We were lucky to catch up with Emily Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I think all business owners have to take on some risk to be successful. When I reflect on my experience running Emily Katherine Events, two big risks stand out as pivotal turning points for my business. The first was when I decided to take the business full time.

I’d been planning weddings as Emily Katherine Events as a side gig for 2 years, and thinking I’d be able to gradually cut back my hours with my full time job as the planning business took off. After two years it became clear that there was no way I could grown Emily Katherine Events into a full time career without having the time to dedicate to promoting, marketing, and building my brand. So I took a leap of faith in January of 2017 and quit my day job with no weddings on my calendar. I hoped that by focusing all my attention on the business I could grow it, but there was no guarantee so it felt like a big risk to leave a job with only a hope and a dream. It paid off though- I finished out that year planning & coordinating over 20 weddings, and gained confidence in my instincts which had told me jumping all in was the way to go!

The second big risk that has shaped my business was when I realized my personal values around sustainability did not line up with what I was seeing in the wedding industry. This realization had me wrestling with whether to continue in weddings at all. I decided to stuck with it, but to start focusing on sustainability with my clients. I wasn’t very vocal about this at first, because my business was still relatively new and I’d only recently taken it full time. I was afraid to alienate potential clients by talking about something they might not find as important as I did. Could I really afford to lose business by marketing myself as a green wedding planner? I discussed this with family, friends, and colleagues, and ultimately decided that this was too important to me to not take the risk. If I lost business because a couple didn’t want to learn about their sustainable planning options, then they were not the ideal clients for me! And if I couldn’t get enough business to stay afloat, then it would be time to find another line of work that aligned better with my values. After making this decision I added a page to my website about sustainability and started talking about green weddings on social media, as well as during consultations. I was blown away by the response! Couples were excited to hear that they had sustainable options; so many have told me that sustainability is a big part of their day-to-day lives but they didn’t realize they had so many choices when it came to their wedding planning!

Both of these risks have not only shaped my business, but they’ve shaped me. They’ve given me the confidence to listen to my instincts, and to take a chance when something is important to me.

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 background and context?

I’ve been an event planner at heart my whole life, always excited to plan family parties and getting involved in event planning with every organization I joined in school. When I realized this could actually be a career option for me, I was most of the way through a Broadcasting degree so I decided to stick with that and find some other way to get in to events. With my degree I was able to get a job filming weddings, and through that lens (pun intended) I saw so much behind the scenes! I worked with planners that inspired me and learned that a good planner is there for the vendors as much as the clients, creating a cohesive team out of a bunch of individual businesses.

After a few years filming weddings I decided I’d seen enough to try planning for myself, so I launched Emily Katherine Events and started out by planning for friends and family! I am proud of the connections I’ve made with vendors that make each wedding magical, and I am proud of how I’ve helped couples to add custom details to their weddings. I am especially proud of the weddings that have changed little details to be more sustainable, and love seeing couples’ faces light up as we plan eco-friendly details they can be proud of!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I learned early on that a wedding doesn’t have to look like a “wedding”. But that’s something this industry has taught me- when I got married in 2012, I had little experience with weddings and an image in my head of what they should look like. There were lots of decisions I made in my wedding planning that I would differently now, things I did just because I thought that’s how weddings were. For example, my husband had 5 really close friends that he wanted to stand with him. I thought our “sides” needed to be even, so even though I probably could have done with just three bridesmaids, I asked some more friends to stand with me to even things out. I also had my brother stand with him as a groomsman. If I did it again I would ask my brother to stand on my side as a bridesman.

My wedding was beautiful and none of the decisions I made were wrong or bad, I just know now that weddings can look any way we want them to! I learned this while filming weddings, seeing hundreds of different ways to tie the knot and celebrate love. I took this lesson to heart and support my couples in their decisions, whether they are conventional or not!

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

Wedding planners work with so many other business owners for each wedding, so it’s important to have a strong network of vendors you trust. When I first started out, I knew some folks in the industry because of my wedding video background. But they all knew me as a videographer, and were understandably not yet convinced I could translate those skills to planning. I knew lots of vendors, but they didn’t know me (at least not as a planner).

Really the only way to build a reputation is to work with others and leave them with a good experience. That’s easier said than done when you’re starting out and people are looking for someone who already has that experience! So I looked for ways to work with others outside of paid events. I reached out to vendors to collaborate on styled shoots, and I started a networking group for wedding pros. The networking group ended up being a wonderful way to get my name out there and meet other vendors. Every month I organized a free meetup, with vendors volunteering to decorate, entertain, and fee other vendors! I could reach out to vendors all day to introduce myself and my business, but they are going to remember me (and recommend me) because they attended an event I organized.

I ran Triangle Wedding Connection for 3 years before handing the reins over to another planner. In that time, the monthly events allowed me to meet and collaborate with vendors I may not otherwise have had the opportunity to work with. Some of my best referrals have come from venues and photographers I met through this networking group, and I credit a lot of my reputation in this community with putting myself out there to organize these events.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://emilykatherineevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ekevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EKevents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-thomas-51344431/

Image Credits
Autumn Harrison Photography, Fancy This Photography, TImmester Photography, Rose Trail Images