We were lucky to catch up with Delaney Driver recently and have shared our conversation below.

Delaney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I worked in the wedding industry before I started my own business. I had so many friends, family, and strangers ask me over and over again why I didn’t have my own business. I never dreamed of having my own company, so when friends and family would ask me this, I just kept brushing it off and didn’t take it seriously. However, after extreme burnout and lack of pay working for someone else, I decided it was time to look into having my own business seriously. I felt like I had little to lose since I wasn’t even being paid that much to begin with and I could make way more money being a server. I loved the wedding and event industry and knew I wanted to stay in it, but since I had never dreamed of having my own business, I had no idea what to do. At this time, I had minimal friends or family who had their own companies, so I felt like I had to go in somewhat blindly since I didn’t have anyone to really lean on for advice. I spent lots of my time googling and trying to come up with a game plan to make this dream come to reality. Thankfully, I had one friend in Texas who had his own company, and I was able to lean on his advice and come up with a small game plan. Overall, I completely just went for it unsure how it would land, and “winged it” a little bit.

In the first week of business, my main goal was to come up with the name of my company and figure out what kind of clients I wanted to serve. I knew I loved out-of-the-box people and events, so coming up with a name representing that was a priority and the first milestone. I came up with some pretty lame names and thankfully I had friends and family to talk me out of some of the ideas. Once I settled on the name Wilder Mind Events, I needed to make myself legit. This meant securing the website domain, Instagram, and other social media handles, and creating my email. Once I secured all the domains, the next big thing was to register everything under sunbiz in Florida as a legal LLC. Once I was registered as a business with the state of Florida, that was when it started to feel real and no longer like an idea of mine.

In the second week of business, a branding shoot was extremely important to me. I lacked content and wanted to get my name out there to vendors as fast as possible. I did an individual branding shoot with just me and then I did a small wedding-styled shoot and elopement shoot so that I could post content on my social media pages. I also bought a brand new laptop since mine was out of date and slow. I wanted to have a reliable computer so that I could put my best foot forward. This was my first “business purchase” outside of setting up my business with sun biz.

In the following week, the COVID pandemic and lock-down took place. As tragic as this was, it really gave me a good time to slow down and take the time I needed to work on my website and reach out to vendors to introduce myself. I got a second job as a nanny at this point, so that I could have a reliable income, and started to plan as many styled shoots as possible. In the first year of my business, I planned about 10 photoshoots. This was a great outlet to meet people, get my name out there, and create super fun content to showcase my skills and creativity. The first year of business was a ton of hustle and working late hours. Thankfully, because of the photoshoots, I was able to book roughly 10 weddings that fall, and by the spring of 2021 my business took off.

2021 year was all about me saying yes to anything and everything so that I could get as many weddings and events under my brands name. I took on over 40 events that year and was able to go full-time with my business in the winter of 2021.

Delaney, 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 Delaney Driver and I was born in raised in Texas. I majored in communications in college as a collegiate beach volleyball player. I had a teammate from the St. Pete area who convinced me to come down for a summer while in college, so we could play in beach volleyball tournaments over the summer, and that is when I fell in love with this area. I moved to St. Pete after college, worked for an event company, and started my own business shortly after.

Wilde Mind Events offers a range of packages to clients, letting them choose the services that best suit their needs. From day-of coordination to full-service planning, we have services here to help you. We also offer destination wedding planning services, letting you make the world your oyster for your dream destination wedding.

I place a strong focus on creating positive, long-lasting relationships with my clients, helping them to enjoy their special day sincerely. Understanding that every wedding is different, we take a personal approach to each event, creating a unique celebration fitted to her client’s personal style.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Content, content, content is how you build your audience on social media. We were able to get 1,000 followers in our first year because we were always posting and engaging with other accounts. We would post on our feeds, do Instagram stories often, and comment/engage with other accounts. What I found important was to put my face in front of the camera as much as possible. Having a name and face to see who the business belongs to was really important in getting an audience. My advice would be to not be afraid of being your complete and authentic self IN FRONT of the camera. People really appreciate authenticity and want to know the person behind the brand.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for me is vendors and venues. Thankfully, I have been able to build up a strong network, and it’s their referrals that are the best source for new clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wildermindevents.com
• Instagram: @wildermindevents
• Facebook: @wildermindevents
• Other: TikTok: @wildermindevents

Image Credits
Garry and Stacy Photography Dewitt for Love Amber McWhorter Photography Dani Nichol Photo