Denver NACE Podcast
The Denver NACE Podcast is a show dedicated to the events industry in Denver, Colorado. Hosted by members of the Denver chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE), the podcast features interviews with a wide range of professionals in the industry, including bakery owners, wedding planners, venue owners, DJs, musicians, and photographers.
The aim of the show is to share the stories and lessons of these industry experts and help grow the Denver events industry by bringing the community together.
Whether you're in the wedding industry, corporate events industry, nonprofit events, or other social events, the Denver NACE Podcast is a valuable resource for anyone looking to learn more about the industry and the people behind it.
Denver NACE Podcast
Insights from the Wedding MBA with Prez Dez, Joe Keum, and Elizabeth Marberry
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Wedding MBA Event Overview and Highlights
Jared JudgeWhat's up ? Denver event professionals ? Welcome back to another episode of the Denver Nace Podcast . I am your host , Jared Judge , and music director of Extreme Strings Electric Violins right here in Denver , and I'm joined today by three very special guests to talk about a really amazing event that just happened in Vegas for the wedding industry that these three folks in the Denver area attended . It's called Wedding MBA , and I am just so excited to hear all of their takeaways .
Jared JudgeWe've got three very special folks . I'm going to introduce them very quickly here . We've got our very own Prez Dez Kelly of the Makery Cake Company . Thanks for being here , Dez . We've got Joe Keum Studio JK Photography , and he is amazing at what he does . And then we also have a very special guest who this is actually my first time meeting them and I'm very excited to chat because we have so much in common . Their name is Elizabeth Marberry , and Elizabeth runs her own Instagram marketing company as well , as I believe it is the wedding dance coach here in Denver and she teaches couples how to have amazing first dances here in Denver and she teaches couples how to have amazing first dances . So , with that being said , I'm going to turn this over to our president , Dez Kelly to introduce to us what is Wedding MBA .
Desiree Kelly, CPCETell us all about this amazing event you just attended .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEOh , fabulous . Okay . So Wedding MBA is something I've attended about five times now in my career been around 18 years and the first time I heard about it , natalie Sears , who is working at Relish Catering , says well , it doesn't suck because it is in Vegas . It is so much information that is just so helpful . But it's a conference , and it's a conference put on by the people who know Wedding Pro's best . So , by the knot and wedding wire , their umbrella company is Wedding Pro and basically they bring in the best of the best event industry wedding industry speakers , and you have about three days to absorb all of this stuff while still going out and having fun in Vegas and trying to make both of them work in your brain . So it is a fabulous time . You meet so many amazing people and I wanted to catch up with Elizabeth while I was there , but it is just such a busy time that we never connected . So this is my first time meeting Elizabeth as well . So with that , why don't we introduce Joe and Elizabeth ? And what you do , what you ?
Joe Keumdo . My name is Joe . I'm a studio JK photography . I attended the wedding MBA first time for me been in the industry over 20 years , I attended several event industry big conferences like this for the photography , but never really being in the wedding MBA . I mean you were talking about 6,000 people attendees in all the different tracks , including photography track , catering track , venue track , you know , any other florist tracks and everything you can think about about the wedding was there , including the multiple like . They were like close to like 100 auditions was there . There and then during the whole time , one of the very special things that we witnessed as a whole group was that there were a couple who got married in Las Vegas while we were attending the wedding MBA and they announced their wedding in front of everybody , including about 100 officials on the stage , and it was absolutely exciting to see that . So that was one of them .
Joe KeumAnd then one of the things that President Des was talking about you know you get to meet some great people and that's how I met Elizabeth . We're sitting down in one of the you know one of the speakers and then Elizabeth was sitting right next to me and we're introducing to each other . Like you know , where are you from ? Like I'm from Denver , I I'm from Denver . I'm like , oh my God , you're from Denver , I'm from Denver . So that's how we met and Elizabeth is just full of energy and her personality just exudes a glow out of her and it was just absolutely pleasure to be with her and then get connected and then , you know , pull her into this conversation , and then you know , I think she'll be amazing if she joins with NACE . I think that's the next step that we'll try to pursue her . So , anyway , that's about me . And then , elizabeth , I'm going to hand it over to you .
Elizabeth MarberryAwesome . Well , first of all , I just want to thank you so much for inviting me into this space . NACE has been on my vision board and this is what I was telling Joe is one of the things I'm calling in for this next year is more keynote speeches , and because I'm so connected in the wedding industry , everyone was like you need to speak for nace , like you speak for nace , and so I literally I was telling Joe this . I had a tab open on my computer and it was like I don't know who to reach out to . I was just gonna send like a cold email and and I had this . I manifested this moment with Joe at Wedding MBA . You guys , and here's how manifestation works seriously , and I know I'm going really woo right away , okay , but I made a decision that I was going to meet someone from NACE at this conference , and then Joe and I are literally sitting in a room of a thousand people and he was sitting right next to me and I like seriously fell out of my chair when he's like I'm on the board for nace and I was just like I mean you can't make this up , okay . So I just I mean just that alone , like if you are strategic about what you're calling in . When you go to a conference like that , that would be . That would be my biggest suggestion , because it is very overwhelming . There's 6,000 people . There's people from every industry , every walk of life , and so it's very smart to look at who is going like essentially , who the speakers are going to be , decide like , okay , there's five people I want to make sure I connect with at this conference and I did that this year and it's already really paid off for me . So that's just like a little quick tip about going to if you do decide to join us next year at Wedding MBA .
Elizabeth MarberryBut , hi everyone , I'm Elizabeth Marberry . I'm an Instagram marketing coach and strategist for small business owners and creative entrepreneurs . That business really came about because I have been a wedding industry pro for almost 15 years . I've owned my brick and mortar dance studio in Denver , colorado . Yes , I always say the state . My husband makes fun of me . He's like , babe , people know where it is . I'm like no , I have to say , but I've owned that studio for 15 years . I now only work in the business five to 10 hours a week . I don't do any of the delivery or teaching anymore . I get to be in like CEO visionary seat and then I get to really coach and mentor other fellow business owners to the same social media success .
Elizabeth MarberryAnd I really fell in love with organic Instagram marketing because for my wedding business , when I really focused in on our organic marketing strategy for a solid 12 months , we had insane results . We got over 5,000 people on our email list , we increased our revenue by 84% that year and I launched a virtual studio virtual dance studio overnight . So now we coach couples worldwide because all these people were reaching out to us and so that's just one of
Instagram Marketing and Generational Shift
Elizabeth Marberrymy brands . I've experienced so many insane things from Instagram and that's why I'm such a like . I always want to help people if that's where they choose to play , and you don't have to play there . There's so many other ways you can market your business successfully , but I'm so passionate about it and so I got to speak about this topic at Wedding MBA and it was just the most fun , wow .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEAmazing . Well , I looked at your Instagram . You have 34,000 followers , right ? Oh my gosh , I just that makes my head spin . I have like almost three .
Jared JudgeYes , everyone matters .
Desiree Kelly, CPCECan you imagine ? That's awesome . And the Wedding Dance Coach one has 51.9 thousand followers .
Jared JudgeHer Wedding Dance Business , Wedding Dance Coach is the handle .
Elizabeth MarberryYes .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEYes , we have over 50,000 on Instagram , so that is probably the first thing we would want you to come talk to us about , because all of us have an Instagram and I got to tell you it's a thing , it is a beastie , it's a whole nother gate , it's a whole nother ballgame , and what I always tell people is you just have to learn how to play the game .
Elizabeth MarberryYou have to learn and again it just starts with the decision Like , do you want to use Instagram ? Because there's so many different ways you can market your business . You know , the first 10 years of marketing my wedding business , I never used social media and I made my first six figures just without social media . So it's not like you have to have it , but I do feel like in this day and age , like our couples are on social media , so you have to have a game on there , like you absolutely need , because your marketing should be focused on where your ideal clients are hanging out , and for all of us that Instagram is definitely one of the top three platforms that they're hanging out on . So it's definitely worth learning the skill of how to play the game .
Jared JudgeThat's awesome and that sounds like a great first takeaway from Wedding MBA , which we will definitely have to dive deep into Instagram strategy on another podcast , and I would absolutely love to interview you specifically on this . But if it's cool with y'all , just because we have these three amazing people in the room with me , could we chat about other takeaways from our Wedding MBA sessions ? So I guess , get out those notepads . I assume you took notes .
Joe KeumA very first thing that I would like to share is the generation shift . From the Wedding MBA , a lot of people actually talk about the generation shift and how we most effectively market it out to the new generation that is coming coming up . Um , you know , we've been talking about , you know , instagram generation versus the facebook generation , so that instagram generation is a current kind of already clientele and so and so , and then there is a new generation comes up behind . It is now currently going into the entering into the market and that generation , from what I heard from everybody , is a the TikTok generation . So same thing kind of happened from the Instagram generation . The Facebook generation is kind of older generation . Same thing going to be happen for the TikTok generation Instagram generation is going to be older generation . So how are we going to utilize the social media , which is one of the pillars of the communication to our clients , is actually something that we got to look out for and then start preparing for it .
Joe KeumObviously , I went into one of the sessions that this person from LA she owns a bridal shop and she actually utilized her TikTok to create a content and then apply that content into other social media platforms . So that was actually really , really good , because I'm lost in Instagram Way that you know . She taught us how to utilize the TikTok to create a video and then also utilize that towards the other platform . That was really helpful . Of course , if you ask me how to do it , I have no clue , but I'm going to learn that and I'm trying to get into it right now .
Joe KeumAnd each of the platform has a different type of purpose . For example , facebook is really about the friends and you are bonded with the people that you like . Versus Instagram is about you know , instagram Everybody knows that Versus TikTok is really about entertaining , so you got to make a content that is entertaining within your field . You know , in Instagram or even Facebook , we really modify our content to look really good . Sometimes we apply different things , making sure that it's a good looking thing Versus the TikTok generation . Authentic is the keyword , so it doesn't have to be super refined , but being more comes from you makes it that connection and more popular within the TikTok . So that was the key takeaway for me to adjust my marketing and other values towards the new generation .
Jared JudgeThat's awesome . Thanks for sharing that takeaway Des let's hear your takeaway .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEWell , the takeaway , kind of connected to Joe's , was the top of your funnel . These days is not necessarily a lead generator on your website anymore . It's using automation such as Manichat , or I learned about one called Disruptor , where it works through DMs , because this is how your clients are talking and communicating these days , and so you have to figure out how to get your DMs into your funnel and your CRM or on your website and they're not connected yet , so you have to figure that out .
Jared JudgeYeah , very cool . So yeah , there's a lot of marketing technology and it's always changing . But I think the automated DMs , where they DM you a keyword and it triggers your automation to send them a specific follow up message that gets them on their , your email list and everything that's huge . I'm glad they talked about that there .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEOh , absolutely . And Renee Dallow said you know , it's not that hard to set up , you just have to be brave enough to go and do it .
Jared JudgeYeah , for sure , excellent , great takeaways so far , elizabeth . How about you Any takeaways from any other sessions ?
Elizabeth Marberrysessions , and I think it's just sort of a never ending reminder . As a business owner is , it is so imperative to be crystal clear on your ideal client , and I think a lot of times in the wedding industry we get almost like lackadaisical , where we're just like well , it's an engaged couple who's breathing and has money , you know , or . But to me , that's actually where marketing it's really fun is if you decide , like it's okay , that I don't have to be for everyone , like my personal aesthetic is not for everyone and that's totally okay . Or the or these are the type of clients that I'm choosing to call in in 2025 , I think , as business owners , it's really important that we're always evaluating the standards that we hold our clients to . Yes , of course , we all need to , like feed our families and make money , so there's always a balance , right .
Elizabeth MarberryBut I do think with marketing , that is the work that a lot of us skip over is like who is this person ? And really digging underneath the hood . And then , once you really understand what they are , what are they ? You know , what are their challenges , what are their struggles , what's keeping them up at night and how can ? How is your product or service going to help them . How is your product or service the solution for what they're looking for ? Now , all of those questions and answers are the content that you create for Instagram . That is the content that you can create , for TikTok is and that's one pillar of content is educational content and that's like helping people to understand .
Elizabeth MarberryYou know , a lot of these people have never planned a wedding before , right , so we forget what we know as wedding pros . And I think it's important to kind of go back to the beginning . One tip that I have for people when they're kind of like , well , I'm not really sure who my ideal client is , you know , I've worked with so many different kinds of people and I always challenge them to think of , like , who was their , who was their favorite couple in this last year ? And like , so , let's say it was Sally and john . Okay , what was it about Sally and john ? And it's not just like their budget or their vision , it's like who they were , the kind of people they were , what was their communication style ? Did they pay you on time ? Did they like and really dig into it . And the more clear you can be about who you're calling in , the more you will start to attract those people and marketing and content creation becomes so much easier because you're not for everyone , and that's okay , but the right people will find you .
Jared JudgeOh yeah , I love that Because I think I'm guilty of this same sin of like , hey , my music is good for every wedding , but when I think back upon it , I think most of the people who book me have probably attended a concert in the last year or two , and not everybody has attended a concert , so why am I marketing to those who don't even like live music in the first place ?
Actionable Takeaways From Wedding MBA
Desiree Kelly, CPCEYeah Well , I mean the thing is , is you attract your ideal client by what you put out in like the ethos on your website , on your social , everywhere ? But it doesn't mean you can't serve the other people , it's just you don't , you don't promote that because you'll you'll attract that the lower , the lower profitability couples . But that's really where , like , a lot of my bread and butter comes from , is the , you know , not not so crazy cakes , but the ones I want to work with I put everywhere .
Jared JudgeYeah , that's awesome . I love the word crazy cakes . I'm going to include that in my lingo from now on . So one thing I like to do when I attend conferences and I know not everybody does this , but , like usually , I bring a notebook and on the very last page I put like to do when I get home and I just put a list of things that , like , I took this gold nugget away from there and when I get home , this is the first thing I'm going to do , and usually that one page turns into five and then I don't do all of them . But I'm curious if any of you did that , or even if it wasn't physical . But you have these things that based on Wedding MBA . I am going to do this immediately or in the next couple of weeks , and if you wouldn't mind sharing a couple of those , because I always find that part fascinating .
Joe KeumJoe , go ahead , yeah so I took a lot of notes . So handwriting is not my best suit , so I do typing a lot , so I just type on my iPad . But one thing that I learned a lot this time going around it's about the importance of the contract . It's about the wording that you use . It's about different types of things that you should put in or you should not put in , and how it's being worded is actually very important within the contract .
Joe KeumLike I said , somebody signed a contract doesn't mean that they're binded by the state law that you resided in . So even though , let's say , you copy the contract from someone else that you know , but that might be applicable for a state of New York , but that does not applicable for a state of Colorado . So one thing that I learned and which I'm going to do is I'm going to take all my contracts and try to hire somebody that who knows the state law and then run by that , make sure that it's all okay and if there's any other things that I need to put it in or take it out . That's something that I got to do . So that's one of the takeaway that I learned from the wedding MBA .
Jared JudgeThat's a good one . Yeah , thanks for sharing that . One .
Elizabeth MarberryGo ahead , elizabeth so I had a list of people that I wanted to reconnect with after the conference and um , so I made that list in my hotel room and then I was kind of looking at it on the airplane . But there's two I want to highlight . One , of course , was nace and um , that's been happening , which is really fun . I would love to speak on your stages around Instagram marketing , because I really want to help people to just feel less overwhelmed about that , and so I just feel really grateful that we man like we created this interview so quickly to connect . So that is just feels like a miracle to have it happen so quick . So , joe , thanks for thinking of me for this . But the second thing that follow up for me was I got to meet the CEO of Wedding Pro and I told him so one of my , I think , superpowers that I always encourage other entrepreneurs and business owners to step into is to not be afraid to speak like what you want to other people , because everybody actually does want to help you . They want to help you grow your business and make things easier for you , but they can't do that unless you ask for for what you're looking for . So when I met the CEO , I said I know that Wedding Pro does these webinars with educators every month and I go to them . I love them and I would love of love to throw you know audition to be a speaker for you . And he was like oh well , let me introduce you to the person who's in charge of finding the speakers . And I met her and we totally hit it off and I now have her direct email . She said send me all of your speaker information . And so that is .
Elizabeth MarberryThat is something that I'm working on this week is just continuing to kind of follow up with people while it's fresh , but I just kind of am amazed at the power that continues to like be shown to me when you just are a little bit fearless and asking for what you want , because like , what could he have ? I mean , he could have been like , oh , we have enough speakers . Or like I could have been rejected . But I think that's part of as I was a former professional dancer and I am not afraid of being rejected , because I was rejected hundreds of times . So I actually don't fear that at all and I think that that's one of my superpowers . So , for anyone listening , if you have a desire or a vision on your heart . I just encourage you to like , claim it and then ask for it .
Jared JudgeNice . That's awesome and that really goes to show that the value of these conferences is not just the content spoken from the stage , but the connections that you make while you're in the hallways or sitting at slot machines next to each other , and I love that some of your to-do items were follow up with those people that I met . I think that's where a lot of us fall short sometimes . All right , des , did you have any action items that you wanted to share ?
Desiree Kelly, CPCEOh my gosh . Well , you and I are totally on the same page about you know , the to-do list while you're in classes and then you flip to the back and you write it down because you don't want to lose it . So I went to so many different talks and some of them overlapped with , like , reinforcing what I need to do . One of them was about ads in general across the different platforms , and he said that you really need to be on all of them as far as ads , because it tells Google you are serious and you are a credible business . Plus , it gets you in front of your client . They say what ? Seven times before they will even reach out or look into you and so making sure your ads are on all the platforms .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEAnd so I have a pretty good TikTok I do , but I don't do ads on it , and so I probably need to look into that . And they keep sending me these damn emails about selling on TikTok and I'm like I just I have too much to do , you guys , I just can we chill . So , anyway , I will look into that . And then I'm looking into again ManiChat and Disruptor to get my clients from where they are to how I can , you know , communicate to them . And then another talk was mentioned taking making a list of like the people or the vendors in your area that you really want to work with . Like Elizabeth was saying , make a list of them and then write reviews for them , because it will put you in front of them and when you happen to run across them in a room full of a thousand people , they'll be like oh , hey , you , you know .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEAnd also just targeting where you want your business to be positioned and associated with those people . I learned about SEO with a website called Uber Suggest and it was about spying on your competitors' keywords , what's working for them . And you know , you can call a cake decorator , a sugar artist , but is your client Googling sugar artists or are they Googling cake decorator ? So , making sure that your keywords are correct and Ubersuggest will actually tell you what's working for your type of business . And apparently you get one free search per day and really , honestly , if that's all the time you got for it anyway , that's pretty good . So , ubersuggestcom , I'm going to go do that , double checking your unique selling position , because you may think that you know what your uniqueness is , but , honestly , your clients are the ones who know better and so , taking the testimonials that you have , they kind of put them together put them into chat , tpt , and say summarize the key points of these testimonials and then it'll be glaringly obvious what your customers think
Wedding Industry Trends and Insights
Desiree Kelly, CPCEabout you .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEAnd that's just a unique selling position .
Desiree Kelly, CPCESo just to double check on that and also , if you don't know what yours is like , I do really awesome cake , but that's not a unique selling position . So , going back and monitoring your drip campaigns if you wrote them 10 years ago , you probably ought to go look at them again . So I'm going to do that , especially if they have pricing in them , Right ? Yeah , totally , I'm pretty sure I didn't put that in when I wrote them . But Renee Dallow challenged us to do 30 reels in 30 days and she's like you guys , this sounds like a beast of a thing to do , but honestly , put your makeup on on Sunday and batch 10 of them and do that three weeks in a row , but post one a day . You're going to be surprised . And she shows her stats and like her engagement went up like 400% and like her actual like when they actually clicked through . What's that called ? Where they actually do what you want them to do .
Elizabeth MarberryFollows the follows or the conversions , Conversions .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEThat's the word I'm looking for . Thank you , elizabeth . And so that went up like 25% or something ridiculous . It's crazy . So I was just like , oh okay , all right , all right , fine . So I'll probably do that sometime here in the future . Just , I need to give some thought to what I want to put on the reels because , like the stuff I put on TikTok is just real authentic and not curated at all and just behind the scenes and I'm not sure I want to put that on real .
Elizabeth MarberrySo sorry to interrupt you , but the authentic content does really well on Instagram now . So like gone are the days like like three to five years ago I'm sure you guys remember where , like , the profile grid had to look perfect right , like the colors and everything had to be like matching , and like . Those days are gone . What is actually doing really well on Instagram right now is that authentic behind the scenes Like . So I would suggest , like some of your best TikTok content , try to repurpose it for Instagram and see how well it does . But if it's , if it's educational , if it's entertaining or it causes us to feel , it could potentially do really well on Instagram as well interesting .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEOkay , well , I'll take a look at that . Um , and then just one thing yeah , go ahead .
Joe KeumYou want me to put the makeup on this every sunday ?
Desiree Kelly, CPCEoh my goodness come on , joe , you can't tell me . You can't tell me , you don't do that . No , I'm just kidding . Just kidding , okay . Um , megan gilligan was saying that , um , monitor your prices . Don't do that . No , I'm just kidding , just kidding , okay . Megan Gilligan was saying that monitor your prices . Don't get stuck in undervaluing yourself , because you're really especially if you've been around a while you shouldn't be charging what the people who are new are .
Jared JudgeThat's absolutely true .
Desiree Kelly, CPCESo just being sure that you're charging your value , because , honestly , as a professional that's been around for a long time , you need to value yourself and you need to , you know , not be working yourself to the bone and still not be able to pay your rent . So , uh , and then I was going to look up the wedding pro industry report , because the um CEO of uh , the knot and wedding wire puts up this report about you know , how is the wedding industry doing ? What are where are they going ? How much are they spending ? What's the average cost per guest ? What's the average , the average size of a wedding , all that stuff . So they put that up , and so I'm going to look it up and see what kind of nuggets I can get from there .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEBut he was saying that the wedding industry is really recession proof and I was like , yeah , right , tell me that again , whatever . So he put the numbers up , and so , 2008 through 2010 , it looked like they spent between $52 , $46 , and $56 billion nationwide . And then , if you look at the next like 10 years , it's between $49 and $60 billion , and so it's like , oh well , maybe it is pretty dang close . And then , if you look at COVID , it went down to $34 billion , back up to $51 billion in 21 , and then skyrocketed to $70 from all the pent up demand , and right now we're sitting at $61 billion . So I'm just like it's questionable Are we in a recession ? Are things turning down , are they ? And a lot of my friends are struggling right now . But I think it's just . Are we in a recession ? Are we not ? Are things turning down , are they ? And a lot of my friends are struggling right now , but I think it's just that people are being more conservative , but if they're spending 61 billion on weddings right now , that's , that's higher than 2015 .
Elizabeth MarberrySo and election years are typically down for small businesses , like revenues down .
Elizabeth MarberrySo , yeah , I feel like we had this , I feel like you're right , like I feel like COVID obviously dismantled everything and then there was like the big wave and small , and then it's almost like we're now trying to like level out , but then we hit an election year . So I know our revenue numbers have kind of been all over the place too , like 2022 , it was like whoa , and then 2023 down a little bit , and then even this year it's just like okay , wait , like what's going on . So I do feel like that's real and I appreciate when people can talk honestly about that too , because sometimes I'm like , oh my gosh , is there something wrong with my business ? But it's . But I think it really is an industry thing . Like , the more I've talked to people , they're just like our sales are down year to date and I really do feel like . I feel like the combination of trying to get back on track after COVID , along with an election year and then , of course , you know inflation all that it's impacting everybody .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEYeah , well , renee Dallow was saying that it's taking people longer to book because they have more ways to find information . And so instead of like seeing you once or twice and doing a little bit of research and then reaching out , they like see you on Instagram and then they'll go check out your website and then they'll go get some more information and then they'll go find some more stuff and then they'll call you and then they'll think about it a little more and so like they're just taking longer to decide . And so for me it's been like whiplash this year , because we will have like an insane amount of business and then the next week hardly anything , and then all of a sudden we have like three more weddings that just booked last week and I'm like what the hell is going on ? This year ? It's so weird .
Joe Keumthis year it is so weird yeah , and then there was another takeaway . For me , actually , that was kind of similar to what president that's is talking about . Pricing needs to be out there . One of the biggest things that they were talking about was simply put and really made me understand .
Joe KeumLike you know , 15 years ago , 20 years ago , you need to call somebody to get a taxi and you need to find out what the price is , but in these days , nobody does try to call the taxi company . Everything is the Uber . These days , all the people who are asking for are you available and your pricing ? You need to give to them right away , because they already contacted eight other vendors . Whomever gives the pricing , first they're going to look at it and then . Another thing is the same thing with the Uber . If you're trying to select the Uber , you're not going with whomever is the cheapest . You're going with whatever you need and what's your comfortable level that you want it to ride . So it doesn't not mean that People who are asking the price first does not mean that they're going to be the cheaper client or anything else around it . Before we had this industry mist about people asking for the pricing , surprise shoppers and so and so that has changed . That's one of the biggest takeaways for me .
Jared JudgeThat's good to know . Awesome . Any other takeaways or action items that you want to share ? Takeaways or action items that you want to share Because otherwise I'd love to kind of ask about the trends in our industry that were revealed at this . Yeah , I have one more .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEOkay , one more . So all of us have CRMs right and getting reviews are super important . And gosh , he was this guy , because he was awesome . He was saying Troy Adams , owner of Carolina DJ Profession . Awesome , he was saying Troy Adams , owner of Carolina DJ Professionals .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEHe was saying that to be able to get reviews , one of the main things to do is tell your client before the event . Hey , afterwards I'm going to email you to ask you for a review . And it helps my whole business . It determines whether my staff gets bonuses at the end of the year , all of those things . If you would write a review for us and so to let them know that you're going to be asking for a review , gets more reviews , like , rather than just getting that cold email after the event . And I was just like that's amazing . And then also layering in the like emotion of , hey , my staff , their end of the year bonuses depend upon how many reviews and whether they got mentioned . So I was just like , oh , that's awesome and just put it in your CRM , have it email a week before the event and let them know . Yeah .
Elizabeth MarberryThat is our exact strategy that we've used for Wedding Dance Coach for years and it's why we have over 205 star reviews on the knot and it's because I and I've trained my teachers to do this is . At the people's last lesson I said it makes all the difference If you look them in the eye , like when they're still there , and they're in that moment , and you say I have a huge favor to ask you know , after you know whatever , give them a timeline . Like a week after your wedding , you're going to get email from us asking for a review . Like we're a small business .
Elizabeth MarberryWe're working really hard to grow and reach more incredible people just like you , so would you be willing to write a really short testimonial for us ? And then they look you in the eye and they're like , yes , we will do it , and they still don't all convert . They really don't , but there's more conversions , I think , because of , like planting that seed . So that's always been part of our process and policy and it totally works . And telling the why and having it be really authentic , like I love that idea about the bonuses and the paint , like like I should have , I just learned something new . I'm going to have my teachers weave that in too , because it's true , they're going to get more work if we get more work . Right , right exactly .
Jared JudgeThat's awesome , well , amazing . Thank you for sharing all of your takeaways and action items . The last part of this podcast . I'd love to ask that every event in the wedding and events industry they tend to have segments on industry trends or they even host events that have some of these groundbreaking trends built within them . So were there any trends for 2025 and even 2026 weddings that you discovered or wanted to highlight from Wedding MBA ?
Desiree Kelly, CPCEWell , I mean for me , because I'm a cake nerd I of course paid attention mostly to what's happening with cake trends . There's these things called dome cakes and it looks like you bake the cake in your KitchenAid mixer bowl and I was just like whoa , the cake in your KitchenAid mixer bowl , and I was just like whoa . Okay , but apparently they're
Wedding Trends and Unique Selling Proposition
Desiree Kelly, CPCEreal popular . And then there's the non-bride cakes , which have these .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEI swear to , it's just like here's your cake . Here's these big flowers just sticking straight up out of them and I'm like that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen . But I keep seeing it over and over and over and I'm like oh Lord . And then like , um , flat cakes that have a bunch of flowers just sticking straight up out of them and they're long , they're like they go the entire length of the table and I'm like that is such a pain in my butt . Why , why , we got to do this , but it's what they want . So I guess I'm going to be assembling cakes on side the length of the table these days . So yeah , but I mean it's not like I haven't seen them before , but I'm just like really , they're back . We're gonna do this all right .
Joe KeumOne thing that I'd like to share and this is kind of along the same way as the present uh , every year they have a color of the year 2025 , I think they were saying is the very bright colors , like you're mixing with like kind of pinkish colors with the very bright green colors and a lot of like it's not uniform color anymore that the 2025 demands .
Joe KeumIt's like multiple different colors for the bridal , you know gowns and and not the bride gown but the you know bridesmaids dresses , and you know multiple different colors for the bridal gowns , and not the bridal gown but the bridesmaids dresses , and multiple different colors for the guests to wear , and so on . And that was kind of shocking . Actually , just showing us some of the examples , I was like what ? Of course , always there will be a classic . I guess the trends actually dominate more into the general sub-public , but I've seen some of the weddings that are more classic and timeless type of way , which I'm attracted to . So that kind of goes back to Elizabeth's point of finding your client . So there's some finding trendy client versus there's finding some classic client or you know , in all different ways , but we also are in the same industry .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEWow . And I went to the talk about color by Rene Dallow and Margot Frazee and they introduced me to the Canva color wheel .
Desiree Kelly, CPCEAnd I have a color wheel that's like paper and I use it all the time to like , mix colors and make sure they're all going to go together . But Canva has an electronic version where you can get , you know , complimentary , which is two . You can get tertiary , which are like if the wheel is here and you pick this color , it'll go to the others that will go with it and then you can make the tone go brighter or lighter .
Joe KeumAnd it was amazing . So if you Google Canva color wheel , you can get that , and then you can have like color schemes for your events and I was just like , oh , this is fantastic . Yeah , same thing with the . You know can buy color io , but there's another website called a color ioio so , which actually kind of gives us exactly the same type of thing , but it gives you all the different color combinations that you can actually that's awesome .
Jared JudgeSo it sounds like color is a big trend for the coming years . Any other trends ? Go ahead , Elizabeth .
Elizabeth MarberryWell , I have like mixed feelings about trends , because , of course , it's important to know what's happening and also , like I'm not in business to like always be chasing trends , you know like . So I kind of feel like you always have to be mindful of , like you're building a business that has to be sustainable and an alignment for you and you don't want to like sell your soul to the devil and just be chasing trends all the time . So , but it's definitely good research , you know . So that way , if a client comes to you and says , oh , we have this vision of this bright color and this table cake , and you're just like , oh , I know exactly what you're talking about . So I totally see the value in it . But I also just I always try to kind of be mindful of like I don't know how important , how important is it ?
Elizabeth MarberryI think one trend that it's not new but it continues on and maybe deepens is , of course , wanting everything to be completely customized to the couple's vision . But even beyond that is the value of the guest experience . So it's not just like , of course , we , it's all about the couple , and I find that this younger generation definitely wants their . They want their guests entertained , they want them well fed , they want them to have an experiential moment at their wedding . They don't want them to just , I mean , I know , when I was younger , I would go to weddings and I'd be like I'm eating a salad and I'm like , falling asleep and I'm like this is brutal . You know , like , and that's not this generation . They're just like . It's not even that they necessarily have to put on a show , but it's just like it could be a detail of like a favor or a napkin or like I mean , and everyone is so different and obviously what they want and what's a priority to them .
Elizabeth MarberrySo , um , so if there's anything that you do in your business that is really unique , that's an opportunity for you to position that in the market , as this is a way for you to stand out and like in my business for wedding dance coach , if you bring us , we do mashups , so when you start off dancing slow and then you bust out into like hip hop or swing or salsa or things like that , if you went into like a franchise ballroom studio , they're not going to be able to do that for you , right ? But that's one of our like it factors is that we actually love breaking the ballroom rules , like we know that you're not going to go audition for dancing with the stars , you don't need to learn the perfect technique of the waltz on your wedding day . That's actually not important . What's more important is that you look and feel your best . What's more important is that you're you're doing movements that look and feel good on your body , and no one is like judging like your perfect rhythm . So I feel like that's one that . So I always try to communicate all that in our messaging of we will really customize it . We can throw in contemporary , we can throw in hip-hop , we can , but it's all about like this this dance could be a vehicle to totally transform the whole energy of your reception , right , like if you're having fun on the dance floor , your guests are going to have fun and that's not going to speak to everyone , right ?
Elizabeth MarberrySome people are like well , we don't care about our first dance , we're just going to sway back and forth for three minutes and be done with it . That's not my ideal client , so you just have to think about like that that goes back to does what you were saying about your unique selling proposition is like what is different about you ? Like why ? Why is it a different experience in working with you or in receiving your product or service , and the difference is always you , it's the person behind the brand . It's like oh my gosh , I love Joe . I love his energy . I love how he's communicating . I love how he understands my vision . I love how he showed me a picture of something that's similar to what I want . Like . It's like , but we connect like person to person , and I think that is something to always remember . So it's good to know the trends , but it's also really important to think , think through like don't let that distract you from how freaking awesome you are and it's your business . You get to do what you want .
Jared JudgeYeah , that's awesome . I love that perspective because that's right . The trends will always change , but the fundamentals won't , and so if we dive deep into the fundamentals and keep a pulse on the trends so that we can maybe latch onto them and use them as hooks in our marketing , then they work together in tandem , all right . Well , this is one . Ok , I'm sorry .
Desiree Kelly, CPCESorry , I was gonna say there was one speaker , Her name was Siobhan , and someone asked a question during her talk and it was like how do you keep up with the big dogs ? Like how do you compete when you're a small business ?
Desiree Kelly, CPCEAnd she was like oh , oh and she just went off on this tangent about how you are the baddest B word in the room . She's like you are so good at what you do and you need to just own it . Don't discredit yourself . You are an amazing person . Own that , you do a wonderful job and be you . So it was awesome , it was great .
Jared JudgeYeah , that's fabulous . All right , Well , any last minute takeaways or shares , because we are just about at the end of our episode ? All right , well , thank you so much , elizabeth for joining us . I definitely want to follow up with you both offline and have a future podcast episode , and Denver Nace would love to have you amongst our ranks and on our stages . Joe , thank you for taking the time to share with us your takeaways and Prez Des as well . Thanks for sharing your takeaways and being my wonderful co-host today . So thanks to our listeners for tuning in .
Jared JudgeWedding MBA happens every year . I believe it's in Vegas every year , is that correct ? Yeah , so if you want a fun little trip to Vegas , see some shows , meet some cool people , learn some things about our wedding industry , check out their website . You can just Google Wedding MBA and then , if you're interested in joining us at Denver NACE , please come to one of our meetings . We'd love to have you . Just meet our people . You can get tickets and more information at nacedenvercom . So thanks for tuning into another episode of the Denver NACE podcast . We'll see you soon .