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

Alright, Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Early in your career, how did you think through the decision of whether to start your own firm or join an established firm?

I started my own wedding planning business this year, May 2022. It was a journey to get here, so I’ll start from the beginning! Back in 2015, I went to college at the University of Tennessee for Animal Science. I had always loved animals and thought, hey, maybe I can make a career out of this. Throughout my college classes, I was less and less passionate about the work I was learning about. I still loved animals, but not performing surgeries or assisting with births. Nevertheless, I graduated with my Bachelors degree in Animal Science in December of 2018. I began working at the zoo and then later transitioned into working at a local veterinary clinic. During this time, I was engaged and planning my own wedding, which was so fun for me! I grew up watching “Say Yes to the Dress” every Saturday morning and always imagined how my dress would look and what type of wedding I would have. This led to a passion for weddings early on, but I didn’t really know a career could be made out of it. Being in college, several friends were also engaged and planning weddings, but they were not having as much fun as I was. They were stressed! This led a big decision: “I want to help people have joyful weddings.” In 2019, while working at the veterinary clinic, I shadowed a self-made wedding planner on the weekends and a dream was born. I decided that one day I, too, would have my very own wedding planning business. I started designing a website and making plans. Then, my husband’s career took us to Chicago, IL. He was earning his Master’s degree, and we would be there for 1 year only. My business was put on hold, but not for waste. During the last 6 months of that year, I was an intern with an amazing wedding venue. It was the experience of a lifetime, and I am so grateful for it and the people I worked with. This job truly propelled me into the next chapter of my life: all things wedding! After we finished our year in Chicago, we moved to Hagerstown, MD. I started working as a bridal stylist, but my dream was not lost. I began working on my website again, finished my business plans, and finally published my site in May of 2022. Forever Weddings, my very own wedding planning business, came to fruition. It has been slow growing, as every business is when just starting out. Having had two weddings within the first year and already planning for two more in 2023 – I count it as a huge success and am looking forward to where this next year takes me.

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?

My name is Nicole Miller, and I am the owner and creator of Forever Weddings, a wedding planning/coordinating business. I was born and raised in Tennessee, and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from the University of Tennessee in 2018. I married my better half, Andrew, at the age of 22 in Knoxville, Tennessee. While in Knoxville, I was a veterinary receptionist and was recognized as being one of the most organized people on our team. I have always been naturally detail-oriented and found a joy and passion in planning my own wedding. Since then, I have been part of incredible wedding experiences from Knoxville all the way to Chicago, and now, Maryland. My goal as a wedding planner is to grant you rest, so that you can look back on your special day with joy. It is stressful to plan a wedding on your own, especially if you don’t know the ins and outs of venue lingo, catering, floral decor, wedding rentals, photography styles, and so much more! Not to mention the family opinions that start crowding in once you start planning. That’s where I come in! Not only am I an expert in all things wedding, have local vendor connections, and can talk you through all the planning questions, but I truly want you to have a special wedding day. I am the one running around making sure everything is in the right place and vendors know exactly where to go – you get to sit back and have your hair and makeup done and not worry about those things. Maybe you don’t need a full planner or don’t have any wedding questions, but your venue requires a coordinator on site, or you’re having a micro wedding but you don’t want mom to be the one cutting the cake – I take on all kinds of weddings! Whether it’s full-service planning or day-of coordinating, 300 people or 20, I promise to take of your wedding as if it were my very own. I absolutely love weddings and celebrating couples in love!

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

Word of mouth has been the best source of new clientele for me. Having just started, I only have 4 clients thus far, but 3 of the 4 have been friends of friends or recommendations from co-workers and vendor connections. Telling people about what you do and having friends and family that support what you do makes all the difference.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think there are several times I could have quit my wedding planning dreams. The biggest discouragement being during Covid-19. My husband and I moved from Knoxville, TN to Chicago, IL in December of 2020. Having been in the animal science industry but really striving to make it in the wedding industry, it was hard to transition career fields. Especially in a brand new city during a pandemic. When we moved to Chicago, lockdown was still in full swing, restaurants were closed, stores were limiting capacity. It took me 3 months just to find a job. I applied to at least 25 jobs per week during those months, and sometimes more than that. Nobody was hiring. Finally, in February, I got a call from Walgreens saying that they needed pharmacy technicians due to the vaccines coming into the stores. I accepted. Chicago was expensive, and with my husband in his master’s program and me not working, we were at our end financially. I worked at Walgreens administering vaccines for 5 months. During those months, I was still applying for jobs with wedding venues, catering companies, florists, all of the above. I really wanted to start my wedding career! I didn’t care how I got there, I just needed to start somewhere. It was late July when I got a response from a venue, they were looking for an intern, it was a 6-month position. I was ecstatic! Not only was this 6-month timeframe perfect because my husband’s masters program ending in 6-months time, but it was what I wanted to be doing – coordinating at a venue. If I had given up and not kept searching for wedding industry jobs, I wouldn’t have had that experience, and I wouldn’t have felt the confidence that I did to jump all in to finishing the plans for my wedding planning business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.foreverweddingsplanning.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forever_weddings_planning/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foreverweddingsplanning
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-miller-aa07b5184/