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

Brooke, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I got the idea when I was thinking about planning my own wedding. I actually didn’t realize that a Wedding Planner was a real and legit job. I ended up shadowing another company 1 time and when I was there I was like “oh my gosh I want to open my own company”.

I became a wedding planner first with Forevermore Weddings LLC. I started this company in a spare bedroom in my first little mobile home with my now husband. I had a small desk and just myself. I was so nervous but honestly so ready and excited. I didn’t have anyone to mentor me or help me learn so I honestly winged my first few events (they went very well) but I created my own process and have came a huge way! A big reason I wanted to do this for sure was to bring a more modern enhancement to the area I service. We needed some fresh looks.

I talked about to my family and some old co-workers and people discussed it with me but I am unsure if anyone actually thought I was going to do it or not.

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?

I am 27 years old, I am the oldest out of 5 kids, I am married and have 3 sons of my own who are 4, 2, and 9 months old. I love working like truly I love my jobs. I also love to travel and experience the world especially with my kiddos.

I own 3 companies all some what in the same industry. I started my job when I was 18 years old and have grown tremendously for the age I am.
I opened my wedding planning and design company Forevermore Weddings LLC in a spare bedroom in my old house. I got my first client off of Craigslist I believe and really had not much of an idea of what I was doing originally. I asked other planners for advice and help and not many were willing to do that. However as time has went on I now have locations in Michigan, Ohio, Chicago, Atlanta, and Tennessee. We offer wedding planning, wedding day management, design and floral services.

I then opened Forevermore Bridal back in 2018. I opened a bridal shop because when I was a bride I went to multiple shops around me and just didn’t have the best experiences to be honest. A lot of the shops I felt were a bit out dated and we haven’t had a fresh pair of eyes (in my opinion) since I ever became a planner back in 2014.

I now own a event space as well in Toledo, OH called City View Event Center downtown. I became a partner in this venue back in 2021.

I never expected to branch my biz owning life to grow so much in such a short time but sometimes things come up and it just feels like it’s meant to be. I have an amazing staff who help get this company to where it is heading and they have been a huge reason it is where it is today. My companies all got so big over the years my husband now also works with my full time and it’s bitter sweet we can be apart of our kids lives more and do what we love doing together.

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

I think what helped build my reputation is the vision I had for my companies. I wanted to create weddings that had some things no other planners or companies had for example dancing on the cloud machines they make amazing first dances and so many bigger cities do this type of thing but yet we weren’t even offering it. Certain rentals like vase styles, arbors and more just bringing a unique and fresh look to the events we were doing. Eventually a lot of people wanted a part of it or wanted those things.

As for our bridal shop getting designers with a little different touch and look to them really holds us apart and the style of our shop. It’s very modern, elegant and updated and we haven’t had a new fresh shop in a couple years.

The venue so many venues were doing the same things and not enough uniqueness. We however created a beautiful venue with a look no-one else comes close to because we thought outside the box and honestly my planning business has showed me so many venues across the states we service I just wanted to bring something unique here and people remember that.

I also am a really engaged with my couples, my vendors and I think that stands out as I look at this as more than just a job and it shows in my work.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My advice is to be you. I had bosses who were so high strung and rude and didn’t seem to show any appreciation for me which made me hate working where I was. I believe that I wouldn’t have what I have if it wasn’t for the team I have. The team I have all of the ladies and guys are friends in their own way. I know they have my back and they know i have theirs (on certain things of course). They respect that I am their boss but I do not treat them like my “staff” I treat them like partners and a team mate like on a sports team. It’s so important to make sure your team feels appreciated and respected and hear them.

There are times my staff came to me when I was out of line or messing up and I appreciate that a lot I am constantly asking them for feed back and advice on the company and myself. I think allowing your team to express issues with you is important so you can work on it especially if their an amazing person to keep around.

I also think picking your battles is important. If your staff is meeting deadlines close enough, doing good on their documents/paper work and clients are happy I overall feel that it’s okay if it’s not EXACTLY how you want them to do it or how you do it.

I think it’s important to show your staff that you are a person they can look up to and that you are over all the person in charge but not having them feel like their below you because at the end of the day the bigger you grow your staff actually holds the fort down more than you do and that is what needs to be remembered.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.forevermoreweddings.ner ; www.forevermore-bridal.com ; https://www.cityvieweventcenter.net/
• Instagram: forevermore.bridal ; forevermore.weddings ; cityvieweventcentertoledo