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Day in the Life |Katelyn Bellefontaine
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 Nova Scotia wedding planner Katelyn Bellefontaine today!
Name: Katelyn Bellefontaine
Business Name & Location: Elegant Productions Inc. Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada
Years Working in the Event Industry: 10 years
Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 7 years
Website: www.elegantproductions.ca
Business Facebook Page: Elegant Productions Weddings and Events
Instagram: @elegantproductions
What is your typical day like?
My typical Monday through Friday, during our off-season (October through May), begins with coffee, emails, and a quick browse of social media. I try my best to stay off my emails in the evenings when I am spending time at home, so my mornings begin with reading through emails that have accumulated over the past 12 hours, getting a quick dose of inspiration via social media, then taking on the days tasks.
I consider myself to be an “email ninja” – I make a serious effort to hit inbox zero at least once at the beginning of the day, and then again at the end of the day. I always leave myself a lot of time first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon to tackle my inbox.
Once emails are done for the day, I’m typically heading into my day’s meetings. On Tuesday’s we host our weekly team meetings, the first with my team of four wedding planners, and the second with my marketing and stationery colleagues. The rest of the week my meetings are typically with perspective couples or current planning clients. On slower days, I make a point of scheduling time with my industry colleagues or working on marketing projects for my wedding planning company.
How did you get started in the industry?
I have an undergraduate degree in Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University here in Halifax. I went into the PR program, thinking that would be a great undergrad for law school, but thankfully got lost along the way of becoming a lawyer and got wrapped up in my love of event planning. Having worked both as a corporate event producer and as a vendor participating in multiple large-scale events, I was able to learn what makes a great event from both perspectives.
My hope out of University was that I would land a corporate job that allowed me to work on large scale events, and as a creative outlet would plan weddings for fun on the side. I secured the corporate job and in the same month, registered my wedding planning business, Elegant Productions.
One year later, I planned over 16 weddings in my first season. I was booking weddings into the next two years and with enough money in my bank account to pay the bills for three months. On a whim, I quit my full-time day job and took Elegant Productions full time. It’s been exactly six years since I left the corporate world behind and not once have I looked back.
Prior to starting Elegant Productions, I became a certified wedding and destination wedding planner through the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada. I have also attended multiple conferences across Canada and the United States. I have worked with mentors both locally and afar to assist me in growing this business.
What inspires you?
When thinking about what inspires me, I have to say, my main source of inspiration is my clients. As much as I love scrolling Instagram or getting lost in the world of Pinterest weddings, I find my excitement factor always rises when I know I am planning and designing a wedding that is a true reflection of the couple themselves.
There is nothing better than hearing a wedding guest talk about how this wedding is “so them”. We have been incredibly blessed with amazing clients who allow us the creative freedom to push design concepts in one direction or another, but it’s most fun when the client has a specific vision or style of their own in mind.
I always tell my clients that I’ve already had my own dream wedding. It’s my job to help them discover exactly what speaks to them personally and then bring that to life on their wedding day.
Lastly, our beautiful part of the world inspires me. One constant that has remained over the past seven years of wedding planning and what I truly believe will never grow
What are your favorite online resources for your business?
Internally we use Asana as our client project management tool. Asana helps keep all of our wedding related tasks in one place and is an amazing resource for sharing information from one team member to another.
Gmail has so many amazing features that we use on a daily basis. Our inboxes and client folders are organized in a similar fashion. Our team uses template responses and our systems are incredibly streamlined across the board. This allows us to confidently plan our client’s weddings in a cohesive and consistent manner.
I personally enjoy business and life advice shared by Marie Forleo, Jasmine Star, and my all-time fave Tony Robbins. I am constantly inspired by new planning and design techniques shared by Steve and Jamie of Sinclair & Moore.
Aside from wedding and event planning, how do you spend your time?
When I’m not planning weddings or working on my business, I spend my time with my high-school sweetheart, turned husband Andrew. We
As an only child, I am incredibly close with my family. I love hanging out with my Mom, even if we aren’t doing anything. I enjoy getting together with my girlfriends, drinking tea or wine, and simply catching up while the guys are off playing hockey.
Andrew and I are total beach bums and whenever we get the chance, opt to vacation in the Caribbean for a week of rest and relaxation on the beach. We are so lucky to live in Nova Scotia where our summers are full of amazing sunny beach days and our winters can be spent on the ski slopes.
Katelyn, 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.
A complete set of templates, checklists, and tools for professional wedding planners.
Business
Wedding Planning
Marketing
Day in the Life
Self Development
Friday Favorites
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