Candice (00:03.854)

Hey, it's your coach Candace. Today we're talking about some of the opportunities that are hiding in plain sight in the wedding industry right now. Over the last several weeks, I have been sharing with you so much information, a lot of things for you to think about, not all of it great news. So I thought I would pause the shanks and the cuddles and give you a warm hug today.

and share with you some things that are really fantastic. Good news for you, opportunities for you, your business, your creativity, and your clients. And I think conversations like this matter just as much as conversations around big shifts and changes that are not always good news, because it is so easy to actually focus on instability or uncertainty.

I know that because as a coach, people always bring me problems, but not everybody always sees opportunities in problems. And every new shift in our industry, in life, in business, it has the ability to actually open up a new door. And what you find is that innovation and creation often come out of hard cycles. We've seen this throughout history.

And so I believe that the people who recognize early that there are opportunities in these shifts, those are going to be the people who builds the most powerful, sustainable and opportunity rich businesses. So that's why in today's episode, I'm sharing with you the opportunities in plain sight. This episode is for you. If you are a wedding pro who's like, girl, I am ready to stay relevant. I want to be

Creative this year and also I want to be profitable. I Want to make sure that I am utilizing these opportunities and actually building wealth and success on the back of them So for all my planners my florists my photographers my designers my stationers my run so companies my artists my creatives All of you my DJs my caterers For anybody who wants to understand where the opportunity actually is

Candice (02:26.988)

This episode is for you. Let's get into it.

Welcome back to the Power and Purpose podcast. If you're a returning listener, I'm so glad you're here. You're going to love today's episode. We've been building up to today's episode. And if this is your first time listening, welcome to the show. Around here, talk about building a wedding business that has purpose, perspective, and leadership. So if this episode resonates with you, make sure you follow the show.

Wherever you're listening, we're on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and also be very tempted to send it to a friend in the industry, one of your business BFFs, drop it in the group chat, start a discussion amongst your community around what we talk about here today. There's likely somebody in your corner who needs to know there's so much opportunity out here in this episode. We'll hopefully instigate them.

to start looking at the opportunities that I present today. Now, before we get into specifics, and I've got a lot of exciting things to share with you, I do want to say something important. And that is every industry goes through cycles. There are seasons where industries are booming and expanding, and there are seasons where industries must recalibrate. And there are seasons where we feel uncertainty in evolution.

And the wedding industry is actually going through one of those seasons. I've mentioned this in previous episodes so far for the year where we talked about state of the industry. We talked about operating standards for your business this year. If you have yet to listen to those episodes, you know I'm gonna tell you, dial those up please after today. The industry's evolving and this is a good thing.

Candice (04:19.762)

If you're paying attention to these shifts, then you're also going to evolve with it. So I just want to say that change is always inevitable. It is a part of life. In fact, I was just reading a book this morning about change and how important change is. Gosh, what was I reading? my goodness. I'll have to put it on my Instagram.

You'll know, make sure you're following me at Candice.Copla. I read a passage in a book. I'm reading multiple books simultaneously, so I'm not sure where it was. But it basically talked about how the same man never steps foot in the same river. And that's because rivers change and men change. And so at one single time, we are never the same person, and we are never in the same circumstances.

actually, this wasn't a book. was somebody talking on TikTok. Now that it's all coming back to me, it was a really thoughtful representation of what we're experiencing right now in the wedding industry, which is things change and change is okay. It means that things are evolving and we have to stay ahead of the trends, right? We have to stay ahead of the curve. So there are some things that are happening in the wedding industry that are bummers, but there are also plenty of things that are happening that are so good and so exciting and so rich and just

filled with so much opportunity. And that's what we're talking about today. So let's talk about it. The first thing that I'm really excited about that is shifting in the wedding industry, that is ripe with so much opportunity, is there's so much more creative freedom in design. For all of you who are very creative, whether you're a photographer in the industry, video planner, of course, designer, floral designers, invitation designers, there's so much expansion in design right now. We're seeing a lot of less cookie cutter weddings. We're seeing

less Pinterest inspired weddings, a lot more risk, a lot more story driven experiences in the industry, more color, more texture, more boldness. I'm seeing this as I scroll my feed. I'm seeing this in what's getting picked up and featured in magazines and online and online publications. I'm seeing it in your portfolios and the portfolios of my students. And this is so exciting. As a designer at heart, I'll never not be a designer.

Candice (06:37.356)

I teach design because I think naturally I'm just a design forward person, even though I'm not designing weddings anymore. This excites me so much because it really highlights your skill as a designer, as a creative, it allows you to play and push boundaries as a designer. And it also means that clients are really looking to do something differently. And this all boils down to the great couples who will ultimately hire you for whatever it is that you do.

You are being called to up your creativity in the way that you see and produce whatever it is that you do. Clients want differentiation and how their wedding experience unfolds. And I think that there are so many wonderful, unique things that are trending right now. And through that, I'm seeing a lot of original interpretation, which is so exciting, which just makes me so happy. And as I've mentioned to you,

in several episodes now, it's so important that you have your own creative point of view. And if you could work towards that this year and really work in on honing your creative point of view, I know that you are going to do more exciting creative work. Clients aren't playing it safe, planners aren't playing it safe, and we're just seeing a lot of really interesting.

design and experiential elements coming out of the events industry. And God, it's so wonderful. And we're going to talk about how this is being applied next, because not only is creative freedom and design exciting me right now, but the way it's being applied.

in multi-day wedding weekends is also really exciting me. This isn't new, so I don't want to pretend that this is new. I've planned many a multi-day wedding weekend, and you know I've been around a long time. Done a lot of destination events, did a lot of events where we were the destination for people. So I've done this many, many a time. But we're seeing this become more normalized, and we're seeing more weddings turn into experiences across several days.

Candice (08:50.668)

welcome parties, pool parties, excursions, after parties, brunches. And couples really thinking, OK, well, if I'm going to invest in a wedding and if I'm going to spend a lot of money, I want to make sure that the experience that I'm giving my guests isn't just five hours. I want to go all in on this and do something really special. And for you, this is such a wonderful opportunity.

would like for you to capitalize on this. I'd like for a lot of you guys to specialize in this. I think that this is something that for the long term will be trending. We'll see how it shakes out. But I would love for you to specialize in this. I know there are planners listening. I know that there are stationers and floral designers and photographers listening to me right now.

And you have done a few multi-day events, and you loved it because A, it's more creative opportunities for you. B, it deepens your relationship with your clients. C, you increase your value per customer so you can expand your services, work with one couple on multi-days, and make triple, quadruple the amount of money.

on one client, which is so amazing. I'd love to see more of you specialize in this. I'd love to see more of you guys actively market this idea. I'd love to see more of you talk about it in your marketing, on your website, in your copy, all the things, and build services around this. Not everybody needs to do this. So if you're like, that's not really my flavor of ice cream, no problem. But for many of you, I think you need to double down on this. And you know, I would love to help you figure out how to do that.

You can learn more about how we can work together by going to weddingproinsiders.com, signing up for the wait list to my mastermind. But that aside, I would love to see more of you guys doubling down on this because this is certainly in the long term, something that I think is going to stick around for a while. And it's so exciting. I just love when people look at a wedding as more than just a five hour party and really try to think, how can we bring our guests together and curate?

Candice (11:02.05)

the most unforgettable experience. And I often think of it like summer camp. And this is what I used to tell my clients who were having multi-day weekends, either whether they were convinced to do it or I had to convince them to do it. I would always say, think about it. It's like bringing your guests together for a weekend. It's like summer camp. You're going to bond. There's so many memories that get made. You're truly giving people the gift of a once in a lifetime experience.

That is in today's day and age where there's so many distractions and there's so much stress in the world and we've got so much going on. Being able to connect with other human beings over multiple days to be delighted by food, decor, music, to get to experience that, to fly to a foreign country or to go to someplace unique or to experience your own city in a new way is a gift. And

I'm a huge proponent of it and clients are gravitating towards this. So good news on our front, especially for those of you who already specialize in this. And I know you're probably going, Candice, don't tell everybody to do this. This is my specialty. But in all seriousness, I think more of you guys should really consider how you can utilize this opportunity in your business. There's just.

So many good things about working with a client over multiple events. next thing that is trending right now that I am super excited about is how personality forward brands are on the rise. And you see this in my Behind the Brand series here on the podcast. When I speak to the wedding pros that I've brought in to discuss how they've built a recognizable brand, and we have several episodes more coming this year.

So exciting, go listen to them if you haven't. You see this trend over and over again, the rise of personality forward brands. And what is really happening here is that shows me that couples are interested in hiring human beings, not portfolios. So they're very focused on curating a vendor team that feels familiar and relatable. It also means that business owners are showing their face more.

Candice (13:19.734)

They are showing up for their businesses more. They're leaning into just who they are, what their style is, what their opinions are, and how that relates to the work that they do. And I think that's so fabulous as a person who has a very personality forward brand that some people may not like, and that's on purpose. That's OK. You buy me. I think this is so wonderful. And

Many of you guys need to lean into this a little bit harder. And there's an opportunity for you to show up more vividly as yourself and speak clearly about the things that you believe in or that you like and just to show up more in your personality. So I love this so much. I think that personality forward brands will win this year and beyond, especially

With the rise of AI generated content, generated copy, generated everything, the people who learn how to speak in their own voice and are uncompromising in their personality are always going to rise to the top. Always going to rise to the top. The people who spend time curating their branding.

their marketing, and doing it in such a way, where they use AI as a thought partner, but not as the total executor of all their ideas, but they use it as a thought partner, but still have their voice in all things that they do, are going to absolutely crush it this year and beyond. Because we're all starting to look very similar.

using AI tools and when we're playing it safe and when we're building brands and businesses that we think fit a mold. So let me just pause here for a second because I think this is an important point that I didn't have in my notes but something that I want to share. I coach so many business owners and I see so many brands, so many websites, so many logos. And I help people actually start businesses now through my course, The Wedding Planning Business Blueprint. And when I.

Candice (15:37.67)

see a business play it safe. I see somebody who starts a business and tries to create a business that fits in a box that fits in the box that they think a wedding planner is supposed to look like an invitation designer is supposed to look like. And so they play it safe. They choose similar colors, fonts, website template, you know, they really try to wear the mask of the role that they're trying to play.

And what I'm here to tell you is that if you're doing that, this is a year for you to break out of that and really own your personality, who you are, how you speak, what you like. And instead of trying to play the part, be the part as you see it. Because your personality is an asset to your business. It's not a liability. And if you are playing it safe in your branding and your marketing and your messaging, we know you are going to become more invisible. So if you are.

focused on building a personality based brand, you are going to have so many opportunities this year. And that makes me so excited. The next thing that I am excited about is I feel like the bar for luxury is being reset. For years, we have been watering down the word luxury. Everybody's complaining about this. They've been complaining about this for 20 years, by the way, just so you know.

This is not new. But I do agree that over the last couple of years, the word luxury gets thrown around a lot, and it doesn't really mean anything. Now, couples are becoming more discerning, and they want intentional design, which we've already covered. They want exceptional hospitality. They want thoughtful details. They want multi-day events. They want strong creative direction, expertise, leadership, strong original ideas.

even though they're following trends. And this creates a really wonderful opportunity for you to raise the bar instead of competing on price all the time. There's room for wedding brands who are willing to say, is the standard that we operate at, or this is how we operate.

Candice (17:48.13)

And it's so interesting because this morning I was scrolling threads as one does, and somebody was talking about invitations and they're like, I'm a graphic designer and a bride. let me tell you, those invitations are getting thrown in the trash. It's just a waste of money. And I thought to myself, maybe that's your hot take, but the truth is, is not everybody is looking for the cheapest way to invite people to their wedding and not everybody is looking to throw an invitation in the trash or to create an invitation that is actually

Garbage and isn't that the beautiful thing about the world that we live in there is a little something for Everyone and I saw that hot take and I thought okay. Well, that might be your reality But the reality of a lot of people is that's not actually their reality or what they're looking for And as a business owner, it's so important that you don't get warped into that way of thinking especially when you operate at a higher standard and when you're serving clients

who don't care about how much an invitation costs and they don't think the invitation is going to get thrown away, they know that they want to create something really special. And so this is part of what I mean by the bar for luxury is being reset. I do believe the gap between budget and luxury is widening. We've already talked about that in a previous episode, so I won't rehash it here.

but it is in my state of the industry. And all of this is actually good news. And for you, if you are a luxury wedding professional, if you're aspiring to be luxury, if you're pushing more towards the luxury market, working with clients who have bigger budgets, then you are actually in a great position. If you are going to lead with intentional design, amazing hospitality, strong creative direction, thoughtful details, you're in a great.

position because you have the opportunity to continue to keep raising that bar. The next thing that's exciting me is AI. Even though I've been complaining about it, I do teach AI a lot, but I teach how to use it thoughtfully. What's exciting me about AI right now is it is making solo business owners more powerful. And I think this one is really big because small teams are doing better work and doing work at a higher caliber using AI.

Candice (20:13.35)

at in a time where you used to have to hire somebody to do things for you. Systems are getting smarter, marketing is getting faster. Things are also getting sloppier. Okay, so there is a counterbalance here. But when people are using AI well, and they're using it as a strategic thought partner, they're bringing good, good foundations to it, and they're understanding how to use it well, this makes it

This makes business ownership scaling more accessible to a solo operator. And I see this inside my mastermind because the women are using AI so thoughtfully. They're using it as a strategic thinking partner in addition to the work that we're doing. It is not their sole thinking partner. And that is very important to mention. But they're using it as a strategic thinking partner. And they're just making decisions so much faster, moving.

quicker, harnessing opportunities faster, doing better work, because the barrier for sophistication, sophisticated thinking is dropping. So if you're strategic with AI, you can move faster, you can test ideas quicker, you can serve your clients better, you can operate leaner. It will not replace great creativity and it will not replace

the roles in your business that a human needs to operate within, like customer service, maybe virtual assistant work, et cetera. But it does enhance your leverage. And we know that leverage is very important. So I am so excited about what I'm seeing and how I'm seeing wedding pros use AI thoughtfully to move quicker, to make decisions quicker, to get unstuck. It is really...

So wonderful.

Candice (22:07.756)

Back to events though, another thing that I am so excited about is how we are shifting towards intimacy and experience in our industry. Weddings are feeling more human. There is less production for production's sake, which took over social media for a number of years. I'm seeing more thoughtful details. I'm seeing more emotional details throughout the day.

weddings are getting smaller. Now, yes, the retraction in size is a retraction in spending. However, I think for the luxury market, clients are retracting the number of people they're having to be more thoughtful about where they're spending. And this in turn is having a positive impact. I do think that the industry is maturing in this way. And this intimacy, this hospitality driven experience,

It benefits all of you guys. It benefits all of you because at the core of our work, this is what we're doing. We're creating a memory for people. Some of you guys are preserving that memory. Others of you are in part creating it or a part of building that memory. And when ever clients get more in tune with what a wedding really is all about and you know, not so much

the peacocking of it all or the showboating of it all, or the look how much money I spent, look what I did, look how cool I am, look how stylish I am, but more about, I want my grandmother to have a great time, or I want my friends to remember this moment and think about my wedding weekend. When more people are planning an event from that purpose, the events just get better.

They just get better. Our work gets better. We're more connected to the work. And all around, I think, as an industry, we just elevate. My hope is that more of those clients find you this year. And if you feel like you're working with people who are operating on a surface level, if you feel like you're not working with those types of clients who care about thoughtful details, not nitpicking, not caring like,

Candice (24:29.452)

I'm going to be a hard ass on everything, but more so like I actually care about what you think is my wedding planner. I care about how you think the day should flow as my photographer. I care about people enjoying themselves first. And I want to create an environment to do that. If you're finding it hard to attract those clients, I want you to A, no, they're out there. Okay. There are a lot of them out there actually, but if you're having a hard time attracting them, you really need to look at your branding, your messaging, your marketing, your services.

Ask yourself, am I positioning myself towards these clients in the right places? And am I saying the right things? Am I truly mirroring back to them what they want? You're probably not, which is why you're not attracting these clients. But there's so much opportunity here for you to correct course and to mature your business marketing, branding, visibility, positioning towards these people.

You can very easily invest some dollars into doing this, whether you rebrand, you hire a marketing strategist, you hire a coach, which I always recommend hiring a coach to help you figure this out so that when you hire somebody to rebrand, when you hire somebody to work on your messaging, it is in line with some of these foundational pieces. But all you have to do is take the first step and recognize that you could be doing something differently to attract.

better clients because they're out there. And if you are listening to this podcast, you're one of the good ones. So they should know about you and you should be a contender in their vendor hunt. The next thing that I'm so excited about is that nostalgia is back and it's fun. I love seeing how we are resurrecting the nineties, the two thousands. We are just resurrecting all the good things about

times of past, the era in which we grew up. And I've mentioned this in my State of the Industry. I think I did talk about this in my operating standards as well. But it's so exciting to see us focus more on living a analog lifestyle or bringing in elements of how we grew up or simpler times into our everyday life. And of course, this is

Candice (26:53.802)

absolutely happening in weddings. People are craving comfort, they're craving meaning, they're craving what life looked like before everybody had a cell phone in their hand. My husband and I were watching some old music videos from the 80s and the 90s. We were actually watching a Bob Marley concert from probably the 70s.

And I was like, this is back when there wasn't a cell phone in sight and people just enjoyed the music. They were just tuned into the artist on stage. We're craving more of that. All of us are. You feel it in your bones. I certainly feel it in mine. Your clients feel it in theirs. And it's wonderful because as wedding professionals, as experienced creators, as hospitality curators, this is our freaking job. Our job is to create.

connection points for people to bring people together to get people to be so immersed in an event in an experience that they forget about their phone that they're too enjoying themselves too much to even pick up their phone to talk about it to share it on their Instagram stories or to make a video. This is our job. And so for us experience curators being the curators of experiences in some way

We need to play this up in our marketing and our branding to attract people who are aligned with this philosophy. And there's so many clients out there who want to bring nostalgia into their event. Many, many, many years ago, I'd say probably in 2012, the rise of no cell phones during the ceremony started.

And of course it has lingered all these years, but I think we are seeing that feeling throughout the entire experience. I think people are craving a time where we were connected to one another, not connected to our phones. And so let me be clear, this is very fertile ground for you as a creative to play in. This is a sandbox where you can really start building things, thinking differently.

Candice (29:06.122)

as a creative person and in the experience you provide your clients and not only in the pre-process before the wedding, but also what your experience is like on wedding day. So this might actually be one of my favorite opportunities at your fingertips. Final opportunity that I'm super excited about is that, and this is a big one, maybe this one's my favorite, couples want experts again.

couples want to hire a goddamn expert, especially people with money. Okay. And quite frankly, those are the only couples we're interested in. At least on this podcast, sorry. I'm not really interested in teaching you how to work with people who are broke. So couples with money want experts again. And for a while, Pinterest and TikTok made almost everybody feel like they could DIY everything. And

Now what we're seeing, especially with the rise of AI, couples are overwhelmed by generic shit. They're also overwhelmed by options, by content, by conflicting advice. And so what are they doing? They're seeking out experts. And most of them are actually trusting the experts that they hire, especially when that expert leads very strongly. So they're looking for people who have strong opinions.

who feel very confident in the work that they do and in how they recommend things to clients, who position themselves as advisors, who position themselves as experts. so authority is becoming valuable again. And I'll tell you, this is only going to become stronger as more and more people realize that AI can be a creative thinking partner. But most of the time, it's giving you really shitty advice.

How do I know this? Because I ask AI for advice too. And I'm like, really? That's not the advice I'd give. And then I realized, no, wait, I have the answers. I don't fucking need this stupid learning language model to teach me about what I should do next. I know what to do. And also, I have an expert. I have a coach. I can just go ask her, and she's going to give me thoughtful advice. So anyway, back to my point. Clients are looking for experts. Expertise is in.

Candice (31:30.38)

DIY is out, at least for people who can afford expertise. Those folks who cannot afford it will always be DIYing stuff. And guess what? They're not your clients. That lady on Instagram who's like, I'm a graphic designer. And by the way, invitations are garbage. Like, excuse me, ma'am. I think graphic designers are garbage. I could just go to Canva, create, and have it create me graphics. So why don't I just do that? Sounds like a plan. I should actually comment on her.

her thread with that. But you know what? I have learned in my 40 plus years of life that not every battle needs me to jump in the ring and not, don't need to provide my opinion on everything. Some things I can just scroll past and keep it moving, which I do very often.

So those are some great opportunities that I'm really excited about. I'm excited that couples want experts again. Nostalgia is back. We're seeing a huge shift towards intimacy and experience in events. AI, when used well, is making you as a solo operator or as somebody who might have a small team a lot more powerful. You're getting a lot more done, which is great. The bar for luxury is being reset. The rise of personality forward brands.

has been on the rise and I think it's only gonna be more of an opportunity for you. We're seeing clients want multi-day wedding weekends and finally, there's so much creative freedom in design. Cookie Cutter weddings are out and what we're seeing is creatives in the industry taking bigger risks, going bolder, designing with a bigger creative point of view and...

Anybody can do that. know, anybody can learn design. Anybody can learn how to sharpen their creative point of view. I think taste and style definitely is born. We're born with our own taste in our style, but you can learn how to harness that. And of course, you know, I teach that inside the planners playbook for planners and I help all business owners harness that and so much more inside my one-to-one coaching program, Wedding Pro Insiders. Now let's zoom out for a second here.

Candice (33:48.954)

And with all of this said, talk about what we're really witnessing in the industry, because I think the industry is just continuing to mature. It's becoming more creative, more intentional, more experience driven, more hospitality driven, more service driven, more personal. And when an industry evolves like this, there's always a window of opportunity. Always. You can choose to evolve with it, or you can choose to keep doing things as you've always done.

and see how far that takes you. But the people who will benefit most in an emerging industry and a maturing industry are the ones who are curious instead of frightened. So this is a reminder not to be anxious or scared if your sales are down, if things are not moving in a direction that you had hoped, if you feel like you've taken a few steps back instead of

your nervous system taking over and you being in fight or flight instead of you making decisions from scarcity, I would like you to start getting curious. Get curious. Ask, where is this heading? How can I position myself? What can I do differently? How can I take my years of experience and expertise and

Make sure that I am positioning myself in a current way so that people know I exist.

The unfortunate part about opportunity is that it really shows up with a sign. There's no blinking sign opportunity this way with an arrow pointed, you know, and in my mind, I'm thinking like one of those Vegas signs or like a motel sign with the old, know, like a fifties motel sign that has an arrow, but instead of motel, it says opportunity. Opportunity rarely shows up wearing a sign that says, Hey, here's an opportunity, but it often looks like change. So

Candice (35:49.652)

Now that you know that, now that you know that opportunity often positions itself as change, when you see things changing, start asking yourself, where's the opportunity for me in this? Now, before you move on with your day, I want you to ask yourself, based on everything I've shared with you today, which one of these shifts feels the most exciting to you? Are you most excited about hospitality and experience-driven events, really?

taking over the wedding industry? Are excited about multi-day celebrations? Are you excited about using AI more smartly in your business? What are you most excited about? And where do you see yourself fitting into the future of the industry? Where do you see yourself fitting in to these changes? Because you don't have to chase every change, but I do think you need to be aware of what's happening. And when you notice

Where the energy is moving in the industry, you can really begin to position your business in a way that maintains your relevancy, allows you to continue to be creative without being stifled, and make sure that you're thriving, that you are thriving in business despite circumstances that might not have been ideal for you, but you've learned to adapt. So decide how you want to show up.

in this new chapter of the industry. And you know that on this podcast, I'm always going to keep you up to date on what I'm seeing behind the scenes and the multitude of businesses that I have access to. So you'll always be on the forefront when you listen to this show. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. If this episode gave you a new perspective, I would love for you to share it with a fellow wedding pro who might need the reminder that there's so much opportunity

in this industry. And if you want to learn how we can grow together, make sure to check the show notes for ways that we can work together and continue this conversation. I want to remind you there's so much power in your purpose and I'll see you next week.