Show notes:

Today I am sharing the recording from a live panel discussion that took place a few weeks back at The Royal Horseguards Hotel. Alison Hargreaves interviewed myself and Elizabeth Solaru about the state of the industry, writing a book and our thoughts on luxury. I also announced my brand new event for 2026 – Wed Pros Live.

Get a ticket for Wed Pros Live

Buy my book ‘Done is Better than Perfect’

Buy Elizabeths book ‘The LUXPreneur’

Find out more about the Royal Horseguards Hotel

Follow Alison from Guides for Brides on Linked in

Find Elizabeth on Instagram

Time Stamps:

00:01 – Introduction to Wedding Business Strategies

02:51 – Introduction to the Panel Discussion

13:05 – Authenticity in Business Values

15:41 – Navigating Luxury in the Digital Age

26:38 – Navigating Luxury and Mid-Premium Markets

29:27 – Exploring Luxury and Experience

35:17 – Facing the Uncomfortable Truths of Business Ownership

43:07 – Understanding Market Trends in Business

48:39 – Taking Your Business Seriously

Transcript:

Becca

00:00:01.920 – 00:01:22.950

I’m Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger, and you’re listening to the Wedding Pros who Are Ready to Grow podcast. I’m here to share with you actionable tips, strategies and real life examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.

If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you love, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get going with today’s episode. Well, first of all, good evening. It’s so wonderful to see all of you in this beautiful space here this evening.

I know the weather hasn’t been on our side, so thank you for still turning out despite all of the rain. Just so you know how tonight is going to work.

In a moment, we’re going to hear a few words from the hotel to introduce yourself to this beautiful venue, if you’ve never been here before.

And then we’re going to hand over to our panel discussion, which is going to be led by the lovely Alison that is going to be recorded and hopefully go out on my podcast as well, if all goes to plan. After which we’re going to go back into the other bar we were in for some more drinks. Or you can stay around in here as well.

There’ll be opportunities to chat with us or if you do want to see more of the venue or speak with the venue team, they’ll be available at that point for you to have conversations with them or to get to know them and have a look around the venue. So, without further ado, I’m going to introduce our lovely host this evening from the Royal Horse Guards Hotel, it’s the lovely Molly.

Welcome up here.

Molly

00:01:23.270 – 00:01:23.990

Thank you.

Molly

00:01:24.310 – 00:02:17.570

Just wanted to say welcome and good evening, everyone. It’s a pleasure to have everyone here at the Royal Horse Guard. This is a beautiful venue.

It’s one of 14 in the Claremont Hotel Group collection that we have across Zone one in London. But it’s an incredibly unique venue. We celebrated our 140th birthday last year, which was very exciting.

Steeped in history and architecture, we were once the home of MI6. The actual first home of MI6. The bar you were previously in was Churchill’s office.

Becca’s been telling people and then had to double check with me that that was true, so don’t worry. And there’s so many more history. We have a lot of filming here. You might have seen us in the Crown or Bridgerton, so there’s a lot that goes on here.

Weddings is a real focus for us this year. We love doing weddings here. It’s a space that works really well.

We’ve got a number of licensed spaces, and we’d love to work with some of you in the future.

Alison

00:02:17.650 – 00:03:40.430

So I’m Alison Hargreaves.

I’m the founder of Guides for Brides Beyond Weddings, Big Day Agency, Pride Guide, and now the UK Wedding association, which is a new platform that is using 30 years of industry experience to build tools that will help the most professional, trusted, credible, and sustainable businesses to really stand out and lead by example and really help us build a more vibrant industry. And tonight, I’m really excited to be talking to two incredibly successful business owners and entrepreneurs who are both now published authors.

So, Becca Pountney, author of and I can read it upside down here. Done is Better than Perfect. And Elizabeth Solaru, who is author of two books and the most recent is the Luxpreneur.

So we’ll be talking about mindset branding and what success looks like in today’s wedding industry. And with plenty of practical advice, I’m hoping wherever your business sits in the market.

So before we jump in, can you tell me a little bit about who you are, what you do, and perhaps most importantly, what inspired you to put pen to paper?

Elizabeth

00:03:40.430 – 00:04:44.610

Okay. Hi, everyone. Just, first of all, I want to say thank you to Becca for inviting me here today. She’s organized everything.

All I did was turn up in a yellow suit. So thank you, Becca. But I’m Elizabeth. I do a number of things.

I started in the wedding industry as a cake maker, and then I pivoted, as we all did during the pandemic, because a number of places started asking me to talk about luxury clients. So I lived on Clubhouse, and that was where the idea for the book first came. And so, Kate Maker, author, luxury brand expert.

And fairly recently, in the last year or so, I created the Diversity in Luxury awards. And that really shocked me because a lot of big brands actually responded.

So it’s not unusual for me to have 50 luxury brands around a lunch table in the room and me saying, how on earth did I do that? So that’s me in a nutshell.

Alison

00:04:45.090 – 00:04:45.810

Becca.

Becca

00:04:46.210 – 00:05:41.380

Well, I’m Becca Powney, and I often feel the same when I look around a room in this beautiful hotel and think, how did I do that? I don’t know. But thank you all for coming. Many of you will know me as the UK’s leading wedding industry marketing expert. I’ve been doing that since.

Since 2016, helping wedding businesses and venues be more visible. And more profitable from all over the world. You may have heard of my podcast, Wedding Pros who Are Ready to Grow.

I know lots of you like to listen to that, and more recently, my book as well. And for me, I’ve told this story many times, and I tell it in the book as well.

I actually spoke on stage at Alison’s conference a couple of years back, and as I walked off stage, a lovely member of the audience came over to me and said, becca, where can I buy your book? And I said, I don’t have one. Maybe I should. And something inside me went, okay, I should write a book. And that I guess the rest is history.

It came out in November last year, and it’s going from strength to strength.

Alison

00:05:41.620 – 00:05:47.380

So, Becca, how has writing a book evolved the way you run your own business?

Becca

00:05:47.620 – 00:06:33.500

Interesting. So for me, the big thing about writing the book is if you know anything about me, I want to make sure that I’m accessible to everyone.

Whether or not you’re a new member of the wedding industry, whether or not you’ve been in the industry a long time, whether you’re in the luxury sector, whether you’re in the very DIY sector. I wanted something that was accessible to everyone.

And so for me, writing a book was an entry point for anyone to get a little bit of Becker wisdom into their lives. If they couldn’t afford to work with me one to one, they could still pick up that book and learn something.

And so for me, it was a big kind of authority builder in order to be able to say, I am a published author, and I feel very proud of that. But really the heart of it is just getting it into people’s hands and giving people an affordable way to learn about business. Business.

Because all of us do better when we’re all more successful.

Alison

00:06:33.580 – 00:06:39.020

And, Elizabeth, I’m guessing the authority builder is a really important part of yours because that really, really sets your brand.

Elizabeth

00:06:39.420 – 00:08:27.370

Absolutely.

And I think sometimes when you’ve been running a business for a long time, you have all this knowledge in your head, and I was horrified to read certain stats. So when it comes to business books, especially those on the bestseller list, about 97% of them are written by men and only 3% by women.

And generally, if a woman gets offered a publishing contract, she’s offered far less money than a man.

And that means that the body of knowledge that we have right now is from a certain point of view, not wrong, not good, but just a certain point of view.

And also, when it comes to luxury business, a lot of books are Written by professors of luxury who or by luxury brand experts who have worked in really big brands, so they have the budgets. Nobody’s written a book from a luxury perspective, having started their business with £40 and a secondhand mixer.

And I say, and I say that in my book because your roots are your roots.

And what many people don’t realize is that all the big brands that you look at today, like Louis Vuitton and I tell this story, he walked barefoot from Paris, I’m sorry, from his village to Paris when he 13 and he walked 300 miles with no shoes. And it took him two years. And yet when he arrived in Paris, it was an observation that made him one of the best trunk makers in Paris.

So the point is, luxury was built on the backs of people like you and I. But it’s having that authentic, that unusual perspective about an industry. That’s where the added value is.

And that’s what I try to promote in my book.

Alison

00:08:27.450 – 00:08:39.290

So Becca once told me that writing a book was like having a baby. The nine month process, awful, but the final result, lovely. So Becca, is there another book in there?

Becca

00:08:40.010 – 00:09:23.810

Yes. So that is how I describe it.

Anyone that followed my book writing process, I actually decided to start documenting it live because I was really struggling to get the motivation to write. And I thought if I start telling everyone on Instagram it’s coming, that will give me the inspiration to do it. It is not easy task.

Having the book is amazing, just like having a child. I hated being pregnant.

I didn’t understand these lovely people who love being pregnant, but I loved the children that I produced at the end of it, after the first one, I said absolutely never again. And then I did have a second one. So when it comes to the book, I said absolutely never again.

But since then I’ve come up with my concept of the marketing theme park and people do keep saying that should be a book. So watch this space. Maybe there’ll be a second book, but not this year.

Alison

00:09:23.970 – 00:09:34.450

And both of your books touch on mindset. So how do you manage imposter syndrome and self doubt? And has publishing a book changed that at all?

Elizabeth

00:09:34.530 – 00:11:28.200

Oh no. I think to a certain extent when you get to a new level, there is always a new kind of imposter syndrome that you will battle.

I think somebody said new levels, new devils or something like that. But I think what it does is the fact that people are willing to listen to your point of view.

And in the luxury industry, you don’t find many people that look like me speaking authoritatively on the different types of luxury clients, I didn’t realize, I thought everyone knew what I knew. I honestly thought that was a thing that surely you do not treat every luxury client the same.

Then I realized that even the big brands were actually doing that. So this is where I really dived into psychographics.

And more importantly, in my book I tell you exactly where to find these clients because many luxury brands do not want to share these secrets. So. And somebody’s saying, oh my God, you are the luxury client whisperer or something like that. So that is what I’m trying to do.

I’m trying to say people that buy luxury, this is how they think, this is who they are.

And when it comes to authority building, the proof for me was when business schools invited me to talk and we’re talking about Sotheby’s for example, and I was like, what? You know Sotheby’s or when you have Goldsmith College really established luxury brand management courses and I speak to their students.

So that for me was my authority builder, the credibility, etc. But now I have a slight problem. What’s my follow up book going to be? So you have a very good debut record.

Now you’re thinking the second one that tends to bomb. So you. So I’ve got that in my head.

Becca

00:11:28.440 – 00:12:35.520

So yeah, I think for me with the mindset thing, I cheated a little bit because I called my book Done is better than Perfect and then told you all the way through it. So’s the book Done is better than Perfect. So no one can question or not whether or not it’s perfect.

But I think for me that’s always been my mindset when it comes to business. Perfection is an unreachable goal for every single one of us, whether in luxury or not. And actually just being ourselves is enough.

And often the thing I see the most is people just don’t get things done because it’s your mindset is everything that’s going on in your head. It’s the they, what will they think that holds us back. And so for me the message is like just, just do it and see what happens.

And I put that into the book as well. I was like, I’m just gonna do it. It’s not perfect. Yes, people found typos in it.

That apparently happens a lot in books, even though I paid so many people to check it. But it’s out there, it’s did it. And so for me that message, I hope resonates with each and every one of you.

That if there’s things you want to do in your business, if there’s places you want to go, if there’s different marketing things you want to try, just try it. You’ll get better over time. But done is better than trying to be perfect, because you’ll never be perfect.

Alison

00:12:35.760 – 00:13:01.000

So it sounds like you don’t have to make a conscious decision to live the values in your book. It’s actually just naturally in your DNA. I don’t know if both of you perhaps are the same. Very different books, very different values and mindsets.

How essential is that to a business owner? So could a business owner develop a business successfully that doesn’t actually align with their values?

Becca

00:13:01.400 – 00:13:59.050

No, no, genuinely, I think you can to a point. But I think it always comes out in the end.

And I think for any one of us living our lives in any way, we should be authentic to who we are and what we believe, and those values should come first.

And we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about our values and to live them, because, you know, you can say one thing and you can be one way, but if you then meet that person in real life and they’re nothing like that, we feel let down and we feel like, well, that’s not who they said they are. And so actually, that’s harder. It’s living a lie. It’s much easier to just go, you know what? I’m not perfect.

I am a mum with two kids, and it’s crazy out there. And trying to juggle a business and trying to do all of these things is hard. And that’s the truth.

Rather than saying, here’s me, I drive around in a Lamborghini because it’s not true. And actually, that would be a lot harder to keep up that pretense.

So, you know, every one of us in this room will have very, very different values, very different things that we hold close to us. But don’t be ashamed of that. Hold them close and hold them.

Elizabeth

00:13:59.050 – 00:15:41.680

Honestly, I think it comes down to people trying to hide their flaws because.

And also another thing I realize is that it’s also about hiding our failures as well, because failure is okay as long as it’s not public and as long as nobody knows about it. You can take your L in private, but sometimes you need to fail publicly.

Sometimes you need to fail spectacularly and get the embarrassment out of the way. So for me, when I wrote the book, for example, I said to myself, what’s the worst thing that can happen?

It’s that I get challenged by everybody in the luxury industry, and they say, what do you know, you’re a cake maker, you’re a fake, you’re a fraud, you’re a phony. Get out of here. Did some people say that? Possibly. Did I listen? No, I don’t care.

For me, it was, how would I feel in five years if I didn’t write the book? And then somebody else comes along and they’ve written a rubbish book and everybody’s listening to them. So.

So for me, it’s all about whatever it is you have, no matter how flawed, just get it out there. What’s the worst that can happen? And a lot of people are worried, oh, my God, it will ruin my brand. Trust me, nobody cares that much. Nobody cares.

You know, people are not watching you that much. And so what? You failed. But it’s not the failure, it’s the comeback. So, yes, you failed. Yes, the cake collapsed.

So what, you apologize, you cry, you know, but then you make your next one better. So that’s how I feel about that.

Alison

00:15:41.680 – 00:16:11.380

So on luxury, Elizabeth, how do you personally define luxury in 2025? How do you see it evolving for 2026, 2027? And perhaps most importantly, how do we start marketing to these aspirational couples? The.

If, you know, you know, to, to try and navigate that over the next few years?

Elizabeth

00:16:11.700 – 00:19:33.410

Oh, that’s a, that’s a very loaded question. Luxury is very personal. What people think of as luxury is different. So, and that’s why I broke down the eight different types of luxury client.

To some people, they need to feel safe, they need to feel a sense of comfort. To some people, they just simply want to know that you are the best at what you do and you’re very expensive, so they can brag to their friends.

And when you talk about the aspir, for example, they make up about 60% of the luxury industry. So they’re very label driven, they’re very starstruck. So it’s about, what’s Kim Kardashian wearing?

Or is it Kylie Jenner or I don’t know who, the latest or Beyonce or whatever. They follow them. And because they follow them very early on, once you find out who they follow, you can then use that.

But how they define luxury is how they consume luxury. Because we now have the, you know, people are crazy about Gen Z’s and the TikTok generation.

So Gen Z’s, Gen Alphas, their exposure to luxury has started right from when they’re babies. And we were talking about buying these designer muslins earlier on. And these tiktokers, they’re very much aware of their brand. So it’s about.

So the luxury they consume, how is that going to impact their brand?

So if they buy a cake from Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, is that going to make them look amazing or would they go and buy a cake off the latest TikTok chef or something? So that is what you need to be thinking about in terms of 26, 27. And also the luxury client market in the UK.

Used to be a lot of people coming outside the UK to get married in the UK because they treated the UK as a destination space, but because of the government’s vat, because of a bunch of things that happened Brexit, because, because of all that, I find that many of my clients are now going to Paris and Milan. So they’re not coming to the UK as much as they used to come, but you can still market to them.

And there are again, I detail many ways you can do that in the book. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So in 20 terms of 2026, you now need to think of o authentic experience.

How would my brand, how would it interact with their brand is what you need to be thinking about.

And you need to be saying, even dropping things blatantly when you post that, okay, as a result of my cake at the Royal Horse Guard Hotel, this happened and that happened and that happened. And you need to be building that FOMO in your branding. So it’s not a matter of, I made a wedding cake and it was gorgeous. That’s level one.

You now need to be ramping things up and be saying, as a result of this, this happened and that happened and you need to be.

And, you know, sorry to say, but when I look at a lot of his Instagram pages, you need to boast a bit more, you know, because a lot of people are like, oh, my God, what would people think? But you need to boast a bit more.

Alison

00:19:33.650 – 00:19:50.270

So it’s, it’s building that desirable FOMO brand. And, and I know Nikita’s going to love this because she’s been saying for a while, luxury brands be on TikTok.

They’re missing out on 60% of the audience then. And that’s scary for luxury brands that feel they need to keep control and curate all of their content.

Elizabeth

00:19:51.390 – 00:20:06.110

Exactly.

And if I could just literally add, if you want to know who does luxury brands that do TikToks really well, check out Loewe and check out the Victoria and Albert Museum. They’re excellent. Excellent.

Alison

00:20:06.510 – 00:20:24.680

Thank you. Good tip, Becca.

Luxury can feel really out of touch for some of the smaller businesses that you do a lot of work with, what are the bigger misconceptions that are holding them back? Is it that fear of failure? Is it that fear of really striking out and it just falling?

Becca

00:20:24.760 – 00:21:49.790

Yeah, I think there’s a few things, really.

I think one of the things I love about this lady right here and why I love talking to her is because she’s very real about luxury and so she’s very real about where she came from and she made a decision to be luxury and she’s gone for it and done incredibly well. So that’s the first thing. If you want to be in that part of the market, you’ve got to make that decision.

It doesn’t matter who you are, what your background is, if that’s what you want to do, then go for it. But you really need to think about your marketing, about your branding, about your images and all the things that she talks about.

The other thing that I love when I speak to Elizabeth is she often says, you might not want to be in luxury because it’s not actually always where you want to be.

And so I think sometimes there’s this misconception that we all want to work with luxury clients, but luxury clients can be really hard work and they’re not always the clients we want to work with. So I think there’s a few things really to think about.

If you’re listening, it might sound a bit appealing, but you really need to think, actually, is that where I want to be? Because there are customers for everyone. And so I don’t think everyone needs to go after this idea of luxury.

But if you are going to do it, you’ve got to go full in.

You can’t play with it, you can’t go, oh, I’m trying to reach more luxury brands because if I come to your social media pages and your website and it’s not screaming luxury to me, you’re just going to look expensive. So I think that’s the thing for me, I believe anyone can do it it.

But if you want to do it, you’ve got to make a conscious effort to go after that market. And that’s scary and that’s a big leap and you do have to be able to be confident and to boast.

Alison

00:21:49.790 – 00:21:55.510

Elizabeth, what are your thoughts? Could a company work across luxury and mid premium?

Elizabeth

00:21:55.830 – 00:25:16.810

A company could, but they need to have a lot of, a lot of money behind them and the strategy has got to be incredible. So many luxury brands actually do it and they do it in plain sight. But we Just don’t clock it.

So for example, Hermes, if I say Hermes, you know hermes for their 10,000 pound, 100,000 handbags, that’s what you know them for. But they also have a mid range. They do nail polish, for example. Many people don’t know that. They do. Obviously they’re known for their scarves.

The late queen, the real queen, she used to wear their scarves. No shade actually, shade intended. The late queen used to wear their scarves.

But my point is a lot of brands, luxury brands, if you take your favorite brand, go study them, they price at three levels. So they have a pricing that is your lipsticks, your perfumes, your key holders or whatever.

And if you save up for a month or so, you can buy that, then you got the next level up. If you save up for a year, you can probably buy, I don’t know, a pair of shoes, handbag, whatever.

But if you maybe sell a kidney or something, you can buy couture. So they have low, mid and couture. But here’s the interesting thing. It’s the low price things, the perfumes and the lipsticks that drive the couture.

But the way they market the lipsticks is they, they choose some movie star or some influencer or some model and they do a massive campaign, spend a shed load of money. But you’re thinking per item, how many lipsticks have you got to sell to fund this big campaign? Right? So they do it. So everything is seamless.

So whatever you see in couture is what you see with the lipsticks and perfumes, et cetera. So if you have a lot of backing, a lot of money, you can possibly do that. But if you don’t, my strong advice is you keep two separate brands.

So one is mid premium and one is like uber couture. And your pricing should reflect the uber couture so that your mid or your premium then looks reasonable in comparison.

So if you make wedding veils, for example, you can just for the heck of it, I mean, and there’s a reason I mentioned this, if you make wedding veils, for example, you can say something like the most expensive wedding veil in the world and you collaborate with a diamond merchant, they’re not going to give you real diamonds, by the way, they’ll give you stones. And you can say we drench this veil in diamonds and you make a splash and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So you’re positioning yourself as couture, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Whether people believe it or not is another story. But you make that Splash. But what you really want to sell is the mid range.

So that way your mid range looks reasonable and cheap in comparison. And that is what a lot of these brands, that’s what they do.

But they’ve been doing it in plain sight for years and years and nobody’s really kind of like come out to say it, but I am now.

Alison

00:25:17.290 – 00:25:43.190

So, Becca, I imagine quite a lot of your clients, it’s quite difficult because it’s not a product, you know, if it’s a wedding venue, for example, it’s really difficult to have two different levels. You know, you can’t kind of close off that part of the building, building that day.

So how would you advise those businesses that have been working the mid and premium markets to move into luxury if they’re wanting to, without alienating their current market?

Becca

00:25:43.590 – 00:26:24.370

By Elizabeth’s book, because she tells you how to do it and she’s the best when it comes to this kind of luxury thing. But I do think often you have to take a step of faith. If you want to go up to that luxury, you’ve got to do something to step up there.

You will lose people along that way and you have to be prepared to do that is the same.

Even if you’re at mid level and you raise your prices by 500 or £1,000, the phone may go quiet or the email inquiries for a while may go quiet, but then once you’ve repositioned, you’ll start getting more of those expensive inquiries coming in. So there is. I don’t think you can play at this. That’s what I said before.

You’ve got to go all in and you’ve got to do something to make a splash if you want to go for luxury. But first of all, you’ve got to be really sure you do.

Alison

00:26:24.610 – 00:26:54.030

And Elizabeth, when we have another year like 2025 and people are being a little bit difficult spending on luxury, how do businesses navigate that?

Should they be then introducing the mid range and try not to water their brand down too much, or should they be just riding the storm, sticking to that price point? Is there a way of doing it? So discounting without discounting?

Elizabeth

00:26:55.310 – 00:29:27.440

I like that. Actually, that’s a loaded question and I think many luxury brands are grappling with that right now.

But I would suggest that people do what some hotels have been successfully doing so they know they can’t charge more per room. But what they can do is maybe have very expensive afternoon teas. Because you can go for an expensive afternoon tea or you can go for an experience.

They could have a pop up, they can have a chef from some random place and say the chef is only in town for a few weeks. I think Claridge’s did something like that where they got a chef and the chef introduced ants as part of the menu and people were eating the ants.

I know. And it just goes to show that people are after experiences. So what a hotel can do is up the experience.

So for example, a hotel like this, very steeped in history. But here’s the problem with history, it can be boring to the dendies because you know, pop off and all that.

But you need to find a way to make that history relevant. So if you find a way to make the history relevant, other people will follow. So experiences, experiences, experiences.

And people need to see the face behind. So if you, for example, a hotel like this, if it was me, I would have in residence a historian, a young, funky trendy historian.

Why am I giving this for nothing? You know, I would have a really young trendy historian. So people can come as part of the experience of being in the hotel.

And with that you’re not spending a shed load of money, but you are introducing something new and different and you’re really, really leaning into your selling point. Because whether we like it or not, luxury evolves and luxury is evolving with the user.

In the old days, I remember when I was growing up, up the brands were telling us how to interact with luxury. But nowadays a lot of young people are like heck no, you know, it’s my money, I can, you know, I, I, I choose the way I want to consume this luxury.

So there are ways in which many hotels or venues or whatever can do, do things. But you need to think, okay, we have got a lot of money, what can we do with what we have have?

So that’s kind of, yeah, my long winded answer to that.

Alison

00:29:27.680 – 00:29:50.090

So moving away from luxury for a bit and debating the is done better than perfect, wedding pros are very often naturally perfectionist. So Becca, how do you help businesses properly let go, take some action. And not just in theory, but in practice this.

Becca

00:29:50.330 – 00:32:10.530

So for me, I think a lot of you just spend so much time in your own heads and, and that’s hard because we’re wedding business owners and we’re on our own a lot of the time and we talk ourselves out of things and I say a lot when I’m chatting to my members on our calls and things like that, you know, stop worrying about what they think because they don’t exist, they’re just in your head. So you’re thinking, oh, if I say this, what will they think? No one cares.

Like Elizabeth said earlier, most people won’t see most of the things that you do.

So I think you have to, to let go a little bit from that mindset of worrying about what other people are going to think and just try and just get better.

Now, maybe that’s being in rooms like this or being in memberships, being with people who are doing the same thing as you, because then you can encourage each other, you can cheer people on and you can say, you know, you should do this. Yeah, go for it, give it a go and see what happens. I think when we isolate ourselves, that’s when we get ourselves into this mindset.

And for me, I’ve always lived that mantra of just, just try. What’s the worst that can happen? A little bit like Elizabeth said earlier, tell us of what’s the worst that can happen if you do this thing.

What’s the worst that can happen? No one likes your post on TikTok. Okay, well, move on. They might like the next one. It doesn’t really matter.

So ask yourself, what’s the worst that can happen? And then just try it, because actually the best might happen. Now, many of you will know about my daughter Alice.

I talk about her a lot because I, I think at 8 years old, they haven’t got that same confidence issue. And so I think I always say, be more Alice. We need to learn from her because she said to me, I want to play for a Premier League football team.

And I said, oh, I don’t know. In my head I wanted to say no and I wanted to do all of the things that we do to ourselves as adults.

And I said no, all right, just go and see what happens. What’s the worst that can happen? They say no, and we move on. And guess what? She got in, right? So 5,000. 5,000 people they watch. 18 got in. 8 years old.

She now plays for one year contract for Arsenal for next season, which is incredible, right? And I tell you that because she’s 8 years old and it’s ridiculous.

But if I’d have done the things that we do to our own heads, I’d have gone, it’s probably not going to happen. Your chances are really low. Let’s not put ourselves out there. Will it be embarrassing if you don’t get in? Blah, blah, blah.

But because we stripped all that away and she just did it, she might not have got in, but she did. And so you’ve got to remember, be Morales in your Head. What’s the worst that can happen? Actually, it might go better than we think.

Alison

00:32:10.770 – 00:32:35.070

And I think I read in your book, Elizabeth, about imperfections becoming collector’s items in luxury, and they actually get a higher price because there’s an imperfection.

So for you personally, when presumably everything being perfect is part of your brand, how do you operate without then being paralyzed by the fear, fear of imperfections.

Elizabeth

00:32:35.310 – 00:35:17.470

You think everything’s perfect. This is where I talk about perfection in luxury. Perfection, perception is everything.

So what people do is they build this incredible imagery, the photographs, et cetera, et cetera. So by the time you finally get a product, you’re so. And obviously they make you wait. They put you on a waiting list.

So by the time you finally get a product, you’re like, oh, my God, you know, I got a Birkin. And you see these unboxings and unveilings on so many social media platforms. Finally, they’re allowed a thing.

But I think for me, it’s the Japanese thing of. I think it’s called kintsugi, where if a place is broken, they then use gold to literally highlight the imperfections.

So it looks incredible and they make a virtue of that.

So I remember quite a few years back now, as a cake maker, her name is Jasmine Ray, she made a virtue of the fact that she wouldn’t cover cakes properly. Neither could I. So she made a virtue of it.

And she created this cracked concrete kind of style, and before you know it, everybody was literally killing themselves to make that cake. But she made a virtue of it. She got incredible photography, she got incredible new ways of doing sugar flowers. So.

And that came from her authenticity. And that is the point I’m trying to make, that you need to be, yes, it’s imperfect, and so what?

But the one thing I will stress, though, is your object has got to be functional. So there’s no point in saying it’s imperfect. We’re making a virtue and the object is unusable.

So recently, I know there was a bit of a scandal that certain bags from a certain brand, a luxury brand, was actually being made in a particular country, and it wasn’t as handmade as people thought. Now, that is, to me, is fraudulent.

But as long as you’re making or creating whatever you’re creating in your authentic way, then you can actually ride that wave of imperfection. And in the old days, when somebody had a couture gown made, there were tiny, tiny drops of blood along the hemline.

And that signified that people literally were working themselves to the bone to make your dress. And that some people considered that as a sign of, oh my God, I can afford to have all these people, you know, make my dress fall me.

So you need to find your own version of that.

Alison

00:35:17.950 – 00:35:39.790

And on the covering the cake, is that why there’s naked cakes? Was that somebody that just couldn’t cover them at all?

You both wrote your books to be an enjoyable read, but if there is one uncomfortable truth that you think every business in this room needs to hear, what would it be? Becca, you’re ready with the mic. You’ve got a few, haven’t you?

Becca

00:35:39.790 – 00:37:04.480

There are many uncomfortable truths in my book because I walk you through step by step, how to build a business in the wedding industry. But for me, I think the chapter people find one of the hardest to read.

And the thing I talk about that people find the hardest to read is the bit when it comes to money, because I really make you self reflect. And I ask you, is this a hobby or a business? Have you actually looked at your numbers?

Have you looked at how much you’re spending versus how much is coming in? Because actually, if you’re spending more than you’re bringing in, it is just an expensive hobby, right?

And so for me, that is the most uncomfortable chapter in the book. There’s a QR code and you can get things like spreadsheets to help you with this. But often I say to people, that’s the first step.

You’ve got to look at it even if what you see is a disaster, because at least then you can move forward. If you keep living with that disaster, nothing’s improving.

And so knowing your numbers is probably the most, maybe boring chapter of my book, but also I think very important, because if you’re not making any money, then you’re just doing this for fun, which is great. But then stop calling yourself a business owner because it’s just an expensive hobby.

And sometimes that realization when you do the work, and I’ve had one to one clients that have done this, where they do the work and they see the numbers and it feels like a low.

Actually, it’s the start start of what’s going to become a high because then we can see the reality and then we can make changes to start making profit. And all of a sudden realizing you go from making nothing to actually bringing in money to your family, that’s.

That’s what brings me a lot of joy in my business.

Elizabeth

00:37:04.480 – 00:39:29.330

Elizabeth, two uncomfortable truths that I coach my clients on. The first one is on their pricing. I feel that many people are charging Way lower.

Whether it doesn’t even matter whether you’re luxury or not, you need to charge a reasonable amount. Especially, and I’m addressing the cake makers in the room, you need to charge a lot more. So pricing.

And in my book, I actually give a pricing model because I tried all the pricing models. There are seven. I tried them all. It was all a disaster. Then I hit on the one that worked for me.

And the second uncomfortable truth for me is knowing yourself, including your flaws. And I talk about the different types of business owners, and I came out as two types, two archetypes. I’m a visionary as well as artisan.

And on the surface, that looks good, but it’s actually a disaster. Or it could potentially be a disaster, because as a visionary, I’m literally thinking of the future.

I am not grounded in the present because I used to daydream a lot when I was younger, so that was on par. And I can imagine I can future, you know, I can future casting. I can do all that, but what about the present?

And then as an artisan, it means I want perfection. So I’m not looking at cost, I’m not looking at how do I market, I’m not looking at. And how do I get the next client? So.

And also, there’s a little bit of a vanity when you are an artisan. So that means that people have around me, they have to be a certain type to compliment me and also to pull me back from my flaws. So.

And that is very uncomfortable.

In fact, that is a point where some clients actually run away and then they come back, because I say to them, you know, you need to face the reality about yourself. Because to. To. To. To deliver to your clients, you need to know who you are.

So when you come against a certain clientele type, that client type might trigger you. So when you’re saying, oh, my God, that bride is so difficult, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, it’s because they’re triggering something in you.

So you need to know yourself. So, yeah, those are my uncomfortable truths.

Alison

00:39:29.330 – 00:39:41.410

And on a more positive note, if there was one message from your book that people could take away an action straight away and it would really make an impact in their business, what would it be?

Elizabeth

00:39:41.570 – 00:40:34.670

Oh, the one thing you can take away is that anybody can go into luxury. Luxury. You just need to know how. And the how is what’s been missing for a long time.

Because, you know, nobody’s literally said, okay, this is how you do it, and this is my journey. So it’s the how, because everyone’s Everyone says something about, you need to know your why, and that’s great.

But what most of us want is how do I find those clients, how do I find the big spenders, and where do I go and where do I network? Because a lot of people tell you, yes, go to planners. But planners can only give so many people jobs, and planners are overwhelmed.

Even venues are overwhelmed, because everybody wants to be on the list. But you need to be the kind of person that brings people to venues, the kind of person that brings people to planners, so that way they remember you.

Alison

00:40:35.230 – 00:40:37.230

Becca. Oh, I think there’s so many.

Becca

00:40:37.230 – 00:42:15.220

There’s so many.

I think the big thing for me, and why I wrote my book as well, is to realize it’s okay not to be amazing at everything in your business, because business owners, we have to wear so many hats. And I quite often say this to people.

It’s like you’re amazing at what you do, so you’re maybe amazing at organizing, or you’re amazing at making a cake, or you’re amazing at writing blog posts or whatever it is that you do. You’re amazing musician, but it’s okay if you’re not amazing at marketing, amazing at sales, amazing at SEO, amazing at all of these things.

And in the same way, when I wrote my book, it was to encourage you and to help you with the things that I know with my marketing background, my. My media background background. But don’t ask me to make you a cake because you won’t want to eat it. It’s dreadful.

Don’t make me ask me to make you a bouquet of flowers because it would look ridiculous.

So I think sometimes we have to understand it’s okay that we’re not amazing at everything, but then we either need to upskill ourselves or hire someone who can help us or find the people. And, you know, even me, right? I call myself the UK’s leading wedding marketing industry expert.

I’m at the forefront of understanding what’s going on in the marketing industry. But I identified that TikTok was a difficult area for me, that I felt like I. I was too old to be on the platform. And so what did I do?

I hired Simona, who’s down here at the front, right? Because Simona’s incredible at TikTok and she’s grown her own following into the millions.

And so why would I have that pride and go, well, I’m the best, so I’m just going to keep doing it all myself, actually find people that can help you.

And so I guess for Me, the message through my book is here’s ways that I’m trying to share my knowledge with you to help you in the areas that maybe you’re not confident in.

Alison

00:42:15.220 – 00:42:37.290

And for those businesses that are wearing all of that hats, and I think it’s particularly marketing that can feel overwhelming, what should it be that they’re focusing on the most? Is it their branding? Is it their pricing? Is it their SEO? Is it their social media? Which one?

In both of your opinions, and I’m sure they’ll both be very different should they put the most attention to.

Becca

00:42:37.530 – 00:44:09.270

Okay, so the answer is going to be very different for everyone in this room because it very much depends on your brand. So the first thing is you need to be really clear on who you’re trying to reach and working out where those people are spending their time. Time.

Right. That’s step one, market research. Again, it’s boring. It’s business 101. But it’s important for you to understand also look at your own history.

I think sometimes we get caught up on the new things and the shiny things. But if you can look back at your last year of inquiries, look at where they’ve come from. Because if it’s not broken, you don’t need to fix it. Don’t.

If. If wedding fairs work really well for you, but everyone’s telling you wedding fairs don’t work, don’t listen to them.

Because if they’re working for you, then they work for you. Do them right. So you’ve got to look at what’s working in your own business.

We also do need to look at what’s going on in the we love talking about TikTok at the moment. I’ve been talking about it.

I’ve got my summer of TikTok coming up because the data is showing us and Nikita will tell you as well, the data is showing us that people are moving over there. Whether they’re luxury or not, they are moving over to that platform. And we also don’t want to get left behind.

So we do need to look at where the market is going in general, but we also need to look internally at who we’re trying to reach. And also we need to look at the things that aren’t always the exciting shine, tiny things.

So Google is still king and a lot of us neglect our websites. A lot of us neglect being found on search. But ask yourself where you go to search for things.

How did you find the directions to get to the hotel today? Right. So many things we still do on Google and so Our couples are still going to be doing that as well.

So if you’re not showing up on Google, maybe it’s actually something that doesn’t feel so exciting that you need to spend some time on.

Elizabeth

00:44:09.990 – 00:46:36.250

Becca actually covered some of my answers at the end the Google bit.

Social media is great, don’t get me wrong, but even if you’re on social media, you need to do social media so that the SEO you generate on social media is reflecting back onto your website. The first time I knew of Becca or heard of Becca, she was talking about Pinterest and how that drives traffic directly to your website.

So whatever you do, it needs to go directly to your website and talking about Google.

I’ve been teaching every Sunday at 2 o’ clock I do like a thing on Instagram Live where I’m teaching people business principles, luxury business principles, et cetera. And the last two Sundays I’ve actually been talking about Google and I spoke about AI Summaries. AI Summaries has changed the game.

So you search for something, Google gives you a summary. So it takes from all the websites and it gives you the best summary. And a lot of people have found that their website sites have actually dropped.

So a good way around that is to. And I talked about keywords.

So unlike before you had long tail keywords, short tail keywords and blah blah blah blah blah, now you’ve got to start creating more imaginative keywords based on if you go on a software like answer the public or whatever, or there’s another one, can’t remember what it is, Google something, there’s another one, Google Trends or whatever, you can get keywords and make sure you use those keywords.

So not just on your social media, but even when you’re blogging on your website, even your imagery no longer IMG5000, you need to be describing your images properly because Google Images is going to be the next bastion. Because with AI and stuff like that and people faking images, authentic images that come from users like yourself is going to be premium.

So those are some of the things you need to be looking at when it comes back to your website.

Because if your social media disappears tomorrow and Instagram decides you’ve a violation, or TikTok decides there’s a violation and it gets taken down, then you’re left with your website. So I always say to people, make sure everything you’re doing goes back to your website.

Alison

00:46:36.250 – 00:47:34.530

I have to say I couldn’t agree more.

And certainly, certainly whenever we do marketing analysis for businesses, almost without doubt it will be something on the website journey that’s not being helpful.

And what we have noticed, without doubt on AI, if anyone has, if there’s one thing you do when you go home Tonight, get onto ChatGPT and ask ChatGPT about your business and it will tell you what it can find instantly on your website. And that’s what it’s also telling your couples and your prospects. So I think getting the website right, the other stuff is lovely.

And I know websites are such a pain because you usually have to get somebody else to do it or you can’t remember how to log in. But it’s so worth it. It’s. Yeah, it does. It does make a difference. So, Becca, this I think is your top question on your on your podcast.

What’s one piece of advice you wish you had you had heard earlier in your business journey?

Becca

00:47:34.690 – 00:48:48.460

Oh, I shouldn’t ask this question because then I have to answer it myself. What’s one piece of advice that I wish I’d known sooner? I think for me it comes back to believing in your worth earlier.

And I still get challenged on this all the time. Elizabeth challenges me on it sometimes as well. Becky. Charge more. Charge your worth. Charge more. You should charge more things.

And I think we all struggle with that. And I think actually she’s right. We do need to know that sooner. Especially taking yourself seriously.

I remember the first few years when I had my videography business, I didn’t take my business seriously. And then people are around me didn’t take my business seriously either.

And I remember my parents in law kind of saying, oh, you’ll fun business on the side. And my husband didn’t really take it seriously.

And one day I realized I need to do the spreadsheets and I need to look at the money and I need to do all of those things and take it seriously myself.

Because when I take it seriously myself, that people around me take it seriously and they start seeing, oh, there’s money coming in to our household because Becca is running a business. Right. And so if you don’t take your business seriously, you’re not charging, you’re not looking at those numbers. Numbers.

My encouragement to you is to make that line in the sand and go, no, this is a serious business because if you’re serious about it, the people surrounding you will be serious about it.

Alison

00:48:48.860 – 00:48:50.620

Same question to you, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth

00:48:50.620 – 00:49:47.730

Ooh, I wish I had gotten a coach and a mentor much earlier on because it would have saved me a shed load of years. I would have not wasted a lot of time trying to figure things out on my own. So having the right people in your course corner is very, very important.

Yes, it’s great to come to industry events, it’s great to belong to groups, et cetera, et cetera. But some, it depends on what you want to do with your business.

If you want to get to the next level, there’s a level of investment in terms of time in particular, and also in terms of mindset that you have to do so, so that personal mindset work is so important. So, yeah, I think I wish I’d known that much earlier. That would have taken me a lot further.

Alison

00:49:47.890 – 00:49:57.250

And that’s a hard one because very often that’s at the stage of your business that you don’t have the funds to invest in. A consultant, a coach, a mentor, and it’s when you need it the most.

Becca

00:49:57.410 – 00:51:02.390

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think I’m a big advocate for saying don’t do things you can’t afford because you do see a lot of things, especially, especially in this online coaching industry. It was like, put it on a credit card, you’ll make millions of pounds, like.

And I know Elizabeth’s not like that either, otherwise she wouldn’t be, she wouldn’t be on this stage. But I think it’s, it’s understanding you need to value. If you are going to look for someone to help, you also need to value them and pay them for it.

I often laugh when people say to me, becca, why are you charging this? It’s too expensive, I think.

Well, you keep telling me that people say that to you about your products and services, but you know, you’re charging those things, things. So yes, I think it is difficult when you can’t afford it or you feel like you can’t afford it.

So it’s thinking, okay, well what can I afford and what’s the best thing I can get with what I can’t afford, or can I save up with the goal of doing this in six months time? And, and this is very important and anyone that’s ever worked with me one to one will know this.

I also say the first thing you need to do is work out how you’re going to make this money back. So if you’ve paid me £400 to sit with me for two hours, how are you going to make that £400 back?

What are we going to implement so that you are now back in process profit, rather than feeling like you’re spending money and you don’t know where it’s gone.

Alison

00:51:02.630 – 00:51:06.550

And Elizabeth, coming back to your own plans, what are the plans for the next year.

Elizabeth

00:51:06.790 – 00:51:41.290

Oh, okay. In next year. January. January is when I do my diversity and luxury awards. So planning, actually planning that right now.

I may also do a conference next year and I’ve spoken to a couple of people tonight and probably my audiobook book, which I will narrate myself so that that’s also coming out. But I’ve, I’ve always got, you know, things coming up. I’ve got a few speaking engagements as well.

So yeah, so yeah, got, got a few things under my belt.

Alison

00:51:41.290 – 00:51:44.570

Busy, busy year. And Becca, I know you’ve got something exciting coming up.

Becca

00:51:44.570 – 00:56:09.810

I do. I have very exciting news to share with you.

First of all, don’t ask me about my audiobook because it’s being released quarter one, 2025 and that has already been past. So it is coming. I’ve recorded the first few chapters. It’s hard, Elizabeth, reading to yourself. And then I kept having a cold.

Anyway, it will come eventually. The audiobook is on its way. Those of you that are waiting patiently for it. For me, 2026 is an exciting year.

I have decided to take a huge leap and do something that I’ve been asking other people to do for me for ages and decided, okay, I’m going to have to do it myself. So as you know, I love going out to Las Vegas, I love going to Wedding mba. I love the energy, I love the education, I love everything about it.

And I’ve been encouraging you guys to come there with me but I know it’s not always easy for you to get out there with me and it is quite expensive to go to Las Vegas and not everyone can do that. And so I kept saying, please, can someone just bring that event, some kind of same energy here to the uk?

And I kept asking everyone and no one really did it. So I decided, okay, I’m gonna have to just do it myself. So that is what is happening 2026, March 25th. Get it in your diaries now.

We are going to be here. So March 25, 2026, Wedding Pros live in London is happening here at the Royal Horse Guards Hotel in central London.

We have the whole top floor so we’ll have no crazy people next door like with their microphones. We’re gonna have the whole top floor of this hotel.

I have already got three, nearly four incredible top line speakers from Wedding MBA already booked to come and they are going to be announced soon. We’ve got a wonderful media partner in the wonderful guides for BR who are going to be part of that event as well.

We have an amazing headline sponsor which is Kira, a wedding pro from Wedding Dates. I am incredibly excited about it. It is not going to be your normal, just turn up for a conference. It is going to have the full Becca energy.

Just to give you an idea. The day is going to end with drinks and it’s going to be a Becca themed cocktail. That is the plan. Okay.

So if you like the Becker energy, if you like high level education, that is kind of coming. It feels very scary to me to launch it, to bring it to the world but people have been asking for it.

So now you need to do your bit and actually come to it because if no one comes, it won’t happen ever again and it will just be me and my four American friends drinking wine in this bar. So yeah, it’s very exciting. Tickets are going on sale almost immediately. I believe it will hopefully sell fairly fast.

I mean if this event went in six days. Just to give you an idea and I couldn’t believe it. So, so the tickets there are three levels.

I’m very transparent about pricing so I’m going to share that with you now. Ticket level one is ticket only. That is £97 for the full day conference or the education.

You can pop out and get your own lunch in the middle if you want to. Level 2 is 149. That includes a hot lunch, a buffet here at the hotel. So if you want the ease of doing that, you can do that.

And if you want to go VIP luxury and you want to come into the VIP lounge, that’s actually going to be the Churchill bar. So all of you have been in the Churchill far today.

Enjoy that because at my conference that’s VIP only and there won’t be so many people in there, it won’t be so warm. So that’s gonna be the VIP lounge. If you want to access that, hang out with the speakers, we’re gonna have a sit down VIP lunch.

If you’re a VIP as well, that’s 199 and a very special thing because I wanted to do something for you guys for being here tonight and to support this event. If you do want to come next March and you want to jump in early tonight, we are going to take £25 off of the main middle ticket.

So for 125 you can get your hot lunch and your ticket and everything. And I’m gonna have my phone out, a very basic webpage if anyone wants to buy a ticket.

But if you want to be in first and make sure you’ve got the place at the table. Wedding pros live 2026. I would love to have you there and I hope it’s an exciting time in the wedding industry.

You’ll know I’m a big believer in wedding industry events. We don’t have enough of them in the uk.

Guys for Brides have a great conference that I’m also excited to be speaking, looking at at the end of the year too. So you’ve got to get these things into your diaries.

If you can’t fly off to Vegas with me, get yourself to these conferences this autumn with guides for brides.

Get yourself here in March, because when we learn and educate ourselves and get in these rooms, that’s what drives us forward and gives us the motivation to move on. So that’s me. Wedding pros live 2026 is out there now, everyone.

Alison

00:56:10.770 – 00:56:44.510

So thank you both so much for bringing us so much honesty, value and insight tonight. I hope everyone’ to be leaving full of inspiration and some practical ideas that they can take away.

And I know both Becca and Elizabeth are going to be in the bar, apparently for the rest of the evening, so if you want to get a copy of the books or just speak to them, they will be there. But for now, it’s just left with me to say thank you all very much for being such a lovely audience tonight. Thank you.