Weddingbee PRO
As of September 1st, I am officially self-employed, and am proud to say that Eclectic Unions is my full time gig.
Since its inception in 2008, I have been dividing my time, working at a full time day job and running my Celebrant business. It has been very busy, but very rewarding.
Earlier this month, I decided it was time. I never expected my Celebrancy practice to get off the ground so quickly, and I feel so lucky, every single day, that I get to do what I do. I am so happy that I get to share these amazing, incredible, and inspired moments in my couple's lives, and truly feel blessed.
I couldn't have done it without the near endless support I've received from so many people in my life, especially my mom, my best friend Lindsey, and my fiance Dan. They have each helped to get me started in more ways than one, and I am lucky to have such a fabulous support system.
But most of all, I need to thank you – my amazing couples (past, current, and future), and my blog readers. Because of you, I get to wake up with a smile on my face every morning, and I get to follow my passion and my dreams.
It means the world to me.
Six seasons in, the shocked look on someone's face who has just learned what I do and the demographics of my clientele never gets old.
This happened most recently last week, while lunching with the other entreverge winners (there are five of us total and no, we didn't all bring our electric guitars), a now monthly appointment. In the typical getting-to-know-you early conversation, my fellow entrepreneurs spoke of their customers who are mostly local (or regional at best). Mine? Tho I love them and feel as tho I know them like neighbors, most are married in Maine but live elsewhere. And get this, I usually don't lay eyes on them until their actual wedding day.
Thankfully my virtual studio, aka my website, includes anything and everything an inquiring bride might want to learn about me including a video that showcases my Portland studio, happy clients and me! Seeing and hearing someone is bounds more effective than just reading the usual narrative text or client quote. Add phone calls, emails and regular Twitter and Facebook interactions, and far away couples all feel comfortable booking me and greet like we're old friends with excited hugs on their wedding day.
And while I've known this to be the case- most clients marrying local who are not local- since moving my business to Maine five (gulp! That went by fast!!) years ago, I've never really known how much most is exactly. I ran some numbers and put together some graphs and pie charts to show you. Because, really, who doesn't love pie (Two Fat Cats, for the record and for those of you out-of-towners seeking Portland's best, has my vote for best blueberry this time of year).
In 2009, emilie inc. booked 50 weddings. One was canceled and one was postponed, so that leaves us with 48. Of those couples:
- 83% live out of state, 17% live in Maine.
- 58% married in Maine, 21% in New Hampshire, 15% at destination locations (Mexico, St. John, Costa Rica, etc), 6% in Massachusetts. For those marrying in Maine who do not live here, most grew up vacationing here, perhaps went to college here or some have never been at all and picked it from browsing online!
Here are a couple more pictures from the Modern Bride Trendsetters Dinner that the pr agency sent over. It’s the only pictures I have of myself accepting the award! 
Christian Siriano looking fierce as always.
After spending a lot of time with other wedding professionals this past month, I seem to see a recurring issue. Many of us have been adversely affected by the economy. One vendor friend of mine recently told me that she was hopeful about 2010 until several of her brides started to cancel their consultations. Other professionals who are very well established and seasoned veterans asked me what they should do to drum up business, while another reduced their fees to be competitive and still continues to have issues with their bottom line. A few are puzzled that some are doing great while others are tanking. The question that everyone seems to ask is how to drum up business in this tough economy. Is there a solution?
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How do you drum up business? How do you keep one's business healthy in this troubled economy? Why is one business doing well while another equal business is suffering?
I'm not sure I'll answer all the questions but the first, most important thing to do in drumming up business is this:
Client Service is Key
Making sure that I take care of my clients is my number one priority. I use the term clients very loosely. A client to me could be a vendor, a direct customer (bride, groom, MOB), a purchasing agent, an editorial vehicle, a neighbor, a venue, etc.
Treating my clients with remarkable service has helped me to stay afloat during difficult times. There is a saying, “don't bite the hand that feeds you”. It's true. The better I service my clients, the better the health of my business. This also means going beyond, doing a little something extra.
(At the wedding pictured above, we ended up with two dozen extra roses. We decided to add a few to the chairs - it didn't cost the bride a thing and it was a nice addition to these white folding chairs.)
After taking some time off, I'm finally feeling like my old self again. Nothing like a little r & r to refresh and replenish the soul.
So, I'm turning the big 4-0! To me, it's a defining point in my life. When you know you are almost at the half way point, isn't it natural to want to reexamine the key and focal pieces of your daily existence? My life is my brand, my work, my family, my faith, my fans, my clients, my buddies, my circle of industry friends - all comingling.
Being able to write this blog is my therapy - a gift, a reward, a joy. In keeping with this declaration, I'm adding two new series.
Part One is called W.I.L.L.(Why I Love Life… as a Floral Designer). Each post will feature one reason why I absolutely am passionate about what I do. Of course there are days where I might pull my hair out, but through it all (the stress, the issues, the challenges, the criticism, the mistakes), I've got to find reasons why I do what I do. Anyone who does this day after day must find the motivation behind the actions.
The second series is called My Wedding Heroes. My Wedding Heroes will be stories and interviews with wedding professionals, floral designers, growers - anybody I encounter that help make the wedding day, inspire people, and make a difference. People behind the scenes, unsung heroes, professionals who aren't afraid to help others through sharing great tips or going out of their way. It can be anyone that is making a positive difference in our industry. Some may even be trail blazers.
I thought it would be fun to take a look back at where our branding started for Wiley Valentine and where we ended up today. It's fun to see how our style has changed/developed. Emily and I both seem to always like to design something fresh and new, which has led us to change our logo slightly almost every year since we started!! Here is the visual journey…
This past Friday, the lovely ladies of 100 layer cake, parcel post and oh, hello friend hosted a fabulous event at Urbanic Paper Boutique. It was filled with cupcakes, wine, food and lots of fellow bloggers. I thought I would share a few snippets from the event.
UPDATE #2: Someone submitted this post to The Consumerist!
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UPDATE: The owner of Urban Expressions responded to my email shortly after this post went up earlier today. This is what he or she said:
if the customer responds to me with several foul mouthed emails, they get foul mouthed replys right back. i figured if “fucks” and “shits” and “bitches” was her preferred tongue, I’d speak her language.
by the way i sold this company and all rights to its 1.7 million in inventory as of last week. it now operates under a new name, and at a new address as soon as they are done moving..
so you are wasting your time bashing it, but feel free. I have my money in my hand now.. so bash away ok..have a nice day, and have fun being an E-warrior hiding in the depths of the anonymus internet blogs that no one reads..
But Mrs. Martini’s friend only wrote that one email below. Her fiance did write an angry email to Urban Expressions without her knowledge, but that was only in response to the owner’s comments below. I believe that it was not a customer service agent that left those comments, as it appears to be a very small company, but the owner him/herself?!
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Mrs. Martini was supposed to help a friend create her escort cards over a recent weekend, and they had been waiting on a craft punch to arrive in the mail. When the website where the punch was purchased showed that it hadn’t been shipped some time after the order had been placed, Mrs. Martini’s friend wrote them the following email:
I ordered this over a week ago and it still has not been shipped!! Your shipping policy states that most items will be shipped within 48 hours unless otherwise specified - you guys did not specify otherwise! When will this item be shipped out?? I would like some kind of compensation for the delay. Sincerely, *****
Since I answer most of the customer service emails at Weddingbee and get all kinds of emails from users, I can understand that the tone of the email might have irked the person who responded. However, this was the response she received:
In her previous career Judy was a teacher. These days she continues to care for delicate little ones helping them reach maximum potential, too… but these don't talk back.
Judy is one of Maine's most brilliant floral designers. I had the pleasure of meeting her three years ago at a Grace Ormonde luncheon at the Retreat at French's Point, an elaborate industry event Judy designed. I've been lucky to work with Judy at many weddings since, always excited to capture the visual variety of her wedding bouquets and tablescapes. She works hard to capture each of her couple's taste and personality, all with a trademark Judy smile and spunk.
Many florists have their flowers shipped to them directly, but Judy prefers to visit the Boston Flower Exchange each week to personally pick the stems needed for each upcoming weekend affair. Hearing stories of the scene, I thought it might be fun to join her with my camera and show you the process.
I met Judy at 4a.m. to begin our adventure. This meant waking up at 3a.m., just two hours after my typical bedtime. Oy. Thank goodness for 24/7 Tim Horton's.
I’d always been enamored with the Daily Candy illustrations because they were so iconic — as soon as you saw them, you instantly thought Daily Candy. I wanted similarly iconic graphics for Weddingbee, so I scoured the net for a graphic designer until I came across the work of Paige Pooler, whose cheery, girly work instantly resonated with me. We worked together on the bride illustration until it had that perfect fun, friendly vibe that I envisioned for Weddingbee.
With the bride ready to go, I came up with an idea that I think has largely shaped Weddingbee’s brand to date. Instead of using our bloggers’ actual names, I decided that each author would blog under a character handle. Since my name is Bee, I would be Mrs. Bee, and our initial authors would select another character within the bug generation.
Working with a very limited budget at the time, I purchased the following illustrations off istockphoto for about $2 each.
Using characters like Miss Ladybug and Miss Caterpillar has served many purposes: 1) it allows bloggers to maintain some anonymity because they don’t use their real names, 2) it’s much easier for our readers to remember Miss Ant rather than Jane, especially when you have 25+ bloggers at any given time, 3) our bloggers really identify with the character they select, and 4) it adds to the fun Weddingbee brand.
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