Last month, we had the amazing opportunity to attend the 2018 Wedding MBA Conference in Las Vegas. What an experience it was! Both Sandi and I were excited to learn as much as we could, network with other wedding professionals, and enjoy ourselves. By the end of the conference, our heads were swimming with a ton of information and ideas.
Seminars, Seminars, Seminars
Our seminars started bright and early each morning at 8 AM, which meant we were getting up and at em’ at 6 to look presentable, get a good meal that would last us through the day, and hop on the monorail to the convention centre. I’m not usually a morning person, so, not going to lie, I struggled! Each seminar we attended was 45 minutes, so we were able to pack a lot into each day. Being the planners and keeners we are, we had planned to go to our first one a bit early to get seats. We arrived half an hour early and still had to sit on the floor!
The Wedding MBA Conference is a must-attend event for North American professionals working in the wedding industry. Over 5,000 people were in attendance, which was so overwhelming. The end of each seminar required a laborious room change, and we had a good laugh equating the whole process to herding cattle with how many people were in the halls trying to get to the next amazing speaker.
In the midst of our seminars, there was a two-day Wed Con Expo set up that we could visit when we had a minute to spare. Dozens of booths had the latest linen designs, beautiful vases and candelabras, all the lighting props and accessories a person could dream of, floral archways, and the most interesting floral designs for bridal bouquets. One of our favourites (it’s such a unique idea) were the confetti cannons. There were different designs, dissolvable confetti for outdoor send offs, sparklers for New Year’s celebrations, and all shapes and sizes from one time use to reload and refillable cannons. We got to try some out, and they can bring a fun touch to your event.
The seminars finished at 6 PM, so we had very full days, and we were exhausted from all the information we absorbed. We had every intention to enjoy some night life in the city that never sleeps, but we definitely needed our shut eye to be up bright and early again! We did decide to let our hair down one evening and went to a Cher concert. If you ever get the chance to see her, we highly recommend it!
What Did We Learn?
Over the week, we were able to listen to several amazing speakers who discussed topics that focused on clients and the business side of things. We learned about new trends in the wedding industry and colours and textures that 2019 brides may be looking for. We’ll be speaking more about what we learned in the New Year, so keep an eye out!
We also learned some techniques we can’t wait to try out to keep ourselves sane when the whirlwind of our business is going strong. Another seminar we found particularly helpful was one about creating and maintaining a healthy work-life balance and attracting your best clients.
The Wedding MBA 2018 Conference was a huge step in helping us become better business owners and wedding professionals. We had a blast, filled several notebooks, and got to see up-and-coming ideas. We can’t wait to see how next year’s conference will top this one!