{"id":9268,"date":"2016-06-09T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.qceventplanning.com\/?p=9268"},"modified":"2016-06-09T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T12:00:00","slug":"first-years-wedding-planner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/first-years-wedding-planner","title":{"rendered":"My First Years as a Wedding Planner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>QC tutor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/tutors\/regina-osgood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Regina Osgood<\/a> is the owner and creative director of Meant2Be events, a top Arizona wedding planning firm that manages over 250 weddings a year.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>There is a saying, <i>it\u2019s about the journey, not the destination<\/i>. It couldn\u2019t be more true than in building a business. There are peaks and valleys, inspiring horizons and less then hopeful views. Each experience comes with a lesson, some that are harder than others.<\/p>\n<p>This is my company\u2019s 10 year anniversary. It\u2019s been quite a ride. To say there haven\u2019t been some failures along the way would be dishonest. <\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/first-years-wedding-planner\/#Getting_things_off_the_ground\" >Getting things off the ground<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/first-years-wedding-planner\/#A_rough_start\" >A rough start<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/first-years-wedding-planner\/#What_would_I_change\" >What would I change?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Getting_things_off_the_ground\"><\/span>\nGetting things off the ground<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.qceventplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_211848994-e1465410783296.jpg\" alt=\"wedding plan\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_211848994-e1465410783296.jpg 672w, https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_211848994-e1465410783296-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I give a lot of credit to my parents. I had the perfect balance of knowledge from my parents. My mother is an artist. She really encouraged our creativity and pushed us to explore our own ways of expression. My outlet became writing and conceptual design. My father was an entrepreneur for a business we ran out of our home most of the time. So I was surrounded by self-starters and self-motivators. <\/p>\n<p>Getting off the ground I had a big advantage. I ran a very popular event entertainment company for three years. I knew everyone and was well respected. That helped tremendously in building the relationships I needed. <\/p>\n<p>I went to a personal development course and out of that I made a very dear friend. A decade later she is still one of my closes allies.  She referred my first client to me, one of her attorney friends. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_rough_start\"><\/span>\nA rough start <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"672\" height=\"449\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.qceventplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_318486728-e1465410874136.jpg\" alt=\"rained on couple\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_318486728-e1465410874136.jpg 672w, https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_318486728-e1465410874136-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When I tell people about how my first few weddings went out the gate, I am even surprised myself that I am still in this industry. At my first wedding, a guest caught her dress sleeve on fire, my bridal party was so drunk they almost fell off the side of a mountain and a server dropped an entire tray of champagne flutes on my maid of honor seconds before her toast. At my second wedding, my groom insisted on his outdoor ceremony regardless of the advice of myself and the facility coordinator. All of our guests got stuck in the rain and didn&#8217;t want to stay for the reception. Looking back at it now it\u2019s all pretty funny\u2014but at the time it couldn\u2019t have been more challenging. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_would_I_change\"><\/span>What would I change?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"672\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.qceventplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_127850174-e1465410981640.jpg\" alt=\"couple walking away\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_127850174-e1465410981640.jpg 672w, https:\/\/www.qceventplanning.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shutterstock_127850174-e1465410981640-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There are certainly some things I wish I had done differently. I look back at my first websites and first marketing efforts. I\u2019m baffled that anyone paid me for services and incredibly grateful that they did. <\/p>\n<p>A decade later, the triumphs we have had are something I am incredibly proud of. We are now operating in 3 states, with full time and part time employees, interns and mentorships. Seasonally we are featured 10-15 times in prestigious magazines and blogs. It\u2019s been a wild ride, to say the least. <\/p>\n<p>My biggest advice: start out strong, find a mentor who can help you create a business plan, budget and strategize, and don\u2019t give up on your passions\u2014even if someone catches on fire at your event.<\/p>\n<h3 align=\"center\"><i><br \/>\nDid Regina\u2019s story inspire you to get started? Find out how you can <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.qceventplanning.com\/2015\/06\/getting-your-first-client\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">get your first client<\/a>!<\/i><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first few years as a wedding planner aren&#8217;t easy. Here&#8217;s what happened when QC tutor Regina Osgood started her own business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[351],"class_list":["post-9268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-experts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>My First Years as a Wedding Planner - Pointers for Planners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first few years as a wedding planner aren&#039;t easy. 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