We recently connected with Kelsey Angelotti and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsey, thanks for joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? We’d love to hear the backstory the illustrates how you grew your brand.

I wish I could say that my business scaled overnight, but that just wasn’t the case. It’s been the culmination of 12 years, long hours, hard work and cultivating vendor relationships that has allowed me to scale the way I have. I started by business in CA, after working for a venue and gaining 120 events under my belt and meeting hundreds of vendors. I always knew the importance of vendor relationships and referrals and made sure to cultivate those relationships the best I could. I always joke, half my job is endless coffee dates! But all jokes aside, so much of my business is referral based and it’s important to keep relationships up!

My business in CA scaled pretty early on. I hired a team of girls that worked for me and took on lower packages than I was personally interested in executing. We were doing high volume and executing more weddings year over year. However, it wasn’t until I moved to Tennessee that I saw a drastic increase in the actual financials for my business. I took a risk, phased out a lot of my team in CA and went full on with taking less weddings, but larger productions at a higher price point. Although it seemed like my business wasn’t doing as many weddings and events, we were actually doing a lot more in terms of overall budgets and bringing in a much higher income.

We’ve now hit the sweet spot where we’re doing 6-8 large scale production weddings a year and then a handful of really design forward corporate events, which has been really fun. We’re being more picky on which clients we accept, allowing us to grow our minimum spend requirements of clients and allow us to grow the business both financially but also creatively as well. As the budgets increase, so does our workload and our creative power. It’s been amazing but definitely some trial and error over the years.

I’ve had to remind myself that volume doesn’t always equal success. We’re tiny but oh, so mighty.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Kelsey Angelotti, the owner of Kelsey Rae Designs, a boutique Wedding Planning and Event Production firm located in Nashville, TN. For over a decade we have been planning events around the globe and have quickly become a destination for thoughtfully designed and planned weddings and events. Creating multi-day experiences, tailored weddings and a seamless planning process, our team works closely with each client to create a customized experience.

We have executed over 450 weddings and events, and have been featured in more than 50 publications, including People Magazine, BRIDES, The Huffington Post, Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes, 100 Layer Cake, Wedding Chicks, and others. We also have had the privilege of working with high-profile clients such as Bachelor Nation contestants, The Voice contestants, movie and television producers, MLB players, influencers, politicians, and country music stars.

We are not high volume and only take on 6-8 weddings a year and a handful of social/corporate events. We really value the details and creating events that are unique to our clients. We like to say, every event is designed for a good time!

We’re proud of the clients we have been able to work with and the design work we’ve put out! We’ve started to create a buzz with some of our events we’ve produced and it’s been really fun to do what we do all over the world!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’ve had to rise in a competitive market (California) and also reinvent myself in a new market (Tennessee). Both have had the commonality in that relationship building is key. I’ve always made it a point to be authentic and never shy away from people I thought were well above me. I have reached out to creatives with bigger social media followings, I’ve DM’d celebrities asking for a chance to bid for their business, and I’ve set my sights on venues that align with the clientele I strive to work exclusively with.

I was taking the hard hat tours of venues before openings. I continue to talk to my vendor partners on the daily, not just about work but about their personal lives too. I care about people, and I really strive to have that show each and every day.

I also support my fellow planners. I try to be everyone’s biggest fan and constant cheerleader. I have always felt that there is enough business to go around. I have such a unique style and so do the other planners in town, that I strongly feel if a client wants them, they are not for me and vice versa. We get the client’s we’re supposed to get!

Overall, I try to approach everyone with love and genuine care and hopefully my reputation exceeds that!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a creative is the fact that I get to create for my clients and produce events that hopefully make them feel something. I want them to feel excited and all the emotions when they walk into the event space. I love learning about my clients and weaving special moments into the design that are uniquely them too. No event is ever the same and it’s fun to be creatively challenged each and every time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelseyraedesigns.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelseyraedesigns

Image Credits

Demi Mabry Photography
Natalie Watson Photography
Haley Birdsey Photography
Jes Workman Photography