My Story
Curious how a wedding-obsessed creative like me built her dream business from scratch? Hit play to hear all about my rollercoaster journey—from New York side hustler to D.C. studio boss, educator, and online innovator.
You’ll hear about my behind-the-scenes hustle, hard-won life lessons, and a whole lot of heart. This is My Story—let’s get inspired together!
Psst!: Recorded several years ago, but still (I believe) relevant.
The Wedding Whirlwind Timeline
Before there was a business, there was just me—the person who couldn’t resist a good wedding magazine and absolutely had to hear every single detail about your friend’s cousin’s wedding. The spark was there long before the business cards!
In February 2001, I finally made the leap: I started my own part-time wedding planning business right from my New York home. My days (and let’s be real, my dreams) were overflowing with weddings, sparkles, and so much love.
Life handed me a major plot twist: a move to the Washington DC area. I upped my game, moving my business into an honest-to-goodness commercial space. Whether it was a 180 or a 360, it was a whirlwind—I was suddenly living, breathing, and probably even dreaming “Down the Aisle” (my wedding biz).
My world grew from planning weddings to hosting hands-on workshops in my “studio”—because doesn’t that sound fancier than “office”? Little surprise: most attendees were actually other budding wedding planners!
Then came an amazing opportunity—I started teaching with the Wedding Planning Institute. Not only was I doing what I loved, but now I was sharing real-life lessons with future wedding planners, too.
As questions rolled in, I started a biweekly email newsletter with everything I knew about wedding planning. Turns out, people couldn’t get enough! I needed a place to store all my “nuggets of wisdom”…y 25% for millions of users.
I looked to online newsletter pro Ali Brown for inspiration and launched WeddingsForLiving.com. Not only did I finally have a home for my archives, but my email list just kept on growing!
Why stop at in-person classes? I packaged up my wedding planning know-how and turned it into online workshops. When I saw my first payment come through, I was officially addicted to this online business thing!
After stumbling upon advice from Erin Blaskie, I found BlogTalkRadio and launched “Confetti”—the first-ever live call-in show for wedding planners. Each week, headset on, I shared tips and fielded your questions right from my desk. It was a blast!
Hosting the show built real connections with listeners—and soon, we were more than strangers; we were a community. I realized how powerful (and fun!) it could be to share my voice.
Through it all, I learned to show up, start wherever I am (even if it’s scrappy), and always be true to myself. Consistency, occasional forays into social media (Twitter, yes; Facebook, not so much!), and, most of all, soaking up the adventure—those are the big takeaways.
These days, I split my time between helping engaged couples, promoting the Caribbean as a destination, and sharing my journey online. I’ll always be a lifelong learner, a self-bosser—and I’ll never stop making space for joy, curiosity, and, of course, plenty of confetti.
And that’s my story! From wedding magazines to the magic of an online community, it’s been a journey full of surprises, lessons, and a whole lot of heart.
Mentioned Links & Resources
Ali Brown
Ali Brown is why I gained the confidence to launch my online course for wedding planners. Ali was (once) known as the Ezine Queen, which was a nod to her creating an electronic magazine (an ezine) to build trust and develop a solid database of loyal fans. At the time, paying for her products was a financial stretch, but my investment was worth every penny. Today, Ali is a major online celeb. Although I’m no longer tapped into her content, hands-down, she holds a special place in my entrepreneurial heart.
Erin Blaskie
I got the idea to host a podcast from Erin Blaskie to build my brand. Erin began her online journey as a virtual assistant (VA) who created a VA agency in Canada. Today, Erin is still a mover and shaker in the online world.
Digital Analytics Association Welcome
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BlogTalkRadio
This is the platform where I hosted my first live online talk show. Back then (c. 2009), my show was the first for new and aspiring wedding planners. Each Wednesday at 7 PM ET, I faithfully broadcast my talk show to a live, online audience. This took me down a fascinating path of podcast production, microphones, mixers, video cameras and more.
WeddingsForALiving.com
My flagship website that houses podcast episodes and articles for new and aspiring wedding planners.
Still in Love with WordPress
I don’t mention WordPress–a content management system (CMS) that allows users to create websites–in my audio. However, I want to point out what an integral part of my journey this CMS has been. When I initially launched my online course for wedding planners, I invested several thousand dollars in a program known as Membergate. It worked…and then support started to slip.
I discovered WordPress as an alternative with its host of plugins (a plugin is a software add-on that adds new features to a WordPress website). Eventually, I switched the course to WordPress using Memberpress (a membership plugin for WordPress). This was a game-changer, and during this learning process, I grew to understand, master, and LOVE WordPress. I use WordPress for every website I create, including this one.