Welcome back to our love-loving blog, beauties! We hope you have been enjoying this beautiful time of year in New Mexico as temperatures start to raise, farmers markets begin to open, and summer weddings get ready to commence. In case you have been wondering how this year’s WedTalks went, you’re in the right place! This week, we will be sharing all of the tea with you. So, get ready for a sneak peak behind all that goes into being the wedding vendor that helps bring your dream wedding to life!
Ready?! Us, too!
WedTalks 2024 was a wonderfully successful day of networking, question panels, and thought provoking presentations hosted by the awesome folks at the Sheraton Uptown!
The day started off a bit crisp with some cloud coverage but that wasn’t going to dampen anyone’s spirits headed into this annual event. Adorable custom name tags provided by Cordially Invited were laid out at check-in, along with their perfect menus displayed on each table. Fresh coffee and some fun beats spun by Brad from King Mobile Music invited guests to come inside and network before we kicked things off with our first industry speaker!
Carefully curated take home swag boxes from a host of awesome vendors included:
Flowers from Kara generously provided all the centerpieces for the tables with locally grown seasonal blooms, so meticulously arranged, yet so artfully crafted. Peaches, pinks, creams and greenery covered the tables all day long, and the “best voted networker” at each table was lucky enough to take home the arrangement at the end of the day.
Starting the morning off strong, Ashleigh Olguin of Ashleigh Olguin Ceremonies came out of the gate emphasizing the importance of building partnerships in both the industry and with clients while being authentically yourself. Doing that, but also not compromising who you are as a person, will help with authentic connections for both parties involved. Ashleigh left everyone with a special message: be someone whose name others speak in a room where you are not. It will speak volumes about your character and intentions!
Alanna Banner from A Sa.lon Santa Fe put a fresh spin on the hustle of the wedding industry, with the idea that “it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” especially in the unique New Mexico wedding community. Taking time to develop and nurture meaningful relationships will benefit more in the long run. You can’t be “the perfect fit” for everyone, and that’s ok. Be an expert in one area and trust yourself and your talent!
Capitalizing on email marketing was broken down for us by Dallas Ulibarri and AIsha Sedillo from Ooh! Aah! Jewelry. They explained how to curate your marketing emails to best capture your intended audience and the areas of your business you want to focus most on.
Mid-morning coffee break and musical tables followed? FOMO?! We feel you!
Deanna from Kin & Co, a brand and web design studio, got us back into the swing of things with her captivating introduction to using AI (artificial intelligence) to amplify your brand authentically, and a gentle but important reminder to “Use Your Voice, Own Your Story.”
David from New Nuevo & Winrock Town Center took stage next with how to create workflow to close a sale in a small business. It’s all about sales and sales follow up that will help create growth and success for a business. Providing a service for a client doesn’t end once the sale is completed.
Brad from King Mobile Music kicks off the transition to our “Elevating Client Experience Panel” with upbeat tunes, leading our panel, Lauren from Darling Details Rentals & Just Lovely Weddings, Maura from Maura Jane Photography, Heather from King Mobile Music, and Emily from Floriography Flowers, to the stage. Our panel covered tips on how to curate elevated client experiences.
Break time was commenced with a delicious lunch catered by Sheraton Uptown! Then it was time to beat those post lunch sleepies and get that blood pumping with some light Jazzercise with Birdie and D’ette from Jazzercise Rio Rancho!
Everyone was ready for our afternoon presenters, starting with Jacob Fail of Levyr CRM. Jacob gave valuable insight into marketing by way of his mantra, “Automate. Delegate. Eliminate” to help streamline your business.
Co-Owner of La Luz Wedding and Event Planning, Courtney Garnham introduced the phrase “scope creep” into our industry vocabulary; learning to set boundaries with clients regarding what was called “Oops List”, which is a list of tasks or services not previously defined in a contract with a vendor that a client is asking for to be done by that particular vendor.
Coryn Kiefer of Coryn Kiefer Photography had valuable insight on how to make a business stand out in a local market, then level up in the industry. Coryn shared using her knowledge as a destination photographer, and how to elevate your client experience target your intended and specific demographics.
As we were winding down the day’s activities, there was one last Q&A panel from all of the day’s presenters open to questions from those in attendance before Impact Awards were handed out.
Impact awards went out in the following categories to these incredibly deserving businesses voted on by their fellow business in the industry. The Trailblazer Award went to Boujee on a Budget Bridal for blazing the trail for others with innovation and creativity! The Rising Star Award went to Cocina Ascension for making such big things happen in such a short amount of time, with them being open for just under a year in New Mexico! The Community Leader Award went to La Luz Weddings and Event Planning, being recognized by so many as a leader in the wedding community. Let’s give a massive round of applause to the three winners of this year’s Impact Awards!
A HUGE thank you to this year’s sponsors of WedTalks 2024! We couldn’t have done this without your support!
Sheraton Uptown, venue and lunch
Stephany Taylor Photography, photographer
Jar and Crys Films, videography
Flowers from Kara, centerpieces
Darling Details Rentals, vintage furniture for our lounge on stage
Cordially Invited, menu cards and name tags
AA Events and Tents, linens and backdrop
King Mobile Music, sound and A/V team
See you at next year’s Unveiled Summit 2025, our reimagined WedTalks Conference!
