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 Winnipeg wedding planner Amanda Douglas today!

Name: Amanda Douglas

Business Name & Location: Winnipeg, MB Canada

Years Working in the Event Industry: 11 years

Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 5 years

Website: www.amandadouglasevents.com

Business Facebook Page: AmandaDouglasEvents

Instagram: amandadouglasevents

What is your typical day like?

I start my day with a big glass of kombucha (I’m a total hippie), some doggie cuddles, and head straight to my desk.

If it’s summer time I usually take the kombucha outside for a quick walk around the yard and check on the tomato plants. I don’t know why but this really gets the day going for me.

I live in the country so three days of the week I’m in my home office (which means sweat pants, no makeup but mega concentration) and the other two days a week, I’m in my studio in the Exchange District (downtown) having back-to-back client meetings.

My home office days usually start around 8am and go until about 6pm. Sometimes I have a skip day in the middle of the week – especially in wedding season or if it’s raspberry picking season.

The first work task I do most days is check my to-do list for the day (which I create the day before). I like to start with that first and then get to the emails.

Generally, from day to day, my emails take 2-4 hours with the planning work that’s created from them. If I don’t get started on other tasks first, I find I get eaten alive (aka hugely distracted) by all the emails.

On my studio days, it starts with 2 hours of emails, followed by a 45-minute drive to the studio. During my drives, I usually listen to Dave Ramsey or Gary V. podcasts. On studio days, I usually go from 10am – 10pm with 8-12 hours of meetings, depending on the season. Yep, those days are intense but I love it! I’m really a total introvert, so to have 2 full days like that then have the rest of the week where I can sit at my desk getting work done feels really nice.

I’m a huge gardener so if I can take breaks in the middle of the day for a trip to the garden – even if it’s just to water or see how the flowers are doing – I take it.

How did you get started in the industry?

I started in the industry with a creative events internship when I was 18. I got some bad advice that you couldn’t make a full-time income doing this job. Being young and wanting financial stability, I found a 9-to-5 job that gave me that.

I kept going with lots of volunteer work on conferences, dinner theaters, productions, and youth events. You name it and I wanted to get into it.

Years later I went back to school for PR & Marketing.  While I was in school, the whole idea of being a full-time event planner kept coming back to my mind. I realized that PR & Marketing was close, but not the exact fit.

While still in school, I started my event planning company and just ran with it. I also pitched myself to a local wedding magazine for an internship. I got that job then later got hired as their communications coordinator. Soon after, I had to move full time to event planning because my business was taking off really well. 

What inspires you?

I find the most inspiration from nature, interior design, and high fashion. I love seeing how I can bring these crazy different elements into my world of events. I love the designs of Casa De Perrin & West Elm.

I also like to surround myself with seriously talented people here locally and connect with what they’re learning too. I find if you have a great team around you (staff, business besties, other creatives, etc.) you can grow creatively much more freely and organically.

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

I’ll be honest, I don’t use a lot of online resources. I find more inspiration and encouragement through great Facebook groups or online communities. I encourage anyone in the industry to find one or two that are the right fit for you.

Aside from wedding and event planning, how do you spend your time?

We LOVE to holiday. If I can travel at least a month out of the year, I’m a happy camper. Over the last couple years we’ve gone to Bali, Peru, Florida, Mexico, Roatan, and our most recent – a month long road trip all the way east and then south (I ate as much BBQ as I possibly could!)

During the wedding season, I garden as much as I can. And spend every moment I can in the sun but all other hobbies take a pause.

During “off season” I try and make up for the busy with all the salt baths, reading, Netflix, baking, managing my insane collecting of house plants, and games nights I can handle.

Amanda, 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.