How I came up with the idea of becoming a wedding planner
I have always been passionate about the world of weddings. I loved watching weddings on television, in films, and in real life.
It still took me some time to realize it because I was more of a tomboy when I was younger. I was afraid it would make me look too romantic or too silly.
My passion took another turn when I was sixteen and discovered wedding blogs. I could literally spend hours reading advice, brides’ stories, identifying with them and imagining how I would have reacted in their place.
That was also when I discovered the profession of wedding planner. I kept coming back to it over the years, but I always thought it was not for me, that everything had already been done, that I had nothing original to bring, and above all that I was too young to enter the world of entrepreneurship.
It took the lockdown, when I found myself working from home at my mother’s house, for that idea to take up more and more space in my mind. At the time, I was still fully immersed in my studies and my work-study program. Even though I liked what I was doing, I could clearly not imagine doing it all my life. I told myself: 'Try it. If you like it, great. If not, that is okay — at least you will have tried.'
That was all it took for me to enroll in the IWI distance program to become a wedding planner, a program that had also caught my attention because of its content and, of course, its recognition in the wedding world. I was convinced I was in the right place, and I was not wrong.
My background before getting started
When I began my wedding planner program, I was also completing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Development at Toulouse Business School. I was also working in a sales position for a major food group through a work-study program.
Before that, I graduated with a BTS in International Trade, which strengthened my love of languages and culture. Thanks to that degree, I had the opportunity to spend three months in Barcelona, Spain, and two months in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
I officially launched my wedding planning agency in September 2021. At that time, I had just started my final master’s year in Strategy and Innovation Management, still through a work-study position in the same company. I juggled three hats for two years.
The difficulties I faced before getting started
The main difficulty was finding the right rhythm between my business, my studies and my work-study position. I absolutely wanted to complete my Bac+5 so I would have something to fall back on if my wedding planner schedule did not work out. But I also wanted to do everything I could to help my agency grow and succeed, even though of course I could not devote one hundred percent of my time to it.
I remember that the summer before officially launching my agency, I felt deeply unmotivated. I did not want to do anything anymore and could no longer see why I was doing all of this. I took some time for myself, remembered my motivations, and then everything started again naturally.
I would also say that the support of the people around me was decisive. I was very afraid to tell them I was launching my business because I feared being judged or looked down on, especially if it did not work out in the end. In fact, they were all incredibly understanding and supported me at every stage. Clearly, I would not have come this far without them.
An agency under my own name
I launched my agency, Aude Grosbois - Wedding Planner, in Toulouse in September 2021, after nearly a year and a half of training and preparation.
When I wanted to register my business name with the French intellectual property office, I received a letter telling me that I did not have the right to use the original name and that I would have to change it to avoid legal action. So I changed it. And rather than risk legal issues with another name, I chose to name my agency after myself: Aude Grosbois - Wedding Planner.
I made that choice because, in the end, it is still the name my parents gave me, and nothing made me prouder than being able to work under that name.
My particular feature is that I specialize in eco-responsible weddings. Sustainability is something that matters deeply to me in daily life, in all its forms, so it was essential for me to include that part of my personality in my company.
My wedding planning agency covers the Toulouse area and neighboring departments, since I lived in Toulouse for three years. But because I am originally from Lyon and spent my teenage years in the Drôme, I am also developing my agency in the Rhône-Alpes region.
As for my services, as Aude Grosbois - Wedding Planner, I offer relatively classic services for a wedding planner. That said, I recently moved back to Lyon to start a new salaried job, so while I settle into this new life I am focusing only on the following services.
I also launched a tool in February 2022 in partnership with a photographer, called Wedding Booster, with the aim of simplifying wedding planning for future brides and grooms. Notable features include:
My first year in business
It went very well. It is true that the first few months were complicated because I had no requests and that frustrated me a lot.
When I look back at the timeline, I opened my wedding planning agency in September 2021 and signed my first contract in January 2022. Not bad in the end.
I was used to juggling all the different parts of my life, so I had no problem balancing my studies, my work-study position and my agency. Everything went well and I graduated with an average close to 15 out of 20 and a very strong 19 out of 20 for my oral thesis defense. I was extremely proud of myself.
Of course, I also faced my first rejections, and I quickly learned how to bounce back and not let them affect my morale too much. Aside from that, I met some wonderful people, both among my clients and the vendors I worked with.
One of my best memories remains the two inspiration shoots I organized in 2022, one on a winter theme and the other on a classical dance theme, where I brought together wonderful teams. Both shoots were published on great blogs, and we were all delighted to hear the news.
I am writing these lines in November 2022 and I signed four contracts in my first year. I had set myself a goal of eight for 2022, so we will see whether I manage to reach that number or not. Anything can still happen.
My biggest day-to-day challenge
I would say that the hardest thing is uncertainty. You never know what tomorrow will bring, whether you will have more clients or whether no one will come to your door anymore. That is not easy when it comes to making decisions, especially the big one: do I commit to self-employment full time, or do I keep a salaried job?
But that is also what makes this profession such a challenge. The wedding world changes very quickly. You have to be able to adapt fast and show that you are always up to date in order to support couples in organizing the most beautiful day of their lives.
Another challenge, and here it is mainly my impostor syndrome speaking, is the fear of doing something that might disappoint the couples who trust me with their wedding. When that happens, I remind myself that above all I am doing my best, that I am not perfect, and that yes, I will make mistakes, but that is also how I will improve even more.
What the IWI program brought me
The IWI program gave me the knowledge I needed to get started as a wedding planner.
Even though the program took place entirely at a distance because of Covid, I still felt very well supported throughout.
It was a dense program and at times I doubted whether I could make it through, but in the end I gained confidence in myself and in my skills, and I was able to start in the best possible conditions.
A big thank you to Anne-Marie and IWI for allowing me to fulfill my dream.