Wedding Planning Excellence – WPE ’11
As a director for the UKAWP I am very excited about one of our upcoming seminars for wedding planners, back for its 3rd year WPE aims to empower wedding planners and motivate them for the busy and quiet times. This year as well as being behind the scenes to help organise the event I am delighted to announce I will also be a speaker. I will be presenting on the Friday afternoon and hope to help the attendees understand the complexities involved with marquee functions. Each speaker has completed a Q&A for the UKAWP blog but I thought you might be interested as well, so keep reading for my answers!
What’s your USP?
I specialise in marquee events in East Anglia and have become well known for using a twist on ‘Country English’ functions.
What’s your signature dish (personality or food)?
A big pot of hot chili – perfect for minimal effort at parties, strange thing for a party planner to say I know!
How would your clients describe you?
Clients always comment on how calm I am both in the planning process and on the day itself, they have said this in turn helps them stay calm!
Have you ever had a challenging client and how did you deal with it?
There have been a few! I remember one controlling groom a few years ago was incredibly rude to me and suppliers we were meeting that day. The final straw was when he questioned every suggestion I made. I decided to cancel the contract as I won’t work with anyone who deems it acceptable to talk down to me or disregard any advice that they are paying me for. I agree with Siobhan that you need to set boundaries from the start; if you answer your mobile from clients at 11pm then they will feel this is acceptable for future calls.
If you could plan/ be involved in a celebrity wedding (alive or dead) whose would it be?
I would love to plan a wedding for any member of Take That, I’m not fussy! I think they would be a lot of fun to work with, I’d have no trouble finding a good evening band + lets face it looking at them (any of them) during planning meetings would be a joy J
What’s your biggest achievement since launching?
One of my biggest achievements was recognizing the need for an alliance of wedding planners in the UK. I am so proud of what the UKAWP has done over the years, the dedication of my fellow directors and the enthusiasm of our members.
Whenever I have a large marquee event with 30+ suppliers I feel proud that everyone arrives on time and the schedule go according to plan – at the end of the evening I breath a huge sigh of relief because with marquees you never know what ‘could happen’! I hope to cover some of these scenarios at WPE….
What is your vice?
Reading far too many Romance Novels – just as well I work in the industry for romance!
Describe yourself in 3 words
Professional, loyal, imaginative (I have too many ideas floating around sometimes)
Name one blog you follow religiously
Oh gosh, only one that is difficult. Can I cheat and say I love reading www.kerrymorgan.com/photoblog & www.lloyddobbie.com/blog to have a peak at their recent weddings + www.stylemepretty.com to see what those creative US brides are doing AND www.lovemydress.net to see what creative brides in the UK are doing.