We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Gardner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

Social media is huge in the wedding industry- It’s how vendors show our work for future couples to book us, and it’s how a good percentage of couples getting married find us. Afterall, the next generation of couples getting married are Gen Z, and they spend a good chunk of their free time on their phones. As a business owner, I am very active on my social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and Pinterest. At this point, I manage ALL my social media platforms by myself. I made this decision mostly because I enjoy creating posts and videos, but also because it’s been fairly simple to manage being Gen Z myself and understanding how to do it.

It can be challenging, but I manage to stay on top of consistent posting for a few reasons. For Facebook and Instagram, I signed up for an app called Planoly. On Planoly, you can schedule your posts for Instagram and Facebook, which has made things increasingly easier. Now I sit down for an hour or two each month to schedule the photos I want to post for that month, and the app takes care of the rest. I haven’t manually had to post something on Facebook and Instagram in over a year! For Tiktok and Instagram reels, I set aside an entire day each month to make content. I make all my videos on Tiktok first, find the audios I like and want to use, and will switch my outfits after a few videos are filmed to make it seem like I didn’t make all these videos in one day. After I post a video to my Tiktok, I use an app called TikSave to make a copy of my Tiktok video WITHOUT the watermark (super important) and then I repost it to Instagram reels. It’s basically like I am recycling my videos!

I’d like to think I’ve managed my social media fairly well so far, with 33K+ followers on Tiktok, 2015+ followers on Instagram, and Pins on my Pinterest that continuosly bring traffic to my site, I’ll stay my own social media manager for now.

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 back background and context?

Owner of Elizabeth Bliss Events, Lauren Elizabeth Gardner, started working in the event industry in 2019 in Lakewood, Colorado as an event planning assistant at a local wedding venue. Things were going great, but unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the wedding venue to close it’s doors and lay off it’s entire staff.

Like many others, the pandemic prompted Lauren to uproot and move to be closer to family in Iowa. When the pandemic ended and large events were deemed safe again, she got a job as a wedding planner at a local venue. While working at this new venue, she was told by her then-boss that she was “not cut out for this industry.”

At first, she was overwhelmed with feelings of disappointment and confusion. But, ultimately she didn’t let those hurtful words break her spirit.

She knew that bringing dreams to life was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
She wasn’t going to let one person’s opinions of her keep her from doing what she was called to do. So, She decided to start her own wedding planning and event coordination company.

Lauren came up with her business name by combing her middle name “Elizabeth” with “Bliss” because it evoked the feeling she wanted all of her clients to experience working with her.

She knew right away that she wanted Elizabeth Bliss Events to be focused on the couples and doing whatever it took to make their wedding day special. She wanted to be there for them every step of the way, rather than jumping into the planning 1-3 months out from their big day.

She worked for months devising her business plan, and on October 27th of 2021, she booked her first client!

Since then, Elizabeth Bliss has taken off faster than she could ever imagine! With the constant support from her couples and other vendors, Elizabeth Bliss has grown more than she ever could’ve imagined.

Now, Elizabeth Bliss Events offers three planning services: Day of Coordination, Planning + Design, and Full Service wedding planning. Although we’re based in Iowa, we also travel all over the world for our couples! So far our wedding destinations have been Colorado, Nebraska, Hawaii, Illinois, Florida, and South Carolina.

What sets us apart from others in this industry, is the amount that we care about our couples. Elizabeth Bliss Events planners are in this industry because we care deeply about the wedding world and we love what we do! We love relieving stress from our couples, and seeing their faces light up when they see all the hard work from planning come to life on their wedding day. Our couples text us regularly throughout the planning process, even facetime us, because we express the importance of communication with us from the very beginning. We want our couples to see us as their wedding planning bff, to come to us with any stressors, questions, and concerns, and they do. They trust us enough to tell us how they’re feeling about everything, and that’s all we could ever ask for.

How did you build your audience on social media?

As mentioned previously, social media plays a huge importance in business marketing nowadays, and will continue to as the years go by. The new generation of consumers, Gen Z, is constantly on their phones, so you need to be too. It might sound daunting, but I promise this is how you will connect with a new group of clientele.
I recommend that at the very least, each business owner has a Facebook and Instagram page. I personally, post very regularly (3 -5 times a week), but you may not need to. Even one post a week helps you stay relevant in the eyes of new clients. I know for me personally, if I am looking at a new business but see they haven’t posted anything on Insta or FB in over 3 months, I move on and look for a different business that has the services I need. I do this for a few reasons, #1) Are they not posting because they’re not in business? Are they still available for me? #2) Being Gen Z myself, I relate more with people who use social media regularly like I do. When a business is posting on socials, it tells me they’re staying relevant, modern, and ultimately care about my business.
If you sign up for Tiktok and make videos, that’s even better. I started the large presence of my social media following from Tiktok. I posted a few random videos, and they ultimately went viral! I now have 33K followers on Tiktok just from a few videos, and that’s even helped me get business outside of the state I live in! I try to post daily on my Tiktok, but even if you start by posting on video a week, every other week, or once every month, it will help your brand get noticed.
My best advice? Be present on social media- it will pay off in the long run.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Honestly, social media. I have clients reach out to me wanting to book my services, after they saw a video of me on Tiktok! It’s a surreal feeling, but it’s a great way to grow my business and bring new clients my way. Even if couples aren’t booking my services, they’re engaging with my posts, clicking on my website, which helps my SEO and boosts me for couples who WILL book me.
Another source of clientele for me is The Knot. This site is a hit or miss for some wedding vendors, but for me, I get about 20 new client inquiries monthly from The Knot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elizabethblissevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_bliss_events/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Elizabethblissevents
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elizabeth_bliss_events

  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/elizabeth_bliss_events/_created/

Image Credits

Missie Lafrenz
Allie Lou
Erin Allsup