By: Tracey Manailescu, WPIC Co-founder and Vice President
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” Dale Carnegie
Avoiding Industry Burn-out
When do you feel most inspired and passionate about the wedding industry and your business? Is it after you work with a great couple? When you meet a FAB new wedding vendor? When you attend a Conference? Don’t you wish that you could bottle that feeling and drink from it whenever you got the ho-hums? I think everyone feels the blahs once in a while. Competition is strong, and it’s difficult, if not down-right impossible, to feel confident and creative ALL of the time.
Being in the wedding industry comes with a ton of pros and cons. A wedding is an emotional event. There is excitement, disappointment, battles of will, family interference, money woes, power struggles and it can be exhausting to be in the middle of it all. There are trends, venues and vendors that would have made your couple’s wedding so much better, but maybe they’ve already signed a contract with someone else before hiring you, or maybe they’ve decided to save money on something you know will make a ton of difference in the end and have decided to not listen to your advice (like a great professional DJ, photographer or decorator.) Sometimes you have to just suck it up against your better judgement and roll with it. It can be really frustrating!
Here are some tips to help keep your head in the game:
Relive Happy Client Memories
Go through photos and thank you cards from past clients whom you adored. There is just something about happy memories that make you feel all warm and happy inside. You had a part in making that wedding wonderful.
De-Clutter
You will be amazed at things you have tucked away for future use, things you felt bad about getting rid of from events, magazines that are out-dated, and event packages where you know you will never work at. Get a new filing system, binders, folders and storage boxes that match, are modern and make your office look good. Get rid of things you do not use and will never use. Your office is a representation of you and your company. Make it work for you. Know where things are, and have them serve a purpose, or get rid of them. De-cluttering actually creates positive energy, calm and clarity.
Brand Make-Over
Have your style, clients, services offered and budgets changed since you started in the wedding industry?
- Hire a professional web designer to make your site more modern, SEO compatible and user friendly. It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can even make one yourself if you know what you are doing. If you don’t, then there are tutorials to help you do it.
- Hire a photographer to get some new headshots done for your “About Me” page. While you are at it, get some branding photos done at the same time. Bring in props that reflect your brand such as your WPIC pin, business cards, mugs, company paraphernalia, laptop, timelines, wedding binder, etc.
- Hire a graphic designer to create a new logo for your company.
Update your contracts and policies
Create templates and standard information emails about your services. Create feedback forms to send out to each set of clients after the wedding. This will save you time and make way for other things that you never had time for. Check the WPIC alumni Group and WPIC Alumni FB group for updated legal contracts.
*Remember to have a lawyer go over any changes that you have made to your contract.
Change your pricing
Maybe it is time to increase your pricing or lower it. You should know by now who you attract to your business. Do you enjoy working with couples for “Full Planning” or are you happiest with “Partial Planning” or even “Month Of” coordination? Have you embraced, “Micro Weddings” due to COVID-19? The smaller and more intimate weddings can be some of the most memorable that you will ever take on. This service is definitely going to stay.
Does your pricing turn them off? Or you getting very demanding clients who expect the world from you, but it is taking too much of your energy and patience? Maybe you need to decrease your amount of clients and increase your pricing, which would allow you to put more effort and time into your couples. Do what feels and works best for you and your company.
Learn a New Skill
Maybe you are not so great at book-keeping. Hire one or take some courses to learn how to do it better. Take a small business course, learn from the amazing people in your own community. I am humbled by all of the talent and brilliant people within WPIC who are constantly learning, growing and offering their time and energy to help us all be better. Sign up for one of their workshops, seminars or conferences. Buy one of their books or write your own!
Take Care of You
Join a gym, go out for weekly coffee or drinks with your friends, go on weekly/monthly date nights with your better half, get a haircut, have a kit-kat break, buy some new clothes to suit your brand, go on a vacation. Only you know what works best for you. Go and do that.
Stay healthy and keep growing!
This was a super refreshing read, thank you so much.
Sometimes I just want to straight up tell couples to delete the word “perfect”. This word and expectation of perfection is soul crushing. One flower out of place or a cake not being an identical replica of something on Google and all chaos and anger breaks loose. It has taken over the entire industry this year and everything I loved about catering weddings has just evaporated. I hear so many stories of other vendors I work with who are just burnt out from being walked all over by clients because they’re too afraid of getting a bad review b/c they established boundaries with clients. The happiest day for the couple has turned into the biggest nightmare for any vendor.
It’s definitely more challenging. Couples need to realize that we have all been through a lot these past two years. We need to keep being the professionals that we are and do some more educating on the matter.