Color Pop Events with Leah Weinberg

Recorded in the early summer of 2022, this episode introduces you to Leah Weinberg, a "recovering" wedding planner, attorney, speaker, educator, and author.  Join Regina and Cate as they take a dive deep into Leah's journey from her law background to her beginnings as a wedding planner to her role as a multi-talented entrepreneur.  Leah's experience brings a unique blend of perspectives, making her insights all the more invaluable.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Leah's incredible origin story, from questioning traditional practices to creating her own path as a business owner.
• The foundational role of understanding human behavior in Leah's tailored approach to wedding planning.
• The significance of communication, professionalism, and kindness for both couples and vendors in the wedding industry.
• A candid exploration of Leah's experience writing her book, "The Wedding Roller Coaster," and navigating the ever-changing landscape of the wedding industry, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Insights into setting boundaries, achieving work-life balance, and striving to be a better human in the demanding world of weddings.
• Practical action items for couples and vendors, ranging from open communication about budgets to implementing safety measures in the face of ongoing challenges.

Although Leah is no longer accepting wedding planning clients, her experience in building her business from the ground up, combined with her unique blend of skills, makes this episode a must-listen for anyone seeking to elevate their wedding experience.  Whether you're a couple preparing for the big day or a vendor striving for excellence, this episode promises to be a wealth of knowledge for all.

Where to find her:
@theleahweinberg & @oduberglaw on Instagram
bio.site/theleahweinberg
The Wedding Roller Coaster on Amazon!

Follow Us!
Podcast: @weddoweddingpodcast
Regina: @weddingsbyreginamarie
Cate: @catebarryphotography

Reach out to Cate or Regina today!

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Transcript

56. Color Pop Events with Leah Weinberg (gallery)

 Regina: Hello everyone. I am Regina.

 Cate: And I'm kate.

 Regina: And this is the We Do Wedding Podcast. Today, we have the honor of having Leah Weinberg on the show. Leah is a wedding planner, first and foremost, but she wears many different hats, including being an attorney, a speaker, educator, author, just all of the hats she does, it all.

 Regina: And she owns Colourpop Events in New York City. 

 Regina: So, Leah came on the show today. To talk a bit about her business, a bit about her book, the wedding rollercoaster, and, you know, just kind of educate us about the wedding industry. She had lots of tips and advice for couples planning their weddings. She had some awesome input for vendors out there.

Regina: So vendors, if you're listening, like, please take heed from Leah. She is a powerhouse in the wedding industry and she is, you know, definitely someone that you should take heed from and take her words to [00:01:00] heart. it was great to talk with her. She is definitely just. A bit of backstory, I have been educated by Leah.

 Regina: She's just like, I literally paid for her time to pick her brain because I was like, this woman is amazing and I need to hear from her and I need to learn from her. And so, I've had, you know, one on one consulting sessions with Leah. And when I say pay for her time, like she did not take the money for herself.

 Regina: She took it and donated it to a woman in need who like, Her house had burned down in the fire and she needed like to rebuild her home and just craziness. So just that speaks to the awesome person that she is. She's just amazing. She's always willing to like offer advice, tips and advice to couples, vendors, other planners, just everyone listening.

Regina: And I think you, everyone can benefit from listening to this episode with Leah. 

Cate: Yeah, and it was just nice to have like such a candid. Conversation with another female entrepreneur who's in the same [00:02:00] industry, who's You know, had a lot of success and a fair amount of accomplishments in a relatively short amount of time and to hear real honest answers about why that is and and her feelings about it and the challenges and the rewards and all of the things.

Cate: I really, really enjoyed this conversation. She's also just down to earth and like a good human, which I think comes through. So please enjoy this episode with Leah and we shall take you to it. 

Regina: Alrighty, Leah. Thanks for being on the show today. 

Leah: Thanks so much for having me.

Regina: No problem. So tell us a little bit about you, your business, what it is that you do. 

Leah: Yeah, so I'm in New York City. I am the owner of Color Pop Events, and I've been in business for just shy of nine years at this point. And so I focus.

Leah: It's strictly [00:03:00] on weddings and yeah, it's, it's the last two years have been a wild ride to say the least. 

Regina: Yes, I believe it. So, I also know you, and this may be wrong, but I also know you to be an educator. 

Leah: Yes. Yeah. So I do a good bit of public speaking. I don't have any courses or anything like that.

Leah: but do some public speaking do kind of one off consulting with other business owners was actually just chatting with some planner friends this morning, helping them with some growth stuff. So yeah, definitely kind of have my hands in a lot of 

 Cate: So can you tell us a little bit about, I want your origin story.

Leah: Yeah. 

Cate: So let's start like whatever you're doing pre being in the wedding industry, you getting into the wedding industry and then the evolution of your business. 

Leah: So my first career was as a commercial real estate attorney, and I practice law ended up practicing law for a [00:04:00] total of 10 years. But I would say a few years in I sort of realized I was kind of destined to own my own business and it really just became a point of like what that business was going to be.

Leah: I thought about starting a dog walking service, opening up a doggy daycare. I came, I like to say that I came dangerously close to enrolling in pastry school because I thought I wanted to open up a bakery, considered like restaurant with some friends who's a chef, all that good stuff. and nothing really.

 Leah: Seemed like a great idea or a great fit until just randomly one day event planning kind of popped up in my head as, as an option. And it seemed like a really good fit for the things I was good at, me needing a creative outlet, all that stuff. And then, it definitely took some years to kind of Get things going.

 Leah: I would say my own wedding was really the catalyst for officially starting the business. So I got married in 2012, planned and designed [00:05:00] everything. Generally myself, I did have a month of coordinator because I like to make sure like that was very important. I did not do all of that stuff on my own, but I found the process like.

 Leah: Pretty easy. I thought it was fun. And I know that's not a normal having worked with clients. I know that is not a normal reaction to planning a wedding. And so I was like, okay, I think I want to give this a try. And so I got married August, 2012. Slowly started getting the business off the ground after that had my first official wedding October of 2013.

Leah: I was still working full time as an attorney eventually was like I need to kind of cut back on the attorney stuff but still need the income because I'm not able to go full time. So was part time with a law firm and then eventually at the end of January 2016 was able to go full time with ColourPop events.

 Leah: And that is my origin story. 

 Cate: So interesting how people find their [00:06:00] way into this wacky world. 

Leah: I know it's yeah, it's very interesting. I know a lot of people that are in fashion, at least in New York, like the fashion industry tends to set for some reason push a lot of people into events and weddings.

Cate: Interesting. 

Regina: So, I'm curious to know because you are color pop, and you are like known for being bright and bold. So how did that kind of, how'd you fall into like that lane. 

Leah: I've always. really responded sort of like viscerally to color. And it's interesting that you bring this up because I recently sort of had this epiphany about identifying as a highly sensitive person.

Leah: Which I don't know how much the two of you know about it, but basically it's not about like most people hear the phrase and they think, Oh, you're just like emotional and it has nothing to do with like being emotional. It's that your nervous system actually reacts  more strongly to stimulus than a non highly sensitive person.

 Leah: And so that has kind of been an epiphany for me because I think with like color and art like it just activates. It's my brain in a way that it doesn't necessarily for everybody. And so I've always loved color when trying to figure out the name of my business. I actually had another name originally that was too similar to somebody else's.

 Leah: So I decided to drop it and had to go back to the drawing board to kind of figure it out. And the idea like pop of color came to mind and I was like, that's a little too wordy. And so I'd like color pop. That is. It's kind of perfect. I mean, I got very lucky with the name cause it works for me. It works for my aesthetic.

 Leah: It's also kind of perfect in terms of like future business endeavors and being able to have things under like a color pop umbrella. Cause like when I did, I self published a book and so I did that under color pop publishing, which is like the publishing arm of my [00:08:00] business. So it's kind of a very fortuitous name, but definitely resonates with me in terms of like my great love of color.

Regina: I do want to say, I love that. And I love that you brought up being a highly sensitive person because I, I know, you know, Renee, but I love Renee Dallow. And I was just listening to her podcast episode with Heather Dominick about being a highly sensitive person. 

 Leah: That's, I bought this. So the book that she recommended, like the original, like woman who came up with that, she recommended that book and I'm like halfway through it.

 Leah: And I've been probably like highlighting every other sentence because I'm like, Oh my God. This explains so much that I never really knew before, like, I knew I was an empath, and I've always been really sensitive to like, any kind of smell, to taste, to loud noise, and also to, like, constrictive, like, clothing and stuff like that, and I you know, always kind of wondered what that was about, and so it has been a very fascinating read. 

Regina: Yeah, I love it. She, she says in the beginning of the episode, like you're describing this and every wedding planner I know was like, you know, like, and I was like, oh gosh, you know, so yeah. okay, so let's talk a little bit about. Your clients then. So you service everyone. So let's talk about what like your typical wedding planning package is like, or your typical client experience.

 Leah: Yeah. I mean, in terms of the clients that I work with, I think a lot of people, and I've had them say this, they would assume that I work with very colorful, creative people who want like out of the box things. And that has not been the case. because the people. That sort of wants those things don't always have the budget to produce those kinds of events But also I found out when I really took a step back and looked at who I was serving It's a lot of lawyers a lot of doctors a lot of people in finance And so I found  that my background from being an attorney.

 Leah: I just have Just I know how to work with those people. I know how demanding their jobs are I know what they're looking for in terms of like responsiveness and being professional and service and all of that stuff. So that's honestly the type of clients that I serve. And when I got into this, that's never who I would, you know, I figured I'd be people who want the rainbow wedding and like super colorful color palettes and all that stuff.

 Leah: And it's honestly not been the case. So for sure here and there, I get clients who do go really bold with color and design, but then a lot of times it's a more kind of muted. Aesthetic, which is fine. I can plan any kind of wedding. It, for me, it doesn't personally matter what your wedding looks like. I'm going to do a good job of planning a wedding regardless.

Cate: Yeah, that's so interesting. Regina and I talk on here a lot about like kind of stumbling upon who our people are, and it's not [00:11:00] always who we set out thinking are our people. And sometimes like the categories that we use when we're starting out. wind up being sort of arbitrary, which is kind of what I'm hearing from you.

Leah: Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, I was, you know, when I started my like tagline or catchphrase was, you know, like bold, creative couples, which is not at all. The ad, the thing that I did that was really helpful. and I've told a few people about this was there was an exercise that one of my business coaches recommended or maybe a life coach.

 Leah: Some, one of my coaches at some point recommended. email 20 of your like close friends and family members and ask them to give you, give you three words that describe you. And I found that to be an incredible exercise because Not very many people were saying things like colorful and creative. It was a lot of like calm, loyal, honest, communicative.

 Leah: And so it was through that exercise that I actually figured out what those key words were that I was needed to be using in my business to describe me. And, yeah, it was just really eyeopening. And the people who I have recommended doing that to have also found it kind of equally sort of profound and mind blowing because.

 Leah: It's important for us to know how other people see us because we obviously see ourselves in one way and we think we're providing a service in one way, but it really sometimes is helpful to get that outside perspective to get even more perspective on yourself. 

Cate: That's good. That's juicy. That's potentially dangerous, but I like that as a strategy.

 Cate: And, when you kind of leaned into the things that you are actually showing up as, as opposed to the kind of idealized, Version of yourself that you had, did you notice a shift in 

 Cate: your business? 

Leah: Yeah, it, I noticed a shift, honestly, in the way that I was able to pitch to prospective clients and the way that I was able to describe my value and what made me unique.

 Leah: And it's also kind of too listening to just the feedback that you get on the fly from people. everybody would comment how calm I was. And so that was definitely something that I played up because I tell, I joke and I say, Hey, And let, if you ever see me running, it means that like something is on fire.

Leah: Otherwise we're going to be able to stay pretty calm. We're going to get it done. Like stuff has happened. My clients, wild stuff has happened. My clients have never even known about, because it's about like. Staying calm. another interesting thing I observed was I make people who are stressed out and anxious feel much better.

 Leah: And so, like, playing up that sort of calm angle and just very organized and structured. Has helped in terms of like pitching those clients, frankly,

 Cate: sounding very familiar. and also those are skills that you sometimes realize over time that you bring to the table that you [00:14:00] didn't necessarily know you did, but you're like, Oh yeah, there's this, this kind of, a benefit of working with me.

 Leah: Yeah, I mean you hear either you hear stories from other people of wedding planners who don't take that approach or you just see other vendors on the day of if something is wrong and they get flustered.

 Leah: I've had multiple occasions where Something went awry. Somebody was late and I've had the vendor come up to me and say, like, why aren't you yelling at me right now? I'm just like, because that's not going to do anybody any good. You already feel bad enough for what happened. Like, I don't need to rub that in.

Leah: We just need to fix it. and also to the idea, like. If I ever mess up like that, I would hope that people would have like that level of sort of grace and acceptance for me as well. So it's, it's very much about, you know, the golden rule, how you want to treat people, how you want to be treated and just keep in mind that we're all going to have.

 Leah: One of those days at some point. So, yes, 

 Regina: I think that comes from your [00:15:00] history as a lawyer, you know, having like you deal with high stress situations and you're just used to handling it. I've been told very similar things like my assistant has been like, Why aren't you freaking out right now? And I'm like, dude, I've done CPR on an 18 month old child in front of their mom.

 Regina: Like, this is nothing. You know, like, at the end of the day, this is not an emergency. We can handle this, you know, so. 

 Leah: Yeah, and like, I've done a hundred and been part of like, a hundred million dollar, like billion dollar corporate legal deals. Like, when that much money is on the table, like. Yeah, it's perspective, obviously not nearly as significant as saving somebody's life.

Regina: No, I'd be like, no, I tell Kate all the time when Kate, they were, she was having a conversation and just teaching someone about like tactics to like backup SD cards and like just the, like the stresses that photographers have to deal with. And I'm like, Oh my God, the thought of losing someone's like wedding pictures, like I almost threw up in my  mouth.

 Regina: I'm just like, we all handle stress differently.

 Cate: I really, I really enjoyed that. 

 Regina: I just went completely weird, my bad. 

 Cate: Oh my God. Yeah, go ahead. I have a question, but it might lead us down a slightly different path. 

 Regina: No, I just wanted to follow up with, like, so I was talking about your clients, but like your packages. So are you essentially a full service planner?

 Regina: Like, is that only what you do? Or do you take in sometimes event management? Because I'm not going to say day of coordination because we're getting rid of that. so 

 Leah: yeah, I do base, I do just full service planning. and the way that I describe it, is I meet my clients wherever they are in the wedding planning process.

Leah: And then I hop in with them at that point and help with everything from that point on. just given sort of like the money that I want to be making and the input I want to have in the planning process. Most of my clients don't have more than like a venue, maybe venue caterer. And a photographer, something like that.

 Leah: But I would say the most, kind of the place where most of my clients bring me in is they've got the venue. And then I jump in and help with everything from that point on. And I will say like being on venue preferred vendor lists at the venues has been a huge, played a huge role in sort of why that is like the most common place where clients bring me in

Cate: and tell us a little bit about, and I'm sure this has like. informed your education and your writing and whatever else, but like, so 2016 was when you went full time, correct? Correct. And that wasn't terribly long ago for you to have then seen the growth and success that you've seen since. So tell us a little bit about that process.

Cate: Like how, how did we get from, this was kind of a part time thing to. You know, you're kind of a  trailblazer. 

 Leah: Yeah, it's been, it's been a combination of things. Definitely when I was starting out and also in 2016 during that transition, honestly, advertising with the knot, I got, I don't probably lucky is how we want to phrase it.

Leah: I sort of got lucky and got in with them at the time when they were just launching what at the time they called premium. listings. And so that was basically within your geographic location paying to be listed in one of the top six spots, which I would call like above the fold. for on the internet. So I was guaranteed to be seen.

Leah: And because of that, I was able to get a good amount of business from the not like it paid. It has always paid for itself every single year. And so that was a great way to get started. And then honestly, just being good at what I do, you would be surprised how many people aren't. And so working with other venues and [00:19:00] vendors and just showing up and doing a really good job for them.

Leah: It was the word of mouth that really transformed my business and being strategic about it, you know, figuring out. What venues were typically working with clients who had the budgets that I wanted to be working with that typically required the amount of work in order to justify hiring a full planner, like places that do everything in house.

 Leah: I am on some of those lists and occasionally I get work there, but more often than not, because they do so much, people don't necessarily see the value of hiring somebody for the full process. And so these raw spaces really kind of have become my specialty. And so that those venues and working with and doing a good job and working with the same vendors, caterers, photographers, getting referrals from them has honestly been like the catalyst for really growing my business.

 Cate: I'm so glad you said that, about like being good at your job and just showing up because I feel like sometimes. In like the, whatever we want to call it entrepreneurial space or whatever, there's like so much talking about so much that actually isn't just like the meat and bones showing up and doing the thing.

Cate: Well, yeah. And, and when it comes to referrals. How valuable it is as a vendor to know other vendors who make your job easier and, and the length that you'll go to then to try to work with them again, 

 Leah: a hundred percent. I mean, and yes, and it goes both ways. I mean, I know that as a planner, my job is to make every other vendor's job easy.

Leah: They just need to show up and do their. So like, I'll coordinate what time the florist needs to load in with the venue, where they need, like, the load in instructions, do they have a ladder on site, because I just want the florist to be able to come, do the florals, and then head out. With the [00:21:00] venue, it's the same thing.

 Leah: I want to make sure, like, at the end of the night, it looks like nobody's ever been in the space, and we're all cleaned up. But yeah, doing a good job and taking care of other people. And then yes, because especially right now with like staff shortages, turnover, increased costs and everything, my job as a planner is getting exponentially more.

 Leah: Difficult. And so if I can work with people, everybody who's for the video, Regina just took a very deep breath.

Regina: I totally relate to that. 

Leah: Yeah. I want to work with the people who I've worked with over and over again, who I know are going to show up, who I know are going to do a good job. I had a wedding recently where the client had booked a good number of vendors before they brought me on, but it was like a very logistically, it was a multi day wedding.

 Leah: heavy logistics. And so they, you know, brought me on for a good portion of the process. And the florist basically refused to talk to me. was one of those where it was like, I'm only going to communicate with the bride, that kind of thing. Day of florist shows up. And goes, why are there 18 tables? I only had 16 T I only have 16 centerpieces.

Leah: Cause I was told we had 16 tables. Why didn't she update me on the table count? And it took everything in my power, not to just say, well, that's what you get. When you don't work, you refuse to communicate with the planner who knows to update you about the table count. The client doesn't. That's not on their mind.

 Leah: That's not what they're thinking about. And unless he asked her that she's never going to give that information. So,

 Regina: I don't understand. I just, sorry to like, but I don't understand when people like, why do you think couples hire planners? Like, do you think they hired them because they want you and all.

Regina: 6, 10, 15, however many vendors that they have reaching out to them to ask them all these questions. No, they hired someone to handle that for them. So why the hell do you think you're like, I'm sorry, sorry vendors, but if you're the vendor, I'm only going to talk to the couple then like, No, like what? And first off, and then again, once this couple is gone, they're gone.

Regina: So who is going to refer you? Like maybe they have another friend getting married or that planner that you worked with that you were awesome and you were communicative and you like responded to their emails and answered their questions and weren't a dick to them is going to say, Oh my God, they were so awesome.

Regina: Let me refer them to every other couple that I have going forward, you know, but anyway, sorry. 

Leah: Believe me, I asked the person at the venue, I said, do you work with him often? And they're like, we refer him sometimes. And I said, just so you know, he's a complete asshole and refused to work with me. So you may want to keep that in mind next time.

 Leah: Like if you have a planner and you're recommending, he gets recommended because he does not play well with that. 

Regina: And that is, that's literally the, I will tell couples that those exact words. Do they play well with others? That's like a, a term that I will have to tell couples. They're like, I really want to work with this person.

Regina: I don't have very many vendors. I'm like, yeah. But I'm like, this person doesn't play well with  others, I suggest you, you know, step over here, you know, and that's only happened a few times, but it happens, you know, Anywho, sorry. You said something that touched the button. 

 Cate: Oh, I hit a nerve for the planners.

Cate: yes. Okay. So I feel like, yes, we could like talk about that for 20 minutes and how long people's memories are and how relatively small this world is that we're all kind of playing in. But, I'm curious to hear more about. it's clear to me why you became successful, and I'm curious to hear more about how you started to pivot into these other lanes that were all under this umbrella that you had created very smartly.

 Leah: Yeah. I'm not totally sure what made me do it, but I remember it was 2017. So it was like, basically after a full year end of being full time. And I was like, I want to do more speaking engagements. And it was literally just a decision that I want to, I made, I started telling everybody I, you know, posted on Facebook and was like, Hey, if anybody's got small business related or like wedding related podcasts, webinars.

Leah: Like I want to get out there more and so, you know, once you start telling people what you want to do, lo and behold, people will remember and keep you in mind for these opportunities. So the first year, I think it was like a few webinars. I also was very lucky to have a good friend who worked at the knot who got me in on some webinars for them.

Leah: And so that was incredibly helpful. And then I started working with OFD consulting who does. PR. And so they actually now handle sort of pitching me for most speaking engagements. There's definitely some stuff that like personal connections I, you know, set up on my own, all that kind of thing. but working with them to sort of pitch me for national conferences, podcasts,webinars during COVID, they did a ton.

Leah: They helped us do like a ton of virtual. webinars and education and all that stuff. So that was something that really interested, interested me in terms of wanting to give back and share what I've learned. And I'm super candid almost to a fault sometimes with like sharing advice and my experience and things that I've learned.

 Leah: So I really wanted to do that. And then the book piece similar to knowing, like, I needed to be a business, like run my own business. It was always, I'd always wanted to write a book. And it was just a matter of figuring out what. The topic was going to be, and so a single conversation with one of my clients in 2017, which I go into detail in the book about sparked, the idea for the book, but I really wanted to understand the psychology behind people's behavior when it came to weddings, because I like to say shit gets weird when you get engaged, and I wanted to understand it.

Leah: Why? And like from a like academic sort of nerdy perspective, like really understand. So I read psychology books, talked to a lot of experts and that is what gave birth to the wedding rollercoaster, which is my book. So it was an idea that started in 2017, I would say 2019, I started like putting a little bit of pen to paper, but 2020, obviously with no weddings happening, I finally had that time and space.

 Leah: to get the book done. And so it came out in April of 2021. And, yeah, I love it. I definitely plan on doing more books. I like, I like writing. So, but yeah, it was, definitely something that like kind of came to me and was very, it was meant to happen.

Cate: I feel like this emotional aspect of weddings. And the roller coaster, as you kind of coined, it has been a theme of this year, this year's podcast, but also just like the reality of the last, I guess, going on three years of being in the industry, trying to get married, being a human on planet earth, whatever.

Cate: Can you tell us a little bit about. The good, the bad and the ugly of let's call it, let's just call it the last five years of your business. But some of the things that are the most heartwarming and soulful parts of this business and some of the real big challenges that you've come up against. 

Leah: Yeah. I mean, 2020 was terrifying in terms of events, just shut down being in New York city.

 Leah: I mean, I know in certain places like. Some places didn't skip a beat. It was like weddings were still happening, but for sure in New York, we shut down completely. Nothing was happening. And so it was hard on two levels. It was hard on like a personal business level of like, Oh my God, I've spent so much, so many years building this.

 Leah: I got it to this really great spot. And now things have just like. Stopped what's going to happen. What's the future like, and then honestly, cause one of the big things that I, that I think sets me apart as a wedding planner is how I invest in the relationships with my clients. And like, I give a lot emotionally to my clients.

Leah: And so it was really hard having conversations with people about having to postpone their wedding and what was going to happen. And some people canceling the wedding and some people postponing, like. three or four times. It was just, there were a lot of like really emotional conversations and people feeling guilty about even worrying about their wedding while all of this other awful stuff was happening.

Leah: and I think the same honestly can still be said for 2022, like the world's on fire and people are still planning weddings and like, we're supposed to go on through it. So. That was definitely a challenge. but I think the beautiful moments coming out of that was when we finally were  able to have those weddings.

 Leah: People were grateful to be able to be together. They were so happy. It was like a lot of times it was the first time people had really been around groups for a good portion of time. And like, they were ready to party for sure. But that was kind of the rewarding part of all that was getting to see it through.

Leah: But yeah, it was difficult. And then what the wedding industry is dealing with now is the wedding boom. So there's so much demand, so much weddings happening, people still dealing with postponements on top of. Staff shortages, staff increased costs, material scarcity, like, I mean, just the thing that comes to mind is like alcohol.

 Leah: One of my clients is trying to finalize the bar menu and they're like, we can't, we just can't even get this particular type of tequila. Like nobody has it anymore. And so it's just these little things that, make clients a lot more anxious, make our jobs harder. Cause it's not like I can magically wave a wand and get, you [00:31:00] know, this fancy tequila for you.

Leah: So it's a lot of like managing expectations this year, I think is, It's a good phrase for 2022 managing expectation. 

Regina: Yes, and it's like it's just funny that you mentioned the alcohol because I was literally just having a conversation with the bride who the bartender's like we cannot get like fresh limes and she's like But I have mojitos.

Regina: I really just want fresh limes. And he's like, well, there's this awesome lime juice that we can do. And she's like, but it's not the same. So just, and trying to be that middle person to be like. And the grand scheme of things, I completely understand, but his line's growing. You know, so just, yeah. And he's like, I can get them.

Regina: They will cost you. They will be wicked expensive to like, have them shipped in. Do you really want to, you know, she's going to make that decision, but it's like, it's, it's tough out here guys.

Leah: I just, I had to say, so one of the things that I've been experiencing, is a lot of venue turnover. So like the key, Point person for the venue at some of these places is like turned over honestly three or four times during the planning process.

Leah: And I had to say to one of my clients that like, I was like, I promise you, I will make sure all of these details get sorted out. We're going to make sure they're on top of it. They know what's happening. I said, but it's not going to happen on your timeline because they keep emailing me and they're like, have they gotten comments back on the rental order?

 Leah: And I'm like, No, they haven't. And then also the person who was supposed to be handling us no longer at the venue. So I'm just like, you can't, and that's what everybody wants. I mean, I get it. Like the anxiety is high. The shortages make them nervous, which then makes them want answers. But we have to just be like, I promise it's going to get done, but you can't snap your fingers and make it happen.

Leah: Like it's, it's going to have to be on a much slower paced timeline than we would. Prefer to be and even I would prefer I let him know like I want these answers to I don't want to be I had a call this past weekend on a Saturday for a wedding that was happening a week from that day to finally talk to like the event captain and I'm like, I don't feel good about talking to the event captain a week before your wedding but like that is where we are.

Leah: So 

Regina: yeah, no. And then just for people listening, like it's a common thing. Like I legitimately swear to you guys, but this morning I had a final venue walkthrough for a wedding that I have in two weeks with the coordinator. And so I was expecting one person, the person that I've been communicating with and downstairs walks, this new lady that I'm like, who the heck is she, but she has been new coordinator.

 Regina: And it's like, Well, all right. And then, you know, and you've had these conversations, you feel frustrated because you're like, I've had these conversations with this person for the last, however long it's been going on. And now there's this brand new person two weeks before the wedding that I have to hope everything got, you know, communicated.

Regina: So you have those situations. You also, as you mentioned, a lot of times I have a DJ for that same wedding that, you know, the couple was like, has our DJ gotten in touch with you? Because I forwarded them emails from. March, April, May, you know, and now their wedding's in two weeks and it's like, no, he has not responded, but DJs are, they'll tell you like, listen, we have nine events in the next two weeks.

Regina: Like, I cannot think about that until like the Monday before your wedding. Nobody wants to, like, I don't like, like you, I don't want to be having a conversation with the DJ. My first conversation with the DJ a week before their wedding, but he's like, I literally cannot think about their wedding right now.

Regina: Like, I have all these events crammed into. The next two weeks, like it can't happen. So it's just, it's a struggle. Everybody's on the struggle bus. 

Cate: Oh my god. 

Cate: So yeah, it's been an interesting last few years and I remember us sitting talking on this podcast and off in  2020 looking ahead to all of our really, really with the clients who were like, I'm not going to postpone until 2021. I'm going to postpone all the way to 2022 because COVID definitely won't be a thing by then.

Cate: And now, like, here we are, COVID still, it's like every wedding, at least Regina and I have done so far, key people are missing last minute because of COVID. it's still obviously is having a huge impact on our lives, at least in New York and Connecticut. So what are your thoughts about, about like weddings going forward over the next two years?

Cate: Like where, where are you at? What are you kind of coaching clients to do and think about? 

Leah: It's hard. what I have found is that people will like clients will express concern about it, about COVID. But don't ever really want to go that [00:36:00] extra mile to make sure that we're doing the most that we can for it, because obviously there's, you know, checking vaccination cards at the door, on site tests on site, like rapid PCR testing is frankly gonna be your best bet.

Leah: And even then, like, People like, who knows, nothing is foolproof. And I think people need to know that. but I do find it a little frustrating that people are still kind of concerned about it. But then when at me as the planner says like, here's X, Y, and Z that we can do, they don't really want to like be burdened by it.

Leah: So it's really frustrating. I mean, at some point you have to say. We don't think about the flu when, when it comes to weddings. So at some point, hopefully this is going to transition into, I guess, an endemic is the right word, like a flu, a seasonal thing. because you know, After nine years, no one has ever been like, I'm so worried about somebody catching the flu at my wedding.

 Leah: That just doesn't happen. So hopefully eventually COVID will move there. But I think people, particularly in areas where cases are rising and it's up and down in a lot of places, they just honestly have to accept that like COVID is going to be at their wedding. and if they have people who are severely high risk, you have to make that choice of having them not be there or you have to make the choice of like taking those extra precautions to make sure that those people are safe.

Leah: to be honest, and this might be an unpopular opinion. I am horrified by the number of vendors who do not wear masks at weddings. because I'm like, how can we risk? Like it's, we have weddings almost every weekend. How could you risk getting sick? And then like, not, you know, aside from the Cole controversy aside, but just as like a personal protective measure to make sure that I don't have to find a substitute for my wedding next weekend.

Leah: Like I want to make sure that I am mass and the number of weddings that I've  had, where people have gotten sick, It's a significant enough amount that, like, people should still, like, vendors should still be careful if they want to, like, make sure they're not missing out on upcoming weddings. 

Cate: You are the first person who has said that on this show, and whether it's popular or not, I mean...

 Cate: I, as someone who is like, has some immunocompromised stuff and also someone who is pregnant, and as someone who has weddings every weekend, all three of those things make me really not want to get sick, any kind of sick, frankly. Yes. But I think the vast majority of my weddings this year, so far, I am, I have been like One of, if not the only person slash vendor wearing a mask inside, which I,  to your point, I just find curious 

Cate: Okay, so as someone who also has been a bit of a serial entrepreneur. tell us a little bit about. Despite all of the challenges that come along with owning your own business, why you felt so compelled to do that and what you found to be the most rewarding, no matter kind of what lane you've been in.

Leah: I would say I was definitely underprepared for what the roller coaster of being an entrepreneur and owning your own business. I had the basic skills, like the foundation, I think, coming from being a lawyer and having like some of that back and a business major. So, like, I knew. The foundational skills that you need to start a business, but I had no idea like the ups and downs and how emotional it was going to be.

Leah: I joke that I remember one day fairly early on, I was like so excited in the morning because it was the first time I'd been published on like Martha Stewart weddings online. And then by the afternoon I was crying because I had a disagreement with the photographer. So it's like, it is very up and down.

Leah: The reason I knew. That I was meant to be a business owner was from working at law firms. I would always watch how things were run and how things were managed and would to myself question like, why are we doing it this way? Or think it could be done so much better. I mean, don't get me wrong. I was a very good employee.

Leah: It's not like I was second guessing my bosses and anything like trying to take over anything like that, but I was just, I'm an observant person. going back to being highly sensitive, we are all, we are. Much more observant, and watching of what is happening. And so I was just sort of like, this doesn't really make any sense.

 Leah: And I was frankly tired of working really hard to line somebody else's pockets. And wanted to have the control of just creating something myself. And so honestly, like, even though event planning was a good fit for My skill set, my personality. I love running a business. I love the business side of it. I love for me, the rewarding part is like, Seeing a business grow making like good money from this and like figuring out how to create something from scratch and turn it into what I've created like that for me is the rewarding part.

 Leah: And yes, I've gotten some great friendships out of it in terms of other vendors some of my clients I'm still super close with, but I've never been that kind of person that's like, Oh, I love love, you know, this is so pretty I like to make people happy. That is not, that is not me. So I would say the most rewarding part comes from just like seeing something I've built sort of come to fruition and then the relationships that I've gotten out of being a business owner.

Cate: Really will appreciate hearing that, especially because don't you feel like sometimes and often women in business are portrayed as we kind of do this for the love of the Of the service, just love to be of service for people so much that we just can't stop ourselves. 

Cate: that's a real thing for me. I mean, I guess it's the nurse and me, and that's like so wonderful. And also it can't be the only narrative about entrepreneurs, you know, and there is like a real sense of accomplishment when you have created something from that thing. And You are earning a good living from it. That is a huge part of why we do this. You know, like we either have to get another job or we have to make this work for ourselves 

Leah: financially, right?

 Leah: Yeah, people don't like talk about that. Yeah, like this is not yeah, it's not a vanity project. like my book was not a vanity project. I've heard from some people that were like, oh, I wrote a book because I wanted to Like I wanted to write a book and I wanted to have that like associated with my name or my brand and I was like, I wrote a book because I want to sell copies and I want to make money.

Leah: I mean, like, I like writing and so it's all been something I wanted to do, but it was like, this is the purpose of this is like to lend credibility to my brand. Like, this isn't just a fun kind of thing that I want to do. yeah. And I feel like, especially in weddings, Women get pigeonholed into the, Oh, they must like love, love and love creating pretty things and being part of all of this.

 Leah: And like, for a lot of us, that's not the case. 

Cate: And, or even if it is the case, it's not the only motivator. Correct. Because we could be doing this just as a hobby for our friends. And be doing another thing for our career, but we've chosen to bring these two things together. So anyway, I just appreciate that perspective.

Regina: So I would like to know someone who has planned a lot of weddings over the years. And now you're in, you know, public speaker, educating other wedding planners and other vendors. What is, I'm actually going to throw a different kind of question at you.

Regina: What are two pieces of advice that you would give to couples planning their weddings? One, looking for their wedding planner, what are some things that they should look for? And then two, Jess, an overall, wedding, piece of like wedding planning advice that they should consider throughout the wedding planning process.

Regina: But then I also want to throw a question to you for vendors. So just, you know, as a planner who's worked with a ton of vendors over the year, what is a piece of advice that you would give to other vendors listening when working with planners or couples or just in general, if you wanted to. Tell some vendors and stuff.

 Leah: Okay. So my advice to couples when trying to find a wedding planner. So number one, I mean, there's a couple of things, but I think partly they have to be really realistic about their own bandwidth for planning a wedding in terms of just what they have the capacity to take on and what they need help with.

 Leah: Cause a lot of times people think that they're going to be able to do more and then haven't like either secured a planner at all, or haven't secured the right level of service. And then ultimately panic and are like, we need more help. This is not working. And then the other thing is, and this is actually my advice for clients when finding any vendor is that personality and your sort of gut reaction to somebody is.

 Leah: So critical you once you pass the like gatekeeping item of like, are they a reputable professional? Do they have a social media profile? Like, do they seem like a legit company? Do they have good reviews? It really can be just as simple as like, do I like this person? And so that goes a long way. And there's a lot of, there's a lot of different vendors, like different companies within each vendor category.

 Leah: And we all bring something different to the table and we all relate to our clients in a different way. And so I'm  pretty convinced that people will find the person that is a really good match for them because everybody is so different. Like, I don't think there's another planner out there who. both approaches things the way that I do and also has sort of the same personality and background as I do.

 Leah: and so that also helped me when I would lose jobs because I'm just like, Oh, if they went with this other person, then I clearly was not going to be a good fit for them. That's not what they were looking for. And then when it comes to clients in terms of general planning advice, And this is something I talk a lot about in the book.

 Leah: Don't be afraid to have the money talk, because I know that there's this stigma of number one, talking with wedding vendors and them immediately saying, well, how much is your budget for the wedding? And sort of the general discomfort of having to talk about money between the people getting married, between the people who might be contributing financially to pay for the wedding.

 Leah: But you can't, you can't plan a wedding until you know [00:47:00] how much money you have to spend. I hate saying it like, like, I know it seems like crass to be like, Oh, we're having this beautiful union and event and the Foundation of it is money, but unfortunately in the world that we live in, when you are trying to plan a wedding, you can't book a venue.

Leah: You can't pick a locale, like even a location really until you can't like settle on a guest, like how many people you want to invite until you know how much money you have to spend on it. So don't shy away from the money conversation, having that early and like touching base on it often, I think is going to be really helpful for people during the wedding planning process.

 Leah: And then my note for vendors kind of goes back to what we've already touched on, which is show up, do a good job and communicate. I think the communication piece is something that gets a little bit lost. Sometimes I've definitely been at weddings where certain venues vendors, whether it was a photographer, a catering captain, a band leader, somebody like just didn't want to talk, like, Gave off the vibe like they didn't want to talk to me.

Leah: They didn't want to hear from me And like i'm a communicator I want to make sure because assuming stuff in on a wedding day is when we get into trouble And so it's like I want to reconfirm the schedule with the dj or the band I want to talk about the dinner flow with the caterer like they're on site.

Leah: And so Just being a good communicating and being a good person. Like there's a lot of people that are mediocre at their jobs and are not fun to be around. And so if you can rise to the level. I'm doing a good job and being a nice human that people want to spend time with. I think you will see a very like high reward, like you will get a high return from that kind of effort.

Cate: I was like freaking out over here on mute because I think I saw that exact same sentence to younger people starting their business. It is not. Rocket science. I mean so much of like behind the scenes business y stuff you kind of have to like trial and error figure it out as you go, school hard knocks, whatever.

Cate: But fundamentally, yeah, just like don't be an asshole, show up professionally, be kind, be good to people and like try to do the very best job you can at whatever thing you're doing and, and like the doors will open for you. It isn't here. I mean it's not easy to do necessarily all the time, but it's not complicated.

 Cate: In the way that sometimes it's made out to be. 

Leah: Yeah, I mean, I've heard stories about one venue told me about a planner who was just getting so like anxious and neurotic and kind of spinning out of control that they literally told her to take a seat in the corner and just let them handle things. I've heard of other planners like showing up and starting to drink as soon as the wedding starts.

 Leah: the drinking thing is something that's always. Not to get off on a tangent, but always really confused me. at weddings. 

Regina: Yeah, I don't, I don't get like I get like if you're a band, but even then I'm like, we had a lead singer of a band a couple weeks ago, but I was like, she's a little tipsy. You know what I'm like.

 Regina: She was having a good time and the crowd was having a good time and the couple wasn't phased by it. And I'm like, she's doing her job. She's having more fun, but it's not but if it's other vendors, I'm like, dude, it's not a good look. 

 Cate: No. And what other job do you show up to where it's Appropriate to be drinking.

 Cate: It's just so weird to me. 

Leah: It's not your wedding. And like, can we not just not drink for like six hours? I think that's not unreasonable to ask. It's very strange. 

Cate: It's always been my view and my policy within my business, but it is weird to me how kind of Old fashioned and stodgy it can seem when you're seeing everyone else kind of just, yeah, treat it like they're a guest.

 Regina: You have and you have couples like the last couple of my weddings for this year I've had, like, at the end of the night the couples are like, Regina, come on, I'm like absolutely not because I have to drive one and do like, you're not gonna know. So even though it's the end of the night. Can I have a dance floor?

 Regina: I hired Charles for that. Charles will dance. Oh yeah. 

Cate: Oh my gosh. okay, Leah, you're absolutely delightful. We've already talked about this a little bit, but I'll circle back around completely just in case there's anything else you wanted to say about it over the course of the last, whatever, six. Plus years.

 Cate: It's been that you've been doing this whole time. Who have you found to be your ideal clients? And who do you think that you're perfect for? 

Leah: So it's interesting because I would actually say I'm really good at kind of tailoring my service to a variety of personalities. I think just because of the way that I understand, I understand, and especially after having written my book, like in reading about psychology, I understand a lot about human behavior and why people do what they do.

Leah: And so I think like, My clients is experience. Like if I look at me in connection with like how I'm serving each of my clients, I'm probably a little bit like a different person with each of them. some of them are kind of like. more hands off because they're really just comfortable taking the lead and doing things on their own.

 Leah: Some are super detail oriented, and like faster response times. And so honestly, those are probably the people that get responses the fastest from me. So I would say  like, I wouldn't say there's necessarily like a perfect fit client for me. I like good humans. I mean, that's a. Probably a prerequisite, and I know sometimes, sometimes people slip through the cracks.

 Leah: But, yeah, I would say, like, I work with a lot of different personality types and a lot of different people, and I'm just sort of very good at understanding, like, what they need, what they like, how they like to work, and all of that stuff, and making sure that I am serving them in that way, which now that I'm saying this out loud is probably also why I'm very exhausted because I do a lot of catering to my clients and like unique sort of style, depending on them.

Cate: Actually that makes me want to know what you think in hindsight, the biggest difference between Leah in 2016 versus 2022 is in relation to your, to your business. 

 Leah: Leah in 2022 has much better boundaries. It's.

 Leah:  I spent the first part of this year, I mean, it's now that we're in wedding season and things are picking up, but like I didn't respond, I didn't send client emails on the weekends. I used to sort of be notorious and like send emails 24 7 and yeah, I could draft them on the weekend, but I wouldn't send them because I wanted to stop the expectation of me being available, being able to say no to things, being able to stand up for myself a little bit better, being able to kind of spot potential problem situations and taking care of it in advance, is definitely, I have much better boundaries.

Cate: Also, I just gotta love getting older, don't you? 

 Leah: We don't have time for this shit anymore.

Cate: Oh, I love that answer. we could talk for another hour. I know all of the things, but to be respectful of your time. Is there anything else? Really pressing or really specific that you wanted to talk about today that we have not already [00:55:00] touched on. 

 Leah: I think we've covered everything. I mean, I think, like, keeping in mind that it's been a tough time for wedding vendors for the last two and a half years now at this point, we're still frankly dealing with

 Leah: So I think if everybody could just make a concerted effort to be better humans, it would make everybody's lives a lot easier.

 Leah: I try not to swear, but yes. 

 Cate: Yeah, that would be awesome. 

 Regina: It's all around. Be freaking better. Yeah. Love it. Well, Leah, if anyone reaching out or listening to this wanted to reach out to you for wedding planning, consulting, speaking, where can they find you? 

 Leah: Absolutely. So my website is colourpopevents. com. I am at colourpopevents on all social media platforms and the wedding rollercoaster is available on Amazon.

Cate:Lovely. you're I mean, you know this because you do it professionally, but you're just delightful, easy guests, which we really appreciate. Our listeners do too. thank you so, so much for giving us some of your time tonight. It's really a delight to connect. 

 Leah: Of course. Thanks so much for having me.