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Show notes:
This week I spoke to Anshika Arora, a wedding industry expert and founder of a CRM platform, about why wedding professionals need to rethink how they show up for Gen Z couples, who now make up over 50% of the wedding market. We talked about how technology is transforming the wedding planning experience, from the need for more interactive and authentic communication on websites and social media to being upfront about pricing.
Time Stamps:
02:00 – Transitioning into the Wedding Business Landscape
03:26 – Understanding Gen Z in the Wedding Industry
25:00 – Launching a New Conference: Becca’s Journey
39:54 – The Power of Networking in Business
42:54 – Exploring Networking and Technology in Weddings
Transcript:
Anshika
00:00:00.160 – 00:00:27.940
Being interactive. I think that’s one of the biggest things.
Being authentic and interactive and that means different types of content and not just putting out content to showcase your work. Being very forward looking and forward thinking when it comes to things. So interactive.
When I mean that, I mean with your websites, I mean with your brochures and I mean with your emails and just the automations that you have in place. But I always say the the most important email is also that first one that they get as soon as they’ve inquired with you.
Becca
00:00:29.850 – 00:01:18.510
I’m Becca Poutney, 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.
Today I’m chatting with Anshika Arora, founder of the CRM platform, maternity and business consultant specializing in fusion weddings and Gen Z Psychology. Anshika is going to be on stage in March at Wed Pros Live talking all about how tech savvy couples are planning their weddings.
I’m super excited for a session in March and also excited to have her on the podcast today. Anshika, welcome to the podcast.
Anshika
00:01:18.750 – 00:01:22.990
Thank you so much for having me, Becca. I’m so excited for this conversation and also WED Prose Live.
Becca
00:01:22.990 – 00:02:00.820
I know it’s going to be so much fun. Now this isn’t your first appearance on the podcast. If people want to go back and listen, I did look it up.
You were last on the podcast in November 2024, which is crazy. Feels like ages ago. Not that long. At the Same time, episode 137 where we were talking all about the South Asian wedding market.
Now we’re not going to get into that too much today, so if you’re listening to this and thinking, oh that sounds interesting, well listen to our conversation and then head Back to episode 137 to hear us talking about that. But if people didn’t hear you on the first time you’re on the podcast, maybe they’re new to my world.
Just give us a quick recap about who you are and how you ended up in the world of weddings.
Anshika
00:02:00.820 – 00:02:45.800
Amazing. So I started in weddings under five years ago now.
Always been on the business to business as well as business to consumer side, but from a tech platform standpoint. So we started off as eternity being a South Asian wedding directory, moved into it being a CRM, and that still stands.
And then equally on the side, I do business consulting, so I work with venues and suppliers one to one, either with training, or we do discovery days and strategy days just to help them bring more of the fusion side of things into their current offering as well as the Gen Z side of things.
So especially if you’re a business looking to enter those new markets, that’s how we can work one to one to just make sure that your business is set up from a marketing, sales and operations point of view.
Becca
00:02:45.800 – 00:03:06.580
I think it’s a really interesting angle as well.
I know we’ve worked together with some clients where I’ve pointed them in your direction because actually, quite often clients will say to me, oh, we want more multicultural weddings. But they don’t actually have an understanding.
So if someone’s listening to this and thinking, that’s exactly me that describes me, they could come to you and you could either train them or work with them alongside them to just kind of give them some guidance on that area.
Anshika
00:03:06.580 – 00:03:26.020
Yeah, absolutely. Because there’s so many nuances. And I think every new client profile needs to be marketed to differently.
And I think that’s the great thing about the industry because you never work with the same kind of couple on every event.
And so it’s always fun to work with businesses and make sure that they feel most comfortable speaking to those who are maybe of different cultures and backgrounds.
Becca
00:03:26.020 – 00:03:44.560
100%. So you were last on the podcast in 2024. We’re now in 2026.
And I’ve seen there’s been seismic shifts in our industry, I think over the last couple of years, some huge shifts. So I want to know from you, what shifts have you seen in the industry over the last couple of years that you think we need to be paying attention to?
Anshika
00:03:44.640 – 00:05:15.640
Absolutely. I think one of the biggest ones that I always harp on about is definitely Gen Z, because the number of Gen Z couples are now increasing year on year.
Obviously, I think when we spoke we were still at kind of maybe the one in three couples is going to be Gen Z. I think we’re now in the over 50% of your client base is likely to be Gen Z. And with that just come so many different consumer buying habits.
And I remember you always say it, that they’re coined the Amazon generation, that you say your kids are like that, that they want something, they’ll order it today, and they want it either the Same evening or tomorrow. But that is just how their psychology works. And so I think that’s been one of the biggest shifts.
And with that comes a few things, inclusivity being one of them. So again, we’re seeing a lot more fusion weddings.
So you might have partners who now have two, three, maybe even four different heritages that they want to be part of that special day. So how can we, as businesses kind of showcase that on our social as well as actually on the day, act accordingly?
And then secondly, with technology, I think that’s the biggest shift is I think kind of pre2020, it was a very much Pinterest generation. Now it’s very much TikTok.
I remember you spoke at our event last year, Revive, where we actually had a Gen Z couple up on stage, and we did a panel with them, and they certainly found 100% of their suppliers on TikTok. And I know you do a lot of TikTok courses on that with Simona, which is great.
But I think there’s just so many of those shifts in terms of how they’re sourcing their businesses for their wedding, as well as communicating with them and actually how they are on the day. And the expectations have changed so much.
Becca
00:05:15.800 – 00:05:51.380
Yeah, all of that. Completely true. And I think sometimes a lot of our industry is made up of millennials. I am very much in the millennial category.
Obviously, we’ve got people who are older than me, and there are some people in the industry that are Gen Z, but to a lot of us, it feels like a bit of an alien concept. I mean, I’m very much in my comfortable millennium millennial zone.
Yes, I’m toying with TikTok, but I have to, from a marketing point of view, if you ask me where I want to hang out, Instagram all of the way. So just explain to us, because you are Gen Z. Explain to us what. What is Gen Z? Who are they? When were they born?
Like, how do we identify someone who’s Gen Z?
Anshika
00:05:51.380 – 00:08:24.570
I’m so glad you said you’re comfortable on Instagram and not Facebook, because that would have been way too far back. So Gen Z, they’re often born between 1997, I believe it goes up to 2010, sometimes 2012.
Every website says something different, but that’s typically when they’re born, they’re the first kind of digitally narrative generation. Like, I guess kids nowadays have grown up with phones from a very young age.
So if they’re being born right now, they’re always going to see that they’re going to be growing up with AI, which is partially quite scary but also quite a blessing.
But with Gen Z, they were that generation where they kind of didn’t have technology up until the ages of 10, so they had very different social skills and expectations Then post that age, they have grown up in and around technology as being kind of their go to for everything. And you’ll see lots of those TikTok trends on how do they answer the phone and how do they make hearts and everything is very, very.
But I guess those are the key differences with Gen Z. But some of the big things are really one, that urgency and two, just the way they communicate.
They’re definitely not a generation that wants to pick up the phone to you. They’re definitely a generation that wants the comfortability and ease.
And I know we talk about this a lot, but you need to show up to where your clients are.
Unfortunately, your clients are on multiple platforms right now, which is why it’s really important that you are really well versed with how technology works and the best ways to do it.
I think we had once spoken as well about how there’s that WhatsApp feature on Instagram now where you can just add it to your story and directly do WhatsApp.
As frustrating as that can sometimes be for businesses, because WhatsApp has your personal life and your business life, if your clients are now wanting that, they’ll start to see it as a differentiator between you and another business that they could speak to because they see one that’s very much tech savvy showing up where they want to show up versus another business who’s actually still not adopting that same way of working. And the second big thing I’d say is transparency. They’re just really big on knowing all the answer.
I know we talk about pricing transparency, but what I’m seeing that translated into even more now is brochures don’t just have your prices, they actually have past events and how much that costs the client. So it’s not just a starting from price.
So if you’re a decorator or a florist or a wedding stylist, it’s not just we start our prices from 3,500, it’s starting from 3,500. Here are a few weddings we did recently and this is what they paid for it.
And as a business, you should always do data capture when you’re sending your brochures so you can also keep an eye out to make sure competitors watching. Or is anyone else in the industry having a sneak Peek.
But ultimately it’s meant to benefit your clients, and you’ll start to see that becoming so much more important over the next few years.
Becca
00:08:24.570 – 00:09:25.490
I love that. One of the things I’ve been championing, actually, for the last probably two, maybe even three years, which is still yet to take off.
But, you know, maybe it’s coming. Maybe what you’re saying is coming is that when people put out styled shoots, they should include a full breakdown of how much it will cost.
Because couples don’t understand as they see these beautiful pictures and they go, I want that.
But actually, how much more powerful is it if as an industry we go, this is how you can create that look a bit like they do in interior design magazines. You know, the flowers would have cost this much, the cake would have cost this much, and just give people the answers. So, yes, I’m. I’m here for that.
And I’m still trying to get people to jump on board with this idea. So if you’re listening to this, go maverick. Be the people that start putting the pricing out there.
And who cares if your competitors look at your pricing? Because ChatGPT will tell them anyway. So you might as well just. Just put it out there. Okay, so we know who Gen Z are.
Do you think yourself anchika you are Gen Z? I’m very millennial. Do you see any habits in your own consumer behavior?
Do you think you’re typical Gen Z or do you think you’re a bit more, like, erring on Millennial?
Anshika
00:09:25.490 – 00:11:32.470
I sit on the cusp, so sometimes I can relate to both sides. And I have older siblings, so all of them think I’m the most Gen Z person to exist.
And then I look at true Gen Zs and I’m like, oh, actually, maybe I’m a bit more millennial. So it’s also really interesting because I think you’ll find that with your clients as well, they’re definitely on a spectrum and it’s just a cusp.
Like, everyone’s going to be different. Everyone has different likes and dislikes. Also, you might find that one partner is Gen Z and one partner isn’t anyone.
So that’s always a really fun one because you’ll see someone’s emailing and CCing others in, and then someone’s like, oh, let’s just pick up WhatsApp and do a voice note or whatever that might be. I definitely think I stay somewhere in the middle in terms of my own consumer behaviors. I definitely understand the urgency side of things.
But equally, being from a tech background, a Finance background. I do love organization a bit more. So for example, example, WhatsApp is not my preferred form of communication when it comes to too many things.
I definitely love email because I like an audit trail. I think that comes with being a business owner.
But in terms of everything else, when it comes to pricing, transparency or ease of navigating websites, I know that you had a TikTok series on this.
If in like the first page of your website, I can’t tell where you’re based, I can’t tell what your prices start from and what kind of clients you work with, I’m just going to click off it and I do a really interesting exercise. I always recommend everyone do this every kind of month or so.
If you go on TikTok and type in wedding industry or wedding planning, you’ll see so many Gen Z’s just ranting about our industry. And I think it’s really helpful to actually kind of do that.
Immerse yourself into the brain of someone who’s sharing all of this on TikTok and then actually see, right, what am I doing in my business that’s frustrating them. Because you’ll often find people saying comments like, the big one we see is we were always taught, okay, do you know what?
You should ask a couple about their love story and that’s a really good way to build rapport.
If you go on TikTok, you see Gen Z’s ranting about how they don’t want to tell businesses their love story, they just want to know how much you cost and make sure you’re within budget before they waste their time in their words, actually telling you their whole spiel. So I think the, the way that relationships are built is very different and I can definitely relate to that as a Gen Z.
Becca
00:11:32.550 – 00:12:26.990
So interesting. And actually I found a TikTok rant the other day from a bride and she was basically ranting about why is no one telling me their prices.
And I actually sent it to Simona and said, can we do something with this? Can I do like a reply? Because it’s everything I teach. But it was out of the mout of a true couple. I was like, I love this.
So yeah, I need to go deep diving and find more of these runs because if there’s more of them out there, I think they’re interesting for us to learn. Not to change everything, but just to get a flavor, a picture of what’s going on.
Because we can get so stuck in our own ways and we think, well, I like doing everything on email so why shouldn’t everyone else?
But actually, when you talk to other people and they never check their emails or they search for everything on TikTok, you got to change your psychology a bit and go, oh, maybe I need to meet them where they’re at rather than where I’m at. So in terms of how they’re planning weddings then, are you seeing any shifts in that? Are they doing more, you know, research, navigation first?
What, what are the shifts in the way they’re plan planning their weddings?
Anshika
00:12:26.990 – 00:14:12.610
The big one is they’re using AI when they’re doing their research because there’s so much information readily available, they are able to just say, okay, I am having a 200 person wedding, I’m based in Essex, I want something which isn’t too close, intercentra, I want something slightly outside, gives kind of a destination wedding vibe, exclusive use.
They’re putting all of that into AI, trying to come up with the answers of what’s a rough budget, how much should I split up all of the different elements of my wedding.
The one caveat I’ll say, and it’s a mismatch that I’m seeing in the industry, is that because people haven’t updated their prices on their website or on the directories that they feature on, all of that information does feed into AI. So actually you’re getting quite a distorted image.
And the kind of downside of that is that it might start devaluing elements of our industry because people might think, oh well, AI told me that average flowers in this area should cost 1,500. When actually, actually it’s because you haven’t updated your prices from pre Covid.
And so now businesses aren’t pricing that much, they’re charging a lot higher. But AI hasn’t got used to it.
So I think that’s definitely something to be aware of because I know it sounds really annoying, to be honest, when all of us are saying, update your website, make sure everything is updated on your brochures, on your directories.
And I know it’s a tedious task, but the reason for that now is that the World Wide web is working in a very different way and Gen Z are genuinely using that as their first port of call.
My chatgpt and AI usage is quite scary, to be honest, because I use it to ask everything and now that you can just have a conversation with it, you have this back and forth and it makes it so much easier and you get that real life human experience, which is great from a consumer perspective, but from a business perspective it can cause a bit of a mismatch if you’re not keeping up to date with things.
Becca
00:14:12.930 – 00:15:05.810
So true.
And I was actually having this conversation very recently about how, you know, if you go for the old model on the directories of just putting your prices really low so people click on you. Actually often the directories are pulling like AI is pulling that information from the directories.
And so therefore, if everyone’s starting from £200 is actually false advertising.
So we need to make sure everywhere we’re listed, directories don’t use that old school marketing tactical, let’s put it as low and hook them in because basically you’re just going to start turning up in AI as super cheap even though you’re not. And if you’ve got no prices, you just won’t show up at all if people are asking pricing questions. So yeah, lots and lots to think about in there.
So with the business owners you’re working with or see out there in the industry you meet at events, what are some of the mistakes you think business owners are making right now when it comes to, you know, 2026, today’s trends, technology, etc.
Anshika
00:15:05.810 – 00:16:44.130
I think we’re still keeping things a bit too complicated. I think we’re making it really hard to get information, contact us and like I said, have that transparency piece.
I think there’s so much more that can be done when it comes to how do you actually view a brochure? What does the brochure look like? Do you, if you’re a venue, do you have a virtual tour? Do you have a video of your team?
Or is it still very old school?
And you can see it very, very stark difference and very immediately know which businesses have now invested in the last year at updating their websites versus those who did it maybe two to three years ago because we kind of. It is a tedious investment sometimes, right. But it’s such a necessary one that needs to be done.
But the biggest one I would say is definitely over complicating things and making it harder for your couples. But then the secondary one that I’m seeing a lot of is very high inquiry rates and then they’re translating to low conversion rates, rates.
And I think a lot of that is coming from, like you said, the directory approach of putting really low prices in, reeling people in with that.
And then as soon as they get a brochure or as soon as they kind of see a quote from you, they suddenly drop off and you’re kind of thinking, oh, unfortunately you start blaming kind of the directories or the industry or the couples and saying that they work in a different way when actually it’s exactly what you said there. We’re using old school techniques on, on new age clients and there’s just a really stark mismatch you want to be having.
If you are then having lower inquiries that have really high quality and a higher conversion rate and that’s way more important.
And so if that means actually showing what your prices are, because you know what, your business needs to be profitable and you’re not running it into a loss because that’s only going to harm you in the long term, you need to be transparent and upfront with that from day one.
Becca
00:16:44.290 – 00:17:34.840
It’s so true.
And I think a big thing that people need to change, it kind of ties everything we’re talking about together is, and I see venues still doing this a lot bot, which is where we say you can get our prices by downloading the brochure. Now the reason we all did that back in the day, you know, going back two, three, four years, was to capture people’s email addresses.
But again, going back to the AI search, the AI search can’t download the brochure to see the prices. So yes, you can have some kind of email marketing data capture. That’s still a good method.
But actually it doesn’t need to be for the prices because if you want to show up on the AI search and stop wasting your time on collecting email addresses that aren’t actually interesting needed, then we just got to put the prices out there, stop hiding them because ultimately if your competitor wants to see them, they can set up a fake email address and download your brochure anyway. So, you know, and I always say to my clients, you know, in email marketing you’re paying more for the more names you have on there.
Anshika
00:17:34.840 – 00:17:35.480
So. Exactly.
Becca
00:17:35.560 – 00:18:38.440
You don’t want to have loads of names on there that aren’t useful to you. You’re better to have a smaller list, a more qualified list. Exactly as you said.
And I think your other point about websites, I’ve been talking to some clients a lot recently about having a website glow up.
So I say you need a website glow up so you don’ necessarily need to think, oh my goodness me, I need a whole new website that’s going to cost me 2, 3, 4, 5,000 pounds. Everyone listening should have a way to access their own website.
If you are tied in to some kind of web provider that will not give you a login because you’re paying them an extortion amount of money I always think that’s a big red flag. As a business owner is your business, you should be able to have a login.
So you should be able to, you know, hire someone or work with someone or get someone, you know, to do what I would call a website glow Up.
We go and do these for clients sometimes where it’s just like, let’s just change the customer journey slightly, update the imagery slightly, put some testimonials all over your site. It doesn’t need to be a whole rebrand, big deal.
And I think sometimes businesses are scared when it comes to website because they think it means, you know, I’ve got to pay someone loads of money to redo everything. But it doesn’t need to mean that.
Anshika
00:18:38.440 – 00:19:54.780
No, absolutely. And I love what you said there around. I love this term, the website glow Up. That’s great.
A big one that I see a lot of, and it’s such a small thing, which makes such a big difference is if your reviews on your website still say they’re from 2023 or 2024, it’s about time that you update them to show the 2025 ones. Because clients see that.
I think that when I see a review and it says 2023 or 2024, naturally, unfortunately we’re quite negative consumers sometimes, especially as Gen Z, and you think, oh, well, it’s probably gone downhill or it’s probably changed or prices have gone up or something or the other. And I think that’s just something which calms everyone nerves. And one, it shows that you’re an active business.
That really helps the AI side of things as well, because it can see that you’re updating and refreshing things on your website. Two, it gives a different level of client comfort.
And that doesn’t just mean your website, that also means updating your brochures, updating your testimonials on your highlights on Instagram. That’s the big one. You’ll see people who did highlights on Instagram back in 2023.
So it’s got lovely 21 and 22 reviews, but it’s not had anything updated on it in the last two years. Even though you’ve been an actively running business, but you’ve just not had time to do it.
And I think that’s where business admin days are just so important. And it needs to be a balance. You can’t just fully be immersed into only doing existing client work.
You need to kind of be thinking ahead from the get go.
Becca
00:19:54.780 – 00:20:25.600
And the highlights one’s an interesting one, actually. I need to go and do it on my own because the last time I checked it may have changed. Things change all the time.
When you go onto a highlight, it always shows the oldest part of the highlight first.
So if you’re someone like me that I do add new testimonials in, actually we need to go back and delete some of the first ones because otherwise they get the oldest stuff first. And actually no one’s clicking 25, 30 times to get to your newest one. So yeah, that is a, it’s a great tip.
Go in and have a look at your highlights, see what’s showing up for people because we forget to look at them. But other people landing on our pages absolutely are going to have a look at them.
Anshika
00:20:25.600 – 00:21:01.890
So I think we kind of think that, oh, the more highlights I have on my testimonial, it looks better. But actually it’s exactly that. No one is going to click through 25 to 30 stories. You might for yourself, but a new client won’t.
And so if it means, okay, let me get rid of all of 2023 and just keep 2425, that’s a lot more powerful than you keeping 2022.
And I, I think most of Gen Z is, and I can proudly say this, we’re quite snobby sometimes if we see the old text and the old filters we used to use on Instagram, you subconsciously start to think, oh, this business isn’t updated or it isn’t refreshed. And so it’s really weird. But Gen Z are very nuanced and very observant in those ways.
Becca
00:21:01.970 – 00:21:25.410
Yeah, that’s so true. It’s a bit like us again as millennials. When I go on a website and I go, oh, this looks like a website from the 1990s.
Because I remember when websites looked like that, that and they don’t look like that anymore. And so, yeah, I can, I can see that entirely.
Okay, we talked about mistakes, but what do you think successful pros, successful venues are focused on right now? Where are the people who are like going for it and doing well? What are their Main focuses in 2026?
Anshika
00:21:25.410 – 00:23:22.960
Being interactive. I think that’s one of the biggest things, being authentic and interactive.
And that means different types of content and not just putting out content to showcase your work, being very forward with looking and forward thinking when it comes to things. So interactive.
When I mean that, I mean with your websites, I mean with your brochures and I mean with your emails and just the automations that you have in place. But I always Say the, the most important email is also that first one that they get as soon as they’ve inquired with you.
You have an option to be so interactive with that and guide them to so many different pages. I always say be mindful of how many links you’re putting on there because you don’t want to hurt your email deliverability.
But there’s different ways that we can work with that. So being interactive is a really big one on there and just being as authentic as possible.
So making sure that the content you’re putting out isn’t just showcasing testimonials and past work, it’s actually tapping into the SEO on social media and actually being really informative content that people are saving. Because if they see you as an informative figure, they’re more likely to think, oh yeah, this person knows what they’re talking about.
Let me actually follow them, let me engage with them more.
And then even if, if they’re not going to book you directly, the algorithm understands that they might have friends who have also just got engaged that might come across you. So it’s very much the long game. And I think the businesses that have a bit of patience to try and understand that are going to stand out a lot more.
And I think you’ve seen this as well, especially on TikTok and Instagram, you’ll sometimes just see content from six months ago that starts resurfacing and recirculating because suddenly people are searching it.
And I think especially with engagement season, that’s a big thing because you’ve got your peaks around, around kind of December, January time and then you’ve got the summer engagement peak.
If you’re putting out content which surrounds the start of a wedding and engagement and how to book so and so it’s going to keep reperforming and coming back on the algorithm if you use the right words. And so whilst it seems like a daunting task, it’s actually similar to how Pinterest recirculates things.
It’s actually a really good long term investment to make in your business.
Becca
00:23:23.120 – 00:24:59.720
And I’m definitely seeing that on TikTok particularly.
I have videos on TikTok that I did six months ago and then someone comments on it or someone because they search for something, maybe I’m talking about QuickBooks or talking about something specific that they’ve searched for and then suddenly it’s coming back, which is actually like you say, really nice because for a long time that didn’t happen at all on social media. We posted something and if they didn’t see it in 24 hours. It was long gone. So it is a. It is a change, which is a positive change.
And I think a lot of it, for people listening comes down to courage, if I’m honest, be like, having the courage to just do it. So even if we go back a year, in my business, where I was going, I’m gonna have a content creator. I’m gonna have someone follow me around.
I’m gonna do this and the other, and I’m gonna do all these videos, those. And actually, a year later, more and more people are doing the same thing, but it’s having the courage to do it when no one else is doing it.
And I think in the wedding industry, what happens is people see I want to do that, but what they do is they wait for all their competitors to do it before they start doing it. Whereas actually, to be successful, sometimes you’ve got to go out and, okay, yeah, people did go, why is she taking someone to an event?
Whereas even a year later, I think it’s becoming more normal. People are so weird. And so when I was doing it a year ago, people are like, why is someone following her around with a camera? Camera.
And now everyone wants someone following them around with a camera. So, you know, you have to get over your own pride.
You’ve got to get over your own anxiety, in a sense, and just, you know, be brave and be bold if you want to do this stuff first. And that’s where I see success for businesses in 2026. The ones who are brave and bold and visible are the ones doing well.
The people who are waiting back to see what their competitors are doing, absolutely blending in with the crowd. But I. I understand that’s difficult for people, but I think it’s something for people to think about for sure.
Anshika
00:25:00.040 – 00:25:00.400
Yeah.
Becca
00:25:00.400 – 00:25:10.980
Okay. We talked then about what’s going on in 20, and 2026 is a huge year for me. It marks a decade of me being in this side of my business.
Becca Pountney.com Wow.
Anshika
00:25:11.140 – 00:25:12.300
Congratulations.
Becca
00:25:12.300 – 00:25:42.800
Q. I know 10 years is crazy. I’m loving this 2016 trend that’s been going on in TikTok this year, because I’m like, this is me, like, 10 years in business, back to 2016.
But I’m doing something huge in 2026 because I am a crazy person. And I’m launching my own conference, Wed Pros Live. And I remember you were one of the first people I told that I was doing this thing.
So I want you to. To see if you can remember what you thought when I said to you, I’m bringing a conference to the uk, I think I’m crazy, but I’m doing it.
Anshika
00:25:42.880 – 00:26:39.670
Sure. I didn’t bat an eyelid. I. I had always known that you would do something like that.
And also you have such an incredible community that you’ve built and you have such a good network in the industry that I can’t think of anyone who would be better placed to bring something like this into the uk. But equally, I love the approach you’ve taken where it’s very wedding, MBA inspired and very just fun.
Like a day where it’s elements of learning, it’s elements of networking, it’s elements of just having a lot of fun and remembering why we all love the industry. Because I think we’re also siloed into our own businesses. Right.
And you see each other sometimes at networking events and sometimes you don’t end up going to them. And it can be a really lonely industry sometimes because when you’re at events, you’re just really busy.
You don’t really get the chance to actually understand more about each other. And what I love is that you’ve Becca Fied WordPress live. So it’s definitely going to have a lot of pink, a lot of Becca.
And I, I’m just, I’m so excited for the energy in the room on that day.
Becca
00:26:39.750 – 00:28:21.480
Yeah. And I want people to know it’s going to be epic. And yes, it is definitely Becca Fide. That’s the right way to say it.
But also, don’t let that put you off because it is also going to be serious business and I think both can stand alongside each other. And I do that in everything in my business.
You know, we have really serious conversations on this podcast, but we also have a laugh and we’re very transparent. And I think if you enjoy these conversations and the way that I do business, you will enjoy that day.
Because, yes, there will be elements, elements of fun, but it will also be, you know, I don’t waste people’s time. That’s one of my big things.
If I’m going to have someone on a podcast, if I’m going to have someone in a masterclass, or if I’m going to have someone on my stage, it’s going to better your business and give you knowledge. It’s not going to waste your time.
And I hope that the, that that’s what’s going to come across both to people who are looking at the event and in the room is like, I’m really glad I gave up My time. I sacrificed a day of my time which I know is precious to people in the industry, but thank goodness I did because look at all of this amazing stuff.
And I’ve had convers cases with people where they’re like, well, I’m not sure if I want to travel down from Manchester to come to London. It’s a long way. And my answer to that is it will be worth it.
I fly all the way to Las Vegas and give up an entire week of my time because it is a hundred percent worth it to be in that room and learn from those people and be in that energy. And so you absolutely can give up one night to come down from Manchester, Scotland, wherever you are, even from Europe.
I’ve got people flying in from Europe, I’ve got people flying in from America. America. Because they know it’s going to be worth it. So yeah, yeah.
If you’re in that mindset and you’re thinking, I live too far away, unless you live further away from Las Vegas, I’m not open to hearing that from you. That’s a you problem, not a me problem. I’m not gonna put it on your doorstep.
If you want to come to it, you gotta be make it worthwhile traveling down.
Anshika
00:28:21.560 – 00:29:03.760
I also think it will just be such a refreshing and re energizing day because I think we all have those times in our business where you, you start to sometimes fall out of love with what you’re doing just in the odd day or in the odd moment in the day. And I think it’s events like that, in energy like that which really uplifts you and reminds you why you do what you do and why you love to do it.
And I think especially this year and in the last year, I’ve spoken to a lot of businesses that have kind of felt a little bit of a slump when it comes to the timing and the meet to marry timelines and all of those different elements.
But I know we’ll be talking a lot about all of those things on the day and actually how to leverage and capitalize on this year to make sure that you’re still getting the most out of it and putting your business in the best position for the years for forward Now.
Becca
00:29:03.760 – 00:29:29.280
I know you’re like me and you’re quite open minded to education. And another one of the pushbacks I’ve had from a few people is, that’s great, Becca.
You’re bringing in some great speakers from the us, great speakers from the uk but why do I want to learn from people from America? I’m a florist in Wales. What’s anyone got to tell me from America? Have you got any insights?
Because I know I learn best from all sorts of people from all different sorts of backgrounds. So if someone was saying that to you, I’m not going because of this, what would you say to them?
Anshika
00:29:29.280 – 00:30:18.610
Well, I always say, and I think you’re right, we’re very similar in that sense. But I personally learn the most from people outside of the wedding industry in general and I think that’s just so powerful.
And I guess we mentioned it earlier, you’ve got the interior design industry that puts their prices everywhere.
And the way that they do business and build relationships with clients, they have a very high retention rate for their clients, which is our equivalent of referrals and word of mouth. And so taking learnings from outside of the industry and bringing it in is so powerful. So why would we not do that across the globe as well?
Personally, I just think that you can never stop learning in your business, right, because it’s always evolving. Your customers are evolving, technology is evolving.
And so if you’re not going to stay ahead of the curve, then unfortunately you’re going to fall behind and then you can’t really complain when it comes to, well, why is this year not as good as last year? And that’s really my approach on it.
Becca
00:30:18.610 – 00:31:26.760
Yeah, I think so. And I think you learn from, you’ve got to look outside your own circle, you’ve got to look outside your own country.
You’ve got like, I love looking and I always have done what’s going on in the industry in America, in Australia, in Asia, because elements of that, yeah, some of it’s different, but some of it comes over and I mean our whole weddings, the way we do weddings has been Americanized from television, let’s be honest, even down to like it used to be tradition in the UK that the bride would walk in first and all the bridesmaids would follow behind. And basically no one does that anymore, always the bridesmaids going first. And that is from America, right?
You know, two day weddings, having a rehearsal dinner the night before and then the wedding, you know, we’re seeing more of that.
And so I think it is very close minded to go, I can’t learn anything from Americans actually, if that’s your opinion, you probably can learn a whole lot from them.
And actually we learn more from getting different perspectives, different voices in the industry rather than just hearing the same people speak all of the time. And so, you know, there’s always something different to give.
And I don’t know about you, but when I go to a conference, whether it’s a wedding, industry conference or a marketing conference, it’s not just about the education. You talked about the re energizing. What else do you benefit from or why do you go to industry events?
Anshika
00:31:26.760 – 00:32:33.230
I love the networking side.
I’m such a people’s person and I love kind of meeting different people, building those authentic relationships, but then actually just learning from them because then you get to keep in touch with them thereafter on LinkedIn, on Instagram, and you never know when that’s going to come in handy and you’re going to learn something from their content. And I’m guessing you’re the same when it comes to the marketing conferences. But I think for me the biggest one is energy.
It always makes me kind of refall back in love with the industry and remember why we do it.
But then number two, it’s definitely just for the networking as well and just meeting as many people as possible and just making friends in the industry.
Like I said, I think we’re all solo business owners most of the time and so you can get siloed in and actually having those touch points and people that you can refer back to or just pop them a question a few months down the line or even just remember what they said. I think a lot of the time we’ll look at conferences and think, right, what did I get out of it in that day itself?
But actually your learning translates into months and years down the line because you’ll always think back and think, oh, actually I remember Becca mentioned this or so and so speaker had mentioned this. And even if it’s not going to be relevant to you the next day in your business, I can guarantee that it will be at some point in the future.
Becca
00:32:33.310 – 00:34:26.820
Yeah, and networking is huge. You never know who you’re going to sit next to, you never know who you’re going to meet.
And we’re doing everything we can to make that as easy for you as possible at Wed Pros Live in London. So again, Wedding MBA inspired that conference. I have to say, like, I love everything about it.
Wed Pros Live is not a replacement in any way, shape or form. If you get the chance to go to Las Vegas, every single one of you should be there when you can.
But I also appreciate not everyone can fly to Las Vegas. Hence why I want to inspire and do something in London.
But one of the things they do out there, which I adore and I’m bringing it to London, is That every supplier type, or most of the supplier types are, have a different color lanyard. So, you know, if you’re a planner, you might be pink, and if you’re a venue, you might be green. And everyone has a different color.
And what I love about that and why I’m going to do the same thing here in London is, you know, you can, number one, show everyone who you are very quickly by wearing the right lanyard, and you can then identify who does the same as me that I can go and connect with in a way that’s not awkward. But we can talk and understand each other’s struggles because we’re both florists, we’re both cake makers, we’re both planning planners.
And on the other hand, oh, I really want to make more connections with venues. Great. They’re all wearing this color lanyard, so I can see in an instant who works at a venue and go and make inroads for them.
And so, you know, it’s such a simple thing, but it’s incredibly effective. And that’s why I’m going to be doing that in London as well, because I want people to be able to confidently have those conversations.
And sometimes in these events, you can feel like, oh, I have to know. I have to be in the know. I have to know who’s in the room to go and talk to people. Well, hopefully this is a way that it opens up.
You know, if you’re a speaker, you’ll have a speaker thing. If you’re an exhibit, you have an exhibitor one, so you can instantly know who everyone is. And number one, not put your foot in it.
And number two, it opens up a great conversation. And then there’s another category because I couldn’t do enough lanyards for everyone because it would be ridiculous.
But if you don’t fall into one of the categories, you get the other. And actually, I don’t want people to see that as a. Oh, I’m another.
I think that’s a golden ticket because everyone should come and talk to you to find out what you do, because they don’t know. Like, you’re a.
Anshika
00:34:26.820 – 00:34:28.060
It’s an element of mystery.
Becca
00:34:29.180 – 00:35:27.500
Yeah, you’re a mystery. You could be a singer, you could be a piano player, you could be a fire eater. You know, there’s all sorts of things.
So, yeah, I’m big on networking, and I’m hoping that that again is going to come through at wedpros Live. Now, let’s talk a bit about your session in particular. Now you’re part of the breakout session.
So there’s gonna be one part of the day where there’s gonna be three rooms and people can decide which of the rooms they want to go into and which are the ones they want to listen to. And you’re gonna be one of those sessions.
Now, you don’t know this actually yet, Anshika, but what’s gonna happen is that people are gonna be invited, invited to book, what room they want to go in ahead of time. They’re not deciding on the day because I want to know who’s where and therefore the places are going to be limited.
And I think your session is going to be incredibly popular. So if people want to be at that, they’re going to have to reply to that super quick. Your session is called From DMs to Deposits.
How tech savvy couples decide who to book. So if I was to decide on coming to your session, just give me some highlights. What am I going to learn? Why should I be in that part of the. The event?
Anshika
00:35:27.580 – 00:37:04.140
Absolutely.
So we’re going to be talking all things technology from all aspects of the sales journey within the time limit that Beck has allocated us, which will be great. So bring any kind of thoughts you might have.
We can always talk about it throughout the day as well, but essentially it’s going to be everything from how does technology impact us?
To the sourcing and touching upon the AI side of things, touching on the websites, touching on the directories, to actually the communication side of things. How does CRM works? How do automation work, work to then also the post event, because I think that one gets missed out a lot.
We kind of do the events and then we think, right, that’s it, onto the next. But actually that’s your most powerful time.
And I did a blog post last year around how actually summertime is best for your post Wedding Funnel, which actually a lot of businesses miss out on and they think, I’m too busy, I can’t actually attend to this.
But actually there’s ways with technology that you can make your life a lot easier to build those authentic relationships with your clients and other venues and businesses within the industry throughout that time.
So we’ll really be covering, covering the entire kind of sales journey for businesses and how to really make the most of it, but in the most efficient way. So we’re not going to say, right, you need to change this, you need to spend thousands of pounds here and thousands of pounds there.
We’re going to try and find the most efficient ways and the quick wins. And with all of my sessions, I love to do a quick. What are your five quick wins that can take you just five minutes in a day?
And then what are the ones that will take you between kind of half an hour to an hour? And then what’s the one where you might need to dedicate half an hour a day to a day too?
So even if you’re not quite ready to do the entire day at the moment, you’ll definitely walk away from that session with actionable takeaways that you can implement literally the next day to see the world of a difference.
Becca
00:37:04.220 – 00:37:17.260
And would you say your session is suitable for solo business owners? So, florists, cake makers, photographers, or is it suitable for venues? Whether that’s venue owners or people working in a venue?
Or do you think it can work for both?
Anshika
00:37:17.420 – 00:37:51.640
I personally think it can work for both because I think the level of professionalism in the industry is very similar whether you’re a solo business owner or whether you’re a venue. Obviously you have different bandwidth.
So what will change is the efficiency of the strategies that we’re going to be talking about, depending on whether you have a team behind you or whether it’s you as an individual. But ultimately it’s going to be for everyone because the consumers are at the heart of what we do and they want things in the same way.
And so for us to make it as consistent for them as possible, from venues to booking their florist, to booking their caterer, to booking their pianist, it’s in our best interest to just give them the most seamless job journey.
Becca
00:37:51.640 – 00:39:23.540
Amazing. It’s gonna be such a popular session. I know it is.
In fact, all the breakout sessions, I think people are going to struggle to know which one to go to.
So if you are already booked to come to Wed Pros Live in London, make sure you look out for that email where you can book your session, because I think Anshika is going to sell out first. Obviously, it’s not costing you any additional money. You just got to say where you want to go.
For my own logistics and to make sure we know what you’re doing on the day and so you don’t have to make that choice of the day either. But because I think sometimes people get in a room and then they feel overwhelmed.
So make the choice before based on what your business needs rather than how you feel on the day. And then, yeah, we’re going to have a great time. So we know it’s an important topic right now.
It kind of comes right back to what we were Talking about at the beginning, today’s couples care about technology. We’re all overwhelmed. We need to have technology in our businesses.
And as well as having your amazing talk about technology, I can see it’s going to be a focus throughout the day.
And also in our backstage business crew area, there’s going to be lots of people in there that can answer your technology questions, help you find technology solutions as well. Because I know sometimes people come to me and they’re super overwhelmed. They know they need the technology.
They go to a talk like yours and then they need help finding which one it is. Hopefully there’s going to be some opportunities.
Well, there will be opportunities for people to chat with different people in the industry and find out what the best solution is for you.
So before I let you go, Anshika, if someone is on the fence about WED Pro’s Live and thinking, I don’t know if this is the right industry event for the me or whether an industry event is worth going to at all, whether it’s this one or any other one happening anywhere in the world, what would you say to them?
Anshika
00:39:23.620 – 00:39:54.730
I would say bite the bullet and come along. You’re gonna. You’re not gonna regret it.
You’re gonna see so many different people in the room and like I said, you’re gonna have takeaways that will help you on the day itself, the next day, but also six months to a year down the line. And we can never stop learning as an industry and we know that our industry is facing so much change at the moment.
So I think godpros Live is come at the most perfect time and also perfect time of year because it’s March, it’s spring equinox. Everyone’s going to be kind of the day is going to be getting longer.
Everyone’s going to be in a better mood and there’s no better event to be out for that time of year.
Becca
00:39:54.730 – 00:40:57.779
Yeah. And it’s going to get everyone energized for what we know will then be a busy season.
And we need all the energy we can get before you guys go into the summer season and things really pick up. I’m excited about it. I’m excited to have you as part of it as well. And she. I know we’re going to have an amazing day in London on 25th March.
If you’re listening to this and you want to come to WED Pros Live, I don’t care where you’re based in the world, you could be based in Sydney. It’s worth it. Come on over for Wed Pros Life. We’re going to have an amazing time. We’ve got some incredible speakers.
You can find out all about Wed Pros Live London and also our sister event in ireland@wedproselive.com now, as you grow, always end my podcast with the same question. And it’s this, which is what’s one thing you wish you’d known sooner in your business?
Now, you’ve been on the podcast before and so when people come back to the bottom podcast, sometimes I take a sneaky look to see what they said last time. So we can see whether your answer’s the same or not. Because we change, we evolve, and what we wish we’d known sooner can change as well.
So give me your answer as of today and then I’ll let you know what your answer was the last time you were here as well.
Anshika
00:40:57.779 – 00:41:51.499
I don’t remember my answer from last time, but I have a feeling it’s not changed. I think for me it’s the power of networking and a big reason for that comes down to I met you Becca, a fam event.
And since then we’ve just done so much work together in so many different ways and it’s been so nice. Becky and I love to just bounce ideas off of each other and just be sounding boards.
And I think if I hadn’t put myself out there, reached out to people, I think I was at that event because I cold DM’d the people running it on TikTok. And so put yourself out there, be proactive. Don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed to be doing things and trying to get yourself into rooms at any point.
I still do that. I DM so many different people all the time just saying, hey, I want to talk to you about about this.
And I think there’s no harm in being proactive when it comes to your networking because again, it’s it.
It won’t have an immediate effect, but in the long term it will really help you build authentic relationships and enjoy what you do a bit more because you’ve got friends in the industry and it’s great.
Becca
00:41:51.500 – 00:42:33.890
It’s so true. And actually it doesn’t always happen immediately. I think people want instant results from networking.
But even going in our situation, we’re on a farm trip together, we maybe had a bit of conversation. We didn’t really do anything together officially or formally, formally for probably at least another six months or so, if not longer.
But yeah, it was the seed of that relationship, which has then grown into more things. And I’m sure we’ll do more together in the future. So you’re absolutely right. I’ll tell you what you said last time.
It was on a similar theme, but not the same.
It was that you wish you’d known sooner that you should always gather feedback on your thoughts and ideas from a wide variety of people early on market research, find out what people actually want. So yeah, it’s good to know you’re still in the same zone, but you’re evolved into a new, different way of looking at it.
Anshika
00:42:33.890 – 00:42:36.410
I still love people. That’s what it comes down to.
Becca
00:42:37.210 – 00:42:43.650
Absolutely. And so if people want to find out more about you or maybe follow you on socials, where are the best places for them to find you?
Anshika
00:42:43.650 – 00:42:54.170
Well, I’ve started a new Instagram thanks to Becca. It’s called Anshika Weddings so we can have a chat on there.
We’ll be talking all about technology, Gen Z, Multicultural Fusion Weddings and lots more there.
Becca
00:42:54.170 – 00:43:18.630
Amazing. I will make sure I link to that in the show notes. Also your LinkedIn. I know you’re quite active over there as well for your personal brand.
And of course I’ll link to the tickets for Wed Pro Live so that if you haven’t yet got your ticket, you can come along. And if you have got your ticket, then hopefully today has got you even more excited about what’s to come in March.
Anshika, thank you so much for your time. It’s a pleasure as always and I cannot wait to see you in March.
Anshika
00:43:18.630 – 00:43:20.550
I can’t wait. Thank you for having me, Becca.
Becca
00:43:20.550 – 00:43:44.870
What a fantastic conversation. Always enjoy talking to Anshika and just understanding a bit more about her Gen Z perspective. And so much of it feeds into what I teach as well.
And it’s always good to hear it from someone else and to see see that what we’re saying. When it’s coming from different people, you can’t ignore it. So I hope you’ve taken something good away from today’s episode.
If you want to hear more from her, then make sure you’re there in London on the 25th of March. I’ll see you next time.
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