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Move Over J-Lo! Meet the Real
Wedding Planner |
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Romance with dreams come true, diamonds rings, beautiful flowers in
bloom, fine champagne, horse and carriage, and a tear or two all
captured—on that one important day for a bride and the groom.
Yes, in a day where they say the institution of marriage is doomed,
there is one woman who has love on her mind—that would be holy matrimony
on her mind – all of the time. Marriage is not a thing of the past and
Vicky Johnson is helping to make these special memories last a
lifetime. Move over J-Lo! Meet the real wedding planner, Vicky Johnson
owner of Holy Matrimony.
Q. Tell BWM Readers about Holy Matrimony. Tell us how you
started? How long have you been in business? Tell us why?
A. W? That's probably the most interesting question and one for
which the answer really was a long time coming. I am in this business
(wedding planning) because it's truly where I belong. I think I started
it because I felt the tug to go into this direction. Part of it was
business driven but a larger part was destiny driven. I need to be here
doing this. My decisions haven't always been logical and "head" driven,
which is what I think makes starting your own firm difficult to begin
with, so much of it was "heart" driven.
I started this firm in 2000 because I loved the field and thought; if I
could have a firm and design weddings like I wanted for other people
what would that firm look like? I developed a rough "Vicky" plan, which
was my raw business plan of what I wanted to do and how could I justify
doing it by backing it up with revenue streams to sustain the firm.
Once down on paper, it appeared viable and made sense to my logical mind
to proceed. I started the firm with a website. I had a vision for what
the design of the site should look like in order to attract the types of
clients that were looking for assistance in planning the types of
weddings I ultimately wanted to plan. Perhaps that sounds selfish. I
could only infuse so much altruism into this project at the beginning,
knowing myself, the project had to first meet some, if not many, of my
needs. I had dreams of designing fabulous events and wanted to meet my
objection without veering too far off course and having to find my way
back.
Holy Matrimony is a full-scale bridal services firm that plans weddings
across the country. We offer full scale, month before and day of
coordination services. The firm offers rentals of linens, wedding
accessories and gift items. Holy Matrimony is the parent company of
Joifully, an invitation company that offers a selection of fine
engraved, letterpress and thermograph invitations and social papers.
Holy Matrimony has offices in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and New
York, NY.
Q. So what are brides/couples looking for when they come to
you?
A. Brides are looking for many different things when they seek my
services. Most are looking for someone to assist with a design vision.
They really want the WOW factor at their weddings. Others are looking
for intermediaries between themselves and a family member during the
planning process. Some brides need arms and legs to assist with details
and to contribute ideas and innovation, and others are looking for
advocates to ensure they get quality vendors at a cost that represents a
value.
Q. Tell us about your clients. Who affords a wedding
planner? Do you cater to only high profile clients?
A. A wedding planner is no longer a luxury. Times have changed,
society has changed. Brides are working high profile or multiple jobs.
Brides are single parents and students while working full time. A
planner represents a lift of stress from another layer or Life. A
wedding is too important of an event to every bride to be left to fly in
the wind. Brides have definitive ideas of what their day should look or
feel like so whatever the budget, a wedding is a large outlay of cash
and resources for an event at which you have only one shot.
My clients have come from all walks of life. Many assume I am out of
their budget and sometimes that is true, often it is not. I have a
large number of high profile clients which include professional sports
figures, political figures and various others. But I have a large
number of "regular" folk. What is very difficult for me is when a
potential client calls in and says "How much are your services?" For
me, that is like walking into a large department store and asking "How
much is a pair of shoes?" Because what I do is so specialized, I really
do need to speak with you to identify your needs. How many people? How
many locations are involved? What area, or state or country will the
wedding be located? Are many guests coming in from out of town? In what
areas can I best assist you? Answers to those types of questions will
determine the costs of my services. Still a lot of people just want
package pricing and then decide the package is too expensive or conclude
that they can't afford a planner. A little patience on the part of the
bride and being open to discussing your needs with a planner would
benefit her one hundred fold.
Q. Now after seeing such movies as The Wedding Planner I am
sure many of us have romanticized your business. Is it really that
romantic? Or is it all business for you?
A. While it is definitely both intense brain work and leg work, what
I do is truly romantic. There is nothing like watching a mother see her
daughter for the first time in a wedding dress and veil and nothing like
seeing a bride when she finds "the dress". When everything comes
together after many months of planning is a fabulous feeling each and
every time. There is a huge logistics side to what I do which include
determining seating and square footage and room design plans and
lighting, maintaining a budget and coordinating vendors locating
specialty items and services, as well as working with people of many
different cultures and understanding their cultures so as not to
offend... And getting all those things to work in concert at an
appointed time. Additionally, there is always having to have a
contingency plan or solution for any aspect of this dance that may
choose to go awry.
Q. When did you know that you made it in your profession?
Was there any defining moment?
A. Have I made it yet????? There's still so much I want to
accomplish. From my vantage point I have loads yet to do. I am
grateful to those who have commended my accomplishments to date, but I
just keep moving. I guess my biggest moment thus far was either my
first six-figure budget or the first time one of my events was featured
in a national magazine layout.
Q. Were there any uncertain moments while getting Holy
Matrimony off the ground? Were there times when you wondered if you'd
made the right decision?
A. Of course, there are tough times, and I anticipate more in the
future. Anyone who is attempting to move forward or move up will face
adversity. Don't believe that everyone around you wants to see you
succeed, not even those closest to you. I have a girlfriend who once
said to me, the only problem with people offering help, is that they
only want to help with the things they want to help with, not
necessarily where you need help. Business is difficult and resources
are always scarce. As the business owner I fiercely defended where I
wanted the business to go, realizing that if I ventured too far off
course, I would not be happy at all. I knew the kinds of weddings I
wanted to produce and at times had to turn away projects that were not
in line with that because they represented a drain on my resources. It
may sound harsh, but every project I do becomes a part of my reputation
and I knew what I wanted to become known for. I do feel I have to say I
don't mean I turned away a lower budget project, that’s not what I mean.
I have done beautiful weddings on tiny budgets. I mean things like an
all black gothic wedding on Halloween in a cemetery type of event.
Q. Did you begin with a business plan? Has this helped you?
What was your background prior to Holy Matrimony?
A. I am so proud of my 56-page business plan and to Women
Entrepreneurs of Baltimore, which helped me to complete it. I call it
my yellow brick road. It laid the foundation for many of the business
decisions I was to make and forced me to think through things that were
difficult or time consuming (like financials). When certain
opportunities presented themselves to me during the course of doing
business, because I had a business plan I was prepared to make decisions
and take advantage of opportunities. So many people feel it's smarter
to "just get the business" and make the money, figuring they will get
around to the plan later since that is just paperwork. HUGE mistake.
Take a look around and the folks who are making it are the people who
are prepared in advance. They then have developed an eye and are able to
recognize an opportunity. You become savvy by doing the work. Prior to
Holy Matrimony, I was a director of advertising for a national newspaper
for about a decade. My background had been in advertising, marketing and
PR, which helped immensely in starting and establishing the firm with
low start up funds.
Q. Now I know this is a business of love, but do you plan
other events? Is the bridal business seasonal? Is it true there are
more weddings in June? We also usually speak of weddings in terms of
the bride, what about the grooms you service how do they feel about
their day?
A. I only do weddings! And it is not seasonal. The "wedding season"
now actively runs March - November and in warmer climates, year round.
Because we have the capability of planning weddings nationally we are
hard at work all year. My absolute busiest day of the year is January
2, or the first day new brides go back to work after the Christmas
holiday. It's MADNESS! October is the new June. I find out the
groom's comfort level with participation. There are a number of
activities that I do solely with the groom to include attire and wedding
rehearsal dinner and shopping for attendant gifts. The groom and I also
work on the wedding night plans and honeymoon.
Q. Can you share any pre-wedding day advice with our readers?
A. It's my true belief that every bride needs an advocate. I
fiercely believe that. The wedding industry lures bides in with
fabulous photos of breathtaking scenes, she falls in love and wants to
replicate it all. Vendors can prey on the bride because purchase are
emotional and "once in a lifetime". Many things are overpriced. As a
planner I am an advocate for the bride and can tell the bride the pros
and cons of each situation she is about to enter. Value is different
from cheap. Cheap is cheap. Getting a good value is what you are
seeking. Ask around about the vendors you are interested in but don't
take another bride's experience as gospel. Every event is different and
every bride's personality is different. Personality is rarely taken
into consideration when choosing a vendor. An easy going bride, who is
having a laid back beachside wedding which is a gathering of close
family and friends, does not want a high power, intense photographer
that is constantly shuffling you around for more shots.
Q. So for the sistah or brother who is thinking about
starting a business do you have any suggestions for them?
A. PREPARE and be diligent about it. Have a vision and some defined
goals for yourself. Stay true to yourself and understand it will take
time to become established in what you do. If money truly becomes an
issue, before you compromise the direction of your business look for
alternate means of developing revenue streams. Part-time merchandising
or other jobs that have flexible schedules for a short period of time
can become needed cash while you continue to nurture your company.
Q. Please tell our readers how to contact you.
holy matrimony is located at 1725 I Street NW Suite 300 Washington, DC
20006 (877)473.4971 Nationally, (202)517-9189 or (301)693-2751 in the DC
Metro area and in Baltimore you can reach both Holy Matrimony and
Joifully at 410-944-3344 our email address is
info@holymatrimonyonline.com and our website is
www.holymatrimonyonline.com and for Joifully www.joifully.com (this site
is still under construction, to launch 6/1/08)
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I want to
thank BWM for this article on Vicky Johnson. If I must say it was wonderful.
I had the opportunity to see Vicky create Holy Matrimony from Day one and
now it has prospered into a great firm. I have also had the opportunity to
work with her and watch all her work develop into a beautiful wedding. The
outcome of the wedding just makes you feel so proud of a friend who has
definitely out done herself. Clearly she is blessed and in turn God has
blessed her Business. I wish her continuous success in her future endeavors
and support her 100%. Keep up the good work Girl. Thanks again BWM, job well
done. Tekesha Smith
Tekesha Smith, August 18, 2005 11:30 |
