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 Houston wedding planner Anshwa Lewis today!

Name: Anshwa LaRue Lewis

Business Name & Location: SwaLaRue Events, LLC in Houston, Texas

Years Working in the Event Industry: 6

Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: just over a year

Website & Blog: www.swalarueevents.com and www.swalarueevents.com/blog-2

Twitter ID: @swalarue

What is your typical day like?

Time management is of the utmost importance to me to ensure I am catering to my client’s needs and handling all of the business functions behind the scenes. In the military, we have what is referred to as a ‘battle rhythm’. This is a chart/matrix – usually set up on a calendar that identifies what tasks are to be completed on which days of the week/month/quarter. The tasks included on the ‘battle rhythm’ are all the routine functions that must be completed in order to maintain effectiveness. This system worked extremely well for me in the military; so it made sense to adopt this system to my new career as a wedding planner. Five (5) days a week, I make sure I get in a cardio and/or weight lifting workout first thing in the morning followed by completing tasks related to different business functions, depending on the day of the week.

Mondays:

• Vendor Relations: focusing on building relationships with local vendors. Be it a shout-out or tagging their services on social media, researching new trends in the local area or scheduling appointments to meet in person.
• Bridal Checklists: focusing on tackling wedding checklist tasks for my brides. Be it scheduling appointments with their vendors, preparing for design consults, researching answers to questions they’ve asked or building timelines – this time is set aside for focusing on providing quality service to my SwaBrides.
• Lead Tracker Updates: This time is set aside for updating my lead tracker. I have a system for following up with leads and I rely on my tracker to let me know if I should be sending out a follow-up email, mailing them a complimentary gift, sending a postcard or marking the lead as cold.

Tuesdays:

• Tips from Industry, Training Videos & Readings: At this time, I take advantage of the opportunity to research vendors, trends, style inspiration and read continuing education materials. Whether I watch a training video on building centerpieces or I research pricing information for a backdrop I want to design, I use this time to hone in on my craft as a wedding planner and designer to keep my skills sharp

Wednesdays:

• Website Review: Each time I decide to improve something on my website, I keep track of these improvements using the OmniFocus app on my iPad. On Wednesdays, I spend time actually going through and making any necessary updates because one thing I have learned is that my website is never perfect. There is always an area to improve!
• Blogging: At the beginning of this year, I set time aside to brainstorm all of the topics I want to discuss on my blog that relate to what my target bride wants to read about. Every Wednesday I prepare my blog articles for the following week and look for opportunities to guest blog and find guest bloggers as well.
• Social Media Updates: Social media updates are important for engaging brides and industry professionals online so I spend time focusing on doing social media updates where I tag vendors or post about hot topics.
• Newsletter Updates: I send out a bi-monthly email newsletter through MailChimp. I set aside some time to work on what my announcements will be before the news hits their inbox.

Thursdays:

• TLC Comments: I am a member of a Facebook Group of wedding professionals that supports each others blogs by actively engaging one another. It’s called the Tweet Like, Comment Group for Wedding Professionals and it is a great source of support for my online content. Thursdays I set aside time to go through and tweet, like, and comment on the blog posts of members of the group.
• Vendor Love: I set aside time to like and follow vendors in the local area so that I may follow and tag them in future events.
• Bridal Checklists: Same as above – reviewing tasks for my client’s weddings.
• Vendor/Bridal Appointments: Schedule all appointments for Thursdays/Fridays.

Fridays:

• Finance: This includes settling all balance sheets, scheduling payments for business expenses, filing monthly accounting reports, updating my mileage tracker and receipts log on Wave Accounting, and ensuring my client invoices are sent and received.
• Vendor/Bridal Appointments: Schedule all appointments for Thursdays/Fridays.

How did you get started in the industry?

I planned my first event as a senior at the United States Military Academy. There was just something about booking a dancing company from NYC, catering services, marketing for the event and directing the production itself that truly fit my personality. At the end of the program, I’d realized that I spent four years at a military college studying to become an engineer—only to find that my TRUE calling was event planning!

As a Human Resource Officer in the US Army, I was responsible for etiquette & decor for my organization for special events. I worked on designing invitations and programs, being mistress of ceremonies, booking vendors for military balls and banquets and organizing countless award ceremonies. Though this was only a portion of my job description, I enjoyed it more than anything.

While I was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom, in the little free time I had, I spent my days imagining what my wedding to my college sweetheart would be like as my family and friends all mailed me bridal magazines to keep me company during my deployment. I put a lot of thought into how we could make our special day unique and memorable and NOT ‘just another wedding’. That’s when it hit me. I not only wanted to be an event planner – I wanted to be a wedding planner. And immediately began pursuing my Certification in Wedding and Event Planning.

Where do you find design inspiration?

Before becoming a business owner, I gathered most of my inspiration for weddings from television. But now I find inspiration as far away from the typical as possible! Places like IKEA and other furniture stores, thrift shops, and craft stores all inspire me. The Weddings in Houston Magazine has been the best resource for finding amazing local talent. And I also love to read fashion blogs and subscribe to a home décor & food & wine magazine to find inspiration. As a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants, we also receive a Wedding Planner magazine that allows us to stay ahead of industry trends.

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

I have two absolute favorites that have been invaluable in gaining knowledge this past year: Wedding Business Guide and COWI (Community of Wedding Innovators)

Anshwa, 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.