We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Monique T. Weathers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Monique T. below.
Monique T., looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry
As a wedding planner in one of America’s most popular wedding destinations, Charleston, South Carolina, is seeing more and more couples opting to jet set with their closest family and friends in tow. We also see an increase in events leading up to the wedding day, to name a few a welcome to Charleston meet and greet, Rehearsal Dinners where all of the wedding guests are invited, after parties following the wedding reception (yes, that’s a thing). Farewell brunches the day after the wedding before guests depart to return to their respective homes.
As couples’ tastes evolve, we see more creativity on the wedding day, including separate facilities for the reception dinner and lounges for the reception party, to alternative wedding entertainment, in light of the increase in the destination wedding trend. We’ve added Weekend Wedding Planning services to our Firefly Weddings & Event Wedding Collections, becoming a top seller to our destination bride and grooms allowing them celebrate the entire week without worrying about how they will entertain the guests for the duration of the trip.
While more couples gravitate toward destination weddings, there is also a decrease in their guest counts, and we’re all for it!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
As the Owner of Firefly Weddings & Events, LLC, (Firefly Wed) Wedding Consultant and Florist based in Charleston, South Carolina. I am a wife, an auntie, an optimist, and a lover of all things beautiful, music, flowers, and traveling. I started Firefly WED in the Summer of 2016 as a home-based business after a friend asked me to assist with her parent’s retirement party, and I found myself loving it, and that’s when Firefly was born. I started providing complete wedding planning and creative design services for close friends and their friends. Fast forward to 2020, I moved the business from my home to an office building in the Heart of Downtown Charleston’s Historic District; to travel across the US and Europe, helping couples plan and execute their best day ever! Couples love our hands-on approach throughout the planning and design process. We offer our clients an unparalleled level of service and southern hospitality you would come to expect. When I’m not curating weddings for our couples, I am a freelance florist traveling the country, helping other planners and florists execute over, top luxury weddings.
I am honored to be regarded as one of the highly sought-after wedding planners/florists in Charleston and beyond. My product collaborations and publication features have earned me national recognition as a wedding and events industry trendsetter.
I love planning and curating intimate environments that fit perfectly in their locale.
As a brand that prides itself in quality over quantity, we curate weddings for a select few annually to ensure each of our couples receives the highest level of service and personalized attention, providing an unmatched experience for them and their guests.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
It matters what people think of me. I would always feel pressured not to fail because I always felt people were watching my every move waiting to see if I would fail and think badly of me. This dreaded fate is what causes stress, despair, and depression. I remember January 9, 2017 like it was yesterday. I woke up to my mobile phone ringing and not wanting to answer. I turned over attempting to go back to sleep, but for some reason I could not, so I decided to prepare for the day. I looked in the bathroom mirror and started to sing, but my speech was impeded but suddenly returned to normal. I proceeded to get dressed to attend a webinar then tried talking againI realized this when I read blatant lies about myself on the Internet. When I shared my thoughts with another wedding planner. She said why do you bother your self with other people’s thoughts of you. Why allow them to live rent free in your head.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The best source of new clients for Firefly Weddings and Events has been Instagram and referrals from previous couples. Over the years we’ve had the opportunity to work with multiple people in the same family because they loved our work. Our second source would be Instagram. Even after being hacked and losing our original Instagram account we were able to rebuild and continue to gain traction on our current page allowing us to service couples both near and far that come to Charleston for their destination wedding.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fireflywed.com
- Instagram: fireflywed_charleston; thehouseofhollis_
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fireflyweddingsandevents
Image Credits
Picture Perfect Photography Sunshine’s Photography