In these brief few months before the full-blown wedding season begins in earnest this tends to be a time of reflection for those of us working in the wedding industry. It’s a time when we all seem to look back on the last year and think forward to the coming season and wonder how the two will compare. The biggest question for most people though is this: how am I going to improve?
That question is a going concern – when you’re self employed you can’t afford to rest on your laurels, you have to keep pushing forward or else you’ll fall into the background until you disappear from view. The wedding industry is a strange paradox – an industry built on tradition yet entwined in creativity, and if you don’t feel you’re being creative and innovative in your work (even if only on a personal level) then you can find this privileged role of playing a part in the happiest day of someone’s life becoming nothing but a paycheque, and however business orientated you are, it should always be something more than that.
The trouble is though that pushing forward isn’t always so easy. However creative you may want to be, with weddings you only get one chance, one chance at the most important day of two people’s lives and you can’t afford to make a mistake. Your clients have booked you based on work they’ve seen you produce in the past and they may not be so attracted to a change in style and if you’re trying it for the first time who knows if you’re going to like it yourself anyway? Sure you can practice to some extent but until you see it all come together in the unique setting of a wedding you’re never really going to know until you try it. It’s a high pressure situation, so how can you break the mould and keep up with your own creative demands?
The unfortunate truth is there’s no simple way to do it other than to step out of your own comfort zone and try something new. It may not need to be such a big step to start with – perhaps stick on the whole with your original style but just do one or two things at each wedding that are just for you. Prioritise making sure the couple have exactly what they expect of course, but maybe just add a couple of extras that are more experimental. It may cost you a little extra time and effort but if it gives you the creative edge you’re looking for then it will pay you back tenfold.
Eventually though there comes a time when you just have to step away from that comfort zone entirely and commit fully to the direction you want to take your business. The most important thing though is to make sure that that change is one you’re making for you, not purely because one of your competitors are doing it. Styles and trends come and go, but originality never fades. Try out new ideas, take half a step away from what you’ve done before but never become someone else. However big or small the change, if it’s something you believe in then go for it and you won’t regret it. Genius is bourn of originality, not of duplication or of maintaining the status quo. The comfort zone is never comfortable for too long, maybe this year it’s time to deck it with some new furnishings.
.jpg)
