March 10, 2025 • 41 mins
Sally Gallis, a former drama teacher with a passion for storytelling, has made a striking transition into the world of wedding planning, founding her own successful business, Luna and the Lane, in Brighton. She unravels her fascinating journey from the classroom to orchestrating unforgettable celebrations, revealing how her drama teaching skills played a pivotal role in shaping her new career. Sally’s story is more than just a career change; it’s a testament to courage and the incredible power of transferable skills that many educators possess when they seek new paths.
Facing the unpredictable nature of weddings, Sally shares her initial struggles and how she cleverly leveraged her production background to navigate her new industry. She opens up about the challenges of building a reputation without a portfolio and how understanding her ideal client became a game-changer. Her journey is peppered with insights about the importance of collaboration, networking, and perseverance, accompanied by relatable anecdotes, including that iconic "Jerry Maguire" moment that every entrepreneur can relate to when seeking validation and support.
As Sally's business flourished, the role of mentorship and networking became central to her success, particularly during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through personal stories and experiences, she emphasizes the importance of remaining calm in high-pressure situations and nurturing personal relationships that bring a unique touch to her work. Sally leaves us with practical advice for budding wedding planners, underscoring the significance of embracing new experiences, enjoying simple pleasures like a favorite pair of shoes, and maintaining a balance between being dedicated and not taking life too seriously.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to Season 4 of Wedding Empires.
Our special guest today, sallyGallis, has spent 20 years as a
drama teacher and director.
In 2018, after planning her ownwedding, she decided to flex
her creative skills and startedher own wedding planning
business called Luna and theLane.
Sally now has a thrivingbusiness that is planning and
(00:24):
coordinating with styling andprop hire around the south of
England.
Sally, welcome, hey, nice to behere.
It's really nice to meet you.
We were having a lovely chatoffline about the fact that
you're down in Brighton.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's a lovely spot Down in sunny Brighton.
What?
A lovely place to do weddings.
Spot Down in sunny Brighton.
What a lovely place to doweddings.
It's a really lovely placebecause it's quite sort of it's
quite free spirited andcolourful and it's really nice.
You get some really lovelypeople and they're really down
to earth, not stuffy, so it'squite nice.
You get a variety of clients.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
I bet.
Now I don't.
I actually don't think thatdrama teacher to wedding planner
is that much of a stretch.
It it funny for me when back inthe day, when in high school I
went to the like careers advisorand they made you do that test,
it was like travel agent, dramateacher, wedding planner so for
(01:24):
me I'm like well, of course,that makes perfect sense to me
and yeah, so I think I thinkhaving a creative vision and
directing is is so much of whatwe do as wedding planners.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Right, it's not a stretch absolutely loads of
people say to me having a goodclue about sort of the teaching
profession or anything like that.
They just go, oh my god, it'sso different, like what made you
do it?
And then sort of then startexplaining to them actually it's
no different whatsoever, it'sjust a different clientele.
And uh, and you know, you startto realize those sort of
(01:57):
transferative skills are thereand it's really really obvious
that change and actuallysurprisingly, the amount of
teachers, ex-teachers I meet onthe circuit is outstanding.
It's like you know, peoplecrawl out of the woodwork and
they go oh yeah, I used to be ateacher and it's okay then too
(02:18):
so I guess, well, I'd like toknow what.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Um sorry, sorry go.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I was just gonna say I guess we get sort of so
stressed up to a point and thengo I can't take it anymore and
what can I do, and then weddingplanner is the obvious choice.
It's very strange.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, I ended up being a theatre producer and I
went through that same change,in that you know, I know how to
direct and I know how to come upwith the idea.
What else can I do where I canapply those skills and I don't
have to worry about sellingtickets?
So, all right.
What drew you to drama teachingin the beginning?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I think it's always.
I think teaching is alwayssomething that I just knew I was
going to go into and I think,like you were saying, I mean,
back in the day, the careersadvisors would would give you
sort of like three channels thatthey thought that you should go
into and none of them werereally anything that floated my
boat.
And, uh, I don't know, I don'tknow, I honestly don't know.
(03:22):
It was so long ago.
I honestly don't know what ledme into it other than the fact
that I really liked the subject,I liked the freedom of it and I
actually was quite geeky and Ilove sort of delving into text
and I love literature and allthat sort of thing.
So I actually started trainingwith little kids at uni and then
they changed the curriculum andthen they said, well, well,
(03:44):
basically you're not going toget any chance to do drama now
because we're changing it all,so you have to, you have to
change your course and and umwork with older children and
teenagers and that sort of thing, and I thought, oh my god,
they're going to eat me alive.
Anyway, I did it.
I did it and I absolutely lovedit, because I ended up working
with um sort of young people andup to the age of like 20.
(04:07):
And it was great because theywere able to just really give
themselves and they were keen on, like, exploring things rather
than, you know, going in and youknow, doing something low level
.
We got a bit geeky with it andit was lovely, and that then led
me into doing the directing andproducing, which I loved
(04:29):
because it's so creative andthere's so many things that you
can do with it.
So I absolutely loved it.
So I've always done it.
But I just got to the point Ithought, right, I'm going to get
to my 20-year point, because Iused to look around the staff
room and see all these sort ofold, crusty people in there and
they were, you know, almost atdeath's door and I thought, oh,
(04:53):
my god, I can't get to that.
Um so, 20 years, that'shonorable.
That's the point where I'mgoing to stop.
And actually I was in my Iwould have been in my very early
40s at that point and uh, and Ithought, right, I can do this
because I've got the energy,I've got time to sort of play
(05:13):
with it.
If it doesn't work, I've stillgot time that I can go back and
go back into teaching and donework.
But, um, yeah, I just felt likeit was the right time to go
that's.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
That's a huge step going from 20 years of teaching
into a whole new career.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
How did?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I kind of know what that's like myself.
So was there any fears that youhad or any doubts that you had
in making that change?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Massively.
It was so scary because I wasgoing from something that had a
salary that had a monthly salaryand it was a good salary
because I worked my way up.
And I was going from somethingthat had a salary that had a
monthly salary and it was a goodsalary because I worked my way
up and I was managing people andeverything and to suddenly
plunge myself into somethingthat was unknown, without that
safety net of being able to paythe bills and the mortgage every
(05:59):
month.
It was really frightening.
But I have a really supportivefamily.
It was really frightening but,um, I have really supportive
family, my husband's verysupportive and he's he allows me
to have these weird harebrainedschemes every now and then and
he's a risk taker anyway.
So I think he he was behind meand and he just and he could
also see that I was really quitetired and uh and desperately
(06:21):
didn't want to continue doingthe teaching.
So he was just like you know,if you feel a passion for this,
absolutely go for it.
But yeah, it was massivelyscary because I didn't have that
safety net.
I was, you know, you dosomething for 20 years.
You know it like the back ofyour hand and that links, I say
nicely, to the fact that I thendid a course with you guys and
(06:43):
that helped to set me up.
Oh yes, the wedding academy.
You spoke about your husbandthere.
That thing.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Did you plan your own wedding, Sally?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, I did, I did I think a lot of us do actually
that have got into the industry.
I think it's maybe somethingthat sort of pushes us into it.
But yeah, back in in 2013 I gotremarried to my, to my lovely,
very supportive husband and, um,I, I went into that completely
blind.
I mean, I was, I was obviouslydoing my directing and stuff at
(07:14):
the time and I thought, easy, Icould do this, I direct all
these shows and everything, andbut it was really interesting
because at that point, when youdon't work in the industry, you
don't actually understand allthe choice that you have.
You know, you, you have thisidea about what a wedding should
be because you see everybodyelse's or you see it on films
(07:36):
and all this sort of thing.
But actually it's only when youactually start delving into it
and reaching out to people andand doing your research that you
realize how much choice thereis out there now.
And I really, really enjoyed itand actually a lot of the
people that I recruited to helpin terms of vendors and things
like that are people that I workwith now, which is really
(07:57):
really nice, and people that Isuggest for my clients.
So it was quite eye opening,but I absolutely loved it and I
do think that that probably gaveme the impetus to actually go.
Oh yeah, there's more to thiswedding planning stuff than I
first thought, and I guessthat's all the sort of
transferable skills as well it'sa bit of a funny thing.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I've been doing this 20 years as well and you see
some brides, they love it, theyhave a great time planning their
own wedding, and then there'sothers that are actually tearing
their hair out, that never wantto see another wedding in their
whole life.
So fantastic, you had a greatexperience and now it's a career
.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah I did have a good one, but I do think that
maybe my background probablyhelped that as well.
Um, I mean, I see that now Imean I get to a certain point
with planning and clients, oryou know, if suddenly I get an
email from somebody that's like,oh I've.
You know, I've gone into thisreally wanting to plan my own
(08:53):
wedding and I thought it wasgoing to be great, but actually
I'm feeling quite overwhelmednow and I just need somebody to
just help or just do it for me.
So yeah, people have differentexperiences with it, but luckily
mine was quite positive that'sgood yeah, I think you would
have had a similar experience tome.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
When you, you can hear me, yeah, um, I think you
would have had a similarexperience to me where, where it
was that first meeting or thefirst couples, where you didn't
have the wedding planningexperience behind you but you
were able to kind of lean on theproduction skills right and
kind of go you know what no, Ihaven't done a wedding, but I
(09:33):
brought a West End show toAustralia by myself, like if
stuff's gonna go wrong I'm gonnadeal with it.
It's like well within my range.
Was that similar for you?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
actually that I was, yeah, totally.
I had exactly the same thoughts.
As you know, I've done this,I've done this, so surely I can
do this because yeah for me andI'm making the, so you know,
surely it should be a bit easier.
But yeah, I had a great timedoing it.
I really enjoyed doing it.
(10:11):
So, yeah, didn't put me off.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
let's say and when it came to building your own
business, did you have a clearkind of creative vision around
that?
No, no, no.
So how did that all?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
come together.
Well, I thought I did.
I thought going into it, I knowmy clients, I know how I'm
going to do this, I know whatkind of planner I am.
Yeah right, I didn't have aclue.
I know what kind of planner Iam yeah right, I didn't have a
(10:50):
clue.
And I'm somebody that is veryhonest about what they thought
they were going to be like andactually the reality, because I
think it's so important thatyou're able to just reflect on
your practice and actuallydevelop things.
But so at the point where Idecided to change my career, I
was I was working in a reallyposh private school girls school
(11:12):
and I was thinking, oh yeah,what I'll be able to do is to
set this business up and then,when they all come of age, and
get married.
People come to me you know I'vegot, I've already got these.
I've just got to wait.
You know, seven years orwhatever for them all.
They'll all come swarming to mebecause I know what I'm doing
(11:35):
and you know they're going tohave massive budgets and all
this sort of thing.
And and I sat and I I waited forthe clients to come in and they
didn't come in and I wasthinking what's going on here
and I'd got my ideal clientcompletely wrong and I was just
(11:56):
sort of expecting things to comemy way and it didn't.
And I thought, okay, I actuallyhave to sort of rethink my sort
of business plan and thinkabout my ideal client a little
bit more.
And this was all the time whereI was doing my course.
So it gave me.
It was really good because itgave me thinking time and I
learned from the course in termsof all the client, you know,
(12:18):
ideal client, the new recipe andall this thing.
So it gave me breathing time toreally rethink who I was and
what kind of planner I was, whatkind of ideal client I wanted
and all that sort of thing.
So I went into it thinking, ohyeah, I've got the skills, I've
got this, I've got to just waita few years for these people to
mature and everything.
(12:39):
But maybe they're all just this, maybe they're all sisters or
you know, their mums might getremarried or something, but it's
fine because they're there, no,so so yeah, it was a, it was a
learning curve, but, oh my god,I'm so pleased I had that
learning curve, because Iwouldn't be doing what I'm doing
now, to be honest, and I don'tthink I'd be working with the
people that I actually enjoyworking with.
(13:00):
So, yeah, you've got to.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
You've got to look at where you are and reflect
sometimes, and it might not bethe best thing, and that's fine
so, speaking of learning curves,like, were they the biggest
challenges you had or were thereother challenges that you faced
in doing this?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
yeah, yep yeah, um, they weren't.
That wasn't the only one.
I mean, that was one of themain ones was the whole ideal
client thing.
But, um, I think starting anybusiness is obviously really
hard, but something that is sovisual, when you don't have the
visuals, that's a, that's amassive deterrent, because you
know, how are you going to getthe clients if you can't, if you
(13:37):
can't sort of own what you'redoing and you can't show what
you're doing and and have thattrust and everything so.
So it's like going into a job,isn't it, where you go into the
interview and they say, oh, whatexperience have you got for
this job?
We need this, this and this andthis, and you go well, I
haven't got it, and you'rewaiting for somebody to take a
punt on you, to go.
Actually, what you bring to theinterview is enough and I'm
(14:00):
willing to take that chance.
It's the same thing withclients, really, of your stuff,
you know how can you show thatyou're good at something?
Or you know, give me the chanceto show you.
Yeah, so, in terms of thingslike that, I tried to.
I just collaborated to thepoint where I didn't.
(14:22):
I couldn't collaborate anymore.
I worked with, I worked with um, I worked with so many
different suppliers and thingslike that, just to shadow them,
to learn from them, to getconnections, networking, and I
did, my god, the amount ofshoots that I did in order to
get visuals, you know I justyou've got to do a thing in
(14:44):
order to put it out there, tosay, look, I can do this.
And then you know, hopefullythe jobs will come trickling in,
and they did.
But my God, those werechallenges.
Being able to prove to peopleyou can do it when you haven't
done it before.
It's really hard.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
That story reminds me of, or puts you in a scene of,
jerry mcguire.
The help me, help you like thatkind of deal you show me the
money, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And then show me the money, yeah, I need to remember
that.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Help me, help you now .
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Show me the money yeah, yeah, that's it, that's it
, yeah, it's.
It's that trust, isn't it you?
How can you, how can you proveto somebody when you can't, when
you haven't got the things toshow them?
You?
Know, and so who is your?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
perfect client like.
Who do you work with now?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
it's really interesting actually how that's
just sort of sounds organicallyhappened.
It's, the people that get intouch with me are very they're
quite design-led, they're veryopen-minded, they're people that
are really allowing of somebodyto share expertise with.
So they're people that are veryopen-minded to choice.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Are they ex-private schoolgirls?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
No, never mind it's a choice.
Are they ex-private?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
schoolgirls or no?
It's surprising.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
No, it hasn't come around yet done a couple of
ex-student ones, but that's justbecause you know, maybe they
don't know any better, yeah, butgenerally speaking they're.
They're sort of early 30sthey're.
I'd say you know they, they'resouth coast couples, so they're,
(16:33):
they're around this area and Iwas just saying to jack before
we came on the whole sort ofdemographic of Brighton and the
surrounding areas is very youngat heart, very open-minded,
quite colourful, but doesn'thave to be.
But I think because of my Ialways say to them as well
because of my background withdirecting, set, designing and
(16:54):
all that sort of thing, I don'tnecessarily have a style.
So if people come to me andthey want me to do the whole
shebang, the planning and thestyling and all that sort of
thing, I'll say, okay, well, youknow, bring your inspiration to
me and let's sort of, let'swork together to create
something where we're allsinging and dancing and some
from the same song sheet.
(17:15):
So I get a variety of peoplecoming to me and I get those
people that want something a bitmore luxury, but it's not in
the luxury market.
They want the feel of luxury,but they're a bit more
open-minded about it and they'rewilling.
They look at trends but they'renot really focused on.
Well, I must have draping, Imust have bows because it's 2025
(17:37):
.
You know we're influenced bythings.
But I say to them you'll lookback on this and you'll go oh,
you can tell my wedding was in2025.
Or I can tell my wedding was in2013.
I'm not interested in that, I'minterested in reflecting you.
So I try, and the first timethat we meet, normally, like on
(17:58):
Zoom or something, I try andsort of put out who I am and the
nature of the way I work, andyou know, nine times out of 10,
it works well.
And they then go.
Yeah, I'd love you to help me,but if I feel as though they're
not my people, I've got to thepoint now where I will say to
(18:18):
them that I don't know whetherwe're aligned and I don't know
whether you're going to get theright experience with me.
So I feel quite confident nowto actually say to people to
direct them to perhaps lookingat other things, because it's
you know, I'm not going to getsomething out of it.
They're not going to get thesame experience out of it.
I'd rather them go to somebodythat is more aligned with them.
(18:40):
And I didn't think I'd get tothat point.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
That's a great way to word that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
That's a great way to word that you know.
It's important, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
We learn to say no finally.
I know in the beginning wedidn't.
It was like someone give me ago.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
You know Very clear in the beginning we didn't.
It was like someone give me ago, you know, please.
But yeah, I think you know, atthe end of the day, you want to
enjoy what you're doing and youwant to enjoy who you're working
with, because you know theplanning journey can take you,
you know, a year.
I want to work with people overthat year that are getting
something really good out of theexperience from me, as well as
me enjoying what I'm doing withthem.
(19:19):
So I think it's reallyimportant.
It's important to get to thepoint where you know who your
ideal client is and you'reattracting them as opposed to
anyone.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, and well done for not pandering to the trends
as well.
We're in an industry that is soswayed by the next thing that
comes through and then,unfortunately, in two years,
it's completely out of date andit looks trash.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Exactly and I'm very keen on.
You know, brilliant.
Let's look at the fashion,let's look at you know what's in
the media and all this sort ofthing.
I mean that's fantastic.
I find that really exciting.
But I will look at a trend andI'll pick things from it but
incorporate it into into their,their day, and the whole thing
(20:06):
is about reflecting them.
It's not not about reflecting atrend that's happening at the
moment.
I just don't want them to lookback on it and regret choices
just because everybody else wasdoing it.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
You know how many times have we seen jack?
How, how many times I had a?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
client send me a photo and go.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I just want that just yeah, oh, all the same people
and pinterest pinterest is is ispart of this as well.
I mean, I think pinterest isbrilliant.
I think people think pinterestis you either great or it's the
demon.
But I really like Pinterest toa point.
You know People, we meet peopleand they'll go, oh, I've got my
(20:46):
Pinterest board and I'll belike, okay, great, send it over
to me.
And then you can immediately go, well, that's not going to work
, and that's not going to work,or that's not going to be in
season, or you know, I'm down insunny um, south of england, and
you know they're showing methings that are jet.
You know there's a lot comingfrom australia, for example, and
I go, well, that's available inaustralia.
(21:09):
We're not gonna be able to dothat, that's an australian
native yeah, yeah, I get thatall the time.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Someone, a bride, will send me a picture and I'll
look through and I'll go yep,can do that.
No, no, you're mental, no yeah,like that's ugly yeah yeah,
that's.
Do you want to look at yourselflike that in five years?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
no mental yeah, but having those conversations with
people.
You know you've got to beworking with the right people to
have those conversations withthem and they've got to trust
you to go.
Actually, I think Sam knowswhat she's talking about.
You know, she's not just sayingI don't like that because
that's not her taste.
She's saying that becauseactually it's just not practical
(21:52):
.
You, know, so it all comes backaround to just working with the
right people, doesn't it I guess?
So it all comes back around tojust working with the right
people, doesn't it I guess?
Yeah, absolutely Attractingthem.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, now you won a big award
recently.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, I read that in the show notes too.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I'm like wow, what was it South it did?
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Best.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Wedding Planner.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So I got, yeah, best Wedding Planner in the Southeast
.
So I got, yeah, best weddingplanner in the Southeast.
So I sometimes have to remindmyself actually what that means,
because you know, I'm atwo-person show, so there's me
and there's a full-timer and mylittle business that I made,
yeah, so apparently I'm the bestplanner in Sussex, kent, surrey
(22:36):
and all of London.
So I'm like, well, check me out, yeah, I know.
So I'm the best planner inSussex, kent, surrey and all of
London.
So I'm like, well, check me out, yeah, I know.
So I'm really, I know, I'mreally really proud of myself.
Went to the Nationals the otherday, didn't get the National
Award, so you know.
But you know that's on nextyear's bucket list.
But yeah, I'm really reallyproud of myself actually,
(22:58):
because I sort of think, youknow, seven, eight years ago,
when I started my business,there was me thinking, obviously
, you know, gonna have all theserich people working with me.
That didn't happen.
And then COVID happened andthere was no events at all, you
know, or that time, and I justthink, actually I got myself out
of that little hole, dustedmyself off and you know, know,
look at little Luna now.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I love it, it's cool.
So in doing all that and inwinning that award, did you have
any mentors along the way?
Like who?
Is there anyone that influencedyou along the way?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
I think the whole doing the course was a massive,
massive factor and workingalongside Zoe was really really
good actually, because you plodyour way through the units and
the modules and you're learninglittle snippets along the way.
But Zoe was really good in somuch of the learning bit.
(23:56):
She was fantastic to go to withreally stupid questions and
bouncing ideas off her.
It was really really good.
But I found that, again,organically just doing the job,
you make links and network withall these people and some of
them I just find really quiteinspiring because they might be
(24:20):
doing something completelydifferent in the industry to me,
but you know, you get chattingto people and they share
expertise or nuggets ofinformation or you know
anecdotes and things like thatand you learn all the time from
these people and it it'sfantastic.
So doing networking and thingslike that has been brilliant
just to naturally learn frompeople.
(24:41):
So I had obviously had mymentor back in the day when we
were doing the course, but otherthan that, it's a case of
learning from people andlearning by doing.
But I was talking to somebodythe other day.
Actually I was doing anexhibition and there was a new
planner that just came alongjust to network, which I thought
was brilliant, and she's beengoing for about a year and she
(25:03):
was at that point where she waslike how do I show that I can do
it what we were talking aboutbefore?
And uh, and I said to her Inaturally said you need a mentor
.
And she was like well.
And I said, well, you knowmentor?
And she was like well, and Isaid, well, you know, just have
to have like one person becauseyou know you're going to get
(25:24):
certain amount of expertise fromthat person.
But just do what you're doingnow and network and talk to
people and learn from people andlisten and share and all that
something, because you'll learnso much just by doing and and
talking to people.
So I think it's just really,really important.
Just keep your your eyes open,your ears open and and share
experience.
(25:44):
Um, because you know,underneath the surface, all of
us are just sort of you know, amI doing the right thing all the
time?
And and it's great to speak topeople, yeah, but so I just
think that's really, reallyimportant.
That's some really great advice.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Yeah, I love that duck philosophy.
It looks calm above the water,but underneath you're…
Underneath.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
We're all sometimes making it up as we go along but
we've got to look like we'veabsolutely got our stuff
together.
But, yeah, you learn by doing.
Doing, you learn by talking topeople, you learn by, you know,
working with, alongside peoplein different fields, and it's
you know.
You get inspired that way, yeah, being open to something and
realizing that you don't knoweverything.
I think it's really importantjust in life, but particularly
(26:34):
in industry.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Yeah, yeah, you heard it here first everyone.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
There you go.
I've just learned so much.
That's really great advice.
You know how many people writeto us at the Winning Academy
saying you know how do I, just,like, you know, build my
portfolio and like, build, youknow it's that beginning is
really tough.
But yeah, get out there,Network with the community.
I mean at the Wedding Academy,obviously we've got a huge
(27:01):
student community.
So get out there and offer tosupport people that are more
established and learn from them.
Sally, have you got a favouritewedding ever that you've done?
Oh, no, no, you don't have toname them.
You do.
We all do, Sally, we all do.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
You don't have to name them.
You do, we all do, sally we all.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Do you all name people and ones that I hated?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
no, that's another kind of episode that we do.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
That's the next one yeah, that's a really, really
hard question, because all ofthem have got elements about
them that I really really lovequestion, because all of them
have got elements about themthat I really, really love and I
sort of you know, maybe sort ofthink, oh, I could suggest
doing something like that withthis person, so that might work.
So the ones that stick in mymind are the ones where I've
(27:52):
made a genuine connection withthe couples, and I try and do
that obviously, obviously justby working with the right people
.
Anyway, I think there's onelast year that is really dear to
me, I think, because they were,they were a couple.
They're quite they won't mindme saying this but they're quite
nerdy in so much as they werereally really, really
(28:12):
academically minded.
You know these are oxfordgraduates and you know, on the
outside you think they're reallyquiet and timid and really
quite shy, but underneath thesurface, once you get to know
them, they were just such fun,loving, wonderful people.
But they were getting marriedquite a long way away from where
I'm based.
So it meant that I had to spendthe weekend over there and it
(28:36):
was really lovely because on theFriday I got to work with all
the family, all the friends,that all came to help.
So there was a real feeling ofcommunity.
So we were all setting up thisspace and it was lovely and it
just gave me opportunity.
I'll just go and talk toanybody.
It just gave me the opportunityto just go and chat with the
parents and the friends and makelinks with them and then by the
(29:00):
wedding day it was like theparents were my parents.
It was a Saturday corner, butthey were so sweet and so lovely
.
They were taking me around intheir car and dropping me here,
there and everywhere and therewas just through the whole
weekend.
There was just this real senseof like.
They were so loved by people.
(29:21):
It was so lovely and they're aUK couple that they're living
over in San Francisco, so theyhad people from all the
continents flew over to be attheir wedding because they are
so loved, genuinely loved, andyou just oh God, it's so corny,
but you just felt the love inthe room but that.
But it was just that feeling oftaking the time to get to know
(29:45):
your people.
That worked and uh, and it willalways stick with me the the
feeling of really puttingyourself out there and opening
yourself up to people so theycan see you as a planner as well
, because if you're givingyourself you, you naturally will
give you know 120 percent asopposed to 100 to it, because
(30:09):
you like them and they're goingto get something good out,
aren't they?
if you're giving more than yousaid you were going to give.
So it's just.
It was just a lovely experience.
I just think, with anyone justin this industry, you've got to
be really truthful and honestabout who you are and give
yourself and be honest withpeople, because they will really
(30:30):
respect that and they'llrespect your expertise and
they'll respect that you'rebeing yourself and you're being,
you know, genuine I.
I personally think that'sthat's what's helped to build my
brand.
It's just that honesty and thattruthfulness and, you know,
giving out what you want to getback yeah, yeah, so sally what.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
What do you think's been the most rewarding part of
your journey from from dramateacher to award-winning planner
?
Like, what's what's your,what's been the most part of
that?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
it's been I mean personally rewarded either.
The highlight, the workhighlight, was the award because
it's validated what I've triedto do since the but little wins
along the way, like I meantaking on a full-time member of
staff, was a massive thing forme because, you know, for so
(31:23):
many years it was just little me.
You know the whole duck thing,you know doing everything and
trying to look like you knowyou've got it.
It's easy.
You know being a kid variousdifferent things going on at the
same time.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
And don't get a cramp in one leg, because you'll go
around in circles exactly restand recuperate.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
But yeah, taking on a full-time member, stuff was a
massive thing for me.
It was a huge thing and it was.
It was validating to the factthat my business works and I was
getting in the money.
I was getting the money to beable to pay somebody else.
That was a massive thing.
You know little things like youknow I started doing prior and
things like that, and then beingable to afford the rent, which
(32:07):
is huge, things like that.
You know it's just little wins,like validating the fact that
you, you've built something thatyou can be proud of.
So there's also things reallythey don't have to be all
singing and dancing, but theycould be things built something
that you can be proud of.
So there's all sorts of thingsreally.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
They don't have to be all singing and dancing, but
they could be things that are,you know back end, that you're
just naturally proud of beingthe boss yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
I can see Jack's itching to ask you a question.
Go on, jack.
I was taking him over, ben, Iwas going to actually allow you
to speak, okay.
Okay, what advice would yougive to someone who's thinking
of coming from something elseinto wedding planning?
Making that change?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
god.
Well, I mean it's scary, but Ithink if you've, if you've got
the right support, you knowyou've got to have there's got
to be a financial supportsomewhere.
You know a little safety netbecause, like I was saying at
the beginning, coming fromsomething that gave me a salary
(33:10):
every month, it was massivelyscary to jump into something
that was unknown.
So I think you know you've gotto feel as though there's a
backup plan if you need it.
But otherwise, just thinkyou've got to be brave and
you've got to take the leap andjust make sure that you've got
support out there from peoplewith the whole mentoring thing,
the whole advice, networking,all that sort of thing.
(33:32):
Just put in these little safetynets around you.
But if I just, I just think I'ma big, I'm not a a natural risk
taker.
Changing my career was a big bigthing for me, but I just tried
to make sure that I had littlesafety nets if things, if I
(33:54):
needed them, you know.
But otherwise you've just gotto go for it.
You've got to go for it.
But just use the people thatare out there.
Use advice, use people's skills, get experience, go off, do do
your job and go off and shadowpeople, learn and do all the
networking, so you feel likeyou've got sort of skills going
(34:16):
into it.
I think that's a massive thingas well.
Going blind into somethingyou've, I think you've got to be
really.
You've got to, you've got to bequite.
It's a big risk, isn't it?
So try and put a little safetynet around you so that you can,
you can use people, you can useguidance, things like that,
really.
But at the end of the day, Ithink, unless you, unless you go
(34:38):
for it, you're never going toknow, and I would rather go for
something and have a, have a tryat something, and it will you
know, go wrong and look back onit and go do you know what I
tried?
You're never going to know, areyou?
Speaker 1 (34:52):
yeah, I'm clearly emotional by all of this.
I had something, somethingcaught in my throat and now the
tears is like streaming down myface oh, inspirational ben, have
you got your?
You know my thing, yes my benquestion.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
But I totally agree, sally.
I think it's a rite of passagefor anyone in pretty much any
industry for carry to carry bagsfor a while just to learn what
you're doing.
So I think that's hugelyimportant and it's something
that's a lot needed.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Don't be ashamed of doing the shadowing and the bad
things like that.
There's no shame in that.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My little question I ask allthe guests is if you walked
outside and saw an 18-year-oldversion of yourself, what advice
would you give that 18-year-oldversion of yourself to ensure
your success?
Oh my God, knowing what youknow now, of course, yeah, yeah,
I think.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Be open to things.
Don't think that you knoweverything at the beginning.
Don't go into it sort of blind.
Make sure that you do yourhomework, you do your research,
that you listen, you collaboratewith people, you take advice,
you listen from people andreflect on things, because you
(36:12):
don't know everything right atthe beginning.
You absolutely don't knoweverything.
So just learn as much as youpossibly can from people and
from what you do, and ifsomething doesn't work, there's
a reason why it's not going towork, so change it and reflect
on it.
So yeah, so basically, youdon't know everything.
Yeah, knowledge is….
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I think I was going to say something ageist there,
but I won't.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Oh, and also, don't eat all the biscuits just
because they're open.
Just don't eat the wholebiscuit, the whole packet of
biscuits at once.
Take your time.
Take your time with things,that's good advice.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Ben, for the first time ever, I was thinking how
would I answer that question?
I never thought about that andI think I would say buy the
shoes.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Buy the shoes.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, life's short, buy the damn shoes Like that's
kind of what I would say I likethat.
Funnily enough, that's actuallya question I've asked quite a
lot of people throughout mycareer and, having sat in big
events with people like RichardBranson and you know people like
that, if I get to see them orget to speak with them
(37:23):
afterwards, I always ask thatquestion and some of the answers
from that question have beenmind-boggling.
Some of them have just beendude.
I don't know how you made it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's a reallygood question and some of the
answers are very.
There's such a diversity in theanswers so yeah.
(37:46):
Jack, there's such a diversityin the answers.
So yeah, jack, you're thewrap-up queen.
Jack, you're the wrap-up queenbecause you know, like all of
this stuff, I'm just Sally, Icome from radio right.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
I had my own on-air show.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
Old mate would ring up on the phone and I and my
favorite word was and anyway,you know, because they just want
to have a chat I think I mightdo a little introduction for us
at the start so people know thatI'm actually here and then, and
then leave it to you to introand wrap it up.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, we're correct yeah by season five, we'll have
it all you know perfect.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I've only been here for about 15 episodes sally, so
okay look, we're keeping it real.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Okay, people like this about us.
I Anyway, sally, we digress.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with us and, yeah,
you've had heaps of nuggets thatyou've passed on that so many
of our listeners will get a lotout of this episode actually.
So thank you.
If you want to find out moreabout the best wedding planner
(38:59):
in the Southeast's really easy.
You just look up luna and thelane dot co dot.
Uk.
And also sally is on instagram,of course, and facebook, and
her username is luna and thelane.
So thank you so much and keepin touch yeah, thank you, sally,
it's been wonderful thanks somuch for having me.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
I've really enjoyed it.
Welcome back to Season 4 of Wedding Empires.
Our special guest today, sallyGallis, has spent 20 years as a
drama teacher and director.
In 2018, after planning her ownwedding, she decided to flex
her creative skills and startedher own wedding planning
business called Luna and theLane.
Sally now has a thrivingbusiness that is planning and
(00:24):
coordinating with styling andprop hire around the south of
England.
Sally, welcome, hey, nice to behere.
It's really nice to meet you.
We were having a lovely chatoffline about the fact that
you're down in Brighton.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's a lovely spot Down in sunny Brighton.
What?
A lovely place to do weddings.
Spot Down in sunny Brighton.
What a lovely place to doweddings.
It's a really lovely placebecause it's quite sort of it's
quite free spirited andcolourful and it's really nice.
You get some really lovelypeople and they're really down
to earth, not stuffy, so it'squite nice.
You get a variety of clients.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
I bet.
Now I don't.
I actually don't think thatdrama teacher to wedding planner
is that much of a stretch.
It it funny for me when back inthe day, when in high school I
went to the like careers advisorand they made you do that test,
it was like travel agent, dramateacher, wedding planner so for
(01:24):
me I'm like well, of course,that makes perfect sense to me
and yeah, so I think I thinkhaving a creative vision and
directing is is so much of whatwe do as wedding planners.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Right, it's not a stretch absolutely loads of
people say to me having a goodclue about sort of the teaching
profession or anything like that.
They just go, oh my god, it'sso different, like what made you
do it?
And then sort of then startexplaining to them actually it's
no different whatsoever, it'sjust a different clientele.
And uh, and you know, you startto realize those sort of
(01:57):
transferative skills are thereand it's really really obvious
that change and actuallysurprisingly, the amount of
teachers, ex-teachers I meet onthe circuit is outstanding.
It's like you know, peoplecrawl out of the woodwork and
they go oh yeah, I used to be ateacher and it's okay then too
(02:18):
so I guess, well, I'd like toknow what.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Um sorry, sorry go.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I was just gonna say I guess we get sort of so
stressed up to a point and thengo I can't take it anymore and
what can I do, and then weddingplanner is the obvious choice.
It's very strange.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, I ended up being a theatre producer and I
went through that same change,in that you know, I know how to
direct and I know how to come upwith the idea.
What else can I do where I canapply those skills and I don't
have to worry about sellingtickets?
So, all right.
What drew you to drama teachingin the beginning?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I think it's always.
I think teaching is alwayssomething that I just knew I was
going to go into and I think,like you were saying, I mean,
back in the day, the careersadvisors would would give you
sort of like three channels thatthey thought that you should go
into and none of them werereally anything that floated my
boat.
And, uh, I don't know, I don'tknow, I honestly don't know.
(03:22):
It was so long ago.
I honestly don't know what ledme into it other than the fact
that I really liked the subject,I liked the freedom of it and I
actually was quite geeky and Ilove sort of delving into text
and I love literature and allthat sort of thing.
So I actually started trainingwith little kids at uni and then
they changed the curriculum andthen they said, well, well,
(03:44):
basically you're not going toget any chance to do drama now
because we're changing it all,so you have to, you have to
change your course and and umwork with older children and
teenagers and that sort of thing, and I thought, oh my god,
they're going to eat me alive.
Anyway, I did it.
I did it and I absolutely lovedit, because I ended up working
with um sort of young people andup to the age of like 20.
(04:07):
And it was great because theywere able to just really give
themselves and they were keen on, like, exploring things rather
than, you know, going in and youknow, doing something low level
.
We got a bit geeky with it andit was lovely, and that then led
me into doing the directing andproducing, which I loved
(04:29):
because it's so creative andthere's so many things that you
can do with it.
So I absolutely loved it.
So I've always done it.
But I just got to the point Ithought, right, I'm going to get
to my 20-year point, because Iused to look around the staff
room and see all these sort ofold, crusty people in there and
they were, you know, almost atdeath's door and I thought, oh,
(04:53):
my god, I can't get to that.
Um so, 20 years, that'shonorable.
That's the point where I'mgoing to stop.
And actually I was in my Iwould have been in my very early
40s at that point and uh, and Ithought, right, I can do this
because I've got the energy,I've got time to sort of play
(05:13):
with it.
If it doesn't work, I've stillgot time that I can go back and
go back into teaching and donework.
But, um, yeah, I just felt likeit was the right time to go
that's.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
That's a huge step going from 20 years of teaching
into a whole new career.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
How did?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I kind of know what that's like myself.
So was there any fears that youhad or any doubts that you had
in making that change?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Massively.
It was so scary because I wasgoing from something that had a
salary that had a monthly salaryand it was a good salary
because I worked my way up.
And I was going from somethingthat had a salary that had a
monthly salary and it was a goodsalary because I worked my way
up and I was managing people andeverything and to suddenly
plunge myself into somethingthat was unknown, without that
safety net of being able to paythe bills and the mortgage every
(05:59):
month.
It was really frightening.
But I have a really supportivefamily.
It was really frightening but,um, I have really supportive
family, my husband's verysupportive and he's he allows me
to have these weird harebrainedschemes every now and then and
he's a risk taker anyway.
So I think he he was behind meand and he just and he could
also see that I was really quitetired and uh and desperately
(06:21):
didn't want to continue doingthe teaching.
So he was just like you know,if you feel a passion for this,
absolutely go for it.
But yeah, it was massivelyscary because I didn't have that
safety net.
I was, you know, you dosomething for 20 years.
You know it like the back ofyour hand and that links, I say
nicely, to the fact that I thendid a course with you guys and
(06:43):
that helped to set me up.
Oh yes, the wedding academy.
You spoke about your husbandthere.
That thing.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Did you plan your own wedding, Sally?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, I did, I did I think a lot of us do actually
that have got into the industry.
I think it's maybe somethingthat sort of pushes us into it.
But yeah, back in in 2013 I gotremarried to my, to my lovely,
very supportive husband and, um,I, I went into that completely
blind.
I mean, I was, I was obviouslydoing my directing and stuff at
(07:14):
the time and I thought, easy, Icould do this, I direct all
these shows and everything, andbut it was really interesting
because at that point, when youdon't work in the industry, you
don't actually understand allthe choice that you have.
You know, you, you have thisidea about what a wedding should
be because you see everybodyelse's or you see it on films
(07:36):
and all this sort of thing.
But actually it's only when youactually start delving into it
and reaching out to people andand doing your research that you
realize how much choice thereis out there now.
And I really, really enjoyed itand actually a lot of the
people that I recruited to helpin terms of vendors and things
like that are people that I workwith now, which is really
(07:57):
really nice, and people that Isuggest for my clients.
So it was quite eye opening,but I absolutely loved it and I
do think that that probably gaveme the impetus to actually go.
Oh yeah, there's more to thiswedding planning stuff than I
first thought, and I guessthat's all the sort of
transferable skills as well it'sa bit of a funny thing.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I've been doing this 20 years as well and you see
some brides, they love it, theyhave a great time planning their
own wedding, and then there'sothers that are actually tearing
their hair out, that never wantto see another wedding in their
whole life.
So fantastic, you had a greatexperience and now it's a career
.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah I did have a good one, but I do think that
maybe my background probablyhelped that as well.
Um, I mean, I see that now Imean I get to a certain point
with planning and clients, oryou know, if suddenly I get an
email from somebody that's like,oh I've.
You know, I've gone into thisreally wanting to plan my own
(08:53):
wedding and I thought it wasgoing to be great, but actually
I'm feeling quite overwhelmednow and I just need somebody to
just help or just do it for me.
So yeah, people have differentexperiences with it, but luckily
mine was quite positive that'sgood yeah, I think you would
have had a similar experience tome.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
When you, you can hear me, yeah, um, I think you
would have had a similarexperience to me where, where it
was that first meeting or thefirst couples, where you didn't
have the wedding planningexperience behind you but you
were able to kind of lean on theproduction skills right and
kind of go you know what no, Ihaven't done a wedding, but I
(09:33):
brought a West End show toAustralia by myself, like if
stuff's gonna go wrong I'm gonnadeal with it.
It's like well within my range.
Was that similar for you?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
actually that I was, yeah, totally.
I had exactly the same thoughts.
As you know, I've done this,I've done this, so surely I can
do this because yeah for me andI'm making the, so you know,
surely it should be a bit easier.
But yeah, I had a great timedoing it.
I really enjoyed doing it.
(10:11):
So, yeah, didn't put me off.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
let's say and when it came to building your own
business, did you have a clearkind of creative vision around
that?
No, no, no.
So how did that all?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
come together.
Well, I thought I did.
I thought going into it, I knowmy clients, I know how I'm
going to do this, I know whatkind of planner I am.
Yeah right, I didn't have aclue.
I know what kind of planner Iam yeah right, I didn't have a
(10:50):
clue.
And I'm somebody that is veryhonest about what they thought
they were going to be like andactually the reality, because I
think it's so important thatyou're able to just reflect on
your practice and actuallydevelop things.
But so at the point where Idecided to change my career, I
was I was working in a reallyposh private school girls school
(11:12):
and I was thinking, oh yeah,what I'll be able to do is to
set this business up and then,when they all come of age, and
get married.
People come to me you know I'vegot, I've already got these.
I've just got to wait.
You know, seven years orwhatever for them all.
They'll all come swarming to mebecause I know what I'm doing
(11:35):
and you know they're going tohave massive budgets and all
this sort of thing.
And and I sat and I I waited forthe clients to come in and they
didn't come in and I wasthinking what's going on here
and I'd got my ideal clientcompletely wrong and I was just
(11:56):
sort of expecting things to comemy way and it didn't.
And I thought, okay, I actuallyhave to sort of rethink my sort
of business plan and thinkabout my ideal client a little
bit more.
And this was all the time whereI was doing my course.
So it gave me.
It was really good because itgave me thinking time and I
learned from the course in termsof all the client, you know,
(12:18):
ideal client, the new recipe andall this thing.
So it gave me breathing time toreally rethink who I was and
what kind of planner I was, whatkind of ideal client I wanted
and all that sort of thing.
So I went into it thinking, ohyeah, I've got the skills, I've
got this, I've got to just waita few years for these people to
mature and everything.
(12:39):
But maybe they're all just this, maybe they're all sisters or
you know, their mums might getremarried or something, but it's
fine because they're there, no,so so yeah, it was a, it was a
learning curve, but, oh my god,I'm so pleased I had that
learning curve, because Iwouldn't be doing what I'm doing
now, to be honest, and I don'tthink I'd be working with the
people that I actually enjoyworking with.
(13:00):
So, yeah, you've got to.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
You've got to look at where you are and reflect
sometimes, and it might not bethe best thing, and that's fine
so, speaking of learning curves,like, were they the biggest
challenges you had or were thereother challenges that you faced
in doing this?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
yeah, yep yeah, um, they weren't.
That wasn't the only one.
I mean, that was one of themain ones was the whole ideal
client thing.
But, um, I think starting anybusiness is obviously really
hard, but something that is sovisual, when you don't have the
visuals, that's a, that's amassive deterrent, because you
know, how are you going to getthe clients if you can't, if you
(13:37):
can't sort of own what you'redoing and you can't show what
you're doing and and have thattrust and everything so.
So it's like going into a job,isn't it, where you go into the
interview and they say, oh, whatexperience have you got for
this job?
We need this, this and this andthis, and you go well, I
haven't got it, and you'rewaiting for somebody to take a
punt on you, to go.
Actually, what you bring to theinterview is enough and I'm
(14:00):
willing to take that chance.
It's the same thing withclients, really, of your stuff,
you know how can you show thatyou're good at something?
Or you know, give me the chanceto show you.
Yeah, so, in terms of thingslike that, I tried to.
I just collaborated to thepoint where I didn't.
(14:22):
I couldn't collaborate anymore.
I worked with, I worked with um, I worked with so many
different suppliers and thingslike that, just to shadow them,
to learn from them, to getconnections, networking, and I
did, my god, the amount ofshoots that I did in order to
get visuals, you know I justyou've got to do a thing in
(14:44):
order to put it out there, tosay, look, I can do this.
And then you know, hopefullythe jobs will come trickling in,
and they did.
But my God, those werechallenges.
Being able to prove to peopleyou can do it when you haven't
done it before.
It's really hard.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
That story reminds me of, or puts you in a scene of,
jerry mcguire.
The help me, help you like thatkind of deal you show me the
money, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And then show me the money, yeah, I need to remember
that.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Help me, help you now .
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Show me the money yeah, yeah, that's it, that's it
, yeah, it's.
It's that trust, isn't it you?
How can you, how can you proveto somebody when you can't, when
you haven't got the things toshow them?
You?
Know, and so who is your?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
perfect client like.
Who do you work with now?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
it's really interesting actually how that's
just sort of sounds organicallyhappened.
It's, the people that get intouch with me are very they're
quite design-led, they're veryopen-minded, they're people that
are really allowing of somebodyto share expertise with.
So they're people that are veryopen-minded to choice.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Are they ex-private schoolgirls?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
No, never mind it's a choice.
Are they ex-private?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
schoolgirls or no?
It's surprising.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
No, it hasn't come around yet done a couple of
ex-student ones, but that's justbecause you know, maybe they
don't know any better, yeah, butgenerally speaking they're.
They're sort of early 30sthey're.
I'd say you know they, they'resouth coast couples, so they're,
(16:33):
they're around this area and Iwas just saying to jack before
we came on the whole sort ofdemographic of Brighton and the
surrounding areas is very youngat heart, very open-minded,
quite colourful, but doesn'thave to be.
But I think because of my Ialways say to them as well
because of my background withdirecting, set, designing and
(16:54):
all that sort of thing, I don'tnecessarily have a style.
So if people come to me andthey want me to do the whole
shebang, the planning and thestyling and all that sort of
thing, I'll say, okay, well, youknow, bring your inspiration to
me and let's sort of, let'swork together to create
something where we're allsinging and dancing and some
from the same song sheet.
(17:15):
So I get a variety of peoplecoming to me and I get those
people that want something a bitmore luxury, but it's not in
the luxury market.
They want the feel of luxury,but they're a bit more
open-minded about it and they'rewilling.
They look at trends but they'renot really focused on.
Well, I must have draping, Imust have bows because it's 2025
(17:37):
.
You know we're influenced bythings.
But I say to them you'll lookback on this and you'll go oh,
you can tell my wedding was in2025.
Or I can tell my wedding was in2013.
I'm not interested in that, I'minterested in reflecting you.
So I try, and the first timethat we meet, normally, like on
(17:58):
Zoom or something, I try andsort of put out who I am and the
nature of the way I work, andyou know, nine times out of 10,
it works well.
And they then go.
Yeah, I'd love you to help me,but if I feel as though they're
not my people, I've got to thepoint now where I will say to
(18:18):
them that I don't know whetherwe're aligned and I don't know
whether you're going to get theright experience with me.
So I feel quite confident nowto actually say to people to
direct them to perhaps lookingat other things, because it's
you know, I'm not going to getsomething out of it.
They're not going to get thesame experience out of it.
I'd rather them go to somebodythat is more aligned with them.
(18:40):
And I didn't think I'd get tothat point.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
That's a great way to word that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
That's a great way to word that you know.
It's important, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
We learn to say no finally.
I know in the beginning wedidn't.
It was like someone give me ago.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
You know Very clear in the beginning we didn't.
It was like someone give me ago, you know, please.
But yeah, I think you know, atthe end of the day, you want to
enjoy what you're doing and youwant to enjoy who you're working
with, because you know theplanning journey can take you,
you know, a year.
I want to work with people overthat year that are getting
something really good out of theexperience from me, as well as
me enjoying what I'm doing withthem.
(19:19):
So I think it's reallyimportant.
It's important to get to thepoint where you know who your
ideal client is and you'reattracting them as opposed to
anyone.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, and well done for not pandering to the trends
as well.
We're in an industry that is soswayed by the next thing that
comes through and then,unfortunately, in two years,
it's completely out of date andit looks trash.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Exactly and I'm very keen on.
You know, brilliant.
Let's look at the fashion,let's look at you know what's in
the media and all this sort ofthing.
I mean that's fantastic.
I find that really exciting.
But I will look at a trend andI'll pick things from it but
incorporate it into into their,their day, and the whole thing
(20:06):
is about reflecting them.
It's not not about reflecting atrend that's happening at the
moment.
I just don't want them to lookback on it and regret choices
just because everybody else wasdoing it.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
You know how many times have we seen jack?
How, how many times I had a?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
client send me a photo and go.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I just want that just yeah, oh, all the same people
and pinterest pinterest is is ispart of this as well.
I mean, I think pinterest isbrilliant.
I think people think pinterestis you either great or it's the
demon.
But I really like Pinterest toa point.
You know People, we meet peopleand they'll go, oh, I've got my
(20:46):
Pinterest board and I'll belike, okay, great, send it over
to me.
And then you can immediately go, well, that's not going to work
, and that's not going to work,or that's not going to be in
season, or you know, I'm down insunny um, south of england, and
you know they're showing methings that are jet.
You know there's a lot comingfrom australia, for example, and
I go, well, that's available inaustralia.
(21:09):
We're not gonna be able to dothat, that's an australian
native yeah, yeah, I get thatall the time.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Someone, a bride, will send me a picture and I'll
look through and I'll go yep,can do that.
No, no, you're mental, no yeah,like that's ugly yeah yeah,
that's.
Do you want to look at yourselflike that in five years?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
no mental yeah, but having those conversations with
people.
You know you've got to beworking with the right people to
have those conversations withthem and they've got to trust
you to go.
Actually, I think Sam knowswhat she's talking about.
You know, she's not just sayingI don't like that because
that's not her taste.
She's saying that becauseactually it's just not practical
(21:52):
.
You, know, so it all comes backaround to just working with the
right people, doesn't it I guess?
So it all comes back around tojust working with the right
people, doesn't it I guess?
Yeah, absolutely Attractingthem.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, now you won a big award
recently.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, I read that in the show notes too.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I'm like wow, what was it South it did?
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Best.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Wedding Planner.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So I got, yeah, best Wedding Planner in the Southeast
.
So I got, yeah, best weddingplanner in the Southeast.
So I sometimes have to remindmyself actually what that means,
because you know, I'm atwo-person show, so there's me
and there's a full-timer and mylittle business that I made,
yeah, so apparently I'm the bestplanner in Sussex, kent, surrey
(22:36):
and all of London.
So I'm like, well, check me out, yeah, I know.
So I'm the best planner inSussex, kent, surrey and all of
London.
So I'm like, well, check me out, yeah, I know.
So I'm really, I know, I'mreally really proud of myself.
Went to the Nationals the otherday, didn't get the National
Award, so you know.
But you know that's on nextyear's bucket list.
But yeah, I'm really reallyproud of myself actually,
(22:58):
because I sort of think, youknow, seven, eight years ago,
when I started my business,there was me thinking, obviously
, you know, gonna have all theserich people working with me.
That didn't happen.
And then COVID happened andthere was no events at all, you
know, or that time, and I justthink, actually I got myself out
of that little hole, dustedmyself off and you know, know,
look at little Luna now.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I love it, it's cool.
So in doing all that and inwinning that award, did you have
any mentors along the way?
Like who?
Is there anyone that influencedyou along the way?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
I think the whole doing the course was a massive,
massive factor and workingalongside Zoe was really really
good actually, because you plodyour way through the units and
the modules and you're learninglittle snippets along the way.
But Zoe was really good in somuch of the learning bit.
(23:56):
She was fantastic to go to withreally stupid questions and
bouncing ideas off her.
It was really really good.
But I found that, again,organically just doing the job,
you make links and network withall these people and some of
them I just find really quiteinspiring because they might be
(24:20):
doing something completelydifferent in the industry to me,
but you know, you get chattingto people and they share
expertise or nuggets ofinformation or you know
anecdotes and things like thatand you learn all the time from
these people and it it'sfantastic.
So doing networking and thingslike that has been brilliant
just to naturally learn frompeople.
(24:41):
So I had obviously had mymentor back in the day when we
were doing the course, but otherthan that, it's a case of
learning from people andlearning by doing.
But I was talking to somebodythe other day.
Actually I was doing anexhibition and there was a new
planner that just came alongjust to network, which I thought
was brilliant, and she's beengoing for about a year and she
(25:03):
was at that point where she waslike how do I show that I can do
it what we were talking aboutbefore?
And uh, and I said to her Inaturally said you need a mentor
.
And she was like well.
And I said, well, you knowmentor?
And she was like well, and Isaid, well, you know, just have
to have like one person becauseyou know you're going to get
(25:24):
certain amount of expertise fromthat person.
But just do what you're doingnow and network and talk to
people and learn from people andlisten and share and all that
something, because you'll learnso much just by doing and and
talking to people.
So I think it's just really,really important.
Just keep your your eyes open,your ears open and and share
experience.
(25:44):
Um, because you know,underneath the surface, all of
us are just sort of you know, amI doing the right thing all the
time?
And and it's great to speak topeople, yeah, but so I just
think that's really, reallyimportant.
That's some really great advice.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Yeah, I love that duck philosophy.
It looks calm above the water,but underneath you're…
Underneath.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
We're all sometimes making it up as we go along but
we've got to look like we'veabsolutely got our stuff
together.
But, yeah, you learn by doing.
Doing, you learn by talking topeople, you learn by, you know,
working with, alongside peoplein different fields, and it's
you know.
You get inspired that way, yeah, being open to something and
realizing that you don't knoweverything.
I think it's really importantjust in life, but particularly
(26:34):
in industry.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Yeah, yeah, you heard it here first everyone.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
There you go.
I've just learned so much.
That's really great advice.
You know how many people writeto us at the Winning Academy
saying you know how do I, just,like, you know, build my
portfolio and like, build, youknow it's that beginning is
really tough.
But yeah, get out there,Network with the community.
I mean at the Wedding Academy,obviously we've got a huge
(27:01):
student community.
So get out there and offer tosupport people that are more
established and learn from them.
Sally, have you got a favouritewedding ever that you've done?
Oh, no, no, you don't have toname them.
You do.
We all do, Sally, we all do.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
You don't have to name them.
You do, we all do, sally we all.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Do you all name people and ones that I hated?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
no, that's another kind of episode that we do.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
That's the next one yeah, that's a really, really
hard question, because all ofthem have got elements about
them that I really really lovequestion, because all of them
have got elements about themthat I really, really love and I
sort of you know, maybe sort ofthink, oh, I could suggest
doing something like that withthis person, so that might work.
So the ones that stick in mymind are the ones where I've
(27:52):
made a genuine connection withthe couples, and I try and do
that obviously, obviously justby working with the right people
.
Anyway, I think there's onelast year that is really dear to
me, I think, because they were,they were a couple.
They're quite they won't mindme saying this but they're quite
nerdy in so much as they werereally really, really
(28:12):
academically minded.
You know these are oxfordgraduates and you know, on the
outside you think they're reallyquiet and timid and really
quite shy, but underneath thesurface, once you get to know
them, they were just such fun,loving, wonderful people.
But they were getting marriedquite a long way away from where
I'm based.
So it meant that I had to spendthe weekend over there and it
(28:36):
was really lovely because on theFriday I got to work with all
the family, all the friends,that all came to help.
So there was a real feeling ofcommunity.
So we were all setting up thisspace and it was lovely and it
just gave me opportunity.
I'll just go and talk toanybody.
It just gave me the opportunityto just go and chat with the
parents and the friends and makelinks with them and then by the
(29:00):
wedding day it was like theparents were my parents.
It was a Saturday corner, butthey were so sweet and so lovely
.
They were taking me around intheir car and dropping me here,
there and everywhere and therewas just through the whole
weekend.
There was just this real senseof like.
They were so loved by people.
(29:21):
It was so lovely and they're aUK couple that they're living
over in San Francisco, so theyhad people from all the
continents flew over to be attheir wedding because they are
so loved, genuinely loved, andyou just oh God, it's so corny,
but you just felt the love inthe room but that.
But it was just that feeling oftaking the time to get to know
(29:45):
your people.
That worked and uh, and it willalways stick with me the the
feeling of really puttingyourself out there and opening
yourself up to people so theycan see you as a planner as well
, because if you're givingyourself you, you naturally will
give you know 120 percent asopposed to 100 to it, because
(30:09):
you like them and they're goingto get something good out,
aren't they?
if you're giving more than yousaid you were going to give.
So it's just.
It was just a lovely experience.
I just think, with anyone justin this industry, you've got to
be really truthful and honestabout who you are and give
yourself and be honest withpeople, because they will really
(30:30):
respect that and they'llrespect your expertise and
they'll respect that you'rebeing yourself and you're being,
you know, genuine I.
I personally think that'sthat's what's helped to build my
brand.
It's just that honesty and thattruthfulness and, you know,
giving out what you want to getback yeah, yeah, so sally what.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
What do you think's been the most rewarding part of
your journey from from dramateacher to award-winning planner
?
Like, what's what's your,what's been the most part of
that?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
it's been I mean personally rewarded either.
The highlight, the workhighlight, was the award because
it's validated what I've triedto do since the but little wins
along the way, like I meantaking on a full-time member of
staff, was a massive thing forme because, you know, for so
(31:23):
many years it was just little me.
You know the whole duck thing,you know doing everything and
trying to look like you knowyou've got it.
It's easy.
You know being a kid variousdifferent things going on at the
same time.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
And don't get a cramp in one leg, because you'll go
around in circles exactly restand recuperate.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
But yeah, taking on a full-time member, stuff was a
massive thing for me.
It was a huge thing and it was.
It was validating to the factthat my business works and I was
getting in the money.
I was getting the money to beable to pay somebody else.
That was a massive thing.
You know little things like youknow I started doing prior and
things like that, and then beingable to afford the rent, which
(32:07):
is huge, things like that.
You know it's just little wins,like validating the fact that
you, you've built something thatyou can be proud of.
So there's also things reallythey don't have to be all
singing and dancing, but theycould be things built something
that you can be proud of.
So there's all sorts of thingsreally.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
They don't have to be all singing and dancing, but
they could be things that are,you know back end, that you're
just naturally proud of beingthe boss yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
I can see Jack's itching to ask you a question.
Go on, jack.
I was taking him over, ben, Iwas going to actually allow you
to speak, okay.
Okay, what advice would yougive to someone who's thinking
of coming from something elseinto wedding planning?
Making that change?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
god.
Well, I mean it's scary, but Ithink if you've, if you've got
the right support, you knowyou've got to have there's got
to be a financial supportsomewhere.
You know a little safety netbecause, like I was saying at
the beginning, coming fromsomething that gave me a salary
(33:10):
every month, it was massivelyscary to jump into something
that was unknown.
So I think you know you've gotto feel as though there's a
backup plan if you need it.
But otherwise, just thinkyou've got to be brave and
you've got to take the leap andjust make sure that you've got
support out there from peoplewith the whole mentoring thing,
the whole advice, networking,all that sort of thing.
(33:32):
Just put in these little safetynets around you.
But if I just, I just think I'ma big, I'm not a a natural risk
taker.
Changing my career was a big bigthing for me, but I just tried
to make sure that I had littlesafety nets if things, if I
(33:54):
needed them, you know.
But otherwise you've just gotto go for it.
You've got to go for it.
But just use the people thatare out there.
Use advice, use people's skills, get experience, go off, do do
your job and go off and shadowpeople, learn and do all the
networking, so you feel likeyou've got sort of skills going
(34:16):
into it.
I think that's a massive thingas well.
Going blind into somethingyou've, I think you've got to be
really.
You've got to, you've got to bequite.
It's a big risk, isn't it?
So try and put a little safetynet around you so that you can,
you can use people, you can useguidance, things like that,
really.
But at the end of the day, Ithink, unless you, unless you go
(34:38):
for it, you're never going toknow, and I would rather go for
something and have a, have a tryat something, and it will you
know, go wrong and look back onit and go do you know what I
tried?
You're never going to know, areyou?
Speaker 1 (34:52):
yeah, I'm clearly emotional by all of this.
I had something, somethingcaught in my throat and now the
tears is like streaming down myface oh, inspirational ben, have
you got your?
You know my thing, yes my benquestion.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
But I totally agree, sally.
I think it's a rite of passagefor anyone in pretty much any
industry for carry to carry bagsfor a while just to learn what
you're doing.
So I think that's hugelyimportant and it's something
that's a lot needed.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Don't be ashamed of doing the shadowing and the bad
things like that.
There's no shame in that.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My little question I ask allthe guests is if you walked
outside and saw an 18-year-oldversion of yourself, what advice
would you give that 18-year-oldversion of yourself to ensure
your success?
Oh my God, knowing what youknow now, of course, yeah, yeah,
I think.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Be open to things.
Don't think that you knoweverything at the beginning.
Don't go into it sort of blind.
Make sure that you do yourhomework, you do your research,
that you listen, you collaboratewith people, you take advice,
you listen from people andreflect on things, because you
(36:12):
don't know everything right atthe beginning.
You absolutely don't knoweverything.
So just learn as much as youpossibly can from people and
from what you do, and ifsomething doesn't work, there's
a reason why it's not going towork, so change it and reflect
on it.
So yeah, so basically, youdon't know everything.
Yeah, knowledge is….
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I think I was going to say something ageist there,
but I won't.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Oh, and also, don't eat all the biscuits just
because they're open.
Just don't eat the wholebiscuit, the whole packet of
biscuits at once.
Take your time.
Take your time with things,that's good advice.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Ben, for the first time ever, I was thinking how
would I answer that question?
I never thought about that andI think I would say buy the
shoes.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Buy the shoes.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, life's short, buy the damn shoes Like that's
kind of what I would say I likethat.
Funnily enough, that's actuallya question I've asked quite a
lot of people throughout mycareer and, having sat in big
events with people like RichardBranson and you know people like
that, if I get to see them orget to speak with them
(37:23):
afterwards, I always ask thatquestion and some of the answers
from that question have beenmind-boggling.
Some of them have just beendude.
I don't know how you made it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's a reallygood question and some of the
answers are very.
There's such a diversity in theanswers so yeah.
(37:46):
Jack, there's such a diversityin the answers.
So yeah, jack, you're thewrap-up queen.
Jack, you're the wrap-up queenbecause you know, like all of
this stuff, I'm just Sally, Icome from radio right.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
I had my own on-air show.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
Old mate would ring up on the phone and I and my
favorite word was and anyway,you know, because they just want
to have a chat I think I mightdo a little introduction for us
at the start so people know thatI'm actually here and then, and
then leave it to you to introand wrap it up.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, we're correct yeah by season five, we'll have
it all you know perfect.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I've only been here for about 15 episodes sally, so
okay look, we're keeping it real.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Okay, people like this about us.
I Anyway, sally, we digress.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with us and, yeah,
you've had heaps of nuggets thatyou've passed on that so many
of our listeners will get a lotout of this episode actually.
So thank you.
If you want to find out moreabout the best wedding planner
(38:59):
in the Southeast's really easy.
You just look up luna and thelane dot co dot.
Uk.
And also sally is on instagram,of course, and facebook, and
her username is luna and thelane.
So thank you so much and keepin touch yeah, thank you, sally,
it's been wonderful thanks somuch for having me.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
I've really enjoyed it.
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Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.