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

Micah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

Hiring multiple business coaches/mentors. I started my company in January 2023, after working as a lead planner for a company in Colorado. I moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in October of 2022, so I hit the ground running! I knew I wanted to start my own company once I moved and I promised myself that, if I am going to start a company now, I will not take out any credit or loans, so I used all my disposable income. It was hard at first…rent was late a couple months but, always paid. lol Didn’t get my nails, hair, or waxing done- had to do it all myself. It was a lot of sacrificing but, it was worth it.

The first I had as a mentor was the owner of B Astonished Events in the DMV area. She is an amazing wedding and event planner and designer and I had the chance to meet her in person and she told me about her education offerings. So, I went up to the DMV area to shadow her to learn about the production behind a luxury wedding because that is where I want to be in a couple of years. She showed me how she preforms her day of operations and it really helped me see that I am on the right track. This was $1500

I invested in 4 expos during my first year in business to gain exposure and get my name out there. This was about $5,000 in total, through out the year. Expos are not just a day of event! I had to figure out my display, booth design, marketing materials, etc. The day of the expo you can barley drink water because you are talking to all of the future brides and their relatives, trying to make them see your value. Then comes all of the follow up.. So, after the expo you receive all of the lead lists; which I add to my newsletter email list.

I finally was ready to establish my brand design, so I hired a business coach- MD Coaching. I chose her because she was local to Raleigh so, I knew she would show me how the market was when it came to pricing, vendors, and seasonal trends. Even though she was not a wedding planner herself, she was a wedding pro. I hired her for 6 months and this was $3,600. The first 3 months was all about developing my target audience, brand story, and automation and the last 3 months was implementation. She is so amazing! at the end of the 6 months I had completed so, much the company was gaining a positive following and exposure, faster than I could have imagined!

Then lastly, I currently have a business coach that just deals with digital products. I hired her for 6 weeks which was $1,200 because I don’t want to have to work everyday so, therefore I need passive income. Brooke Berndt is a beast!!! In her 6 weeks, we created my first digital, started my store online, social media strategy, and had a content day!

As you can see I spent about $13,000 on coaching alone in my first year. This is a lot of money- but it was the best decision because I wanted to have a very strong foundation to my company and make sure my pillars are shown throughout everything I do for the company.

Now, I am going into wedding season 2024 with already 6 weddings books and my goal is 20 and I have only been in the state for a little over a year! My best piece of advice is give yourself grace and don’t be scared to hire a coach even though they are a pretty penny but, it is an investment in yourself!

Micah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Micah Brown and I am the owner and lead planner for Amore Planning Co.- which is a wedding and event planning company out of Raleigh, North Carolina. I started the company in January of 2023, but I have been wedding planning since April of 2021. I started wedding planning while living in Colorado, on a whim as I was looking for a second line of income that was fun and really didn’t feel like work.

A wedding planner reached out to me as she was looking for an assistant for the 2021 wedding season. We did our first wedding together on April 10th, 2021, and the rest is history! We did 25 weddings that season together and 65 weddings in 2022, which I lead about 25 of those and assisted about 15. I have completed over 60 weddings in my 3 years of planning and I enjoy every minute from the consultation call to the grand exit.

My company focuses on authentic love stories, worldly couples, culturally aware individuals, and financial awareness.

What makes me unique is that I do come from a luxury wedding market, so I can couples when it comes to wanting a wedding that looks very expensive but, is within their budget. I have very in depth conversations about funds with my clients to ensure I do not offer them something, that is not within or around their budget.

I offer three main packages but, I can customize:

The Love Story- Month of Coordination starting at $2,500
The Engagement- Design & Coordination starting at $3,800
The Wedding- Full Service Planning starting at $5,500

I want you all to know that I am here to serve you and help you all not go into debt before you are married!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I started off following a lot of vendors and venues in the area, since they are my first customer in a way. The more vendor and venue connections I have the more exposure I get in the long run. Working with my business coach we were able to make a social media presence that was on brand- from the colors, photos, aesthetics, and style. If you have not launched a business before, I highly recommend hiring either a business coach or a digital marketer than can help you with your brand, website, and social media.

You have to be authentic! Stick with your pillars of the company and make sure that your potential client can see the value in your service or product.

Run ads!!! You need to run ads so, more people can find you. I spend about $100 in Facebook and Instagram ads a month.

Create reels! These are so good for engagement and you can use tools like Chatgpt, CapCut, InShot, and schedule with Planoly.

Work Smarter, not Harder! Make sure you batch your social media and us a scheduling app so, you don’t have to do it every day.

Show your face! Yes, my clients are buying a service, but I am the service so, I need to show my face and show that I am real and personable!

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

Getting myself out there! Network, Network, Network! I started going to networking events to introduce myself to everyone and anyone. figure out what makes you different and stick to that! in the wedding industry an great way to build your reputation, is through styled shoots! These are my favorite because they allow me to plan and execute my true vision. A styled shoot is a big fake wedding, which is also a collaborative event as well amongst vendors to create content.

I am such a people person and I love meeting new people, this was not hard for me to do!

Contact Info:

• Website: amoreplanning.co
• Instagram: amoreplanning.co
• Facebook: facebook.com/amoreplanning.co
• Other: Digital Storefront: stan.store/amoreplanningco

Image Credits
Grace Gatto Daise Photography Claire Hunt Photography Meraki Photo Co.