Diary Of A Wedding Planner

For those of you who have often wondered if I had always known I would be a wedding planner at some point in my life, the answer is NO!

I never thought I would become a wedding planner but things change, people change, passion changes and all these builds up to the person that you are today.

I ran an ushering agency that was doing okay but I wasn't feeling challenged enough. I felt that it was easy to get ladies to become ushers and everybody was kind of doing it. It became too easy for me and if there was anything I hated, it was doing 'easy'. Easy just wasn't my style. I always like a good challenge. 

This was the driving force that led my path to the wedding industry. From my days as an usher, I realised that I enjoyed making guests feel comfotable while attending to their needs at events we catered at. I loved seeing everything go smoothly. 

 

Although, I still wasn't thinking in the line of being a wedding planner then. After a while of providing professional ushers for events. I realised my passion for weddings in particular grew. And I decided to go after what I thought was a growing passion in me. 

I did not have the funds to go for professional trainings, so I decided to train myself and that was exactly what I did. I read everything and anything I saw on weddings, bought old wedding magazines. 

I remember when a friend of mine who was not in the country at the time, asked what I wanted, I had told him wedding magazines and he was amazed. He thought it was a strange request but he got them anyway. Thank you Dr Niyi.

I read for two hours every night. Since I couldn't afford a proper training. But today, I can boldly and gladly say that I am a self taught wedding planner. I learnt on the job. It hasn't been easy but I was determined to be the best at whatever I had wanted in life. That determination kept me going.

But it was a tough and long road, from getting clients and making grave mistakes. What I read was definitely different from what working at actual events taught me... And this is what I would be sharing in the next few episodes of my Wedding Planning Diary.

Love,

Olamide~ The Heiress

The Journey (Series 7)

Let me start by apologising for the long break, I have been so busy with weddings but I am back now. Thank you for all the mails, it has also encouraged me to create time to write.

So where were we? Ha ha! My gbese (debt). Over 200k in debt, I knew I had to start something and fast too. I was able to save up a little money from my previous job (an advert executive at one of the foremost fashion magazine, Wow! Magazine.

I have always saved money from coins to notes (thank you daddy for buying us piggy banks from or tender ages)

I had about N80,000 saved up and I paid part of the debt with N70,000 and kept N10,000 for other unforeseen circumstances that may come up.

I decided to come up with another method of advertising what I did. I talked and wrote about our services and why it was a necessity to have hostesses at events and people were beginning to buy the idea and then the big break came! 

This was in April 2015, please be reminded that the first audition was in July 2013. So this was almost two years after. 

So after the last free ushering job in April, 2015, I got another call from a wedding planning company. They wanted to use my hostesses! I was delighted! I charged a sum of 6k per hostess. It was a two day event, so I was paid for two days each for the hostesses. The agreed but I still didn't have the required outfits and colour. I bought each outfit for N1,500/outfit (for the white outfit), and also spent N1,800/outfit for the traditional attire. so I was left with N4,500 and N4,200 respectively.

I paid the hostesses N8,000 each for both days. Not much profit but it was something. 

After the job, I continued with the advertisment, letting people understand the importance of hostesses at events and somehow, more doors started opening. We had atleast 6 or 8 jobs from April till December. It was a relief. We also had about 5 weddings that we planned. 

In my next few posts, I will be talking about my wedding planning journey. 

In all, perseverance pays eventually. It may be hard at first, you may derail from the initial passion into other things, people may not believe in your dream (and honestly, they dont have to) as long as you believe. 

Keep at it. Persevere and be ready for all the hardwork, disappointments and delays that may come with trying something new.

And with God on your side, you will succeed eventually.

Love,

Olamide~ The Heiress

The Journey (Series 6)

You can't spell Challenge without Change.

The break or so I thought.

I started getting the attention of potential buyers, started taking orders and ordering from this online store. Hmmmn, the suffer wey I suffer no be small. I ordered for so many items at once because my customers just kept placing orders. My first set of orders were accessories. It took forever to get to Nigeria. 

Eventually, after about 7 weeks, they eventually arrived but to my surprise, they looked totally different from what the online picture displayed. I was devastated. 

How do I explain to the customer who had waited for almost two months that her goods were not the same thing and there must have been a mix up somewhere. Eventually, I had to return the money. (first loss)

That did not stop me, I forged ahead and ordered for more things, including bridal wears for some brides, I had calculated at most two months maximum for the goods to arrive, but to my disappointment, the goods never arrived. I had disappointed a bride, I was crushed. I apologised profusely but it all fell on deaf ears (Who could blame her). I had to yet again return money to another customer.

I was always tensed and these customers won't stop calling to ask when their items would be delivered. It was always one issue or the other. If it was not the size, then the material will be inferior or not the same design as what was ordered for. I still have items in my closet that arrived late or wasn't the actual size ordered for, that I had to return money for.

Then I decided to try Dubai, I thought to myself, if one door closes, another will open. It opened alright but... I don't know which was worse. I was introduced to someone in the business and he lived in Dubai, what he did for me was to go to their market, send pictures of what they had in stock and send to me. 

I would advertise and get customers to make payments and then would send the money to him to purchase these goods and send to me in Nigeria. The first few times went smoothly but subsequently, his clientele base grew and he started mixing orders. I once had about 20 handbags mixed with my orders and I had to pay customs for clearing these items. 

I was angry, unhappy and grumpy. I was not fulfilled and I was spending money that I did not have.

During this trying period, one thing that remained constant was the fact that I still wanted to continue the ushering business. It always kept rearing its beautiful head to tell me that she was still waiting for me to return to my first love. *big grin*

It was on one of these disappointing encounters with another customer that I decided that enough was enough and I was going to face La' Heiress squarely. 

By this time, I was in debt. I had no money. I had spent all I had on the Personal shopping business and I still needed to pay off debts incurred from my disappointed clients.

I thought it was the end, where was I going to get money to pay off my debts, I was the definition of "temi ba mi". 

It was a verying period for me, over 200k debt. 200k may look small but it was a lot of money to me then. I contemplated committing suicide but I guess I loved life too much to take my own life. Lol

To be continued...

The Journey (Series 5)

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

The journey was indeed slow. Slower than I thought, I started appreciating all the business owners that I knew. That was when I knew that life was not all roses and one had to be prepared for the thorns as well.

I had a friend Bola (now my closest friend), who was into the same ushering business. Whenever she had a job, she will ask me to provide some hostesses, so I got to advertise her jobs on my social media platforms. 

Nobody needed to know who brought in the jobs as long as they kept coming and people continued believing in the brand. That was all that mattered at the time.

After our first job, there were about 5 other jobs in the period of a year. One of which was in Osogbo. I charged less, ran into huge debts, transported the hostesses all the way to Osogbo in my aunt's bus and back to Ibadan. ( the bus consumed so much fuel that I had silently wished we used the public transportation system instead). I was sad but happy because I was able to get another set of outfits, which also meant a new set of pictures.

In Osogbo

With six Jobs in a year! I knew I had to do something and fast! I couldn't continue like this. I decided to take on a couple of jobs for free the following year (2015) and it wasn't easy. I had to explain to my hostesses my plans and why I had to do it. Some understood while some simply made up excuses not to come on the days they were needed. 

A big shout out to our La' Heiress hostesses who stayed with us when the going was tough! Perpectua, Anastacia, Oyinkan, Busayo, Rose... My love for you girls is priceless!

Three free jobs and I now had pictures that I could show potential clients. I felt I had arrived, that the jobs will be flying in now that I had some pictures but little did I know that I was still VERY wrong! This was in 2015.

1st Free Job (January)

2nd Free Job (January)

3rd Free Job (April)

I waited and waited, continued my vigorous advertisement but all to no avail. I was frustrated, devasted, angry with myself for making yet another mistake (or so I thought). Then I got tired, I gave up and decided to venture into other things and this was when I decided to go into Personal Shopping fully. 

I had ventured into personal shopping sometimes in 2014 but it was supposed to be a side business. I had saved up some cash from my advertising job with a Media Agency (WOW! Media Concepts) and also from my youth service, so I felt ready to launch my new business. 

I got to know about a popular online store that sold anything and everything you could think of and without much enquiries, I went in blindly and started taking pictures from this online store and posting it on my social media platforms. It wasn't long before people started patronising me. Little did I know that this period was going to be one of the most difficult and challenging times in my entrepreneurial journey. 

To be continued...

La' Heiress Is 3 Today!

La' Heiress is 3 today! (27-06-2016)

Unfortunately, I have not been able to come up with anything to celebrate our 3rd year anniversary. The one thing I did do was to reflect. I reflected on the memories, the good, bad and the ugly memories. And then I thanked God for how far he has brought me.

As lost as I felt then, I just wanted to start and hoped it would count for something. I was unsure, I was afraid, I was happy and sad at the same time. 

Looking back today, I am glad that I started, it has been a challenging journey but God has been faithful. I am not yet where I want to be but I am on the right path.

I have given up. I have lost hope but most of all, I have learnt, I am stronger and I am moving forward, little by little we are getting there. 

Thank you to everyone who has ever believed in me or the brand. In some way, you all have been a source of inspiration to me. 

In the spirit of the our 3rd year anniversary, we would be offering our full wedding planning services to a special couple. 

This couple will also be eligible to receive all our complementary gifts and services which are:

- A customised guestbook

- Our Customised backdrop with the couple's pictures, a red rug and wedding props

- Our La' Heiress gift bag for the bride

- Two on site event coordinators and many more...

* You must follow our instagram account; @laheiress

* You must be getting married between January and July, 2017.

* Your Wedding must be in Lagos or Ibadan.

* Tell us why we should plan your wedding in 150 words. Please add your wedding details, location and date.

Send all details to: olamide@la-heiress.com

May the odds be in your favour! 

Happy Anniversary to La' Heiress. 

The Journey (Series 4)

The race is not given to the swift but to those who endure to the end.

We now had more than enough hostesses to start an ushering agency. We charged each potential usher N1,000 for their forms during the audition and this kind of put me under a lot of pressure to get the girls jobs.

But the jobs were no where to be found. I started wondering if I had made yet another mistake. Some of the ladies started sending me stinker messages. 

I had honestly thought that once I had gotten the hostesses, the jobs will automatically start flowing in. I was wrong, very wrong. 

I started thinking about my former bosses and how easy I thought they got jobs. Then I suddenly remembered one of my bosses statements, in which she asked us (her girls) if we thought it was easy for her to get ushering jobs. 

It had never occurred to me until that moment, that it wasn't going to be easy and I was going to have to work hard to get jobs, to gain the much needed experience that was needed for my agency to grow. My heart sank.

I was under immense pressure after demanding N1,000 from the girls, the stinker text messages were getting to me. Potential clients wanted pictures of previous jobs done and I had none to offer while some other clients wanted outfits that I did not have then. 

This went on for about 4 months, I was vigorously advertising on every platform available. Then one good day, I received a call from an old friend. He told me it was his younger brother's wedding and his contribution was to provide the hostesses for the event and he thought about me because I had been advertising relentlessly on all my social media accounts. (you are the best person to advertise your business) story for another day.

He told me their colour for the day and I told him I would get the outfits. He also mentioned that he did not have much money and that he really needed to contribute his part for the wedding. From N5,000 per girl that I charged him, he bargained to N3,000. I was desperate, I needed the job to keep the girls and also to give me some ray of hope.

I accepted.

It was after I had sealed the deal that it dawned on me that I had to get outfits, I became frantic, I wanted them to look nice but I also needed to make or buy an outfit they could reuse again. 

I also kept thinking of how much I would be able to give the ladies if I bought the outfits from the N3,000 which wasn't even near enough. 

I had to get money somehow. I bought a black and white striped peplum top at N1,500 each and I had to buy 10. I asked the girls to bring black pencil skirts. I also bought red accessories (belts and fascinators) since their colour had a touch of red in it. This cost me an extra N500 on each girl.

I paid the ladies the whole N3,000 and was left with nothing. In fact, it was a loss because I had to spend my money to buy the tops and accessories but I decided not to see it as a loss but rather considered it an investment, an investment that was to jump start La' Heiress Hospitality Services to greater heights.

To be continued...

The Journey (Series 3)

I am learning to trust the journey even when I do not understand it~ Mila Bron

I started with the planning, I still wasn't sure about it but I decided to start. I had this friend, Barrister Akatu AKA Mister Fantastic, as the name implied, he was fantastic, he was my go to person. I don't think anyone believed in me then as much as he did. He was never tired of telling me how much he believed in me and he was just the right person to be with at the time. 

From the moment I told him about my plans, he went from gear 1 to gear 5 in no time. We were able to fix a date for an audition, he went all out for me. He coined the name La' Heiress, so I owe it to God and him. He will always be the number one fan of La' Heiress. He would call me from work if an idea popped into his head, he would send pictures of outfits he thought the hostesses could wear for events. He was EVERYTHING. 

This simply goes to show that with the right person by your side, the right counsel and encouragement, you can pretty much achieve anything. 

During this period, I remember asking friends and family members to help advertise on their different social media platforms but no one was willing to, except a few and I could not force them. So I vigorously advertised on my social media platforms, I wasn't ready to give up, I had spent too much money already to give up now.

We had our first audition on the 27th of July, 2013. We had over 50 ladies which was more than I had thought we would have. It was a huge success.

To be continued...

The Journey (Series 2)

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

THE STRUGGLE 

I was all over the place, I was worried. My mother was worried. My siblings were worried but being the first of three siblings, they could not really come out to ask questions about my "all over the place" skills. 

I was sad, depressed and discouraged. It seemed like I was on the wrong path, like nothing was going to work out. I felt like a failure. I was broke and everything was hard. 

I went from one place to another, advertising what I did. I did not give up. I was shy at first but I knew I had to shake it off. I got lots of discouraging advises. I remember a particular friend that publicly used my picture on her dp and wrote, " my friend, gbogbo owo" with a laughing hysterically emoticon. Translation- my friend of all businesses.

And the men, yes the Men! You know them, the ones that won't give you anything unless they are getting something in return... I encountered a couple of them. 

Some patronized me while some told me I was too pretty to be selling Garri and some said that I didn't need to do anything, yet whenever I asked them for money, which was always very hard for me to ask, it was always one story or the other. It wasn't pleasant but my journey will be incomplete without mentioning them, because in some way, they had encouraged me without even knowing it.

I still wonder why many men are that way though. I mean, you have the means to help, help if you want to. You don't need to demand for something in return but I guess such is life.

Thinking about it now, I am glad they wanted something in return because it made me realise that I wanted more with my life and that I needed to act and fast too. I did not want to be at the mercy of others to survive. Like my sister always ask after an experience, be it bad or good, "What have you learnt from this?"

I learnt to give when I have because I have experienced what it is like to have nothing.

I also learnt to encourage people, especially new business owners because a negative comment can totally crush you and end a dream. 

Another thing I learnt is that many of your so called friends and family will not encourage your start up business. It is just the way it is. At first, you will feel hurt but after a while, you will adjust and later realise that you are the best marketer for your business. 

Even though, I was discouraged from every angle, I didn't give up because a wise man once told me to prepare my mind and be my own author, he also told me that people will discourage you at first then grow to respect your brand but only if you decide not to give in to their negativity. Thank you Eniola Oyeyode.

It was during this period that I realised that I had a passion, a passion that I had not known was there until I started ushering with different agencies. 

I saw a different me whenever I was ushering at an event. Many people saw and still see ushers/hostesses at events as trashy. But I saw us as heroes, it is not easy to coordinate a wedding or help assist people or stand in heels for more than 8 hours or try explaining to stubborn guests why they cannot sit on a seat that has been assigned to another or help with serving of food and generally making sure that the event runs smoothly. If that is trashy then I would love to be trashy over and over again.

My boss will sometimes put me in charge of some jobs whenever she had more than one event or just felt I was capable of handling the job, coupled with the fact that I was a Corper which also meant that I was older than many of the girls that were ushering at the time but I had the stature of a 15 year old. (still do) *big grin*

During this period, I saw ladies who were just as hardworking and many of them sending themselves to school and helping in their various homes financially. 

I also saw some loopholes and that was when it dawned on me that I wanted to be a leader with a difference. I wanted to help ladies and people generally. I had worked with a couple of ushering agencies, done a couple of jobs without getting paid and with no training whatsoever!

It was then I decided that I wanted to be a different kind of leader. I wanted to make an impact in my society.

To be continued...

The Journey (Series 1)

The Journey (series 1)

It's been a long and inspirational journey for me, from being absolutely broke, to depending on people for money, to starting businesses, to failing at several attempts, to starting over,  to getting discouraged, to that ray of hope, to finally getting there...

When I was 12 years old, I wanted be an accountant. At 15, I wanted to be a lawyer. At 17, I still dreamt of being a lawyer even though I was 'given' Philosophy in school and had two extra years (story for another day). At 23, I wanted to be an office girl but I had no idea of where I wanted to work, all I knew was that I wanted to work in an office from 8am to 5pm. It was my dream. 

While I was in secondary school, I ventured into a lot of things, I sold accessories, had a mobile library where I rented novels, baked queens cake and sold the cakes in other schools because I just couldn't bring myself to selling the cakes in my own school. 

In the University, I sold under wears, brought my mobile video CD rentals to school, made beaded accessories, a cake baker as well. I did a lot. Whenever we were on strike, I would go to my sister's school to sell my hand made beaded accessories. I did the things I thought I enjoyed doing but it was all basically not to be idle.

When OAU decided to finally release me, Lol. I joined in the family business of selling Garri Ijebu. Which is now branded "LMD Garri Ijebu" and also selling of smoked catfish. I started learning the art of fashion designing. I cooked food for bachelors while they were still at work (thank God for my mother, for teaching me how to cook like a proper naija girl), I also registered with some ushering agencies to make more money apart from my NYSC allowance.

With all these, I still felt lost. I had no sense of direction as to what I wanted to do with my life. I just kept doing everything I thought I loved because I hated being Idle and broke and I also hated asking people for money (I still do). I am proud like that!

To be continued....

Life The Way I See It

Life The Way I See It

Contrary to the popular belief that life begins at 40, I have always believed that life begins at 30. For me, 30 is significant. It means my early youth is over and my more mature youth is taking over. 

When I was younger, I used to lie about my age, for some reason, I just felt the need to lie about my real age. I still do not understand the reason behind this till date. I even put a fake date of birth on some of my certificates back then. I always dreaded the question, " how old are you?". It made me feel insecure in some funny way. Thinking about it now, it was probably one of the silliest things to worry about.

I will be 30 soon and many times, I have asked myself if I had utilized my 'twenties' years well. If I am an achiever, If I am where I want to be, so many "if's".  I secretly compare myself with others, measuring their successes with mine but the truth is I will never know and here is why...

Depending on what 'achievement' means to you, it could be wealth, it could be success in whatever you find yourself doing, it could be getting married and starting a family... Whatever it is, someone somewhere started earlier, someone somewhere is wealthier or more popular or more successful in whatever it is that they are doing and you will always wonder if you started early enough or if you are where you are supposed to be. 

So I decided that instead of worrying myself sick and wondering if I am where I am supposed to be, I would rather start something because I am a strong believer of "it is never too late".

It was never too late for some great achievers and It won't be late for me. The first step is to start, so I started and gradually kept moving forward.

Do I feel I could have started earlier, yes, I do. Have I made some stupid choices in my life, yes, I have. I am human, I have made very silly decisions that I wish I could take back but hey, that's life and this is MY LIFE, I am the hero of my own story. I dictate what happens in it. 

Take your story in your hands today, it is never too late to start over! Be proud of your age, it is a blessing to still be alive. People will try to discourage you but listen to yourself because in the end, only you matter.

Love,

Olamide

Welcome to my Life Changing Blog Series

Welcome To My Life Changing Revelation Blog

I am Olamide, a Wedding Planner and Lead Consultant at La’ Heiress Hospitality Services. I love to write, talk and cook.

This series was motivated by someone who tried to bring me down. Whatever ‘their’ reasons were, I have decided not to let it bother me but to make the best out of it. At every point in my life, someone or some sets of people have tried to discourage me, whether I accept it or not, a bad advice or a bad comment or remark can have negative effects on the mind. 

For a very long time, knowingly or unknowlingly, I allowed myself to be victimized, but on the 2nd of July, I had a life changing revelation in which someone tried yet again to make me feel lesser than I should and bring me down but this time, I made up my mind to say No! I will not allow anybody make me feel lesser than I should no more.

Hence this series, where I would be sharing both the good and bad moments in my life and how I have made the best out of these situations. This is going to be a part of me that you all did not know about. I will be revealing truths about myself and my life in general. It promises to be fun!

I honestly do hope that by expressing my life experiences and how I have made the best out of these situations I somehow found myself in, I will be helping others feel elevated in some kind of way. Please feel free to express yourself, your opinion does not have to be the same as mine. Your comments are welcome. Thank you.

Love,
Olamide