2015 was my second year in a row attending the Wedding MBA convention in Las Vegas. I found it extremely beneficial the first year, and although I was not blown away this year, there was still enough good to make the trip worthwhile. I think that a lot of topics are covered every year, so it can become a bit repetitive.

Some of the highlights from this year’s conference:

They had an additional day for category-specific topics. So, for 4 hours I was able to sit in a room full of wedding planners and talk about topics that matter to us. My favorite topics of that day were all about setting boundaries with our clients, working with venue coordinators, and valuing ourselves so that we can teach our clients to value our services.

The first regular day of the conference was Tuesday and it started with a great talk by Carley Roney from The Knot. She spoke about how the millennial generation views wedding packages (they do not like them, they want custom), and what they want out of a wedding (personalization, guest experience, and more customization).

The other amazing speaker of the day was Alison Howard, a former wedding planner turned wedding educator. She built her brand using video marketing and catapulted herself into the luxury market by talking directly to her ideal clients via video. Alison spoke a number of times throughout the conference about different aspects of video marketing for wedding planners and I saw them all, she is quite the inspiration.

My favorite speaker on Wednesday (Day 2) was Casey Eberhart. He talked about word of mouth marketing and how he uses video at networking events to create buzz. Although we were meant to hear about word-of-mouth marketing, we ended up talking a lot about video and Periscope.

When the conference was over, I felt like I received enough value from the speakers to make it worth attending. I did enjoy it enough to warrant buying a ticket for next year. The conference as a whole is fantastic for people who are starting out in business or those who are struggling with their marketing. It is quite inexpensive, my early bird ticket for 2016 was $149 for a 3-day conference. I would say it is worth the trip at least once.

Today’s post is a guest post from Amber Peterson. Amber is the owner of Cheers Wedding & Event Planning in western Washington. She has a Masters Degree in Integrated Marketing Communications and previously worked as a marketing consultant for wedding industry professionals. Amber is also the co-founder of the Skagit Wedding Society.