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

Victoria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

We not only focus on fostering lasting relationships with our clients but also fostering relationships with vendors and other creatives. Beginning with client education, when necessary. This may sound like a “no-brainer,” but we were shocked by how many times we receive praise from vendors for doing things we merely consider to be part of the job.

As wedding planners, a large part of our job is pairing couples with their ideal team of creatives that have the talent and ability to bring the couple’s vision for their dream wedding day to life. However, the introduction is not where our relationship with our vendors begins. It actually begins with the clients by educating them when necessary on industry standards and expectations. No one wants to receive an inquiry from a planner who hasn’t helped set realistic expectations for the couple. Avoiding client education by “leaving it up to the vendor” to do so is not fully doing our job and doesn’t set up the client or the vendor for a good experience.

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

I got into the wedding industry a little over 8 years ago when I began working a side job at a local event venue to help a friend. I became a coordinator at the venue which led me to the realization that something was missing at my corporate job. I’ve always had the organizational skills as a “type A” individual but I gained the experience and logistical expertise to successfully plan and execute events. The rest is history! I began the journey to starting a business, where I am one of the lead planners and the principal event designer. Planning and designing events allows me to use my creativity, keen organizational skills, and attention to detail and I am more fulfilled than I ever was in my previous job.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

See previous response – Something I am most proud of is having been named the “Most Comprehensive Wedding Planner and Event Designer in Georgia”. Since I started out on my own, I have always strived to offer a comprehensive approach for our clients. It can easily become overwhelming for newly engaged couples to plan their wedding when they have zero experience planning large-scale events. With the comprehensive approach we take, we handle the leg work and infinite details so that the couple can get back to focusing on celebrating this special time in their lives.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As a mom and business owner, the first few years were challenging when it came to finding a work-life balance. Just when I thought I had found a good balance, Covid-19 came in and disrupted everything. The pandemic caused so many postponements and forced us to take a 7-month hiatus from working events. While the unknowns were certainly intimidating, we tried to focus on taking the advantage of the down-time to work on providing the best experience for our clients. Researching and implementing new software, becoming a Certified Wedding Planner, and streamlining some of our processes are just a few things we focused on during that time. All of the hard work we put in during an otherwise idle time has really paid off. It has allowed us to find what works best for us and also helped to determine the ideal number of events we take on annually. Capping this not only allows us to provide a better experience for our clients, but also allows me to have the time with my family that I sacrificed during the early years of starting a business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://luxeatlantaevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxeatlantaevents/

Image Credits
Eve Yarbrough Photography