New Year’s Resolutions….well for me I don’t think it’s as much a resolution as it is my goals and where I would like Viva to go in 2017.  I am not sure who even reads my blog posts, I think for me my personal posts are more of a therapy for me.  I am not an expert writer…not at all!  I make all kinds of grammatical errors, my Mom (a retired 35 year teacher) continues to correct me on, so please don’t judge that part.

I think first and foremost this year it is about letting go of my fears and to BELIEVE.  Belief in myself, isn’t it something most people struggle with?  This year I am working on believing, letting go of my fears and thriving in what I love to do!  These are my words for this year.

Viva has many updates happening in the New Year, the Viva client experience. From the beginning process of an inquiry to the final event day our team will have updates that we think will create an even better experience for our clients.  It is important to make sure we continue to educate our clients throughout the planning process, a very important key is client education.

Another important key and continued goal for Viva is trust.  To have your clients full trust in why they hired you.  From meeting with them for the first time in a face-to- face consult, or over the phone/FaceTime, this is where we begin our trust together.  I always say when your clients trust in you and your company and why they selected you, their event becomes a huge success.  This year I am going to strive to make sure before couples become our clients they TRUST in Viva.  From the questions I ask in a consultation, digging deeper into our couples and making sure all questions are answered on both sides.  Not that our past clients haven’t trusted us, it’s just that 1% that sometimes might be questioning.  I tell couples it is so important to have a connection with your planner especially as well as your photographer and videographer.  Why is this?  As planners we are in your face throughout the process, we are lucky to have become great friends with our clients.   On your wedding day we are behind the scenes more but your photo and video are in your face on the wedding day and you want to make sure you have a great connection with all 3.  We love to have fun with our clients, isn’t that what it is all about, having fun planning your big day!  We sure think so!

Viva has continued to grow in the number of destination events we have done each year.  This is something I am so proud of and want to continue to grow this year.  A big 2017 goal for Viva, one I have talked about and put out into the universe, is to travel abroad for an event.  I have had the pleasure of being a part of events throughout the US and Caribbean, but putting together an event overseas is a HUGE goal of mine.  I was told by very successful luxury planner based in the UK, Sarah Haywood, that if you want to plan an event in another country you have to travel there and put yourself where you want to be.  I traveled to Italy when I was 17 for 2 weeks with family and last December traveled to London and Paris experiencing more overseas places I would love to plan in (as you see in the photos within this blog).  I have always LOVED to travel from when I was very young and am very blessed to be able to travel to places for events and personally.  I say, “wherever my clients want to take me I’m there for them!”  I hope to achieve my goal this year to be back in Europe planning an event, only time will tell.

In education I love to continue to learn and teach.  Last year I was able to speak at East Carolina University to students in Hospitality Management.  I loved being able to mentor students and continue to do so.  After going to the Rising Tide meetings in our Tuesday Together Raleigh group I have loved meeting all the new creatives and was asked for some sessions on mentorship and branding.  I love sitting one-on-one with each of them teaching and training.  When I was younger I thought I might become a teacher (following my Mom’s footsteps) but I also had a passion in advertising and marketing.  I think in some ways I am so happy to get to do all of those in my business. I personally learn so much from teaching, I love it.  This year I have some exciting news I will be a part of teaching some SkillPop (check out their amazing classes!) sessions and I can’t wait!! Stay tuned for dates.

Personally, I have some goals this year as well.  I hope to be able to purchase a home in 2017 and maybe just maybe actually get married.  If you didn’t know already I am going on almost 3 years engaged coming up in April.  Being together for over 9 years maybe we will make the move to get married, go even elope maybe.  A planner that never plans her own, ha! Then maybe we will add to our family of 2 this year.  I wasn’t ready to be a Mom when I was in my 20’s and then I started my business and it became my baby and will always be my first.  I think it’s about having a balance in your business and I feel I finally have that so adding a little one at 36 years old could be a potential.  I am not going to put pressure on all, so we will just see what happens.

This year Viva will also blog more! I promise this!  We are going to blog not only about our events and publications but also a mix of inspiration and articles we have read that we feel are a great thing to share with our readers as well.

Myself and my team can’t wait for 2017 events and all the wonderful couples and families we will be meeting and working with this year! Cheers to 2017!