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· wedding planner,Entrepreneurship,Self-made Woman

Laughter and tears, moments of calmness paired with the highest stress levels possible, and emotions, emotions, emotions… Oh yes, all this is the day of a wedding. Wedding memories last forever and every girl deserves her dreams to come true. Our today´s #Heroine_of_the_week Angelina @gypsygalweddings remains calm and in control, where the brides become overwhelmed and stressed out. Angelina is a creative super woman, who manages to design authentic and wow-effect experiences, while taking away the pressure from a happy couple. She also writes a great blog about her experience and her journey into the self-employment: she is direct, authentic and so much fun to read. Read @gypsygalweddings Q&A below.

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What is your typical day like?
I wake at around 6 AM with a soft paw on my cheek – that of my cat waking me up to show me she's hungry. This is a nice way of starting your day already but it gets even better when I think of all the interesting tasks I'm about to tackle that day. So I go and sit at my desk, think of all kinds of beautiful wedding related stuff, get on the phone with or meet various vendors to actually get it for the best price and sometimes I even get to make nice things with my own hands as well.

What is your favorite part of working in the wedding industry?
I guess my favorite part of working to give people one of the best days of their lives isn't actually that different from that of many other self employed people: I get to do what I'm good at and what I really enjoy doing – and help other people at the same time. If you're kind of an aesthete like me (and heaven forbid a woman of childbearing age) this is something that's really not achieved easily in the corporate world. Now I get to think of beautiful words for free ceremonies, color schemes, table decorations or ways to create an affordable wedding arch and actually get to earn a living doing so.
 

What challenges keep you awake at night?
At the moment that's a million things! For example hoping to get subsidies to fund part of my business, doing a good job planning a wedding or thinking of how to best conduct myself during the next meeting with a couple so they'll pick me as their ceremony officiant. I toss and turn going over my (way too) long to do lists, trying to figure out the best online marketing strategies or how to build a unique but affordable exhibition stand for the next trade show. At present I don't get much sleep at night but I don't mind that at all because other than before being self employed, I now open my eyes in the morning and can't wait to get to work.

Angelina, what one piece of advice do you wish you could tell a 21-year-old version of yourself?
That's a tough one! I guess I'd just tell her to not worry too much about picking the right job for her specific talents. If she could just focus and listen to what she really wants, she'll find a way to make use of all of them. I'd tell her to try and not plan everything. Life has a way to completely disregard your plans at times – but in the end it always turns out to be in your favor somehow. There are more blessings in disguise than you could ever count..

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A wedding planner is so many people´s dream, but for most of us too expensive or is it just an outdated way of thinking?
And they are completely right in dreaming about having one. Having someone do those boring price calculations for you while always keeping an eye on your budget, contacting and organizing all the vendors and replace them at the last minute if need be or just handling your mother in law's complaints is just great, isn't it? The best part of it is, that it's actually not that expensive at all. As a wedding planner you get better conditions with most of the vendors, so in most cases that already covers the cost of hiring one. And you know what I think? Being able to concentrate on your job and your life and then just enjoy the nice parts of wedding planning (like choosing the decor, a dress or getting excited to walk down the aisle) is something you can't even put a price tag on.

The Wedding industry is very specific, as there is no definite “target audience”. How do you solve this problem?
I don't have this problem as I do have a very specific target audience – anyone who's as crazy as me and wants to get hitched. I plan affordable weddings for young couples who want to celebrate their „Yes“ in a very unique, non traditional way. I'm there to help them navigate the marketing jungle of the wedding industry so they can avoid making expensive mistakes (as simple as buying their decoration instead of renting it for instance).

You have a very beautiful and stylish Instagram about weddings. What else do you do in order to meet your clients?
Oh thanks! That's only a very small part of how I get clients though. I also exhibit on wedding fairs to meet potential customers in person and I have a brand new website to be found by those who need me. Also sometimes colleagues refer clients to me and the other way round.

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Angelina, you also write a blog about your journey into entrepreneurship?
Yes! I decided to share the good, the bad and the ugly because other people doing so was my light at the end of a tunnel in a really dark and challenging time. I regularly read blogs of young female entrepreneurs in the USA. There really is something about the ease people take to founding a business there. They just try and if it doesn't work out – they'll try again! In Germany many people tend to rather stick with a job they're deeply dissatisfied with because they are afraid of losing what is mostly just a sense of security. The number of people calling in sick due to mental health issues has been increasing significantly in the past years. This is a part of a bigger problem: People have to work in prefabricated jobs with little to no way to make them 'their own'. When we're still pupils we get told to get a well paying office job and just somehow try and fit the mold. If you ask me, it's no surprise this makes people kind of nuts. I decided to break out and at least try doing something that fits me rather than making myself fit a job – and what I want is for more people to see they can do it, too. My blog is the documentation of a social experiment if you like. If you read it from the start, you will see me at my lowest point, slowly working my way up from there by setting a goal of my own and taking the necessary steps to get there. I decided to not do it after my 'journey' to being self employed because if you do that, you tend to leave the difficult or the ugly stuff out – probably because you forget about it. I wanted to do it whilst I was still in the process to give people real and honest insights to how it is, trying to 'do it your way'. I want to show that there are people who are just as anyone else, not having any more money to invest in a business idea, not having a fancy degree or being crazy smart, but just like you – and if they can get happier and more satisfied, so can you.

Read about Angelina's full journey on trophykids.net

Fotos: die wunderbare @janakoehler