B.E DRIVEN’S BUSINESS BLOG

Today, I am rounding up the 12 best productivity apps, business apps, and resources I use in running my wedding business. Efficiency and the right tools are KEY to running a successful wedding business, and today, I’m sharing them with you!

If you take a close look at your wedding coordination business, are you doing your best to cater to everyone. Language has the power to create connection and build relationships. Still, it also has the power to put up barriers & generate disconnection. Using inclusive language in your businesses is the most effective way to build connection and create a sense of belonging with all clients. It allows all audiences to be heard, seen, and recognized.

If you know me, you know I am somewhat of a doomsday prepper in regards to my wedding businesses—I am always preparing for the very worst to happen. Because if/when it does (hello pandemic), I want to be as prepared as possible. Enter: The Creative Law Shop by Paige Hulse.

If you're like us, the wedding boom of 2022 has your schedule bursting at the seams… and the inquiries just keep coming. One of the worst feelings is turning away new business because you're simply too busy.

But what if you could expand your team? What if you could train trustworthy coordinators so you could finally take on more weddings without worrying?

From Bronwyn E. Spain and Cecily Hunter of internationally-recognized Spain Ranch, there's FINALLY a comprehensive day-of wedding coordination course available. Together, with our 12 years of wedding coordination (and venue experience), we’ve trained countless day-of wedding coordinators to work at our home venue—something we have never taken lightly as those coordinators are always an extension of our venue and of us. Some of the coordinator’s we’ve trained have even gone on to launch their own successful wedding planning businesses. Today, we’re sharing it ALL with you.

Are you seeing more clients who aren't interested in a "traditional" wedding or uninterested in keeping some of the "traditional" aspects of a wedding day? Here's the good news: No one has to have a traditional wedding. Yep, we said it. Traditions are only special if they are meaningful to the couple

Want to know one of the key ingredients to a successful wedding day? That one area that truly has the power to make or break a wedding reception? It’s the wedding catering team. Here’s how to work with them, not against them, and ensure the day runs smooth.

Picture this: it's 9pm, and you're settling in for the night. You check your phone and see a text from a wedding coordination client who wants something super simple from you; you know you could do it before you go to bed.

We’ve officially hit low stock on B.E AWAY magazine thanks to YOU.

Meet Elaine Van der Merwe-Louwrens, one half of Dust and Dreams Photography. I have worked with Elaine through the last year as I have had the honor of publishing she and her husband Steph’s (the other half to Dust and Dreams) travels. Elaine’s emails read more like thoughtful postcards from a friend, and I am determined to meet her in person after this pandemic subsides and normal travel can resume.

An Interview with Sirena Singleton of Aneris Photography

Meet Sundari Ferris of Sundari Design: a stylist, art director, photographer, brand-specialist, and educator. As of recently, Sundari has been the victim of censorship and shadow-banning on Instagram. Read on for the interview with Sundari to see how dedicated to her work she is and how important it is to give a voice to female-owned businesses.

Meet Pooja Pawaskar of Whirl and Whittle: a woodturner who creates home goods like vases and bowls. She just launched her newest collection: “Your Scars are Beautiful” photographed by Radian Photography with Creative Direction from Janet Lucia St. Clair. Read on for the interview with Pooja to see how she began woodturning and why it is important to support small and female-owned businesses.

Something I am passionate about is featuring female-owned businesses in the creative realm, so when Josie Derrick submitted this gallery of Shana, owner of Iris and Marie press, I was thrilled to start this new part of the blog.

Your wedding is postponed due to COVID-19. Now what?

You cannot survive, let alone thrive, if you are not putting your oxygen mask on first.

Let’s think wiser. What are the very tangible, specific items you will be walking away from this experience with and can you easily justify that those items will lead to you making more money?

Could you prove to a non-entrepreneur, a skeptic, a family member who has no clue what you do for a living—could you easily prove to them the return of this investment? Why or why not?

You can’t get out of it. It doesn’t matter your personality, you cannot grow a successful business without networking…in-person. You have to get off of your laptop and meet real people. Instead of using your introverted-ness as an excuse, let’s talk about how you can feel more confident and woo (yes, I said woo) more potential clients and connections through networking.

However, I keep getting asked, “Do I really need an email list?” Especially those who work in the wedding industry, their reasoning being,

“Shouldn’t my clients only be a one-time experience? So what good is having them on an email list if I can’t sell to them again?”

Such a good question. Let’s dive in:

Think of what would be an ideal day would look like—a realistic ideal day. This isn’t a dream session about yachts and butlers or an Oprah-fancy dream. Just imagine if a typical-for-you day went very well, what would it look like. Maybe you need to do this as a week if you do different things on different days.

Ready to learn the secret I shared with Jenna Kutcher on the Goal Digger Podcast? Let’s dive in.

Celebrating International Women's Day and the 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage with The Modern Pin-Ups. A group of women fighting for community, transparency, vulnerability, and support through dance performance.