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 featured, download our questionnaire here and email your responses and photo to info@plannerslounge.com.  We are excited to feature Jennifer Kennedy today!

Name: Jennifer Kennedy

Business Name & Location: Bells N Whistles Events, Sydney Australia

Number of Years Working in the Event Industry: 7 years specializing in weddings with my own company

Number of Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 7 years

Website: www.bellsnwhistles.com.au

Blog:  www.bellsnwhistles.com.au/category/blog/

Your Twitter ID: @BnWWeddings

What is your typical day like?

Well, I have three children aged 5, 3 and 1 – so I start my day early (not by choice, I’m not a morning person).  I always try to squeeze in some work before the official working day starts at 9am.  I aim to be in the office at 9am or at least 30 minutes before each meeting so I can prepare and grab a tea.

A lot of our work is with international couples, so it’s important I check my emails in the morning and respond quickly.

The middle part of my day between 10am-4pm is usually spent on supplier calls, meetings, venue/site visits and meetings with couples. From 5-6pm, I’m writing my to-do list for the next day.

Somewhere in my day, twice a week, I have a WIP (work in progress meeting) with my staff.  We discuss every aspect for each of our couples.  This is our Plan B!  If something were to happen to one of us – sick, injured, family emergency – our clients are guaranteed to have an experienced planner who steps in and can immediately help.

In the evening, after my children are asleep, I have a tendency to get back on my laptop and respond to more emails. This is often when I have Skype meetings with my international or interstate couples.

I can work up to 2am when I am in ‘the zone’ and up again at 5/6am.  I clearly love my job!

How did you get started in the industry?

I started my own company, Bells N Whistles Events, seven years ago.  I had worked on corporate events prior to that but never enjoyed them as much. I love the personal nature of weddings. I love meeting families and knowing my couples so well by the time their wedding happens. Knowing them well gives me the opportunity to create a few very special and personal touches for them.  An example of this is a couple who recently hired us.  They love board games with Scrabble being the bride’s favorite.  I had purchased a wooden scrabble set and on the day of the wedding, set it out (just the letters) with a personal saying.  The couple, in particular the bride, loved it and couldn’t believe I went through the trouble of setting it up (I hand-made a heart on one of the pieces) as well as the effort for me to get to know them both so well.  It’s the personal touches, the hugs, the kind words – those are the things I love most about my job.

Anyway, prior to starting my company, I went to work in the industry for top wedding planners, who are now my competitors.

I wanted to learn how they charged, what services they offered and most of all, how they treated people – I never stole or borrowed their information – I just observed how they dealt with people and situations.  After that, I realized I wanted to create a company that was based on quality not quantity and offered wedding couples a premium planning service.  I want our brides and grooms to feel looked after, stress-free, calm and confident in our abilities.

Where do you find design inspiration?

I get a lot of inspiration from my couples.  I drill down into their lives.  What they like, don’t like and what their common hobbies are.

Normally, current trends and blogs play a large part for our couples to figure out what they like and don’t like.  I ask each couple to come to the first consultation with some ideas and photos.

If we need to, we discuss current trends and styling that is very ‘in’ to guide our couples through the styling process.

For example, we have a bride whose wedding is in May 2013.  She wants cherry blossoms for her wedding – only problem is, they are out of season! Together with this light hiccup and the fact that they disliked the pole in the middle of the reception room – they asked us how to cover it up.  We proposed creating a large cherry blossom tree from the pole!  We have bark, moss for the ground surrounding the pole, hundreds of faux cherry blossoms and willow/dodder vine to fill and resemble branches.

I can’t wait to get up on a ladder to start constructing the tree. It will look amazing…especially with up-lights and a few baubles with tea lights hanging down from the tree.

The bride loves the idea and I know she loves candles, so the hanging baubles are an extra!

We’ve taken the couples ideas and made them even more amazing than they imagined.  We don’t mind a challenge, in fact – we love them!

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

Magazines & blogs are great.  In Australia we have a blog called Polka Dot Bride, which we love.  We also love Style Me Pretty Australia and The Knot Australia.  Rock N Roll bride in the UK is a bit of a hit too with one of our weddings being featured in it.

There are a few communities on LinkedIn and Facebook that are great for discussing things with other industry professionals.

Otherwise, we are highly creative and resourceful.  We never use the word NO with a client.  We’ll give it a go and if we cannot figure out how to achieve something (usually where budget is our biggest factor), we’ll come up with alternative ideas.  I think the word YES is much nicer!

Jennifer, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and 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.