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

Danielle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

It was actually really difficult to come up with a name. It seemed like every name I thought of was already being used or had something really similar in use. I eventually started thinking about using my own name, but people have such a hard time spelling my name. It always gets spelled as Daniel. So then I started considering using my children’s names. Their names are Jacob and Riley. After trying tons of different combinations I eventually settled on Riley Lou Events. Lou comes from my daughter’s middle name which has a really special significance. Louise is my middle name, and I was named after my grandmother who was an amazing woman and a very important person in my life.

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 Danielle and I am the owner and lead planner of Riley Lou Events. I am from Central Texas and I went to Texas Tech University and graduated with two bachelors degrees. Both of my degrees are geared towards elementary education and counseling. Before I became a wedding planner I was an elementary school teacher. Although I loved many things about teaching and learned many valuable lessons I knew I wanted a change. As my husband I started and grew our family I knew that I wanted to do something that gave me the chance to spend more time with my kids. I had always been one to help people plan parties and events and I always thought being a wedding planner would be a fun job, but I never seriously considered it. When my sister got engaged I helped her plan and design her wedding. While working on her wedding I started joking about starting my own wedding planning business and my sister was so supportive and encouraging. I mentioned it to my husband and my mom and they were also really encouraging. I was half joking about it and expecting them to say I was crazy or that it would never work out, but they were all so encouraging and confident in me. I started to believe this crazy idea maybe wasn’t so crazy. I decided to just give it a try. I did tons of online learning and worked a couple of weddings for free just to get some experience, reviews, and content for my website. I started and loved it and just kept booking more and more weddings. I feel so lucky to have booked so many weddings in my first few years of business.

The focus of Riley Lou Events is not only to support our clients through their planning process and on their wedding day, but to also build a relationship with them. It is really important to get to know the clients and their story because a wedding day is a very emotional and important day in someone’s life and they have a lot invested into their big day. It is really special to be able to be a part of such a huge part of their lives and to help make their celebration a success. One of the things that is really important to how my team and I do things is attention to detail. There are so many details and logistical things to be considered when planning a wedding. For most of our clients this is the first time they have planned a large event, so there are many things that they might not be aware of. We do a really great job creating a very detailed timeline and working closely with other vendors to ensure a wedding day runs smoothly. Our experience enables us to help our clients carry out their vision and make sure that the details and logistics are well thought out and taken care of so that they can enjoy their day with their friends and family.

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

The best source of new clients for my business is definitely referrals from others. Since my business is service based it can be really challenging to show someone my work and my value. The best way to understand what we do is to experience it first hand. So when other vendors or previous clients leave us reviews or refers new clients to us it is so helpful because the new client can better understand how we can help them. Also when we receive a referral it starts the relationship off with some trust because the new client has heard first hand about us and our work.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective way for us to grow is by doing a good job and building relationships. Attention to detail, working as a team with other vendors, and truly caring about our clients and the vendors we get to work with has really helped us grow. In doing these things we are able to grow and book more clients because people are referring us more often. Weddings have a high emotional and financial investment and clients want to know and be able to feel like they can trust the vendors to do a good job. It is especially important for me as a planner because I am responsible for the running of the whole day and I have to work really closely with clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rileylouevents.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rileylouevents
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rileylouevents
• Other: TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRdk4rHs/

Image Credits
Steven Peters Photography, Becca Paige Photography, Trevor Olsen Photography, Amber Vickery Photography, TBA Photography