Hi there! My name is Maya and I am the owner of Preoccupied Bride Events. I LOVE planning and turning my clients’ visions into realities. My creative nature and skills as a former project manager—communicator enthusiast, a stickler for deadlines, and an insanely organized and detail-obsessed planner—made wedding and event planning extra appealing to me. But it was planning my Indian-Polish wedding from start to finish in 2016 that sealed the deal.
I loved planning so much it only made sense for me to become a certified wedding and event planner and do it for other busy people who want the wedding or event of their dreams but are crunched for time.
What are some tips for creating an elegant and memorable event on a tight budget?
Reuse flowers! For example, if you have floral arrangements lining the aisle for your ceremony, use those same flowers as the centerpieces for your reception tables. Also, using rentals like lighting and colorful/patterned linen will spruce up your décor without breaking the bank. It’s amazing how much lighting and linen can add to the overall design of an event.
How important are your relationships with vendors and what are some ways that you successfully cultivate and ensure good rapport?
My vendor relationships are one of the most important aspects of my business because half (or more) of the work of planning an event is knowing the right people to do the job. I save my clients a ton of time by getting to know a variety of professional, credible, and reliable vendors to do the job right and stay within my client’s budget and style.
The best way I’ve found to have good vendor relationships is to keep up with my vendor friends (a.k.a. friendors 🙂 ) by meeting up for one-on-one’s, sending emails to check-in, and thank you cards to acknowledge their hard work and referred business.
What’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for you personally or professionally?
Personally speaking, I love traveling and am going to one of my bucket list destinations in the winter—Iceland—and hope to see the Northern Lights!
Professionally speaking, I have two exciting things coming in 2020 for my business. One is party rentals for wedding-related events, such as a wedding shower, rehearsal dinner, or day-after brunch. The other is wedding planning group calls for couples who need assistance planning but can’t afford a full wedding planner.
What inspired you to launch your own company in the event industry? How long did it take from initially having the idea to setting up and starting to attract a client base?
I was a project manager for a few years and was planning my wedding in 2016 when I had this epiphany that project management and wedding planning were the same things—you have multiple small deadlines you’re trying to accomplish to get to the “big” one, you’re talking to different groups of people to keep things moving, and you have to be organized and communicative during the entire process.
Since I already had the skillset for it and enjoyed planning my wedding, I decided to start my own business and put those skills toward the wedding industry. It took about 8 months to go from the initial idea to attracting a client base.
What are some things you wished you knew before starting your businesses?
I wish I knew and understood the importance of creating systems and processes that automate your workflow from the beginning. There’s so much free information out there—blog posts, podcasts, newsletters—that can help you manage your business and save you time, money and energy down the road if you have systems and processes in place for your business.
For example, I use HoneyBook to send proposals, sign contracts, receive payments, save files and more for my clients to keep things organized and moving forward. Having that in place has saved me countless hours.
