HOW CREATIVE CAN I BECOME?

An article that I recently came across and “Digged” was one from the Become a Top Wedding Planner blog, called Become a Top Wedding Planner—Get Inspiration from the San Francisco Wedding Fair.  The article discussed some of the neat ideas Sharron Hill came across during this wedding fair, from event designer Floramor Studios.  The blog showed pictures of tabletop displays inspired by today’s top female singers. The table that stunned me the most was the Brittany Spear table, it just looked absolutely magnificent.  The candelabra centre piece with the crystals and pale pink roses just took my breath away.   I would say that this table was created to really speak to brides that have more of an elegant and sophisticated taste.  It is made for someone that wants something classic but at the same time modern.  I would almost describe it as retro-chic! :)

The Lady Gaga table setting was amazing as well, the dark and rich colors to such screamed Lady Gaga too me.  The centre piece for this table was what really caught my eye; and I can imagine how it could create a WOW factor for guests. This Lady Gaga themed table is definitely created for a bride that is a little adventurous and that has more of a unqiue personality.  It is best suited for a bride that wants to be more essentric with the decor of their wedding! Just like Lady Gaga! lol

The Katy Perry table had a great concept; you can see how it was inspired by the California Gurls song.  The elaborate glass jars filled with candy for the centre pieces just really tied in the whole theme of the table.  The table just looked so fun, but at the same time very elegant, which is the main reason why I loved the table so much!  This table is meant for a bride that has a fun and bubbly personality.  It would just be great for a bride that wants to give their guests a more fun and flirty atmosphere. 

Reading this article just made me realize just how creative people are in the wedding planning industry, and also how I need to start thinking outside the box and become more creative.  Being innovative is one of the most important qualities to have in this industry nowadays, no one wants to have a wedding that is like all the other weddings they have been too.  They want something more fun and interesting that will captivate their guests.  Being able to see some of these AWESOME ideas that other people in this industry have come with, has truly inspired me to be just as artistic and creative with my ideas.  To be honest, when I first saw some of these ideas from the article, I was a little jealous, because of right now I know that I could have never come up with such innovative ideas for table settings.  But with great people like Sharron Hill that share such amazing information in their blogs, I think that I will quickly learn how to become more creative and inspirational.  Ultimately, its articles like this that will teach me to be a great wedding planner and also help me along the way in creating a great wedding that my future clients will never forget! J

SOCIAL MEDIA TESTING

So this week, the concentration of my blog will be about how to create a test that examines a component of an event planning company's social media campaign.  This was actually quite an interesting task, and I really learned the importance of social media testing. Hopefully, some of you readers out there can also learn something. J

So here it is:

The company Finer Details is an event planning firm, that not only does weddings but other events such as galas and fundraisers.  I have a designed test for this company to determine what type of content would generate more followers on Twitter and Facebook fans.  The reason that I would run this particular test is so that the company can gain more followers and fans, which ultimately can help them gain more business.  They will be able to cultivate more relationships with people through these social media platforms, which can lead to business relationships.  These bonds that they have created can alleviate the doubt and or insecurities they may have about the company’s abilities to their important event, such as a client’s only daughter getting married.  For these reasons, I find it important to explore and test this particular subject.

First, I would need to find a representative sample of my target audience.  The target audience will be both male and females between the ages of 25-60.  Individuals between this age group are the ones that would be most likely use an event planning agency to plan their event.  The sample size would be about 3000 people considering the number of people that live in Vancouver and that would use an event planning agency. 

The research technique that I would use for this test would be a survey.  There would be questions such as:

1.       What do you think of the current content on our Facebook page and Twitter feed?

2.        Would you like to know more details about particular events we have planned?

3.       Would you like us to post more wedding tips on our Facebook page?

4.       What type of content would you like to see us post about on our Facebook page or discuss on Twitter?

There will be other types of questions such as multiple choice:

Where did you hear about us?

1.       Friends

2.       Family

3.       Webpage

4.       Facebook

5.       Coworkers

Rating scale:

How would you rate the current content on our Facebook page:

·         Excellent

·         Good

·         Fair

·         Poor

The survey would also ask participants to fill out vital information like age and sex, so that we know they are within our target audience

This survey would be available on their website, Facebook page, and it would be tweeted out to followers where they can find the survey. To attract more individuals to take this survey we would offer them a chance to win a prize, such as a weekend getaway to a Bed and Breakfast.  This will not only help with more people taking the survey, but it might also get some individuals becoming fans and followers on the company on Facebook and Twitter. The survey will run for about two or three months (depending on the number of surveys filled out by the second month).

Once the data is collected, and carefully analyzed, the company would hopefully use the data and carefully reflect on the findings and start posting and tweeting about content readers really want to see.

Thanks for reading my blog this week! Stay tune for next week’s post  J

WHAT IS MY SOCIAL MEDIA PERSONALITY?

Being new to the wedding planning industry and fairly new to being a “creator” in social media (I am definitely more of a lurker), it has been a challenge to think what my social media personality is or will become.  However, I think some of the qualities that I have that will make me an awesome wedding planner can also be applied to my social media personality.  I am a person that is social, caring, detailed oriented, driven, innovative, and VERY opinionated.  I feel that these types of qualities will help me become a better "creator" in social media, especially hopefully a better blogger.

As I begin to develop my social media personality more, I really hope that in the near future I will have a blog like Sharron Hill’s. “Become A Top Wedding Planner”.  She is an expert in the wedding planning industry now, with over 11 years of experience.  Sharron created this blog to help share the information she had learnt over the years with new wedding planners.  She has even written a book to help new wedding planners to start their own business.  As I read through her profile and her blog I realized that she had a social media personality much like mine.  She seems like a very caring, social, and innovative individual.  You can also tell that she is very detail oriented as well, because of how she writes and how specific she is when she is explaining a particular topic.  Sharron`s social media personality is inspiring, and I just hope as my personality develops it will be similar to hers.  My goal for this blog is that someday in the future it will help and educate other newbies like myself, about the wedding planning industry.  Just as much as Sharron’s blog does!

I am really excited to take this adventure with all of you to see how my social media personality will evolve! J

TRANSPARENCY IN THE WEDDING INDUSTRY

Like in any other business it is just as important for individuals in the wedding planning business to be transparent when they use social media.  As discussed in Tami Brown’s blog, a lack of transparency in this industry can have a significantly negative impact on your business.  The most significant impact that it can have is that both your existing and potential customers lose respect for your wedding planning business.  Furthermore, these customers that are displeased with your lack of transparency can lead to negative publicity for your business. Ignoring comments and complaints and hoping they will go away, WILL NOT WORK when you are using social media. Instead just be honest and address the issue at hand. By being transparent you can help build trust and strengthen your relationships with your clients, which can make your business excel.

However, there will definitely be some clients that would not want you to talk about their wedding details on your blog, Facebook, or whatever social media platform you may use.  If at any time you find it necessary to talk about someone’s wedding details on say your blog, it is vital that ask or tell your client about it first.  Be completely transparent to them about your intentions, and explain the reasons why you need to discuss it. With the current couple I am working with right now, I am planning to ask them if it would be okay if I use some information from the wedding for this blog.  My intentions for sharing the information is to receive feedback and critiques about my work, so that I can improve as a wedding planner, considering I am so new to the industry.

CAN YOU BE TOO TRANSPARENT?

Yes, there are times that you have to put limits on transparency in this industry.  I agree with Tami that you need to keep a little mystery in the social media world.  If you share everything all at once, what will readers look forward to reading next time?  Keeping some secrets won’t hurt anyone, as long it is done appropriately! J  There are also times, when you can share to much information, and it can hurt your business.  Like Tami stated in her blog, oversharing information can lead clients and also prospects thinking that you are to open and that you won’t value their privacy or that you can’t keep secrets.  This will obviously cause you to lose a lot of business; therefore it is important that you think about things before you write them.  There is no clear cut answer of what the boundaries are when it comes to transparency, but I believe that as long as you use some common sense you will be able to find the appropriate balance.

Welcome!

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for visiting! So my blog as you see from the title will be dedicated to describing my journey of becoming a wedding planner. I chose to dedicate my blog to this journey, because of the fact that I am very new to the industry and thought that it would be a great way to receive feedback and ideas from others.

I am actually planning my first wedding this year actually! The wedding will be happening this summer and tomorrow will be the first day I sit down with the couple and discuss some details.

So I hope you guys will enjoy coming on my adventure with me! :)