Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amber Watson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Amber thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

In 2017 I had my first child and was working in events at a catering company. I loved my job, my coworkers and finally felt like I’d found my industry. My calling, if you will. I found myself crying morning and evening after dropping off and picking up my 3 month old and thought, this isn’t it. I am not meant to leave him for 9 hours a day. So, I sat down with my husband and we talked through what it would look like to spend more time at home in a more “Stay at Home Mom” capacity. I was firm in that I didn’t want to fully give up my life in the event industry as I was just getting to know the business and really felt fulfilled with my work in it. Out of these conversations, tears, and scary leaps of faith “Amber Watson Weddings” was born. It started out VERY small. Like me taking literally anything anyone would send my way. I used my friendships and contacts I’d made in my catering job to reach potential brides. I worked a part time job as a waitress to bring in the income that I knew would eventually come as a wedding planner but would take time to come. Slowly but surely it grew, I booked the first bride, and 3 more after that. And 5 more, and 10 more, and as of fall 2022 over 150 couples have chosen my company to plan their wedding. It’s humbling and amazing and been the hardest and most fulfilling journey. It was a major risk quitting a secure job with normal hours and steady paychecks with a newborn. It was a risk I am forever grateful I took. Now I have three boys, Ollie (5), Whit (3) and baby Huck (9) months. I brought on a business partner earlier this year so we’re taking double the amount of weddings and I’ve had over 50 interns complete our internship program. Amber Watson Weddings, which is now A Moi Weddings has given me a dream life. Where I make my own schedule. Where I drop off and pick up my kids from preschool then scoot over to a meeting then get home in time for bath and bedtime. Taking a risk can be really scary, can feel uncomfortable, can look like failure at first – but if I’ve learned anything over the past 5 years it’s that the scary, the uncomfortable and the potential to fail only make you grow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Amber Watson and I am a wedding planner in South Carolina. I started my career in various sales positions and always felt a bit icky trying to sell things to people that maybe didn’t need them. I turned to the world of non-profits and really loved the feeling of helping people without worrying about a “sales goal” or anything like that. From non-profits I made the jump to the event industry working at a catering company. There I found my passion – events! Shortly after having my first child I realized I wanted more of a work life balance than a traditional 9-5 could offer so with my husband’s blessing and a giant leap of faith I quit my job (that I loved) and created a wedding planning company.

A Moi Weddings offers brides friendly, stress relieving, reliable wedding planning services. We help clients make smart logical decisions when choosing vendors and then beautiful meaningful creative decisions when choosing layouts, colors, and design.

I am most proud of the effort and heart we put into each client, wedding, and project. I always say our city is full of talented and wonderful people but we will truly go that extra mile to be our clients best and loudest advocate. A wedding day is something that cannot be duplicated so we take the opportunity to serve a client on their’s very seriously. Although we are not overly serious people – we are wedding planners with a sense of humor.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I feel very strongly and passionately about social media as it’s been a huge driver in our success. We’ve built a good sized following on Instagram in a short-ish period of time. I meet people often that say, “Oh, I’ve seen you on Instagram” or “Yes I follow you on Instagram, I love your content” and initially I am a little embarrassed because I have a very unfiltered approach to the way I post but it really is special to allow potential, current, and past clients to feel like they get to know you through this portal.

My main points of advice are the following:

Be yourself! People love to hire people. You can certainly. create a business and thrive without a face behind it but we’re in the people business. It doesn’t get much more personal than weddings. Let potential clients see what they are getting and WHO they are hiring.

Be consistent! You don’t have to be the busiest person in your field to keep your social media active. One thing I love about social media is that you are in control of the image your portray to the public. Want to seem funny – post funny things. Want to share the knowledge and wisdom you’ve gained over the years, do it. Share your day to day – meetings, office hours, etc. Social media is unique in that it connects you with a broad audience but in an intimate setting.

Be helpful – everyone loves a pretty picture but that only goes so far. Share tips, tricks, insider scoop – give them a reason to stick around.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I built my reputation on two things: trust and hard work.

Wedding days are not for the faint of heart. With a handful of vendors working together, constant uncontrollable things (like weather), and the variable of a large group of people gathering (and often times + alcohol) you must constantly be on your toes. I feel like if you ask vendors I work with regularly they will say this, “Amber gets things done but does it kindly.” I know when to be direct, when to be soft, and when to go into beast mode to get something fixed.

Vendor relationships are critical for success – they send you referrals, they discuss you with their clients, and in many ways they control how much business you get to do. I’ve taken a lot of pride in the relationships I’ve built, vendors know I will deliver. They know I’ll show up, ready to work, and also ready to help. I am very much of the mentality, “you are never too good to do something.” You’ll never hear me say, “that’s not my job” or “that’s not my problem” if it’s a problem, we will fix it. As a team.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amoiweddings.com
• Instagram: @amoi.weddings
• Facebook: A Moi Weddings

Image Credits
Still Co, Kiley Lauren Photography, Carter’s Creative, Lanterns and Feathers, Ashleigh Donahue Photography