The Be Sage Conference in Dallas, Texas was definitely one of the top wedding industry conferences that I have attended. There were around 60 attendees this year from all over the country, with a large showing from Texas, Seattle, and D.C. The first day started off with a welcome party in downtown Dallas, complete with a tequila tasting! It was a great way to network and meet the other attendees of the conference before everything kicked off.

Barbie Hull Photography

We had two full days of sessions on Monday and Tuesday with ten of speakers from all over the country and from different areas of the industry. Each day we were greeted with different swag items at our seat, along with fun surprises from the sponsors – including a delicious three-course lunch on Monday and a contest to win a dinner with the team from Junebug Weddings.

Monday included a break-out-session opportunity where we could choose between three topics that included how to legally cover your business, expanding your name and business through licensing, and how to be cash flow positive. After the sessions on Tuesday, we got dressed up in our tropical whites and danced the night away at a “Hot in Havana” theme party with a fabulous live band and delicious food!

The conference concluded with a Farewell Brunch on Wednesday which was a great opportunity to finish discussions of topics that were spurred by the conference topics and also to say goodbye to our new industry friends.

The Be Sage Conference is definitely geared towards experienced business owners in the wedding industry – not just planners, although there are a decent amount of planners in attendance.

Some of the topics covered included:

• How to create brand partnerships

• How to expand your name

• The power of presence through body language

• How to get financial freedom

• How to be a leader

My three favorite sessions were “Be Rare: Finding Opportunity in Differences” by Jackie Nwobu with Munaluchi Magazine, “Be Confident: The Power of Presence” by Vanessa Van Edwards with Science of People, and “Be A Leader: How to Grow Your Team to Replicate Your Artistry” by Kelley Marie Thompson with Fleur.

My biggest takeaways from those sessions and the conference were:

• Create a flowchart for the different roles in your company. Not for where your company is at today but where you see your company in the future and what your “dream scenario” would be. Include job descriptions for each of these roles. That way you’re prepared for when it is time to grow!

• Your clients decide within the first second of meeting you if they will hire you or not. Be presentable, smiling and always show your hands when you first meeting them {showing hands helps the other person trust you}.

• If you are looking to expand to other regions, considering licensing rather than opening up other branches under your management.

• Empower your employees and give credit to them when credit is due. Everyone likes to receive a gold star! It’s your responsibility as the business owner to create an “environment of teaching”.

In my opinion, the Be Sage Conference is an excellent conference to attend if you are a business owner in the wedding industry and you need to either be reminded or learn about best practices for your business. It’s a conference that I can see myself attending annually because the topics are ones that I need to spend time focusing on as a business owner, and even though I’ve been in business for a number of years I want to constantly be growing and improving my business.

I walked away from Be Sage with applicable and actionable items to help my company in its current state as well as future plans. Upon returning, I implemented several new tactics with my team and the feedback so far has been really positive. My team is excited for the upcoming season!

I really liked how Kelly and Michelle created a learning environment that was educational as well as fun. The main thing that I would have changed was to have more discussions with our tables. There were so many great minds and smart business ladies in the room that I really felt I could have benefited from more interaction during the sessions.

I personally got a lot out of the Q&A time at the end of each session, which often turned into a really great group decision. I also thought that it might be a good idea to have a speaker sit at an assigned table during the lunches where we could sit with them and discuss a specific topic. The only other thing that I could think to change would be to switch up what topics are breakout sessions and which are the full group presentations – I really wanted to attend all three of the breakouts but could only attend one which was a bit disappointing.

Be Sage is a conference that tackles big business questions, similar to the larger industry conferences, but in an intimate setting where you don’t feel “lost” but rather you feel involved in each session and it’s easier to participate. I have attended creative conferences/workshops as well and this is definitely not that – it is completely focused on business issues and is not meant to teach you how to be a wedding planner but how to run your wedding planning business. I highly recommend attending!!!

See the video highlights here:

This is a guest post from Holly Patton. Holly is the owner of Perfectly Posh Events and is the go-to-gal in Seattle for stylish and city chic weddings. She adores all things pretty and feminine, is obsessed with anything Kate Spade, is inspired by creating designs that represent her couples, and loves any excuse to celebrate with bubbly! Over the past five years, Holly has built up her team at Perfectly Posh Events to feature Associate Planners who are design-savvy, detail oriented, passionate about planning, and fabulously creative. Recently, Holly and her team were awarded “Best Wedding Planner” by Seattle Bride Magazine’s Best of Awards for 2015 and 2014, along “Best Wedding Vendor” by Seattle Bride Magazine for 2015 as well as being named in the Top 50 Event Planners in the United States by The Daily Meal!