as a business and not as like a creative endeavor, like even. Right. Like that, um, I was saying. I the wedding videographer groups I'm part of, and I see all these people, like why though? You know, I don't feel inspired with this one or they want this stuff changed and I don't want to change it because I love the way that I did it. And it's like, I don't like my opinion of your wedding video. It doesn't matter at all. Right? Like out all, like. And not in a bad way, right? Like it does not matter at all. Right. Ultimately, if I like it or not, and now there's, if they like it and so give huge difference, but people don't get that. And are these things, I mean, DJ, I think is different because you're in that service industry. You know, you're on the service side where you're dealing with them a lot more. One-on-one right. But a lot of videographers will go off into a corner and edit for a million hours and then be like devastated when they don't like it. And you're. Yeah. Looking at it more as like, and not that we, you don't do as not art as well, but they are much more as like I've crafted this little thing. Totally. And would like your feedback is not. As immediate, like I get feedback. In seconds. Like I know when I'm not hitting, you know, and like, luckily I've come across a good amount of tools to, to help me. Start and finish a wedding, you know, without much, you know, sweating, you know, like doing the, getting started packet and like getting to know their tastes and their vibe and asked him like little weird questions, like, you know, What was it? What was you guys' first song that you like jammed out to, or got drunk at the club? You know, like stuff like that. Um, but yeah, my feedback's immediate, so it's, it's hard for me. To imagine. Like going into a corner for a hundred hours and come in and be like, isn't this amazing? And then being like, no, not at all. Like, Oh yeah, you're right. I was alone in my room for that long. Um, so yeah, that's, that's a, an entirely different challenge. It's just that, but it's, it's removing yourself from that, you know? Yeah. Moving and it's, and it's so hard. It took me years. I mean, years and years. To, to not be just devastated when stuff. You guys would come back and they don't like it. I mean, especially as an artist, like your ego is tied up in that it's hard not to, you know, Yeah. And then you. You realize you're good at it, regardless of whether you like it or not, you know? Like what you do. Yeah. Yeah. It's tough. Yeah. Well, good man. This is. This has been fine. I'm glad that that you got to come on and then we got to banter and I'm so glad we have an episode for this week now. This'll be great for sure. Thank you very much for having. It was a pleasure meeting. You. Yeah, likewise. If people want to learn more about you and all your different staff, and please spell your website and social media and everything else. Yeah. A website is www.dj. Jay Curry. And that's J a Y C U R R Y. Um, it's simple, but that's my landing page. My Instagram is Jay David Curry. So first name, first name, middle name, last name J a Y. David Curry. Uh, that's kinda, my Facebook is. Also me, it's just my name. Um, people ask me, well, what's your DJ name? It's J it's just me. People. I love, I love this people. I was like, what if it was D J Curry? That'd be crazy. No, I've never thought of that. Actually. I've never thought of that. So anyways, yeah, Jacory, um, maybe have an Instagram. I got a link tree that links to other stuff like my Spotify. Fine. Um, I guess Tik TOK is in there now. I don't do much on there. We're changing things. I'm getting stuff together. But anyways, my website, yeah, www.atdjjcray.com. Love the link tree link tree is great. They're amazing. That's really nice. So easy. Yeah. Yeah. If anyone doesn't know you can put in, then it's, you could put a million links on your Instagram. Cause they didn't have that link. Hard. They make it like, cause I tried to explain this as like to Dorothy. Like we, we had to do, she wanted for don't do not ask me why for her birthday. She wanted to edit a video of our dog, Rosie. That was all she wanted. She goes, we're not big. Like we don't give each other gifts. She goes, I just want it like this a little minute. Long thing about Rosie. And so I edited it and we edited it and I gave it to her and she's trying to like post on Instagram. She's like, well, why can I, cause it was like a minute and 15 seconds. Yeah. Like you can't post it in the thing. You got to post it in the S in the, in the other thing. Yeah. Yeah. You got to have it split up in the stories and then you got to have it on the I G T V. And she's like, what is happening? And I'm like, I do this every day. It's so hard to just post and just, they make it so hard. Yeah, they do. And especially like with like, there are people who like they do music or song cuts and like, unless your song is like 120 beats per minute. Exactly. That minute Mark is kind of ugly, man. When people do like videos, like cuts off in the middle. Um, so the whole. Just the funnel of social media, which is a whole other topic. Like getting people from your story to your reel, to your YouTube. Where do you want people to land? That's that's a very interesting science. Okay. Together. Well, and I've been trying to post that day, our new podcast things on like Twitter and it's can they be two minutes and 20 seconds? It's like, why, why is that? Why is it two minutes and 20 seconds? It makes now it's not even one 40 or two 40, whatever the characters are. Yeah. I can't handle anyway. Yeah. Fun stuff. Well, thank you again. If you're interested in coming on the podcast in the future, you can go to bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest

Kevin Mikolajczak, Bellevue Lighting

Thank you so much for reaching out and wanting to come on today. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Yeah. So, like you said, my name is Kevin. I'm a professional lighting designer. Director. Um, I've had about 15 years of experience doing lighting for concerts, special events, theatrical events, and weddings. Um, and that'll be a lighting really brings that special piece that not necessarily everyone can bring, um, because of our extended experience, as well as the resources that we have, we can really make. Uh, any moment feels really special and the way that we work with lighting and special effects. Uh, to sort of bring your whole event together. Yeah. And even just looking at your guys' site, you know, it's, it's very, um, like striking, right? It's a very, definitely like a distinctive, um, So important, especially as someone that, you know, works in video and just focusing on. Elevating things, you know, setting the mood, whether some things that you, that you guys pride yourselves on, is it, is it, um, high quality is like setting that mood. What are some things that you guys try to make sure that you come across with the events that you do? Yeah. We definitely come across to kind of bring. Uh, quite literally a little bit of color, but also theoretically, a little bit of color. Um, and that in this space is that we work in, we really try to highlight some of the attributes that are in those spaces. So if that's columns, um, if that's different textures and we'll bring textures, what kind of make the room feel like it's transformed into this sort of whims that go space that really fits whatever theme you're going for. And it seems to me like, you know, a lighting is one of those things, whether it's advance our weddings. Not take it for granted, but it's almost like, uh, it's not appreciated unless it's not there. Right? Like if, if you definitely like, when you walk into a space and it's transformed, you realize it, but you don't necessarily maybe know why. I mean, is that something that you guys. Obviously, I mean, people are seeking you guys out wanting your expertise, but are you educating that as well? And trying to convey that. Yeah. Well, we had to do a lot of times is people asking what are your packages? And I answered, usually we don't have packages that way. Um, it's really custom to the space and what we're working with. Um, we always asked for pictures and measurements and that type of thing. To, like you said, make it feel like it make it look different. Um, but you're right. A lot of times people don't notice those things, but in the back of your mind, you do notice that overall feeling good in the room. And it completely changes in that. And lighting is one of those things, right. Where you can get you to go small, so small and then get, get. So kind of, um, just over the top with everything. Yeah. You guys hit both sides of that. Where do you guys kind of fall in line? Yeah, we really do both. I mean, uh, because of our experience in large concerts and that background. Uh, we can do anything from like a small space to an entirely large space with custom fixtures and that type of a thing. Um, our largest record goes to show that we've built. 40 foot chandelier for that ones. Cause they wanted something huge. Uh, so we really go at full scale that way as well. Um, so, so you guys are [unknown]. The lighting. Are you located on the East side? Is, is that where you guys live to? I mean, I grew up in Bellevue, so I'm always kind of just, I have a soft spot in my heart. Right. For the other side of Lake Washington. Where are you from? And how'd you get involved in all of this? Yeah. Um, so actually from the Midwest, I'm from Wisconsin. Um, my partner and I are both from the Midwest and we moved out here together. Uh, we both are lighting people. We both moved into Bellevue to start. Uh, we currently now live in Seattle. Yeah. Even the name, but, uh, yeah, we do a lot of events over in Bellevue, so that's pretty much, that's what we do. In terms of lighting. Is that something that you grew up passionate about events and things? I mean, you know, it's not like it's not just your typical job, right. Or your typical career path. So how did you get involved in, in working in all the events and everything? Did you grow up with like a theater background or how did that go? Yeah. I personally grew up in the theater background. I started. At one point, I did a camp that was just as a kid that, you know, Hey, let's learn about theater. And I was really immersed in biting. So then I started working in different theaters in the area, eventually working my way up to being at a technical director level and then getting contracted to do concerts and events. And what is included in that, just to bring that special piece that's specific to the writing trade. Uh, you know, it's a big step going from working in theater. Then to say like, Hey, you know, we're going to establish a company, right. This is what we're going to kind of get our own clients, you know, focus on that. Yeah. What, what, what drew that and that inspiration to do that. Honestly, it was a, we have so much equipment that's. A variety of things. Uh, we looked at it and said, you know, people are always borrowing stuff from us. There's a lot of planners and things that borrow from us. You know, why don't we just start bringing ourselves as a name to these places? Uh, so we have. Endless amounts of things that we can bring, whether that's different pieces of the, we can make it snow at your wedding, or we can make fire or wedding, or we can do confetti or all these crazy things that normally a lighting company that focuses Justin weddings wouldn't have. But because we worked in theater and concerts for so long, we just have the stuff to pull off some amazing. Element. Was it a learning curve? Entering into the wedding industry. I mean, you know, obviously events are events. You know, different kinds of. Um, I mean, maybe it's almost. You can kind of do anything when you're doing the events and dreaming things up. You might actually have to kind of wind it down a little bit for the weddings or kind of figure out how to fit in there. How is that? Uh, I I've always said the podcast. I knew absolutely nothing about weddings entering the industry. What was it like, kind of going from large-scale and impairing to that? Yeah, honestly, it wasn't that big of a difference. I think lighting is so specialized in that there's sort of a style that you run with. And my style is very much already, very colorful and whimsical and lots of textures and patterns. So going from that and apply saying, okay, we're applying this for a concert or we're applying this for a theatrical performance, but really what you're doing is you're transforming that space. So it's really no different than transforming wedding space. I think what comes out in a wedding is a more attention to detail and more specificity around, you know, do we want to animate this area? I do want to highlight this. Do we want to show that and really fitting to a theme? That's a little more. Defined by what the planner and what designed you're going for. But overall, it's a pretty easy transition going back in between those two. So, how did you grow up in the Midwest it and get it. I mean, just interested in all this stuff. I mean, it just doesn't seem like, it seems like. Yeah. I'm interested to hear that story. So how did you, and then work our way into how we found our way to see Alabama? How did you grow up in the Midwest? How'd you get involved in all this? Yeah. So, uh, I grew up in Milwaukee specifically, so I sort of at a big city at my advantage. Where, you know, once I started doing lighting, there's a small network of people that do it in that area. So it was really easy for me to jump into different projects and learn different things. Uh, and then from there, based on places I've lived, I lived in Dallas for a while. And while I was in Dallas and there's a small network of lighting people, once you know them it's turns into a, Hey, I need help with this. Or, Hey, I don't know how this works. Can you show me, or can we figure it out together? So kind of learning as a group and being able to network with certain people, it really brought me up to the knowledge level on that now. Uh, which has been really successful for me. Uh, and then how did you, what inspired you guys to come out to Seattle? Honestly, we just liked the area. Uh, we visited here on vacation once and just really like the scenery that you easy access to hiking and kayaking and all that, those activities. So we really just liked it. Ah, the weather's a lot better because there's no snow. Which is nice. But yeah, we, we just really liked it. So we decided to move out here. And Atlanta is on your side. Your partner, you guys, uh, Together romantically. Yeah. Yeah. We've been dating for four or five years now. So that you met on the website, says you guys met working together, talking me through kind of that whole thing. Yeah, we did. Um, we were working in event together, um, at a college and it was like three in the morning and we were one of the only two people there. So I just kept talking to her and then we ended up hanging out a bunch in. Uh, we really have been doing a lot of events together. We still travel back to the Midwest to do events and a lot of stuff we do together. So we both really work really well together. To make things happen. What would have been some of the biggest challenges that you've kind of learned over the years? Kind of, I mean, I'm sure seeing a lot of different things, you know, experiencing having a lot of different requests, having to do different builds and stuff. What are some things you've learned along the way that you wish he knew, maybe back when you were getting started? Yeah. I think the hardest thing, especially in lighting or any specific design space is people don't really think of it as a service. So you think of, yeah, I need a photographer. I need to be [unknown]. I need a DJ. But then you don't really think about those other pieces. Like, Oh, I could rent furniture or I could have a lighting person come in and transform this space. Once you see it, it really makes that impact. But it's getting to that point of. Here's what we can do. Um, that becomes a challenge and that selling yourselves that way. Yeah, that was kind of going to be one of my next questions is, you know, th there's, you know, DJs and I've worked with DJs and there's other DJs that. You know, they'll, they'll kind of set up their sound stuff and then we'll have like a couple of those led lights and just kind of throw them in the corner. Right. And they're like, yeah. Uplighting. No. And not that obviously you guys are, um, You know, in direct competition. Right. I mean, it's a different level of whatever, but that's still right. That's what some people perceive as like, Oh, that's lighting. Right. And then, you know, the same with ideal with it. I've dealt with it for years. Right. But yeah, isn't always like, uh, Yeah, all we have photo or, you know, even now with like live streaming while my aunt's gonna have zoom on her laptop or whatever. So, how do you, how do you go about educating and working through that? And I'm sure it's a ton of it. Even with planners and things, you know, educated, an educated, like this is what we can do. This is why we're better. This is what is the value that we bring, you know, how do you, how do you constantly work through that? Yeah, it's really interesting. Um, what I try to do is sort of discover both what your venue is, but also what your theme is. And then what's like the craziest thing you've ever wanted at your wedding. And those three questions usually bring out the, Hey here's that thing we can do is kind of what it looks like to give you an idea about. Oh, that is a specific lighting thing that I wouldn't have thought of. Um, that's really where that comes together. And we do partner with different DJs and that type of thing. So if people do have special requests and the dude is like, look, I've got like a uplights and I'll bring those. But if you want. Me to do this space and you wanted to do it right then I'm you should probably work with an actual lighting vendor. Um, so it's really just selling that in the sense of what we can bring and showing people that, um, we can bring them more to educate. To bring to the table. Yeah. And I know that you, you know, you've done these bigger things, trying to get more into weddings. Is this, are you guys trying to be, uh, really work one-on-one with, with your, uh, You know, wedding clients, like you would other people and really like, okay, sit down. Let's map this out. Let's figure. I mean, I don't even know why, I guess walk me through that. Right. Let's say I want to hire you for my wedding. And I don't know anything about anything. Walk me through kind of, what is that process of working with you guys look like. Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, the way it works is if you ever request. Uh, come in and I'll use one as an example. So I just got a request for, uh, putting the string lights across the entire ceiling of my church for my wedding. And I'm like, okay, awesome. Let's look at that. Let's talk about it. And that's a very specific project, so that's great. If you don't have a specific project in mind, we can help you figure it out. If we have a venue and. Be like, I've been saying. Um, but they're going off of that. What we ended up doing is talking to you a little bit, kind of discovering what a little bit about you, a little bit about what you're going for so that we can apply those textures and colors and whatever else could be relevant or pull out some intricate device that does some cool thing that is relevant for your specific wedding. Uh, so we'll do that. And like, is that we do end up mapping out the space to figure out what our game plan is, uh, depending on the size of the space. And if we've never been there will want to go into her, take some measurements, really make sure that we're. Well equipped with what we need to make that space really transformative. What, what is your, uh, in terms of like wedding staff at what, what is the typical client look like? You know, cause it's not, I said before, you know, it video it. You know, it's, it's certain people want it, certain people don't, you know, what kinds of people are the people that, that want customizing at the scale you guys are going to do for their weddings? Yeah, they really, most of the people that come to us really just want something a little extra. They see our pictures and they're like, Oh, that's really cool. I really like pink. And my whole body is going to be pink. So let's add some color in there, uh, as really people looking for a little extra. Or it's people looking for? Oh, I know I want lights and my wedding because I saw it at somebody else's, that's what happens a lot too is like, yeah, I saw it and it looked really cool. So let me find somebody to do that. Then they'll come to us. And a lot of times too, they'll come and say, Oh, do you do music as well for like, yeah, we can play music. Uh, or we can also contract a DJ for you to come in and do it professionally. Uh, so we do kind of help that way as well, because it is confusing between what's a DJ and what's a specific lighting person. And this might be more for that. The events and things, but when it comes to working with like photo and video people, are you talk me through just that kind of collaboration? Cause it, cause it's so interesting to me because. You know, most of the time, you know, we're shooting events and stuff and it's just kind of like, it is what it is. Right. You don't get a lot of say in that, right. Talk me through kind of how you can help be collaborative in that process. You know, and really kind of trying to develop like, well, what could we do or what, you know, what POS, what things are possible. Right. As opposed to just like, well, this is the way it is. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and specifically with video, one of our video customers is actually Microsoft. So if they have a video will work with their video team instead of the space, uh, understand what shots are going for. Understand the layout of the room and where we need to hit certain spots. And that's honestly the same approach that you take the weddings too. It's really trying to figure out all the different collaborators, whether that's your linens person, your table's person. Uh, even catering in terms of what space they're using and how they're using it, because you really want to accentuate the whole room. So working together, we can usually figure out a good game plan around that. Uh, because in order for lighting to work, uh, and needs to match everything else in the room. So understanding all of those plus how it looks on camera, because if you're taking a picture and you have this big blue light behind you, it's not going to be very exciting, but if we can line up that picture just right, uh, your photographer, get that million dollar picture that you've paid them for it. Right. Is, I'll never forget one of 'em. Uh, I have other guys that like subcontract video stuff for me. And one of the first weddings I ever had years ago where with my subcontractor and he went out and the DJ had those, um, Just the really cheap, like led like the really, really cheap, like the flicker ones, you know? Yeah. You know, you get these flicker free. I think they call them like led lights and it's, you know, a consistent, whatever. And he's ends me. Like a cell phone clip in the video and it's like, the whole room is just like vibrating. But, you know, there's like absolutely nothing that you can do. And you're like, no, like I wished that we would've been able to talk to. Yeah. And this was not like a lighting professional. This is just like a, you. Part DJ that then had super subpar lights and we're just, but it ruined, I mean, it, it, you. On the serious side of me, it ruined a lot of the footage because it was just was, was literally unusable because of her. And yeah, there's nothing more frustrating where, um, you know, you can bring in a talented professional I'm really like elevate things or then someone that doesn't know what they're doing can really like ruin that kind of, yeah. I just make it so hard for everybody else. Yeah. Talk me through talk me through just like. Um, like, I guess the philosophy of why the, like, if you're, if you're looking at a space, like, are there certain things, are you trying to like, make things look larger than they are you trying to work with certain colors or certain things better than others? I mean, I don't know any of this stuff. Right. I just point a camera and go. So like talk me through just like when you enter a space, like whether you thinking what's going through your head. Yeah, a lot of what I'm thinking about is how we can, uh, essentially eight different pieces. And how we draw the difference between the foreground and the background. Those are the two big elements of that. So, if we're in a long at the jail, we want it to feel huge. We want it to feel massive because then you'll feel that feeling of, Oh, I'm in this space. Um, so that's what we try to do is bring out some of those elements in the foreground and create some type of depth to the room. If you're in a small space, that's really important because then with lighting specifically, you can make that tiny room. That's all you could afford and that's okay. But if we bring lights in all of a sudden don't feel huge. Uh, or if you're in a room. This has happened a couple of times where, uh, it's got some terrible drapery or it's got some horrible decoration, but it's the room you got. So that's what you get to work with. We can change a lot of that. Uh, with lighting specifically. So those types of comments are really helpful for us to be able to scope some of that. Um, and to answer your question, it's really about what are we bringing to the fraud and what are we talking in the back? Uh, and how do we want that to look and live on top of each other? Cause it's all about layering, the different pieces together. Yeah, I was going to ask too. Yeah. We're obviously you want to accentuate things, but then it's also, um, not like hiding flaws, but just like, you know, pushing things. Like I watch a lot of wrestling. Right. And that's like the trick. If you have a room that maybe isn't filled the way you want it to be filled or doesn't have. The look that you wanted to have. It's, it's almost like darkening, the things that you don't want to accentuate. Right. And then really like drawing the focus in eyes to what's important. Do you guys look at that too? And like, well, how are we really going to spotlight the stuff that's important? Yeah, absolutely. We want to highlight sort of the big, the big items in the room. Uh, so like you have a buffet table. We're not going to highlight that, but if you have your head table, obviously we're gonna add something to that to make it stand out. So it's really about creating the space and really the focus that we want people to pay attention to you. And that's really a theatrical tactic of how do we draw focus to different areas and having that experience, it's really easy for us to do that in that space as well. What's it been like kind of coming to Seattle, getting into the Seattle industry, getting into the wedding industry. Um, you know, just in terms of networking and vendors and just, you know, I guess I knew nothing about weddings getting into it. You know, I worked in news for a long time and then transitioned into, into weddings like six, seven years ago. I mean, what, what's it been like, kind of doing that what's that experience been like? Yeah, it's been interesting. Um, that licensed the Seattle market seems there's little pockets of people that know each other. Uh, so we've been trying to sort of meet new people. Talk to a lot of people were a part of a couple of professional organizations to help do some of that. And really it's almost just by word of mouth. Oh, we saw your stuff at this event, or we heard your name from somebody and you know, they're the bride and groom or the bride themselves reaches out. And they're saying, we're looking for this. Um, so that's really how it comes about. And it's been interesting trying to network with people just that, Oh, you know, this person too, or like, Oh, you're a new group of people. Let's try to meet you. So it's really, it's really been interesting me to get a whole bunch of people, but it's also been a lot of fun trying to navigate that world as well. Because it's interesting. Cause cause you. You know, with, um, kind of that professional lighting email. It's, it's a little like what I'm in, where there's not. Like 50,000 people, right. What you do, right? So it is, it's really nice because I do feel like you can, um, fill a niche and you have your own kind of thing. And there were, you know, I just, there's not even that many. And I've been in this yellow wedding industry for, like I said, like seven years. And there's just not that many, right. Like large scale lighting companies. So it's interesting to have you guys come in and have kind of a different perspective and then being able to, you know, meet with different planners and network and in different venues and figure out. You know, show people what you can do. Right. Because it's, it's something where like, once you know, that people do that sort of thing, and then every time you have a client, it's like, yeah. Okay. Like we, you know, we got to go with them because. It's such just a specialized labor intensive thing that you just wanna, you know, you really need to have the people that know what they're doing. Right. Right. Yeah. And there's really not that many, um, we're friends with all of them. There's only like a handful of companies. So we all know each other. Um, we get along fine. We borrow stuff. We trade stuff. Um, but really it's the people that you're really hiring at the end of the day. Yeah, I didn't want to talk about, uh, inventory a little bit. And how has that manage with you guys and just where there has to be so much stuff? Is it, are we renting things? Do we have a secret bunker somewhere? How does that? I have no idea how that even works. Yeah. Um, I have a secret bunker in her basement. With a bunch of shows and lots of equipment. But then I also have access to a bunch of different theatrical equipment from various places that I have started those venues. Um, and then if there's something that we absolutely need, we have people that we can. Rent it from our borrower from, um, all of the really coolest stuff I keep at home. So we have all that ready to go. Uh, so like I said, we have snow machines. Yeah. Fog machines. We have low line. Five machines. We have hazers we have, it's pretty much any effect you could think of. We can bring to the table. Um, and then anything specific, if you know, you're doing a huge venue and we just don't have enough gear for it, and you have a 3000 person wedding, we'll rent a couple of things to add in that space. Uh, from people we know. Talk talk me through, and this might be obvious to you, but like, you know, like the fog machine and the smoke and the, all these, ah, Like, what are some practical uses that you guys have used that sort of stuff for? Right. Because I think people hear that stuff and like, well, that sounds neat, but like, I would never use that. Or when would that ever be a thing? So talk me through some like practical uses a you guys have had for stuff like that. Sure. Yeah. So, uh, one of the easiest ones and a lot of people are now offering this as a, the dancing on a cloud. So we can do the whole cloud things you're on a cloud. Um, and not only that for that moment, but their gear we have is so professional that we can actually do it at the ceremony as well. So, if you think about it, if you're doing a, uh, Whimsical theme, uh, uh, fantasy, whatever we can have, you know, some fog rolling as he walked down the aisle. Those types of pieces. And then in the spaces themselves, uh, we have devices that can help. Uh, break out some of the light elements that we bring, so we can introduce beams and we can introduce patterns and those can all kind of fly through the air and a really interesting way that helps us shape the space even more because we can really bring in focus if we pitched in shoot BMC. Sudhir and we have the, you know, the haze equipment to do some of that. Um, another, just CDs. That I've mentioned is this no fees? And that's quite literally, we can make it snow. Uh, it's not cold and it doesn't stick. It comes down and evaporate. So I really get, makes it feel like it's actually snowing, which is pretty cool. Um, and then on top of that, we also have sort of another tier of fog, which is, uh, uh, we call it our diners. So those can shoot fog and be different colors. And those we can do for like fire or exciting moments or disappearing acts, entrances, anything like that. We can really bring out different pieces. You can think of it almost like a concert at that point. Yeah. I mean, it really is kinda like your, uh, your imagination, you know, that the client's imagination is really the only thing that's holding it back right. About the right. Yeah. And we offer whatever we have and then. If it's something you want to try out, we'll bring it. Uh, talk me through, uh, Maybe, uh, so some of the things that you're most proud of in terms of, uh, being asked to do something that was, um, kind of outside the box or larger scale, you know, something that you guys really had to flex your, you know, your minds and muscles and everything, you know, creative muscles to get done. I just to kind of show what's capable in terms of what you guys do. Yeah, I have two of them. I imagine earlier chandelier, uh, someone just wanted a giant chandelier there that, so we said, okay, well come into fabric day one. So we fabricated, wine-making made it light up and then also lit up the space. It was a huge arena that. And they absolutely loved it. And then some other events that we've done more wedding related is we've lit up old buildings that they're in front of where we can light up the entire outside of the building. So the lights on inside the building seemed like they're dancing across. Um, and we really can do that. I need type of space. So. Bringing out different elements that way. And a huge scale is definitely what we're kind of really proud of, especially. And that, that those sort of things like building the chandelier's, it is so much more physical work too. Right. That goes into it. And I think that people don't necessarily realize, right. I mean, if you guys. You know, putting together one of those large scale events mean, you know, tens of hours, right. You're going into like planning and scaling all that stuff. I mean, How does that process work? Just going from conceptualizing something to like actually, you know, like the chandelier, whatever, walk me through, like when did that process look like from start to finish? Sure. Yeah. So when the request comes out and we agree like, Oh, this is what we're gonna do a while we'd go back and do is we have to draw out the space. Uh, whether that's on paper or if it's a big space will actually 3d model it and start looking at how the lighting could play in that area. Uh, and then once we have an idea of kind of where we want to set fixtures and we've talked to other vendors and come up with a plan together, uh, we'll go ahead and map out how that would work and that we have to program all of our. Uh, lighting ahead of time just to make it easier for when we get there. So all of our instruments that we have, I'll get programmed here. Uh, before we load them up and bring them to the event. They're plugged in, in a very specific order. They all have a very specific place that we put them that we've already figured out. Uh, we may move a couple of them once we get there. But once we have that plan from the beginning, it's all just about programming and getting it ready so that when we get there, everything's ready to go. And it looks exactly how we wanted to do. Yeah, I just can't imagine because it's one of those, I mean, you, you got to show up and it's gotta work, right. I mean, you gotta show up and it's, there's not a lot of like, well, let's. You know, like if I'm going to try to lie to interview or something, it's like, okay, well, let me go to tweak that. I mean, you guys, can't when you have a build that big. Ian, are you really going to try to nail it as much as you can't walk in the door? Right? Right. Cause we only have the amount of time that the venue is open for it to, uh, so if you have a wedding in the afternoon, we can only get there in the morning. That's all the time we have. So we do have to have a plan and be ready to go. Right. When we land. Have you guys had a chance, a. What venues have you guys had the opportunity to work out here? In the Pacific Northwest so far. Yeah. Uh, we honestly, haven't worked at very many here. We just started opening up to venues. Um, ourselves within like a year or two. So it's a fairly new thing. Most of our venues and up, we've done a lot of city of Bellevue buildings. Um, I also worked for them, so it's a really easy way for me to go and do that. We've done some, uh, different older buildings in Seattle, which has been cool. And then we've also done some exterior events just at weddings that have tents or backyard events. Uh, obviously this year has been very self everyone. But, uh, given that at least that's, those are the types of events that we've done thus far, just for a specialty purpose. Yeah. Cause that's a hard thing too is cause we're you guys, you know, it's not just why the intensity, it's all those events, right? It's it's a concert. It's it's the performances. I mean, it's everything right? I mean, what's it been like just over the last six months for you guys kind of working through that. Yeah, for us, it's actually been really interesting because people are still having those things. Um, and they're having them remotely. So for us, we've been doing a lot of, uh, sending out of gear, delivering gear, uh, at a distance to different locations. So I just had a bunch of gear out for a player that was, uh, all the people were logging in and streaming yet, but all their gear had to be sent to their house, programmed, ready to go. And then obviously when it gets back here, we have to clean it and reset it. Uh, so it's been interesting. It's been a different way where we're not attached to this stuff, but we have to have it ready to go for when we do send it out. What, what are your guys' goals, you know, for, besides obviously, hopefully for us all to kind of get back to normal. Yeah. What are some goals for growth in development that way as you guys move forward. Yeah, since we're fairly, still new to the area, I'd say it's really for us to sort of build those partnerships with different planners and venues. Um, we have a couple that are pretty strong, but it'd be great to be able to understand from a, even at a venue or planted a level, what lighting actually brings to the table and then have us ready is that resource that can supply some of that or any of the effects we offer to you because those aren't something that you normally think of, but when it comes up, uh, you really want to have somebody who could do that. If that's something you could sell it right. What would you wish more people knew about that you guys have what you guys do in the services you offer? Yeah, it was, uh, more people view about how specialized it is. Cause it's really not that traditional, you know, give me a package and I'll come bring some uplights in and some dance lights, and we'll be set to go. It's really, really specialized to each of the spaces and events that we do. So it's. In that sense. It's not your typical. Yeah. I'm just going to call and run some lights and be done. We really try to be really specific about what we can do. And we try to, like I said, transform this space, so that's it. Completely different approach that you don't see very often. What's kind of your, where do you find the joy? Excuse me? Where, where do you find the joy in what you guys do? Like what, what do you enjoy most about it? And where does your passion come from in terms of how you guys operate? Yeah. Um, I, I personally really liked bringing light into an event that people walk into and they just say, wow, because you just, you just can't believe what you're saying. You don't notice any of the lighting. Obviously you don't notice all the pieces in the room, but all of it coming together, just, it marks your brain. And you'll just remember that day for a very long time. Uh, talk about it. Some of the client feedback you get, right? Because obviously this is something that you guys work. A lot with, you know, this isn't just that someone just says, Hey, we want this. I mean, it's a ton of back and forth trying to figure it out, you know? Them trying to get their vision. Uh, talk about just how you feel, kind of getting that feedback from them at the end of the day and, and hearing from gas and seen that sort of thing. Unlike a personal level, kind of accomplishing what they wanted to do. Yeah for me. It's great. Because when we hear that, that it looks incredible. We've done our job, right. Or if people have a great time and there's tons of beautiful imagery that comes out of the event. Because really what you're trying to do is make something that you're going to remember. So if you can't remember it, at least for me, I feel like I've done my job really well. I disagree. It's not that like a one-size fits all in terms of packages, but just in terms of, um, putting together quotes and separate people, you know, is it just case by case and kind of the work that's required? You know, how do you. I kind of go about it. If someone's trying to like, why, you know, I want to hire these guys or how did they wrap their heads around kind of how all this works. Yeah, it's really a case by case and, um, the easiest thing to do honestly, and reach out. And what we'll do is we'll break down your event a little bit and then tell us your budget too, because what we try to do is we might not be able to bring. A ton of stuff to your event, but we can bring enough where we can make it feel special. So I just did a pretty low budget event over in Bellevue and it was just at a greenhouse and we brought some lights and it really changed the space. It didn't cost very much. It was just the bride and groom. Uh, so it really, we can do just about anything. It's just a matter of what the budget is. So once we have that, we can formulate a plan to work with anything pretty much. Are there certain practicalities for like indoor weddings versus outdoor or things that people need to consider when, when, um, EIB amount of lights or the strength of the lights? I mean, I know that's not the right question, but you know, like into practicalities, right. Between indoor and outdoor weddings. Yeah, for indoor, it's, uh, interesting with where you put them too. Uh, because if you think like my example earlier with the string lights, you can't just put those on the ceiling. There's no way to attach them. Um, so there's some technicalities there of how do we mountain certain things indoors. But that also applies outdoors. You know, how, how do we elevate? How do we use, but then also, uh, at least in Seattle, especially what season is it? Because not all of our lights can be outside, obviously. Uh, so if it's going to rain or anything, that's something we need to consider. Uh, so it's so space specific that there's a lot to consider when we're installing different fixtures in different venues. Yeah. And I think it's just, you know, if you're on the fence about it, if you're thinking about it, I think it's so worthwhile to talk to someone. Right. And try to figure it out. I know that we, you know, Dorothy and I, when we got married, we talked about, you know, doing stuff and then I just think people get lazy or they don't. Oh, but that's going to be, I mean, I think it's so worthwhile to, to talk to people and try to figure it out. Cause like you said, even if, if you have a smaller budget, you know, you can. Um, you know, fine tune the things that you need, you know, bring in certain things and not, I mean, so much of it, right. Goes back to just like, you know, reaching out, talking, you know, see what's the right fit. Right. I mean, what would you say if someone was kind of on the fence about, you know, why don't know if I want to do it or not, or if we can afford it? Yeah, I would say, uh, give us a shot anyway. Uh, because we will figure it out. And it's, it's one of those things where it's, you know, I'm already overwhelmed with all of these things. There's a lot of moving pieces already. Why did I want to bring in another vendor? Uh, just give us the names of the other vendors there. I'm sure there'll be more than happy to work with us and we'd be more than happy to work with them. But we can plan it without you having to be there. Or if you want to be super involved, that's an option as well. And if you're on the fence. Uh, honestly, if you even just Google pictures of great lighting at weddings, you'll just be amazed at the types of things that are possible, um, or any type of, for that matter celebrity wedding. If you Google any of that, you'll be like, Oh, it's snowing and it's everything's purple. How did they do that? I mean, we can do that too. So, uh, any type of imagery that you find, especially for inspiration. Obviously we can do it. So it'll be worthwhile. I'm sure. Yeah, that's the thing is, and you know, other videographers are different. I mean, we're not, we don't do a lot of like our own outside lighting. Right. You know, we, we really try to, um, Respect or whatever, however it is, right. We're not going to bring in, I know there's some videographers that will come in and like light toast and bring in and do all this stuff. We don't, we just don't do that. You know, a. We just try to get in the way and it takes time and you're getting into photographer's way. And also, you know, If the couple has lights or not, you know, are you disrupting? Not what's going on, but by having a first dance. Um, or shooting a, like a reception room that is professionally lit is so much different and so much more dynamic than just shooting like a first look. It, that's not, I mean, it's just so flat. I mean, it really, you know, you can, you can, um, you can see. And when we used to like bring in, like, we used to bring in like a little spotlight, hand spotlight and just being able to like have it and then not, and be able to see the difference. And it is so night and day, but people just don't get that. That's how light works. Right. Right. Yeah, you don't necessarily think about it, but I mean, even if you walk into a room are especially, everyone should know by now that when you have a light on your face on a zoom call, you look so much cleaner and brighter. Uh, whereas if you don't, then all of a sudden people can't see you, it's not as clear. It's the same thing about the space and we can make it feel like, uh, we can separate those differences to make certain pieces stand out. Like you said, pretty easily. Um, and thanks for not bringing giant photo boxes. So what I use, I appreciate. Aye. This is fine. I'll see these videographers and I'm like, You know, it's enough to have the tripods in the way. You know, we're always blocking someone or, yeah. Susie can't see, or what's going on, but then yeah, when you have all Eva, you're trying to light people and then they're blinded and they're trying to watch the thing and other people, and the photographer is flat. It's too much. We try to at least be a little more naturalistic when it comes to that. But obviously having the outside light that's built into the event is way different than like us coming in and shining the light in someone's face, you know? Yeah, exactly. Uh, anything else you wanted to touch on before we let you go? I feel like this has been really informative. And a lot of good ideas and things. Anything else you want to touch on? Um, I don't think so at this point, I mean, if anyone's interested in any of our services, obviously got our website, um, check out some pictures and if you're curious, just send us an email and I'm sure we'll have some plan for you. Um, and if we don't, we can put you in the right direction too. The good thing about what you guys do is it does translate very well to follow in video, right? Where like sometimes, you know, if you're like an MC or something, and it's really hard to like, To sell that visually online, but for like you guys, did you go to the site? And you're just like, Oh, okay. Like I like. Like I 100% understand what they're about. Right. Like I understand this. I get the difference. So, um, at least you guys have that going for you in terms of some of the, some of the wedding pres uh, we, we talked about on the podcast. Yeah. No, absolutely. And it's really nice too, with lighting specifically, because if you take that picture video, it's mostly always going to turn out a kid just because of how it's set up. Uh, well, thank you so much for taking the time that people want to learn more about your guys' services and, you know, different, uh, seeing all the different photos and everything, where would you have them check out? Yeah. If you go to Bellevue outlining, just type that in hit, enter on your presser, uh, and that'll pop up and you can take a look at some pictures and there's an email for him there. And you can just get in contact with me. Alright. Well, thank you so much again, if you like Kevin, I'm so glad you reached out. If you're like Kevin and you're interested in coming on. You can go to the best of me in videos.com/podcast guests. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire that we have that kind of gets you in the system. And that this has been another episode that gets new your wedding pro check back next week for another wedding vendor interview. Thanks so much. Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks. Ma'am let me take a father. Did you have fun? Yeah, it was good. Where's my phone. Oh, That's the thing, man. So, I mean, it's like, I know core and then I know light Smith and then you guys, I just don't know that many. There's just not that many lighting companies. Yeah, there's not, um, the other big one with us as a Crimson haze, but they're very venue specific too. Let me. Good job, man. Um, so this is going to go. Uh, the 21st. Okay. And I've got your Haven. Sorry, my dogs. Did we get connected on Facebook? I don't think we are yet, but I'd be happy to. I'll do that and then I'll post it. Was it. Did you find it in the wedding vendor group? I did. Yeah. I saw you posted one in there and I was like, Oh, let me I'll reach out. Why not? Don't have a lot else going on. Me. Perfect. All right. I got that. And then I'll post it and all those groups, and then it goes on like, Hey, I know we'll feed you. Don't worry. Uh, it it's like four o'clock. She's like ready to go. Go on all those groups and then you guys can share it with us on Apple podcasts and all that stuff too. Very nice. All right. Well thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Yeah. Good luck. I know it's like a crazy trick and time, and we're just trying to get as many of these, you know, give people's names out. So, you know, once we, I mean, we've done this for years, but just, you know, my trying to get people now with a little more extra time so that people know who to call when it's time to party again.

Rich Kaalaas, Rein Fire Ranch

Well, good. Well, rich, thank you so much for joining today. Uh, we have Rich Kayla's. Right. rein fire ranch down in Ravensdale Washington. And we were joking. Uh, not, not the most well-known town in the world. I know it because years ago, When I was in news, I filmed the tough Mudder event and they do that. Down in the old there's an old coal mine or something that they do around there. Yeah. So why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Okay, thanks for you. Uh, so my name is rich Kayla's. I am the owner operator of rein, fire ranch. Uh, I'd say 45 acre, former horse ranch that we converted back in 2012. Um, and so since then we've become kind of one of the premier venues in the South end, the Southeast end. And, um, so yeah. Yeah. And I've certainly, you know, I know we've met at the wedding shows and see each other around, and I know that you send in video as well for our big w S w E. Um, you know, Yvette video. So I got to see some wonderful, I've seen wonderful video from your property, you know, both at the wedding show and just obviously online. Um, beautiful spot. Uh, why don't you tell us a little bit about kind of what you guys have going on in terms of a venue, just from an aesthetic standpoint. So, yeah, so. I mean, we're really lucky. And we actually are in this amazing Valley. Um, we're about to give you a perspective. We're about 45 minutes from downtown Seattle in 45 minutes from downtown to come and not to be clear, that's when there's absolutely no traffic. So. We all know how that goes these days. So we're in this Valley, um, on one side of Sugarloaf mountain and on the other side is a side of this mountain MacDonald, uh, Sugarloaf mountain or property goes back through the way up the hillside. I'm looking off to the left here, cause I'm looking out a window. I had it right now. Um, and then above that, it's actually a King County forest preserve. And then on the other side of the Valley mountain, McDonald's actually a Washington state department of natural resources. So we're in this amazing Valley. That's not going to. He won't, you know, the thing about us is that we're more than 200 yards off the main road. So you don't hear a lot of car noise. And also it's super private, we're on 45 acres. And so when people book here, they really get a sense that people aren't sort of ease dropping on their wedding and they really have a lot of space. Uh, the venues very, as I referred to it, it's very solderable. Um, once you start to get passed through the key moments and it's more just like the party side. A lot of people can walk around and kind of see our venue as a whole. So, yeah. Um, we do have indoor and outdoor capacity. Um, we have a reception barn, which is actually what I'm sitting in right now. Uh, but we have also an outdoor ceremony area. Um, we have a fire pit, a, we have a guest arrival area. Um, and so, yeah, it's over the years we've evolved it and you've been happy where it's gotten too. And it's, I mean, people ask me, what's it like to be in the wedding industry? I was like, you know what, it's probably one of the most stressful industries I've ever been in, but it's also probably one of the most rewarding. Because watching people just, you know, enjoy the space has actually been really rewarding. So yeah. What kinds of couples like to get married there? Obviously the bar in luck, outdoor, I mean, what kind of, um, you know, weddings and things, do you guys find yourself holding there a lot? You know, the sort of from a marketing standpoint, that three circle. Marketing keywords and we go for is unique, memorable, and relaxed. Um, We want people to come here where, yeah, it's a celebration, but it's also a time to kinda. You know, just enjoy the moment and they're usually it's not. We definitely don't aspire for the bride that wants to have their guests and their wedding party to dress to the nines. Um, but I think that one of the things that's also good about us does it. We can go, we can get to that point, but you also. I mean, we've had people dressed in tuxes. Um, but we've also had people dressed in like, you know, cammo vests with a shotgun shell boot nears. Um, and then the bride said, look here, I think are the ones that. That not only appreciate nature, but the vibe of it. Some of them really like it because it's what our outdoor looks like and at the bar and sort of an added plus, but sometimes it's the other way around where they really liked the modern feel. The burn field, it's sort of, we try and mesh it with a certain level of elegance, but you know, no matter what, it's always going to be a barn. So yeah. As someone that, you know, owns a venue that is that bar in luck. Do you, do you enjoy that? I mean, it's so interesting to me how popular it's gotten. Just, I mean, And it's never gone away. It's always, I mean, ever since I've been in the wedding industry itself, people love the country, weddings, the barns. I mean, what do you, as someone that owns one of them, what do you, what do you think of that? Um, I mean, I enjoy it. I mean, obviously. I feel like our business is successful. Um, I think that even if I was in like an old brick and mortar, you know, facility, I actually think it's more, I just enjoy. I found that I'm enjoying the wedding industry. I actually do come from a creative background. Um, I, you seem to be a creative director. I'm also a graphic designer. And what I've found is that sometimes those skills really help in working with couples because there's usually an identifying sort of how the team input works. There's usually a decision maker. A major advisor, minor advisor, and then we appreciate your opinion, but thanks very much. Um, But, so, I mean, obviously I've lived here for 20 years, so I've actually spent the majority of the time, my time here, not having being a venue. Um, we used to raise race horses and do horse training. Um, we actually have used to do a number of fundraiser events out here. Um, I live here with my husband, George. And so we actually have done on that. Fundraising for, um, a shout out for, uh, Lambert house, which is an LGBTQ resource center up on Capitol Hill. Um, So. It's kinda like it's kinda all over the board, but I do feel that with the popularity of buying venues, I think that it actually has gone through an evolution. Before at the very beginning of it, you know, 10 years ago when buying and venues are becoming popular, I think it was more of a fact of kind of getting back to a historical, uh, prior sort of simpler life. But I think that's actually evolved into not only. A prayer simply life, but I mean, I've seen barn venues that you can take them to be truly, you know, country and incorporate, you know, burlap and straw and that sort of stuff. But I've also seen Brian venues taken great vintage where it's like lace. And sophistication, but still sort of rooted in history. Um, I mean, we even did have one wedding that was really based around the 1920s. So we had a lot of gold and a lot of black and I was a really kind of interesting mix of those couple of things. So yeah. What's interesting too, about you is I eat a very involved just in the wedding community, right? I mean, I know you're involved in, in the, in the wedding kind of organizations, you know, I see your name pop up a lot. You're at the wedding job. Is that something you guys cause you know, some owners are, some venues just kind of exist or people go, it means. People know, rich, they know rich of rein, fire ranch, you know, they know you guys. I mean, what talk about just that mentality of really putting yourself out there and the venue and just being involved in kind of that networking in that community. Uh, hopefully it's on good terms or not. You know, my name infamy. Yeah. You know, I don't know. I guess it comes back from the back. I mean, I'm afraid. Really extroverted person. Um, and so I like, I like the comradery that comes from working with peers. Uh, And so, and I do think too that, you know, like how what's a good reference when I'm talking with my couples at the end of a tour, I will sit there and talk to them about, okay, we have three different paths to go. The first two have to do with booking the venue. But the third path I told him, I said, you know, the third path is that if you do decide to book someplace else, you're obviously not required to let me know that you're not booking here. But I say, if you email me and say, Hey, we decided to book someplace else. Thank you for your time. I tell them you're going to get three nice comments back. First comment is congratulations. I mean, we all want to work with couples who want to work with that. There's nothing worse than having a couple that obviously doesn't want to work with you. Right. So I'm glad that they've found a place that they feel is going to fit them the best. The second question I asked him is where did you end up booking? You know, I tell them, I was like, you know, I just want to know where people are going in, in contrast to us, if it's a place that I already am aware of. And I know the owners, which we do obviously know a lot of the same, you know, know a lot of each other. I tell him, I was like, you know what, if I know it's weird. If I know where you're going, I have a trust and confidence that they're going to take. Good care of you. If it's someplace I've never heard of before, I'm going to get on the internet. I guess. What I'm saying by that common is that, you know, we, as an inter we, as a community rise with each other, If we have a strong community that knows that as peers, we are sort of paying attention to each other and we are, we are cordially each other and we support each other in a way that. Um, helps us as the greater community. That means everybody rises. Um, I've been, uh, I've helped out other venues to get up and running, which I've, I've had a few people question me, like, why do you do that? And, uh, as corny as it sounds, I explained to him like, yeah, of course they're competition, but every different way. I mean, the, the luxury of the wedding venues is that every different wedding venue is distinctly different. I mean, even if you have to burn venues, they both are very, give me uniquely different. So I explained to people as it. Yes, they are my competition, but really trying to look at my competition as to what I was last year. How have I evolved over this year? How have I worked to fine tune my product that I'm offering couples? So it actually fits. The progression of a wedding and a reception as best as possible. So yeah. Well, and especially when it comes to the venues, you know, you're really, you got one, one day that one wedding today, you know, I mean, it really is trying to just, like you said, make sure they're going. If they don't decide to book with you that they're going somewhere, that they're going to be taken care of. Right. That it's not going to worry about. Some weird stuff going on, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I look back, I mean, George and I joke about it. We we've even talked with a few of our couples that, uh, were some of our first couples. We just saw one just the other day. And we said, Hey, if you guys, I mean, we think about how we were back eight years ago and we're like, wow, would we have even ever booked there? And no. But, you know, it's just one of those things where you just acknowledge the fact of what are you, what are you trying to go? I think that at the point where we would say, you know, we're good. We don't want to make anymore evolvements in the venue than we probably should get out of the business. So, but so far we're still, we. We have things on the horizon line, even in this sort of uncertainty of Corona virus, we have some things on the horizon that I'm really excited about. So. So you said you guys have been there a long time, right? It hasn't always been the venue. What w what was the impetus to kind of get into, you know, jump into this wedding community, you know, for lack of a better, you know, I blame my bookkeeper and she's really good. So if you need a bookkeeper, I will give you her name. But, uh, no, I blame her for like over a decade. Seriously, over a decade. She was like, you should do weddings. You should be wedding. Uh, she produced her own wedding. She produced her to her sister's wedding and they preached, he produced two other ways. So she knew what she was doing. And so when she saw us or the RA. Setting here prior to us, Steven evolving and she kept pushing on doing it. So then in about 2011 is when we really decided, okay, what, what's the pro, how has the property working for itself? What do we want to do with it? And so it was, we actually just, so that's when we decided to transition into a wedding venue and then to come find out that we actually have a number of actually close personal friends that were already in the wedding industry quite a bit. Um, Uh, Dave [unknown]. With, with tuxedos and tennis shoes, uh, laser Reagan with, uh, choice Lennon's she's with court now, um, filter NOLA, who was a wedding planner. And then I think he's actually with, uh, City city you'd wave CityLink. Citywave one of the DJ photo booth companies right now. So, yeah, so that's how we started down that path. Initially, we were just offering the venue. We weren't as involved as what we are today. We have a lot more offerings that kind of are much more. More involved in the overall process. Yeah. Did you guys ever have any idea getting in to this? How come. Cause the wedding, you know, I mean entrepreneurship, and obviously you guys had stuff before, but you know, entrepreneurship in the wedding industry, dealing with couples. I mean, it is just a very involved, I've always made the joke on the podcast. Like. You probably wouldn't text your plumber, like at 10 o'clock at night and be like, Hey, I really need, you know, whatever, but you would tax like your planner or your photographer or whoever. I mean, the wedding, you know, wedding entrepreneurship is, you know, uh, definitely a full time above and beyond anything. Yeah. You know, I don't think, I mean, so, as I said, I'd been involved in a couple of different other industries and I don't think I've ever been in an industry that's so uniquely from its core, really sort of this continuous educational moment. You know, I tell couples, you know, most likely you've never gotten married before, let alone even produce a big party. And so they're looking for people to sort of guide them, but soft handedly, you know, Um, and I, I joke with them. I was like, you know, any vendor worth their salt is going to be in that sort of educational mode. And sort of being assisting them through that process. I said, lean into that. They're there to help you. And I said, you know, we're already pretty salty as it is at the age of 57. So. Uh, So did you, I mean, was there a big learning curve getting involved in this? And I have, especially too. If you've had a property and you had whatever. And it happened to, you know, change things or improve things, or, you know, I mean, what's it been like kind of going through this whole process. I think so we first, I mean, obviously our first couple of weddings, we did have a contract. We have, we've had a corporate counsel we've worked with for a number of years. And so wanting to make sure that you're crossing the T's and dotting the I's. I think the thing, I mean, the blog, the blind spots were pretty numerous though with press those first couple of years. But I think after our first couple of weddings, I think there was one year where he had 16, like major contract edits that we've adjusted our contracts that basically clarified. We do this, we don't do this. You can. Can do this. You cannot do this. No, I'm sorry. In the future, you can not bring 15 pallets with you on the day of the wedding and stack them in our fire bonfire, pit and light them. No, you can't do that. But we will supply the wood in the future. So, so yeah, there's definitely a learning curve. Um, it's definitely a type of thing where in talking with, you know, other, uh, venue owners as they've developed their properties and that sort of stuff, try and just giving them some advice. Even though every different situation is unique and every different owner, it kind of comes at it with a different tool set. Um, I know some wedding planners who have actually transitioned into actually being venue owners. And it's interesting to hear their feedback come back from that sort of transition in that situation. Yeah, you definitely don't want to be. I remember like two years ago I had a wedding and I had the ad. Yeah. Claws into like the editing and all of that, about what I was going to, you know, in terms of like the editing, their video. And I was like, man, I wouldn't, I really wouldn't want to know about, like I was the client. They had to have whatever clause or whatever, put in another contract. Cause I was, you know what I mean? Like I would like to kind of big than I was in line with what most other people were expecting, you know? And just to print things. I mean, like, I, we always, you sort of look up, you sort of look back and you think, Oh yeah, it was sort of relying on, people's sort of good judgment that I didn't have to have this clause in the contract. Like, you know, no, you're not allowed in any pastor that has livestock in it. You know, things like that. As I had a couple, they were a lovely couple, but they convinced the photographer. To go with them into one of our pastors, with our horses and, uh, and take photos with them in the horses. And it was like, I mean, I just saw the liability exposure rolling through my head. And, uh, I pulled the photography and of course on the wedding day, you're not going to Blair at the bride and the groom. So you pull the photographer aside and I mean, I'm six foot three, I'm a big guy. And I, I tried to hold myself back, but I know that these two young ladies who were ex exceptional photographers, I mean, they're really good at what they do. But I was just like, you do not understand, but you just don't anyway, so yeah. We had to then be contract. You cannot go to any pastor with livestock in it. So yeah. Uh, you said you've made a lot of changes over the years. What are you most proud of in terms of how you've built something out, you know, big work that you guys have done that. You know, maybe a big project. I mean, what do you, as you I've owned this venue forever, you know, even before it was a venue, you know, what are you most proud of? Just in terms of what you guys have done to improve everything. Um, A couple of things. I mean, obviously I'm sitting in the reception bar and that was a big transition for us. When we first started the venue, we were doing reception tents. Um, I mean, we're blessed that we have a lot of space. I mean, we actually, one year we had 120 foot long tent. It was kind of crazy. But, um, the reception barn transition was a huge one for us. It actually just made our jobs so much easier because it was contained concrete. Florida's just a little bit easier. The other one that I think, and I've talked to. Every once in a while, I haven't, I get an opportunity to talk about branding and that sort of thing. I do really feel accomplished and happy with how we've sort of established the brand arraign fire ranch. And sort of what, you know, the things that people say, as I say. You know, your brand is what people say about you behind your back when you're not listening. Right. Um, and I do feel really good about that brand and how we've evolved it and how it's sort of been adopted. And people's understanding of it. Obviously this, this season's been difficult because, um, of coronavirus and what we have been able to do and what we haven't been able to do with kind of reacting to people's desires. I'll leave it at that. You probably we've all the weather through it. Um, but I do feel strongly as to what our community support is. Um, we, I'm a member of a number of local community organizations. Uh, as well as the chamber of commerce, we, we try and be supportive and, you know, just, you know, so yeah, so the branding is a second one. Um, what else? I actually feel like I've successfully navigated this distance with my husband. Which being in business with your husband or with your partner is it can be a challenge. But as time has gone on, we've sort of figured out where each of us is the decision maker and then the major advisor and trying to navigate through that process. And it's it, even though it can be really difficult. And I looking back on relationship, most of our fights have to do with the business side, not really a personal side. But, um, I do feel it's given us a better product. I think that people come on the venue and they can definitely identify where George's hand touches are and where my aunt touches are. So, yeah. Yeah, I couldn't imagine running a business with my wife. Dorothy did I? We were trying like two years ago, we were trying to get this, um, like a toy kind of scavenger hunt thing going for her. She does a lot. She's a teacher that you were trying to start this little project. And then, you know, obviously we got busy and then. Uh, with COVID and everything. And she was at home and we have one conversation about kind of restarting it. Right. She goes, Hey, maybe we could go do that. And, and, and it lasted for about 10 minutes and I was like, yep. That is your thing. I, you did not want me to be, you know, cause it's just totally it's sometimes it's really hard photographers, videographers, whoever has been wide partners working together. Trying to own the venue. I mean, I can just imagine that it could be challenging, right? If you guys didn't have all that. Yeah. So the thing is that you sort of, you know, when you were an entrepreneur, you started getting used to just doing whatever you want. Right. And when the lines of what it is that you do start to get blurred. Then they spray inner matched it. You know, I want to do this. Will I want to do this. And so then how do you kind of figure that out? And, um, Yeah. But, uh, I feel like we've handled it pretty successfully. I'm more the face of the venue, but he definitely knew his presence in the background. And if people do usually know em, when people come and they see the gardens or they see the landscaping. I always remind them of this is George. He he's the he's the stronger hand on the landscape side. So. You talked before about, you're proud of your brand, and that's what people say about you guys. You know, what about a business when you're not around? What do you feel is your brand and what do you hope that people say? And I'm sure they do good things because all I hear is good things about, you know, your property, but what. But talk to me about you have the brand that you're, what is that brand that you're proud that you've built? So. We, you know, we had a hard time. So I sort of feel like our brand represents the fact that, you know, you. If people want to book a venue where when they walk in from the point that they walk in, they don't feel rushed. It feel taking care of it. Feel there's definitely two people onsite that are paying attention. And that. It's also very team oriented. I mean, anybody, even people who haven't come here and vendors who haven't come here and worked here before. I re I, I fill the role of branch planning manager usually. And so I want to make sure that those vendors feel like it's a team effort because it really, the successful wedding is when it works as a team, not with one vendor trying to prove themselves above another vendor to the bride. You know, you don't want to prove yourself. At the same time where you're sacrificing that relationship with the other vendor, because, you know, it's just, yeah. So we do where I feel that that is a core part of our brand. Um, Uh, yeah, I think those are the main things. So. How did you come into this property? And that we have, even, like you said, even before it was a wedding venue, how did you guys come to, you know, live and own that and beer? So, uh, some people, some people in the industry or know my background, but, um, if you, so I was in 1990, I was one of the charter members of a game company and renting Cub wizards of the coast. Um, may produce magic, the gathering. Uh, Dungeons and dragons. They also were the producer of a Pokemon, the card game for North America and Europe. Uh, in partnership with Nintendo, which actually had the master license, which was garnered from outside Japan Pokemon originally. Uh, came out from Japan. So. Um, being a charter member of this game company, that was actually a fairly successful I'd actually had a steeper growth curve than Starbucks. Um, uh, released a card game called magic, the gathering in 1993, which took off. Um, it's now I think it's translated into like something like 30 different languages. Uh, across the globe. Uh, so. Throughout that process and then eventually selling the Hasbro. I did, you know, did fairly well. And so I sort of turned around and made the decision that I wanted to kind of. Move move on to purchasing a property. And that's how we ended up with the property. Um, back in 2001 actually celebrating 20 years in March. I always feel old now when I say that, but it's pretty, I mean, I look back and. You know, it hasn't all been, you know, Rose, Rose pedals and loveliness here, but I feel that I definitely have hit my stride and kind of just life and then what we're doing here. So. Um, so that's kinda how it started when I first bought it. Um, we did start doing horseracing. Um, while at the same time I actually took on a. Uh, creative consulting role@hasbro.com. Uh, to relaunch casper.com for them. Um, from a creative standpoint, that was back in 2002, I believe. And then did that for like seven years. So it's just, I've kind of meandered my way through. I mean, when you, when you look back at life, you're like, eh, But, yeah, so, but I really, I mean, people joke that this is the ranch that cookie mom built. So that's a, yeah. I had no idea. I, you know, I used to play magic and have that. Uh, I remember the wizards of the coast store over in Bellevue at pad. I used to grow, grew up by the mall there, and there was a little strange, but my, uh, that's fascinating. My assistant Matthew, they still play magic every. He's always playing with he. And, um, two of my assistants were both homeschooled and so they met together and they have like community groups. And, uh, I mean, I think they play like four nights a week. I mean, they just can't, they always want me to come and I'm like, eh, You guys eat. I do still play dungeon and dragons. So are you, uh, w when you were involved in that, was it more of their creative brand? I mean, what, what was your involvement in that? Um, so when I. So when we started the company, I mean, it's a joke when we started the company, we were tossing out the VP titles left and right. And I think at that time I was vice president of production. Um, but I mean, it really didn't mean anything. Uh, but then as time kind of went on. Um, I stepped away from the company for a little bit of time. And then when I came, went back to 1995. I started off as a graphic designer in the marketing department. And then after that, they consolidated all the design components into the art department. And then not long after that, I was actually the first art director that worked on the organized play portion of magic, the gathering, you know, they're actually having tournaments and that sort of thing leading up to a world's championship. And so that was sort of the first one to start. Forge what that looked like from a visual standpoint. And then eventually, um, in 1997, I, after we were without a creative director for about nine months, which was really kind of challenging, um, I actually applied for that and. I was, um, I took over the role as creative director. And then a little bit after that, um, I was promoted to VP. Although I did work for that one, that title was not tossed to me. I actually worked very hard for that. Um, and then eventually I left the company actually in 2000, um, after the acquisition of Hasbro. Um, And so then, so yeah, that's how I started. So it was more on the creative side. So like all the art directors for magic, all the, uh, the people that were like commissioning the card art and doing the graphic design. Reported to me. Once I took over as creative director. So. Whether we're a weird world that we live in, that we were talking that that's so funny. It's funny. I mean, I'm very fortunate. I mean, it's not very often that you can say, Hey, let me know. Cause it was my friend, Peter Atkinson, who was the president in 1990. He was like, Hey, I want to start a company and we want to do. Game design. And we want to show TSR how this has really done and, and district. Good, good game design. Well, as you know, then as magic was created and became popular, eventually we actually acquired TSR, which is the company that did magic the gap, or did Dungeons dragons out of Lake Geneva. So I got to work with some of the people that I had been playing with there. I'd been playing with their game content and their arts since like 1975. So yeah. I remember, um, not to segue too much into my own step by eye. Uh, by my dad was in advertising. My dad passed away, but he was in advertising. And when he moved his company up from, it was him and like his boss and they moved their company up from Portland here. And he was getting some people signed on that they were starting off in Kirkland and he was trying to hire this guy. And it was, he was going to be the number three at their company and they go. Yeah. You know, there's this guy named bill Gates. It's really doing this. Really really interesting staff. Like I think I'm going to go work for him. And I'm like, Yeah, why couldn't we have been on the other side of that conversation and not the guy that my dad was trying to hire, you know, like, it's just weird how the world, and like it's all kind of interconnected. It's fascinated. Oh, yeah, I have a, I have a friend I've not been in touch with him for years, but this, uh, he was a little bit younger than I was in high school. His name was Mark singer. He went to the same high school I did. And he got out of high school and actually went to start working for this small company up in Seattle, Microsoft at the time. And so I'm just, I can't imagine where he is now and he's probably owns an Island somewhere. The other pressure overload. But a really exceptionally smart, but yeah, it's funny how it just different, it touches, you know, and the thing is that those sort of contacts and sort of, you know, retrospective points of your life there. They, they become more and more there's more and more as you get older and older. So yeah. Did you enjoy that, that gaming aspect? Like you said, you still do dungeon and dragons. I mean, do you enjoy that? It's a different mindset kind of do it. I mean, You liked that sale, obviously, right? Oh, yeah, definitely. So recently just in this last year, uh, I, uh, so I do have a steam account. Steve has faced to the AI, an online game serving per system. Um, and so I downloaded risk. And so I've actually played risk in the morning now. Cause it's, it's nice because it's a very sort of resource strategy game, but it's sort of, it's sort of, you don't have to put a lot of mental cognitive to it, but you can sort of block out the rest of the chaos that's going on out here and you can just sort of play the game and you can, you know, basically dominate the world how you want. You know, without anyone else's input, you can sort of dominate the world. And so I play that like three times a morning and have my tea or my coffee and, and then, okay, I'm ready for the day. Now I can deal with all your other people. Uh, something that's more of a, I dunno it, philosophical question just as, you know, as someone, you know, you have like this whole other world, right. And now then, you know, like, that's almost like it's a separate life, right. I mean, and obviously all continues, but it's really like a lifetime ago. And I always think about that wrong. I've been doing this wedding video thing for, you know, six, seven years, right. And maybe in another 20 all look back and go, Hey, remember that time? When that was like a wedding videographer, wasn't that crazy? Like. What is it been like going through these different stages in your life and looking back and just. What is, what is that like? It's just, it has to be interesting to have conquer that and moved on and done so many different things. Um, Wow. Reid. I sound old Danai. So, no, I mean, it definitely, it's nice to feel like you can sort of make your past lives. Smaller term. Yeah, I see you can serve a plot and make those that. That knowledge base applicable as you move forward. Um, I mean, I, because the fact that I was, you know, I managed creative people because managing creative people as a whole different sort of tenor to it, then sort of managing technical people. But. Um, so I do feel that that does is applicable towards what, how weddings kind of work, because there's this sort of intensity of creativity that's going on. You sort of have to kind of manage it and manage expectations and manage budget and sort of, and I, and I definitely am not, I mean, that's definitely much more of like a full wedding planners job. But on the lighter touch of it, I guess I do some of that. But, um, it is, I sort of feel like. I feel like I've been successful because. One of the things I do is I go into a situation. First of all, I don't assume that I know everything because I most likely don't. Um, so I try and keep my mouth shut and keep my ears open, uh, be open to ideas. But then I know that as time goes on, I'm going to sort of formulate my own opinions and then sort of set my own sort of direction and set my own sort of like, this is how I want to do things. And then just sort of move into it and just say, okay, well, I think we can do this better this way. Based on past experiences. One of the things that I would recommend to any person who's showing a venue who may be listening to this podcast is that, you know what. You walk your couples through your venue. You talk to them for a good 35 to 40 minutes explaining how your venue works. And even if you've already sent them a PDF or a year. Your information is on the website. Give them a packet, even if it's just a marketing card and your price sheet, and maybe a little bit more information, give them something to take away. It drives me a little bit crazy when I hear venues. When I hear from couples, who've been to other venues who say, yeah, we got there and they just said, well, here's the venue. I'm like what a lost opportunity. Talk with these people because. The thing we try and explain to people, is it not only do you want to see the venue and really see your wedding there and, and, and, and know that the aesthetic is fitting for you're looking for it, but you're also. You're also setting up to work with the people who just shown you around the venue. So I do think that that's one thing that's really that, that I'm sort of, kind of evolved into the fact of, you know, really talk to your venue, explain how it all works at the same time, knowing that they may say, well, we want to, we want to have a celebratory fire lighting. We want that to be part of the day and have it be. You know, have it be a moment we can make that work. So, yeah. So to answer your question. Yeah. Well, no. And also where you guys are, are you just a little more hands-on right. I mean, some venues it's like, but you just don't and there's, and there's pros and cons and everything to all sorts of. You know, it's not better or worse, but it is who you guys have pride. Right. And you know, it's nice when you have the people that have seen how it works. Cause then, you know, as the couple goes in, like you said, they don't know what's going on. They've never done it before and you go, well, you. These are things that we've seen that people have had success. Oh, okay. That makes sense. Then, as opposed to just like, well, here's a blank wall. Like put something on it and they don't know where to start. I mean, it's also situation too, that we live on set date. So that actually sort of drove that sort of let's be more, hands-on the comment I made about the 15 pallets that they stacked into the bonfire pit, you know, that was like, wow. Yeah. Do we really want this? No, you know, we don't really want this, especially if we're like in the middle of August. I mean, so. Definitely learned. Uh, but yeah, I do know that we're known for being more hands-on and, but I do know that there's definitely, uh, uh, Negative side to that. Um, and we have dealt with that at times. Uh, you know, some couples have been like, well, we don't want to do this. We want to do this. And we're like, you can do that. I mean, we try and be very clear, so yeah. And I think that being clear is actually how we've actually avoided some of the, you know, the first question, I'm sure you get the question to, how do you, how do you deal with brides villas? And I like, well, you know, first of all, I started in the mindset of, is it okay for a couple to want what they want on their wedding day? Of course it is. They should ask for the moon. They should ask for everything. I always think that if I ever have to say no, I need to follow it up with a logic based reason as to why I'm saying no, because usually if you, if you say no, and then this is why most, every couple is like, Oh yeah, that makes sense. You know, why don't you allow sparkler stand-ups well, this is an all wood structure. We have a lot of grass around here and, uh, although I trust your guests after they've been drinking, not to burn you on their way, your way out, then what happens when you guys are gone? That's the so. So, yeah. Yeah, it's I, it is always appreciated though. When it's more of like a question then when it's like, Mmm. You know what I mean? Cause we all, cause you do get. Like I know I get self, um, defensive, you have people have questions about like how the video stuff works. Or the editing in drag, you know, it's, it's easier to ask, like you said, like why, or how can we do it versus like, well, this is what we want. It's a, it's a little, it's a little bit of the tone. Sometimes it's helpful just to like approach it in a little bit more. You know, We had a live stream like wedding this year. And she was like, you know, we were going to do their ceremony for like 20 minutes. And she's like, wow. You know, my sister is in, uh, somewhere in Europe and, you know, w w could we live stream like the four hour thing after? And I'm like, Oh, that's a little bit more intensive to do like a 20 minute thing. Or like, I'm not, I don't like to say, I'm not saying the answer is no, but I'm saying like, we would drastically need to rethink the events of like your day, if you wanted that to be a possibility. So like you said, it is. You don't like to say no, it's you'd like to follow it up with something. That's I think that's a good way to handle it. Yeah. I mean, I think we're fortunate. You know, the one thing that I found very interesting about this industry is that each different vendor category. The challenges are just so completely different. And the business model is so completely different than it's it's, you know, They're almost like, I mean, they are technically separate different businesses, but they're all like these slices of this pie. It's like, if you were to get, you know, they have those, those like cheesecake pies or every different slices are different. Different flavor. That's what the wedding industry is kind of like. Um, so yeah, uh, So. Interesting. Uh, as someone that, you know, obviously I have a totally different, you know, business, everything before, and they kind of entering this wedding world. What is it been like? Just kind of being apart. I sat on the podcast before, knew nothing about weddings at all, had no friends that had gotten married ever. When I started kind of doing all of this, what was it like on entering this, you know, potentially foreign world. Uh, definitely. Definitely my vocabulary change. Emmy approach to my vocabulary changed. Um, you know, You just sort of, you just sort of have to check. It's, you know, you want to be conversational when you're talking with couples, but you really have to be careful what you say, you know, as I'm walking through the tour. We talk about how the bride enters. And so prior to me being a little bit more seasoned, um, I would say. So, this is where you and your father will come walking in from. And I, and I. Literally, I hit it. I hit that misstep hard as the bride starts crying and letting me know that her father passed away four months prior. And I always just, I mean, I was three inches tall. I felt so bad. And just, and it's just like, and you sit there and you just mentally kick yourself and say, you dumb. So I really, I sort of really feel that how your vocabulary sort of changes, um, and how you sort of speak changes within, as you're in context, as you know, where those dangerous point those dangers spots are. So now it's always, even if their father steady right there, I always start out and say, so are you playing, have anybody walk you in? And then let her decide. And then it's sometimes can be sort of a humorous moment because it's like, you know, cause then the father will look at her and then she'll look at their father. Look at them all. Yeah. It's can be kind of, so anyway, the vocabulary is then talking about that, you know, I coming up with the term ranch planning manager. Used to be called myself a ranch coordinator. You know, does not work. You know what those would day of coordinators and wedding planners do is very different from what we do. So just that sort of thing. Um, There was another thing I was thinking about too. Now. I can't remember. But well, especially with the vocabulary, even just with brides and grooms. And I always try to say like the couples, you know, planning, cause it's not all, you know, It's not always to Bri you know, bride groom. Exactly. And I, I, and, and, you know, if I ever on the podcast, please, anyone ever call me out, like, I always try to say like, you know, the wedding couple, you know, the couple that's planning the wedding because a couple of ear, it could be anything right. But it's so. You want to be so disrespectful of everybody, right? You want to be so, and like you said, you, you don't know if it's her father or if that's her uncle or if there's, or maybe she hasn't lost her father to walk her down. And now this is her father and you don't, you. We just don't know what's going on. So in referendum, 74 past, uh, because George or openly gay couple and we're, I think we are like one of the only owner and operated gay. Gay owned and operated venues. Um, I know there are other venue owners out there that are gay, but they aren't necessarily hands-on. Um, But, uh, because of that, I had a lot of other vendors, heterosexual vendors reach out to me and say, Help us, how, you know, how do we speak? How do we address people? And I said, well, the first thing you want to do is just never assume as to who's getting married. So do you have a group of people walk up to you to say, okay, who's getting married and they'll let you know. And then the other thing I wish that I felt was very important is that, you know what. Gape, same gay people are people too. They know that you'll make a mistake. The thing is just own up to it. Don't try and gloss over it. Don't try and be overly apologetic. But just say, Oh, I apologize. You know, misconceptions, let's just move forward because your genuineness of your apology and just keeping it short, straight to the point. They will get that. And if they are comfortable and they're willing to move forward than it actually is a win-win now, you know what? I personally know that there's some gay people that take a very extreme offense. If someone makes a mistake and refers to the bride and groom or refers to the groom and groom or the bride bride. And so, and the thing is that if that, if that. Person or that couple is going to take that severe. Uh, offense to that mistake. Then maybe you're not the best fit for them and you should just move on. So yeah, I I've done it myself, you know, I, you know, showing to us lovely lesbian couple around and here I am gay myself and I make, I make that boat off. It's just, you have that conditioning. So I, you know, that was, uh, another thing is you had mentioned the whole same sex marriage aspect. The thing that's funny about same-sex marriage thing, marriage weddings. I think it's interesting is that all rules are wrong. I mean, literally all rules are off data. There's, there's very little story. I mean, there's, there's, you know, certain sort of. Tenants that are in heterosexual weddings that sometimes apply, but then there are a lot that just don't even. So I just tell people, you know, I just threw all those things behind you. You can pick and choose what you like, but, you know, You know, like when people like when a same sex couples are walking up to the ceremony pavilion, I sometimes say you could both walk up at the exact same time. And we'll put it well. You two chairs on either side and then we'll leave a little gap. So that you've actually ever walking, not on the aisle, you come together and then get married and then you walk out together. So we've done that a couple of times. And there's other, just sort of like, just combination. So. Quizzes. Yeah. I mean, I worked in, I was still at Q 13 when all that past, you know, we covered all about when gay marriage was legal. I still like that. I have never been in the wedding industry in Seattle where that wasn't a thing. Right. So it's, it's just, everyone has their own backgrounds of where you come into a blog. That's never not been allowed. So it's it's even for me to be like, Oh, I didn't even. Yeah, there was, you know, it's just, it's it's everyone approaches it differently. Yeah. So trying to be as inclusive as possible. So can I, can I get political for a minute? So we're in a scary time. Uh, as the gay community, because you know, back in 2015, the Supreme court ruled that nation nationally wide gay marriage was to be recognized. Well now, with the makeup of the Supreme court, Uh, two very conservative Supreme court justices have just today. Literally have said, we need to review this decision from 2015 about gay marriage. And if have the appointments to the court, does you conservative? Which there's a possibility I could, basically everybody who was afforded the right as a same-sex couple to get married, could have those rights taken away. As an over 50 year old man. Uh, you know, Both George and I put the concept of getting managed out of our heads. You know, it's not something that we really, we really, because we never thought it would happen. So it's like, you know what, I'm not going to bang my head against that wall. I mean, yeah. We'd have our opinion about it if it came up, but we never thought that it wouldn't get to that point. But then the other is about a community that we're pushing that envelope that got that reference of 74 passed in Washington state. Once it passed. The first thing that struck my mind is like, wow, how much of a second-class citizen I was being treated as that I didn't have the opportunity that I didn't have the opportunity to get married with the person who I am in love with. To, to be afforded, uh, you know, that sort of institution now, you know, the wedding that we had was not a religious ceremony. But we aren't trying to take away from other people's religious ceremonies. We just. We just want to have a similar opportunity. So I just, it scares me right now with as to what the, that. This question is being brought up again and that we could find I could, you know, we could find ourselves in a very short period of time. Um, having those rights removed. So anyway, moving on, thank you for my opportunity and my soap box. Well, I know, I do think that would be very scary and I guess, yeah. I mean, I just puts even the naivety in me. We're here. I am like, and now you're saying that, you know, it could go away again. Right. And it's like, It's uh, it's it's uh, I know I had to go, um, when that whole thing went was going on with the Baker in Ellensburg, thought that whole, and then went and I had to go. I was in, I can't remember what I covered with [unknown]. 13, but I had to go out and try to interview some people or something about that whole thing. I mean, just how crazy, that whole thing God and where they weren't going to make the cake. And then it ended up going to the, I think it went to the Supreme court about all that stuff for. I mean, that was a huge deal. Yeah, I know that. Yeah. I mean, I'm not. Inclusively. But yeah. Yeah. But just, you know, now with this. With this next replacement for the Supreme court there, it just is. It's so polarizing yet. Yeah. So anyway, it's a little bit disconcerting. So keep that in mind, whenever you're same set or your gay friends, when you're considering that. Uh, I was gonna ask kinda my last question I really wanted to touch on is just in terms of, uh, kind of everything you guys have done over the last, you know, I own them, the venue owner on the property, I guess. Uh, the most, uh, accomplished you felt, you know, what, what have you guys, what do you feel most proud of? It could be you personally, that you guys have done or business-wise and accomplishment. And I mean, what do you feel like. I too have gone through and accomplished so much in your, in your life with you, where do you hang your hat on? And it could be a couple of things. A whole life or wedding industry life. Take it out of the way you want. That's a really good question, meaning that it's hard to predict. No. So one thing that I, one thing that recently I talked about it and actually about a year ago, um, on a podcast. With from my gaming history. So when I took over as creative director, The. There was definitely a schism between wizards of the coast and the illustrators that were working for us because the rights that they were afforded. Really not that great. I mean, these are contracts that were developed back when the game was not really as popular as what it was at the time that I took over his creative director. And so. One of the things that I did help in when I was creative director, but a law, as well as the senior art directors I was working with the senior art director for magic was reworking. What the artists really could take away. Giving them a much greater sense of monetization of the success, of what their artwork broad. Um, which really wasn't there initially. So I do feel that it was actually one of things that I, that I, I wasn't, obviously it was a team effort. I do feel really strongly that they were much better representative in the process just was cleaner. Um, so yeah, that's, that was one thing. Um, Obviously taking the ranch to a point where it was recognized and where it is today and where we are going in the future. I'm really proud of that. Um, there was one time that were in the finals of the best of Seattle bride magazine. For best outdoor wedding venue. And we were up in the finals with the Lil. Sellers. And I think Willow's lodge now. And the general manager of Delilah was there and she actually accepted cause the little one and she accepted the award. I chatted with her. I think can't remember if it was before or after, but she's like, she goes, I was actually rooting for you. I was like, you know what? I'm just glad to be in the category and the finalist I was there. I mean, because I've been to both of them and it's like, they're both exceptionally amazing. So I was, if anything, it made me sit there and think to myself, okay. I need to get my together and really step up our game. But, um, that was nice. Um, I don't know. But, I mean, as much as corny as it sounds, you know what unsolicited bride hugs are the best. That best. Um, when they just, you know, they're so appreciative and they just sort of, you know, I don't know where it come up and give you a hug. And so, yeah. Um, And there are others. I guess, I don't know. Like I said, it's a good question. And then he started thinking about it. What have I accomplished? And, you know, it's tough because like I said, it's just kinda, you know, pick a one or two. I mean, they just, you can go down the line that, you know, sometimes you just everything that you've seen and all the big wins and the little wins, and I mean, they all kind of add up to where we are. Everything I do is fabulous. Just to be clear, everything I did. Anyway here, there's a visual with that. Ready? Everything I do is fabulous. Sorry. I'm a, just a big, I'm just a big kid at heart. So. Well, this has been great. I've been, I'm so glad that we got to connect them so glad that you reached out and that we, you, you commented on my post. I was trying to, we had a big round of, I have like six of these recorded. And then they all aired and then I thought, Oh my gosh, I need to get some more of these going. So I thank you so much for reaching out. I'm so glad, because like I said, I've seen you at the shows and the wedding. Like meetings and stuff. I'm so glad to connect and kind of hear a little bit, I had no idea about, you know, your backstory and your history and. That's what's so nice about this podcast, right? Is people see each other all the time? We just don't know. And this is just one sliver of everything, you know, an hour I'm anyone's time is just a sliver of anything. They've have to say, but it is nice that we got to connect and spend that time. No, I appreciate it. Read, you know what these are. These are awesome. It's just nice. That again, same thing return. We'll just have to focus on finding a time that we can work together. But, uh, it's nice just to kind of take a break and get a chance to talk about things sort of in general, in a conversational term. And, uh, yeah. So if I look forward to see you in the future, hopefully at one of the networking get togethers, or if, I mean, I am playing to be at the Seattle wedding show. Um, so yeah, I'm looking forward to that. I know, although I know it's going to be different, but, um, yeah, I'm very approachable even though I'm six foot three and I usually have a beard and facial area. I am approachable. Just come up and slugged me in the shoulder. Not too hard. Yeah. So add that before we go. Yeah. Plugs for website and social media. Anything you want to give out a, yeah. So reinfireranch.com. Um, we have an Instagram account, which is a little bit more sort of behind the scenes and sort of focused a little bit on family. Um, We have animals that have Facebook pages. There's petunia at rein fire ranch. She's our mobile mule. She's our mule to part of our mobile meal bar. Uh, our two cats actually have a Facebook page called Wally and Molly at rein fire ranch. Um, we have a Twitter account, which I don't touch ever. Uh, So, yeah. And we normally do. Have, um, I'll show you even share this. So we normally do have a great Halloween party that it's a private. Invited only party, but if anyone is interested in being on the invite list, Uh, let me know we aren't having it this year, though. Of course. So. Well, perfect. Well, thank you so much. Again, this has been the lion it's really, really fun to catch up. Thank you really appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon. Yeah. If you're like Rich and you're interested in coming on the podcast, you can head on over to bestmadevideos.com/podcastguest Thanks again and take care!

Kelsey Knutson Gather + Grow

Well, thank you so much for joining us today for the get to know your wedding pro podcast. I'm joined with Kelsey can Knutson. She is a makeup artist, and we just found out that we had worked together at a wedding, I think four years, three years, four years ago now, and then also a personal coach. And I wanted to talk about all those different things today. So why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Yeah. Hi, thank you for having me on the show. I'm happy to be here. My name is Kelsey. Can you. I am owner of gathering co, which is hair and makeup for a wedding, but also a hair studio, or I cut color, do all the things I went to college. I studied business. I got into the bridal business by accident. Through college. It was my side hustle. Just helping people look pretty and figuring it out along the way. And eventually it was like, I should probably get legit. So I went to hair school. Opened up my own salon. I have my team. Hair and makeup artists that come with me for weddings and then with COVID and everything. And just a previous passion of helping business owners, I've kind of pivoted into coaching. So I wear a couple different hats right now. Well, and I love that and I love first off people that just have a lot of different stuff going on. I think it's so exciting just as someone that just launched my dumb, uh, XFL football podcast is either. It's great to have. You know, passion for staff and just to be able to do it now, like it's, it's so different than even 10, 15 years ago, where if you have a passion and obviously a background in knowledge, and you can just. Do whatever you want. Right. I think it's, I think it's so great. And obviously with, um, with the wedding stuff too, and then I do. I am so interested to hear all about this coaching thing. Because we've talked a lot on the podcast. In fact, uh, for years now about how you can be a really talented wedding vendor and like not necessarily the best in terms of like business or not. It's really hard to kind of get you wrap your hands around all those different things. So where do we, where do you want to start with, how did you get involved in, in the wedding industry? You said you went to school and, and. Take me back. Take me back. Yeah. Um, so I went to WSU. I'm a kid. True and true. And I studied entrepreneurship because I got into the business college and was like, well, I don't want to do accounting. I don't want to do economics. And then I stumbled upon entrepreneurship, which is here's the toolkit of how to start your own business or help other people grow and start business. So I found my people, it was amazing, but they weren't creatives. They were very kind of stuffy business suit, kind of buttoned up guys. And that's just not me. Um, so I dabbled in actually the startup world in like a totally different industry while I was in college and right after college. And I was just bored to tears because I wasn't around creative people. I'm kind of like a hybrid model. And so I like to be in the room with creative people, but also be able to talk business and all that stuff too. So I graduated college. And Pullman. Cause I had no idea what I was doing and I was doing hair and makeup just as a hustle while being a business consultant. And now I'm still doing that, but in a different way, But, yeah, so that's how I started, you know, I was in a sorority I'd help all the girls get ready to go out on the weekends. It was just like a natural creative outlet for me. And then the academic stuff was also an interest as well. So I always knew somehow I would mesh the two together. I just didn't know what that would look like. And then after college moved home with my parents went to beauty school. And when I was in PT school, I really pushed my wedding business. And it's, um, that's where I kind of networked in the industry up in Seattle. And I went to school in Tacoma, but knew I wanted to be in Seattle. So started making connections up here. And there's just the wedding network community is very supportive and awesome. Especially in Seattle. I think everyone kind of. Really champions each other in this industry and supports each other. And so I just weaseled my way into that group. And then, yeah, I, I had my own salon now for three years. And then the coaching piece is something that just kind of organically has been on my mind for a while. I knew I eventually wanted to teach and help people run their businesses. I just didn't know how to do it. And then when COVID happened, it was like, What am I waiting for now is the time I literally can't work and I have all this free time and have all these ideas. So I just started kind of playing around with that and seeing where it took me. And now here we are doing some. The hybrid, but on the other kind of direction where I'm facing more into the business stuff, and I'm really passionate about our community, as you mentioned, I think there's so many amazingly talented people that the business stuff is that just a given, you know, you have to. It's something that, um, can be intimidating, especially with marketing and social media, and just how to put structures in your business to free up more time to do the stuff you love doing and how to work with the people you love working with. So I'm really passionate about helping people find that. Yeah. It's so it's so interesting. Where, like you said that you went to business. You know, you. We're interested in doing your own bank. It's always fascinating to me. We just had a wedding on Friday. And we were doing the live stream. And so my assistant Joel, I was kind of like packing up some of the staff and he was filming just like people were like mingling or whatever. And he comes over and he goes, Hey, um, so they're getting ready to go. Do you know, they're getting ready to come in. Like, should I go film that like the grand entrance? So that was like, yes. And like, I will go to, like, we definitely need to go do that. But I looked over, they have this P in this that was playing and I go. There are some people in this world that are leaders. And then there are some people that are followers and I love Joel. And he's the greatest isn't that he is very much like, Hey, you know, what should we, as opposed to like, no, yes, we're definitely going to go do that. Like we need to go make that decision. So. What is it about you? Just that passion that, like I said, you know, there's some people that they do and then some people that know how to do, but can teach and kind of, you know, beyond that. Like a different level. What is it? Is it just a crazy amount of energy and passion? What inspires you to do all that? Um, I honestly, this is so lame, but I think I just was born this way. You know, I'm a Leo, I'm a big sister. And I asked to go to kindergarten a year early. I was that kid. I just always, wasn't afraid to kind of take charge and. I just always believe in helping people in my way of helping them as empowering them. And so it's something I've always done. I went to kindergarten early at kid birthday parties. I was the one hanging out with mom and like becoming best friends with the parents. Like I just have that. That's just how I'm wired. And so it's really cool to be. Now with the digital age and everything, you can connect with people in new ways. And I feel like I'm really like, this is what I meant to do. I love the hair and makeup piece because I get to make a difference in people's lives. But I always knew there would be more with that. I knew that was just kind of a chapter book. And I, yeah, when I talk business and I have clients that I help, who are all in different service-based industries, massage, PT, hair, makeup, all kinds of different industries. I feel like I'm in my zone of genius. I just, I don't know what it is. I just did something. I naturally. I really do. And I think the big thing is just having, I provide accountability and structure in a lot of it is just giving people the tools that they already have. They just don't know that they have, um, that's really all I do. And yeah. You said you went to school for business and then kind of transitioned right. To entrepreneurial ship. Right? So what, what was it about that, that world of wanting to be involved in business? Cause that's not something that, you know, every, every wazoo, sorority girl, right? And my wife's. I mean, it's fine. But, you know, that's not something that's at the top of the mind. So what was it? That that got you involved as in wanting to be in that world anyway. Yeah. Aye. I'm kind of, I like to bring people together who know more than me in specific areas. I've always been a big picture person. And that's really what my degree was. It wasn't so much like I had to be in the weeds doing the day-to-day stuff. It was how can you lead a team? Um, and you know, be successful in doing that, bringing people who are experts in very specific areas and getting them to work together for a common goal. That's what my degree was. And we, I mean, we pitched in front of investors, we got funding. It was like an awesome degree. It's like shark tank. But like, not as intense, but that's really what it was. And our team, you know, placed and did well. And that's when I first was like, Oh, this is like a job people do. And I think for me, A lot of people don't know that that's an option, you know? And I always knew I was a little different. I didn't want to be a doctor. I didn't want to be a lawyer. I knew I wanted to leave. I didn't know what that meant. So. I'm also passionate about how can I show other people that thought this is an option. Like if you're just passionate about leading and helping people and that's what fires you up, there's a way you can do it. You said that you were involved in kind of the startup world. Was that just in college or was that like after college? Talk to me about that. Yeah. I, like I said, I've warned my resume is crazy, but I'm so proud of it, but I have done so many weird random jobs, but basically, so that class I was talking about where you pitch in front of investors. A team of us came together. It was engineers and business people, and our team could not come up with a startup idea. We're supposed to create something. Couldn't come up with one. So we got paired with this vet med professor who invented. A technology and the medical training space. And we just kind of got to take his project on and it started as a school project. And then we did, well, we, we got second or third place in that competition. And then he reached out and hired me to work for him. So it turned. Just as a school project. And then I worked for the startup. We, I applied for a grant, which is not a fun process, but it was super amazing to do at, you know, 21 years of age. And, um, yeah, so that's when I knew I liked the startup world, but that specific industry, not for me. I mean, it was. Just Medi medicine and education and like, that's it just not creative. And I knew I needed to be passionate about what I was doing. And then through that job, I got another job where I was consulting through the university. So everything has all been just relationships, you know, building relationships and reaching out to people. I'm literally made a latte for someone. I was working those two jobs that part-time kind of startup job, plus a coffee shop. I made a latte for somebody and that got me the next job. So it's all about just building connections and then not being afraid to ask about different opportunities that may or may not even be there. It is, it's crazy how just the path of life and just like all the various things. I mean, I think I've told this story before on the podcast. I was in a totally different thing than video. One conversation one day with one professor, you know, and they just changes that whole trajectory. It really is. Uh, interesting. Uh, what, what did you enjoy most about, um, Wait, was it seeing all the different things, kind of knowing where you could improve, you know, whether you were with the star there for weather. Whether you're with whatever. What did you enjoy most about kind of jumping around in those different experiences? You know, seeing different things. What did you enjoy it? It forces you to learn something really, really fast and then make it as efficient as possible. And I loved the idea of helping people with their problems. But I also, at that time, felt like I needed to do, like, I felt like I couldn't really coach to running a business because I hadn't done it myself. People do that. People graduated with business degrees, they get MBAs, they go right, uh, right into consulting. And for me, I wanted the street cred. I wanted to know what it was like to build something from nothing. And that's why. And again, I am passionate about the hair and makeup industry. Don't get me wrong there, but that's why I felt so calm. So compelled to go. That route is because I really wanted to build my own thing. Really understand it from the inside out. And then that's how I could help other people who are in that space. You know, a lot of people in our industry, I just, I see COVID really shed light on people who had really great infrastructure and their business and the ability Avila. Ability to pivot like you do. And then people would have really struggled, unfortunately. Um, I'd love to go back in time and kind of help those people. Kind of just make some different choices or build some systems in their business. And that's why I think that was the time to really work on your business and kind of build a strong foundation in case anything ever happens again. No. That's absolutely true. Two things first off, getting that, um, getting that street crab day. I remember our friend, we went to Gonzaga. And he stayed behind and got his MBA and like business, whatever. And then yeah, he was trying to start a consulting company. Right. Like doing yoga, teaching all that stuff. And I remember me and my, you know, the other roommates were like, he's not, you can't. It's really hard to sell something that you have at EO. It's the same, like trying to be a wedding videographer, if you don't have a wedding video, I mean, yeah. You can like kind of fake it and maybe get, you know, you really have to have your shoe's kind of on that, you know, that path to do that. And then the same thing like you were saying is, yeah, it's been astounding. How many businesses were not prepared at all for everything that's happened? I mean, astounding. Companies that I know that I've had, you know, do. Tons and tons and tons and tons of weddings. And then it's like, you know, two weeks went by without anything. And it was like, okay, well, why did we do. And you're like, that is not. Yeah. So if anything. I hope. Yeah. The businesses that come out of this are, are strengthened and smarter. And my people realize like you can't just have two weeks worth of money or whether, you know, you gotta be able to have a plan and kind of know what's going on. Um, What are you, what are your thoughts and anything? So true and tough love coming from me here. But, um, I started my business while my partner, my boyfriend's full-time student at U dub. I opened my salon, literally not knowing if he got into the program and like all of the weights on my shoulders to provide for us. And. So the idea of the perfect time literally doesn't exist. And I just think now more than ever we're feeling that, and you know, no one saw COVID coming, no one ever in a million years thought we'd still be where we are at today. But I think that you can still. I dunno, just safeguard your business. I had safety net bill in, I had saved money. That's just important for me. I'm debt free. Like I had very specific financial goals that helps support me through this and everyone was running towards. You know, the government, give me money, help me out. What did you do? I need your help. And I ran the other way, like, let's start a new business and spend some money and adapt and evolve to this new climate because the truth is, this is what we're at. This is what we're working with today, you know? And I think just trying to stay positive and also be thankful for the lessons we have learned during this time too. I think that a lot of great stuff can come out of hardship. So I think. I don't know, that's just kind of my mentality with all of this is it's chaos. And if you just sit in it and you don't change, then you aren't going to make it out alive. What was it like? Kind of entering the wedding industry, you know, as someone that, you know, wasn't like, I had no context when I got into all this and it's like, kind of like, learn these. What was it like, kind of entering that, um, you know, like you said before, we are trying to be a very welcoming community, but what was it like kind of entering this world that I'm sure you probably have more experience with like friends and stuff, getting married. Then I have like, no idea about anything when I got into all this, but what was it like kind of. Starting the wedding business and being involved in that. It was hard. It's, um, it's friendly, but it is still competitive. You know, you have for sure other people who are doing what you're doing and you're competing for business. I'm of the mindset. There's plenty to go around. I also believe that I'm not for everybody. And the more that I'm just authentically me, I'm going to attract the right brides and grooms who want to work with me. And I lived that out loud. My team it's the same mentality. We're picky about who we work with and we just stay in our lane and. But starting off with is intimidating because you had people who are top, top, top of the game, charging so much money and they are super talented. And then you have people at the bottom of the barrel who are just kind of like fighting it out, just trying to get business and. I can't to your point earlier, I think part of it is you have to fake it till you make it. You have to just get in there and do it, and then also learning to charge your worth. You learn the hard way. If you constantly are working with brides who are just. A little difficult to work with. Um, maybe it's a pricing issue. Maybe it's a branding issue, but. Yeah, it was hard. I, in the very beginning, reached out till for some freelance hair and makeup people just saying like, Hey, I'm going to cosmetology school. Here's my background. Here's what I want to do. I'd love to just pick your brain. And I think at, you know, like 15 or 20. And one responded. And we're still friends to this day and she's amazing. And, um, I actually, she went back to hair school, so we got to kind of support each other in a different way that way. But man, people can be real mean and I've definitely had my fair share of people being pretty, not bullies, but just like, you don't want to do this. You don't want to hire people. You're not going to like it. Um, and I think you just have to stick true to who you are and then continue to find people who do cheerlead you and support you. And then just try things, you know, I think you and I did a wedding show together to, um, that was not very. Visited. It's the way I would word it. And, um, you know, you just, I could tell there just wasn't very many brides and grooms coming through, but I was like, you know, this is a chance to network with different vendors. So I just went around it. And though my goal that day was to meet Brian. It didn't happen, but I just connected with vendors because you just, again, it's that mentality of making the most of the situation. I want to know which show is this. Was this the beer center, the one. Yep. Yeah, the infamous. It was. I don't even know if they're still around. National company coming in and yeah. It was a lot of money. It was a lot of money. And, uh, you know, it's one thing to do the free ones and, you know, like, like I'll go shoot a video for an open house or something and kind of do, but yeah. It's it's real kick in the gut when it was. It was like 800 bucks or something. That show. I can't remember what it was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you learned, right? I mean, you learn it's and you were talking it's so hard. Um, Uh, not, not judging yourself against the competition. It, maybe this is something you work people through. I have no idea, but like yoga some days I'm like, there's no skin off my, like, I don't care everybody. Everybody can do. And then some days you're like, Oh, I really, you know, it's, it's a constant struggle. It's a constant, like, you know, be confident. And then also then you'll see something someone's posted online or something. And you're like, eh, I wish they were undercutting me or, you know, whatever. So it's definitely a struggle. Um, you know, no matter how long you've been in the industry, Oh, big time. Yeah. I, I mean, so my salon I've owned for three years, but I've my very first wedding was over 10 years ago. So I've been in the game for a while. I just slowly worked my way up there. And then, like I said, I also cut and color hair, so I basically have to. It's the lawn or like wedding slash hair jobs plus the coaching stuff. So I'm busy, but yeah, I think that the key is just to. Learn from those situations when you are feeling that way, really like check in with yourself. Why like what is making you feel that way? And then get off. Instagram is also my other advice. Get off Instagram. Yeah, just take a break, you know, like it's so easy to just compare yourself to other people constantly, and that's not what it should be about. It's hard. Yeah. It. Cause cause it sometimes. And this the same way with all those. Yeah. I do enjoy so much like seeing what everybody else is doing, but it is such that, um, that line, you know, and, and really trying to not just be a time sock. And then also, yeah, like you said, holding up. Your own, you know, judging whatever against other people. It's really hard. Totally. When you work with. Businesses or whatever. Entrepreneurs right. What are, what are some of the biggest things that people I know we had talked, um, I think before we started recording about, um, you were talking about your might be launching a podcast soon and talking about consistency and that's always my thing. When it comes to businesses is like consistency. Uh, and you know, posting and doing all these everything's whether some things that you see that businesses struggle with, that you try to work with them on that, you know, that people could learn. Yeah, I think one of them is just getting the money is a big piece. Honestly, I talk about money a lot because it's something as business owners, we kind of shy away from whether it's pricing and asking clients for money or how much we pay ourselves or how to save for taxes or how to build. A rainy day fund in case something happens again. Um, some money is a big piece and a lot of it is just getting clear and people have plans on how to post to social media, that you should also have a plan on how to manage your money. So those months, especially like us, where we're busier certain times of the year, that doesn't mean to go on a shopping spree. You should have a strategy and plan in place for. Bare minimum, where does the money go on a really bad month, but on a really great month. And I get an influx, where do I put that money? Otherwise you'll spend all of it. So money is a big piece just because it's something I'm personally passionate about. As I mentioned before I achieved debt-free last year. I'll having a partner in school, plus school loans and all the things. And, you know, it took a lot of work, but mostly it took a plan. And I think the other piece to the, to the business advice is just having a strategy and a plan. And I call it like a moving goalpost. You know, you always have to kind of sit down and where are we going? What direction is it? And I think we can all agree are 20, 20, 20, 20 goals may have changed a little bit and that's okay. But you just have to create new ones because otherwise you have no idea what success means. Have you say, you know, I want to make more, I want to work less. What does that mean? What does that mean for you? What's. That specific number, that amount that you're shooting for that way, you know, if you've achieved it, then you can celebrate it. So a lot of it is just planning strategy around social media marketing. Um, a lot of people are rolling out new kind of. Side businesses that relate to their business, especially in the online space. A lot of my clients are doing that. So just you have this idea that maybe you want to start a blog podcast. Okay, great. How are you actually going to get there? What do you need to achieve to make that come to life? So many people get really distracted with like, Oh, I need to make this new logo. I need to get new photos, but if you don't have a plan, not none of that stuff matters. So it's a lot of just figuring out where do you want to go? And then what small steps can we take to get you there? Yeah. My biggest thing is, is I'm. Uh, I can't remember it was like Mark Cuban or one of those big, you know, like some big brainiac. Uh, whatever, but it was talking about like, perfection is the enemy of the entrepreneur. Right. And that's like, so me, or like, I'll sit and look at like the pixel of like our new logo for like 10 hours. Like not even like have any mindset of. You know, I get so hyper-focused on that, but obviously that's, uh, It's across the board. Right? You have to it's everyone's struggles with different things, rather than trying to figure out what, you know, where their, where their issues aren't right. Yeah. And I think too part of that is the act like the mindset stuff you have to tap into. Why are you doing that? Is it because you're afraid of the next step or you just don't know what the next step should be? You know, if you allow yourself to hide in the weeds and that's designing on Canada, um, pinning some pins, whatever, kind of behind the scene stuff you work on. If you find yourself kind of going back there a lot, there's a reason for that. And that's where a having a plan and be just having the confidence to take those next steps is so key. And when you talk about the debt stuff too. Uh, you know, I'm, I'm a little older than a lot of the kids. I don't. I mean, kids, a lot of the people that work for me, or, you know, like mid to late twenties and I see like all this debt and like school debt and my car payment, or, you know, all this different stuff. And I'm just like, yeah, I mean, we have our house because I'm like, It is like crazy to me, you know, like hearing like what they pay on rent and what they pay on this and what they pay on that. And it's like, I would never, I wouldn't know how to do anything. I would never know how to feel like I could get out of that ever. I mean, it's just crazy. Yeah, I think too. Also part of that to retirement, right? Like we work for ourselves. We have to build that Amazon's not matching our salary. And so a lot of it is people have all these different goals, you know, I want to pay off my debt. I want to. My car is falling apart. I need a new car. I want to say for my future, I have no idea where to start, so I'm just not going to do any of it. And so a lot of it is just again, more so just creating a plan and getting clear on what your goals are. And then empowering them to be like, you can actually do a little, a little bit of all of that right now is just again, having that discipline in that plan in place. And then a real understanding of spending, I think, with the digital age. And you can literally just walk in and your phone just charges you basically, wherever you go. I think it's so easy to be out of touch with how much you're actually spending on things. And it's not easy. It comes at a cost. Um, someone I follow. Uh, Oh, money means she's on Instagram. Her philosophy is spending is an investment of me today versus investment of me tomorrow. That's all it is. It's just the mentality of, do you want to invest in you right now? Are you later? And so I firmly believe that philosophy. It's just a matter of kind of getting clear on the goals and then what's worth it to you. Yeah. It's all right. That was the big lesson for me when he back in March and kind of all this happened was I. You know, I, I don't do a lot of personal things at all, but I spend a lot of money on a lot of different business stuff and a lot of different, like, you know, uh, SEO stuff. And equipment and in subscriptions to apps, but it's all like business stuff, but that was the big lesson for me back in March. And I was like, okay, like, we need to cut this stuff down now, which luckily for me, it was like, You know, I think it's way easy to like rein back then. It is obviously to be like, to try to make up stuff on the backend. Right. Like I was able to like, okay, well I can maintain if I just like, you know, if the. If the ship's flooding. Right. Or we can just close the whole versus, you know, I don't have to like shovel the water out and we just need to kind of maintain, is that, do you, what, what kinds of, um, when it comes to like money and talking with people. What kinds of lessons are you trying to teach them or do you find that they're struggling with, um, that's a big one. Just exactly what you said. You know, people in the kind of millennial generation just. In general have more because of school loans and everything. And so, again, it's, it's getting real honest about, okay, how much is actually there? Um, what's the bare minimum you have to pay each month, but then again, those extra months I have a plan of like, The top three things that are my financial goals. So on a really great month, I put a little bit of money into all three of them. But if I have debt, I'm just, if you have debt, it's holding you down, not a house that's a little bit different because it also has value for you. But if you have debt, it's holding you back. And so coming up with a plan to pay it off as fast as possible, just frees up so much mental space. And it also gives you the confidence. Like I aimed for the school and I made it happen that, um, I just think that's super important. And back to the business and spreading, I am just like you, I'm way more likely. Likely to spend on my business as a form of like rewarding myself than I am to buy something for me. And, um, if you force yourself to run your business on a budget, it makes you scrappy. It makes you have to figure out how to make more money, cause you literally need to make more money. So it's super important to kind of come at it from that perspective of, you know, just the discipline and coming up with a structure that will force you to stay within it. And then if you want to buy that fancy camera or whatever, really being clear and honest with yourself, do I need that this month? Could I wait until next month? Can I wait till I can pay in full? Is that worth it? And, um, yeah, that's just some like broad stroke stuff. And then as far as specifics, I just, I hide money from myself. I have different accounts for different things as a tax account that every month I moved money into you and I pretend it does not exist. That is not. My money that I get to play with. That's not business money. That is just money I've already spent, basically. So just kind of having those kinds of tricks for yourself. Um, I think is super important. Um, yeah. Two things. The one that we were talking about, you know, I can. Can you afford it? Like, is this you. The new thing now, like Apple does like everything you buy with Apple now, like you can find the right. So it's like, we don't need to buy like $800 phone now. Like it's just $10 a month or whatever, you know, whatever. Ends up being, and you're like, wow, that's like a terrible mentality. Because if you came to the fore, the like, now you shouldn't be able to afford it over, write your, I mean, you really should as much as possible spend the money that you have and the other, yeah. When you're talking about the tax stuff, I remember, um, I'll go. I've ever shared this story before on here that. Like between year two and three. Uh, like I went from making like no money to like, actually, like, you know, it was like a sustainable business because that was like, I quit my job. And then it was like, you know, the dead year. And then it was like the real year. And so my accountants had, uh, yeah. Lovely to have accountants, which is like the best thing, but they had, um, You know, I paid like my, my, uh, estimated things like every month. And then at the end of the year, they're like, Oh no, you actually owe this amount of money. I said, well, no, I paid that all during the year. And they're like, no, but you like, you still owe, you know, and it was like double what I had paid already. And I was like, I am so glad that I just like, save everything. You do, like, I just see, you know, any business stuff and then I'll pull stuff out for personal, but I was like, I am, so, I mean, it would've been a nightmare. Dorothy. And I were on spring break in Mexico for her school. And I was like, this would have been, like, I could just couldn't have imagined, like, if that. They come back. Like if that, if that, uh, bill, when they come due and like, I didn't have that money, it's really scary. I mean, there's people really, and as business owners trying to like, you know, do the third, a third, a third, or like, you know, set aside for taxes is a really hard thing for people to learn. And I do think a lot of people run into trouble. Totally. And I think too, if you have a hard time staying on top of it, another hack would be like, if you have a business credit card, every time you put a purchase on their move, that money away from your checking account to pay off that amount in your credit card. It's just, it's tricking yourself. And then also just knowing what your habits are. I. I kind of created a system that is all operated from my mobile banking app. Cause I'm not gonna log into quick books every single week and look at my money. It's just the truth. Right? So like how can I put it in front of my face to really get a clear picture, a quick and clear picture of where the money is at that way. I can make adjustments as needed and it helps empower me to make decisions. So as someone's a year. We're doing the hair and makeup thing. And now you've decided you're going to launch, right. You're going to kind of do this, go to the, what kind of feedback have you gotten from people? Um, for that, cause it's like starting, I mean, it is, it's starting to do business. It's doing a new thing. So what kinds of reactions and feedback and how's it been going so far doing that? Yeah. So my name of that business's gathering grow cause I just couldn't help myself. It pairs nicely with the gathering COSO gathering, grow. It's all about, um, kind of networking collaboration and then helping you grow, whatever that looks like to you. And it's been awesome. I do one-on-one coaching right now and I'm totally booked out. I have no more capacity for one-on-one clients. I have a whole Academy I've built, which is all kind of the main points that keep coming up in my one-on-one coaching. I built a whole program that is available right now. People can go buy it and it has group coaching period with it. So again, that accountability. Peace is a part of it as well. And it's, it's been awesome. The people I'm working with are all just like my dream clients, which is really cool because I feel like I, I know when I'm. Like, they have to be at a certain point of business for it to make sense, right? Like either they're in their business and they want to grow to that next level, kind of what you were talking about. They want to quit that like side nine to five job, that's supporting them and take out the training wheels. They just don't know how, or they're already in business, it's successful, but maybe they have this passion of building an online community that couples with their business. And they just don't know how to implement that as well. So it's a lot of people who are in that kind of. If in-between space, that's the stuff I want to just start with. So that's what I'm working on now. And then I'm also rolling out a startup Academy to help people who have an idea and just literally don't know how to get started. So the feedback has been great. People are excited. I, my clients are doing super well. One of them paid off her debt, raised her prices and bought a car in a month. And it's like, all this stuff was there and she just didn't know what to do with it or how to kind of strategize all of it. So yeah, some really cool stuff. Happening. So this is going to sound like a sales pitch. They will give you an opportunity to respond as if it's a sales pitch. So, I mean, who, what kinds of people are right for coaching? Right? Because I am someone. Um, If, you know, it's hard when you're the entrepreneur, right. And you're the boss it's really hard to go from, like, you're the boss, but then it's like, maybe you don't know everything. Right. Or maybe there's things. You know, and I certainly try to be well aware of the struggles that I have in, in all facets of my life, you know? But what is it, uh, what kinds of people arrive for coaching and what kinds of things do you find that if people are sitting there and they're like, Well, I mean, who are you trying to talk to? Or who do you think, you know, could value from? Like either your time or somebody else's time that that does what you do. Yeah, well, first off I have a coach for myself too, so not only did I launch a coaching business in COVID, but I spent thousands of dollars to have someone help me start a business during COVID. So I am walking the walk and there's no way I would be where I'm at today with the coaching stuff is if it wasn't for my coach and really should provides clarity, expertise and accountability, and it's not all fluff and like, you're so great. Keep going. It's like someone telling you the hard stuff, like what are you doing? Get off Instagram. Go do your work. Stop hiding behind the scenes, put your face out there, share your story. And people need to hear from you. Come up with a plan. What's your plan. Let's go over it. So, um, I'm walking the walk in that space in general. For me, people to work with me. It's people who are fed at people who are working way too much. Especially as creatives, you know, we, we think, Oh, I only log 40 hours, but how much time did you spend planning your social media and responding to clients and doing your taxes and all the things, you know, it's the people who are working seven days a week or working their full-time job plus their business. And they don't know how to make that transition. And then it's also people who aren't making enough. Maybe they're leaning on our partners to financially support them. You know, it's people who. Just don't have the success in the business that they want. And I think a lot of us fall in that category I'm of the mindset that all of us need some form of support. You know, in general there's podcasts, there's books, there's free stuff out there to support you, but they're not holding you to the fire to make it happen. They're just there to provide inspiration and motivation, but it's up to you to actually do the work. So a coach helps you in that process. And yeah, so I would say it's anybody in general, I work with people who are in the service industry. You don't have people sell physical items. That's fine. But my heart is with the service industry because I get it so much. So anybody who is just out there. Their, their industry is totally crushed because of COVID and they just don't know how to pivot or adapt and they want to stay working for themselves, but they just don't know what steps to take or how to adjust. Um, anyone who's kind of in that, just stuck in space. Whatever's causing the stock. That's who I love to work with. It's tough because, you know, as people that run businesses and especially like wedding people, You know, I'm just used to kind of doing stuff a certain way and I kind of get you kind of, I think, I think we kind of assume that a lot of people all do kind of the same. We all kind of run stuff the same way. Right. And it's really not. And people have certain, um, Things that they're really good out of the things that they're really bad at other things that they like to do. Am I even with, um, so this new. A podcast project. And I have I'm running with my friend who he, um, also kinda does freelance video stuff down in LA. And it's been a very interesting learning experience for me as someone that has my own business and he has his own business. And now trying to meld the two together is very interesting to learn like, Things that he does not do well or does well and things that I don't do well because yeah. And it was even kind of like before COVID I just kind of assumed like, well, all I'm doing okay. Like everyone will probably be doing okay once we hit this wall. And you're like, well, no, like people are very different levels of. Would they consider booked or would they consider successful or would they consider, so it's interesting. It's interesting to everyone as different as everyone is, obviously it makes sense. I guess everyone would run their business kind of the same, you know, differently too. Right? Yeah. And I think coaching is not one size fits all. All my clients are in completely different chapters and working on different areas. One of them, again, with the dead stuff, it was getting clear on money and pricing and really understanding how much her time was worth and how that was being calculated. Another person, all marketing, one person starting an app. So everyone's in all these different spaces. My job is to just meet them where they're at and help them get to where they want to go. But in order to do that, they have to specify where it is we're going. You know, again, the whole just vague, like I want to be successful. What does that really mean? And I mean, Oprah has for business coaches, so we all can benefit from just some coaching and guidance. It just depends on what your goals are. And it's like, you've exhausted all the other efforts, right? Like you've listened to the business podcast. You're trying to be. Um, mindful in the mornings and grateful and all those things. And you just realize you're not actually making any headway in the direction you want. I think that's the time where you reach out for some more help and then find someone who's been there, done that. I think that's helpful too. Or you said you obviously you have a coach to hold yourself accountable. Cause I was going to ask like, that must be. You know, just challenging to write. To kinda like have to walk the walk that you talk all the time or, you know, to be able to have yourself be accountable to do you, do you find that you learn more about yourself and kind of going through that process and then helping other people? Right? Cause it's, it's kind of both sides going back at each other, right. Like a positive way. Totally. And then not only can I pull from that, but also having the academic background and the personal experience of running a business. I feel like I have such a wide range of experience to bring to the table for people. And I'm part of a mastermind. So there's a small group of us. We're all coaches, but in different spaces. So we have relationship, coach nutrition, coach fitness coach, mean business coach, which is really cool because we have this common thread of wanting to help people. But the way we do it as all different. So I learned a ton from that group. Um, I kind of bring what I love about it, what I would change about it and my own spin into how I would coach and help other people. So, I guess, cause this is get to know your wedding pro. A little bit, because this is a Jew. It's fascinating to me to, to talk about this stuff. Uh, besides you. You're wanting to have a business, having a background in inherent makeup. Was there anything about the wedding industry that inspired you to do that? Or, I mean, I guess in the same regard, like what do you enjoy about that? I know you've talked about, you know, you can make people feel better and kind of bring that positive change, but I guess segue into just, uh, you know, thoughts about the wedding industry and running a business and that. You know, that's fear of the world. Yeah, I, I just love to help people really embrace who they are. And so I'm very much the stylist that you bring your kind of desired look to me. And then I work with you to talk about what actually makes sense for a, how you physically look like you're dressed or colors, all that stuff, but also your day, you're not going to want something that you're going to have to fuss with. If you were planning on having a crazy dancing party later. But that was a loud. Um, but you know, I just, I think it's, it's really important for people to just embrace who they are. There's this kind of stigma with social media that really changes how people perceive themselves. They kind of. Have this like idea of this Instagram wedding and that also spills into their hair and makeup and what they look like. And I really challenge people to just embrace who they are. My job is to make it you, but just a little bit better. And so I really, really love to work with those types of brides. People who, you know, maybe don't wear makeup very often, or they don't do their hair very often. And they just really don't know what they want. I love to help guide them in a solution that that kind of brings their vision to life, but also makes them feel super comfortable and confident in who they are. Is that the hardest thing about kind of the Instagram and the Pinterest and everything is, is obviously. Giving ideas, you know, As your bride to bring in the things they want to do, but also it's, it's Sevi, Matt, like unrealistic. I mean, whatever. I mean, talk about just that and having, I'm sure you see that all the time and trying to kind of meld that stuff together. Yeah, it's, you're, um, you're helping control expectations there and because I cut and color and I have that experience, I think that makes me a lot more effective with the hair and makeup stuff in the wedding space. Cause I can speak to the whole picture. And also I work with brides wear. If I don't cut and color their hair, sometimes I will start doing that. And then we're really working together for the whole look. But I just, I think in general, it's just, yeah, you're constantly like, well, yeah, I agree. Taylor slept has beautiful hair, but like you're not her and that's okay. Like, you should be proud of who you are. And the, the other thing that drives me nuts is when they say things like, well, my fiance likes this, or my fiance likes my hair long, or he likes to up or down. It's like, well, what do you like? Because if you were confident, if you feel confident and beautiful and you carry yourself in that way, like he's just gonna, he loves you for you. So he's going to love that. And so I really just I'm for the bride. Even the crazy mom drama, the friend drama, all that stuff. I always tell the bride, like, I'm her number one, cheerleader. I it's her day. So I'm standing behind her and supporting her through that. And, um, yeah, the social media stuff is tough. It helps to kind of understand how people see things. It helps you kind of see like, You know, to you, it may look one way to them. It looks like another, so you can kind of understand and reuse that terminology they were using, but that's also why having a trial run is super important and just a non-negotiable for me. Yeah, my wife struggled with that so much trying to, cause I think. I want to say she did like three different trials. So, you know, trying to find. I did that because they were all trying to do stuff that I like. And then she's like, I'm just going to, she ended up wearing it kind of the way she always does. Right. Just a little more like whatever, but because it is it's, you have all these expectations and you see these photos and all this other stuff and you see whatever. And then. W, what do you want to do? What are you going to be comfortable with? Um, you know, especially for, you know, 10 hours or however long it's gonna last. I mean, you don't want to have some. I don't know, crazy thing going on. So her friend was trying to like, get, get some extensions or something for her and didn't end up. I mean, it was a whole thing, but yeah. Yeah. So, what do you do when you're not starting businesses and doing, uh, Oh, is that mine? Are you? Oh, I'm so sorry. I okay. Because sometimes the mind goes off. It's okay. It hits me. I'm going to just make sure I can edit this. No mine does it all the time. And then I'm always like, I p****d Paul off my other guy. He's. He hates it. It'll go off in the back. I'm sorry. Um, Interesting. If I can hide it. Okay. There we go. Yeah. That was like, cause I've just, well now I've got it all set, but then I was trying to figure out how to get this all going with the zoom stuff. Um, so when you're not busy, you know, starting businesses and helping people and all that, what do you do kind of round out the rest of the time, you know, free time, if any. Uh, you know, get to know your wedding pro. Let's kind of round out the picture here. What other things do you like to do? Yeah. I, I love doing bar trivia with my boyfriend were horrible, which we can't do, but. We will someday. But we're not good. We just enjoy learning fun facts, random facts. So that's something we like to do. Um, I love watching Cougar football. Probably not surprise to anybody. Uh, I also love true crime. My dad's a retired police chief and growing up, we'd watch all the like, Really cheesy cop shows and try to predict what would happen before they would finish up. So I just love to know kind of how people's brains work, even the abnormal stuff. Um, I think it's super fascinating, so it's not unusual for me to be listening to true crime and like coloring adult coloring book. Yeah, I'm kind of boring, uh, board games. We love to play board games and cribbage. We play cribbage a lot. Again, I'm not great, but I don't care. I just love trying new things. Even if I'm not like super talented at it doesn't matter. I still enjoy trying new things and putting myself out there. And then now with COVID I really enjoy going on walks. It's so cheesy, but I feel like I appreciate nature so much more. And just getting fresh air and. Our neighbors around here. I don't know. We just never really interacted with them and it's nice to recognize people. You wave at them and yeah. So. That's me in a nutshell. What's your favorite true crime. Show, uh, I loved crime junkie. It's a girl and her best friend and it's just, every episode is a different story. And some of them have a conclusion. Some of them don't. Um, they actually came and did a live show and I went and saw it live. I have a t-shirt I'm like a fan. Yeah. Like I'm a real fan. My dad thinks I'm crazy. He's like, this is very weird to me that this is a whole community of people that. Whatever. This is what I do for Olivia. And then now this. He's retired now. So he's more of like a golf and drink whiskey guy, but yeah. That was awesome. Well, this has been great. It's been so nice getting to catch up and I'm going to have, uh, some ideas to talk to you about, uh, off the record about some other, maybe potential projects we could do. Thank you so much for coming on. Uh, if people want to wear more about you and everything you have going on, where would you have them check out? Yeah, I would say a couple of different places I have gathered and grow.me is my business community. All of the business you stuff lives on that website. My Instagram is all business stuff I gather in co identity is still out there on the interwebs. Um, it's just not as active right now. And, but you can find it. I gather in code at me to book a cut color wedding stuff, all that stuff is there. And, um, yeah, my Instagram is very hanging out quite a bit. So I would say those are the areas I would go check out. Well, thank you so much again for reaching out. I'm so glad that we could get this going. I think this was in the wedding vendor group that we kinda connected. If you're a wedding vendor and you're interested in coming on the future episodes of the podcast, you can go to best meet videos.com/podcast guest. And that's a nice, easy question here. We have set up. Thank you so much. Again, it was great to, I guess we had worked together years ago and it's, it's coming back to me now and it's great to connect again.

Cydney and Jason, Lavender Bouquet Photography

Well, thank you guys so much for joining today. I'm so glad to get as the new Jason along, I guess. We talk on the, on the Facebook groups a lot and, and talk kind of correspond online. But I do really, I don't think we've ever worked together and all the time that we've been doing this. So I'm so glad. I thank you guys so much. We have a two for the price of one today with some of the best looking video and audio we have. Cause we have a fellow pro I'm on the other end giving us giving me good stuff today. Normally it's just like. And stuff. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves and tell us who you are, what you do. So I'm Sydney and I started a lavender bouquet photography back in the summer of 2011. I was just shooting by myself. I really had no idea what I was doing. I think I bought my camera with tax refund money. That was my first, which is pretty much most of us. How we start out. So I started out and then Jason joined me. I had already known him that we weren't talking at the time. And then we ended up. Dating and getting engaged and started shooting together. So, yeah, and I got into photography. I, I think I bought an Olympus. Like when I was 18, I told my dad, I was like, if you're going to get me something for my birthday, he gave me an Olympus. Cause it was like the new thing that was out. And I didn't have a clue what I was talking about. And then I bought a Pentax and that's when I met said, and I was really into photography in general. And then. She was shooting weddings. We, we met on Craigslist. It's kind of how we forget. And so. She's she started shooting weddings and stuff. And I, I used to, so I used to own a recording studio. And I w I've recorded a couple of hundred bands and stuff like that. And I was really, I was really in the audio and just media driven stuff anywhere I could be creative. And she would come by my studio and stuff. And I guess you had a crush on me. And so I guess. Because we're married with three kids now, so yeah. And yeah, so then I started shooting video and then with her shooting weddings, I got kind of sick of the editing side. And then I was like, let's just do stills together. And that kind of evolved into what lavender bouquet photography is right now is. I just really wanted to push the limits of lighting and stuff like that. And just kind of. I don't know. Do something different, but I think. Who we were when we started is. It's changed out a lot. In the sense of the way technology is today, people are starting to do the same kind of style that we're, we're doing more and more of the younger, the younger amateur group is starting to. I mean the, the level of. The level of quality of things that are coming out now is, are insane. It's just going up, which is, which is great. Cause you know, technology is so accessible now. So, yeah. And yeah, so. Photography. We've been doing it for nine years now. Nine years. Yeah. Nine years. Yeah. And so I just told him I worked in construction for. About 17 years. I was in drywall taper and still stick framer and stuff like that. He's not that old. He's 37 37. Yeah. He started doing that stuff when he was like a teenager. Yeah. I, I did the stupid thing of dropping out in seventh grade and homeschooling myself and trying to figure out my way in the world. And I worked for a company and they kinda messed up and I told myself I would never work for anyone else again. And that's when the recording studio thing happened and then the photography thing, and we've just been pushing with that. COVID of course has changed a lot, but I think. We were just kind of talking about this today. And I was telling Sydney, I was like, you know, it's, it's kind of interesting because. You know, like the fires we have in California and Oregon and all the smoke. And then COVID is kind of like a fire in itself with the industry. And what it's gonna do is it's going to brush and weed out all that saturation we had in the market, and we're gonna some of it. And it's those people who can't sustain, won't be in the people that can will. And so I think it's in a way, it's, it's a curse. It's a great calling. And, and in a way it's a good thing because. I think that's the biggest thing here in Washington. I came from Idaho Boise, Idaho. And now it's. Here in Washington, it's just the market's so saturated, which is, which is a great thing. I love that people want to, you know, be involved in being creative in photography, but. It's it's crazy, but it's fun, you know? Cause you gotta just be better. So, yeah, I mean, I've always said that, but I I've never, I would not even know how to market myself at all as a photographer, just with there's just so much it, Mike, you said we just had Greg louder. We'll have been on the podcast before you guys as a DJ. Right. And having done it for a long time. And like you said, you know, when you guys got in and like when he got in even longer ago than any of us, like, just that. The bar was so low. Right. And, and it was really easy to kind of raise that. And now that we're all in it. And like you said, where you guys have been doing it for almost a decade, and now then, you know, the people are coming up and it's raising map, but it also makes it. Just, you always gotta stay on top of the ball, right? I mean, you always gotta be producing and I know that you guys, and I was going to say with your fathers and your video, Cause I know Sydney, you moderate a lot of it, the groups and stuff. And, and, you know, we see a lot of photo stuff, but whenever you guys post your work and I mean, this, that it's always really exceptional stuff, right? Like it's always really that next level. And so, and even with, you know, the videos and stuff, and I know the process you guys put, you know, behind that and kind of constructing all that. So, how do you, I mean, how do you keep kind of pushing that the, the limit and kind of making yourselves comfortable? Yup. Hello, there we go. How do you kind of take yourself, you know, keep kind of going and producing new stuff each and every time, you know, how do you kind of keep raising the bar for yourselves? Go ahead. No, go ahead. Well, I don't know. So part of the driver is. We always want to produce good work for our clients too. I think that's probably the number one thing that. That drives us to keep producing and to keep producing. Excellent work is that people see our work. They really like it. They want to envision themselves in similar photos. And so we train, take that and say, Hey, yeah, we'll, we'll deliver, you know, it never hurts to add to your portfolio. So we would have no incentive to. To not perform. And we, we like clients and we tell our clients like in consultations, because if you want to do something crazy, then let's do something crazy. We've had engagement shoots where it was February and it was like 42 degrees out. And she wanted photos in the water. And by golly, we got photos. And the water and our feet were frozen. And I was like in the water, holding a light on Jason's taking photos. And. They came out. Great. It looks like the middle of summer, but it was freezing cold. So. We tend to have clients, at least now that are willing to do that stuff. They want to go do those interesting and fun things to catch that cool photo. It a disappointed client is a client that sucks to work with because you know, you just want to be transparent. And I, I, I don't. I I, when I try to, I guess we're talking about selling stuff, but when it comes to that is being honest about what you can do and what you can't do, but also, you know, being open about what they want. I think, as a photographer, you have to be a lot of things you can't, I mean, you have your style and you can. Be who you want, but your couples are always different and what they want is going to be different. So you have to adapt to your couples and be okay with that. And I think that was a big learning thing of like, I want her to be stuck in my ways. And this is what I think is what's good, but what I think necessarily is good, isn't necessarily good for my couples. So. I think that's a big driving forces to, to learn from what your couples. And a lot of times they don't know what they want. And they hired you to know. Two for you to know what you know, so. But I, I tell my couples, Hey, give me a mood board. What images do you like? What you know, or if I'm doing a video, what type of videos have you found online? Or I'll show them stuff from like, Well from Rob, the guy who has like. Rob Adams, awesome videographer. And you know, my, his stuff is insane. And. I just, I, I look at my peers and that's what I want to drive towards. So I want to find the best that's out there, you know, and drive towards that. Whether it's a photographer that is really good with its business, but the photos aren't that great, but the business aspect is really good. I think. You can send out or the personality, like taking all these traits from different peers and, and putting that into motion into your own work, I think is going to make you a better. Just an all around route. Well-rounded better. Person for. Whatever you're doing, whether it's photography or videography. Trying to spit that out. That was hard. So hard. Cause that's the thing is when it goes, especially, you know, it's not like just, you know, you're not just running the business, so you're not just running social media. You're not just taking photos. I mean, you gotta be. Yeah. Couples just to get like all the different staff, you all the different hats, right? You have to be a marketer and image, color and everything else. I mean, what do you guys, how do you kind of combine to work on all that together with, with both, both heads here, kind of working on the company. So I usually call it when it comes to weddings, I'll usually call a weddings. He did the last one, but it was a, it was a pretty small one. He's like, Oh, I'm done. Oh, okay. But I usually go in and I call the weddings. I like to see the. The images were like the emotion and stuff like that. And I know which one I, especially in my photos, I, I know which ones I would want to keep that he might not think of keeping. So I like to do the calling and then he usually does the color editing. We use capture one for that. Most people use Lightroom, but we're. Oh, you're being. No, I'm just saying. Different. So, and then he does all the color editing and the Photoshop as well. But when it comes to like family photos and stuff, I usually do all of those. He hates doing family photos. So I usually do those and then I'll call and sometimes he'll color it in Photoshop or sometimes I'll do it all. But yeah, we can, we can both do. All of it, but we just kind of break it up depending on what's going on in our lives. I think another, another one is like, we, we both go on each other about like, Oh, that photo really sucked. Like, I get really irritated about stuff. I'm like, why, you know, why is this this way? And I'm really, I'm really hard on set about that. And. And, and we'll just go off on each other on certain things. So I, and I think that's what drives us to, is that we're both like competitive and we're both really competitive and. You know, I think when we first started, it was like, who can get the better photo? You know, it was kind of like this battle. And now. It's not like that anymore. I know what settled deliver and she'll know what all delivery and we have a trust now. I think being a couple and shooting together. And, and being, you know, having kids and working together, it's a whole nother type of thing. And some people can do it and some people can, and in the beginning it was really, really hard for us too. It was hard. Well, it was mainly me. Cause I'm a control freak. It's true. I'm not gonna deny it. And. Meticulous at all. Yeah. So I want everything to be perfect and I hate it when things aren't and weddings are totally unpredictable. And so it straightened me out real quick. I think it took five years for me to be like, there were so many times, this is what it's going to be. There are so many times where he's like, I'm never shooting a wedding ever again. But I am here. You are. But I love it. I really do. I like the chaos of it, because if I can create something from that, that's totally not what was happened that day. You know, like we, we shot a wedding in a fundamentalist. Islamic her brother. It was a Muslim is a Muslim Ethiopian Muslim wedding. And we didn't actually do the ceremony. They had done that somewhere else or at another time, but we basically followed them around for the day. And did photos. Of them in the bridal party. And then there was a big reception at the end of the night and the girls partied on one side and the guy's partner, another up as big banquet hall. And the brother of the groom was fairly fundamentalist and I think was jealous. Cause he had just gotten married like year before with tea and cookies and here his brother was throwing this huge party for his bride, like huge party, like probably about. I don't want our people to, there are a lot of people, but the girls were on one side, guys were on the other anyways. He didn't cut the cake until 1:00 AM. Yeah, it was. With a long day. The, so the brother of the groom was. He, I think he was jealous, but he, he didn't like the girls dancing to secular music. They had a DJ who was a male on the girl's side, playing music. So the girls could dance. But he only wanted them to dance and play with just drums. So he was a kind of almost threatened to kill the DJ at one point. And I could tell he had to like yell. Stand up on this podium thing and like yell out to the group. So the DJ can grab his stuff and run out the door because I basically was just yelling to get everyone's attention so he can leave. Because it was like a mob. It was crazy. It was it wasn't the security guards there. Right had hired security. Cause she knew it was going to be an issue. Like she was crying on her wedding day. You never want to see a bride cry. It was. Yeah. It was hard. I mean, that was way back in the day when we weren't charging our worth, we guys, we didn't know our worth. And I remember this couple hired us literally four days before their wedding. So their photographer hadn't had to leave the country for whatever reason. But I, I kinda think they babbled. What's going on, but. And I think as I think in, I think to go on with that is like, as a photographer, you have to. I think when you're meeting with people, you have to read them and understand what they're going to. And that's where the transparency. So I think comes into play is I, as, as a photographer, you know, I need to know like certain things. And I think if we were more transparent with them and knew more about. There, their family issues and stuff that probably would have gone better, but we were doing photo and video that day with just two people and it's insane. It was insane. So. You know, and I think another driving thing is that it was our bread and butter. We had no other job. So we. Now it's a little bit different things are a little bit different. Are aspects are changing, but. That's a big driving forces. I need to eat. So pay the mortgage, you know? The mortgage and feed the kids. And I think that makes, makes you want to be better in your work too, because if you suck and you get a bad review, or if your couples aren't talking, then you're not going to get work. So I think, you know, that that's another one. It's funny. We don't market that much. And if we did, we'd probably get more business. I'm trying to be better at the Instagram were horrible about it. Yeah. We've been doing the word of mouth thing for years and just having people talk well, we did start on Craigslist. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, one of our, one of our friends and clients, we shot they're winning in 2015. They found us through Craigslist back when we advertised on Craigslist. Way back in the day. And she was like, I don't know about these people. I met him on Craig's list. We're like, Hey, we'll meet you at your house and, you know, talk with you about whatever. And we just became really fast friends. We had. Kids that were similar ages and. There is some of our best friends. Hi Amy and Jesse. We love you. They just moved a couple hours away. So we were really sad. But they we've gotten more business from just them. Over the past five years than probably any other client. We have a lot of our clients. Talk us up, but she's like, she's given us a lot of clients. So yeah, I think, I think, you know, treating your clients good. I mean, that's the biggest, I think the best marketing you can have, cause it's the best honest marketing you can have. Is just doing well by your clients. The best that you can. I've had my bad weddings. I've had my good weddings, but I always try to. You know, make it a point to just, I, I get nervous that every wedding and I've been doing it for so long and I just. I'm nervous because I'm like, I gotta do something great all the time. Or try to, I'm not going to say everything is great, but try to do something perfect all the time. And as a videographer, well, wedding photographer, a DJ, your, your job is to make that day. Perfect. You know, and I think. You get that kind of view, like photographers that are like lawyers. You know, in a sense of that, that aspect is I hear a lot of like, well, my friend had there, this one photographer shoot their wedding and it was horrible in the photographer. Did this and this and that. Like a lawyer, like trial. DJ looking for rings on fingers. Okay. The girls are writing, but. He doesn't. Yeah. They're gauged and wonder if they've got a photographer yet. Come on, be honest. We all do it. But then, but then, but then DJ's deal with that too. You know, like you'll get the drunk people at the wedding and then, or the DJ will get drunk. And then you get, you get, I mean, I've had my fair share of seeing DJs destroy weddings, just because of their professionalism. So I think. I think what I would love to see in the industry, Mark, I'm going just snowballing into stuff. But. I think I would like to see more. Yeah, your piece a more, more like more professionalism in that regard, more respect for the client, because sometimes it's not there. I would say it's it's, it's, there's not a lot of that, but when you see it, it's a big, it's a big deal for me. Yeah. Yeah, it's so funny. A couple of quick notes. When you're talking about. You know, where you guys were trying to pay the bills and stuff. It is so funny because. You know, I'll have a lot of like kids that psych second cheat for me or whatever. I'd been like do video stuff on the side and they're always like, well, you know, gotta wait for that inspiration to hit, to be able to like edit something or do whatever. And for us where you're like, I can't wait for the inspiration and especially where you guys have kids. Right. You're like, I got it. You know, we got an edit when we can, or we gotta shoot when we can, or you're a wedding and, you know, I gotta deliver when I can, because, you know, we don't have that, like leniency of all, let me just see, like when the inspiration's going to hit, you know what I mean? But you gotta, you gotta be on all the time, you know? Yeah. I think, you know, work ethics a hard one. You know, I it's like a couple, like when I shoot a wedding, I wanted it to be out the door as soon as possible. Because to me, it's just liability sitting on my computer. You know, and I just want to get the liability out of the way and get that, get that sent out. And so I try to make sure that stuff sending out within a two weeks after the event. And so. We do have to work hard for it. And we can't just. We can't just, we can sit tight. Hang on. You gotta like, think on your feet and think on the fly, like add a wedding. And then when it comes to editing and everything. Yeah. With three kids. That's where we wait for him to come back and say, Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was taking care of a kid. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's all good. I had to, I had to run and deal with the kids. Cause he hungry. He saw no, no. He was like, are you done yet? Oh, I guess what, w where did he talk about, like, you can't. You can't wait for inspiration to strike because you have to be it's. Being an artist is more than just being an artist. It's this is what I want to say too, is that you have to be a business person, like you were saying end, you have to be social media manager and you have to be. A decent person to be around, you know, There's a lot of psychology involved with being a photographer too. And I think videographer as well, but you've got to read the moments. Like you always know that a bride is probably going to hug her dad at the end of the father daughter dance, right. Or that the grim might dip the bride at the end of that, their first dance. Sometimes they don't tell you. So we try and ask, but just like anticipating those things and like watching and reading the room and just kind of looking out of the corner of your eyes, seeing what's happening. So. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And. I think. Another, I guess another pro tip for just like. Marketing side is like, once you're done with that wedding, that night I dropped, I can't go to sleep until the cards are backed up. The cards have to be backed up. I've lost one. One card once it happened once. And that would never, I would never allow that to happen again, but it wasn't a full wedding. I think I literally bawl, I literally cried. I literally cried because I lost some photos and yeah, but it was it fortunately, we were like changing out our cards throughout the day. That was because that was before we could afford, you know, to card camera's loss. And so, so we would change about throughout the day. If we lost something, we only lost like part of something on one camera and not, yeah. And then what I was going to go on with that is I try to do the next day. I try to make sure to find a bunch of edits and post up my work is fast as possible. And, and get it to their Facebook page or their Instagram or any social media outlet. Those are the two popular ones. And, and, and I think that really helps because. You just gotta, you gotta do it while it's fresh. And while people are still waiting for those photos to come out is like, get that stuff out to your client, especially if you can get it up before all their friends, cell phones. Yeah. So all social media, all that it like 50 photos and then put it on a gallery and put it as sample edits and get those to my couples. And, and then that way it's fresh into the market and fresh their friends because they're like, Oh yeah, we were just at your wedding. So, Oh, you got your photos already. Nothing kills me more than yeah. When you get like the, the blurry cell phone shot. My they'll have it as their profile for like six months. And you're like, you gotta give them that. Give them those images. So, yeah. Kids are going to post something. So it's like, you gotta have it. Yeah. And for video. I, I think that that's a hard one. Cause you have to make a small edit and then you have to get your footage in and that's a hard one. Cause you have to call out your footage to get defined what you did that day, because. You know, weddings are chaotic when you're doing video. See, and you have to run through all your B roll and run through all your dialogue footage and then write out your video. But I think that's another big thing is I see a lot of the more successful photographers videographers tend to like put out those highlight videos and. And that's another thing too, is. I think with like video video is a big one. I think that. Videos. Always going to have a mainstay and I think photography. I don't know. I think photography will not be as big as video will be in the next. Five years, but then I countered that by the fact that people don't necessarily frame a video on their wall. So. Unless you're at Hogwarts. Right. I just, I'm actually going to pick up some prints from Costco later today, a family photos. Cause we are the worst app. We have no. On our wall. No photos. In our house and our oldest child is almost seven and we have like no pictures up. So that's, I think prints are still gonna be a thing. I think photos are still gonna be thing, but. Maybe people are going to start pulling stills from video, you know, I think it might be a thing. I think that's going to be a thing. That's going to come up with a K and then eventually it'll get, you know, cameras are getting more and more capable of doing these higher resolutions and pulling frames and you could shoot the video and then pull frames from it to create your photography. And if you've got shooting raw video, well, Now you have that awesome capability of shooting raw, you know, and. And being able to do those edits that you want to do. So I think the hybrid thing is going to get bigger and I would say in the next decade, it's going to be huge. We're going to be hybrid people. We're going to do photo and video. You're going to have to adapt to, you know, whoever's like you could do just video or whatever, but a photographers, we're all gonna have to learn. If we don't know how we're going to have to. Adapt us on point. I dunno. It's hard to know really where the future things are going all the time. I think thinking about it. Thinking about as important, because if you don't adapt, you die. I mean, you know, basic social Darwinism, just, just no knowing where things are going to go. And, and yeah, and adapting to that I think is, is a big one to stay. To stay fresh in the market, you know, I think about I'm so I'm 37. So. I'd be 40 soon. Right. And then 50 is going to be rolling up and he gets ahead of himself. Well, no man, with kids, things just fly by, you know? And, and so I'm just like, am I going to be that photography is 50 years old. And then you have all this young, young kids who are, you know, putting out stuff. That's just. The quality is insane and they have this vibe. You know that you just don't have because you're old. You know, And that always worries me is like, well, do I see myself doing this? And I think that's. Lately. That's where we've we've been is like, I don't want to stop shooting. But there's a point where it's like, well, You're you gotta retire. You gotta figure it out. Do you want to be cliff? You know, Joe. Abusive. You know, or. Yeah. And so. Yeah. It's, it's weird. There's so many like weird little things like that, that I think about all the time. I don't know, like with, with you, I mean, you, you got into, you do video and that's your, that's your main thing. What, I guess I'm going to ask you though, like, wait, what got you into it? I studied journalism. And so we, I, I studied print journalism. And one of the first classes we had was how to physically lay out a newspaper front page. So like, we're not talking like content. Well, like catchy headlines, we're talking like, like the physical margins on the page too. They used to like grit. The newspaper is so old school. We're going to have to explain that to our kids. Like this is, this is the dumbest thing that I could ever be studying right now. You know, I did. And I was like, I'm done with this, like, absolutely right now. And I went and got into the radio and then that segue into, into TV. And then I went and did that. But yeah, I just, cause I was like, okay, well, it makes sense to me if we were studying like, you know, how to write checks to draw eyeballs or habits, do you like catchy photos to get eyes to different parts of the page, but it was like, No IBS. These are the margins that we need to print it so we can like cut. I was like, this is like, so asinine. I can't even like. I can't even say more. So. Yeah, that's what I got, but it. It was yeah. Trying to get out of bed. I was like, this is a dying technology. I got. To answer your question. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I guess. It's. The social media aspect and Instagram. Well, Instagram is the big one I think is in the marketing. We started out before all that stuff kind of came to be. And I think we're still stuck in like this old way of thinking. And so, you know, Oh, Mark it by word of mouth and stuff. But I think that eventually catches up to you and not only work for so long. And with, with COVID happening and all that. And with the market kind of sloping the way it is. Aye. Reinvent reinventing your business. I think right now is the best time to do. Everyone's redoing their websites right now. And. And, you know, I don't know. I'm just trying to think of all the I there's. I cause like this is a kind of a podcast. I have other questions. Yeah. I guess. Yeah. I don't know. I guess, I don't know if he'll talk to me. It's good. It's it's funny. Cause you guys are talking about the old school and I want to hear about, more about how you guys nap when you were talking about. You know, booking your clients off of Craigslist, because that's how I started to, you know, with like the, I can remember I used to post, but you know, the Craigslist stuff. And I will say, and this. Other people that also frequent online message boards. You know, on Facebook. That is my number one biggest sticking point now with like any new photo video, like any vendor at all, but like takes advantage of all these groups is like, may go back and do it the way that like, we used to do it with post and these like Craigslist. And like, feel. All like the weirdos and Mike posted every week. I'm like, I'm sure you guys like, I'm sure the story is. And now it's. Oh, I got, I can post it 4,000 people and one second and it's all done. No, I that's. My biggest tricky point is like, go back and do it the way that we used to do it back in that. Not even that long ago, but it feels like, all right. Walking to school uphill. Both ways basically. Oh, I remember we've had weird stuff. Oh, are you going to yeah. You gotta take care of a kid really quick. Okay. We'll pause. Okay. But that, yeah, that's my biggest thing is, I mean, this week we'll cut all this out, but I just am like, It's just, it must be nice just to have like, Oh, I got it. I, when I back in the wedding group used to be like the big one before and all like that, like. Must be nice is to have like 6,000 bride and you can just post to, and like a second and be like, S**t man. We use. You know, I used to make, you have to renew this space with dads and gave me the other day. Okay. Action. Oh, yeah. Craigslist ads. It's like, yeah. Walking back to school, walking to school uphill both ways back in my day, we, I remember someone. Emailing us some random person emailing us, telling us that our retouching was bad or something, or like w. Why. Oh, yeah. Take your time out of your day to tell us that the photo sucked like. But we've had that. And Oh, one of our good friends, Tim Kraus actually met us through Craigslist too. He, he was just kind of doing product photography, just farting around with stuff, and he wanted to see if he wanted to get into weddings. And so he tagged along to about half a dozen weddings. One summer. I think I was pregnant with our first and he realized he did not want to do weddings, that he did not want to be around people like that. There are way too stressful. So he did, he had a successful video business, kind of like commercial video business for a while, which he just sold. And now he's telling property, he's like one of those serial entrepreneurs, you know, So, but he does, he does some interesting stuff, but yeah, we found him on Craigslist and. I mean, we met through Craigslist, he was posting, he had posted something like why can't I find smart women, you know, who are sure about themselves and. Dah, dah, dah, dah. And so I was, I had my ex had broken up with me maybe like a month or so before then. And so I was bored and just browsing Craigslist. I like to read the rants and raves, so it was fun. And I hopped on his. And I was like, I'm gonna apply to him. And just, just something funny. So I said, dear desperate in Boise and I was living in Boise at the time, going to school. And he thought it was, I was like, Hey, we're not all, you know, like that were actually, there are smart women out there still. And I guess he liked what I had to say. Cause then he like stopped me on the internet for a little bit. And then, and then we met in person. I. You know, looking back, I was like, probably not the smartest thing, but I actually, I went to his apartment, which he happened to live down the road from where I was living at the time and I made beer bread, but she said was the s**t. But he really meant it was s**t. I'm like, well, you gotta eat it warm with soup, but he didn't have anything. So like, I remember going back to his fridge, like a month later, my coins is still sitting in. As like. You told me you liked it. He was like, no, it was awful. But we just, yeah, we hung out. He was recording a band that day. I think that's why I felt safe. I was like, well, there's other people there. And that was, that was an Oh eight. No, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, no. 2010. Yeah. It was an Oh nine beginning of 2010. Yeah. It's when the economy tanked in Oh eight. Everyone was miserable. So I made a recording studio. I made a recording studio in my apartment. Recording drums in my apartment complex. Wires going across your hallway upstairs. Like. Yeah. Yeah. Were you a big fan of. Everyone in your apartment complex with the germ recordings. Oh, I would talk to, well, I talked to my neighbor and be like, okay, so I'm recording John's. Is that okay? And they're like, yeah, we're not going to be there. I was like, sweet. And so I try to find days when they weren't doing anything, but. Yeah. Recorded a lot of like funk bands and jazz bands, death, metal bands, and hip hop, a lot of hip hop and stuff. And. But really bad music to some bad music, some good music, but, and that, that was another thing is I was like, well, I hated dealing with people when it came to music. Because everyone was a diva. You know, I'm going to be the best. I want to be the next come up of everything. And I'm like, no, no, you're not. No, you know, you really suck at what you do. You know, and, but then I started finding out, I was like, I really liked recording people because I like teaching people how to be better. That's that was an interesting turnaround about that instead of like being stuck up and. When lavender bouquet started coming out. I had a YouTube channel and stuff called photo fight. It's still on there, but like for thousands, whole subscriber. Oh yeah. Well, If I kept it going, it would have been, it could have worked out, but there's so many, so much informational video. Videos out there on YouTube and stuff. And I was just like, I'm just not going to be another person to saturate that market. So I just thought like, Oh, like $600 over several years. That channel. I was like, Oh, we did well, we did book one wedding, actually this couple out in Chicago. In the Chicago land area booked us for their wedding, flew us out there and we shot their wedding several years back. So. From my YouTube channel. So that was pretty fun. Yeah. So, but I really, I think teaching people is what I really enjoy, but eh, But I think there's just so much more, there's so much information out there. It's like, I'm like, I'm not going to teach it. Because you can go online and there's so much just a plethora of information. It's like, What, what I'm going to say is not going to matter. So I stopped my YouTube channel. And, and stopped doing that, but I was passionate about it for a while about like, wanting to like. Get people informed about how to do things when it came to photography. I think we should start it back up, but that's just my, yeah. So update four years later. Guess what? But I think. For like photography in general, when it comes to taking pictures of people, it's the psychology of the individuals and getting too inside their head. The challenge of getting someone to laugh or to. You know, do something that you, you want from them. And being able to communicate that in a way that. That works. I can't even communicate this that way, but I mean, Like, everyone's like, Oh, I'm not a model. I'm not good in front of the camera. I'm like, I'm not a model. He's not a model, you know? Like 95% of our clients aren't models every once in a while you'll get one. I was like, Oh yeah, I did modeling. Or, you know, they're into pageants or whatever. So they know what they're doing, but for the most part. No one knows how to be in front of a camera. And so we learn how to be in front of a camera so that we can help other people learn to be in front of the camera, you know? And we're not shy about like, Hey, you know, got chins. I wouldn't, people laugh. It kind of do this. Yeah. Can we yeah. Communicating with your client, whether it's a brighter Graham, I've had the Grimms ELO's I've had brides. Zillow's and I think saying, Hey, you have this issue. And if you want it to look good as a photographer, you've got to tell your client what you want. If you don't tell them what you want, you're never going to get what you want. And so if you can't open your mouth and you want to sit there and be a wallflower, you're never going to get what you want. And then you're never going to grow as. As well, so you get nothing from it and then your client gets nothing from it. And so. You have to be driven to communicate and be like, your shoulder looks fat. Your chin looks fat. I know I'm going to be honest, but like, you know, push your shoulder back, do this. Well, they already know these things about themselves and that's why they hired you is because they want to know how to fix these issues. So they look. You know, good in their photo. Look their best. They look their best. I mean, that's why we, we always, we use a lot of self deprecating humor when we're talking to our clients. So we always do engagement shoots for almost all of our weddings. So we get to know them and we're not all like, Hey, on the wedding day, all awkward. And so we get to know them and they get to know how to be in front of the camera as well. So we always kind of like do a little run down, like, Hey, there's, you know, here's some basic poses that you might do. You know, some of us have problems with this. Some of us have problems with. You know, with chins or whatever, or some of us, our blinkers, you find that out really quick. Like, Oh, I've got a blinker. So men always have a hard time holding their bride. Always have their hand or they always have their hand on the side and seeing photos like that, the body language. I have a couple, I think is a big one. Like you love each other, close the gaps, you know, like bring it in, you know, and we show them like, Hey, does this look like we'll have him just stand there and just kind of bored or we'll do it ourselves. They were like, does this look better or does this look better? And then we'll do a pose. And they're like, Oh, that looks way better. Okay. I get it. So we try and use ourselves as examples. So we do, we do the free. Consultation or we do a free consultation. We do free engagement shoot with our package because then what we will we get to do is we get to educate our clients on how to pose. And then that way, the day of the wedding were not like, Hey, how are you guys doing? We talked, I took your money and now we're going to shoot your wedding. You know, instead it's like, Hey, now you know what to do. We know each other now more because you understand what I have to do as a photographer to get things out of you. And, and then the day goes a lot smoother. And I do it with video as well as I'll do a couple sessions with them and shoot a couple's video. And like an engagement video. Yeah. And then. What I'll do is I'll have them come to my house and we'll record. I'll say, I want you guys to write letters to each other, but I bull, I don't want both of you guys to read that letter. To each other. Right? So he writes a letter to his or her. She writes a letter to him and then I record it. Both of them separate, they both don't know what they said. And then I make that couple's video and intertwined that dialogue and the couple's video and the wedding video. And then what I'll do is I'll play that wedding. The couple's video at the wedding. They've never seen it before. And then they'll hear this dialog of things that they were saying to each other that they haven't heard before. So it's kind of like you're giving them a gift. And so we'd bring a projector. It's this is why I don't do videos as much. But I'd bring a projector and a big screen in a, in. High definition projector. And I'd heard Jack into the DJ's system and play that video at their wedding. And then we get to capture the reaction. To capture the reaction of them watching the video. And then I have, I get that dialogue. And then I used some of that dialogue because I don't put it all into the video cause I want to save it for their actual video and. And then, cause I think a big one that I, that I see when I do videos, I will only we'll do like two a year. Because they take a lot out of me is I think dialogue is a big one. Cause you see a lot of mashups of music and then you just have B roll with music and that's kind of [unknown]. But I think if you could do the. You know, you do the dialogue with the montage and the toast, and then trying to create the story with it. That's that's one thing that I really liked doing, but they just, just so much, it's just so much work. But, yeah, but like I said, technology makes it better. You know, we, when we do video, we were on with gambles now, you know, motorized, gambles and stuff like that. And. And then, you know, multiple cams and stuff, but those, those, yeah. And I still do videos and I get, I get asked for him, but. I asked a lot of the client. I'm like, this is what I need from you. If you can't do this, then I won't work for you. And I think that's another thing when it comes to photography is like, It's a two way street. It's a two way street. They're only going to get out while you put into it. Like getting a college education, right. Like the money. Outlet, you need the money and you need a job, but I'd rather make my client happy, then take their money and make an unhappy client. Right. Then you're just like stoking the fire even more. I think you, I think. As a professional, you know? Yeah. That job's right for me or no, that job's not right. Or I'm not really, I'm not probably the person for you. And I think a lot of. Not a lot. I would say there's. There's some in other photographers. I don't know who they might be, but I'm just saying, I, I see it where they they'll get stuck and they won't, they won't. You know, say no to a job that they probably should have said no to, or the undercut themselves. We've been seeing that a lot lately. Yeah. That's a big photo and video, especially because of COVID. We're all desperate. You know, and. You know, a lot of people are basically not making it. Cause if you put in are the hours you spend posting on Facebook and Instagram and calling, editing, editing, managing your client accounts. And then, you know, then you got taxes and all these other things. So I think we as an industry really have to. Take a look at what we're doing. There's some good groups out there, like Facebook groups that are trying really hard to bring up the bar and say, Hey, you're worth more. You know, charge what you're worth and people say there's a wedding tax. Right? You hear that a lot. And I just, I, I think that needs to be clarified, but that. There, there is a wedding tax, but I don't think when it comes to photography and videography, I think videography videographers need to charge more. Way more way, way. Way, way, way more. It's way more work. Video is way more work, period. Than it is for photos. And people, people think, Oh, well, you're just taking video. It's not a big deal. No, you're, you're, you're, co-leading a story that's cohesive to the day. And if the day goes to crap, you still have to make it cohesive and video and video doesn't lie. They have to have not just camera gear. We have to have audio gear. You have to know there's so much more equipment that comes with it. Lighting you need lighting for the reception for video lighting, you know, I spent $1,800 on video lighting. With battery packs and stuff for video for doing reception lighting, you know, that that stuff gets expensive. And so I think videographers definitely needed a charge. I would say videos should be charged twice as much then. You know, your competitor in photography. And I think photographers definitely me too. You know, the amateurs and stuff that are devalued feel like, well, they're just devaluing themselves. I know a lot of photographers that do excellent work and I'm like, just, you need to charge more. I've just learned to like, I'll see. Newer photographers. Do you know? Wherever and I'm like, you're a really good work. And then I go and look at their pricing. No, like you're undercutting yourself. I'm not necessarily, you know, a lot of us complain about the market as a whole going down and us not being able to make money, but I want these people to make money too, is they're doing great work. There's enough work to go around. And there have been photographers I've reached out to, and I said, Hey, you're worth more than you need to charge more. And they're like, Oh my gosh, I needed to hear that. Thank you so much. I was just struggling with that. I'm like, yeah, for sure. You know, you are worth way more than what you're charging. Actually. I have a neighbor who I was going on, a walk. I learned to walk with the baby, like several months ago and ended up talking with her husband, just chatting. And. I don't remember how photography came up anyways. And then he's like, Oh my, my wife's really trying to get into photography and, and staff. And so, Oh, she would love to talk to you. So I talked with her and everything and I looked at her work. It was like, you have good work. Why have you not been charging people? So now she like just launched her website and she's really active on Instagram. And I'm like, here's some ideas for gear if you want, or here's some ideas for this and that. And she just shot her first solo wedding and it's beautiful. And so it's super exciting to see other people say, Hey, I'm worth more. And doing that for themselves because there's the thing too, that people feel like there's not enough work out there. There is so much work out there. There is so much work out there. There really is. The only reason why you don't have any is busy doing something wrong. And that's really what it comes down to. If I'm not getting work it's because I'm doing something wrong. It's not because the industry is, and that's, I think is a big one. Or if there's a global pandemic global pandemic of government and the government won't even work. But even, even with this, I know photographers that are getting work and staying busy and it hasn't really affected their bottom line. So it's really your drive. If you want it, then you'll get it. If you don't want it, then you don't deserve it. And that's like everything in life. Drive is a big one. I think you just have to push yourself and I want to see more of that. I think in the industry is like, You know, peers coming in, instead of, I see that a lot where people are just, you know, putting people down. In our industry and I think we need to bring people up more. You know, that's because it's gonna, it's gonna help us all, you know, and you have these individuals that they have, you know, their significant other who goes to work and then photography is. A, you know, a hobby that makes extra income. Right. So those people are like, well, I don't need to feed my kids so I can charge less. Right. And that's another thing in reality should be charging more and more. You should be charging more. People are like, gosh, these greedy photographers, they always want all this money, these greedy videographers. But no, it's not that it's that your, your value, the value of something. You know, it's understanding your value every year I spend close to about anywhere from 10, some one year $22,000 in equipment, because I have to get new equipment because technologies change things break. And. Steal stuff. We had $10,000 worth. Not 10,000, it was $6,000, but it cost us 10,000 to replace of equipment, you know, because of our. Hard due diligence to not. Lock our trunk or lock our car when we, and this was at our house right in her driveway. And I got video of it. We got the guy and so he's in prison right now. He's in prison. But, you know, those little things come up. Right. And so if you're. Let's say you have 25 weddings coming up. And you lose all your equipment and now you have to come up with that money and you're not making enough. Now you don't have enough to buy rebuy that equipment that you've been, you know, putting on for a couple years, and now you have to get a big loan and you're just shooting yourself in the foot. You can get alone. So if you, if, if. If you save your money and you marketed yourself and you, you. Put value in yourself, then you'll put yourself in a better position when things go wrong. You know, so when that happened, I was like, here we go. I've got to buy another camera. Yeah, because, and to me, when I first started, it was about equipment, equipment, equipment, equipment. And I, I think now it is, I'm just like, it's done. The camera's a hammer and you just shouldn't have put a nail in the wall. I can take a good photo with the $300 camera. All these other is all about the perspective of the composition. And, you know what, you're, what you're trying to convey in your image and lighting and all this stuff. Those are the things that matter equipment really does. I mean, it does, to a certain extent it matters. You know, but. I think people, you know, you have the gear heads, you have, you have these people who are like this, this equipment in that. And I think that, that gap's closing now. Cause everything's good nowadays. For the most part, especially Nikon, Canon. The Sony, you know, it's just shooting Sony since 2014, we switched to mirrorless six years ago. As of next month. You do it, we're doing the Tony and Chelsea thing. Oh, gosh, no, no, but it's, I mean, we've adapted, it's fun. It's been fun to see everyone switch over, like people leaving Canon and Nikon and going. The Sony might come to the decks. We did something where we shot weddings for two years using manually, manually focused lenses. So, no auto-focus couldn't afford the auto focus lenses. And I actually, we did it and we were like, I really don't want to go back to autofocus cause we love the manual side of things because it slowed us down. And, and then for video is great to an extent, you know, So, yeah, we shot weddings manually and that really like. Really brought up our game and I recommend. I recommend at least. Try it it's. It's great. So I think putting yourself in challenges, putting yourself to do something that you normally wouldn't do, that's another great thing to do for yourself to, to better yourself. I never thought in my life that I would ever become a photographer. Like, what do you do for a living? Just shoot weddings. But when I really think about it, I think I'm like, I'm God, I shoot things. But other people are like, Oh, you're just a wedding photographer, you know? And to me, I have a lot of pride about wedding photography because. You're capturing someone's day and it's their only day. And you're trying to create something that's, you know, hopefully great and doing that. And I think. You don't get a ratio either. Yeah. It's it's like Pokemon snap. Kind of catch them up. You've got to catch them all, you know, just catching photos, just taking photos. It's like a video game for me. Can I get the best photo of this day or getting pictures of everyone at the wedding. That's been like the last couple of years. We've. We have, we've had weddings where. You know, maybe a week or two later, someone's like, Hey, my stepdad died, you know, and I just wanna let you know that picture that you took at the wedding really meant a lot to me. And having other family members pass away recently really has kind of given us a new perspective on weddings. At least a flattering picture of every single person at the wedding. And, you know, with their significant other or with their family or whatever. And we come up to sit and I'll be like, I think I got them all. I think I got everyone at the wedding. And so at the end of the day, my goal is to make sure that I take a photo of everyone. I used to not be this way. I just be like, I need to get the couple, I need to get these things, but it was always about like, I tell I come up to sit at the last round. I was like, I got them all. I think I got them all. You know, did you, did you, did you think I forgot anyone? And so, yeah. And. Yeah. Cause that story of that, that photo of the guy die. Of that family member dying. That was a big one. Yeah, that kind of struck a chord would be like these, these photos are really important. And so, and I did a. On the wedding front too. I did a wedding and I said, well, Hey, you know, they're like, well, we want photos and video. And I said, well, what's more important to you because one's going to get neglected more than the other. It always happens. If you're doing a hybrid thing. And she's like, She's like. Video or photos. And so. We did the video thing and she's like, Oh, the video is so much more funner. You know, And she liked the wedding, the photos, but she's like that video. She's like, it was weird switching gears too. Cause we were like doing video for basically all the candid stuff was video and then all of formal. Things were photo. And so switching gears up, gonna switch everything up and do the, the formal photos. And then, so it's like, their gallery is just formal photos of them and their, you know, their families and their bridal party and stuff. But then. Doing the VR. I think that was the really, the only way that we could do. Photo on video at the same time with two people, like it's. At least to. What we would like to deliver? I think three people like for video, three people for videos. Great. If you can get four. That's awesome. I think having a crew of people as a way to go. It's it's it's hard. The, the hybrid thing that was, is where we definitely started out. I was. That was. Yeah. That was a big one. I remember bringing. You'll love this. I remember bringing a crane there's many cranes with the weights to weddings. Yeah. I was like insane. I was like, I'm going. Jim shot on this cake. All this stuff now. Like attach it to the end of a light stick or whatever, and kind of just do like a. You know, no one would ever know. And then you get drones and then that makes it a lot easier to do those types of shots without bringing a bunch of stuff with you. But yeah, I think more now than anything I used to like, try it all this different equipment. Find out ways of different workflows. And I think that's another, like another tip is like your workflow find a workflow for your wedding. Find something that works. And then stick with that and perfect it and get it better and better. And I think right now, I think be simple. Have something that is simple, that is effective. And just keep on perfecting that cause like, yeah. And like looking up at our show, I know a bunch of old flashes and I have like, Stands over there. Just cry. I have like 16 flashes. Well, maybe we should sell it. And then he's like, but what if we need it? So, but it's like we have a big, was it, how big is that parabolic umbrella? I have a 72 inch per box. Parabolic. I use it for one wedding. I was like, we needed to shoot this big group. And I was like, well, we're going to need, this is a lot of light. So one wedding and then maybe like one or two studio shoots and it's just been. I was just sitting there just chilling. Our kids could probably like turn it into a Playhouse. But. They, yeah, I think, yeah. Photography is weird. Cause you have to be, you have to be, you have to be like a gear head too. You know, to an extent not everyone is, but you're here. Every photographer has a little bit of it in them. You know, but. That eventually ends now. I'm just like, I just need my camera, some good lenses and some good light and I'll be all right. You know? I need to make a tee shirt that says that. But before, it was just like, I need all this stuff in order to create this perfect production, you know, but it really know you really don't. We really don't owe these ear buds. But anyways, we're totally rambling. So you're totally right. Yeah. I should just, I just, just go hide somewhere. But yeah. We got it. We did it. You guys have fun? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was great. Yeah. To learn more about you guys and your wonderful photo and video, where would you have a checkout? Our website. Even though it's getting worked on right now. But it's we have our work in there and what's, there needs to be there. So it will be P seattle.com. Even though we don't live in Seattle, but it's our major metropolitan area. And then we're also on Facebook, lavender, bouquet photography, and on Instagram at lavender bouquet photo. Yep. Perfect. Good job. You guys. I'm glad we could get you both on today. It's been fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, sorry. Do you. Thanks for everything. It looks great. Yeah, no problem. No problem. Well, if you're like Sydney and Jason, and you're interested in coming out in a future episode of the podcast, you can go to best meet videos.com/podcast guest. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire to get you into the system. We've got a great. This is number four or five. Now I've just really a fun new, it's been like a surge in the last week. So I'm so glad that you guys could come on and kind of join it. So it's been really fun. I felt like back in March, I would get all this, whatever, and now it's coming in August, but it's great. I'm so glad to get all these new voices on that, so thank you guys so much again.

Greg Lowder, Affairs to Remember

Well, now that we're doing the video podcasts, I've been really do like my formal intro anymore, but you know, this is Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® and we have Greg Lowder on today. We've been talking about this for a long time. And Greg came on the best day of weddings podcasts that we did talking about, you know, kind of COVID. Weddings, which then of course I can immediately afterward everything closed down. And that was a wonderful discussion. But obviously they'll still be tidbits there kind of once we, once we ease back into openness, but I reached out to Greg because. You know, I've tried to have them on before. We've met plenty of times at weddings and events and everything else. And especially right now with, with everything, just kind of dead for certain vendors and everything else. I'm trying to just get like, let sides. It's in DJ's let's find people that maybe aren't just because of everything going on and, and get people on invoices and SAS. Thank you so much. For coming on today on labor day, we're we're doing this and I appreciate that. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what you do. Thanks very much read. My name is Greg ladder with a affairs to remember entertainment and I am a wedding DJ. And it's funny. I was just thinking that. You know, when people ask you what you do for a living, it's like, I literally made a decision. Skits about it and, and things like that, but I'm really kind of. I'm proud of it. And I. You know, overall, I do other stuff, but at 80, 85% of my business, the last 15 years has been. Weddings, and I really wouldn't do it any other way. It's it's kinda my life. So, so the first question I got to ask him, and Dorothy's even asked this to, to me. Cause we're, we're kind of catty corner from each other at the wedding show for years. And now we moved to the other side this year. Now. Yeah. Ah, Greg Lowder. That. As a wedding DJ, that's it. That's a great, that's a great name. Was that planned? Nah, that's my name. Yeah. The thinking think Joe and Sandy for that name. Well, I guess JoVE technically my dad, but no. You know, it's funny. I never used it for anything. When I started the company, I started with a business partner and I, you. He's a good friend and, and, and everything. And, and so we named the company after the Cary grant. Movie and affair to remember. And so matter of fact, we used to, we used to give out the movie to people when they, when they booked with us. So. But, you know, and just to never have, and you know, when he moved on, you know, 15 years ago or so. I thought about maybe rebranding and using it. But the one thing. It implies loudness. And a lot of DJs in my opinion, are, are too loud. I mean, you got to stand in front of the speakers. You know, behind the speakers, it sounds bad. Cause you know, it's, it's not the way they're aimed, but in front of the speakers, do you ever wear earplugs or headphones? Yeah, I carry a bag of 'em. Now we. We have a. They had brought in like someone that, you know, had done a lot of like, kind of that, that type of wedding. And we were at block 41. And so if you ever go there, you know, there's like the downstairs and then there's upstairs. And so the ceremony was downstairs. And he didn't have a. He didn't have a second set up. So I'm sitting there and talking with them in the plan there and everything. And I go, Hey, so tell us upstairs, like, how are we doing that? And he's like, well, I don't have. Yeah. Like he hasn't, you know, it's all downstairs. But his speakers were so loud that he could just, it would just like echo through the building. Cause that open bar. Yeah. And so we were sitting downstairs eating and he was playing music in my Chelsea, my secondary. She goes, I'm going to need to go outside and walk her out because it was so loud in there. And then they just been echoing in our ear for like four hours. I'm like, we need to get, we need to get out of here. Yeah. So too loud is, is not a good thing. So funny enough, I actually heard about that wedding for the planner. So same, sir. Reese. And it was that way. Yeah. You know, I carry him too, and it's not a knock. I just, the one thing. Industry events that we get to go to and stuff like that. And even at those ones, I mean, there is a conscious decision to see how loud. The music should be and there's to me, it's I. You know, as a DJ at one part of your job is to read the, read the crowd. And that's not how well the song is it's part of is how well the song is working, but also. Whether people can have that conversation. You know, the last, you know, 10, 15 years is as people's attention spans have gotten a little bit less and, and shorter and things like that. They'll run out to the dance for their favorite song. They'll be excited about it. And then the, in the middle of the song, they'll slow down and, and, and have a conversation with somebody. And there, there is no reason they have to put up their hands to someone else's year. And talk like that. I mean, you have to be able to observe those things. The wedding now. You're working a club, you're doing a school dance. Maybe that's something different, but, but in a wedding. It's just too loud in my ears. Shouldn't bleed. Here's funny first. Event I ever did. First 25 events I ever did were weddings. And that's how I got in doing this, which is interesting. And the first one we ever did that wasn't was a high school reunion, a 30th high school reunion. I wasn't even 30 then. So it was kind of funny. And we go and we meet. What did they have, like the committee that's working on the, on the high school reunion. So my partner, Scott and I go down into their office and downtown Edmonds. And the doc, the guy who was on the committee happened to be an ear, nose and throat doctor. And on his desk is literally that plastic thing of, of an ear with the piece, you know, that you can pull out, we got a 15 minute lesson. He must've just come to an event or something, but he explained to us how eating your works and how you can do damage. And literally like, felt like it was his duty to. You know, help these two young kids learn how not to blow people's ears out at an event. And it's one of those things is just stuck with me because what your year will do is it'll slowly close up over time with music. So. Seven early in the night. We'll be, you know, sound a lot less than that later the night. Cause yours was closed up. It's why, when people get your hearing damage, it's the jackhammer. It's the jet engine. It's the. You know that. All the sudden sort of sound so. You know, it's just one of those things, you know, you don't want to be too quiet and you want to, but you also want to have headroom about being able to turn up as the night goes on a, just to add to the excitement, but be because people's ears now. Perceived the music is being softer. Yeah. When I, when I was working down in Bakersfield in news, there was a, I think it was called like the rock star energy bar, you know? Cause it was. And, you know, and it was exactly what you would think of like a bar, like. Like a, like a hard rock bar would be in Bakersfield, California back like 10 years ago. And yeah, you would walk in there and like, all you would see is like, you know, people's heads together screaming in each other's ear is trying to talk and I'm like, this is a bar. You know, you want to go to a concert. Okay. You know, I, you know, I've seen Judas priest. I've seen whoever got, you know, I mean, it's one thing you're going to a concert. We're just trying to sit and like chat. I mean, this isn't even the wedding is, it is it's that mix of, you know, wanting people to be able to kind of congregate and socialize and then also dance, you know? Front row van Halen. I was 18. Couldn't hear for three days afterwards. In the pit. Eddie van Halen sitting right in front of me doing this guitar solo. Just. And, you know, but you can't hear for three days. And so it's something you have to be conscious of it now, is it a huge problem? I don't think so. I think people are aware of it. We've got so many of these barn venues nowadays, and other ones where there's neighbors. But I will tell you. I'm actually am on the list, a referral list for three different venues in the area, just because I'm respectful with the volume. And they've had to, you know, they're, they're ones that have exclusive, you can only pick from our DJs. And I think part of that is just not being a jerk. And part of it is just. You know, just because your speaker can go to, you know, what's, what's the old thing just cause it goes to two 11. You don't need to turn it to 11. Yeah. I mean, So wait, what is Verde? Cause you've been doing this a long time, you know, seeing tends to have what I don't even know. Like what made you, how did you get involved in all this? Well back to Scott. So when, when he and I were friends, we, we, we met working in an a and w in high school, and we went to the same high school and he's a year older and, and just we're roommates and friends, and just. And then he got married pretty young and, and he. Started working for the DJ company that DJ and his wedding. And you know, about six months into it, or so he was kinda like, you know, I was working at Nintendo at the time and playing video games, which was great. And he said, you know, this is something I think, I think we could do. Cause we knew we wanted to do something. And I, and I literally think he said, quote, then we won't be having to work for the man. So. And so we kind of like, I went on a couple of his events for him or with him and, and, and, and we kind of put it together and be honest from, from their business model, we kind of learned all the things we didn't want to do. They were kind of a big company and, and I don't even think they're around anymore, but it was kind of like we wanted to do, because both of us, you know, I was doing video games and also customer service at Nintendo. He worked at a hotel, which is all about customer service. And so we literally started the company. Built around you. Just kind of serving our customers and more on a personal level than, than just a quantity. And how many can we do sort of thing. And literally I just finished, I just did wedding 1,243. Which is crazy. I mean, it's crazy to think about that. And, but it's funny is if somebody asks you to do today is, is one of the questions a groom asked me on an interview, we were on a zoom call just like this. And he said, well, how many have you done? And I, and I told him the number and. And he's like, well, You know. Wow. I mean, he said, doesn't it. You know, it doesn't get older or anything like that. And the coolest part is it? Doesn't, it's a, it's my passion. It's what I'm good at. Pretty much. The only two jobs I've been good at in my life is playing video games. Doing this. He because every week it's different. You know, we played the same song. Sure. Sometimes, you know, you will, there there's, there's some songs that work and don't work. But I never introduced people the same way. You never play the same music for the ceremony. You never, you know, You could. I've even been at the same venue two days in a row. And had it been such polar opposite of weddings. And even had the playlist. Be very similar. But still, they were still so much on the opposite. End of things. You know, one, I remember I was at the dome room two nights in a row, same couple or same, same venue. Two different couples. One was very formal. It was like you're all in, you know, full on black tie. Everybody's mr. And mrs. I mean, literally called the parents, mr. And mrs. During introductions. Rock and roll and country. And the funny part is. Probably. 20 30% of the dance music. Exactly the same. But it couldn't be too formal events. And then the staff at the end of the night metric, we're still friends. Cause they were like, I can't believe you just did those two weddings. Cause they were all there for both. And I liked that. I liked the difference. No. I mean, it is, it's like in, in, in just the couples and especially, you know, the DJ you're talking with it, the other family members and the gas and South, I mean, there's just so much else. That goes into it. Yeah. I've been just like hitting, hitting the playlists or whatever. I mean, it's. It's crazy how just different couples can be and how different, you know, weddings. And like you said, even doing the same, I mean, we've had rest in peace, Monte Cristo. I remember we had. We, you know, it was a great place for us in terms of, I liked the, I liked the aesthetics and people didn't, but we always, I say it like, it always delivers. They're like our, our good friends got married there. We've had probably six or eight weddings there. I said always delivers. And then one day. I was working with this photographer and it was like the word. One of the worst ways you've ever done. And I was like, I dunno what it was, but you know, it's, it's also different, right? Where you could do the same thing. You said you could, you could be at a place three nights in a row and it's, it could be totally different each time. It really can in, in, you know, a lot of it comes down to. It's not me guessing the night of, I already know what it's going to be generally like getting into it. I mean, there's a little difference in the crowds, you know, next year is going to be a very interesting example as we kind of come out of this and. As things evolve. It's going to be very interesting to see, because at first people were like, Oh my gosh, next year, people are gonna want a party. They're going to want to, it's going to be crazy. I don't think it ever goes back to the way it was. And I don't have a crystal ball. I'm not guessing. But I am guessing, but, but it's, it's just. It's different and it's evolved, but the same thing can be said about how weddings have been over my career. I mean, things have evolved. Things have changed. I mean, just think of how I played music. We started, it was on, on tapes, a little bit of CDs in any way to CDs. And then. And, you know, digital for, you know, a long time now. And so it's just as that changes. So does what couples want when I first started doing this? Moms generally it was moms and brides who booked me, but probably 60% were moms that's who was walking around the wedding show. You get the phone calls. Maybe go to their house, meet with them like that. And now. You know, most of the time I'm talking to the phone calls coming from the group. And, and that's cool. But see it also, the groom is looking for something different than perhaps the mom was. And so, you know, the first question out of his mouth will probably be price. And, and that's, it's an interesting, I know you did a pricing. One of these and, and. You know, it's an interesting question, but, but sometimes they're asking that question because they don't know what else to ask. And so what I'll do is turn that around and ask them like one of the questions that this is, I've asked every client, this for. 15 years. And during sometime during our initial meeting is, is I asked them to give me three words to describe how they want their reception or wedding to be. For doing both. It's what's important to them. Some people struggled to come up with those words and that's okay. But that tells me that maybe that means my planning with them. And I write down a little something when they, when they struggle with that. So remind me, that is we're going through the planning process. Maybe I need to be a little bit more creative with them and need to give them some ideas or things, or if they both give me five words. Then, you know, or, or the bride gives me too, and the groom gives me one or, you know, or, or whatever, the couple, you know, they they're, everybody's personalities are a little bit different. Cool. But it kind of gives me those little hints about how that planning process and then. You know, we meet. Two three, four, five times, you know, I don't, I don't limit them. So whatever, you know, most of the times two or three, maybe four. But I had a couple last year, seven meetings. Yeah. Over 18 months and all in person. And so. You know what though? What do you think my best wedding of the year was. Well, yeah, I've also means that they're invested. I mean, that's, that's also keeping with that. It doesn't mean. It's that tough line where you're like, well, do I really. I want to meet that many times, but also it means that they really care. Right. That's what you want. Right? You want people to care. They do. And it was an involved wedding. There was a lot going on, but I literally say to people, I don't limit our meetings and they just took me at that. Now we had dinner, we got to know each other one was the initial meeting. And then maybe two or three big picture ones, like over a year out. And then as we kind of even skipped a few months and came into those last ones. And then even had a last minute, the wedding week of the wedding, but they just were worried about stuff. And one of the things in looking back on that went through my notes in our initial conversation. Trashed the night. And a bunch of mistakes said some inappropriate things, insulted some people, and there was going to be a fair amount of their guests that were at that event. And so it w it, and not only did was that in the back of their head now they trusted me. So they, they just were wanting to make sure and. It also meant we had a lot of, there was also just a lot of stuff going on. So it's like one meeting was just the ceremony music. You know, and there was a reader and there was a cake or a candle lighting, and there was, you know, like six songs instead of the normal three or four. So it's cool. It made him happy. That's the thing and people don't get is, is how much pre prep. You know, DJs do I'm, you know, I know that like with video and photo, it's a lot afterwards and I think photographers do a lot more pre I don't know. I mean, I'm at the point, I mean, if they want to meet, but like, We can have 18 meetings, but then if I show up day of, and it's different, like, I don't see, I mean, at least for a DJ, like you can get, you're controlling a little bit more of like what's happening, but like, You know, if we have meetings about, okay, well this is going to happen. And then we show up and it's all out the window I get does that. So it's tough. It's tough to kind of where, where you're definitely a little bit more like in the captain's chair for like directing some of that stuff that they want to see happen. You know, if I show up in, in the ceremonies flipped a totally different way. It didn't matter what we talked about the day before. You know, it's just not. Part of, it's just knowing where your role is for me. Cause about half. My weddings will be with. Qualified coordinator. And I, and I say that in, in, you know, aunt Susie isn't necessarily always a qualified coordinator, right. But, you know, when I taught, I, I did a wedding of the wood Mark probably 15 years ago. And it was with a friend was the coordinator. And she came in. I, I never even knew about her, even though I talked to them, they never mentioned her. She shows up and says, Hey, I'm the coordinator. And. I kinda had an attitude. And she just killed me with kindness. And I decided about halfway through the night. She, she, she kind of showed myself, showed me she didn't go and hit the wine by the, you know, She had one glass and didn't hit the second or third glass of wine. And she just kind of just proved herself that she knew what she was doing. And I kind of just on the way home from that, I was like, you know what? From now on when I get those ones. I'm just going to make them the star. And because if you do it right, and you're collaborative and it, what is it? What I learned from that. Cause I always would do that with a real coordinator. Of course, it's, it's that sort of thing. And, and, you know, as long as they're not popping in the worst is when they pop in the day of, or the week of, or whatever it might be. And then they're like, look, it's my, you know, it's the schedule I've written with the bride and groom. Then they're like, you know, trying to say, Oh wait, sows here, seven o'clock for the toast. And I'm like, yeah, but they're done eating. And the staff has already pulled the champagne, you know, our reporting. So. But it's just about being a team player. You know, when we got a great coordinator, then my role isn't to sit there and write the schedule. My role is to work on the soundtrack and I worked with most of them before. And so when you have a great coordinator, I know how they generally want to run things. And then. To me a great coordinator is organized. Good communication. And then collaborative. And I'm sure you work with the same, some of the same ones that I do. I know you do. And it's like, when you get somebody who's like, Hey, you know, and I'm sure for you, it's like a photographer. It's like, Hey, how can we go and shoot this? It's like, You know, it's like a ballet, you guys are like dancing behind each other and, you know, staying out of each other's shots, but getting the perfect sunset pictures, it's like, I like, and I'm behind you guys watching that ballet gone. But a good coordinator will put your, everybody put their head together, or you've worked with them enough. You just get that little head nod and you don't have to go find the dad for the father daughter dance, or you don't have to. You know, Worry about whether aunt Susie's in the room when they cut the cake, because you know, I'll know who parents are and I'll know who. Siblings and wedding party, but I might not know who aunt Susie is, but the coordinator will. You know, and so those are good. When it's the friend thing. You know, a lot of that comes down to, and this is a question I ask my couples about a lot of stuff is. In our planning stuff. I ask why a lot and, and, and, and constantly actually, and it's not to challenge them about anything. If they want me to play the worst song in the, in the, in the history of songs, I'll play it. I don't even know what that song is, but I'll play it. I did a blog post for a wedding actually a year ago. Right now. And, and, and a couple of the requests were lonely Island songs. Unedited. And. Sure. I don't care. What else am I going to play him? I was great. And they work really well. And they were totally inappropriate, but completely appropriate for them. But, you know, what, what do you think the highlights songs among them for the nightwear and that's cool. And so when we were planning that this couple happened to be a live. On the East coast. I asked them why. And so I got this great story about, you know, the, the groom in college and his friends, the ones that we're going to be there. And, and so we, we, we came up with a signal, make sure that I'm playing it. You know, it's not one you want to just put randomly at some point in the night. And, and if you, if you can think of those things from sending it live with the lonely islands, they always got these big Epic intros. You know, You know, and it's so, so you want it, you know, figure this stuff out and where to place it. And you're not going to be a guest at a time, but I think why is a really powerful question because you come up with those. What their motivation is. And in that particular couple, with all the meetings, their motivation was. That that, that. It was fear. And that's why they wanted to have the meetings and get the planning and. You know what that's okay. They didn't probably know that to begin with, but I, but we all learned it as we went through the process. So it's. What are you talking about? The worst songs when we were planning and during the, wanted to do a return to the Mac, as we recess down the aisle. Oh, cool. And we didn't, but I was like, you know, I was trying to explain to her, like, you know, I understand you like this song. But like, it might be a better like general dancing song. The first thing that's played this week, like recess it's husband and wife, you know, maybe we could do something a little bit more like positive and lovey-dovey and stuff. And so that, that would be in that category. I think of like, why. You know, inappropriate or bad song. To play. I just said, yes. I've never played that one. So I played a lot of non. You're you remember? Like, I don't know, 10 years ago where every other song on the radio was a black eyed peas song. So every other, every blank IP song is the perfect recessional song. You know, this, you know, and so you want that, you know, I'm playing jump by van Halen there. You've had, you know, Holland or. Of course, you know, dream and, and. But it, sometimes you gotta find the right. Place to cue it up now can return to the Mac. It's interesting. If you talk to people, is what version of that song? Cause the radio version really isn't as particularly danceable. And so there's a bunch of different ones. And then where do you start? Cause there's an intro to that song too. And it's like, About the same time, would it be, you know, regulators, you know, and if you listen to the beginning of that one, right. So I had to go and make my own edit of that song and have returned to the max for some event. I don't remember what it was, but I know I have like a weird. Like. Intro to return to the max. So. Or they just wanted to do the, like, that's all she wanted. Really. Anything else? She's got her flowers in one hand and you and the other, I know, I know. It's a little slow for an intro song, but if it's one you'd loved, if she didn't have her flowers in her hands, see, that would be there's a great question. Yeah. I ask why you goes, then maybe you shoot it down for the recession where like, okay, where else can we center piece it? Sure. We can play it for dancing later. So then I go, okay, well what about for your intro song? Okay. Okay, cool. And then maybe at some point. She shows the clapping or you do well now my head goes, okay, well, what about your flowers? So in that case, either she leaves him outside or I come and get them first and put them on the table, but that's come up. I mean, that's the thing is what is the whole motivation that people want to do. And when you find out that it's, that she wants to come in and clap. Okay. Let's work backwards. It figuring out how to make that happen. Attitudes and stuff with the planner. We have a way of the Widmark too, in fact, and there I was, I can't lie. We are running in and like family photos ran way. I'm like I had sat my assistant. I had to like, get the ceremony. And it's like, I'm running over. Am I trying to get a wide shot? And this guy sitting there like fiddling with his phone and trying to like take, you know, trying to take photos of 'em whatever. And I'm like, Did you get, can you get out of the way? Like I got. This shock. And he was like the DJ. Right. And I was like, Oh my God, I feel like such an ass because then of course, like 30 seconds later, I got to walk over and be like, Hey, so for a backup for the ceremony, Do you think I could get out from you? You know, which, which we, you know, I appreciate. Right. And so like that again, to me, like you said, you know, we're where you kind of learn and I'm like, Hey man, like I really can't be a jerk. And of course, Jeff, my assistant was like, we'd like, he already asked me if he could do that. And I said, it was okay. And I'm like sitting in on like doubly the a-hole, you know? Cause I ran over and I'm like, okay, okay. Like I really need to like shut my mouth a lot, you know? And not, not have that judgment. You know, like you said, where, where you're coming in and you're like, well, this person's not going to know anything or, Oh, well this is just some. Someone that's in the way, you know, so, you know, you're right. And it's stuff we always have to improve and get better at it. And it's one of those things that, for me, it's usually a drive home thinking about that. On one hand, I love doing events close by the house. You know, I'm close to buy new castle and in downtown Bellevue and stuff. But man, when you drive it home from some event up in North or in the homeless or whatever, and. And you can turn the radio off and you're thinking. Okay. And for me, it's always, you know, half of it is thinking about the dance floor. You could probably name a song and I can tell you whether it's worked or not worked for me on a general basis. Cause I just kinda keep. Keep kind of a running math problem. Like, I'll give you an example. Well, you said return their max. So to me returning the Mac, and this is how we do it, or for whatever reason. Always connected. I don't know if. I think they came out about the same time. So, this is how we do it. Of all the times I've played, it's probably failed 95% of the time. Really totally. That's. I know. And the funny thing is it's the perfect sort of beginning of the song to come out of a slow song. You know, think of your favorite nineties, love song, you know, whatever. And then it's got that great intro. So you instantly know the song, so it's like, you almost bring those slow song comes down and then right when it's, there you go. You know, so everybody's like, Whoa, you know, And by not working, people will come out to it, but it just. It's almost like. Like newer songs now where people listen to a minute of it and then they're kind of done, you know, it's like tick tock sort of thing. And. That song for whatever reason. You know, it hasn't turned people away, but it just hasn't been. The success that you think it would be, or that I would think it would be. And I don't know why I've tried it all different points of the night. And so now I say that sometimes on occasion to a client, that's happens to say to like that type of music and now, and then they're like, okay, now it's a challenge. So we, now we've got to find the. Well, part of that too, is people just don't know that whole song. Everyone knows the whole, like first verse, whatever. And then. Even, you just don't like everyone kind of trails out. Like it just depends. So that's, that's a good thing. So maybe next time I'll try the first, the intro, the first verse, the first chorus, and then get out of it. Try to just play the first minute of it. It doesn't go weird though, but maybe it goes repetitive. I've never thought about it that way. Yeah. When I studied in Italy, they did karaoke all the time. And so we did, I think we did. I think it was Shakira hips don't lie. And like, you know, we found, Oh, we know, we know the song. Cause there was only like four guys. We know this song and like you get up there and you're like, no way we know about 15% of the song and then the rest of it, you know? So it's you kind of, you, it's one of those you think, you know, more of than you do. Until a year, like put it on the spot. You know, the chorus and the Wyclef Jean part. [unknown] so I like that song. That's a good song. The remix is she, I think she has a straight album version, but I don't know if I've ever played it where it's no. Why class? It's just her. Oh, Five. I'd have to look it up. Yeah, but it is interesting to see what that, you know, It's just about that level of personalization and, and just figuring it out with them. And, you know, suddenly you will get clients who want. You know, like some crazy, all the remix stuff, but anything released last five, 10 years. There might be 20 different legit remixes. And then another 50 on YouTube that are, that are people do at home. Just for fun. And. You know, you get. Almost, you know, of course there's all you get to the point where it's almost all almost unrecognizable. I got a buddy who does remixing for, for has like. Fairly well known and does a fair that a bunch of those. And sometimes his stuff is just so out there. It's like, I like it. But I can't play that at a wedding necessarily because people won't even recognize the song. I can stick it in between stuff. Or play a minute of it. But if they're not going to know it. No. Familiarity. Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing I hate is sorry. Is when they go. And like, if you're like that, where they don't play, like if they're only a plan, like parts of songs and you're like, Oh man, I'm like, I want to hear, I give it's a good sign. Yeah. That's a balance of like keeping it moving versus like, people want to hear a chorus, like once. That's a great point. And unless the clients have asked for it, or it's your specialty as a DJ. My. I'll just say it. 90% of the time. There are there's certain songs that you just should play the regular version. You know, and again, if you're that kind of guy and you're kind of Remax, or if the couple is really into it, that's cool. But you know, let's go to classics, you know, journey, don't stop believing ACDC. There's no reason to play remixes to those songs. Unless you're doing like a big, long mega mix and I'll qualify it a little bit, but if you're doing a typical wedding with people from eight to 80 and people are into like, A little bit, you know, a variety of music. There's just certain songs that people want to hear that classic now might be at this point. Those are all those songs are for their parents and that's fine. You know, it would have been like, You know, old time, rock and roll. And what disco would have been, you know, 10 years ago, you know, We've we've progressed and that's good. But there's certain songs, you know, it'd be interesting to think. Okay. What today? Are songs that some DJ, some, you know, 10 years from now is going to put a remix on. And ruin the song, quote, unquote, make it unrecognizable, uptown funk. Yeah. Right. All right. The Justin Timberlake dance. Can fight the field. Yeah, that one or a sexy back, which has some good remixes, but. So here's my I'll give you my music argument. Sexy back. So now it's 12 years ago. God that makes you feel. Yeah. My ushers 10. But that started. This kind of where we're at with, with dance music today and, and, and, and really ended about two years ago. Qualify that. What was 10 years ago? Well, so, so sexy back was if, if you take a line of really good dance music, it started in with sexy Becks. And I have to look up what year it was, but I'm, as I recollect is about 12 years ago. Oh, shoot. What's his name? The ride, the horse dude. 2006, so 14 years ago. Okay. 14. So start there. Thank you. And then it goes up to little Knaus. Yeah. Summer and that's, those are your bookends and, and really kind of ended about two years ago. I mean, if you really take that 14 years, so take 12 of those years up until two years ago. You could look on the charts and pull off. You know, let me work backwards. Don't tell you how to get to this point. I was at the end of year, take all the music from that previous year. And look at it and evaluate it and kind of, and, and the way I have it organized, kind of move it to a new category. And I look at this and say, okay, seven, eight years from now, when people are getting married. What who is going to be necessarily requesting this song for their weddings? And so, and that, that's also thinking that. So, you know, 10 years ago, people were really looking for music from back there, high school and college age. Nowadays, people are into a lot of newer music that even though they're older, so they might be 30 in, in, into current music. And that's good. But you kind of look at and say, okay, last year, how many songs? Well, Five years ago, I might've been pulling 10, 20, 30, you know, 30, 40 songs and looking at those and going, okay, these are songs that are gonna stand the test. I'm maybe there's 10 of those that are exceptional songs across all categories. Rock. Well, I'm not gonna drop, but country and dance, but mainly dance stuff. You know, last year, I think I took four songs. You know this year, I mean, can you name it? Too many decent songs I've been out this year. A couple, not too many walls that there hasn't been. I mean, we haven't had a lot of weddings. This has been, but you'd think. You know, a lot of people delay their albums this year. But heck what else are people are doing, but sit in homeless to the music. So it might've been a good year to release music and, you know, have, but we don't have that necessarily song of the summer. You know, and no, Nope, Nope. Nope. It's this. So count this year is the exception, but even if you go back to last year, You know, three, four or five songs I'd pull out of that one. And in other years I'd be pulling 20 songs off that list going, these are songs that are gonna stand the test of the time. And so. You know, that's just me in, in, in, in, it's not really, it's partially my opinion. But it's also things like my clients, just aren't asking for that stuff. So if they're asking from stuff for 10 years ago, but we're here saying that if it ended, like, so now whether we in now just in kind of adult period, is that what you mean? I just think we're in a, in a mainly it's it started a trend downward five, six years ago. It's just music being like good music, but not necessarily danceable music. Yeah. So we're normal years. You'd pull. 30 songs out that, that you think people would be dancing to 10 years from now. You know now than we were 20 and 10 and five and just, there's just not as many. And, and it's not a knock on anything. It's just means that. We're in a weird trend, you know, other non danceable stuff. It's mainly it's beats per minute. A lot of stuff was right around that, you know, we're talking about, this is how we do it, but around that. 9,500 beats a minute. You know, most dance stuffs, 115, 120. It was fascinating to me. I can't remember who said it to me and maybe it was Adam sent me this, like a Ted talk. And it was this guy showing how I'm there all day, the rhythms that it there's only like so many and, and you know, where people were like, You know, you have like the, the queen [unknown]. Do they get out, but now I spend, then it was like the one, like John Legend's stole one from, or I bet they're not stealing, but it's like, it's the same. Did did did the Dick thing. And so like the guy did the math and show like that there was like a finite number of these like beats or write these melodies, I guess, is what they call it. Then they went through and like, Copyrighted all of them and then release them to the public so that no one can Sue each other over. Are you following any of this at all? It's a fascinating Ted talk. It's all about like, Eh, I it's that music opera, but like, I'm trying to even think of some of the songs they had, but like, you know, all these major ones that you think of AIPAC. A stamp lean on me was like, you. They're all repeated from other people. It's fascinating. I haven't heard that one, but I've, I've been following ed Sheeran's case. Is co authors basically. The sad part about his cases is both have been. The heirs of the artists, the artists have passed away. And I, I truly believe that if the artist had still been around, they, there wouldn't have been a thing about it. Cause they would have realized what you were just talking about. But the air is you're looking for the money. I'm trying to find, I always trying to look on the thing to see if I could find me anyway. The other question I wanted to ask you is. So what makes like, cause I mean, I, I'm trying to think of like big wedding songs in the last couple of years. I mean, obviously it's like uptown funk, right? And the, the other 24 karat where like, W w what is it that like makes that play everywhere is that DJs is that people are requesting it. And like, why? I mean, what, what makes that versus, I mean, cause like, You know, that song will be played for a hundred years now, right? Where like maybe other songs. So what, what is it about that, that in your opinion, from seeing this for as many years as you have. You know, Mark Ronson used to be a wedding. DJ, daddy, Ray. I could see that. Yeah. I think that's part of it. You know, I think that he had a line, he knew what to do. You know, it's it's, it's why he got Bruno to sing it. It's it's kind of brilliant if you really think about it. And that. Oh, shoot. It's on NBC where the, where they're doing the songwriter stuff. Do you, I'm talking about. I feel like I saw the commercials. It's kind of like the voice, but with songwriters. Okay. Okay. And the names escape me right now. Highly recommended. And it is like go out of your way because. They talk about. So it's, it's four song or three songwriters, and they bring in an artist that you, you know, one of them was Macklemore, which was great. And then they bring in for songwriters and then they eliminate one and then each, each song writer will work with them. And, and I. Learned so much in watching that about how they do it. And some of them approach it from a technical standpoint. Like literally, they went to that Berkeley school of music back in Massachusetts. That is supposed to be crazy good. And all that. And it's so you get into the, more of the music theory and, and how, and then they'll talk about stuff and it's like, Oh my gosh, it's just crazy. And, and about how, you know, pop has to have this sort of. Lay a beat, and this has to have this and. So. I think you can. You can set up or make it if you get the right lyrics and, and, and the right voice, like the quote unquote perfect song. But I also think it's about releasing it at the right time. I'll give you a good example, that butterfly kisses song. The the, the big play for father daughter dance. You know, I'm talking about. That song. Yeah. There's a lot of terrible father daughter dance songs just for the record. Guy, right. It's a guy named Bob Carlyle and he's actually a minister and he wrote it just never written another song before he played some good, you know, Church music, you know, like guitar and singing, like. And stuff, but he wrote the song for his daughter. And it's one of those ones where it got produced and got out there. Well, he twice now has come to our DJ convention. In Vegas and spoke. About people in the, in the love involved in weddings and things. It was good. It was, there was, it wasn't preaching like that. It was just him telling his story. And so when, when you realized like the story behind that inherit came around sure. Have we heard it a hundred times and it, and it gets, you know, Sure old and all that. But it has this, especially now that song's been out for. You know, 20 years. It has this deep meaning. To some people that maybe listen to it when they were little kids or maybe they danced with it. I played it. I do the father daughter dance at one of the local clubs every year. And so I, I play it. I don't do it every year, but I might do it every third year or something like that. But, you know, I see your eyes rolling. That's good. You wait until you have a kid and then we'll talk. I think, cause I hadn't done, you know, When I started doing weddings, I have not, I did not know a lot about weddings, you know, and I got into it and I remember one of the first ones I did and they played that song. And I would say that I was like, Why is this song? Cause I just didn't. I had no context for it at all. Like it was some, I can't remember what they were. Some, it was like kind of a multicultural wedding. And I was like, why are, why is this going on? Is this like specialists at them? Like, Right this, like what is going on here? Don't get me wrong. They're cheesy and there's ones. And there's some that are just way, way. Whereas this one called a song for my son written from a mom, but. Allana. I remember there was one, a bride sent me that her dad, cause a lot of times the bridal let the dad pick out the song. And she sent it to me. And said, okay, here's the song. My dad wanted me to play. And I get back from an event it's probably like 2:00 AM and I'm like, okay, I just got a minute. Let me just listen to the song. And I said, you know, I'm exhausted. And you know, I gotta baby crying next door just about to, you know, and all that sort of stuff. And they put on this song. And it's just got this great sort of story about a dad and his daughter, and it wasn't butterfly kisses, but kind of that same sort of thing, you know, you know, and they say, I know it was like, You know, but it hits you at that right moment. And then when I play it, their wedding, I'll never forget it. I played at the wedding. I've never had a crowd. You would've loved it from a, from an audio point. Be so quiet. Yeah. Yeah. There you could. I mean, literally the old pin drop. Anywhere in the room. It was kind of scary and the way we are set up, it was some venue on would be Island. I can't remember some farm. But the DJ is kind of in the corner of the dance floor facing the audience. And so the dance floors between me and the audience. Yeah. So where I'm seeing my, my assistant, Eric and I are sitting there. And we're watching them. And about halfway through and now Eric was about to get married at the time. So it was kinda funny. About halfway through the song, maybe a minute into it. I nudged him. And we now, actually this was during the first dance, but it happened in the second one too, but I nudged him. We looked out and I said, Nobody is moving. Yeah. And non every table or chair face the dance where people were literally like turning in their chairs. I mean, and it was this. And the first dance was a really powerful one too. And I just think when you pick that right song, For that right moment. And hopefully it has some meaning for you and stuff. And for those of us that hear it, you know, like, I remember it listed on your other podcasts. You have some detail about what song he never liked to play again. You know, it's like if I never hear love shack again, I'm pretty much okay with that. But yeah. But I also have headphones, so I don't really have to listen to the whole song. And so I'm working. You know, I'm generally working. I work in the moment for the next song, but I've also kind of planned out the next half an hour or so. Or 10 seconds maybe, but. You kind of look at it and look at the crowd and then you just kind of throw it out there. And if you can kind of put that right song at that right moment. The payoff is worth it. And in the same is true with those special songs. Yeah, it's interesting. I remember back when, I guess they're still pretty around like Weezer, but back when they have a, I think when they came back with the green album and I went and saw him and they. Rivers did some interview about how he, cause he's like this math Wiz, right? Like he's. I wrote like a formula and like, I can, it's like the perfect song or whatever, and we can, I can, I can use this and we can write, I can write 500 songs a year or. You know, whatever, right. It just to replicate the thing. And I was like, yeah, but that was a really think that it works that way. Like you said, it's, it's part of, it's about the timing too, and the emotion. And like you said, I mean, now you could really songs like. I know that lady Gaga had like a new CD come out. Am I Dorothy's in plan? Whatever the single is like the rain on me or whatever. So like it's. Like, it's like a hammer to my head, but I bet I'm like, yeah, but this is a great song, but we're there. We're not really experiencing it with it with anybody. Right. Like we're not at events with it or go into CMS. You know, so part of it is that too, right? Where, yeah. I mean, people are sitting at home listening to music, but also like you're not, it's not as much a social thing as maybe it could be, you know, you're right. And the funny part is wasn't Weezer's next album, all an album of covers. It was Africa, right? Now is they ruin that man. Was that was, that was freaking brutal. Well, here, here's the interesting thing about this and, and it's funny and enlisting and thinking ahead of time, what to talk to you about talking about music is probably one of, would have been near the end of my list, which is interesting. You know, when I first meet with clients, I rarely talk about music with them. And, and the reason is, is it is we can figure that part out. I really, I just want to get to know them, but I find, I, you know, obviously it's a big part of my life and everything like that, but it's. It's finding the right song and the right moment, but also finding those unique ones. That's that's good for them. And then. And then just, I dunno, man. Planted at the right time and just, and then, and then not nodding. Not being afraid, but, but also knowing the importance to it. So a not being afraid to move on. If it doesn't work. But, but knowing that it's not appropriate to do that at certain times with certain songs. And that's where the asking why comes about. You were talking about like the new album lady Gaga is one of the things like that. One of the things too is. I, I will be interesting to see if we actually have very many albums get released in the near future. And I mean, it's kind of fun for, you know, artists that say, Hey, I've got, you know, six songs in the top 10 or whatever, you know, they're all down, but, you know, I remember. You get a band and they'd release a song, you know, maybe two months before the album was going to come out. And then maybe one more song when the album came out, you know, And they didn't want the songs to compete with each other. Yeah, I know it's different. But that was also an album's kind of told a story. You know now generally, unless they tell us it's it's it's maybe from maybe. One at a 10 M seems to tell a story to me. And in the rest of their, so. So you might have on the charts. You know, most of the time there's only. Three. You know, three, four songs that are ones that people are gonna really ever request. Even the best albums going to have four or five. You know, Adele's, you know, a couple of Adele's albums, people requesting a lot of them, but she paced them out. So that'll be interesting. You'd probably be more work for me. So I want you to listen to all the songs and figure out which ones are danceable. But I don't know. It shouldn't be an interesting thing cause. Like I subscribed to this music service and they'll send me all the songs that are released each. Month. Well, they do it weekly. So, what do they do if, if. You know, somebody new popular album has six songs in the top 10. Do I get all six at once? I don't know. Well, that's like she, during the days, like, it's like every, you know, now they do, it used to be, I Tuesdays they would releasing new music, which is funny. Cause like that was cause of mailing the CDs right. To the store or a part of it, I think was because of that. Now it's Friday trying to like go into the weekend or whatever I guess was their rationale. But. Yeah, there was back in March or April. She listens to Kygo lie. Like a, he's like a Swedish DJ. I'm like, yeah, he'd have a new song every week. And I called a new Kygo song. Like, can you kind of go. I look like. Like you said. Yeah, I used to be, you know, you wouldn't hear from a band for three years. They released a song, you know, two minutes later there'd be an album. And then you would hear from them again for another three years. And yeah. They be touring. Yeah, but also I just think, yeah, like now with the immediacy and everything and everyone's attention spans and stuff, you're like, okay, we gotta have we got any song. And then two weeks later we got, you know, it just seems like you're trying to be a lot more. You know, you're not, it's like on like YouTube, you're not posting the video. Like once a month, you're trying to post like a video, like every week or every, just to kind of eat. Keep the attention up. So well, like so biggest touring act the last couple of years, right? Taylor Swift. So actually took my daughter to see her at Centrelink last year. Great show loved it. And we also saw ed Sheeran the year before that. And almost sat in the exact same spot I was going to find. So Taylor goes, so now she's chose not to tour this year, even before COVID she was going to do a few shows, like maybe 10 shows around the country. A couple in LA coupling or? Nope. 10 shows around the world. And, and that was going to be it. That was going to be her thing. She was going to open up the new football stadium in LA. And then do new England and stuff and, and. So that obviously got canceled or anything like that. Well, now she's so next year, And they got, of course, you know, you have to plan those things six to nine months in advance. And now she's going to be touring off two albums. Yeah, which isn't, as you know, there's no really big, huge hits off there as far as. You know, danceable and stuff like that, but it's going to be interesting like that. What it's not going to be traditional. It's not going to be the way it used to be. So then she asked to ask yourself, okay, I'm going to do, you know, our 90 minute show, maybe two hours show, what songs do I cut? You know, and she's not even 30. You know, it's like the Eagles asking, you know, well, what songs do we not play? Like. So, I don't know. It is it's things are just different. It's just kind of how it is. I think you have to recognize that. And if. You know, as DJs, we're still doing the same stuff we used to do. You know, it's just, it's different. Part of that is like playing the whole song. You know, that's a challenge. That's an interesting thing with a DJ and it's something you have to. Kind of talk to your clients about a little bit and things. Cause some people get really mad if you get out of it, you know, and some people. Do you want him to lose that attention? So it, it, you know, it's just, again, this is that communication. And just talking to people, asking why getting into it. And I don't think it's something you can do. With an app on their phone or some cool little place on your website where they fill out, you know, can you imagine. Putting your entire music library up on your website and then money people just pick songs. I mean, I know guys do that. And that's cool, but do I want to list? That's got 200 songs on it. No. No. I want to know your. I'll play everyone. If you want to pick every song, that's cool. But let's have that conversation about it. So, yeah, it's. Everything we've talked about though, about all this music and everything like that. It's about that level of personalization with your clients. And if. If you're trying to do it. The same from one week to another. Your clients are not going to get it. You're not going to get the referrals. You're, you know, the, the, for the web, you know, the brides. She's not gonna wanna refer you to her friends or her friends. Aren't going to want you to come to a wedding. You might have done a great job at the first wedding. But they don't want the same thing. They don't want that cookie cutter. That mic wedding. And, and. You know, I remember, so the gentleman who videotape my wedding 20 years ago, we got married in 2000. Unfortunately, Bill's not with us anymore. He's a great guy. Really, really cool guy. But he used the same opening video scene that he shot. Two of the above. Of a seagull flying across the sunset Inn on the water and Edmonds. Cause he and I used to share a booth at the wedding show. We had double booth next to each other. And he would use the same Kenny G music. And the shot of the, of the, of the bird flying across there. I'm sure. Shot onto VHS. For the opening for every single video. And I just don't think he could, you could be, you know, I'd be curious to see what bill was still doing. If he was with us these days. You mean as like the, like the, like the watermark kind of at the beginning. Rolling. The credits either at the beginning or the end probably was at the end, but yeah, but like it comes up you're right. It was at the end because at the beginning would be like some wedding music sound and saying, you know, You know, the wedding of Greg Lowder and Katherine land, you know, So I was. It was just an interesting thing. But also too. It was all pain in the butt to edit back then, too. So. If you had a stock, I guess it's just stock footage. So. Anyway. Maybe trying to watch my wedding video again. I have one more thing when you're talking about. Taylor Swift and cutting, cutting songs. I was. So infuriating. So we went and saw Michael Bolton back in February before all this went down and I was so excited and I was like, you know, we had great seats. We were like, you know, outfit the. The Muckleshoot. Shoot casino today. Casino opera, like we're all like, then. Am. I am like, what song is, is he gonna play? Right? Like, how does, how does Michael Bolton caught like a, you know, an 80 minute show or whatever? Like, how is that even possible? And he did like all these stupid covers of like all these old songs and like, yeah, he did like the hats, like, you know, when a man loves a woman and all that, but like a. Like, you know, and I know like he did, like, I'm a dock on the Bay. Like that's like one of his famous he's like, let me, let me sing you another one. Can you just do anything that like. I'm like a pretty big fan. Like, can you see like anything? I would know that as like, as a Michael Bolton fan and not like it's some old timey song from, you know, 30 years ago, I don't know. Is this crazy? So the big question though, about Michael Bolton. How long was the hair? He started now he's a, he's a, he's looking good. Yeah. He's a bit, he came out and said, I mean, he was right next to us. Like he came out and dead. I don't know. They put them up all like on the box or something. He was singing. I'm like right in front of us. But yeah, I just was like, what is going on here? Okay. I was like some of these songs we got to move. I would not have put you as a Michael Bolton fan. Yeah. Oh. I was like, yeah, I was. That was the, that was the XFL. Home opener. Saturday afternoon. And then it was Michael Bolton that night. And. Yeah, that was a good day for Reed. I bet he does a great version of we're talking about like those typical father daughter songs. He does my favorite version of a daddy's little girl. Which there's an old mills brothers version and there's another. Version. I have to think of it. But it's just a little too. Dated. And his version. If you'd never heard the song before you'd go, Oh, that's, you know, it might be older, but you wouldn't think that the song was, you know, now 50 years old or 60 years old, maybe. So. I like his version. I got two questions before we go. I want to get back on the, you know, the. The DJ thing here for a minute. So my first followup was going to be, you know, like an hour ago, and then we got on this. Safeway time where there were. When you were talking about starting the company. I just, I had, I have to think that, like, there was a pretty, not in like a bad way that you guys like lucked into it, but there had to be a low bar of like what a wedding DJ was, where you guys felt like with your experience. Yeah, well, we can take this and like kind of make it right with the customer service and the care. I mean, it was that kind of your thought process. I mean, what was that? What was it? Lower wedding DJs. Like Dan. Trying to change. Yeah. I mean, fax me your music basically. So we had a cool advantage. So when we started the company, his mom worked at a wedding shop, a bridal shop. Dresses. And so we were able to go talk to them and they became our best refer. And so we opened our doors. With 12 events already on the books book as we went through there. So we had got our business license and then six months later open, you know, it started there, did our first events, but for 12 one. And then we. You know, and so it was literally like, well, what can we do? That's different. So a lot of it back then, people didn't want to meet. We always ask an offered, but. But they just, you know, we most, I remember one time at the Seattle wedding show. We booked 30 events at the show. You know, we were running a special and, you know, charging almost no money and, and stuff, but you know, people would fill out our forms. They'd mail it to us. We, you know, that was back mailing out. The contracts are, like I said, faxing it in, in. And the funny part of that. That, that slick paper. Do you know, I'm talking about. With the heat. And, and so it was the cheap one. And so you'd come in in the office in the morning sometimes. And there'd be an entire roll of people sending us like 30 or 40 faxes stretched out across the office, as long as, you know, whatever 30 times. Yeah. 11 is, yeah. So 30 feet of it almost. You know, and they, they weren't cut, so we'd have to cut them all off, but that would be your. Yeah. And then, you know, then it led to the. You know, online stuff. And then, you know, in, in doing that sort of stuff, And I think it's. You know, it's nice to have and define some stuff and, and to talk to people. And like, we talked a little bit about picking your music and things like that, but really it's about. Finding those unique and fun things that you want to do at the wedding. That are unique to them. So the, the couple and, and, and, and that could be the music, like we've been talking about. It can also be the events. It could be what we do. It could also be what we don't do. I talked last year, I talked to a couple. And in planning the wedding we set, when we sat down and talked, they, they said, here's what we don't remember. This is even before we met, because they would not meet with me until we had this conversation. They said we don't want to do a first dance. We don't want to do any dancing. We don't want to cut the cake. We don't want coasts. You know, we, we basically don't want it to be like a typical wedding. And I said, great. And they said, will you agree to that before we meet? And I said, sure. Sure. So we sat down and I reiterate what they said, and I said, so we're having a dinner party. And like, Oh no, no, no. It's a wedding reception. We want to have fun. We want to do these other things. I said, okay. The, what are we gonna do? And they both kind of looked at each other. And then I ask why. And, and all this, you know, 45 minutes later. They were same sex couple. And so they had not grown up ever thinking that they. Could do these things at their wedding. And, and a little average, a little older, but not super old, neither. And they realized not just then, but as the planning goes about every. Month or so I'd get a call from him. And they call me by the end of this, their wedding godfather, which I liked. And. My role's a little different at this one, but it, but it was good. Is, they said like a month later they call me up and they said, Hey, we decided we want to have a cake. Who do you know that makes cakes. Alright, here you go. Call my friend, Bonnie. And then they're like, well, we might need some flowers. All right. Here's who you call, you know? And it, but it just it's like I opened up to them and said, here's what you could do, but if you don't want to, that's fine. And it was, it was at that Stimpson green mansion. You ever been there? Yep. So it's got kind of a weird entry. It's it's an old big house, big mansion. But it has a door, which you know, and you never quite know whether as a guest, whether to open the door or not up to the door. You know, what do we both, most of us do naturally if the front door. Well, you knock and nobody hears you because it's a big door. So the staff knew that and told them you might want to have somebody there as a greeter. And so in one of our last meetings, they're like, they just told us this what we can do. And I said, I'll be your greeter. And I put the music on, got there early and, you know, it's kind of a little bit of stairs there in the front to load in. And I put on my suit and literally I got to. Yeah, take the coat and get, and shake hands and greet every single person that came in because they were up getting ready. Small real. You know, it's a small place. But I gotta tell you. Wow. But I don't think data ever gotten there unless we don't met because it was them knowing what they didn't want, which they didn't necessarily know ahead of time. And to me, That's. That's where that comes from. And it's just, it's all about love and that's what the whole day was about. And in every wedding should be about. And I think sometimes. Brain as far as doing weddings and stuff is. All music kind of goes through what my wife calls my wedding filter. And me in meeting people, especially vendors. They either get weddings. So they don't. I know you get weddings. I think you, you probably got them earlier than you think you did when you started doing this and stuff, but because a lot of people don't, I know a lot of videographers who. They're a videographer, but they also shoot weddings. Hmm. And, and, and part of that is, is that. And I, and I think Alan said this when you interviewed him on one of your earlier podcasts, is, is. You get to be with people on, on the best day of their life. And how cool is that, you know? And so if you and people that don't get weddings. They don't know that they don't get weddings, but it's really obvious to the rest of us. And it might not be obvious to the, to their clients up front, but it will be on the backend. You know, I never missed a wedding. Never been late. I've been God, awful sick. As you can ever imagine, I'll guarantee you the couple never knew about it. Now with code. I don't think we can do that stuff anymore, but. You gotta have a really good backup plan and, and, and, and has some other people in to help you. But I just think it's about. About love. And my understanding that this is just not another gig it's people's lives. Last question before you go. Favorite video game. Fortnite right now. Right now. Oh, dude, I was playing in like 10 minutes before we got on the call. I'm the old dude. Like I leave my mic on or off. And I have a little group of older people I play with and I just started this summer letting my daughter play. And she's already better than I am, which is great. But yeah, they right now, I just, I like that. But old school and going back, you know, I mean, I worked in Nintendo in the Mario. You know, first marijuana, you know, Hey Dave Zelda. Going back to a lot of those things in and. Aye. Aye. Aye. I'll tell you a fun story. This actually leads to me and Scott. Doing the DJ thing. It's how we, how I funded my part of the company. When we started the DJ company. I worked at Nintendo and we put on the Nintendo world championships. And I spent a year on the road. I was making 10 bucks an hour at Nintendo working 80 hours a week. So that's like 40 hours overtime. And I was on the road. So if you're bidding on a job where you're doing the road, where they're paying your per diem and all this other stuff, I never cashed my paychecks. I mean, they direct deposited in, I never touched him, the per diem, as long as it covered our bar tab and like snacks for the plane. They fed us on the weekends. It was done like a rock and roll show. We had 18 wheelers, we had a crew, it was amazing. We'd roll in to like basketball arenas around the country and put on this big show. And I literally would spend the week training. To be an MC to talk and play video games and talk. I had one of those headset mikes, like, like Garth Brooks uses, right. None of those Sonys. I actually have one. I'd never used it a gig. I have a little one, but the big fat one. And we get up there and we play video games and show people how to do all these little tricks. And when we did it in Seattle, we did in the kingdom. And that I came home from that and literally started this company with Scott and that's what we funded it. And, but it also taught me how to talk on the microphone and talk to the microphone. And. You know, you can't play video games at a wedding, but you can, you know, but when things go it, Tommy two main things, one to listen to myself. And to hear what you're saying. But also to be able to listen to someone else who's talking to your ear. And being able to talk on the mic at the same time. So when. You know, something's happening off to the side, but you're talking to the audience, you know? Sure. Sometimes you gotta say, hang on a second and go over, but you should be able to do two things at once. So. So anyway, that's how video game. Started really kind of has, has ruled my life for since, since then. So. But it was a good gig, man. I really, I really liked doing that. Awesome. This has been so great catching up and getting you to do this and talk a little music and everything else. Thank you again. If people want to learn more about you and all your staff, where would you have him? Check out. Thank you. Reading and thanks for doing this podcast, man. I think it's. You've really put a lot of time and effort in this and had some amazing vendors and a good variety. Of the mom there and representing, and, and I think that something that you should be really proud of. And so thank you, my, my company, his affairs to remember entertainment, and it's a DJ seattle.com. That's a good one. It's a good, it's a good. I think the DJ Juan or whatever you were on. And I was looking at the URL and I was like, I have to go on. That's the old school. That's the old school DJ URL. Yeah. Yeah. They, I got it a long time ago, but it's, it is good. When GoDaddy sent you that thing and says, here's how much your, your, your URLs are worth. I'm like, okay. I guess it was worth paying them all this years. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much again, if you're like Greg and you're interested in coming on the podcast, like I said, we've. Yeah. Sometimes it's me trying to hustle kind of weak up. So if you're that, Greg, you want to come on the podcast best made videos.com/podcast guests. And that's a nice, easy questionnaire. Greg said, do I need to fill out anything to come on the podcast? And I said, you do not. Your address. But anybody else that you can go fill out the survey.

Corey Besmer, Soul Original Media

Well, thank you so much for checking out the Get to Know Your Wedding Pro® podcast. I'm here with Corey Besmer today. He's a videographer originally out of Sacramento now in Puyallup. I want to thank you so much. We were joking before we started. I don't get many videographers that reach out to come on. And so I'm always excited just to. You know, talk shop and kind of everything else and meet new people. And especially you, someone that's newer to our area, you know, not to, not to filming, but you know, new to the area. It's great to get to know you. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us just a little bit about who you are, what you do. Yeah, totally. Thanks for having me on, you know, Yeah, I'm a wedding videographer slash filmmaker. It's just what I love to do since, you know, high school just fell into it, making videos for my church. And then someone in my church, my young adult pastor was getting married and. You know, he's like, Hey, you want to fill in our wedding? And I jumped on the chance. You pay me like 300, which you know is good for your first one. I know a lot of people doing for free. Yeah, I've been learning from experience since then, you know, through wedding videography and just as a filmmaker storyteller. So, what I love to do, I make narrative short films as well. Videos for businesses to a little more now. So, yeah, here I am. And if you all are trying to get connected in the midst of a pandemic where everyone's at home. So, yeah, I think this podcast is. Great. I just came across it and you know, one of the Facebook groups and, yeah. Thanks. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, that's so funny. Yeah. They're coming out when you're talking about doing that, you know, the weddings for cheap. I remember. The first thing I ever did, I was like this Craigslist, some magician. Yeah. It was, we have these mudslides up here years ago, back when I was still like, he was. Wide there, but he was like four hours away from everything. And driving all the way back home and then getting my gear and then go in like all the way an hour and a half back North. To make that $200 was like, so, you know, but it feels great. You know, when you, when you can do it and make that money for yourself. Right. Yep. Definitely. So did you, so you said you got into video and in high school, did you, is that something you study where their programs and things, or how did you get involved in, in with the camera and everything? Yeah. So my church's youth group, I was, I was in high school. They just wanted some like announcement, intro videos, and some of my friends and I just started making funny little sketches, just. You know, one to three minute comedy sketches, just to break the ice open, open the service, and then. No started posting them to YouTube and started making. You know, comedy sketches on our own, just, just for fun and learned a ton from YouTube itself. Film riot. If you're familiar with that YouTube channel. They taught me, basically everything I know about. Film and video. And so, yeah, it's just kind of snowballed from there. In Sacramento from people I knew started honing my craft shooting weddings and grew from there. Yeah. And seeing you at the high school down in Sacramento. Yeah. Yeah. And the town called the Rocklin. Probably haven't heard of it, but. Rocklin high school. Yeah. But it was something you were always excited about it. Got you really just telling the story, is that, is that what you enjoy most is kind of telling the stories in their, their part. Yeah, definitely stories. I find her just what connects people, whether it's, you know, narrative stuff, whether you're making short films or wedding films. I'm really quiet kid. And I, I always found creative ways to express myself. And when I found videos like. A language I could speak and I learned to speak it. More and more as I went on and, you know, with, with wedding specifically as. I've gotten better at it. I've gotten much better at telling stories. I remember. First time. You know, I invested it in some audio gear that I think that changes everything. You know, As far as storytelling and, you know, mixing the vowels and the toasts. And, you know, people telling stories in those toasts, inside of the story you're telling from that day, you're also telling the story of how those people came together. And, you know, the story of their love and stuff. So, yeah, that's, that's definitely. Something I'm passionate about a lot. We'll always appealed to me about weddings was, and I think you probably do a lot more, like you said, with your short form. Yeah. Different days and locations and things. Yeah. We'll always appealed to me about weddings was like, everything I needed was right there. And then I didn't. Yeah, there was no Rishi. No like, Hey, can we go back and do that? Like, What do you prefer more? Do you perform a preferred kind of being able to, to lay things out and kind of, you know, direct like a short film, like you want to do? Or do you enjoy the, kind of the heat of the moment with the weddings? Yeah. That's, that's hard to say what I like most, because like you said, like, you know, You don't need many people for. You know, you can film weddings by yourself. If you can, you know, it's nice to have a second shooter. But, you know, you shoot it on that one day and then, you know, You've got the rest of the time in post-production with that. There's more pressure. I feel like, you know, cause you can't reshoot. Can't reshoot anything so I can be daunting. Where I've lost footage or anything. So there's more pressure, but that can make it fun too. And it just like flies by. And, you know, if it's, if they're fun people, it's, it's a really fun time. But on the filmmaking side. You know, it's, it's a lot more collaborative, which can be really. Yeah, from start to finish craft something as a crew. You write the story. Gosh, what's the phrase they say, you like. Make a story three times, or you make a film three times. Pre-production production post-production. And so I found that really interesting and. Building something together as a crew with teamwork. It's it's very satisfying when you see that. I dunno, prep preparation. It's it's. It can be a big venture, even the smallest of, of short films. So. I love both. I love. How different they both are, but they're a vehicle, you know, to tell stories. Yeah. Yeah. Did you see just because I. You kind of cut my teeth more in, in, in news and just like in the moment kind of stuff. So I don't like all day laying things out and shot lists and stuff. It's just so daunting to me. I mean, even with. Staff and they don't say, Hey, you know, so are we going to do whatever? And I'm like, I mean, if you want, you know, we can kind of like, I just kind of, I'm more of a wing it kind of guy, which isn't necessarily like. The best thing all the time. So I think it's good to have both sides of that to be able to approach it like you have with, with both mindsets. I think it's probably, you're probably the better situation than I am. I find that interesting. So you started it on the news side. And you've always been kind of the, you know, capture it right now. Just, yeah, it's just, we just go with it, you know? Even with like interview, you know, we'll do like corporates, you know, interviews and stuff. And I'm like, I just got this podcast. We just kind of ask questions. Let's go. We can lay a bunch of stuff out, but sometimes. You know, it goes back and forth because sometimes people get people like that preparedness and then sometimes it really stresses people out. I mean, it really depends on the client as I'm sure, you know, but like, Sometimes, if you give them a bunch of stuff and they're like, I'm never going to remember any of this, you know? So it's tough. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Did you, so D are you self-taught, did you, did you go to college or take any programs or anything? I'm mostly am self-taught, but I did go to school for film at SAC state. And it was great. It was great experience, but the. The biggest value from that was the networking and. The experience working with the crew. Was huge. But, but like I said earlier, YouTube, I mean, Nowadays, if you want to be a film maker, just. Just watch tutorials on YouTube. Like there's so many great channels out there. And I mentioned film riot. Not to say. SAC state. Wasn't great because it was, and I did learn a lot too from some of my professors who had some experience as well with lighting and. Audio. Engineering a little more as well. But, you know, experience too is the best teacher. I mean, You, you have to have that experience. You have to just go out there and do it. And, and fail forward in a lot of ways as well. You know, I look back at. You know, my first wedding I did now. And it's, I think it's garbage. You know, and, but, you know, I, I couldn't have gotten to where I am now. Without that. And without the body of work, I have. And so I hope to someday look back at the stuff I'm doing now and think it's horrible. So, yeah. Experience YouTube and. A university as well. But then it's seven of those things that you just have to see. Like, I remember. Them showing like they'll either the lighting diagram, like how to, you know, three point lighting. And all of that. I'm just like. I don't. Then you go out and you see it yet. Oh, okay. I put, you know, whatever, whatever, and like, I it's so funny. Cause a lot of the guys that have like second shot for me, because again, I'm just like, you know, it was like a camera in your hand, like run out the door. So even like a lot of the guys that have worked for me to have gone to like film schools and soft, I'm like, okay, what is that thing called? Or whether we do here, whether we, cause I just don't like, you know, I just wasn't. It was like a soldier being thrown out versus like getting all the facts before you have to go, you know, I just, even to this day, I'm still like, okay, wait, how do we do that? Or what's going on? Like, cause it's just, I never, I never got taught any of that stuff. So. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Are you interested in anything besides like weddings or events? Video. Not, not really. I mean, you know, we do, we're enjoying the podcasting thing now, so that's always fun, but I've always been someone that shoots for work versus like, I mean, it seems like, do you. You have passion projects as well, right? That you work on with your film staff, where do you, what do you like to do with those? Talk to me about kind of. You know, I have flexing that creative muscle with some of your other projects. I guess, what do I like to do with them? Yeah. I mean, I just enjoy the. I guess the idea of creating something from scratch. You know, I love to, I'm always having ideas. I'm always writing ideas down. And then, you know, when I have time developing them and. And writing scripts and stuff. And. You know, From there. You just want to see it. On the screen and, and, you know, it's something, that's what drives you. It's it's the need to see that story play out on film. And stuff. And as far as what I. You know, film sets and you know, a big part of it is that collaborative. But yeah, I guess. Putting it out there, you know, once it's made putting it out there and having. Eyes on it. And seeing people's responses, you know, seeing people have how they respond and relate to the story that you've told, which you've kind of injected some of yourself in is, you know, like I said earlier, it's a way to communicate. That's my way of, of. Of doing so, so yeah. Do you still get nervous when you put out things and, and what the reception is going to be just staffed. You're kind of putting so much of your time into it because people never. How much time goes into all of this stuff. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's it can be scary. It can be like, By the end of. Shooting and editing a lot of the times I'm like, Is this good? Like this is really bad, right? And there comes a point where you can't edit anymore and you have to put it out. You have to get it out there. And that's a good thing. And then, you know, I've had times where. Then I put it out there and people are like, Oh, this was awesome. Like, wow. That's amazing. I think. I don't know if everyone's like this, but I'm incapable of judging my own art, judging my own. The things I create. I'm incapable of seeing it for what it is. By the end of it by the end of the project. And, you know, it's, it's important to bounce. You know it off someone before you put it out there, even so that you can improve it. As far as weddings go. I don't know if you've experienced this, but people have been fairly easy to please. You know, People getting married. They don't. You know that they're probably not huge. Video people and stuff. Not saying that that's an excuse to put out for work. But, you know, I love seeing how blown away, you know, like clients that have been seeing their, their big day filmed. You know, I think their expectations are pretty low, but, you know, it's, it's really cool to see. Their reaction and see that I get to provide, you know, You know, the chance to relive their wedding day over and over again. I actually. Rewatched my wedding film recently, I had mine recorded. I edited it myself actually, but okay. I'm a videographer to record by. And got to kind of experience the value of having your wedding films. I'm like, wow. Like four years later, And I'm really happy. I had my wedding filmed. And I, you know, it made me appreciate. And. Maybe more passionate for doing that for other people, I'm like, wow, I get to provide this. This is like a time capsule of people that are gonna be looked back. Be able to look back on. Years and years from now. So it's been really cool. I did the same thing. I had one company that I was. Cause I was. You were still kind of getting into. Doing well, I guess, I guess we started planning. We were getting into doing weddings and so I still have no idea, like what anything costs. And there was like one company I was looking at. And they were, it was like so expensive and I was like, Oh, wow. Cause we are still so low. And I said, well, Dorothy, I don't really know. And she goes, why don't you, why don't we find someone and pay them? And then you can edit that we can do. Cause she goes, I like the way that you do it, which was like, You know, it's like a lie, right? Well, I don't like the way that you edit that, like let's do it, but I did the same thing. What, what was it like? Part of the event? Well, first off, when did you guys get married? Yeah, I got married 2016 summer. Yeah. Summer of 2016. And then yeah, I found the videographer on. I think Thumbtack actually. Yeah. Put a code out there, which I don't even. Use myself. Yeah, he was actually. Pretty amazing. He had a crane. He brought. A crane. Yeah, I think three cameras, he was running around. I actually saw him during our ceremony. Like I was like, man, this guy's legit. He was hustling and he did a great job. Did a great job for us, but there were plenty of people coming up to me and saying, Hey, are you filming your own weddings? You're going to put a GoPro on your head. Something like ha. Very very funny. Yeah. That's that's. That joke by the end of the night, but yeah. This stressful. I mean, I remember that was the one thing I was most stressed about was like making sure you know, that I think I was even texting them like the night before, like now you're sure you're going on the location. Right? Like you got, you know, you're going to be there. You know, it's just, and like you said, it's so different than higher indicator or a Baker or whatever, but where, it's your thing, you know, could you imagine like, okay, the VR, you know, you're a videographer, no shows. And then you're like, Oh my gosh, This is. What did you enjoy putting it together yourself and being able to put that spin on it? Yeah, I kind of procrastinated on it at first. I actually took like a year. And, but by the time our first year anniversary came out, I finished it. It was like a month before I'm like, ah, alright, I gotta get this done. It's gonna be great. But, yeah, I mean, like I said, he did a great job. It was, it was fun to go through and edit it. You know, show everyone what a, what a great time we had at our wedding day. Everyone. Loved it and remembered yeah. What a great time we all had. So yeah, it was, it was a great experience. Being able to. Like you said though. Yeah. It is like, Hey, you got all your cameras, you got everything you need to borrow any my gear. But he was great. His name is Joel. He's in Sacramento. If you need a videographer. Yeah. I remember we were like walking. I was like, Oh, we should like hop on this log. Cause that would be like a good like video moment, like the whole day. And like, I was like, I was just stupid about everything. Like we did like three dips and like our first dance. Cause I was like, we gotta make sure we get one. That's good for like the photo in the video, you know, like we don't want to. Yeah. How it always is your film. And then they're like looking the wrong way and you're not ready. And they do the. So I was like, no, we're definitely going to do this. Like make sure, okay. We got it. Okay. Now we're moving on. You know, cause I was. Just down that way, but that's about. Yeah. Totally. I, yeah, we did. I did the highlight where like, you know, the, whatever video I tried to do a quick, but then like, I didn't, I didn't like the full ceremony or toast or anything. And I was like, Oh, I'll do it for Christmas. Like, I'll do it for you. My inlaws. Cause they help pay for it and everything. And I remember like, you know, we printed it and I, like, I never do DVDs by doing like a nice DVD and everything. And they were like, Oh, thanks. And then just like put it in the corner. That was like hours. I could, we at least pretend to watch this for like 20 minutes. Like. Like a week trying to get all this stuff ready to go. He was like the week before Christmas, I'm like, Oh, I really got to get this ready to go. And I was like, come on, like, this is ridiculous. Yeah, that was your wedding. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, well, I'll get, I'll do all of this. That would be my big Christmas gift for like the family. And then they. They were like, Oh, this is nice. And they just like, put it in the pile. Yeah. Oh, gosh. And that was a lot of fun. I'm sorry, yours. Turn out. But that kind of gave me an idea that that would be cool to maybe offer that as a service. That's like the first viewing. Giving me ideas, but I've thought about that. And I've seen some, like I'm in that wedding videographers group, like that national ones like that. I don't, I think it's just called wedding videographers, but like, I think there's some higher end people in there that will do like the zoom call, like reveals and all that. I've always thought that was like a pretty cool idea, but then. You know, I mean, Sometimes I don't even get a donkey for the video. So it's like, let alone, I'm like, yes. Scheduling time to watch a zoom thing. I don't know. You know, I tried this. Meet people where they are, and sometimes they don't want to have anything to do with that. So, yeah, I was doing DVDs too, up until. I think a couple of years ago. I'm glad I don't have to anymore though, because. Yeah, it can be a pain and it's 2020, like everything's digital, you know, you, you don't need a DVD to share it on Facebook and wherever. No. It is funny when people ask like, Oh, well, what are your, like, we do a lot of wedding shows out of them. If you do other, whether he shows her the bag. So what do you do with this? I'm like you posted on line. Like you share it, you can email it. You can. Oh, okay. Like some of the older people that just don't like understand right. You just have it on your phone and then you can pull it up or you can yeah. You can text it to you. I mean, like, what do you mean? What do you do with it? Like, yeah, you can watch it on your phone, your computer, Apple TV. You don't need a DVD player that's for sure. So you were talking about how you did a lot of, like, you know, you're on writing and things, working in projects. Is your, wife's your creative too? Is that you guys work on stuff together or do you enjoy bouncing ideas off her? Yeah, I'm always bouncing ideas off her, for sure. She's actually a painter. She's great. She does a lot of faces or like abstract stuff as well, too. Excuse me. Yeah. She used to like, people used to pay her to shop for them at Goodwill and like find hidden gems actually. And so she really helped him, helped me with the costuming and the makeup and it really paid off. And that, that final product there's. A short film called intelligence. It's on my website. If anyone wants to check it out. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I love having a creative partner for sure. It helps. How'd you guys get together? How'd you meet? We met at a church in Sacramento. Where it was during the greeting time, just turned around and said, Hey, I'm Corey. She's like, Hey, I'm Amy. And then didn't talk the rest of the night. And then service ended. We both ended up going to Chipotle. And I hopped in line and she was right in front of me. She turned around and said, Hey. The rest is history. Yeah. Do you guys count that as your first day at, at AAA? Kinda yeah. That's good. I think that's. Yeah, I would. I think that's awesome. Yup. And you guys got married back in 2016. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. So, when did you, so when you, you said you did the one for some of that church, a wedding video, Oh, Did you, like, I've always said on the podcast, like I knew absolutely nothing about weddings. Like when I started, like, I, you know, like my wife had like lots of friends that had got married. Like I have no friends, none of my people have gotten married, you know? So was it, were you nervous, like entering that? Was that something that was new or did you, I mean, what was it like kind of going through that first wedding? I didn't know. I didn't know much about weddings. I didn't go to weddings that much. I actually have a big family on my dad's side. So I had been quite a few family weddings. But never really paid attention. And yeah, there was. There was kind of a lot of pressure. It really didn't. It turned out. All right. I turned out. Okay. But. Back then I. That's something I learned. I'm like, okay, I need to either bring a tripod or monopod has really helped as well. Especially for, you know, ceremonies and stuff. But I had like Canon T3. I was my first camera, which is still an amazing camera. Lot of people still use that. That was the camera I had and I had the 50 millimeter, the Calvin nifty 50 lens, only a hundred bucks. And there's no image stabilization on it, which. I don't think I was even aware of image stabilization and what it was back then. And so the footage came out a little shaky. But. I guess. That first wedding showed me what a big deal weddings were. And as I film, the more I got more nervous. Cause that first one, it was kind of like. Hey, you want to fill my wedding? It's just kind of casually. He knew it was my first time. Now I think I may have been. You know, more. Not nervous that I do have a level of comfort. But I did get more like. Nervous, but at the same time now I've worked through that and a more comfortable, but I realize the weight of it. But now I, you know, I make sure I have two cameras and, you know, backing up footage to several different spots after, you know, I've got several audio sources. So I, I take it seriously more seriously now and you know, so that I don't have a disaster happen. Which I haven't up until this point. Luckily. Rather than lost any footage or anything. But yeah. Yeah. I know, definitely when it's like, even like corporate stuff versus like weddings and like redundancies, like I always have way more identities and like any weddings, because I'm like, I work. I mean, you wouldn't want to like worst case. We could go back and do that interview again. Or like, you know, that would be terrible, but like we could, you know, we could like reschedule something if we had to, but yeah, like the wedding stuff. You know, and that's the day. Yeah. People start now and you're just like, The weight of all of that, and might be important to me, especially like having gone through your own wedding. We had, so the guy that filmed our wedding, I had another guy that was working for me at the time. And so he had his own wedding, like on the day that we got married. And so, you know, we've gone through our wedding day and I was so scared about the videographer and all of that. I agree. Format is one of the cards like that whole thing. And, you know, I have lost like part of the getting ready. I mean, luckily it wasn't like, yeah, it wasn't devastating, but it was like probably the worst thing that ever happened in terms of like, Us losing footage, you know, and right then I'm like on speakerphone and Dorothy walks in. And so she hears like, Oh yeah, you know, we lost to getting ready. And she thought it was from our wedding. So she's like, Devastated. And I was like, I mean, not that I didn't know already, but I was like, yeah, like, this is really huge to people, right? Like if you're there for eight hours or whatever, or like all that time is so valuable and like, were it was the next day, like if that had been our wedding, like we would have been like super devastated. And so you're like, It really does add that whole new level to, to just the importance of everything. Yeah, definitely. I actually had, you know, I always tell people like, save this on your computer. Save it on every computer you have just in case. And I've got the link here and Google drive. But. Put it everywhere you can just in case I did have some of my hard drives stolen. Years back. And that, that really sucked. A lot of my work was on there. Some of my personal stuff is just gone. And the weddings I fell. Luckily. I put the wedding's online, but a lot of the footage I lost because I didn't have it backed up. So, yeah, that's, that is one thing, but it didn't turn out to hurt weddings too much, but yeah, definitely have been several different backups is huge. Yeah. If you ever want to eye, there's a link on my page. If you ever want to. No. No, how insane I am. It's. Yeah, it's like my wife's like really? Like, why are we spending all this? And like, goose. What I want to talk about having gotten married and then now filming weddings again, do you feel more of a connection now with, you know, your brides and grooms and couples? Like, do you like having gone through that process, do you feel more connected because of that? Oh, yeah, definitely. You know, it's, it's given me a better idea of what to look for on the day of, to just certain shots and. And finding out what's. The most important stuff. But yeah. Like I said, like, Seeing the value of a wedding film of Bendigo. And to go back and watch my wedding. Four years on now is a huge, and you know, it it's, it also has made me realize like, Oh, what I do is pretty. Like valuable and like, I'd pay for that. I did pay for that. And, you know, I'm sure. I can show people the value and they will too. So, yeah, definitely. Talk about your, your style. How do you approach the wedding day? What do you try to, you know, what your signature, whatever, but you know, what do you try to focus on and what do you try to give to your clients? My own style that I've developed over the years, kind of have a formula now. And I was watching some of your work, which is great. And we actually have really different styles though. And I really enjoy seeing other videographers and I've taken, you know, I've stolen little sayings from different wedding films. I've seen, that's actually something that's huge is. Educating yourself and watching wedding films so you can get better. So I might steal some of your stuff. No, I think everyone can learn from each other, but the, I kind of have a formula of. You know, at least a. Yeah. It mostly comes out in the edit, right? You know, you, you have coverage of, you know, all you can and you know, your style is determined by the shots you get to, and the different lenses that give different looks. But I like to kind of start off with an emotional song that kind of. You know, I put the audio of the toasts upfront, cause it's usually. People talking about the bride and groom. Just stories they have and how much they love that person and kind of stirs up the emotions and. And kind of bleeds into the ceremony. With some of the vows moving into that. So it takes you through all the emotions of the day up until that's when I kind of transitioned into the dancing. I think the dancing is a big part of what I love about. My films and my wedding, I was just ready to get on the dance floor and rip it up. We had a good couple hours of dancing and that's what I love to do. With the wedding films too. So you kind of get maybe that emotional gut punch, make it, try to make you cry in the beginning. Kinda like the 300 effect where, you know, people are dancing and slow-mo, and then it speeds up, you know, back into that super slow motion. Say that that's kind of my style. I love to. The emotions. As it went throughout the day, you know, from the ceremony to the, to the prepping. To the toast to the dancing until you know, the bride and groom leave for the night. And yeah. And, and my formula, you can say. Yeah. Isn't it funny how I think some photography, it depends. There's some photographers that really like doing a dancey, but a lot of 'em are like, Oh, I don't. I just get a little bit better, like videographers yet, but that's where you get like a ton of good stuff. Just cause it, it just translates so much better email. I mean, don't tell photographers that, but. You know, it just translates so much better on film, you know, seeing the emotions of people dancing and the joy. And I mean, it's just kinda funny that cause you all see some they'll like put there, not like put their cameras away, but if you're like, well, I don't need to get as much of this, you know? Yeah. You know, a lot of them don't even put dancing in and that's fine. That's just their style. But I like that, you know, I like to stick around and get some of that dancing because. That's just what I like to do. And, and, you know, whoever chooses me enjoys that style as well. And, you know, that's, I think videographers and photographers, whatever you are, should try to find. Find what sets you apart and what, what makes you different as a videographer? That'll attract different. Types of people who love your work and you know, something. Important too, just with wedding. Film's overall I've learned is focusing on faces. To capture those emotions and dancing too. And just throughout the day, it's, it's something I try to do with. You know, weight, sometimes you gotta just press record and. And wait for someone to smile for awhile or tell them, you know, staging. Then it's a huge part of what I didn't do in the beginning. Cause I can be an introvert. But, you know, it's, it's okay to speak up and say like, Hey, give me. You know, you know, a head turn or something. Phelim and what you want. So, yeah. Yeah, it just developed with your style. It's so, I mean, You said what you mean, even if it's totally different or people like it, or they don't, it's just nothing like going on. Like even when we were trying to find videographers or like, you know, when, when you're doing market research and you look at like all these different sites and like it's all the same, like. And I'm like, I want like anything that's different, even if I hate it, just something that's like that someone it speaks to them. Right. They did someone. And like you said, with like the formula, like, I kind of relate with that too. And I think that some people think like, Oh, for me, like that's, ER, well, no, cause. I can just kind of gives you the framework to really focus on like their day. At least that's how I look at it. Like. Yeah, we kind of have the formulas. I, but then I'm not. Like we kinda know what we're doing. So then we can really hone in on like your guys's stuff, as opposed to like, well, how am I going to tackle this wedding video today? And like having no idea what you're doing. And also then I think you can give some consistency to the clients as well. Just so they know a little bit more about like, What to expect, you know what I mean? Whereas like some videographers or whatever, photographers, like. You know, it's nice to have like a, like a portfolio that you kinda know what you're going to get versus like, well, it's kind of depends on what I'm feeling today, which I just don't think works for wedding videos. Right. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, which I was kind of more like that in the beginning. It was just like, okay. I don't really have a plan except for just the shoot. And you're right, like that style. And having that formula what's, you're not completely beholden to is important for, you know, as, as the day approaches for planning. Right to know what shots and you, you're kind of editing it in your mind already as you shoot. And that can be a great thing. And yeah, it's, it's something. You know that. People can see and recognize in your films. And they. You know, they know what to expect when you show up. So yeah, that's big. Well, just going back to the whole style and, and everything. It is, it's interesting when, like, you kinda know what you're doing. And like, I'll know, like if I have people that are working for me or whatever, and they're like, Hey, like, do you want me to get this? You don't want me to get that? And you're like, You know, I at least a lot of shooters around here, like bell. They don't do both sides. Like they'll, they'll, you know, they'll second shoot for a bunch of people or whatever, but they're not necessarily putting everything together. And you're like, I'm not going to like, don't even waste your eye. Let's focus on stuff, Diane, when the user that we are going to use, you know what I mean? And I think that that when you. Go through the process of filming. Enough weddings. Like you're able to hone in on that and then not waste your time or energy, you know, focusing on stuff. And then you get back and you're like, why do I have 18 shots of like, Then putting the boot near on, or I dunno, whatever that you're going to knock in the use, you know, versus like, well, no, let me spend 10 minutes getting stuff that they're going to love that they know that they want from me. Like we always do like the bride and groom or whoever, like with all their bridal party. And like, even like, if some photographers, like, I'm always like, Hey, like, are you going to do like one-on-ones with everybody? And even some of them were like, Oh, we don't do that. Or we don't. I'm like, can we please him? Like, have them like do a handshake or high five or something? Cause I'm like, that's something that like people that we put that in all of our videos and like in our questionnaire, we talk about that and people rate, you know, like if they want it, you know, what they want to see in their video. But like some people might not shoot any of that stuff. And that's great like you, or some companies, but like, that's something that people want to see from us. And so like, I will focus on that versus like 18 shots of the cake on the table or whatever this. You know, the man. Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. I used to show up like really early. When, you know, one shooter would go and, and go with the bridesmaids and I'd go with the guys or vice versa and yeah, you. I'd be getting footage of them. You know, but their socks on or whatever. And I'm like, I just realized at a certain point, I'm like, I don't need all this, like this footage, no one really wants to see this. I don't either. So I'm gonna just start showing up, like at the end of makeup. And when the guys are, you know, putting their ties on maybe, and sometimes I don't even use any of that. And just, you know, Right when they're ready. And going out to the venue. So yeah, that's. That's definitely something I've changed and learned, you know, just I'll get what I need. And also just. You know, staging and directing. I've learned. That's okay to do. I used to just kind of hover behind the photographer is they took pictures. You know, and got you. Footage. But, you know, that can get stale. After awhile. So it's okay to ask. The bride and groom after the photographer's taking pictures, like, Hey, You know, give her a tutorial. Lifted her above your head or something. You know, anything. Cinematic like that, you know, during the golden hour or something. Is, you know, something I've honed in on. As I've developed my own style. Yeah. I think that people like the idea of the hands off Viagra for, and I definitely like pitch that in like our meetings and stuff, but I think you're right, like day of, I do think they like a little bit of that. And so it is like that five lines I'm like, Oh yeah, we'll just kind of let you go do whatever. But then my day I'd be like, Hey, can you, but then they appreciate that a lot more. And they're not paying attention to it as much as like. I had the time. Oh, we don't like, we don't want a lot of that, but they actually kind of do. They just don't know. They need a little like. You know, let's let's w R can you, can you move over there and a little better? Can you do this, or can you do that versus like, just like you said, just letting everything go and just hoping that it works out. Yeah. I'm sure you've had 'em. Experiences. People at the wedding telling you what to do, or like, Oh, are you getting this shot? Yeah. I've had some, some like mother of the bride, you know, telling me like, Hey, that's my. You know, that's my daughter. What are you doing? Go and get it. And I like my second shooters on it anyways. Yes. That's part of the time. Can you go get back? Can you go do that? I don't want me to go deep. Yeah. I usually use the cell. I'm like, Oh, thanks. This is my first wedding. That's helpful. To get that networks at all. Yeah, I really appreciate that. I'll go get that. So thank you for. Or like, you'll have like, filmed, like the flower girl for like 18 minutes. And then you turn like one second and then she did you get that? And you're. Oh, like, it doesn't work that way. It's not like your phone that you can just hold that for an hour and like hope to capture. Yeah. Luckily, luckily though, everyone I've worked with has been awesome and. Yes, let me do my thing. And most people, they don't know what they want, you know, in this industry, which is. Which is great. And it gives you the. The opportunity to wow. And show them what they want. I guess so. Yeah. I guess last question and that we probably should have gotten to this earlier would just moving up. What's it been like coming into the Seattle market? I know, like you said, you're trying to network and meet new people. Have you, you know, what's, I don't know. I won't preface the question too much. What's it been like getting her in the Seattle market and trying to do video up here? You know, like I said, I've only been out here a year. So I'm still trying to get connected. I've actually still gone down to Sacramento to do some for my friends. So yeah, I've, I've been getting connected more and at my job I've had people refer weddings to me. Unfortunately, COVID has a push those back. People, you know, next year is going to be a huge year for weddings. So, yeah, we'll see you next year, but yeah, right now I'm just focusing on networking, getting to know people and I've, I've gotten some. Some weddings, some connections that way. I mean, right now, Like I said he can't meet people in person. So I've been hopping into Facebook and LinkedIn and meeting people that way. So I'm still getting to, to know people, but I'm excited for, for the future up here. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you reaching out. Like I said, I'm happy that feature more videographers on the podcast, I guess that we just don't get. The, I, I think videographers are, are not the best, always at marketing. And he gave him themselves out there. And so I appreciate people that are, because I mean that, like, I just think a lot of them just like, kind of. I don't know, or, you know, like talk with photographers. Hey, who'd you fill in that wedding with, I don't know some they're running around. I don't know. So I, I, I mean, I appreciate people that, you know, that reach out and are excited about networking and meeting new people because. I think that we as videographers need to do a better job of, of doing that. So I do mean that, and I appreciate you coming on. If people want to learn more about you and see your website and your films and your wedding sandwiches. Awesome. I was looking through it the other day. When you reached out, where would you have them do in, in check out? Yeah, for weddings, www.souloriginalmedia.com/weddings. Plenty of examples of my work. And you know, whether you're looking to have your wedding film there just want to make me reach out. I'd love to meet you. So yeah. It does. And the name, soul original. So that's cause I was reading through a lot of your, your tax and where are you talking about? Just the emotion. Right. And kind of capturing that is that, can you just talk behind? Cause I think that's an interesting name and we're just goes into your filming philosophy too. So could you expand on that a little bit? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, they happen too. So, you know, solar original was kind of birthed out of this idea that everyone is an original soul. No, one's the same. Everyone's got a unique story. And it's my pleasure to tell those stories and, you know, cause I realize everyone has value and everyone is a sole original as I call it. You know, there's that fridge phrase. You know, or. Combination of words, whatever solar original you're the sole original S O L E usually. But I believe everyone is an original soul, soul original. So. That's kind of the meaning behind it. So yeah, I'm also on Instagram. Facebook, you can follow those. I've got a Facebook page and solar regional media on both. So, yeah. Very good. I love it because like I said, I think when you go on the site and you re like it just instantly, I just think if you do a good job of just studying that, like who you are and what you're looking for. Right. I am, like I was saying before with, you know, portfolios and stuff and just like. Standing out and just having like a voice. And so I think going on and reading that stuff and seeing your work, I think that that voice comes across. So I think that that's good, but so, so good, good work with that. But that was just trying to kind of. I wanted to have any C's to talk about that a little bit. So good general. Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm going to butcher her last name, but lavender bouquet photography she'll know her. On Tuesday. So we've got a great kind of new, fresh line up of three people. You know this time of year, it's tough to connect with people now, and it's good to see old friends and it's getting to meet new friends. I appreciate you reaching out. Yeah, thanks for having me on. This has been another episode of Get to Know Your Wedding Pro®.