A Guide For Wedding Professionals During The COVID-19 Pandemic

With social distancing in place to help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many social gatherings have been put to a stop. This is undeniably a very trying time for those in the wedding industry, feeling the burden of the sudden shift in business operations. Jamie Wolfer and Heather Loree Fier address the elephant in the room in this episode to help you navigate this challenging wedding season. Packed with actionable guidance, they show you that there is a way to keep your business in everyone’s mind. With some creativity, collaboration, and focus, you can emerge from this season of chaos and fear much stronger and even more ready to take on big challenges.

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A Guide For Wedding Professionals During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Jaime: Here’s an episode I never thought we would have to make, but we’re going to talk about how to shift, change and strengthen your business in the face of everything that’s going around with a COVID-19, the Coronavirus. We know that this is a difficult time. We do feel like with a couple of key steps and a couple of shifts in your business, we can all manage to get through this a lot more successful if we lean into each other, if we come up with some great content, if we diversify our revenue streams and we do the ever so fun housekeeping. I hope you enjoy this episode. Let’s get it started.

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Heather: This is an unprecedented time. Couples are having total tailspin meltdowns at this point working out. They’re postponing, canceling, and they’re moving ahead with a handful of guests, but for us vendors, this is also a crisis situation. Jamie and I wanted to hop on here and have something for you with some ideas of how to weather this storm.

Jaime: We want to be clear. We’re aware that this is a sensitive time for all of us and this is not only emotionally draining, but it’s financially draining as well. We sat down and came up with some ideas of how we could strengthen and fortify our businesses in this time, and the choices that we can make moving forward to make sure that we’re not only feeling emotionally better because we need to give a lot of space for those emotions but financially better. What decisions can we make moving forward that can be scaffolding around what feels like a crumbling building of our business?

Affiliate marketing is a simple and easy way to bring in another stream of revenue. Click To Tweet

Heather: The first place to start is to realize the situation is what it is. It is not fair. It is pure craziness in the world, but we have the opportunity of how we are going to react to it. With our businesses, we are either going to rise to the occasion and I truly believe you can find the most success you’ve ever found in your business at this time or sit back, do completely normal business as usual with no adjustments. That may lead to some problems down the line for your business. That could even lead to things not even being able to continue.

Jaime: That’s not what we want for you people. One of the first concepts that Heather and I were spitballing, and these are all things that we’re passionate about, but we see that there’s much more poignant with what we’re facing. One of the first things that we’re talking about in the community and leaning into each other. We have both seen vendors coming together to create elopement bundles, where a photographer, a planner, and a florist or perhaps even a videographer will come together and create a perfectly curated little package for those who want to have their wedding day sooner rather than later and get all of their services in a one-stop-shop.

Wedding During COVID-19: Feel free to be honest with where you’re at because that’s going to connect you to the people that are following you.

Heather: You’ve got to realize that your clients or these couples are emotionally, mentally, and financially exhausted. Anything you can do to make their life easier is going to be a win as far as your offerings. Whether that’s for an elopement or a package you offer for couples who maybe have decided to postpone at this time and their original vendors are no longer available. Maybe they are newly engaged and they’re frightened by the landscape of this industry and they’re going to go ahead and start looking to book and they want something simple and fun for them. That might be another way that you could utilize this bundle set up.

Jaime: I do truly feel like after all of this has settled, we are going to see a serious uptick in inquiries. We are going to see a surge and people rallying together and being like, “Let’s get our wedding day going. Let’s make this happen.” Once these bans, the pressure, stress, fear, and panic has lifted, we are going to see a surge in events and that does create a problem because we are only one person or we’re only one company. Another idea that we had, something that we enjoy and we’re huge advocates of is collaborating, finding other vendors in your same space that you can refer people to because soon, we will have no scarcity mindset. It will be an abundance of inquiries and events. That’s the hope that I’m personally clinging onto and I cannot wait for that to happen. My hope is it happens to you as well. Start these connections and conversations of another planner that you can turn to you if your schedule is full up because that’s my hope. My hope is your schedule gets slammed in the next 4 or 5 months and you are like, “I have too many inquiries. I don’t know what to do with them.” That’s a great opportunity for referral fees.

Heather: In addition to this version that Jamie has laid out with that optimistic rose-colored glasses view, that’s possible and I hope that happens. I’m also going to say with people postponing, you are going to run into couples who would love to continue with your services, but the new date that they want or the date that they can secure with the venue that they had in mind, does not line up with your schedule. You will need to set up some alliance with other people who do what you do to refer work back and forth to get your schedule full in a way that is plausible. Because unfortunately, you may have stuff booked in the latter part of the year and all the early part of the year, it’s going to get stacked on top of it. Things are going to get pretty crowded.

Jaime: I didn’t even consider adding that on because that’s true. At this point, we only have 2 or 3 events that are being postponed by the grace of God. I couldn’t figure out why we didn’t have a full spring in 2020 and that is working to our advantage. I know that many calendars are going to flip quickly with these postponements. Heather, you’re spot on with this.

Heather: I think that’s something you should all be thinking about is how you can be prepared for what will be a big wave in the second half of 2020 and early 2021.

Jamie: Another thing that you can be doing is to get some content out there. Make sure that brides and grooms still have access to your voice or your face and while the video platform is an amazing way to make that happen, like YouTube and I’ve been doing better about Instagram Stories. Thank you, but it would be a great time to start a blog. It would be a great time to jump on someone else’s podcast. If you want to come to join us sometime, we would be more than happy to have you, subtle plug.

Heather: That’s good. Email us or chat.

Jaime: She doesn’t email. It’s perfectly fine. It is the time to create digital content or participate in digital content so clients still have the opportunity to get to know you before they book you or in this interim time to offer them advice or insight into what you do. I promise you, there are ideas out there and people want to hear your opinion on them. People want to hear what you have to say about things. I did talk to a vendor who was like, “I am shy. I do not want to go on Instagram stories.” That’s perfectly fine. What can you do? Can you write? Can you share articles and add little blurbs on your Instagram story of why that was important or what you thought about it? That’s still maintaining a voice in the time when everyone’s going to be glued to their computers, phones or televisions because there’s only so much we can take of the four walls of our own home. Am I right?

Heather: You’re right. If you’re trapped at home with children, it’s a whole another level. You’re going to be looking at your phone for a reprieve.

Jaime: I feel that on a deep spiritual level.

Heather: What Jamie’s saying here is wise. You’re going to have to keep yourself out there in the mix. Even if you’re scared, even if things are a little uncertain, you got to keep yourself in front of your audience, connecting with them and supporting them. That’s the part to keep the frame of reference that your clients, your perfect avatar is scared. Whether they had a wedding already booked and it is getting postponed, or they’re engaged and looking at this hellscape of the wedding industry, and they’re confused and afraid to sign a single contract until things settle down. Realize that is what your ideal clients are dealing with and you need to be gentle and support them and wait it out because eventually, they will be ready to move forward.

Anything you can do to make your clients’ life easier is going to be a win. Click To Tweet

Jaime: We’re that you don’t have to be showing a false sense of positivity. I released a video about this whole situation and I got teary in multiple times filming it, recording it, and the number of comments that I received from brides and grooms saying, “Thank you for giving us space to feel these emotions. Thank you for being raw and real and vulnerable.” We’re not saying that you have to go out there and project sunshine and rainbows. That’s not the case. If that’s not what you’re feeling, please don’t feel the need to fake it. We don’t want to be all doomsday. It’s probably not great for the branding, but feel free, to be honest with where you’re at because that’s going to connect you to the people that are following you. The people that are hearing your voice, whether that’s your actual voice or your written voice, whatever it happens to be. Don’t feel like you have to go out there and be like, “Everything’s great. I am fine.” It’s not and that’s okay.

Heather: It is not an ideal situation for any of us, who are a service-based business. One thing I saw someone doing which was smart, who’s a local photographer here in San Diego, she was doing a shout out on her Facebook page saying, “People I’ve worked with before, if you’re planning on getting photos with me in the coming year, if you are able to, if you can buy a gift certificate from me, this is going to help keep a roof over my head in this interim. I am happy to service your family and take photos of you whenever, as we’re allowed to leave our house again, but I need money in the door.” She was transparent about it, and because she has a built-up business, a following, people she’s worked with many times, I saw a lot commenting, “Where do I buy my gift certificate?” That’s another thing to think about too, depending on what service you offer there may be that opportunity.

Jaime: How many wedding planners could cut off advice, jump on a phone call with a wedding planner for an hour for X amount of dollars? If it’s an extra $50 in your pocket and it brings someone else peace and security, that’s a great way to make sure you’re still helping people out. You’re still connecting. You do have a skillset and this can help somebody.

Heather: I think we were going to talk about thinking about the skills you have with your community in a larger way. Often, in the wedding industry, we stay hyper-focused to working within our industry. Those of you who have different skills and crafts you’ve mastered, there are ways you can serve folks outside of this industry. That may be something that helps bridge the gap for you. A lot of restaurants, a lot of different businesses of all types are closed down, but as they reopened, they may be looking for ways to draw in the community, draw in people with excitement and relaunch and reopen. Going in and connecting with those people or at this point, emailing or messaging them and going, “Can I set up a flower display when you have your big reopening? Can I come to help you plan a party to celebrate this?” Whatever your skillset is, finding ways to contribute that in your community and build a deeper group of connections in a network.

Jaime: If you use that restaurant analogy, if you’re a DJ, “Can I DJ when you reopen? Can I be there? I’ll play soft music in the background. I’ll have some cards on my table.” If you’re a florist, that was a great idea to have some florals on display. Make sure you have a card nearby. If you’re a photographer, offer to photograph their grand opening or reopening. Videographers offer to make a little highlight reel for them. There are many skills that you can bring to the table and that was quick off the top of my head. I’m either genius or it is that simple. I do think that it is such a good idea. How can you diversify what you’re doing and in the next few months? As we’re doing this, there’s not going to be a lot of out about type things, but you can start prepping that work when people need out in public a little bit more than you’re available and you have jobs waiting for you.

Wedding During COVID-19: Whatever your skill set is, find ways to contribute that in your community and build a deeper group of connections in a network.

Heather: This is leaning into the collaboration in the community. It’s a huge aspect of building a business that can have a diversified income. Another thing that we wanted to talk about was being an affiliate for some products, going a little more digital-based and sharing resources that can help your audience.

Jaime: Affiliate marketing is a simple and easy way to bring in another stream of revenue. I know that Heather and I have offered affiliate opportunities with each of our courses and I know with her expo, it does gain talks for that one too.

Heather: They’re all over the place out there. I sincerely only ever recommend things that I would recommend if I were not being paid a dollar, but it is nice if they’re giving you some dollars anyway.

Jaime: If you do have something that you can create your own affiliate link with, do that. I was having a conversation with the owner of Married Livestream. Their concept for the business is genius. I met them at the Bridal Bizarre in January 2020 and they basically will come to your event and live stream it for the people who can’t make it. As you can imagine, at this time, my hope for them is that their business is going to explode. My hope for them is that they can use this as an opportunity to bless people with such an amazing skill set that not a lot of people are doing. One of my first questions out of my mouth was, “Do you have any affiliate links?” I was like, “Let me be clear. I love what you do and I’m going to promote you anyways. I did, I have, and I will continue to do so, but you might find that people are more inclined to share your business if you have an affiliate link.” They didn’t get one set up in time and that’s okay. I’m still going to share them. I’m still going to talk about them. I’m sitting talking about Married Livestream. Dale is incredible and I hope to have the opportunity to work at an event with him in the future, but if you have some digital option, if you have something like that, create your own affiliate link too.

Heather: For those of you who are vendors who are like, “I hate that you are mentioning these affiliate opportunities. This is taking business away from the local vendors.” I hear you, but there is the reality that these couples, especially those impacted by postponement, are going to be on more limited budgets. They’re going to have to look at some online-based options, maybe some options that don’t include a local vendor for every single segment of their wedding and that’s the reality of it. With potentially going into recession, all these things that are being talked about and swirling around on the news and this big fear spiral, there is a reality that couples may be on tighter budgets. As vendors, getting yourself equipped to share guidance that will help couples on any budget is probably a wise decision.

Jaime: This brings us to the next section and that is business housekeeping. I know everyone on the internet and all across social media is talking about, how much they’re cleaning their own homes, but how much time are you spending cleaning up your business? I know it doesn’t sound like fun, but you’ve been thinking about freshening up your website for months anyway. You haven’t changed out a sweat for the past 72 hours. This might the time to sit down and update some of those photos. It is maybe the time to sit down and start writing a blog. You have the time. You’re not wearing real pants. You don’t have much use or anywhere to go. It’s time to get out the scrub brush and get behind the scenes on your website and make it squeaky clean.

Heather: Work on gathering those testimonials from the clients who raved about you and sent you a beautiful thank you card but never posted anything online about it. A follow-up on all the sales funnels and backend systems that you have. Make sure that things are working in the most automated way, so as work starts coming in, you are getting a maximum amount of money per hour you’re working. All that is going to be completely reliant on the systems you put in place and how tightly you have your business on a nice little sales path. All those great tools that can be there and help you, it is the time to invest that frontend energy to build those out.

Jaime: That for me is HoneyBook because that is an operating system that gets and saved me. You all know that I used to handle all of my clients and three-ring binders. Each client had their own binder. It was ridiculous. It was addictive, like, “What was wrong with me?” I moved to Google Drive and like, “I could do this. This is cool. I’m digital.” Finding an operating system that works the way my brain works for weddings has been immensely helpful. Maybe it’s time to poke around those different types of ideas and online systems that can help you streamline that is dedicated to wedding vendors. As great as Google Drive is, I use it for so much, we still need something that’s specifically honed in for what we’re doing. That would be a great option for you to check out.

There are ideas out there and people want to hear your opinion on them. Click To Tweet

Heather: There are tons of great tools out there. I’ve mentioned on my blog, Timeline Genius, as something for planners, it is exceptionally helpful to dial back the amount of time you’re investing per wedding. Make those timelines gorgeous without having to put a ton of work in. There are tools out there left and right. We can link some of them on this page for those of you who are interested and want to tighten up the system in your system. You’re going to want things to be as optimized as they can be because this is a way of that, we’re at the bottom of it and it’s going to crash. In time, things are going to be a different situation for us. You’re going to want to be prepared for that and able to handle every bit of that workload coming your way. It’s an interesting time and we’re looking ahead at something where in this interim, some businesses may crumble and a lot of others are going to make great decisions and thrive. We wanted to give you a little bit of guidance that would help make sure you’re on that side of the equation.

Jaime: There is one more idea that I’ve been strongly ruminating on for a long time. One of my dearest friends called the older brother we never wanted. He is with Bunim/Murray Productions. He also has a YouTube channel. You should check them out because he’s a gem. He’s a little annoying to me because he is an older brother we never wanted, but we do adore him. One thing that he did early on in his business is he formed associate teams because he wanted to make sure that they always had price points in a zone that people could afford. Something that you could consider doing is maybe building out that associate team. What does that look like on top of having collaborations with other wedding planners? Perhaps it is the time that you raise an intern. It is the time that you look at the assistant that’s been working for you. I think you’re ready. Let’s get you ready. We miss-hits and we’re ready to go. Not only does it offer you the opportunity to have someone as potentially a slightly lower price point so you can suit more budgets out there, but also frees up your schedule because potentially, you could take two weddings on Wednesday instead of one.

As a last little bit of housekeeping, maybe it’s the time to lean into your team and say, “Let’s do this. I’m going to teach you how we’ve got some time. We’re not going to be in person, but we’re going to jump on Skype and we’re going to talk about what this looks like and how you can successfully run a wedding day. Let’s talk about different floral designs or let’s walk through how to photograph this moment and lean into building out that team because then, it’s not just you.” It’s not only one wedding in one day or potentially, you do still keep it like that, but you have options because we will see in the next months or so. There’s going to be a drastic shift in this, so making sure that you have a team to lean on could be another great housekeeping thing for you to work on.

Heather: As the excitement of the Coronavirus, I’m dealing with a bit of a situation on the home front, which many of you will be working from home, which adds a whole new factor to the ballgame. Good luck and Godspeed on that to all of you parents working at home with your children right next to you all day.

Jaime: I feel this moment hard. I have three children myself. Sometimes a baby just needs mama. I feel like we’ve shared much of our hearts with you in this and we are grateful that you have allowed us into this space in your lives. I know I speak on behalf of Heather and myself when I say, thank you for reading. We are humbled and honored to have you and we hope that this inspires you moving forward. We hope to continue to be a resource that pushes you and encourages you and makes you get the tough stuff done. Sometimes, you might not like it but squeak it. Clean up that website. Work on your team. Look for some affiliate links and lean into the community because the only way we’re going to get through this successfully is with each other. If we buckle down, make sure that we’re cleaning up a lot of this stuff to make sure we’re super successful when the ban finally lifts at the end of all this.

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