2022, you have been amazing and exhausting in equal measures. My busiest year yet which I’ll be forever grateful for, supporting so many wonderful couples and clients with their weddings and personal celebrations.
With lots of local West Yorkshire weddings as well as celebrations in Burnsall, York, Bolton Abbey, Gargrave, Wolviston, the Peak District, Ripon and Grassington. It really has been an incredible year.
I have been blown away by all of your lovely kind words, cards and gifts. Thank you to each and every single one of my couples for being so lovely and trusting in me to support you with one of the best days of your life!
“We can’t recommend Sian enough to everyone, she is an absolute professional who clearly loves her job and builds nothing but positive relationships with everyone involved. She clearly made all our suppliers feel like a big team both on and ahead of our wedding day, supported us in the run up and, through her seamless coordination, left us entirely free to fully enjoy the day.
All our guests commented on how relaxed and smooth the day was and we don’t doubt for a minute that was due to Sian’s careful steering of all elements into place.
Thank you so much Sian, it was an absolute joy to have you on board for coordination as well as to have you there for the day!”
K&J, September 2022
With an events season running from February – December, looking back I can’t quite believe the craziness. This year has taught me so much and really made me think about how I want to run my business for 2023 and beyond.
So, what I have learnt?
Less is more
It goes without saying that I have LOVED all of the celebrations this year. I feel so lucky to plan events for a living, particularly such memorable occasions. But, there has definitely been a downside to being so busy and working every weekend. The breathing space and time with family has been pretty much non existent, leaving me feeling a little worn out. It’s the first year where I’ve been in full on survival mode, unable to have the mental capacity to think about the progression of my business and simple things like replying to friends messages that they sent a week ago….
So with that 2023 will bring much less events overall, particularly weekend weddings. Work life balance is incredibly important to me, so as a result my events calendar will revert back to pre Covid times with approximately 16 – 20 events each year (rather than nearly 40!) I’ll also be taking on a few admin based projects to keep me busy during the week, freeing up the weekends for lots of family time. Mabel also starts school this year so I’ll have the school holidays to factor in to my business working hours and making sure that we have lots of quality time together.
Saying no to potential work is perfectly OK
From summer 2021, when celebrations were back on track after Covid I pretty much said yes to every single enquiry that popped into my inbox. I didn’t think about how busy that would make me, I basically said yes to get back on track and recoup what was lost.
2022 has taught me that it’s ok to say no and focus fully on the outdoor and DIY weddings that really fill my heart with joy.
Focus on the direction of my business
One of the most common questions fellow suppliers will ask you in the wedding world is “how many weddings have you got this year”? It’s almost like it’s some sort of competition to be as busy as possible.
Yes, if you have a team of people to support you with the expansion of your business it can work extremely well but for me my main focus has always been quality over quantity and to run a business that I love as well have time for a personal life. It’s so easy to go down the rabbit hole of working 24/7, thankfully 2022 has taught me this just doesn’t work for me.
I really love what I do!
Although this year has been tough, it has also been amazing. I’m writing this on 1 January 2023 feeling very lucky to run a business I love, be my own boss and looking forward to the year ahead. Every day is different and I absolutely love that.
A quick overview of my goals for this year
Setting goals always helps me to think about my business and focus on what I would like to achieve. I tend to write goals for each month as well as annual ones, below are just a few that I have on the list for 2023!
- Create more of a happier work life balance
- Start a positivity jar and celebrate my wins each week
- Continue to work with couples and clients who love outdoor and DIY celebrations as much as I do!
- Blog more. As you can see I failed miserably in 2022 but I really want to change that, wish me luck!
“My wife and I would very highly recommend Sian Chaplin as a wedding planner. We live in Dubai and asked Sian to help us plan our outdoor wedding 3 years ago as it would be difficult to do it from such a distance. Then of course covid hit. Our wedding was cancelled for two consecutive years.
However, Sian remained in contact throughout keeping us informed and updated regularly of how things were progressing. She clearly loves her job and is very highly organised.
Very long story short, we have finally had our wedding and it could not have gone any smoother. Sian clearly understood exactly the setting and style we wanted and absolutely nailed the organisation of everyone and everything on the day. We can’t thank her enough”
G&T, August 2022
Here’s to 2023!