by Ciara Daykin
When I found out I was pregnant with my son I quickly realized that he was due right in the middle of wedding season. But just because I’m having a baby it doesn’t mean my business can stop! Both my husband and I work for the company so our entire household income is dependent upon Firefly Occasions.
Little nerve racking eh?
Well, you could be in a similar situation…
What if you broke your leg? What if there was a death in the family? What if you got the chicken pox?
All of the above could happen and you need to have a back up plan. It doesn’t matter what stage you’re at in your business or your life, it’s important to put these systems into place now:
1) Get Everything Out of Your Head – It’s great that you know everything about the wedding but what if you suddenly couldn’t be there? Could someone else pick up your event binder and take over easily?
2) Make Friends With Other Planners - I have the luxury of having a full team of planners that could take over for me in a pinch. But if you don’t have a staff you need to find another local wedding planner that would be willing to support you in an emergency and vice versa.
3) Have Reliable Vendors to Support You – I always work with vendors that I know I can rely on. If ever I was really stranded I know I could call my photographer or my cake lady even and they would step in until more help arrived. That’s why sometimes the cheapest vendor is not the best.
4) Make Sure You Always Have Enough Help – There’s nothing worse than thinking “I can do all of this myself.” Even on a normal wedding day you probably shouldn’t be doing everything yourself, at least have one assistant. But if it’s a big job and you’re relying on yourself to do a lot of the setup and work think again. What if you broke your leg and couldn’t get up on a ladder but had no one else in line to help you? What if the bride had a mega emergency and you had to tend to her versus setting up her room. Never shortchange yourself when it comes to help. Charge enough so that you can have the staff you need on hand.
Ciara’s Rockstar Wedding Planner Advice
Every good wedding planner should have a back up plan. Life is fun because it’s unexpected! But don’t let the unexpected forever hurt your business. Your reputation is the most important thing and you don’t want to leave a bride hanging because there’s no rescheduling her big day.
