We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsey Bradshaw a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsey , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Haylan is a combination of my 3 kids names, Hayden, Rylan and Lynden. They are the reason I picked my camera back up. I wanted to capture all their milestones. They are a reason we specialize in birthday parties! They pushed me to take the leap and do what I truly love to do, events and photography! They push me to be a better version of my self every day. I knew I needed to show them they are capable of doing whatever they put their minds do!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, my name is Lindsey! I am an Atlanta based event and wedding planner. I am married and have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl.

I studied photography early in high school. I took photography as an elective class and had no idea it would start this journey for me! Back then, photography was film based. I was learning to capture some of life’s beautiful moments, then being able to develop these photos in a black room. I was capturing weddings and couples on the weekends while still in high school. I learned so much about photography, the history and have seen how far camera have come over the years! Furthermore, I studied interior design where I fell in love with a good design! Since then, my husband and I have remodeled 2 beautiful homes together.

When I was in my early 20’s I worked for a large event company in Atlanta that expanded my marketing, design, planning, execution, coordination, advertising and promotional skills. I would coordinate, plan and execute around 20-25 events per month, which included some of the largest festivals like Shaky Knees and Music Midtown.

I worked in foster care where I coordinated services needed to strengthen families. Also, transitioning youth into successful, independent young adults by offering real world work experiences.

Later in life, I was working with an Atlanta relocation company where we assisted in reloacting companies employees and their families. From selling their homes to temporary living, buying a home, coordinating all the vendors, and more! Some of those companies were Coca Cola and Northfolk Southern. My time there expanded my coordination, communication and planning skills.

In 2013, my husband and I got married in Florida. I have always been a planner, control freak, and a lover of good design, so I knew I was going to plan our out of state wedding. What started out as a hobby was quickly evolving into a career. I reached out to local wedding planners to assist them and learn more about the industry. I also have a mentor who has been in the industry for a very long time.

As you can see, events and coordination have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

In 2019, I wanted to be home with the kids more. I knew it was time to venture out and start my own business. Haylan Events & Weddings provides full and partial wedding services as well as day of coordination. We know every event or wedding is not the same, so we have some a la carte options as well, consultation, budget, logistics, decor, design, photography and more!

Haylan Events & Weddings builds connection with our families and couples. I want nothing more than to have their special day come to life and represent who they truly are. I also take the time to educate our event/wedding families/couples along their journey with us!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started Haylan Events & Weddings in 2019, which was a year full of learning. The following year in 2020 was supposed to be a year of growing my business however, the pandemic put business’ on hold. With small business and events hit especially hard, I had to adapt. With less weddings, parties and gatherings, I started to network amongst vendors in the industry by attending styled shoots. A styled shoot is similar to a real wedding with decor, flowers, food, photography and models hosted at a venue space. Vendors dedicate their time and energy to bring a design to life and execute the vision for the day-of. After networking and attending a few styled shoots as everything from a photographer to a decorator, I started leading these shoots by planning and organizing them. In 2021, I started putting my energy into the entire event and not so much photography and decor. I realized that my passion was more the event as a whole and making my clients vision a reality, rather than a the single aspect of it.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started off with items I already had on hand, a laptop and an older camera. Early on was full of charity and portfolio building to expand by word of mouth. Every dollar I made was invested back into the business to build out inventory and upgrade newer and nicer technologies. Once I had enough money, I built my website and hosted a domain to started marketing my business to gain new clientele. I believe reinvesting into your business is crucial in allowing the business to grow exponentially.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.haylanevents.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haylan_events
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-bradshaw

Image Credits
– Haylan Events & Weddings – Cactus Studio – Hellen Co Photos – Le Bam Studio