Wedding MBA 2025

What happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas this time around!

I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 Wedding MBA conference and learning from top experts in the wedding industry. Now I’m here to share with you my biggest takeaways especially if you are new in the planning/coordinating world and need a little push to help with your sales, processes, and procedures!

Below you can find different categories to explore and get the best advice from leading experts!

Sell the Dream- Renee Dalo

The Psychology of Sales

This class touched on a lot of great points. I had last seen Renee talk in 2022 and a lot of what she was saying I had actually, already implemented in my own practices and let me tell you- they really work!

This year it was all about the “vibes”. Engaged couples are meeting with an average of 3-4 planners before choosing who they’ll book with, so it is important to make a real connection.

As Millennials and Gen-Z take over the majority of our wedding market, it is important to connect on a new level with them because they want authentic and genuine connections!

The 3 main hurdles we, as vendors are jumping through to get to them are:

1. Tiktok

2. Reddit

3. ChatGPT

   
   

So how do we combat them and reach our ideal clients?

• Act aggressively human to combat ChatGPT

• Planners should be selling clarity, relief, partnership, and emotional expertise

What does this mean?

• Really listen to your clients, use your intuition, and be fully present with them!

• Couples buy based more on feeling than logic

• During the consult you have to get into their emotional needs

During my consultations I find it important to ask the couples “what part of your wedding day/ planning process are you most worried about that made you want to seek out a coordinator/planner?”

This usually catches them off guard and then they come around and tell me their biggest worries whether it’s sticking with the timeline, décor set up/tear down, or more emotional needs like not getting overwhelmed having to guide guests from one spot to another. This one question helps separate me from the other planners they have met with. I’ve heard “wow, no one’s asked us that before!”, more times than I can count now.

Another planner asked me where I got this from, and I honestly could not remember until I was sitting in Renee’s class again 3 years later and heard her give the same advice! So from a frequent user of this method, I promise, it works!

Common Sales Mistakes

• Leading with logistics, not emotions

• Overloading them with too many packages/ options

• Talking to them like a transaction

How do you close the sale?

• Develop your client sell story

  • Problem -> Your Intervention -> Outcome

• Use collaborative language

  • “Here’s what OUR next steps look like”

• Set micro-commitment during your call

  • “I will follow up with those recommendations within two days”

• Send your proposal within 2 hours while the emotional momentum is high

What happens once you make the sale?

• Describe their future with you

  • Tell them what your onboarding looks like, how many meetings and when they can expect, and walk them through your planning process

  • Make it clear that at their wedding, they are both the guests of honor and the hosts so they should get to enjoy it just as must as their guests!

Remember that people aren’t buying planning as a guide, they’re buying emotional safety. They need to feel like they’re being taken care of!

Final Tip from Renee:

If you want to make sure you’re Zoom calls are hitting the mark, test yourself!

There is a website called read.ai where you can grade your Zoom meetings and interactions (eye contact, conversation, follow ups) and it will give you feedback on how you can improve as well!

Magnetic- Andrea Eppolito

Attract and Book Luxury Clients

When thinking about Luxury, your name is your legacy. Luxury leads in the industry and sets the tone for future trends and inspiration.

The difference between luxury and premium events

Luxury	Premium
Focus is on experience and exclusivity	Focus is about cost
Meaning and artistry	Elevated quality
All about how the stuff makes you feel	All about the stuff

Every luxury event is a transformation to help them feel confident and connected. Think Princess Diaries transformation!

When it comes to pricing for these events, your pricing is power. Low prices attract uncertainty while high prices demand respect from your clients.

When working with luxury clients, confidentiality is key. You also want to ensure to provide comprehensive contracts, beautiful and detailed guidelines and onboarding kits.

Andrea outlines 3 parts to communication with her clients:

1. Where they were

2. Where they are

3. What will happen next

   
   

Overall, luxury events are a collaboration between you and your clients. You want to make sure you don’t over promise or under deliver for these events.

These clients seek direction, not permission to accomplish the vision they have for their event. Luxury events will not wait for validation, they are all about taking risks!

Wedding Trendsetter- Margaux Fraise

Create, Don’t Follow

The 2026 forecast is predicting fewer weddings, higher spending, and longer engagements!

What does this mean?

• Couples will have price sensitivity and be more cautious spending

• Couples have more sources to reach them at but also shorter attention spans

• Tighter margins for vendor costs

What can we expect?

• Late bookings and detailed decisions/details from clients

• More casual conversations as couples prefer communicating through texts or DMs

How can we prepare?

• Creating stronger contracts to include response timelines and communication boundaries

• Staying relevant! Staying on top of trends!

  
  

Why is this helpful?

For booked clients, having a planner that is up on trends helps build trust and lower their decision fatigue

For potential clients, it helps position yourself as current and leads to stronger talking points. It also helps you build current content!

For you, you can take advantage and create services you know will make you a valuable planner and partner, creating long term credibility.

The Future of Venues- Shannon Tarrant

Trends That Shape the Industry

Studies show that this year and moving forward, there is a pre stage of planning for couples who are not engaged yet but have already begun their vendor search! Weddings are also getting smaller, faster, and more flexible.

How does this help us?

You can add a question to your inquiry form!

Where are you in your venue selection journey?

This will help track not only where your leads are coming from but also determine how often you will follow up to book your clients!

So how will you stand out to these couples?

Incorporate virtual tours! This is a whole new generation who has trouble picturing things and mainly goes off of “vibes”.

• Hiring a real estate photographer is key

• Don’t over set your space- they just want to see what the empty space looks like

• Upgrading to a 3D tour allows you to step up your wedding show presentation because it allows you to incorporate VR headsets and allow couples to actually “walk through” your space!

Social media is one of the best ways to reach newly engaged couples, especially Gen Z!

• Prioritize content that is worth saving vs liking (saves are much more likely to revisit your page and lead to in person leads)

• Use social media search bars to look up what you think people will be searching and it will show you suggestions and help you identify key words in your market

With the changes in weddings, it’s important that we think outside the box and help show our clients what that looks like by:

• Offering new ceremony layouts that use up more space

• New table layouts

• Memorable ceremony backdrops either as add on or included

• Offering a mix of long tables and rounds

• Having options for different personalities (dance floors, lighting colors, etc)

Upsells and add ons are now called Experience Enhancements

Final Tip from Shannon:

Offer a perk to booking that costs you close to nothing but creates a big punch!

Her personal favorite is a photo app called POV that works as a disposable camera for your event!

Modern Marketing- Becca Pountney

Strategies That Work

Research is the key to today’s generation; they are reading about you everywhere before they even think about reaching out to you! And instant gratification is expected.

How do we stand out?

Make sure that your page is telling them everything they need to know at first view

• Are you for me?

• Are you near me?

• Are you affordable for me?

Value driven authenticity is key

• Gen 2 cares about sustainability

• Consumers are looking for trust

• Be authentically yourself!

  • Are you embracing your main character energy in your brand?

  • Lead with confidence and self-assurance

  • Take control of the narrative

AI is here to stay, how do we make sure it finds us?

• You need niche content

• AI loves lists, make sure you have lists on your website! Especially FAQ’s.

  • Becca’s special tip: create your own list “best planners in the __ area” and put yourself as top! Add a few of your competitors and AI is likely to bring you up as 1^st when someone searches!

  • Same goes if you go on Reddit and recommend yourself

• Instant responses and high-level touch points

• Automation is your friend

• Having your availability calendar easily accessible

• Automatic payment reminders

Vegas 2025 was an absolute blast! Between the conference and all the fun activites we did afterwards (highly recommend The Friends Experience | The One in Vegas) it was a trip to remember! There were many more classes and seminars that I attended but these were the ones that stood out to me the most!

Dreaming about next year already!