64. How to Become a Wedding Planner

Lesley-Anne Billups is the owner of Elegantly Charming Events. She has always had a passion for event planning and weddings. She has coordinated several weddings along with special events to include a podcast launch party and a book signing. She holds a Masters Certificate in Project Management from the University of Virginia and received her Certification in Planning Weddings and Events from Lovegevity Wedding Planning Institute.
In this episode, we discuss how she made the jump from doing events for family and friends to starting an event planning business. We dig into how she established credibility and began to market her company. Lastly, we talk about how she manages running a well-established business with a full-time job and finds time for her passion, bodybuilding.
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- After doing a few events for friends and family, she decided to start an event planning business
- To establish herself, Leslie chose to get certified as a wedding planner and event specialist
- She also did an internship with a wedding planner to gain a better understanding of what she was getting herself into; online research was also key
The worst thing that can happen is that you fail, but you won’t know unless you try. And even if you do fail, it’s not
really a fail youjust have to rework the plan a little bit andjust keep going and keep tryingand you’ll get there.
- At her first wedding expo in 2015, she was able to secure two clients by trusting in herself and being genuine
- In the beginning, Leslie created her website; however, once she started to get clients she decided to pay a professional to help rebrand the business
- Online reviews, word of mouth, and styled shoots in publications helped Leslie become an authority online
- We discuss how she determined her pricing structure and how it’s changed over the years
- Leslie takes us through what goes into wedding planning depending on the package chosen: day of coordination, partial planning, and full planning
- Leslie is starting to branch out from weddings and also provide event coordination
- We discuss maintaining balance since Leslie has a 9 to 5, runs Elegantly Charming Events, and competes in bodybuilding competitions
- To stay organized she likes to write out her to-do list
Links
- The Wedding Experience – DMV Area
- Aisle Planner
- Later [tool for instagram]
- Canva [create graphics]
Leslie-Anne Billups – Elegantly Charming Events
Website: elegantlycharmingevents.com
Facebook:
Instagram: @elegantlycharmingevents
Pinterest: ECELLC
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Website: nachesnow.com
Shop: DreamsPlansIdeas.com
Facebook: studio78podcast
Instagram: @nachesnow
Youtube: Nache Snow
Pinterest: NacheSnow
Twitter: @nachesnow
LinkedIn: nachesnow
Podcast: Studio 78
- Post Tags:
- event planner
- wedding planner
- Posted In:
- Podcast
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