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 Florida wedding planner Valerie Pritt today!

Name: Valerie Pritt

Business Name & Location: Fleur de Lis Event Consulting, Pensacola & Jacksonville Florida

Years Working in the Event Industry: 3

Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 2 years

Website & Blog Address: www.fdleventconsulting.com and www.fdleventconsultingblog.com

Facebook: Fleur de Lis

What is your typical day like?

I’m an “early bird catches the worm” kind of gal with an internal alarm clock of about 5 AM- give or take 10 minutes. After I sleep walk to the coffee maker, I start my morning routine. I first feed my two lovable but insistent food crazed dogs their breakfast and then head to my home office. By the time I’ve had my first cup of Joe, I’ve replied to emails, blogged a bit and posted to my Facebook business page.

In the afternoon, I try to meet with other wedding professionals to do the fun and necessary task of networking. Networking is key, especially for me.  My husband is in the military and although I love him to death, it has created a challenging career experience. To combat the inevitable military move, I have to be willing to put myself out there which means jumping in feet first. If I don’t have anything scheduled in the books, I’ll spend the afternoon online doing research for a styled shoot I have in mind, ideas for clients or scouting out an informative article for my Facebook fans.

I have a flexible schedule for the most part, but I try to make sure I’m current on all of my social media sites. Each week I do at least one blog post which can range from a real wedding I’ve done, to a featured wedding professional, a monthly series I call “Bride to Bride: Before the Afterthought” or a DIY bridal project. I update my Facebook business page daily Monday-Friday and pin at least 3 pins of my own work to Pinterest as well as re-pin from people I follow. I also do a FDL Weekly Pintastic Pin every Friday. Instagram is a new facet I’ve been trying to implement more and more. Some weeks it’s a struggle but I try to post at least once a week. By the time 9pm rolls around I’m ready for bed, for as they say: early to bed, early to rise!

How did you get started in the industry?

Like most wedding planners, I got the wedding planning bug when I married my husband in 2009. I loved planning my wedding so much that I became obsessed with the thought of someday owning my own wedding and event planning business. At the time I was a trained dental assistant and although it was a good career, it lacked the creative thinking or inspiration I so craved in a career. In 2011, this ever enduring thought finally became a reality in which I am so proud of today. This is the year I graduated from Florida State College with a Bachelor of Science in Supervision and Management and shortly afterwards decided to take a leap of faith to start my own business.

Although I may be the new kid on the block, 2013 was one very successful year for me. I started out specializing in day-of coordination while earning my Meeting & Event Planning Certificate from University of South Florida. This allowed me to get to know vendors and have a deeper understanding for the process of wedding planning. Now that I have mastered wedding day coordination, I have recently opened my doors to full service wedding planning.

Where do you find design inspiration?

The first place I look to for design inspiration when doing a styled shoot is my own brain. Crazy I know, but I try hard not to copy other people’s work. However, this being said, I love Pinterest and all its glory- but I do tell my clients to use it as a resource for inspiration not replication.

Better Homes & Gardens is another inspirational tool I use because it has many different aspects of the wedding industry within its pages- food, color schemes, flowers- they have it all.

I recently opened up my first Unveiled magazine and fell totally and completely in love. My goal is to someday be published in an issue. And of course, I love all those charming beautiful blogs like Style Me Pretty and Southern Weddings.

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

For business related inspiration, the Planner’s Lounge has been a great resource. I discovered it pretty recently actually but I have found it extremely helpful. Another online resource I have found useful is Bridal Appeal.

Valerie, 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.