Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Madison Lloyd. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Madison, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

With the rise of social media, it can be easy for couples to get on Pinterest or TikTok and come up with a list of all the things they want to include in their wedding, but this never actually focuses on the couple and who they are. Many planners will take the current trends and throw in the couple’s color pallet, and call it a day. At Destination Us, we go beyond that. We get to know the couple and what they like and who they are. We come up with a way to incorporate the couple into their wedding day.

Adding some unique personality to a wedding or event can be done in many different ways. It can be added into the centerpieces, table names/numbers, unity ceremony, and even subtly in bouquets or boutonnieres. I have had two couples that loved supporting local breweries. They used brewery names as their table names. Each guest was assigned to a brewery and that is how they found the table to sit at. Another wedding has a groom that loves Starwars and I am currently working with the florist to come up with a unique idea to incorporate it into the boutonnieres. I have also had couples incorporate their favorite movies into their seating charts or their unity ceremony, like tying balloons to an object in reference to UP.

I love working with my couples to find ways to incorporate THEM into THIER wedding!

Madison, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started Destination Us in January 2020 in an effort to plan perfect events with meaning for couples and clients. 2020 ended up bringing along other challenges which put a temporary pause in most business activities, but it gave me time to continue learning and researching. Rather than waiting around for the Pandemic to disappear, I continued my education, post Bachelor’s of Science in Hospitality Management, by pursing and receiving my Masters of Business Administration. I have used my education to build Destination Us into a company to be proud of that supports its clients in being the best of the best. I offer wedding planning and coordination, as well as private and corporate event planning! My favorite events are weddings, but love having the occasional corporate event or birthday party for a nice change of pace.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Becoming a go to vendor was not an easy task. When you are first getting started opening a business, it can be difficult getting in front of couples, venues, and other vendors in order to get booked or referred. I joined local Facebook groups and local organizations to have my name out and in front of clients multiple times. I started doing weddings and events for family and friends which in turn had their guests aware of me and my services and the word of mouth advertising flourished from there! Once I was able to start booking clients, I was also able to build my reputation with venues and get on their preferred vendor list. A lot of venues have groups that they are in with other venues so they can bounce ideas off of each other. This allowed me to be in front of other venues by having my name shared during those meetings. Just working at a venue for an event is not the solution to getting on the preferred vendor list though. I had to prove myself. I had to show that my ‘industry standard’ was not acceptable and go above that to show that I knew what I was doing and I can make their lives easier. Planners and coordinators can often get looked over, but any vendor will tell you how important a great planner is because it makes all of their lives easier. They know who to go to with questions without bothering the client.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Recently, the best source of new clients for Destination Us has been word of mouth from previous clients and vendors. As an event planner, where most of my events are weddings, I do not have much repeat business, and honestly I am glad that I don’t! Weddings should be a one time thing and I have not been in business long enough for couples to return to me for milestone anniversaries for vow renewals. My goal is to make sure that I do the absolute best job for the couple, and in return, they leave reviews and/or share with their engaged friends my contact information. This allows me to focus more on the quality of planning that I provide to my clients, rather than focusing on advertising my services.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DestinationUsEvents.com
• Instagram: destinationus
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Destinationusevents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-lloyd/

Image Credits
Silverfox Photography Christine Baulieu Photography Emely Williams Photography