Welcome to our “Day in the Life” series! We feature wedding and event planners from around the world with many different levels of experience. If you would like to be featured, download our questionnaire here and email your responses and photo to info@plannerslounge.com. We are excited to feature Niagara Falls wedding planner Meagan Eagles today!

Name: Meagan Eagles

Business Name & Location: Weddings Tied With Lace: Planning & Design, Niagara Falls

Years Working in the Event Industry: 9

Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 3

Website: www.weddingstiedwithlace.com

Twitter: WedTiedWithLace

What is your typical day like?

I’ve just recently begun my career as a “full-time” wedding planner. I used to work my business around my day-job, trying to squeeze in quick emails throughout the day and doing the majority of my work in the evening or on the weekend. This worked okay, because most couples have the same day-job hours.

Now that I am working full time, I have much more time to concentrate on building business and maintaining the type of service I want my clients to have. I love working from home. I start my day with cuddles from my three Siberian huskies. Seriously, that is the best part of my day. I get ready for the day as if I was going into the office, I shower, get dressed and grab a cup of coffee or make a fresh juice. I’m in the office from 9-4 Monday-Friday. I love my office, it’s the perfect amount of girly to make me feel happy, but enough seriousness that I can concentrate to get things done.

Every Monday I start my day off with client follow up emails. I think it is so important to keep everyone in the loop of what I do on my end, and what’s next. It also gives my clients an open forum for any issues or concerns they might have. This task sets up my to-do list for the next few days as well. After I do this follow up and to start the rest of my week, I check the rest of my emails and answer what I need to. Then I fill out “my business binder” which is a binder full of my monthly, weekly and daily goal sheets I’ve made. It’s a great tool that keeps me on track for the day. I fill out my top 3 goals, a non-business related thing I want to do that day, what’s on the blog, any fears or dreams I have at that moment, and steps I can take to conquer them. I start working on whatever my top 3 goals are for that day, sometimes it’s a client task, sometimes it’s a design element I need to DIY.

It’s really important to get out of the “office” especially when you work from home, so I like to go to the gym before I eat my lunch, to get myself moving and to get out of my head. It’s a nice refresher before getting back to work. When I get home, I grab something healthy and full of protein for lunch. When I head back into the office, I get more of the to-do list tasks done. I like to get the “work” out of the way, and lighten the rest of my afternoon up with the fun stuff, design proposals, DIY crafts, reading/working on marketing, etc. Sometimes I have specific blog material scheduled to write that day, and other days, I’m just inspired by things I read, or what I’m feeling. I also like to take quick 10 minute breaks every hour or so to keep myself moving and it helps get “home things” done. Like I’ll work on a task for 60 minutes, and on a 10 minute break I might throw a load of laundry in, then take a short mental break. I always end my work day at 4pm by “mind dumping”. I just free-write anything I might be feeling, anything weighing me down, things I want to do tomorrow, etc. It helps give me a clear vision to fill out my daily worksheet the next day. I also take 5 minute or so to de-clutter my space so I get a fresh start in the morning.

How did you get started in the industry?

I’ve actually been in the wedding industry since I was 15. My first job was banquet service for weddings. From there I had decided I loved weddings, and wanted to design beautiful wedding cakes. After doing my co-op at a bakery, I decided everyday baking just wasn’t for me. I was always interested in wedding planning, but the program around me was a post-grad event planning program. I took Sales and Marketing as a gateway to take the program, but by the time I was done, I had no desire to go back to school. With the year I decided to become a certified makeup and hair artist. I started my own business catering to brides who wanted a mobile service. I still wanted more, so I researched wedding planner specific courses. I found WPIC and knew that was the answer. I started building my website before I even took the course, I was pumped. Now I am the Regional Rep of Niagara for WPIC.

Where do you find design inspiration?

Honestly, I try to stay away from other people’s work when I’m designing something for a client. When a client comes to me with their ideas, I sit down and try to think outside the box. I try to come up with personal touches, DIY décor, just something not seen everywhere. Once I come up with my ideas, I’ll search Pinterest or Google Images to see if anyone has done anything similar to what I am imagining. I don’t want my clients to be able to find what I’m talking about just anywhere, but I do want them to have a good idea of what I’m talking about.

I, of course, do pin images from Pinterest as I’m browsing along, and I do love to look at Wedluxe, Elegant Weddings Magazine and Martha Stewart for really well-done décor. I don’t really frequent any online blogs to see what’s going on, but I do follow Every Last Detail, Wedding Obsession & Southern Weddings on social media so when I see something really interesting pop up, I’ll take a look.

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

I love to follow Sage Wedding Pros and the Planner’s Lounge (of course) for straight-forward business advice. They give actual advice and not just fluff.

I also love to read Hey Gorg, Lara Casey’s blog, and Emily Ley’s blog for motivating, feel good advice. Those ladies are so awesome and open, I love to follow along with them.

Meagan, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and a day in your life. If you are an event planner and would like to be featured, download our questionnaire today and email it to us along with a photo. If you aren’t sure about being featured, take a few minutes to read how it can help your business.