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

Chelsey , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I love owning my own business! The thought of working a regular job has often crossed my mind, mainly at 12am when I’m driving home from working a wedding, ha-ha. The truth is that I’ve worked countless ‘regular’ jobs, and I honestly loved working for (most) of my previous bosses. When you work for someone else (in most cases), you clock in, do your job, then clock out and go home, leaving behind any troubles from the day. You’ll never work as hard for someone else as you will for yourself, though. Owning my own business has challenged me in ways I never thought it would. If I’m having an off day, I can’t just call in sick and expect my coworker to pick up my slack–it’s just me here (for now)! Also, I don’t know about other planners, but I definitely have trouble sleeping sometimes because I’m wrapped up in thoughts about everyone’s wedding day and the things left on my to-do list. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it can be overwhelming at times, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. If I worked a ‘regular’ job, I wouldn’t be able to stay home with my almost four-year-old, and I wouldn’t have the flexibility and freedom to work when I choose. I missed spending so many holidays with my family in the past due to having to work, and since family is my number one priority, I’m grateful I can choose to say no. I take pride in my work and I love the fulfillment that owning my business brings into my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Do you watch The Office? Because if so, we’ll get along just fine! I’m a mom to two awesome kids and I’m married to a rocket scientist (literally!). In my off time I love spending time with my family, being outdoors, driving my Jeep, riding my dirt bike, and traveling. My love for planning weddings came from planning my own wedding back in 2018, with the help of my awesome husband, Charlie. In 2019 when our daughter came along, I wanted a career that would allow me to work from home and decided to follow my passion and begin planning weddings. My very first fully planned wedding was in 2020, and I’ve loved it ever since. Something that might set me apart from others is my laid-back nature and that I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built with my brides along the way, and it is so incredibly humbling to me to see my name tagged in posts when people are looking for a wedding coordinator or planner. I genuinely care about my couples and it’s so important to me that their day is as perfect as can be. If you’re looking for a low-stress and laid-back approach for planning or coordinating your wedding day, you know where to find me!

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

I’m afraid this will come off as bragging (so please don’t take it that way!), but I think my personality has a lot to do with my reputation. I’m a bubbly, happy, incredibly goofy person, but I am professional when necessary! I feel that I am easily approachable, and I do my best to make people feel comfortable around me. It’s so important to me to build relationships with those around me, couples and other vendors, because it literally takes a team effort to make a wedding run smoothly. If you go above and beyond for your couples, they will remember that, and the vendors will remember that you played a big role in executing a seamless wedding day. The majority of my bookings come from word of mouth or vendor referrals, and I think that people knowing someone who’s worked with me previously gives an extra boost of trust and confidence to use my services.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

While I do follow plenty of successful wedding pages on social media and love to read the articles that give me great ideas, I’ve found something even better than I could find in any book or website. In 2022, I was approached by the lovely Deb Lewis of Lewis Home and Bridal (whom I knew personally through having a bridesmaid dress and my wedding dress altered) about meeting with some other women who are in the wedding industry for coffee, and to tour a venue together. We, along with Sylvia Santos Photography, Lily’s Flower Shop, and Petals and Stems Market have met once a month, have toured countless venues together, and have even started putting together small events to help build more relationships in our industry. We’ve named our little group “The Wedding Buzz”, which I obviously love! During our meetings together we discuss our business goals, difficulties we have faced, current trends we are seeing, discuss what’s working for us as far as marketing goes, and share helpful tips so that we have a better understanding of each other’s jobs and how we can be more helpful in our industry. We even had a lock-in at the beginning of this year to discuss boundaries we plan to set in place for the year and what we what to accomplish as small business owners throughout the year. Meeting with these women has really opened my eyes to how amazing this industry can be and has pushed me to better myself every day because I have such an incredible support team cheering me on. I love my team!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beelovedweddings.com
• Instagram: @bee_loved_weddings
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeeLovedWeddings/

Image Credits
Sylvia Santos Photography, Mariah Lacy Photography, Sufia Huq Portraits, J. Lebron Photography