Episode 8 - Two Birds Event Group

In this episode of the Wedding Day Podcast, Sonia Babich and Dan Riggs interview Tyler and Kendrick from Two Birds Event Group in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They discuss venues, DJs, and the importance of the MC role at weddings. Two Birds Event Group offers multiple venues, including the Ivy House, Filament, and the Starling. They also provide DJ and planning services. The hosts and guests emphasize the importance of communication, flexibility, and backup plans in the wedding planning process. They also discuss the benefits of off-season weddings and the role of wedding professionals in creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for couples and their guests.

Keywords

wedding, venues, DJs, MC, planning, communication, flexibility, backup plans, off-season weddings, wedding professionals

Takeaways

Two Birds Event Group offers multiple venues, DJ services, and planning services.

Communication and flexibility are key in the wedding planning process.

Backup plans are important to ensure a smooth and enjoyable wedding day.

Off-season weddings can offer unique benefits and experiences.

Wedding professionals play a crucial role in creating a memorable and enjoyable wedding experience.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Two Birds Event Group

10:25 Expanding the Venue Collection

25:40 The Role of Wedding Venues in Ensuring Safety and Fun

28:32 Choosing the Perfect Wedding Venue

Transcript

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Welcome to Wedding Day podcast with your host Sonia Babich, CEO of Iron Diamond Media, a leading wedding resource featuring seven localized wedding brands across the country and Dan Riggs, photography and videography expert and founder of Summit Hill Studios. Come along as they travel from state to state to connect with the most creative and well -respected professionals in the wedding industry. Every episode will arm you with the hottest new trends, wedding day tips and details, and they'll show you all the joys of planning your perfect wedding day.

Hi, I'm Jenna Culley, owner of LinenFX Minneapolis. I bet I can guess the third thing you did after getting engaged. Number one, you called family and friends to share the good news. Number two, you started a Pinterest board. Number three, you realized that you have no idea how to bring that Pinterest board to life. That's where we come in. Let the design experts at LinenFX take your ideas and bring them into reality. We have everything, including floor length linens, charger plates, table settings, centerpieces, candles,

pretty chairs, lounge furniture sets, and more to make your event picture perfect. Go to our website at lineneffects .com to schedule your appointment today. That's lineneffects .com and see your Pinterest board come to life. Welcome to Wedding Day Podcast. Today we're in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and we're here with Tyler and Kendrick from Two Birds Event Group. We're going to talk venues, we're going to talk DJs, all that good stuff. Welcome, guys.

Thank you very much. I was like, I was like, what are these boxes? Don't worry about it. And then I immediately was worried about it and then forgot about it. And that's awesome. I have to say that these two and this company, this team always pulls out surprises. Yeah. Every time I see them, there's always something up their sleeve. So I'm really excited.

for this podcast. Do you have the DJ horn that goes, brr brr brr brr? Yeah, it's actually my ringtone. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Cool. What is Two Birds? Where did you get Two Birds? There's two of you. So I mean, Two Birds is kind of to each person's interpretation. So my business partner is Ramsey.

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And so some consider us the two birds others consider the couples that we get to work with as the two birds but it also started with a DJ company and Venues and so that is also a way of looking at the two birds with one stone. So that's where the name came from and two birds was created as the overarching name to Easily answer the question. What do you do? You know?

Who do you work with? And so we have those four venues and we have the DJ company and under the umbrella of two birds, we just launched our next endeavor, which is the journey, which is our planning service as well. So your first venue, of course, kind of the mothership that all started this was the Ivy house. So, and this was also a historic building. Yeah, no, I mean, yeah, it's Milwaukee. So every building is kind of historic. So Ramsey and I, we knew, I mean, we'd been working as DJs for years.

years and we knew that we wanted to stay in this business. We love it and we wanted to find other ways to connect with couples and so we started the search for venues very early on and we had some awesome projects. Everything from giant Girl Scout camps of 70 acres for big huge experiences to geodesic domes to barns obviously and so when we came across the Ivy house it was an old dilapidated nightclub.

And we had all these images of greenery and space and nature, but we could never marry the concept of the logistics that are difficult when you have to go further away from airports and hotels and all that.

And so for us, the Ivy House was the opportunity to bring all that nature downtown in a light industrial building and make it all sing together. And so we found it. We walked into the nightclub owner and we started with, are you for sale? And he said, no. And we're like, perfect. That's where we will start this conversation. And a year later we owned it and renovated it and became the Ivy House. The details in this space are so cool. Thank you. When I first met Tyler,

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You were talking about, yeah, we painted it blue.

And it wasn't the color. Wasn't the color. It wasn't the color. And I love that because that just shows like venues actually care what their venue communicates to their future couple that has their wedding there. And you're like it's green. It is. This is the perfect green. We didn't have a name then either so we didn't know. And then it turned into us putting like 10 huge swatches of color on the side of the building. Within black we wrote under it like just put a marker next to the ones you guys like and then anybody that was walking got to put in a vote for it. That's brilliant. And we chose.

the one that had the most votes for it. Dude. Okay, that's it. That's it. We painted the whole building. I love that. Yeah. And the cool thing when you walk in, there's ivy everywhere. And they have a specialist that comes in and cleans the ivy. I was gonna say, is it real ivy? Yeah, yeah. We don't have any fake plants in any of our venues. Yeah. And so it is real ivy. His name's Andy and he is magical. He comes in every Wednesday and he spends all eight hours just talking to them, picking at them, naming them, whatever he's got to do to keep them going well. I witnessed it. Yeah.

He's very passionate when you're passionate about something you do with excellence. So he's awesome. And yeah, they're only just taking over the place more and more and more. I think that's one of my favorite things is looking back at some of the original photos when everything just gets planted and everything's just in individual little planters. And now you walk in and it's night and day. It's like a Jurassic Park or a jungle book as far as it's kind of taken over the vegetation. And it's really cool to watch a family that you guys grew together. Yeah. Well, they kind of are a family. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, there's not only connections inside of the team we have, a family, but so many of us are married and connected in that way. And our kids come by and it's been a really wonderful way to grow a team together. It's been a really blessing. Yeah, it is. That's so cool.

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Finally you added more venues onto the plate. Before we leave, we have a gift. What? We wanted to set the mood here as well. Oh nice. So we have some candles for you guys. Oh yes. See look at the details. Yeah we gotta make sure that we are cool and comfortable here today. I want to light mine off of this pyrotechnic scene back here. Very nice. Thank you. That smell is also like the custom smell that we have with the local

purveyor that are great to work with that couples can come in and get their own sense put together and their own little fun ideas. Yeah. So you are all about like the local. They made actually a local painted wall. And what's the message again on the painted wall? Enjoy the journey. Like a local artist did the mural? Yeah, they never touched a mural before. They're just a local artist that we actually knew like back through high school. And we had looked for a long time. There are a lot of decisions that we make day in and day out, whether it's, you know, critical decisions at an event or

choosing a wallpaper at a venue and there was something about the mural that was, it was more than us, it was bigger than us, it was something that people weren't going to come inside and just see our walls and what we chose to do and so we were really reflective on what we were adding to the community and adding to Walker's Point here in Milwaukee and so we wanted it to be positive but we didn't want it to be too wedding focused, we wanted it to be speak to everyone and so we went with enjoy the journey and what we have found is not only do our couples love taking photos in front of it but random weddings will stop by.

We've had graduation stop by. It's part of the tours of Milwaukee and they'll just stop by with like 60 visitors and take photos in front of it. So people seem to really enjoy it, which is nice. It's actually his wife, Abby, who works with us. She's been working with us as our original team. And we had a bunch of artists give it a shot and she all of a sudden raised her hand and she's like, can I give it a shot? And then she crushed it. So that's the design we went with. Abby painted it? She designed it. And then we have artists come in to actually paint it. Oh, wow. Way to go, Abby. Yeah, Abby. Abby got us cokes today. Abby found us furniture for this.

Abby's amazing. She's a Jill of all trades for sure. She's 10 months pregnant right now. 10 months pregnant? Oh yeah, oh yeah. She started moving furniture around. I'm like, stop it! She's ready to go. I'm trying to get this baby out. Whatever it takes. That's not her voice. So with each venue that you've opened, I'm sure you have customized it around a path or a reason. So what are all the different venues that you have? So we have that one. That one came along, Ivy House came along at around the same time as Filament.

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Filament, like a lot of venues, well some venues, they had a previous life, right? They were some sort of other venue. And then somebody comes in and breathes their life into it and sees what happens. So for that one, it was called the Seabelt, and then we came in and we created the filament. It's very important to us that we don't change a space to become what we want it to be, but we enhance what it is. And so for filament, it is this beautiful Cream City brick, natural timber building. And to bring in loud,

wallpapers or colors would just take from the space. And so everything we've done is just to enhance it with our colors, our lights, and that's where Filament came from. So we have over 60 unique Filament style bulbs that hang there, all of different shapes and sizes, and it really just adds to that ambiance. So that one's Filament. We have the Starling, which is...

in the third ward, so a different area, different energy, so we went with modern, bright, vibrant, it's right on the river with the boardwalk, and so we added a lot of nature to that space as well, so big, huge moss wall, big letters that scream MKE, and certain clients are drawn to that one versus Filament versus IVS because they each can scratch a different itch, and it's up to the couples to choose which one sings to them. And then recently, we've been asked by the Historical Society to

help them with the next 10 years of this property. So they've had great people operating this space as a museum and as a venue and as a bank for years and it is now our chance to to run it as a venue for the next 10 years with them. They've been awesome partners for this space. There's nothing that we want to do or change or could and it's it's perfect how it is and our job is to just bring the couples in and show them what they're missing.

So what's the next thing up your sleeve? I know you have wedding planning and... Yeah, the wedding planning was the next thing. It was another opportunity for us to have that connection with couples and to be able to offer a service that is more total. And we wanted to have that opportunity with them, but we never take our foot off the gas. And so we do often meet with developers and there are properties that are up in discussion right now. We do hope to procure them.

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here in New Space in the next month or two here and you will be the first phone call when that happens. Cause we like to be the news for the Wisconsin Bright community. For sure. It's very fun to be a part of because we get to see a lot of things that are happening in the undertow of Milwaukee and it's wonderful to see how much people are investing in it and the development that are coming into it and whether it's Chicago or you know other outfits coming in to help and kind of take our offering to the next level.

So we have some cool Sparks, what do you call those old sparks cold spark? Yeah, you can frolic through them. Yeah. Yeah, yeah sure. Why not? I'm not gonna frolic through that So you guys also have a DJ business, right? Yeah Milwaukee Airwaves. Yeah is the name of the the DJ and production side of things? So I'm assuming that is the DJ of choice at these wonderful venues, but I'm sure you can kind of venture out into

other venues as well. Yeah, most definitely. So obviously exclusive with all of our venues. We also hold an exclusive partnership with the Fitzgerald, which is run by the Pabst Group, which is fantastic. And then we're also everywhere. You know, you name a venue, we've probably been there at least a half dozen times, if not more, which is super fantastic. When they start their wedding planning journey with you, and you get the first call, the first email, DM, because that's happening now is DMs. Like, how does that kick off with that?

process with you how do you start holding their hand? Yeah for us it's telling a little bit more about us what we provide I think the thing that's truly special about what we try to do is we want to enhance what the couple's vision is for the day not

put just kind of our blanket sticker on everything. Obviously, there's always going to be a little bit of us in it because they're hiring us for a reason. But I think it's how do we tailor that experience to that couple, everything from music selection and music choices so it feels like their day to the bells and whistles, right? The cold sparks, the extra lighting, the big screen of projectors or TVs and embellishments. And we can kind of go anywhere with it. Or we can be super streamlined as well.

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Again, it's kind of helping fulfill their vision. So I'm a videographer and one of the things that I noticed about DJs specifically is the MC part of the equation is so important. You really have to have somebody who can command a room, somebody who can, you know, just knows what the next step is, keeps the, you're basically like, if they don't have a wedding planner, the DJ becomes the pseudo wedding planner. You're the one that keeps everything on time and. You communicate to the guests.

Like this is what's coming up, folks. Don't miss it. The guests, the other vendors, you name it. We get our hands in pretty much everything on that day. So I would say, I mean, I would say, would you say that MC is just as important part of the equation as DJ is for the evening? Yeah, 100%. I think the thing that I like to communicate to everyone we have the opportunity to talk to about what we provide is that I always say we're more than a DJ. And MC is a huge part of it, right? Again, kind of coordinating with every other vendor, making sure that everyone's on either

on time or ebbing and flowing because we all know timelines or guidelines more than anything. So kind of ebbing and flowing is the day goes naturally and kind of pushing pulling where we need to commanding the room kind of making those announcements things like that. But that's also doesn't have to be where it stops either. You know for us it's what needs to be done to make the day great. You know these couples spend so much time money blood sweat tears you know you name it all like leading up to the day that when it finally gets to their day we want them to be fully.

kind of enveloped in that. So if that means I gotta move tables and chairs, I'm gonna move tables and chairs. If that means I gotta make a phone call, I'm gonna make a phone call. And throw a...

badass party. Well, going out like DJs, that's when they get to the DJ part that they're like so excited. Yeah. They're like, this is the fun part. Oh my gosh. Like, you're the cool ones. Right. Yeah. I don't know. It doesn't seem as intimidating to start working with the DJ. Yeah. Like, but it's so crucial to select the perfect DJ because they help build the energy, especially if it's not feeling like good energy, like during the dinner reception, kind of low kind of maybe you weren't like,

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included in the dinner portion, when that DJ starts that music, they're starting the party. So maybe that's even something to pay attention to when to bring in the DJ, because I always thought when the DJ wasn't part of the dinner service, you had to just go off of the surround sound. I think it's important to have the DJ kind of a part of their dinner reception, don't you think? Yeah, I would say I've never done a wedding that we weren't involved in at least cocktail hour on, because again, I think it's so crucial. One, you're getting a

feel for the group, kind of better understanding kind of their dynamics. For me, cocktail hour is kind of my opportunity to kind of experiment a little bit, see what people are kind of, what they're vibing with, maybe what they're not leaning into. You kind of start to find your party people, so to speak, and you kind of get to clock the room a little bit. And then obviously kind of that natural segue into dinner, things like grand marches, things like that are so important for us to be a part of. And the only time that we're not involved in ceremony is if it's not on site for the most part. Otherwise, I think it's so important.

important for us to be there the entirety of the day. The DJ literally makes or breaks the evening like the vibe, everything that you're talking about. We've all been to weddings where the music was terrible and the music didn't fit the crowd and it's so obvious. It really guides the whole direction of the night. I put DJ up very high on the list of things to book. Now that's not for everyone. Not everyone is that, you know, wants to have that party or whatever. Some people just, you know, put on some background music.

and I'm gonna mingle with my friends and family, but the...

The best weddings that I've been to have always had a rockin' DJ, a great MC who really knew how to guide the night, and I think that a lot of couples don't prioritize the DJ as high as they should. Yeah, it's one of the few constants throughout the entire evening. Obviously they prioritize the day and the venue, but when it comes to DJ, they are there the entirety of it as well. And just like you're saying, the music, they a lot of times hyper -focus on the music and what that's gonna sound like, and they're not thinking of how is the MC setting it up, what's the energy gonna be?

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feel like how are we gonna set this up so that at 8 30 when we start to dance it's not that slow sluggish start but they're all itching and they're like okay when can we get out there let's finish this dessert quick so we can get back out there and dance that's our job and in in doing that it's meeting with them a month before and talking with them and connecting with them because our job is to enhance them so some do just want a little bit of a chill party some wanted to be a dancing you know crazy fest so we allow for them to you know find themselves when they book the

a DJ, I believe and think that engaged couples just think about the dance. They don't think about the full day. So that's when a DJ will actually help educate them. Like you actually need me for the ceremony. Yeah. You actually need me for that cocktail hour. There are so many different times that I've had such wonderful conversations with couples and like talking about that, right? They have a vision of what a DJ is and what a DJ brings to the table. And you start kind of building on that and saying, yes. And we do all these other things. But not just 8 to midnight.

Exactly, yeah, there's more than that and the moment you start painting that picture like you can kind of see like the the eyes open up a little bit the kind of the cloud disappears like oh wow I didn't think of that and how many times I've heard that phrase on a phone call which is so awesome and they're like and you you can do that I was like yeah, we got you taken care of we'll do that for you a lot of times engaged couples think that things just happen. Yeah, oh That's just happening. There's a lot of detail that goes into it and gear matters Yeah matters when we're talking about speakers when we're talking about wireless microphones for our

Lappel mics, you know all of that stuff. What would you tell engaged couples? They should be asking their DJ company like to look for as far as gear as far as skills experience Yeah, so when they're technically interviewing that you or the DJ what are key questions? They should ask to be like, okay, he's legit. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question

man, I don't think I've ever been asked that before. I've been asked a lot of questions, but I don't think I've ever been asked what questions to ask your DJ, which is a funny thing to think about. I think gear does come up, right? A lot of people will ask what we're utilizing and things like that. When you get someone who's a total gear head as well, you get to kind of like embellish a little, not embellish, but like dive deeper into it a little bit. Yeah, you're like, dude, those EVs, those are incredible. Right, but I think it's understanding their expertise,

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their experience in the industry. I think that's another thing about DJ specifically is that there's so many different facets of what a DJ can be. There is someone who's playing at a bar, there's someone who plays at a nightclub or a festival, there's someone who plays at a wedding, and they're all truly unique. And I think having someone who's focused on the industry is so important. Yeah, a club DJ is not the same as a wedding DJ. A club DJ might give you 15 seconds of each track, and that's not, we're trying to dance, right?

But the versatility to be able to do all of those different voices all of those different DJ styles because that 15 seconds is nice at 11 15 and 11 30 and so we do have a good you know group of guys that are able to You know offer those different kind of services. They can put on a different hat. Yeah Yeah, they know what their wedding hat and totally and read the room because you want everybody on the dance floor All ages on the dance floor, so you may want the popular song that's on the radio, but hey grandma doesn't know that song

My auntie Janet doesn't know that song. It's timing. Yeah. I think getting back to that question of like what to ask, I think something that's so vital is backups and like contingency plans because unfortunately things fail and that's just kind of like part of life. Like we've all had our phone die or something like that and what do you do in that instance? And I think having a plan in place is so vital because it's not an if, it's a when. And we want to make sure that even if something goes wrong, nothing is ever seen.

because it doesn't actually affect the day because you already have Plan B, C, D, and E already lined up for if something were to happen. I was filming a wedding last summer at a barn. Okay. It was in Wisconsin. The year was 2023. And the DJ was obviously not experienced. He was very quiet, very shy. At one point the microphone system went out. It ended up being like the soundboard. Sure. But this was the

during speeches. It just went out. And so nobody could give any speeches. Their backup plan was to call somebody who was off site and they would run them a brand new sound board. And it took 45 minutes for them to get there and then the DJ didn't know how to set it up. I mean, it was a real, it was a mess. So I'm imagining that is not your backup plan. No, so I think one of my favorite stories that I love to tell is this was earlier on in my DJ career when I first started with Milwaukee Airwaves and I was at

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a venue that's in the middle of nowhere, right? There's no call a buddy, get out of jail, free card moment. And I could not get the wireless microphone to work before the ceremony, which is why it's so important to show up early and test your stuff, because you don't want that to happen in the moment. And I remember I called Tyler and I said, man, I said, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I said, I've done steps. We go through the checks and balances. He knows the stuff, so he's already tried all the things. You know, when you get a bad customer service call, that's what I was for him. I said, turn it off and turn it back on. So I tried all that.

Yeah, and he was it still wasn't working. He goes what are you gonna do? I said, I don't know I said but I got to figure it out and I got to go hang up the phone We ran thank goodness. We had obviously backups. We ran hard wire instead of wireless and it didn't affect the experience at all. No, yeah, that's the game It's gonna happen. Yes. Did anybody notice cuz if nobody notices then it's a win. That's the game The other part of it is to just having that plan, you know gears gonna fail. I mean it fails. It does happen. So do you have a backup plan? That's a

great for a wireless microphone, hardwired mics is a great backup. That's a great question for engaged couples to ask their DJ. I think that's one of my favorite slogans to then kind of really encourage my team is...

Sometimes you just gotta figure it out, make it happen. Get creative, MacGyver it, and they do great with that. So running a venue, it's very glamorous and very fun. People really think it's a Jennifer Lopez kind of look and feel. Always gorgeous looking, the part, but it's a lot of work. Your flipping tables, your moving tables, your shifting room designs, your up and down and all around, cleaning bathrooms. The fun stuff that a lot of couples

don't realize that the love that goes into running a venue but they also don't realize the part of the babysitting role. Yeah. It's a big role. Yeah. So when you pick a venue you have to also know your people are the the team that's going to make sure your crew is safe and babysit your guests because when guests show up there's no rules for some reason. Yeah they're ready to go. So with your experience and like

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Kind of the babysitting hat I think couples need to learn what we do behind the scenes to keep people safe and having fun Right like I don't think they think about You know What shenanigans could happen and they don't know what could happen behind the scenes and that's okay Yeah, but there's things that happen that you're making sure that their day is Untouched and still rocking and rolling and dancing on the dance floor And just like you know equipment will cut out batteries die right and you have your redundancies and you have that when you put

200 people in a room and they are usually consuming alcohol and they're there to have a great time. If you look back on stories of other people that have shared like of weddings that haven't gone well it's usually because of a guest or two that got unruly or got out of control and so we keep an eye on that. So even from a like a responsibility standpoint when it comes to like alcohol and things like that we'll make sure our bartenders are trained in how to like you know notice things and see things and make sure that their guests are you know having the appropriate amounts of alcohol.

call. But more than that it is how do you handle it when you start seeing a guest kind of veer off into danger zone like how do you handle it and so that is a huge element to the relationship that we're building with these couples.

We almost like in a self -sabotaging way, we ask for a lot of communication from our couples. We like to meet with them. Every single couple we have multiple, I mean dozens if not hundreds of emails and phone calls and text messages and hours of like face -to -face interaction because we need to be able to make of those hundred decisions a night, we need to be able to make 95 of them without consulting them because it would just wreck their entire evening. And then those big ones like it's about to rain should we do this ceremony outside? Those are the ones that we bring to them.

I mean, a large part of that is making sure that we understand the type of decisions that they would want us to make in those moments. And then obviously go up to them and feel like they're a good friend of ours. So when we go up to a groomsman or to a relative and we say like, Hey, here's what we can do. Another thing I always ask couples is who is going to be the most responsible adult at your wedding that will have a, and it's like an uncle this or a grandma this. And you know, I can go to her and be like, that guy's going to be a problem. He's like, Oh, that's, that's cousin this. That's my nephew. I'll go take care of it.

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And so always finding who your alliances are with, you know what I mean? I think it's so important to have the couple pick up the key person. And it can be the personal tenant, but it's usually not. It needs to be a family member that if they come over, Uncle Buck comes over. That's it, knock it off. Grabs you by the ear. Says game over or you need to get out of here. Yeah. And I'll introduce it. I'll tell the couple, like, hey, have them come say hi to me at the beginning of the day. And he'll be like, yeah, you let me know if there's anything I need. And there's times they will also.

the groom's on top of the table and I'll look at him and he'll be like I'll go talk to him. I'm like thanks sounds good. Then we're dancing on the bar. And it's just good to run through like again the rules of the property one more time before the wedding day because you know you get that sometimes I don't remember that because you're so excited to sign on the dotted line when you pick your dream venue. Yeah. It's just always good to. And who wants to talk about all the rules and regulations and all that it's just not fun so to do that when everybody's clean and sober 30 days before the wedding yeah just make sure we're all on the same page and then. And parents too even. Yeah. Because they just

They just want to know the scoop. They want to be on the same page. They don't want to be having lighteners on when they show up. I think along that line, it's so great because then it's not just you keeping an eye on things. You have, again, those advocates, those people who are in your corner, so to speak, which is really great. And then also people feel involved. And they've got a role, which is great. And I think it's such a great thing for them as well.

It would be like, I helped today happen too. It's like, yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, and it keeps the date swimmingly. Yeah. Right? And again, it's all about the couple getting married. And that's why they're all there. That's why everybody's in the room is to have them celebrate their love in the best possible way. And however anybody can help, they're always willing to do it. Yeah. So finding the perfect wedding venue, what is the ideal time you think they should start reaching out to you right after the ring, right? Immediately after they get engaged, yeah. And then how does that process start? Like book the venue then?

Yeah, I mean every couple is unique right and so we treat all of our couples as a unique couple and so You know I would recommend getting engaged and then reaching out to a venue immediately The worst case scenario is that you will have more options and you won't have less sometimes couples are like I don't know It's so fresh Let's wait three to six months and then reach out and then we'll get married this year or next year And then they find that those dates are already gone There's no harm in sending out a couple of emails just to get the feelers going and so see what's available

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Usually they come in with not a specific date, so I would recommend having a more general time frame. Obviously if it's your anniversary or it's your wedding, if New Year's Eve or bust, then great, that's who you are and be you. But if you're more open -minded, we're looking at spring or fall, it allows the venue to have a little bit more flexibility. And then something that's been changing more in the wedding industry that I'm excited about is this over -importance on Saturdays is starting to water down, which I'm excited about. I was just gonna ask you that. Big fan of this. I chose, I got married

15 years ago and I chose to go with a Friday because your family comes into town They're going to fly in anyway, they take off that extra day And then you know the day of your wedding you really don't interact with too many of your guests You get a few minutes with each with each one of them and then you have all day Saturday and Sunday to like branch and hang out and open up gifts and tell the stories of what just happened and share photos and all that fun stuff Versus the Saturday where you have the Friday rehearsal Saturday is all about the wedding and then Sunday everyone's on their flights going back

home. So coming in with the open mind of like we'll explore Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays allow for more flexibility sometimes there's really nice discounts there's all kinds of benefits or a more peak date with that outdoor weather all kinds of stuff. I did the exact opposite in a similar fashion mine was on a Sunday so same thing family came in Thursday Friday you get all weekend with everybody which is really awesome kind of swapping stories catching up with family you don't see a whole lot I've got family all over the country and outside of the country so it was like really great to spend time with them.

leading up to the day. I love about Friday weddings is they always have their party pants on. Oh yeah. And you're working and you're like what are you doing in it? I'm going to a wedding. Yeah. And on Saturday you're kind of waiting for the wedding. Drink a little bit earlier. So you go home a little bit earlier. And you only have Sunday. There might be more people in the ceremony being a little buzzed up already because it's a Saturday. It's a good day to relax. And they get two days to relax.

Yeah, so Friday you just there's a little pep in the step. Also offseason weddings. Yeah, I love offseason weddings I don't know about you guys, but I think when it's offseason guests actually come more dressed Yeah, because it's something to look forward. Yeah, sometimes it's a lot of couples I mean you hear from your guests There's a little bit of a burnout sometimes and I'm going to nine weddings this year eight weddings this year So, you know and when it's off -peak it allows people to come in and really like dial it in have a great time

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Different totally different attire in Wisconsin right and so I can really mix it all up I love when couples lean into it too right so if they're a Halloween couple right and really leaning into it In a way or winter and like again anything you need yeah exactly like you they truly make it theirs anytime you lean into something I think that's like the best way to do it I like offseason weddings from a videographer photography standpoint because it's you know sometimes you get snow Sometimes you get all that different fashion

that you wouldn't get in the summer where you have maybe a mink shawl that you get to work with on a wedding day. And yeah, I mean, it just adds a different element. Plus, like you said, the fatigue from going to all of these weddings for your guests, like, oh yeah, I got another wedding to go to. You kind of become the shining moment then with your January wedding or with your February wedding. And just everything's cheaper. Hotels, flights, everything's just a little bit less expensive. But also, when you hire great wedding professionals, they're gonna make it pretty. Yeah. No matter what, leaves or no leaves.

snow or no snow, like you hired professionals and they're gonna find the beauty in the day. So again, I just think off seasons are, there's no off season. The whole year is a season. But I don't, like when it's busy season, like you said, you get kind of lost with the other weddings. Be different, go rogue, have a Wednesday wedding, why not? And you know, the other thing too is, we're wedding vendors, we get tired. I get a little tired by September, October.

never happens, I'm a robot. And yeah, so like an off -season wedding is an opportunity for us to have recharged our batteries and not that we're not super pumped for all the other weddings, but we're just, we're a little more tired than we are, but man, when you get that, oh, I got a February wedding, this is awesome. And the team shows up and they're so excited because they maybe haven't had a wedding for a couple weeks. Oh, we got a wedding in February, whoop, whoop. Yeah, a lot of those bartenders and DJs, they might go, I mean, they'll in a three,

month window in summer they'll DJ twice a weekend and then they'll go through January February March and they might DJ once or twice or bartend once or twice so when they're coming in they're fresh they're ready to go they're eager for it they're ready to you know do that experience. Well thanks guys so much for hosting us today at the society. Yeah. And just for sitting on these benches couches two chairs two birds. But honestly guys are just always just a great team you just spoil us every time we're hanging out with you you bring energy into my

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world of Wisconsin Bride and even more so I just appreciate you both so much. Thank you for the opportunity we're big fans of you and Dan and everything you guys are doing at Wisconsin Bride. It's got some new life breathing into it and that's become very obvious to us. It is a great resource for couples, it's a great resource for all of us wedding professionals so keep doing your thing. Yeah thank you so much. Well thank you for tuning in you can follow us where Dan? So if you're listening on Spotify right now you can watch this I mean we want to see what Tyler and Kendrick look like.

You want to, I promise. You do. I'm not going to say who you look like, but man. How fast can you swim? That's my question. Yeah, I've gotten that. I've gotten that. That's a compliment. That's a compliment. That's a big win for me. Yeah, so check us out at Wedding Day Podcast. You can see it on YouTube. You can, of course, if you're watching on YouTube right now, you can listen in the car, wherever you get your podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcast, et cetera, et cetera. Thanks again. We'll talk to you soon. See you. Bye. See you. Bye.

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