We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristin Sullivan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kristin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I married wedding planning to wellness with the creation of The Bridal Retreat after 25 years as a wedding planner. My mission was to help clients actually enjoy the process leading up to one of the biggest days of their lives.
For years I would witness so much anxiety, stress and relationship fall outs during the planning process. My one psychology course in college came in quite handy during these times. I was hired to plan an event, I would often end up as a mediator for families.
I felt it was critical to find a way to help prevent the issues before they started to arise. The goal is to prepare the newly engaged at the very start of the celebration kick off. I gathered together experts that would professionally advise in the following key areas: mindset, balance, budget, exercise and healthy eating. When you are given the proper tools to handle situations you are then provided a healthy path to follow.
The team consists of a yoga & meditation coach, a mindset coach, a vision board advisor, personal chefs, wedding planners and a body image consultant.
The retreats are 3 nights/4 days and ideally I want the Bride to Be to attend as close to engagement as possible, this is when the stress begins.
The lessons and guidance provided are ones to be carried throughout your life to follow.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After my own destination wedding went horribly wrong I decided to switch gears from corporate travel & event planning to wedding planning. It was mission at that time to help Brides not have to experience what I did. I went on to plan destination weddings worldwide for over 2 decades.
I have also created several products specifically to help Brides & Grooms.
SoUs | A Wedding Journal & Planning Guide takes couples through the steps of planning in order that I would normally advise my clients. There are quick tips provided as well.
IDOIN30 | A card planning deck for the final countdown to wedding day. Another set of pro advice tips that will ensure you do not stress or overthink things taking joy away from your special time. This deck can then also be used for your first 30 days as a married couple, providing a healthy start to your marriage together.
HipBetty | The wedding emergency kit that holds over 300 items that I have been asked during weddings. This comes with a map and checklist of how best to use. It can even be a fun shower game to fill for couples to use.
The Bridal Retreat Wellness Box | This includes my signature wedding candle, meditation kit, a HipBetty, the SoUs journal & planning guide and the IDOIN30 card deck. It also includes a 30 minute consultation with me on wedding.
Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?
In 2022 I decided I wanted to expand my wedding business and purchased a luxury gift shop. This shop was chosen as it had a legacy bridal registry program. The purchase required a big move to another state, There were many challenges during the purchase process, even though the original owner and I were on the same page we had to jump through loads of legal issues. In the end it was a wonderful decision and has enhanced my brand.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for me is word of mouth or referrals. There is nothing more rewarding than having a previous client or customer send someone to me. I have done several weddings that were for different family members, I have also had wedding clients that returned for personal/private celebrations. One of my all time favorite experiences was when I did a birthday party for a client that was a referral. That client returned to me years later to plan an engagement party that turned into a surpriser wedding and pregnancy reveal. I was the only person that knew the s*x of the baby beside their Doctor, they found out through fireworks at the same time as their friends and family did.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thebridalretreat.com
- Instagram: @thebridalretreat
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebridalretreat1/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH7aCIzJ5il8aRVI23Ltxbw
- Other: Visit me at Plum Southern in LaGrange, Georgia.