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 photos to info@plannerslounge.com. We are excited to feature Iva Kraljević Licardo from Croatia.

Name:  Iva Kraljević Licardo

Business Name & Location:  Agency Weddings in Croatia, Europe

Years Working in the Event Industry: 15

Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 13

Website: https://weddings-in-croatia.net/

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/weddingsincroatia/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weddingscroatia/

What is your typical day like?

My day usually starts at 6 o’clock with morning coffee. The morning peace allows me to prepare for the start of the office day/week.

Since we work as a team, the weekly schedule is already set. On Mondays, team meetings, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, apart from emails, are designated for online meetings with vendors and clients and email correspondence for new weddings and existing ones. Friday is a day for administrative work and project preparation for the next period. A typical day is different during the wedding season. After the season, we are focused on planning upcoming weddings and education.

Evenings and afternoons are reserved for hanging out with family, my son, and friends.

How did you get started in the industry?

I found myself in the wedding industry right after planning my own wedding when I realized the potential to upgrade wedding services in the Croatian market.

I decided to found a wedding planning agency specializing in destination weddings in Croatia.

Since 2012, I’ve been involved in planning and coordination for international couples.

Today Weddings in Croatia is a full-service wedding planning company covering the Croatian coast and

inland towns, but with a special love for the region Istria with a team of certified planners and coordinators. We all share the same passion for spectacular and unique weddings.

With my many years of experience in private entrepreneurship and finance, I see the big picture and transfer my knowledge to lead a successful business. I am committed to standardizing processes in the wedding industry and improving quality in the national wedding industry.

As a president of the Wedding Association at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, I support branding Croatia as a location for destination weddings and developing destination weddings as a tourist product.

After years in the wedding planning industry, we launched a licensed training program for the wedding planning profession to expand our knowledge and experience so that this profession would be taken seriously on the market.

We are proud founders and teachers of the Croatian Wedding Planning Academy, the only certified educational program for wedding planners in Croatia.

For the last nine years, we have been training participants for the profession of wedding planner and those related to that field. This alone establishes a balance of professionals on the market who can deliver a quality wedding planner service and other suppliers related to that area.

Fortunately, I have found a career combining my two strengths and passions – teaching and weddings.

Although I am not a great believer in luck, this was not an accident. I take full responsibility for it and love sharing what I have learned along the way with fellow wedding business enthusiasts.

What inspires you?

I am most inspired by the people and situations surrounding me in my everyday life and work.

Also, I love and find a lot of inspiration in planning styled photo shoots with other industry vendors.

Styled photo shoots are an obligatory part of our program at the Wedding Planning Academy. I found them a source of creativity and inspiration from vendors and every new generation of wedding planners.

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

Planners Lounge is great for finding specific wedding-related topics and professional advice. I also like MaeandCo as they have a business approach to educating wedding planners and designers. In terms of business inspiration, there is Strategyzer Strategyzer is a useful tool for organizations looking to develop and implement effective business strategies. It offers a range of resources and tools to help businesses understand their customers, develop and test their value proposition, and create and test new business models.

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

The best time for me is spent hanging out with family and friends with good food and dessert.

Iva, thank you so much for sharing your story and a day in your life. If you are a wedding or 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.