The Wedding Biz - Behind the Scenes of the Wedding Business

On the most important day of a couple's life,, family and friends gather to share a moment with two people committing their lives to one another.   However, there's one person everyone is going to be looking at all night— the bride. Selecting the right dress is one of the most stressful decisions in the whole process, as any bride will tell you.   Julie Sabatino is here to take some of that stress...

In this episode of THE NEXT LEVEL, Andy and Melissa unpack all of the lessons from Michele Hodges show. Michele shared exactly the steps she goes through when she plans an event, and then she also shared some of the unique aspects of her business - the fact that she has very little social media presence and mainly builds her customer base from referrals.  There's a lot more to catch up on as Andy...

The way the world runs today, it often feels as if it's impossible to make it in the Wedding Business without a strong social media presence as well as participating in a plethora of networking events. While it may seem like the only way to stay relevant these days, Michele Hodges is here to share otherwise. Michele is here to share how she never intended to fall into Event Planning, and her secre...

We know it isn't just luck that separates the most successful entrepreneurs in our industry from the rest of the pack. Success leaves clues and we are uncovering those clues to success on every single episode of THE NEXT LEVEL! Today, Andy and Melissa dive into the amazing Christian Oth interview! Christian was so open about sharing his keys to success and he was amazingly open about his tough roa...

As any Creative knows, getting started can be a challenge. Christian Oth is no stranger to the effort that goes into success. He moved to New York City when he was 19 years old in order to go to photography school, and he went from having to pawn his only camera, to owning his own wedding photography business. Today, Christian sits down with Andy to tell his story and to offer advice to aspiring p...

In today's episode, Andy and Melissa dive a little deeper into Chef Roy Yamaguchi's interview on The Wedding Biz. Roy is our first Chef to appear on the show and he really brought the value. In this episode we discuss: The unexpected humility that Roy displays How focusing on culture cause Roy to make some out of the box business decisions Why creating the right culture can allow you to hire the r...

On today's episode, Andy shares with us the honor of sitting down with renowned Chef Roy Yamaguchi, as he shares his story. Chef Roy shares his experiences from coming to the United States for the first time to attend culinary school, starting his first restaurant in Los Angeles, and finally creating Roy's in Hawaii.   Listen in as Roy shares with Andy, as well as the rest of us, his passion, his...

In this episode of The Next Level, Andy and Melissa unpack all the lessons and strategies that Mindy Weiss shared in her interview. Mindy was so open with her knowledge and she gave some very specific strategies tips that you can implement in your business. Show Highlights: Make each client feel they are your only client Be a stress reducer for your brides How to balance your personal and business...

Mindy Weiss is a force in the high-end wedding and event planning business. Since her early beginnings, she has delighted celebrity and non-celebrity clients alike with her ability to build meaningful relationships every step of the way. On this episode, Mindy shares her wealth of knowledge about what it's like to maintain an A-List clientele. But while there certainly are additional factors to co...

Considering the incredible success Mark Held has had by focusing on doing one thing - flowers - and doing them better than anyone else, it's no surprise that Andy and Melissa are able to extract many strategies from Mark's interview. Join Andy and Melissa as they delve further into the following topics: Continually innovating is necessary for the success of a business. Spending time understanding...

Mark Held didn't originally see himself as a florist. His first arrangement-- a project assigned to him at summer camp as a young boy-- turned out to be poison ivy. But after a successful dance and theater career as a young adult, Mark wanted to continue his creative expression. His partner, Richard David, had just the outlet: a flower shop he was opening up. And he convinced Mark to join him for...

Andy and Melissa take a second listen to Preston Bailey's interview about his design process. There's so much that can be learned from Preston's interview! In this episode, Melissa and Andy discuss: How Preston embraces new technology Preston's work for Joan Rivers and how it changed his life How to solve problems as things get a little crazy The difference dramatic entrances can make in an event...

REVISIT: The year is 1980. The place is New York City. And the person is Preston Bailey, who at the time was just looking for a way to pay the bills and not get evicted from his apartment. What started as a small time floral business blossomed into what we know as Preston Bailey's immaculate and stunning work. For Preston, it's been a long journey to get to the top tier of wedding and event design...

Today, Melissa and Andy are recording this episode of TNL from the Engage! Conference in Banff, Canada! Listen in as Andy answers a listener question that may also be a question you've been wondering about too! Stephanie Bradshaw's interview was amazing for a lot of reasons, but certain aspects of it particularly resonated with Andy and Melissa. If you haven't listened to Stephanie's interview yet...

Stephanie Bradshaw has more than just impeccable taste, she has a knack for project management and has a very diverse business portfolio-which in our opinion has lead to ultimate success!   Growing up in a traveling military family, she quickly found inspiration through other cultures, colors, and textures from around the world, and she's translated that into her love for event design and producti...

This episode of The Next Level dives deeper into the interview with Tara Dowburd. You may be wondering what a makeup designer can tell you about your business, but Tara is full of great ideas. Andy and Melissa discuss the particular wisdom that Tara shared about networking for your business. As someone whose business depends on relationships, networking has been the key to propel Tara to success....

Tara has always known that creativity needs to be at the center of her career. She's an artist. What she didn't expect was that makeup would be her medium. But after seeing how involved she could be in the lives of her clients and the craft of building confidence inside and out, she realized there was no other place that would be more suitable for her.   After spending over 20 years in the field,...

Join Andy and Melissa for today's Next Level episode, where they break down the amazing interview with Kevin Lee. Kevin sat down with Andy and shared his story of coming to the US and in the process, completely changing careers. What started as a love for flowers, quickly blossomed into the event planning business he has today. Kevin became known for some of the most glamorous events and his over...

Wedding Biz - Kevin Lee Kevin Lee loves living a glamorous lifestyle, and he's proved time and time again, he's willing to work for it. He learned the value of true discipline early in life through ballet and becoming a talented clarinet player. Coming from South Korea to America, changing lanes and opening a flower shop-he created his business from continual learning, humility and a true thirst f...

REVISIT: Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce are powerhouse team is the force behind the wedding and honeymoon industry consulting firm Engaging Concepts. In this episode, we talk about their road from their Disney Weddings days to their own Engage! Summits events.

Join Andy Kushner and Melissa Fancy as they digest the value-packed episode with Harmony Walton!  Tune into this episode to get some major insight on how to maintain a creative and flourishing business with multiple revenue streams! Show Highlights: Everyone looks at every detail of a wedding   Keeping relationships alive and nurtured   Becoming a person everyone wants to work with   Writing handw...

It takes but a moment to see that Harmony Walton's path to success had everything to do with how she handled perceived challenges along the way. Her career is marked by her own fearless ability to focus on giving direction to her dreams and focus on doing work that she loved and would succeed at. She credits her work with a well-known Hollywood Celebrity as the best training she could have had, es...

It hardly seems possible that today's show is the celebration of the One Year Anniversary of The Wedding Biz podcast! When Andy started the show a year ago, he began as a passion project, but since that time, it has turned into so much more! Andy knew he wanted his podcast to be different, and he certainly accomplished that. One of the things that makes The Wedding Biz so unique is that Andy only...

In this companion episode of David Tutera's interview, Andy and Melissa Fancy take a deeper dive into the strategies that David shared. David insists that you don't have to love your clients, as long as you love what you do for your clients. This concept and many more are discussed in this episode of THE NEXT LEVEL! Don't forget to visit the website - www.theweddingbiz.com  and sign up for the add...

If you've heard of David Tutera, you know he's done it all.  He's a leading expert in the wedding and entertaining business with a list of accomplishments almost too long to mention.   From sharing how he found himself in the events industry, to his foresight for where the industry is going, David dishes on everything you want to know-with the incredible motivation you need.   About David Tutera:...