8 Lessons I Learned From My Conversation With A Successful Sustainable Wedding Planner
* Find my favorite nuggets of wisdom in this color!
I imagine this industry blossoming beyond the “norm” and evolving to fit the needs of modern-day trends – like sustainability. So this week, I wanted to go one step further in understanding the developing world of sustainable wedding planning.
Grounded Events is a sustainably-driven wedding planning firm in Los Angeles. The company prides itself on incorporating sustainable options in its planning methods and encouraging its clients to opt in for eco-friendly options all around. Their unique lens of choosing sustainable options has contributed to the business’ success.
I had the pleasure of talking to Alexandra Dennis, founder, and lead planner of Grounded Events. Alexandra shared with me powerful advice about having a strong brand image, her background in sustainability, running a sustainable business today, and her hopes for sustainable weddings in the future.
#1. There Is Always Room For Sustainability
Journeying through the Grounded Events “Sustainability” page, two thoughts came to mind. A) They have nailed having a clear brand image by making sustainability right at the top of their website. And B) Grounded Events is setting itself apart by inspiring couples to be more sustainable right off the bat.
I was curious to know where all of this knowledge about sustainable events and Alexandra’s passion for sustainability came from, so I started us off by asking:
I read on your website that you have been interested in sustainability for years and did local park cleanups with your dad as a child… I’m curious to know when or how you learned about sustainable wedding planning specifically?
Alexandra: “When I was in college I always knew that, whatever industry I ended up in, I wanted to have a sustainable lens to my work… [In] college, I was the general manager for our theater department and realized that I really loved that job, and all of the excitement on performance days, and all of the prep work in advance. I wanted to figure out how I could have a similar experience, but outside of the theater industry. And I truthfully, cannot remember how I took the mental leap between that and events or how I realized that events would get me a similar experience.
But I realized that events could, especially weddings, be a similar sort of trajectory. So instead of finding out about sustainable events, I became interested in events and then had to do a gut check of “Is this an industry that I can do that I can be a part of in a sustainable way?” I did a little bit of research on wedding planning and event planning, and the sort of wastefulness that can be very present in the industry. That made me realize, “Okay, this can be a very wasteful industry.” So therefore, it is an industry in which there can be a lot of progress made.“
Interest in events led to researching if the industry could be more sustainable – and the answer was yes!” This industry has a long way to go in terms of sustainably.
#2. The Number One Thing Clients Need To Know
Now that I knew Grounded Events was Alexandra’s brainchild, I wanted to pry in further about what running a sustainable wedding business is really like.
I also read that you strive to fill that knowledge gap for couples wanting a sustainable wedding, what’s the number one thing you want them to understand?
Alexandra: “I want them to know that they can have a beautiful, elevated, thoughtful, and well designed wedding and still be sustainable. I think there is a misconception that is shifting, but especially an older conception that if you want to have a sustainable wedding, it has to be very kind of hippie and completely zero waste. And you’re getting married in your backyard without all of the maybe infrastructure of a “normal” wedding.
But there is a lot of infrastructure in place now, where you can still have beautiful design, thoughtful choices, and also be making thoughtful choices regarding sustainability.
So that’s one top thing. The other top thing is I want them to know that they can make very small changes with a big impact. My favorite is composting, where it doesn’t change the guest experience at all. It’s relatively low cost, and it can make a big impact on waste diversion.”
#3. Biggest Challenge = Biggest Advantage
So sustainable weddings are deemed “hippie” (no shame if that’s your vibe), but truthfully sustainable decor can fit any and all types of aesthetics. With this in mind, I wanted to ask her if couples feel limited by sustainability options.
I know you do not judge couples if their event is not 100% sustainable, but have there been any setbacks from running a sustainable wedding planning company, such as couples feeling limited with their options?
Alexandra: “Well, when it comes to wedding planning there’s already a lot that has to match up when it comes to a planner and a couple being a good fit. You have to be a budget match, you have to match in your kind of communication style and logistical style, like how much communication each of you want, and the specificity of that. And also, of course, if the planner is doing any sort of design, you also have to be an aesthetic fit.
So when you’re also specializing in sustainable wedding planning for myself, there’s all of that still needs to be a good fit on both sides of things. And then you also have to be a fit in terms of sustainability. So it does make things a little bit more limiting. Couples that otherwise might be a great fit, but really don’t want to prioritize sustainability become not as good of a fit. And so it does, in some ways, limit the like the niche even further than everyone else.
But at the same time, I’ve found that people who are looking for sustainability, there aren’t very many of us. So in some ways, people will come look for us from farther away.
I’ve gotten inquiries from New York, and inquiries from upstate like NorCal, and all sorts of things. So if I would say yes, there is that limitation of just making sure that we’re aligned on our values. We’re all aligned in terms of style. And in terms of communication style.”
#4. Biggest Tip For Newbies
Event planners like Alexandra have the unique opportunity of being one of the few who do sustainability. I then wondered if Alexandra would go back and give herself any advice about the potential uncertainties in this business and with this niche.
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice for what was to come in this business what would it be?
Alexandra: “That’s a great question. I would probably say just have faith in the process. Starting a small business can be a little bit nerve wracking. Especially when you are choosing a relatively narrow in some ways, not in other ways, but a relatively specific niche. When you are a small business, you’re supporting yourself and trying to make sure that you’re serving enough clients and serving clients the way that you want to be serving them.
But ultimately, my business has unfolded in a really wonderful way. Where I’m able to get even deeper over time, in that commitment to sustainability, in the way that I work with my couples, and getting even more aligned with my clients.
So yeah, I would just say trust that it’s going to be okay – and just keep giving the best that you can to every couple.”
#5. Best Part About The Job
Knowing that it is going to be okay can help any young business-minded professional remember to have faith in the process. Jumping into the present, I wanted to know:
What is the most rewarding part about running a sustainable business?
Alexandra: “So running a sustainable business, I think so many of us are trying to have a good impact on the world. And so the knowledge that I’m able to do that with my work is really powerful for me.
It makes all of the stress really worth it when I feel like I’m able to have that impact.
And then also, I really love creating this experience for my couples and getting to be part of such an important part of their day. Helping them make sure that they are aligning their wedding with their values. So it’s not just a beautiful day, it’s a day that truly represents them from the inside out, is something that I take a lot of pride in, and something that I’m really grateful to be able to do.”
#6. The Attraction Of Sustainability
I loved Alexandra’s insight on how sustainability makes her job on a personal level that much more worth it. I then wanted to know the business side of things. So, I asked her:
Has being sustainable gotten you more clients?
Alexandra: “I think it attracts a different type of client. In some ways, it is limiting, because I will get referrals from other planners, that those planners don’t have the same specialty. And so some of those couples that they’re referring to me, that is not a priority for them. And I have gotten to a point in my business where I feel confident in what I offer, and in really prioritizing working with couples that are excited about that.
If there are couples that aren’t a good fit, I’m always happy to send them to a lot of different colleagues that I love, who might be a better fit and better aligned. I’ve had couples who find me who are getting married in New York state and couples who find me who are getting married in Northern California.
If that is that someone’s priority there’s not very many of us in the industry. So in some ways, it makes it more likely for them to find us.
And more likely for them to want to work with us because we are providing something really special. Even couples that are getting referred to us from another company, for example, when they hear us talk about sustainability. A lot of them do get excited and do want to incorporate elements of that, even if it wasn’t something they thought of initially. So in that way it’s a really nice value add for some of those referrals, who hadn’t thought about it in terms of their wedding, but now get really excited about that incorporating that and having that impact through their wedding.”
#7. The Future’s Looking Bright
Grounded Events is one of the few out there making sustainable wedding planning possible and changing the industry. I wanted to know where Alexandra sees the impact continuing in the next couple of years.
Where do you see sustainable wedding planning in the next 3 to 5 years?
Alexandra: “Sustainable wedding planning itself has become much more talked about in the past few years. And I expect that to continue and become much more a topic of conversation, especially as more and more people of marrying age have grown up with sustainability as part of their lives and with that as a priority and a value.
And so of course, it’s something they want to include in this day that is talking about what they want the rest of their lives to look like.
So I do think it’s going to continue to grow as a sector, I hope that it is that we’re able to incorporate as an industry more and more different ways to be sustainable. The floral industry has evolved a lot to be more sustainable. The food industry, especially the composting, and donation options that are now available have become more sustainable. Even the stationery industry with seed paper and lots of even the big stationery companies have a lot of recycled paper options, or invitations. I do expect and hope that that will continue.
And hopefully, we’re able to bring that to parts of the industry that are a little bit trickier to make more sustainable. Rental companies, in order to keep things clean during transport, the current method of doing that is wrapping most items in their crates in some sort of like saran wrap or plastic wrap. I hope that that’s something that we can continue to evolve and maybe find alternative options for rental companies, and alternative options for some of those harder sticking points.
In terms of my own business, since we are still in a growth phase, I’m excited to continue to grow the amount of clients that I work with, especially full service clients, because then we can help them through the process from start to finish – really incorporating sustainability and social responsibility throughout the whole fabric of their wedding, as opposed to coming in at the end. And you know, offering composting and those sorts of things which are awesome.
The more full-service clients I’m able to work with, the more I’m able to help them showcase all of their values, the complexity of their values, and the intricacies of them in their wedding, especially from a sustainability point of view. So that’s really exciting.”
#8. Elevating The Experience
I felt Alexandra’s passion for this type of work radiating through the phone. In hopes she could share any last-minute pieces of wisdom I asked her:
Any closing thoughts?
Alexandra: “There are so many clients, or so many couples that still don’t know that sustainability is an option for them when they’re planning their wedding. And I just want to make sure that those couples know that it is, whether you work with a sustainable planner or not, there are all sorts of ways that can really elevate your guest experience or be low cost to incorporate that. So it doesn’t mean you have to change your wedding. It is something I always want people to think about in the small ways in the big ways.”
A huge thank you to Alexandra, founder of Grounded Events, for sharing her insight on the wonderful world of sustainable wedding planning. Be sure to follow Grounded Events on Instagram and contact them yourself here.
Till next time,
Thalia