Wedding Planner Society Podcast

CWP Society is proud to produce the "Wedding Planner Society: Industry Expert Insights" podcast! Laurie Hartwell, award-winning Master Certified Wedding Planner, and Industry Educator, and founder & CEO of the CWP Society, discuss the real lives of wedding planners and professionals, dispense business tips, and share ways you can elevate yourself and your career in the wedding industry. Visit the CWP Society website for more information: www.cwpsociety.com

Wedding Planner Society Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 142 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Wedding Planner Society Podcast, a business show with 142 episodes published.

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  Episode #37

  Come Hell Or High Water

  Sep 22, 202642 minS5

  The father-daughter dance is happening, the dance floor is packed, and then the fire department walks in with lights flashing. Outside, a flash flood is rising so fast that cars are sitting in water and the roads may not be safe by the end of the night. As brand-new business owner Christina Collins learns in her very first wedding under STEP Events, wedding planning isn’t about forcing the timeline to behave. It’s about leading through the unexpected. We talk through the full behind-the-scenes scramble: reading the room while sirens distract guests, negotiating for five minutes to communicate, calling nearby venues until someone says yes, pivoting catering to a to-go setup, and improvising guest transport when the bus can’t get back through flooded roads. Christina shares what made the difference: a vendor team willing to ask “what else do you need?”, clear delegation, and calm communication that keeps guests feeling cared for even when the plan changes completely. Then we pull out the practical takeaways for wedding planners and coordinators: building a flexibility toolkit with backup vendors, alternate timeline structures, real Plan B options for outdoor weddings, and crisis reliability protocols you decide before anything goes wrong. We also get blunt about staffing, because no planner should be the only set of hands on a wedding day. If you’ve ever worried you’ll freeze when something goes sideways, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a planner friend, and leave a review with the best backup plan you’ve ever used. www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety

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  Episode #35

  Thriving In Business And Life

  Sep 10, 202631 minS5

  The wedding industry loves the word “balance,” but nobody tells you what it looks like when a wedding weekend collides with a school event, your partner works overnights, and your body is running on fumes. We’re sitting down with Nikki Rogers, a 23-year wedding planning pro and owner of The Serendipity Collective, to talk about what “all in” really means when you’re building a wedding planning business and raising a family at the same time. Nikki shares her path from high-end hotels and clubs into more personal, non-traditional venues, and why that shift changed the client experience she wanted to deliver. We also get into the leap of starting her own company for flexibility, the reality of being gone on weekends, and how mom guilt shows up when you’re committed to your couples and your kids. If you’ve ever felt like you’re failing because you can’t be in two places at once, this conversation puts words to that pressure and offers a healthier frame. We also dig into the practical side of sustainability: staying relevant through wedding planner certification and ongoing training, setting business hours that flex with summer break, and communicating boundaries without apology. Nikki gets especially real about planning while pregnant, bringing in extra support, and turning down bookings she can’t serve well, not as a loss, but as responsible leadership. If you’re a wedding planner, wedding coordinator, or creative business owner trying to build a life that works, hit play, share this with a friend who needs it, and subscribe for more honest conversations. After you listen, leave a review and tell us: what boundary would make your business feel lighter? www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety

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  Episode #33

  The Pivot: From NYC Events To Intimate Weddings

  Aug 25, 202634 minS5

  One missed detail in Times Square can ripple across a million people, but Vicki Amar says the emotional stakes of a wedding can be even higher. She spent nearly a decade producing major NYC citywide events, then walked away to become a full-time wedding planner and the owner of Amarvelous Event in South Florida. That career pivot forces a bigger question: is “big” really about headcount, or is it about how much care you bring to the work? We talk through the surprisingly direct overlap between large-scale event coordination and wedding planning: anticipating failure points, protecting the guest experience, and staying calm when the pressure spikes. Vicki shares what changes when you go from a machine full of departments and protocols to being the one person who holds the timeline, the vendor team, and the couple’s peace of mind. She also explains her favorite client touch, a post-wedding “exit call,” where couples get to relive the day and finally hear the behind-the-scenes “saves” they never noticed. Then we zoom out to what makes a sustainable career in the wedding industry: community over competition. We dig into how planners build trusted networks for referrals and support, why shared standards matter, and how design details like florals, candlelight, and color palettes can trigger the biggest emotions. We also get real about family dynamics, mediation, and reading what isn’t said in the room, because weddings are never just two people and a checklist. If you’re a wedding planner or professional looking for certification, support, and a global community, come check out the CWP Society. Subscribe, share this with a planner friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety

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  Episode #32

  The Complexities of South Asian Weddings

  Aug 18, 202641 minS5

  A South Asian wedding can mean five events, hundreds of guests, sacred ceremony timing, and a timeline that shifts the moment an elder remembers "one more tradition." That's not chaos — it's culture, and it's exactly why preparation matters. In this episode, we're joined by Rima Shah of Big Guava Events, a planner with more than 14 years of experience, to talk about what planners rarely see from the outside: the mountain of coordination before the wedding weekend even starts, how religious rituals and family customs can evolve in real time, and why the couple isn't always the only source of truth so building communication early is key. Finally, we share why The CWP Society is building a South Asian wedding certification, and how education helps planners serve couples with respect, confidence, and real cultural understanding. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share this episode with a fellow planner, and leave a review with the biggest insight you're taking into your next wedding weekend. www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety

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  Episode #31

  Who's Got The Plan For The Planner

  Aug 11, 202635 minS5

  We're the calm in everyone else's storm — the ones with a backup for the backup and a contingency for every "what if." But we almost never stop to ask what happens if the unexpected lands on us. In this one, Brianne and Laurie catch up as old friends and get honest about that blind spot — not to scare anyone, but to talk through what's actually changed for each of them, and the small, doable things that let a planner step away without everything unraveling. Brianne Ackerland — a Master Certified Wedding Planner with 15 + years planning weddings across Iowa and Illinois, who also educates planners through the CWP Society — shares the day her life flipped overnight: a sudden cardiac arrest, just one day after wrapping a full-service wedding. We get into the messy reality of recovery, including what it's like to be unable to speak clearly while your phone keeps ringing and the weddings keep coming. From there we get honest about the operational gaps so many of us have: client details living only in our heads, passwords stored nowhere anyone else can reach, and backups that are "someday" ideas instead of real systems. Then we map out steps you can actually take now — building a planner ICE list (in case of emergency), naming a point person who knows exactly who to call, curating a trusted local network, and creating real redundancy with both cloud tools and good old-fashioned paper. We also dig into why personality fit matters when someone steps in for you, the tools that quietly cut down the chaos, and how leaning on trained assistants can make a handoff feel seamless for your couples. If this one sparked a gut-check, take one small step today — then come back and tell us what you changed. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a planner friend, and leave a review so more wedding pros can find us. www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety

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