WPIC Planner of the Month:

 Photo by: ENV Photography

by: Kim Choy

Monica opened her wedding planning company – Aisle Plan Your Day – in 2006; she has been in business for five years now.  She decided to take the WPIC Course after many years of being the one to plan the weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, showers, and stags & stagettes for her family and friends.  So many people in her life encouraged her to make a career out of planning all of these milestone events.   Prior to planning these big events, Monica wanted to get into radio/television or fashion design, but she ended up following her passion and get into wedding and event planning.  (We’re glad to have her!)

“I knew in my heart I had a true passion for planning so it only made sense to proceed with this career” ~ Monica

The name Aisle Plan Your Day was thought of because Monica wanted a company name that created some type of emotional response and described to her clients what she does.  Choosing a name that started with an “A” was important to her as it allowed for her to be at the top of directories without having to invest into higher ranking and placement marketing.

Starting out, Monica invested her money into the Yellowpages advertising and social media websites.  She started to attend many wedding planning conferences, this was important because it allowed her to network with other vendors in Canada and beyond.  Networking with others beyond Canadian borders was important for Aisle Plan Your Day’s  growth since Monica knew that working with destination weddings was her ultimate goal with her business.  Establishing and maintaining relationships with vendors early on helped to create some innovative cross-promotion ideas with various companies.

“In our industry, networking and attending conferences on a regular basis is an integral part of success, as it’s important to form new relationships and stay up to date on current trends within the industry, so that we can offer the best to our clients.” ~ Monica

Monica is also a WPIC instructor.  Monica’s favourite part of being an instructor is being able to share her knowledge and stories of hardships and successes as a wedding planner. “Being able to advise on all aspects of wedding planning to new wedding planners in the industry is so rewarding, when I see how their determination has led to success in their own lives” says Monica about teaching for WPIC Inc.

She is thankful to WPIC for allowing her to travel across Canada and worldwide to teach and network with hundreds of wedding planners in the industry.

“I truly love my job as an instructor for WPIC and having the opportunity to be the first point of entry into the business is very rewarding.” ~ Monica

Monica’s favourite part of her job as a wedding planner is the creative planning process.  She likes to work with couples that like to think “out of the box” and create personal touches that reflect their personalities rather than creating a “cookie cutter” wedding.

Among other things, Monica loves being able to bring the couple’s vision to life on their wedding day.  Since she plans destination weddings, she loves that she has the opportunity to attend FAM trips to view and explore the various resorts and private venues available to her clients.  “I truly love travel and being able to incorporate travel into my wedding planning career is something I have always wanted to do” says Monica of planning destination weddings.

“Being involved in WPIC has opened so many doors in terms of creating partnerships with various resort chains and travel partners.” ~ Monica

Like most planners, Monica says that the worst part of her job is the “after the wedding is over” stage.  Being a main contact for a year or so, clients tend to become close friends through the planning process.

One of Monica’s most favourite weddings to date was an English/Scottish themed wedding.  They were a young and hip couple looking to create a very special day for their 220 guests.  Many of their guests came from other countries for their wedding, therefore the couple really wanted to include a variety of cultural traditions from the food to the music.  The bride’s family wore the family tartan, there were bagpipers at the ceremony and reception.  Scottish children performed highland dancing at the reception.  The father of the bride even learned how to play the bagpipes a month prior to the wedding so he could perform a surprise for the grand entrance at the reception.

Another favourite, is a destination wedding she planned for clients and their 60 guests in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  The couple were from Iqualit, Northwest Territories and wanted to incorporate some of the Inuit tradition into their wedding day in the Caribbean.  The couple had custom-made traditional Inuit groomsmen wedding clothing designed in their wedding colours for the groom and his groomsmen to wear at the ceremony.  They were in thick wool, long-sleeved shirts in 35⁰C for a beachside ceremony; however it was important for the groom to incorporate this element into their wedding day.

Monica admires so many people in the wedding industry, especially within the WPIC Family.  When deciding to focus her business on destination weddings, Monica put a lot of consideration into someone she wanted to work with to represent the travel aspect of her business.  Jenn Borgh, who is also WPIC Certified, works very closely with Monica to help plan Aisle Plan Your Day’s destination weddings.

Being a WPIC Instructor, Monica has had the opportunity to receive first hand advice, experience and training with Danielle Andrews Sunkel and Tracey Manailescu (Co-Founders of The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada).  She has gained the knowledge necessary on all aspects of wedding planning from etiquette, business set-up, networking, marketing and so much more.  Danielle and Tracey have guided her and believed in her every step of the way.

“I am truly fortunate to have such amazing mentors in my wedding planning career, not only are Danielle and Tracey business associates and mentors; I consider them to be very dear friends.” ~ Monica

Some of Monica’s favourite celebrity wedding planners are Preston Bailey, Jung Lee and Colin Cowie.  Monica was fortunate enough to be able to meet Colin Cowie in Nassau, The Bahamas in November 2010.  Monica says she used to write Oprah on a regular basis begging for a chance to grant her wish of being able to meet Colin in person and to shadow him for a day of work.

“It was incredible meeting him and hearing firsthand of his experiences and advice for success” ~ Monica

If Monica could choose any celebrity to plan their wedding, it would be Oprah Winfrey and Stedman.  Why?  Because they have been a couple for so many years and truly represent the foundation for a lasting relationship.  “I can only imagine all of the elements that would be incorporated into the wedding and the trends that would be created from their nuptials.  Everything about the wedding would be over the top and elaborate!!”, says Monica when describing her dream of being Oprah’s wedding planner!

Over the years of running Aisle Plan Your Day, Monica has learned that the wedding planning career is very slow to start off until you have the opportunity to build a portfolio and showcase your talents to future clients.  The biggest learning opportunity was when she had to determine rate for services and the hours and time that go into planning a wedding.  In order to create more learning opportunities for new wedding planners in the industry, Monica tries to not use a regular assistant for her weddings.  There are always so many new alumni who are looking for volunteer opportunities to gain experience and build portfolios, Monica tries to give them a chance to build their confidence and gain firsthand experience.

The best advice Monica gives to new WPIC Alumni is to attend regular networking events and conferences to build relationships with other vendors and keep connections in the industry.