The Wedding Biz &#8211; Behind the Scenes of the Wedding Business

Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Kushner Entertainment

Find Jose:

Jose Villa

Jose Villa/Part 1 on The Wedding Biz

@jose-villa

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@josevillaphoto

@josevilla

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Film Presets

This Week's Guest Co-Host, Lynn Easton, creator of Easton Destination Events

Easton Events

@eastonevents

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Lynn Easton/Part 1 on The Wedding Biz

Lynn Easton/Part 2 on The Wedding Biz

Mentioned:

Kiana Underwood on The Wedding Biz

235 JOSE VILLA: Wedding Photography At Its Finest Mar 16, 2020

Show notes

Andy and Jose hopped on the line, Friday March 13th, to discuss the impact of the Coronavirus on the event industry and their businesses as a prelude to the regular interview.

Listen as Andy and Jose discuss many topics, including the celebrity weddings he photographed in 2019. There is so much to learn from Jose, regardless of whether or not you are a photographer.

If you are not familiar with his work, Jose Villa is primarily a film photographer, named one of the top Wedding Photographers in the world by Vogue, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Harper's Bazaar. Jose has also been recognized as one of the most influential photographers of the decade by PDN.

Listen as Jose shares how the level of the weddings he does has changed and what he feels when shooting celebrity weddings. In 2019, Jose did the photography for Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's and Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin's weddings, two of the most high profile weddings he last last year. Jose also speaks about the cameras and lenses he uses and the presets that are now available that makes digital photos look like film.

Have you ever grabbed one camera, one lens, and just started composing images? Jose speaks about how much he likes to change things up, even after being in the business for the last eighteen years. He shares about those moments he waits a whole wedding to shoot, clients that require a lot of attention and how that pays off, and his strategy with social media.

Jose is very humble and grateful for what he has achieved, and has more he wants to accomplish. Jose shoots about twenty weddings a year now and the intricacies of each event keeps him plenty busy. Listening to Jose is always a pleasure and you don't want to miss this conversation!

Show Highlights:

[02:14] Welcome back to the show, Jose!

[02:35] Jose shares where his business is now and how the level of weddings has changed.

[03:20] Jose speaks about the anxiety he feels during celebrity wedding shoots.

[05:55] Jose discusses the photos he shot for Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's wedding.

[07:50] Did Nick ask for specific things he wanted for his wedding photographs?

[09:28] Jose shares his experience with Priyanka Chopra and her attention to detail.

[11:02] Jose chats about the fact that Nick and Priyanka's wedding was the first time he shot a wedding digitally.

[12:55] Jose discusses Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin's wedding and why the vibe was different.

[15:21] He felt like he was filming a concert at the reception because of how many artists were there.

[16:20] Jose speaks about seeing the world when he is photographing vertically.

[17:26] Jose chats about loving the ability to run around with one lens on a 35mm camera.

[18:20] What cameras and lenses are you using now?

[18:53] Jose shares how he uses lighting and how soft light compliments people's faces.

[20:30] Jose speaks about taking photos intuitively and making sure the subject is present in the moment.

[22:42] Do you have moments when you feel like this is it, this is the photo I have to have?

[24:21] Jose shares his social media strategy and what he struggles with the most.

[26:37] Jose speaks about how he handles his business and the fact that he answers every email and text from clients.

[28:32] He chats about a client he works with that requires a lot of his attention, and it has paid off because they have hired him to shoot every event they do all over the world.

[30:40] How many weddings do you shoot a year?

[31:56] Jose tells us what he does for fun when he is not working.

[34:18] What is it like to be married to a photographer? Is there any competition there?

[36:51] Jose discusses what he spoke about at Engage and why he temporarily stopped doing workshops.

[38:52] What are you looking forward to? Are you going to be traveling a lot?

[40:02] Jose shares what success means to him at this point in his life.

[43:34] Jose, thank you for being on the show!

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Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Kushner Entertainment

Find Jose:

Jose Villa

Jose Villa Part 1 on The Wedding Biz

@jose-villa

Facebook

@josevillaphoto

@josevilla

Instagram

Film Presets

Mentioned:

Mindy Weiss on The Wedding Biz

234 Online Crisis Communication And The Coronavirus Mar 13, 2020

Show notes

Christie Osborne is FEMA-certified in Social Media Crisis Communication and I was fortunate to get some time with her while attending Catersource/The Special Event conference in Las Vegas. She talks about what to consider when communicating policies regarding response to a crisis, including the Coronavirus. She also tells us about the most frequently asked questions she's getting while at the conference. This includes, when events get cancelled, how to communicate online regarding the issue of how we decide to handle deposits. Christie also discusses how to respond when clients ask if they should get tested when they've attended a venue or event where it's later discovered that one or more people were infected. She also talks about how to respond when people have yet to attend an event that has not been cancelled and are asking if it's safe. This includes how to handle the recovery period once we are past the crisis. Christie Osborne's website and email: www.mountainsidemedia.comchristie@mountainsidemedia.com My title is owner of Mountainside Media. Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/mtnsidemediaco/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mtnsidemediaco/

233 THE NEXT LEVEL: ANDRE MAIER discusses SONAL SHAH - Planning South Asian Weddings With a Theatrical Flair Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

If you want your weddings to have theatrical productions, listen as Andy and Andre discuss Sonal Shah and her ability to plan and produce events and the challenges she faces when planning celebrity weddings, interracial weddings, and more, all over the world. Andre Maier is a fantastic photographer based in both New York City and Los Angeles, who works worldwide, and appeared on The Wedding Biz.

Sonal is a premier South Asian event planner based in New York City, working all over the world. Sonal is known for planning the most elaborate over-the-top weddings. She also works with both Hollywood and Bollywood stars, and has a book out called "The Complete Guide to Planning the Perfect South Asian Wedding."

Andy and Andre share Sonal's ability to mediate between bridal couples and parents, why she decided to plan South Asian weddings, and the need to trust the creative partners with whom she builds her teams. Additionally, Andre says that Sonal brings purpose and passion together, which is why she is so successful. They chat about how each event she plans has to be different from anything she has done before.

Listen as Andy and Andre dive into some of the more interesting nuggets of Sonal's interview. The enthusiasm she has for what she does is contagious, and you can feel it, and they discuss this amazing woman.

Show Highlights:

[01:08] Andre, welcome to the show!
[02:23] Andre and Andy speak about Sonal jumping into a business that didn't exist at the time.
[03:54] They talk about leaping off the cliff assuming a net appears, which is precisely what Sonal did when she started.
[05:21] Sonal says that she handles mediation between the bridal couple and the parents.
[07:47] Andre recalls what Sonal told us about wanting to plan South Asian weddings because she didn't like the ones she attended.
[10:01] They discuss the tension involved in weddings and how sometimes the creative partners have to diffuse situations.
[12:02] Andre agrees with Sonal that you need a team whose personality meshes with the clients' personalities.
[14:06] Andre believes that Sonal combines her purpose with passion.
[15:12] Sonal wants everything to be different every time; she doesn't wish to have cookie-cutter weddings.
[16:43] Andre speaks about how professional and unshakeable Sonal is at each of her events.
[18:06] Andre, thank you for being on the show!

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Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Kushner Entertainment

Sonal J. Shah Event Consultants

Find Sonal:

@sjsevents

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The Complete Guide to Planning the Perfect South Asian Wedding by Sonal J. Shah

This Week's Guest Co-Host, Andre Maier

Andre Maier on The Wedding Biz

Andre Maier Photography

@andremaierphoto

Facebook | Instagram

@andremaier

Twitter

232 SONAL SHAH: Planning South Asian Weddings With a Theatrical Flair Mar 09, 2020

Show notes

"I don't design; I plan events and manage the timelines." Listen in as Andy and his guest Sonal Shah discuss how she began her career, and why she chose to niche down to South Asian weddings. They also talk about her position with Marriott and how it helped her become the planner she is today and much more on this episode of The Wedding Biz.

Sonal is a premier South Asian event planner based in New York City, working all over the world. Sonal is known for planning the most elaborate over-the-top weddings. If her medium-sized wedding has four to five hundred guests, can you imagine what her large weddings are like? She works with both Hollywood and Bollywood stars, and has a book out called "The Complete Guide to Planning the Perfect South Asian Wedding."

Sonal shares the process she has for putting together a team, how she handles the different personalities of each family, and how she keeps the focus on the bride when opinions make things difficult. Sonal speaks about the need to trust the creative partners she uses who also do something different so that nothing ever looks cookie-cutter. Sonal describes the challenges she faces when planning celebrity weddings, as well as interracial ones.

Sonal is young to have accomplished everything she has, and she has much more she is hoping to achieve. She speaks about what she would like to do in the future, how she finds a balance between work and family, and she gives some details about one of her favorite weddings. You will be on the edge of your seat because everything that she says has an energy to it that you don't want to miss.

Show Highlights:

[02:26] Sonal, welcome to the show!

[02:45] Sonal shares where she grew up and a little about her background.

[04:11] Sonal graduated from Ohio State University with degrees in hospitality management, finance, and in Spanish.

[05:17] Where did you want to live once you graduated from college?

[07:45] Sonal shares why she went to Ohio State instead of going to college in New York, where her heart was.

[09:40] She moved to New York because it was a melting pot of nationalities and cultures.

[11:18] Sonal discusses working for Marriott before she opened her company.

[12:53] Can you share your journey from the corporate world to launching your own company?

[15:19] Sonal decided on the bus one day that she wanted to plan South Asian weddings because she saw a need, and no one was doing them well at the time.

[17:35] Sonal speaks about the way she advertised for her business because, at the time, social media was not around to help get the word out.

[19:48] How did you get your first client?

[20:20] Sonal says that she doesn't design; she plans the events and manages the timeline.

[22:10] Sonal shares her process of putting a team together for each event.

[24:13] Sonal speaks about trusting her creative partners.

[26:18] She doesn't want her events to be cookie-cutter; her creative partners need to do something people haven't seen before.

[28:10] Sonal shares that she plans about 25 weddings a year and clients book weddings a year and a half to two years ahead of time.

[29:15] What are some of the unique aspects involved with producing a celebrity's wedding?

[31:38] Sonal speaks about the number of interracial marriages she has seen, in the last few years, and how they have to prepare for the customs of both the bride and groom.

[33:19] Sonal tells us that she has a great team and a fantastic support system, which allows her to do so many multi-day and elaborate weddings a year.

[34:20] Andy speaks about a wedding Sonal did that cost over 2 million dollars and everything that was involved with it.

[36:22] Sonal describes how she planned one of her favorite weddings.

[39:39] They discuss Sonal's book that she self-published in 2013.

[41:39] Sonal shares how she finds a balance between work and her family.

[42:53] What do you still want to accomplish in the wedding industry? What is your dream?

[45:27] Sonal, thank you so much for being on the show!

LINKS & RESOURCES

Follow The Wedding Biz on Social:

Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Kushner Entertainment

Sonal J. Shah Event Consultants

Find Sonal:

@sjsevents

Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | LinkedIn

The Complete Guide to Planning the Perfect South Asian Wedding by Sonal J. Shah

231 THE NEXT LEVEL: ROBERT SHERMAN discusses EVOKE DESIGN/Jeannette Tavares & Jodi Moraru: Thriving In A Partnership Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

When does it make sense to change the dynamics of a company? Listen, as Andy and Robert Sherman discuss how changing the leadership of Evoke Design led Jeannette Tavares and Jodi Moraru to greater personal and business success. Robert is the President of Washington Talent and Andy's business partner with Kushner Entertainment. Andy interviewed him on The Wedding Biz in November of last year as they announced their partnership.

Evoke Design is based in Washington, D.C, and serving clients worldwide. Jeannette is the Chief Creative Director, and Jodi is a producer; however, it wasn't always like that. Jodi founded the company, hired Jeannette, who eventually became a producer, and later Jeannette bought out the company. Although their roles have reversed, they are now individually more successful as well as the company as a whole.

Listen as Robert and Andy discuss the similarities between their partnership with Kushner Entertainment and the connection Jeannette and Jodi have with Evoke Design. Jodi and Andy both tired of working the operations sides of their businesses and needed to get their creative juices flowing again, and Jeannette and Robert both excel at the business side. They also speak about the way the Evoke Design team treats their creative partners, the fact that they have both worked with them, and can say from experience they know how to nurture people.

A partnership can be great when it is done the right way, with the right people. Listen in to hear how Jeannette and Jodi did it right and are now thriving in a way that makes them both happy and allows them to both live their best lives.

Show Highlights:

[01:23] Robert, welcome to the show!
[02:26] Robert discusses the respect and admiration he could feel radiates between Jeannette and Jodi.
[03:15] They chat about how lucky Jodi was to find Jeannette, someone who took mental ownership before she ever took legal ownership.
[04:24] Robert speaks about the way Jeannette spoke to Jodi about wanting to own her own business, which started the conversation about her owning Evoke Design.
[06:03] Andy shares that Jodi was tired of the operations side of the company, and not getting to be creative resonated with him for the same reason.
[08:12] An educational journey is how Jeannette described the year that she and Jodi discussed the change of ownership.
[12:56] Andy and Robert discuss how Evoke Design works with their creative partners and how nurturing they are.
[14:08] Robert shares an example of how Evoke Design treats creative partners.
[16:11] Thank you, everyone, for listening to the show.

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Onyx|Washington Talent Agency

Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by PartySlate - the first website designed specifically for event professionals and venues!

Find Evoke:

Evoke Website

@evoke_dc

Instagram

@evokedc

Twitter | Pinterest

Jodi

@jodimoraru

Instagram | Twitter

@jeannettetav

Instagram | Twitter

This Week's Guest Co-Host, Robert Sherman

Robert Sherman

Robert Sherman on The Wedding Biz

Washington Talent

@washingtontalent

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@wta_talent

Twitter

230 EVOKE/JEANNETTE TAVARES & JODI MORARU: Thriving In A Partnership Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

Have you ever looked at an event from a thirty thousand foot view, so you could see the big picture? Listen as Andy and his guests Jodi Moraru and Jeannette Tavaras discuss this and how event planning has evolved in the last thirty years. Both of these amazing women are individuals who work with Evoke, an Event Planning and Design company that was initially founded by Jodi but was bought by Jeannette years later. Listen as they discuss what that was all about in this episode of The Wedding Biz.

Jeannette is the President, and Jodi is the Founder and Senior Event Planner based out of Washington, D.C. Although their roles have reversed, they are now individually more successful as well as the company as a whole. Jodi and Jeannette share where they each got their passion for planning events as children, how they met, and why Jodi chose to teach Jeannette the business. Starting as Jodi's assistant, Jeannette worked her way up to an event planner in a short time, which proved to Jodi that she had the right person for the next step in her exit plan.

Listen as they speak about the process of changing ownership, the anxiety they had about the changes but the strong unity that came out of it. Jodi didn't sell and leave the company. She stayed to do what she loves which is producing events, while Jeannette has excelled at the operations side of the business while planning as well.

These two women show us what happens when you trust your instincts and know when to make changes. They took a successful business and made it even more prominent by making changes that needed to be made but still keeping the integrity it has always had.

Show Highlights:

[02:28] Welcome to the show, Jodi and Jeannette!

[03:08] Jodi shares when her passion for events came about and her journey to event planning.

[04:58] Jodi speaks about what event planning was like thirty years ago.

[05:55] Jodi chats about her first job out of college, working with a maverick in the industry.

[07:39] Jode discusses what she learned about being a leader and what kind of boss she wanted to be.

[08:51] Jodi shares working in the floral industry and what it felt like to be a vendor/creative partner.

[11:33] Jodi chats about starting her business with a business partner and how working with that partner didn't work.

[12:58] They discuss rebranding her company and giving it the name of Evoke.

[15:28] Jeannette shares where she got the passion for events, about her family, and her background.

[17:11] Jeannette speaks about not knowing any other business except hospitality and going to school for it.

[18:01] Jeannette shares how she first met Jodi and got to shadow her to learn the industry.

[20:32] Jodi speaks about Jeannette starting as an intern, and within two months, she was making a position for her.

[21:37] Jeannette discusses being Jodi's assistant and how that evolved into a love for the company.

[23:53] Jeannette shares how long it took her to become an event planner and designer with the company.

[25:38] Jodi speaks about why she was thinking about selling the company and her exit strategy.

[27:13] Jodi describes talking to Jeannette about where she saw her future in the company.

[28:12] Jeannette speaks about talking to Jodi about owning her own business one day.

[30:20] Jodi shares that the Evoke team is very open, and they have open conversations all the time, so they know where the team stands.

[32:09] Jeannette speaks about Jodi asking her to run Evoke.

[33:05] Jodi chats about the changes in the industry in the last 20 years.

[35:06] How did the process go for you when deciding to change ownership of the company?

[36:57] Jodi shares having a panic attack when the reality of selling her company became real.

[38:56] Instead of leaving the company, Jodi has stayed and feels invigorated by producing events instead of worrying about the day to day operations.

[40:39] Jodi says that she couldn't be happier now that she is an employee instead of the owner.

[41:51] Jeannette has a passion for running the operations of the company and is excelling.

[44:00] Jeannette shares that she bought Evoke because she loves it, she loves the whole team and what they do for their clients.

[44:46] Jeannette, where do you see yourself taking the company in the next five years?

[46:45] Jeannette describes how she values success.

[47:01] Jodi shares that she is having her most success because she is doing what she loves to do.

[47:30] Thank you both for being on the show!

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