A passion for weddings transforms into two businesses!

Sarah from Waipuna Estate loves weddings - so much so, that she’s created two businesses around the joy of getting married! After ten years in the industry, her skills and passion allow her to seamlessly support couples in the lead up to their big day.

Below, Sarah encourages other women to plan, collaborate, connect and be consistent to support a viable business.

What’s your biz?

Waipuna Estate is a wedding & event venue based in Canterbury. We have been in operation for 10 years now, doing around 50 weddings a year.

The Wedding Scene is a new business I have started in May this year. It is focused on wedding planning, coordination, and vendor coaching.

Who do you work with? What sets you apart?

For Waipuna - couples aged between 25-35. They are often busy professionals who are tackling multiple major life events - planning a wedding, careers, having children, or building houses/buying property. They are often time poor. They want an easy wedding experience.

Waipuna delivers that in multiple ways - we have onsite accommodation for up to 10 people so it's almost like a destination wedding without all the travel. We have an incredible team of dedicated experts who truly go above and beyond for our clients, they are so passionate and committed to what we do.

What sets us apart is our service - our genuine care, our integrity and always striving to be amongst the best.

For The Wedding Scene, similar ideal customer to Waipuna. But they are often stuck and don't know how to move forward in their wedding plans. They need guidance but also are on a budget. They want to enjoy their wedding but worry about the details and who will oversee them.

I am able to step in and help guide them through the process. Help them work out their priorities, what's actually important, and help them figure out a strategy to move forward. I have made wedding planning accessible to more people by offering express wedding planning sessions, which is an hour session to pick my brains, go over their plans, sort through things.

Often wedding planning is disregarded as people assume it will be expensive. I can do the full planning or just bite sized.

What sparked the idea behind your business?

The Wedding Scene - I love weddings, and after 10 years in the industry I have so much to offer couples. I am also hugely passionate about also working and supporting other wedding vendors, particularly venues.

It can be so isolating, and with my experience with my own venue, I can offer so much help to others. This has been in my mind for awhile and took courage to finally bring it to light!

I'm still building this part of the business but it really lights a fire inside of me to help lift the industry, create more collaboration rather than competition.

What does a typical day look like for you as a business owner?

Haha, this one has been a challenge over the years and I probably am only just getting the balance right now!

Because weddings mean weekend work, that has been my life for so long. I have juggled it with a young family, working in my husbands business too. Now I try to limit weekend work and I never work both days in the weekend.

I will also often schedule myself a weekend off. This has only been possible by developing my team to do my work.

I love the flexibility it gives me, the ability to do what I need to do when I need to do it. I work mainly from home which I also really love.

I am usually sat at my laptop first thing in the morning after exercise while my kids are getting ready for school. More of that throughout the day, coupled with other things that need doing.

I have been terrible in the past at working late into the night and sacrificing my own sleep or rest. Now I know that I need that rest and it impacts me too much to work late into the night. So it's tools down and relaxing at the end of the day with a good book. In amongst this is ferrying my kids to all their activities.

What are some of the key milestones in your business journey so far?

Coming through covid relatively unharmed was a major for us and ironically a real turning point in our journey. Before covid we were doing around 30 weddings a year, and post covid we now consistently do around 50.

Building a really strong team and seeing the success we have because of them is a real source of pride. I have people in my team who are so passionate about this place and truly care about it almost as much as we do. It's rare to find employees who care that much.

Starting The Wedding Scene is really neat as it's my baby and a chance to use all the things I've learnt at Waipuna in a completely new business.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced so far - and how have you overcome them?

Financial pressure - we are seasonal so there is a period of down time for us. Cashflow can be tight. Working with a good accountant is key. Planning, planning and more planning!

What are you most excited about in your business right now?

For The Wedding Scene, I really want it to be a place for collaboration. Whether that be with couples or vendors. I want to help improve the wedding industry, so its a place where we can all thrive, deliver amazing products and services and live balanced lives!

What’s worked best for you to build brand awareness and get customers?

Just putting ourselves out there consistently. Social media, paid ads (Google, Meta etc.) blogs, email marketing, videos. The key thing for us has been consistency.

What is one of the important lessons you've learnt as a business owner? What advice would you share to someone starting out?

Ask for help! Find communities of people that will support you.

Be vulnerable. You don't have to always be feeling amazing, or results be incredible. There's real strength in vulnerability. Others are in a similar boat and sharing experiences is so helpful.

You're not in competition with anyone else, run your own race. There are enough clients/business out there for everyone.

How does being a part of She Owns It help you in your business journey? 

The comradery! The community, the networking, the friendships. It's so nice to read of others struggles or wins and resonate with them.

⚡️ FAST 5:

1. One thing you’d tell your younger self starting out?
Just do it, back yourself, believe in yourself and give it a go - we waste so much time pondering, second guessing ourselves and lacking belief! Who cares what others think.

2. Your favourite biz or personal development books or podcasts?
I love Natalie Tolhopf's books as they are just so relatable. Plus she is my business coach so when I read them I can hear her voice in my head! Profit First is another great business book that has helped me.

3. How many tabs do you have open right now?
Embarrassingly 35!!!!

4. What's your go-to power song?
Ohhh I don't think I have a power song! I love so many songs, this may take me awhile!

5. A quote you love and why?
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

How can people connect with you and your business?

www.waipunaestate.nz
www.theweddingscene.co.nz

www.facebook.com/waipunaestate
www.instagram.com/waipunaestatenz

www.facebook.com/TheWeddingSceneNZ
www.instagram.com/theweddingscene_nz

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