Magazine Browsing & Big Dreams

Before there was a business, there was just me—the person who couldn’t resist a good wedding magazine and absolutely had to hear every single detail about your friend’s cousin’s wedding. The spark was there long before the business cards!

The Homegrown Hustle

In February 2001, I finally made the leap: I started my own part-time wedding planning business right from my New York home. My days (and let’s be real, my dreams) were overflowing with weddings, sparkles, and so much love.

 My Wedding Studio

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Life handed me a major plot twist: a move to the Washington DC area. I upped my game, moving my business into an honest-to-goodness commercial space. Whether it was a 180 or a 360, it was a whirlwind—I was suddenly living, breathing, and probably even dreaming “Down the Aisle” (my wedding biz).

 Workshop Queen & Wedding Whisperer

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My world grew from planning weddings to hosting hands-on workshops in my “studio”—because doesn’t that sound fancier than “office”? Little surprise: most attendees were actually other budding wedding planners!

Official Wedding Planning Instructor

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Then came an amazing opportunity—I started teaching with the Wedding Planning Institute. Not only was I doing what I loved, but now I was sharing real-life lessons with future wedding planners, too.

 The Newsletter Era

As questions rolled in, I started a biweekly email newsletter with everything I knew about wedding planning. Turns out, people couldn’t get enough! I needed a place to store all my “nuggets of wisdom” for thousands of users.

 WeddingsforaLiving.com is born

I looked to online newsletter pro Ali Brown for inspiration and launched WeddingsForLiving.com. Not only did I finally have a home for my archives, but my email list just kept on growing!

 Hello, Info Products!

Why stop at in-person classes? I packaged up my wedding planning know-how and turned it into online workshops. When I saw my first payment come through, I was officially addicted to this online business thing!

 My First Online Talkshow

After stumbling upon advice from Erin Blaskie, I found BlogTalkRadio and launched “Confetti”—the first-ever live call-in show for wedding planners. Each week, headset on, I shared tips and fielded your questions right from my desk. It was a blast!

 Podcasting & Beyond

Hosting the show built real connections with listeners—and soon, we were more than strangers; we were a community. I realized how powerful (and fun!) it could be to share my voice.

 Embrace the Journey, Not the Destination

Through it all, I learned to show up, start wherever I am (even if it’s scrappy), and always be true to myself. Consistency, occasional forays into social media (Twitter, yes; Facebook, not so much!), and, most of all, soaking up the adventure—those are the big takeaways.

 These days...

These days, I split my time between helping engaged couples, promoting the Caribbean as a destination, and sharing my journey online. I’ll always be a lifelong learner, a self-bosser—and I’ll never stop making space for joy, curiosity, and, of course, plenty of confetti.

 And that's my story!

From wedding magazines to the magic of an online community, it’s been a journey full of surprises, lessons, and a whole lot of heart.