We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Allison Warnersmith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Allison, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Passion. Business, no matter what industry you are in, is hard. It is trying and things don’t always go how you planned. The one thing that keeps you going and ultimately drives your success, is being passionate about what you are doing and the people you are working with. There have been many times we have had back to back to back wedding weekends or even multiple weddings per weekend. The days are long, the work is hard, and there is a physical and mental toll of it all. But boy are we passionate about delivering incredible wedding days to our couples! I have a fabulous team that shares this passion as well. When the going gets tough, your feet hurt, you are drained from the emotions and fast pace of the day, we turn to our couples and to ourselves and soak in the magic that we get to create and the love we have the honor of witnessing.

If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing, or what you are trying to do, change directions., An endeavor to just make money or fill a hole in the market might get you off the ground but its passion that keeps you going and drives your success. Do what it takes to keep the passion in your business alive!

Allison, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Allison and I am the owner, founder, and lead planner at Warnersmith Events. Warnersmith Events was born out of a love of event coordinating and from my undeniable Type A personality. At our founding, I was working a job in Washington, DC that, although I was grateful for, felt unfulfilling. I needed something that got me our of bed in the morning and allowed me to work with people one-on-one. I started formally taking bookings in January of 2022 and as cheesy as it sounds, the rest is history. At first, it was just friends from college who were eager to support me while experiencing the most exciting time in their own lives. It quickly grew through word of mouth and light advertising. As business continued to grow, I began building a team of like-minded, driven women who shared my passion for weddings and events and understood the vision I had for our client experience. Bookings continued and before I knew it, our 2022 calendar was full and we were truly off and running.

A year and a half later, business is still good! With well over 30 weddings now under our belt, we’ve made a name for ourselves in the Louisville market and feel good about what we have to offer and the community we continue to build. As I look to the future, I am still excited by our growth but even more so I am thrilled with our client interactions. We have found our ideal clients and they have found us, their ideal planners and coordinators. It is so fulfilling to have relationships with each of our clients, feel connected to them and fully invested in their big day, I founded this business on friendship and loyalty and its an honor to see those qualities reflected in our clientele. It is simply a joy to do what we do!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for us in word of mouth! Most of our clients at this point are referrals from past clients, guests from previous weddings, or those who found us online, typically through mutual followings. We do some light advertising on Facebook, especially in growing markets, but the majority of our clients found their way to us very organically. I think that speaks volumes about the quality of our work and it is something I am very proud of!

Unlike some services in our industries, there really is no “try before you buy” when it comes to wedding planning and coordination. We offer free introductory calls to allow potential clients to get to know us but there is inherently a lot of trust when it comes to service based business. This is why word of mouth referrals and positive customer reviews are our lifeline. Potential clients find assurance and comfort in the words of former clients and ultimately that is what gives them not just the confidence to reach out, but to book.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’ve said this before and I will say it again: I feel incredibly lucky that this journey has been relatively smooth sailing for me since day 1. I would equate my journey thus far to a well-maintained gravel road in the country: no big potholes that will blow a tire or fallen trees to imped the path but certainly a bumpy ride with some twists and turns.

The best story I can share about my resilience is simply just how busy I am. I work full-time in another industry that is completely different than this one. I am also in law school part-time which has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. To top off those two very demanding things along with running this business, I am planning my own wedding for next summer and building a life with my loving fiancé. We just bought a house in March and so we spend quite a bit of time making it our home. Balancing the many facets of my life is difficult. I play a never ending game of prioritization. Needless to say, the Google calendar and I are best friends! I have had to maintain a certain level of resilience within myself to navigate my many passions and responsibilities. I am grateful for it and am happy to continue to do this work as long as our clients continue to give us the opportunity to do so.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.warnersmithevents.com
• Instagram: @warnersmithevents
• Facebook: Warnersmith Events
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/warnersmith-events

Image Credits
Book Photo and Film, Photos by Kaela Jean, Sydney Darwin Photography