030: Real Planner: Valarie Falvey of Kirkbrides Wedding Planning & Design
PLANNER LIFE PODCAST
Episode 30 | Real Planner: Valarie Falvey of Kirkbrides Wedding Planning & Design
“Work hard, try your best and have as much fun as possible because you can never get your time back.” - Valarie
Hey planners! Dreaming about scaling your wedding planning business? It can be difficult to even consider this option when it’s just you doing all of the things but in this episode, we talked to someone who's done just that. Valarie Falvey is the founder of Kirkbrides, a wedding planning and design company based out of Ohio. She shares what she did to start scaling her team and how she’s grown it to 6 planners & over 35 team members. We also chat about how she got into entrepreneurship, why she doesn’t focus on planning anymore and what processes she’s set up to help clients have a great experience with her company.
What’s in this episode:
What Valarie was like growing up and her journey to entrepreneurship
How her internship prepared her for her business
What it means to her to be a Kirksbride wedding planner
How she learned to work on her business instead of in it
Why she stepped away from planning and moved into a different area of her business
How she’s scaled her business
Hurdles and challenges that wedding planners face
What they include in their planning packet
What services they offer for clients
Her advice for someone who wants to scale their wedding planning business
About Valarie:
Judging by her maiden last name, one could say that this line of work is truly where Valarie Kirkbride Falvey, the owner of Kirkbrides, is meant to be. Her experience in wedding and event planning began in Los Angeles in 2002, when she trained in the world of private mansion events, discovering her career passion. Throughout this time, she was fortunate to travel to work on events in New York, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Cleveland. In 2005 she moved back to Cleveland and established Kirkbrides. Over the years of planning hundreds of weddings, she developed invaluable venue and vendor relationships in the area and created a detailed planning process that the entire team uses. She currently enjoys managing the operations, marketing and finance aspects of the business.
Valarie's background in various investment, marketing and project management positions in the corporate world has helped her create a business oriented approach to planning a wedding, utilizing tactics that our professional clients find familiar in their everyday life. Valarie holds a Master of Education degree from John Carroll University and a Bachelor of Science in Communication degree with a Business Minor from Ohio University.
Connect with Valerie:
Website | Instagram | Facebook
SAVE AND SHARE
There are lots of great lessons in this episode! Right-click, save, and share your favorite quotes on social media!
Sponsored by Your Legal BFF
One important part of your wedding planning business is having professionally drafted contracts that protect you and your business while helping clients feel secure about investing in you. Going to a lawyer can be intimidating and expensive, that’s why we’re proud partners of Your Legal BFF, your go-to legal bestie. They offer customizable contract templates specifically for the wedding industry. Head to yourlegalbff.com and use the code: Plannerlife to save 15% off your choice of select templates.
Can’t wait to hear more? Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you can be the first to know when we release a new episode! Get to know us even more by following along with us on Instagram @lindsaylongacre and @heatherhoesch. We’d love for you to visit us online on our website. Ready to uplevel your wedding planning business? We have so many resources and goodies available for you at The Planner Life Academy.