This is the Transcript of the #WeddingMarket Chat on October 29th, 2014 with Brian Worsley from Your Bash. The answers were made on Twitter so responses will appear different.

Brian launched his first business when he was in high school with B Worley Designs, a clothing design company that expanded its business to stores throughout Texas. Highly successful with his fashion company, he chose to pursue his true passion in wedding and event planning. Brian Worley co-founded Your-Bash and over the past twelve years has become known widely by many as TV’s favorite event planner.

Beyond his work for the top entertainment companies in LA, he’s masterminded critical strategic events for corporate clients, tasteful and stylish celebrations for celebrities, high-clients, tasteful and stylish celebrations for celebrities, high-pressure/high-profile weddings, red carpet movie premiers, and flagship product launches.
Learn more about Brian Worley at

www.brianworley.com or www.your-bash.com

Q1: Now you became an Entrepreneur at an early age?

Answer
Brian Worley: At 13 I started my own clothing company called B Worley Designs. I designed clothes and sold them to stores all over Texas. It was my first job making money!

Q2: You also plan movie premieres?
Answer
Brian Worley: When I first started in this industry, I got my education designing movie premieres. A large part of our business is entertainment related, but not as many movie premieres these days.

Q3: How did you obtain your first wedding?
Answer
Brian Worley: I knew someone getting married and offered to the wedding for free. I needed to have pictures of a wedding to show potential clients, images are everything in this business.


Q4: Now you run your business out of your home?
Answer
Brian Worley: Yes, I love the freedom and feel that so much of what we do happens out of an office.

Q5: How do you meet or communicate with your clients?

Answer
Brian Worley: Most meetings take place at the venue where the event is being held. Email! Initial meetings may take place at a coffee shop or the clients house or office.


Q6: Do you only meet with clients by appointment only?
Answer
Brian Worley: Yes, no one ever just shows up at my house to meet with me.

Q7: You plan and design weddings too?
Answer
Brian Worley: I love weddings because they are so much more personal than corporate events. I love getting to know my clients and creating that special day for them. They become family.

Q8: What made you decide to work from home instead of having an office?
Answer
Brian Worley: Limited overhead and so much of business is virtual these day. There was no need to have a physical office when meetings can take place at the venue or location. I know so many people who would love to work from home, and luckily, this is becoming more of a norm in all sorts of industries nowadays; there are many sorts of jobs listed on Upskilled where you can work from home. I know that some businesses are hesitant to work from home due to not having a prestigious office location that will be displayed to customers and clients. Without it, companies worry that they won’t seem as professional as others. In my line of work, this isn’t something I really have to worry about, but other companies may find that using a virtual office is the perfect way to transition into working from home whilst maintaining legitimacy. You can find out more at https://yourvirtualofficelondon.co.uk/; it’s definitely something to consider!

Q9: What does a typical day look like when you are working at home?

Answer
Brian Worley: Answer emails, workout, then each day is totally different. Some days are all on my couch and some days I am running around to meetings.


Q10: What are some of the benefits of working from home?

Answer
Brian Worley: Freedom, but you have to be disciplined to get your day going and motivated. Sometimes I do miss the interactions with people and the social aspects of an office. However, with a home office, I am free to set it up in whatever way I choose suits me best. We actually adapted one of the rooms in our house to turn in into a home office and that was a fun process. We had it painted in a calming grey colour and I’ve seen a stylish peel and stick wallpaper which I think will complete the look. I can use my own chair, my own desk and I can kit out the rest of it however I please. A friend of mine, who is also an advocate of the home office, introduced me to the Office Monster website where they source all their office essentials from. Anyone undergoing a room conversion to make an office space of their own may want to keep this in mind.


Q11: How do you market your business?
Answer
Brian Worley: It is all referral and word of mouth. It is a domino effect.

Q12: How do you handle social media?
Answer
Brian Worley: I use to mostly to show visual things that inspire me or to show my dog.


Q13: What wedding trends are you seeing this year?
Answer
Brian Worley: Real out of the box thinking and unique theme combos. We just did a wedding that was luxury safari meets Moroccan meets art deco!


Q14: What advice do you have for wedding pros just starting out?
Answer
Brian Worley: Get the job and spend marketing money to get better pictures of your work. Images in this business are everything so spend profits to exceed a clients expectations.

Q15: What celebrity weddings have you done?
Answer
Brian Worley: Dave Grohl, Ian Ziering, Terry Crews


Q16: You have been in a number of TV show, publications & Conferences. How do you obtain them? Do you have a PR firm?

Answer:
Brian Worley: I have been doing this a long time and I guess it is mostly reputation and hard work. I say yes to every opportunity, everything leads to something else.


Q17: Did you meet Prince William & Kate Middleton when you created the polo event that featured them in the US?

Answer:
Brian Worley: Yes I did. It was kind of surreal, but at the same time they were so normal.

Q18: How do you implement recycling into your events?

Answer:
Brian Worley: We practice being GREEN in all aspect and follow the rules reduce, reuse and recycle! Creativity allows you to reuse without things looking the same.


Q19: How did you get involved with wedding related TV shows?
Answer
Brian Worley: Doing segments on various shows and meeting producers.

Q20: Where do you get your inspiration for planning wedding & events?
Answer
Brian Worley: All over the place, driving down the street, store windows. I always take mental pictures of things that I see to use and make better later.

Q21: Now did you play the role of Sleeping Beauty’s Prince Phillip at Disney World?
Answer
Brian Worley: Yes, when I was in college I did my internship at WDW that was a VERY long time ago and I did the parades and characters for a summer.

Q22: What would you like everyone to take from this #WeddingMarket Chat?
Answer
Brian Worley: You can work from home and do really BIG and Impressive work.

#WeddingMarket Questions From Twitter:

1. @mallorykeith What inspired you to make the switch from premiers to weddings?

Answer

Brian Worley: it was the evolution of my business, it just kind of happened. I love doing them both, always something new. In Hollywood you have to be diverse in your work and clients, so this just allowed to expand my business.

2. @FrillsBridal Do you ever have a hard time focusing while working from home? if so, how do you get back on track?

Answer:

Brian Worley: Yes, I love structure, working from home does not allow that, so I just have to focus and motivate. You can write of the space you use in your house as an office, also other benefits as well.

3. @BridalBalance Any legal considerations to have in mind when running a business out of home?

Answer:

Brian Worley: I just work with my accountant to make sure that I get a tax write off, you do need a business license.

4. @BridalBalance Did you form an LLC or something else when you first started?

Answer

Brian Worley: Work with an attorney to get you all set up the right way, that is what we did! Do it right the first time!

5. @TaylorWed Do you meet clients at your home office?
Answer

Brian Worley: No, I find that is it better to meet at the venue or their place, it lets me know more about who they are!

6. @BridalBalance Do you have some support helping you with social media, administrative stuff, etc?
Did you start out with a business partner or need to hire one on as you got busier?

Answer

Brian Worley: Yes, I have a business partner and we support each other and tackle different aspects of the business. We started our business together and have been growing since.

7. @Sytinvitations How do you keep motivated working from home?

Answer

Brian Worley: Really I just have to focus, I sit down and just DO IT! Once the work is done I can play! Yes, make list and cross things off!

8. @MariellOnline What sort of marketing have you found was a waste of time for your business?

Answer

Brian Worley: Really it has been trial and error, but you learn what will work and what doesn’t in your market! Word of mouth is the best referral.