Faith

One-third of couples in the United States marry someone of a different religion. Blending traditions and cultures are vital for the ceremony, but the details can get tricky.

• How to perform a ceremony with two officiants
• Best ways to include both faiths and families in the planning process
• Focus on principles that unite both faiths

Rainbow Weddings

From the processional to the recessional, the ceremony must reflect the unity of the same-sex couple.

• Gender-neutral ceremony readings
• Ideas for same-sex wedding vows
• How to handle parents who don’t approve

I Now Pronounce You

You aren’t just another vendor. Officiants form a sacred union between two people. Unlike picking food or flowers, you are forming a lifelong partnership and creating an intimate moment in their lives. Wedding couples have a lot of choices in officiants. How do you get them to pick you?

• Questions to ask during the first meeting
• Sales meeting dos and don’ts
• Clear ceremony communication tips

Tie The Knot

Is it time for a raise, or time to regroup? Your pricing strategy has the potential to make your business soar - or sink. Is it time for a change?

• Build packages and price them to attract and book the right couples
• How to handle additional services like rehearsals, travel, and pre-marital counseling
• Sales tips and techniques that help you consistently CLOSE THE DEAL

I Vow To Do Better

Wedding ceremonies typically follow a pattern: processional, welcome, readings, vows, kiss, pronouncement, and recessional. But there is no reason you have to adhere to the expected. Throw out the script and start from scratch.

• Creative ideas for the ceremony schedule
• Personalize opening and closing remarks
• Unity ceremony ideas and music input

Repeat After Me

Without the officiant it’s just an expensive party. Your job is the most complex of the wedding industry. You can serve as a counselor, religious guide, and planner. This expert panel will give you the fresh ideas to grow your business and keep your sanity.

• Premarital services
• Ceremony and vow trends
• Social media guide for officiants

Full House

Some days you feel like everybody wants a piece of you. More specifically, they want to piggy-back your success. Couples can’t set a wedding date until they secure a venue. As the first service they book, you are the Wedding Industry MVP. How do you leverage your venue’s apex position into a win-win marketing arm for select vendors?

• Contracts for strategic vendor partnerships
• How to fire an underperforming preferred vendor
• Leveraging open houses that serve as micro wedding expos

Demanding Couples

Picking a venue is a big deal. It sets the tone and it can be the largest wedding expense. The process can be overwhelming for most brides and grooms. Get inside their psyche and predict what their sales holdups can be.

• Price lists: add ons, all-inclusive options, and ala carte examples
• Necessary but often overlooked communication
• The number one reason they don’t pick your venue

Sales Storm

Booking a venue is hard. Wedding couples are indecisive and picky. Budgets are tight, competition is fierce, and expectations are high. Step up your sales game with these innovative strategies.

• Overcome objections
• Proven sales tips for the venue tour
• Best timeline for upsells and add-ons

Venue Fixation

Immediately after they’re engaged, wedding couples come looking for you. The venue is the most visually prominent element of their wedding day. Combine high style meets functionality to increase your bookings.

• Clear tents, creative dance floors, and Lucite details
• Smart seating for the ceremony and reception
• Acclimate to smaller guest lists without remodeling

Venue Virtue

Superior customer service at your venue helps you sell more, sell faster, and sell without hesitation. Customer experiences can be inconsistent. Don’t leave your success to chance. Implement a customer service system that wins (even when your salespeople have a bad day).

• Venue feedback, incentives, and productivity games
• What couples really want in their venue
• What to do when you get a customer complaint

Venue Confidential

You get blamed for everything. Other wedding pros and couples think you are controlling. They don't understand that any misstep reflects on your venue. Ask our elite panel of experts for their proven solutions for everything that's vexing your venue.

• Your venue questions answered live on stage
• Open houses, bridal shows, tours, and live events
• Solutions to venue problems big and small

Needle In The Haystack

Planners who advertise to the general public waste 99% of their money. That’s because less than 1% of the population hires a wedding planner each year. How do you reach just wedding couples and not break your advertising budget?

• Instagram, Facebook, and Google organic leads vs. paid ads
• How to befriend and profit from your local gown shops
• Why wedding shows can be your best friend

The Visionary Planner

What do weddings and fashion have in common? Both have a wandering eye and are always ready to move on to the next hot thing. What’s in today is passé tomorrow. Discover celebrity planner ideas your couples will clamor for next year.

• Undiscovered color and texture combos
• New takes on luxury vintage, theatre inspo, and bespoke design
• Outdoor elements that thrive indoors

Matchmaker

Wilted flowers. Grilled entrées that are served cold. A no-show minister. The wedding couple is furious. Not because of your timeline or style skills. Because of another wedding pro that you recommended. Even when it’s not your fault, they blame you.

• How to cover yourself if your vendors fail
• When to fire someone from your referral list
• Psychology tips to match the right vendor with each couple’s personality

It's Not Your Fault

You’ve spent months carefully planning this over the top garden wedding. Now a sudden storm is moving in. The DJ texts that he has laryngitis. The rental company delivered the wrong chairs and can’t be reached. The ring bear knocked over the cake. It’s not your fault… but it’s your problem.

• Strategic step by step plan for disaster
• Stories and solutions
• How to talk to the bride without causing hysteria

Midnight Madness

Everyone says you should make your business more customer-centered. But what if she threatens, harrasses, or constantly yells? How do you deal with midnight phone calls? Where do you draw the line?

• Expectation checklist
• Verbage to take her off the ceiling
• When you should say no

Uncoordinated

There is no shortage of wedding planners. But your biggest competitor isn't the planner down the street... it’s her best friend Emily, venue coordinator Jessica, or DJ Chris. The ultimate threat is not hiring a planner at all. Show them how you will fight for their wedding vision and keep everything on track.

• Tested sales scripts and email templates
• Tips to explain the difference between independent planners and venue planners
• Marketing mistakes planners make and how to avoid them

Creating Workflow Efficiency

Tired of spending all day responding to emails that don't turn into leads? Stop wasting time staring at your computer screen and automate your sales process.

• Real email templates that get responses
• Trickle system outline to close sales
• Technologies that do all the hard work for you

Scratching The Surface

Club disc jockeys have the advantage of crowds that share the same taste in music. But if you bring the club directly to a wedding reception, not all generations will appreciate it.

• Which club DJ techniques translate directly to weddings
• How to build momentum at a reception
• Club DJ skills that make you a perfect wedding emcee

Tech Toys

To be booked solid, you must update your gear to stay relevant and competitive. There is more DJ and production technology than a DJ could ever need. Cut through the noise and understand the tech behind all the flashy new products.

• Controllers, players, and mixers
• Speakers and PA Systems
• Wireless technologies and lighting

Treble Maker

Your first appointment with a wedding couple can feel like an awkward first date. They are trying to decide if they can trust you with their important event. In weddings, custom is the key. Do you have what it takes to keep their friends partying without alienating their parents?

• Reading the couple, reading the crowd
• How to handle a frenzy of guest requests
• Discover overlapping tastes vs never-plays

Promoted

Corporate clients have some things your wedding couples don’t: annual events and bigger budgets. You might be booked every weekend until 2020, but you still have weekday openings. Fill those dates with high-paying, repeating corporate gigs. Charity performances give you solid cred with donors who can hire you for other high-end events.

• How to get and keep corporate clients
• Tips to become a skilled auctioneer
• Online videos and reviews that appeal to corporate clients

Social Media Playlist

Engaged couples want social media that is life-like, moving, and always fresh. Flex your social media muscles and show customers what up-to-the-minute DJ services you offer.

• Social media content tips for DJs
• DJ mistakes on FB, Snapchat, and Instagram
• Stand out from the crowd with live video

Feast Or Famine

It’s not about what you make - It’s about what you keep. Fat profit margins make the difference between just getting by, or saving enough to send your kids to college, take a vacation, and build your retirement.

• Are high-end caterers really the most profitable
• Bookkeeping tools that keep you on-track
• How to analyze the profit from each event

Frosted

The wedding cake is still the traditional wedding dessert, but today’s couples serve their guests more than yesterday’s designs. They look everywhere for cake inspiration: The texture of her wedding dress, their china pattern, or even the ceiling design from their reception venue.

• Sugar crystals, sprinkles, and glitter
• Passed desserts instead of dessert bars
• Delicious drinks for dessert

Two Plates Full

Of all the buying decisions for the wedding day, catering is the most complex. Even after they fall in love with your company and menu, the sale isn’t closed. How do you get them to make the final decisions and sign off?

• Live on-stage sales presentations
• Closing techniques that don’t feel forced
• Which words to use and avoid to win the sale

Social Hour

With more than 200 million posts tagged #food and 23 million #drinks, food and beverage photos are among the most popular. Potential clients love your content. How do you keep it coming without running out of time or new ideas?

• Create next level content that encourages conversions
• Shortcuts for content creation on your blog, Instagram, and FB Live
• Don’t post these 5 food photo mistakes

Happy Meals

Wedding couples are moving away from predictable menus. Fun and light-hearted nuptial fare are the head of the line for next year. It's all about action and interaction.

• Three Cs of catering (and one is not chicken): Clever, Custom and Crafted Catering
• Futuristic beverage pairings, comfort foods with flair, and dessert stations that don't feel over-played
• Menu Proposals - Selling with design before taste

Mix It Up

So many special ingredients blend together to create a recipe for success. Your couples demand transparency, but do they need to know everything? They want to know how you create your dishes, serve your guests, and will there be enough food? It must be time for a tasting.

Love At First Light

Why do 100-year-old images from master photographers stand the test of time? Some are because of the subject. Some are because of the pose. But all are because of the lighting. Manipulation of light adds the texture, luminocity, and color you need to make your wedding photos instant classics.

• Natural light and off-camera flash techniques
• Shoot softly in harsh sunlight
• Add dimensionality to ordinary scenes

Flash Edit

You know when they’ve arrived home from their honeymoon because you received a text asking when the photos will be ready.  What if they received the images before their tan faded and their bags were unpacked?

• Maximize your editing workflow to accomplish a 3 hour editing goal
• Quick shooting wedding day tips to make editing a breeze
• How to break down the culling process and use meta data to protect your images and help your SEO

Shutter Shock

How much do you really make per hour? Do you count the many hours of post-processing work? Many photographers are shocked when they do the math. Pricing photography packages is more challenging than pricing products like food or flowers. Which wedding markets can bear more aggressive pricing? How do you price multi-day wedding packages vs abbreviated packages?

• Best ways to monitor and raise your prices
• Monthly profitability cheat sheet
• Market test new photography services and prices

Geared Up

We get it. What’s in your camera bag does not define you as a photographer, but it sure makes your job easier when you have the right tools for every situation. With new cameras and accessories being released at a record speed, it’s hard to keep up, let alone decide what to spend your money on.

• When to skimp and when to spend
• Equipment that separates you from a hobbyist
• Gear developments for 2020 and beyond

Poser

Not every ceremony provides the backdrop of the Four Seasons on Maui. Not every bride or groom is a professional model. What do you do when shooting locales and subjects are not ideal?

• How to uncover unusual engagement locations
• Dealing with scene clutter and poor natural light
• Tips that turn any subject into a posing pro

Modern Exposure

Successful photographers have one thing in common: They stay relevant. Social media gets you in front of your audience consistently. Each image gives you exposure to your potential customers and peers within the wedding industry.

• Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram tips
• Tags, keywords, and influencers that get your photography business noticed
• Common mistakes for social media branding with your images

Hand-picked

You have flowers to buy, couples to book, and centerpieces that won’t arrange themselves. At some point in a successful business, you need some extra help. Efficiently hire, train, and keep the best new staff.

• Where to advertise for seasonal and part-time positions
• Interview questions that identify hidden train-wrecks
• What tasks you should never delegate

Arranged Marriage

Decedent florals and lush greenery designs continue to be popular, but with a new twist. Storybook romance meets nature-driven hues to make dreamy designs that are manicured and whimsical. Don’t forget to pack your fairy dust for a fun look behind the magic of flowers.

• Floral Installations & Floral Walls
• Structure and Mechanic techniques to maximize profit
• Creating designs that get your competitors attention

Fleur-Ish

Floral is the most visual wedding specialty. After all, your work is art! However, when you promote your creations online, social media seems like a bottomless pit that consumes images faster than you can create new ones. How do you find the time to consistently post on so many social media platforms?

• Floral go-to guide that simplifies your social media to-do list
• Eye-catching posts for your website, Pinterest, and Instagram
• Two social media platforms that florists can bypass

Coming Up Roses

Expanding your floral business is like growing a garden. You can’t just plant some seeds and hope for the best. You need a proven plan to nurture new leads into sales. It’s easy to say you want to double your sales, but what does your actual sales action plan look like?

• Prospect and track the cost of acquiring new wedding couples
• Sales techniques for social and corporate selling
• 3 things that stand in the way of a quick floral close

Green Thumb

Florists always see green, but this rich hue should not be limited to your centerpieces. Green should be growing in your bank account, too. Pricing a wedding 18 months out can be tricky. How do you make sure you’re not leaving money on the table?

• What to do when outside forces affect your original proposal
• Common pricing pitfalls and how to avoid them
• How much profit you must net from each event

Petal Power

Win the floral contract by offering large-scale looks that inspire, surprise, and delight. Imagine a dreamy ceremony arch, a structured floral statement piece, and an ethereal pathway that creates a reception fantasy.

• New, over-the-top floral backdrops
• Pricing super-sized creations
• Floral-driven escort card decor

Clairvoyant

Gaze into our crystal ball for the 2020 trends. Get ahead of these dynamic changes and couples will trust your ideas, fresh perspectives, and savvy wedding expertise.

• Curated trends for geo regions and price points
• Texture, sustainability, fluid color schemes
• Minimalist designs that exude decadence

Prism Break

Winter brings ice blue frozen ponds, silver snowflakes, and mink-colored sweaters. Spring combines pepper green gardens, aspen gold sunshine, and sweet lilacs. Summer is the time of coral sherbert, hot pink flamingos, and aquamarine pools. Fall reveals tawny port wine, spruce trees, and autumn maple dreams.

• Color palettes for 2020
• Unlikely color combinations inspired by the seasons
• Hue-driven design boards for practical applications

Sweet 16

Looking towards a new decade, the most arresting wedding trends are anything but obvious. But how do you take a widespread trend and customize it for your couples in your geo-specific area?

• Food and beverage, flowers, gown, venue, and decor ideas
• Online influencers who stay ahead of the trends
• Guest Experience winners and losers

Whimsical Weddings

Whimsical wedding themes are everywhere. Blogs and inspiration boards are overflowing with playful new ideas. How do you give them a theme that doesn’t mimic every other wedding online?

• Subdued luxe elegance
• Boho meets industrial
• Colors that bewitch and inspire

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

We’ve had a good run with flower crowns and the color blush, but it’s time to move on. Rustic chic is getting on our nerves, and overdone signage is just too needy. DIY crafts and faux calligraphy are breaking our hearts. We are never, ever getting back together.

• What trends to pick a fight with
• Small details with large impact
• Next year’s wedding décor that looks better than your ex

Own The Network

Marketing experts push their clients to use the power of video to promote their business. You have all the tools needed to expand your referral base, without spending anything but time. Capture the referrals of venues, planners, and other wedding pros by creating your own network.

• Identify the strongest thought leaders
• Make yourself indispensable to those that refer you
• Get others to pay for your advertising

Video Fomo

By the time the couple considers wedding video they’ve shot their budget. Surveys show past wedding their biggest regret is not having a quality video memory. How do you bring the fear of missing out back from the future?

• Knock friends with phones out of the picture
• No risk-the nuclear option
• Powerful contrast testimonials

It's Not About The Video

The most important piece of equipment in your camera bag is not the camera. Proper audio and lighting are crucial to achieve a professional and cinematic experience.

• Audio capture techniques
• How to edit audio when things go wrong
• Lighting techniques

Talk Of The Gown

Brides need to hear about your gown shop an average of seven times before they book an appointment. How do you make sure she knows enough about your boutique to visit your shop and ultimately buy her dress?

• Actionable steps to create a clear brand
• Bridal shows: booth design ideas, book appointments, fashion shows
• Social media organic exposure vs paid ads

White Hot

Online shopping makes it easy to find many places to buy wedding gowns. You know that the online version listed for $200 is not the same as your designer masterpiece. But she doesn’t. She also doesn’t know that your newest competitor isn’t paying her bills. How do you fight fair and still win?

• Counter-programming against your competitors
• 3 small details that mean everything
• Tips when she price-shops you against a discounter

Wardrobe Malfunction

It’s Saturday after the holidays and every newly engaged bride wants an appointment. You should feel good, but you're stressed. It feels like you are working hard, but not getting ahead. What are you doing wrong?

• Avoid making these 5 common gown shop mistakes
• Understand why your customers buy and don’t buy
• Gown shop layouts and lighting that improve the user experience

To Market We Go

Your goal is to implement a reasonable merchandising plan to increase sell-through. But market makes you dizzy with options if you don’t have a solid buying checklist. Where do you start?

• Negotiate minimum purchases with designers
• Analyze your inventory performance with key metrics
• Interactive quiz to determine 2020 top performing dresses

Yes To Your Dress

You know that the moment she leaves, your chance of a sale goes down by 50%. Discover the secrets that pave the way to matching a bride with her dream dress and keep her from shopping anywhere else.

• The best way to pre-qualify the bride
• Creative incentives to promote a quick buy
• Scripts with the exact questions to ask

Everything But The Dress

It is vital in selling bridal to never be “sales-y”, so how and when do you do sell preservation, follow up with brides who haven’t purchased, or set the next appointment they need for their bridal party, without being pushy? This effective 3-step system will empower your stylists to know the timing and techniques they need to lead the bride in each step of her entire wedding attire purchases, without ever leaving the zone of “friend”.

• Timing is everything - it’s not just what you say, but when you say what!
• The powerful technique of “Building the Bridge”
• The secrets to giving vital product information that empowers the bride to move forward, and what words translate to her as pushing, limiting or controlling her!

Social Hour

Social media can make your gown shop look good. When brides see user-generated images and content, it gives your shop the social proof you need to get new customers.

• Guide for actionable Insta content
• Create your social brand with influencers
• Relevant content for today’s bride

Vanity

Millennials require a completely different marketing plan. They don’t respond to traditional methods like previous generations. Learn how to create a successful campaign that appeals to today’s brides.

• Authentic beauty brand messages
• Turn online leads into in person appointments
• How to create a cohesive brand image

Clean Beauty

The US hasn’t passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients used in personal care products since 1938. Your brides are savvy. They want to know which ingredients are being applied their face. Be ahead of the millennial trend toward health-conscious beauty.

• Good for you products without all the additives
• List of ingredients to avoid
• Modify your makeup bag

Easy On The Eyes

The selfie generation allows a novice to master makeup tricks that were previously known only to professional makeup artists. Beauty vloggers have raised the social beauty bar. How do you mimic what she loves from her beauty influencers?

• Best social media for your audience
• Makeup tops for HD photography and social media posts
• Dos and don’ts for before-and-afters and tutorials

The Oscar Goes To

Bridal beauty shouldn’t be basic, boring, or predictable - it just has to be flattering to the woman who is wearing it. Borrow ideas from the celebrities who set the trends.

• Prep before you paint - skin care techniques
• Hair trends for the bride, mom, and maids
• Latest in celebrity eyes, lips, and cheeks

The Beauty Bar

When hair and makeup artistry is your career choice, there are days when your job is definitely more business than blush. Learn techniques to manage your client's experience while making your job easier and more fun at the same time..

• Crazy Inquiries - How to handle unrealistic request, understand what your client really needs and quote it correctly
• Planning Timelines - Tips for assigning staff, planning the right amount of time and working with your vendor team
• Must have strategies to stay on schedule on wedding day

Flawless

The average woman spends over $4,000 a year on beauty products and services. But she shudders at your price for the most important beauty day of her life. How do you get paid what you are worth?

• Mobile beauty companies real price lists
• Minimum package pricing you should implement now
• Common mistakes beauty pros make when pricing their services

Less Selling More Telling

Everyone has access to the same gear, booths, props, and backdrops. To get more than your fair share of the business you have to be different.

• Brainstorm with the couple to create a custom Photo Booth experience
• Surefire ways to close the Photo Booth sale
• Over the top packaging

The Photo Booth Project

The gift of storytelling doesn’t just happen. A good visual storyteller is intentional about crafting their messages through imagery. Booth owners everywhere are learning to be better storytellers. Use customized props and backdrops to attract new customers, build brand loyalty, and upsell.

• Fun theme ideas, photos, and how tos
• Guide to innovate with the help of your customers
• Booth branding dos and don’ts

Fun Money

Adding a photo booth to your service is so much more than just day-of-wedding. Venues, planners, florists, beauty, and gown shops are waking up to the profit and marketing potential secrets that DJs have known for years. The social media aspect of a Photo Booth can propel your business to the next level.

• Use a Photo Booth to launch your new online campaign
• How a Photo Booth can help close the sale
• Which Photo Booth features are needed for each specialty