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Ep. 193 - How to Allocate Your Wedding Budget with Marcy of MCM Entertainment
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✨ Episode Description:
Weddings are magical—but let’s be real, they can also be overwhelming when it comes to managing the budget. Where do you save? Where do you splurge? And how do you make sure your money is going toward the things that actually matter to you?
In this episode, I sit down with Marcy, founder of MCM Entertainment, to unpack the art of budgeting for your big day. Raised by a singer and a magician, Marcy was literally destined to entertain. From DJ-ing weddings at just 15 to becoming a powerhouse MC, singer, attorney, and licensed officiant by 24, she brings a unique perspective on how to balance fun, flawless execution, and financial sanity.
Together, we’ll talk about:
- ✅ Where most couples overspend (and how to avoid it)
- ✅ The top 3 areas worth investing in for long-term memories
- ✅ Budget-friendly ways to keep the entertainment alive all night
- ✅ How having the right MC, DJ, or coordinator can actually save you money in the long run
Marcy also shares her mission at MCM Entertainment—helping couples enjoy stress-free celebrations with bilingual MCs, day-of coordination, and an energy-packed crew that keeps guests engaged from start to finish.
If you’re planning a wedding and feeling the budget squeeze, this episode will give you clarity, confidence, and a roadmap for allocating your dollars in a way that feels aligned with your vision.
📌 Resources & Links:
- Learn more about Marcy and her team: https://marcysk.com/
- Connect with me on Instagram https://instagram.com/carissawoo
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Transcript
Introduction and Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays! Today I'm joined by my friend Marcie from MCM Events and her company is called Weddings with Marcie SK. Honestly, what can she do? Her family runs an incredible bilingual entertainment company offering DJs, magic, live music, and more.
00:00:16
Speaker
Marcie herself is not only a planner and a wedding singer but also an attorney. In this episode, we get real about growing up with Chinese moms, her tiger mom vs my complete opposite, and the pressures of being an only child.
00:00:31
Speaker
Marcie also shares her insights on allocating wedding budgets, what's worth investing in, and where you can actually save.
Wedding Planning Insights
00:00:38
Speaker
We also dive into the business side, our favorite types of clients, how we attract leads, and the systems we use to keep workflows running smoothly.
00:00:45
Speaker
If you're loving this podcast, we're already at 193 episodes. Wow. I'd be so grateful if you left a review. Reviews help push this out to even more wedding pros and creatives who need this info.
00:00:58
Speaker
Thanks so much and enjoy this episode with Marci.
00:01:05
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host Carissa and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all.
00:01:16
Speaker
I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:34
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey.
00:01:46
Speaker
i hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast.
Marcie's Career Journey
00:01:52
Speaker
See you guys soon.
00:01:57
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes. I'm actually recording in my car because I just dropped off my kid to dance. It's the last day of summer. and I actually sound really good on this mic in this car because I tested it.
00:02:09
Speaker
And I think I'm going to be doing more like personal podcasts in my car. But here today i have Marcy. She was raised by a singer and a magician. Marcy was designed to entertain. She started DJing weddings at the age 15, became a powerhouse MC and singer by 20, and by 24 was both an attorney and a licensed officiant.
00:02:30
Speaker
Today she leads MCM Entertainment, a team known for bringing fun, energy, and seamless coordination to weddings and celebrations ah across California and beyond.
00:02:41
Speaker
I work with you many times, you're amazing, and you're your parents. From bilingual hosting to day of coordination, Marcy and her crew turn overwhelming events to unforgettable experience.
00:02:51
Speaker
Welcome, Marcy! That was the best info I've ever had. Thank you so, so much. I feel very honored. yeah i know i'm so excited and i feel so connected with you just like being in my car and like i feel like we're next to each other at at coffee i'm sorry so i'm so stoked about this i want to be in the passenger seat with you i know the air con's like blowing in your face so i mean yes i'm glad i have the ac i'm glad the tech worked and thank you so much for having me yay okay marcy tell everyone the heckless heck yes listeners who you are in a nutshell
00:03:28
Speaker
Hi, heck yes, listeners. My name is Marcy. um Other than what Carissa has beautifully written about me, um i am an attorney by day and at night and on the weekends, I do run an entertainment company.
00:03:42
Speaker
It was founded by my parents and has now shifted hands over to me. So we do one-stop shop entertainment, which covers anything from MC and DJ singing officiant to a day of coordination,
00:03:56
Speaker
I have very little free time, but any free time I do have, I they love vegetating and obviously hopping on a podcast. This is my first ever podcast interview. So I'm excited. I'm nervous, but I'm also really, really excited to share my thoughts and listen to yours.
00:04:16
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah, every time I work with you and your parents, I'm blown away by your precision and your dad's way of like directing the crowd and like, I don't know, getting the energy up and just watching you evolve on like your TikTok and all your reals. It's like so much fun. You sing and you guys do magic
Balancing Roles and Careers
00:04:34
Speaker
and you guys are just like this powerhouse family. So tell me about how you were raised and like what what it was like to be like raised by entertainers and being the only child.
00:04:44
Speaker
Yeah, so... Initially, i was an introvert. And I think in ways I still am, i the extroverted side of me has to come out through training.
00:04:55
Speaker
So when I was younger, being the only child, I struggled making friends. So at a very young age, when ah when i moved to a new school, i ate lunch in the bathroom very frequently and had a hard time communicating with kids my age.
00:05:11
Speaker
I had no problem with adults because my parents often brought me to events where i had to conduct myself in a certain manner. And that oftentimes was a amongst adults. So I communicated with them very easily.
00:05:25
Speaker
um But it wasn't until maybe i would say during high school, I started to explore the extroverted side of me. And a large part of that was due to my mom pushing me.
00:05:35
Speaker
um She is a very typical Asian tiger mom for sure. Yeah. And um I know like many of your listeners might be like that, or maybe, you know, their moms themselves and find themselves maybe having a little bit of that tendency.
00:05:50
Speaker
But she really pushed me because she is very extroverted. And so she made me join things like cheerleading. She made me join things like leadership. um A lot of the times they were probably against my my will.
00:06:04
Speaker
But after doing that, and in hindsight, I was really happy she pushed me out of my shell. um I always underestimated myself a lot. um I always felt like I wasn't good enough or, you know, i had to perfect this one thing before I could bring it to the public and present it on a wider scale.
00:06:23
Speaker
And I think through my mom, she kind of just made me um realize I don't have to package myself entirely. i do the preparation, but you just have to get your reps in. And sometimes those reps aren't going to be really glamorous.
00:06:37
Speaker
So that's kind of how much how I was raised. um But in terms of the entertainment aspect of my household, it was never really a dull moment. I mean, I and we promise i was a prop for my dad for many years, like from five to maybe like 13.
00:06:55
Speaker
thirteen I was like just the right size to be put into a box. And then my dad would like put daggers in me. I was cut in half. I was cut in half then I was levitated. So like that you know, when I was very young.
00:07:10
Speaker
And then, then I got taller, and then I got heavier. So, you know, it hard and harder for me to to be maneuvered in these um magic props. But yeah, yeah, I didn't know your dad was a magician until I just read up on you today. But it just seems so fitting, like even your mom and like, they're just, they're, their shoulders are always back. And they're dressed to the nines. And like, they're very, like,
00:07:32
Speaker
presenting, you know, like they really like are charismatic. They they capture the crowd's attention. So it makes so much sense. I had no idea you were the little magician prop. Yeah, well, i'm born I'm sworn to secrecy, so I can't can't say much. But, you know, i admire magic as an art form.
00:07:50
Speaker
Maybe in another life I would have, you know, learned magic myself. Like if I started now, it might be a little too late, but it's... Oh, love it.
00:08:00
Speaker
Were you, um I know your mom was a tiger mom, but what was like your relationship with her growing up? Were you also like besties? um I will say this. My mom was like the hardest working person I've ever known.
00:08:13
Speaker
When she came here, she 18. She went to adult school and worked as a RN. And then on the side, she was like a seamstress and she was a lounge singer. So at any given point between 18 and 30, she always has three jobs.
00:08:30
Speaker
And her ultimate goal was to bring her parents over here, which are my grandparents who raised me under the same roof. Yeah. So um for her, I think she was so hardened very early on.
00:08:46
Speaker
yeah Just the situation, you know, people who come out here, they they don't have a backup plan and going back to China just wasn't an option. it was probably ah looked at as a shameful maneuver.
00:08:59
Speaker
just had to make it out here. And from that, she kind of raised me very much to be like a son, not to be
Cultural and Familial Influences
00:09:07
Speaker
sexist or anything, but it's just that at the time, you know, um she kind of raised me to, to be really good at my studies, to be independent, to make money, be conscious about money. was,
00:09:19
Speaker
almost never let me wear makeup until I was 17, 16, 17.
00:09:25
Speaker
No makeup, no cell phone. um I couldn't have sleepovers. um I didn't really have an allowance either. So it was like very, very strict in my household, yeah which is really funny to think about because people think they look at me on stage and like, oh, you know, so glamorous and, you know, makeup, everything, jewelry.
00:09:46
Speaker
um Didn't have access to that. And I guess, you know, to be quite honest, that stuff doesn't hold an allure to me. You know, like I don't have crazy shopping addictions and, you know, um aspire to own materialistic things.
00:10:01
Speaker
But yeah, what she did instill in me was um discipline and just like you don't expect success overnight. And people who have made it in this world in whatever field,
00:10:14
Speaker
um they put in a lot of hours. You might not see it, but it's there. um So by nature, that does take an effect that that does affect the relationship between mother and daughter, because it's not always going to be nice. There are a lot of fights.
00:10:30
Speaker
um A lot of like, why wouldn't you let me do this? Like everyone else is doing this. I feel like I'm left out because all my friends are doing this and I'm doing that.
00:10:41
Speaker
Even with With my my weekend job, a lot of the times my friends want to get together with me, and the only time available is on the weekends. So a lot of times I say, I'm so sorry, I can't make it. You know, it doesn't work. I'm working. I'm working. And it got to a point where they stopped inviting me to things because they probably assumed my answer would be I'm unavailable.
00:11:05
Speaker
While that might be true, I would still like to be invited. but um yeah. It's tough. It was very tough. my I do have sort of, I now have a more mature relationship with my mother. i admire her a lot, but she is a very she's very hard on herself and she's very hard on me.
00:11:25
Speaker
So yeah, it's it's tough. I get kind of emotional because like just speaking of our Chinese ancestors, it's like ah how hard they were. telling yeah da right now I know, I know. It's like we,
00:11:40
Speaker
I had talked to the psychic and I didn't even like pay for it, but it was just like on a street. And then they told me they're like, I'm such a hard worker because I come from like these Chinese ancestors from like working in the flower field. So if you don't work, you die. know Pretty much. How do you like your self-worth is associated with your line of work and how much you bring in? Like, are you useful in the society?
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So let's take it all the way up into like college and then early career jobs. And then you could talk about how you started yeah career and like weddings.
00:12:20
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, my college path was pretty typical. Um, I went to UC Riverside and I graduated in 2017. Um, and then straight, I went straight to law school from there.
00:12:33
Speaker
um To be quite honest, I didn't know but specifically I wanted to become a lawyer, but um because I'm the only daughter, i very heavily identified with what my mom wanted for me.
00:12:45
Speaker
and And at the time, I didn't really have any any other aspiration that was sticking out to me like, this is my calling. This is what I absolutely have to do, which also is a very overrated like concept that we try to preach amongst young people because so many times we don't know what to do.
00:13:03
Speaker
Um, and that's okay. But, um, for me, I kind of just, my mom always wanted to be an attorney. She was, she's fit to be one. She could be a very good litigator. She likes to argue, you know, she always has her own reasoning.
00:13:19
Speaker
So I was like, all right, well, I, I want to make her proud. And so I went to school Pepperdine finished. And then I, I got barred in
Client Management and Relationships
00:13:30
Speaker
2021, right, right after the pandemic.
00:13:33
Speaker
Um, I like literally my last year of law school was the start of the pandemic in 2020. And then um pivoting over into my early stage of the career during law school, I had always been an intern. I've interned, um I've had the privilege and the luck to be working at places like Walt Disney Company, um yeah ESPN, Disney Plus.
00:13:56
Speaker
And that was my exposure to corporate America and just, you know, how how that works. um Obviously the clout is great, but when I did take on my first full-time role at yeah ESPN, it was very clear to me that um there was very little freedom.
00:14:14
Speaker
um A lot of people, as you go up the food chain, don't really look like you. and um there's a lot of politics involved. um This isn't to say that I can't play it, but do I want to? It's like a separate question. um And I just felt like I was...
00:14:32
Speaker
turning numbers and just hours. um And my pay was mediocre. It was okay. I just i just came out of school. I have a lot of debts. um A motto that I was recently like reminded of is sometimes the opportunities that you didn't apply for are launch pads to opportunities that you want.
00:14:56
Speaker
And so I kind of took that and, you know, sure, I didn't get like a law firm job. you know, at ah at a huge firm, but the opportunities that i did get that came a little easier for me, um kind of strengthened a lot of my other skills, like my soft skills, um my sales skills, my marketing skills, things like that.
00:15:15
Speaker
um And then just, you know, from there, it led me to other jobs that, you know, were more aligned with my interests. But um even the job like I have right now,
00:15:27
Speaker
it's two reasons why I'm keeping is one, it allows me to work from home. Um, it's very important to me because, a lot of my clients, they require my like clients as in my wedding clients require my attention during the week.
00:15:41
Speaker
So it's kind of weird to be taking client calls in an office and be like, Oh, when's your wedding? You know? So I don't want to put myself in that situation and like make my employer feel that I'm not doing my job.
00:15:56
Speaker
oh yeah So, and then number two is like, I, I value, um, performance based work. It, all the jobs that I've had, um, previously have been kind of like, okay, you, you put in 48 hours a week, but like, you know, you don't, uh, whether you work harder or not, you're still getting paid the same, which is, you know, in in some aspects, definitely good in some aspects.
00:16:20
Speaker
But, um, now I'm in a role where if I, if I pull back a little, I make a little less. But if I put in a lot of work, my reward is so much more. And that's kind of like what some, in some cases, entrepreneurship is about. It's never a steady income. It's,
00:16:38
Speaker
how much time ever you put in is what you get out of it. Yeah. I mean, you structured your life that way. So you're so intentional. I want to talk to you so much more about your life, but I want to get into hot topic.
00:16:49
Speaker
What is your hot topic today, Marcy? And like, why is it so near and dear to your heart? And just a little preference, like go check out Marcy's TikTok. You could tell them to handle and then she has a lot of hot takes for you and you have some personality girl on there. So they're super fun and entertaining.
00:17:08
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:19:31
Speaker
back to the
00:19:34
Speaker
okay so caveat, I did start a new TikTok account. I had one before. was very inconsistent with it. And I just felt like it wasn't reaching the right audience. So the TikTok that I have now, it is a little bit all over the place. It's very random. It's very nicheless.
00:19:50
Speaker
That may change. um But my hot topic there. So I mean, I'll start with, I guess, the wedding one, since you and I are both in this industry. um Briefly, I think the wedding budget, there are a lot of things that you can cut.
00:20:04
Speaker
um In this economy, there are um less and less people opting in for flowers, like real flowers. ah When you're talking about centerpieces, like big sphere looking centerpieces with like 30 different flowers on there for 40 tables, you know, each centerpiece is what, ah maybe like 80 bucks times 40 tables.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah. You know, you got to hire labor to take down certain structures Maybe you have like a caterpillar arrangement on your sweetheart table that's like $4,000. um The lifespan of these plants are 12 hours, maybe like a day.
00:20:44
Speaker
And yeah if you repurpose the flower, they're going to die even sooner transit. Totally. like If you're looking to cut costs, like, okay, that's like 10, 10-ish, 12-ish K. And I've seen like a new trend now where people just DIY a lot of things, you know, people...
00:21:02
Speaker
ah buy things on on facebook marketplace fake flowers no one can tell no one's over here checking oh who is this real yeah it's just for the photos right um i see those things on like pinterest like the flower walls and it's like like it just like comes out in a second it looks great exactly so i mean that is something i have seen and i i personally think flowers are like a nice to have if you have within your budget by all means like who doesn't love fresh flowers. I don't know any girl who doesn't, but yeah you're trying to be ah conscious about your budget.
00:21:38
Speaker
That's an area I would probably consider. um Yeah. I would say like long-term planning, like wedding planning. And, you know, again, this is kind of like my unbiased opinion. I'm trying to take myself out of the business and look at it from if I were a bride, you know, ah and there's a lot of stuff that you could do.
00:21:59
Speaker
on your own, meaning I, I know if I want ivory or I want egg white as my linen, right? Like I don't particularly need a planner to tell me that. Um, I can do the site visits on my own.
00:22:13
Speaker
I could ask maybe some friends who've, you know, inquired about the same site visits or have their wedding there, look at what their, um, BO is like what their order is and all that stuff.
00:22:24
Speaker
And so, yeah, I think what you really need is probably someone on the day of to run the show because you're not going to be doing that. You're as as a groom or bride, you're like roaming around getting pulled in 15 million different directions.
00:22:37
Speaker
So I think it would be worth it to have one person or two, depending on the size of your wedding so just like navigate, you know, work with, work with other vendors so that you're not a headless chicken running around doing everything.
00:22:52
Speaker
um Yeah, I mean, we worked together, you know, a couple times before, a handful, and we were like, I see you doing a lot of different things. You have many hats, so it kind of like takes the stress off the bride for it be handed to like you, you know, they can't do it all themselves and like ruin their whole day. I totally agree.
00:23:13
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um And I guess, you know, for me, I think Weddings, if you're involving family, it depends on the culture that you're coming from. um a lot of Asian cultures, and I guess even some Jewish and Persian cultures, it's a lot about how much wealth can I show um through the wedding. Mm-hmm.
00:23:36
Speaker
um And then, I mean, that's great. ah My whole thing is whoever pays has the say, that's how the saying goes for me, right? yeah yeah like Who is giving my paycheck is the person who I'm probably going to have to answer to.
00:23:52
Speaker
And yeah there's sometimes that, that friction between the groom and bride and like their parents or like uncles and aunts who are paying for the service. And so my hot take is like, if you want the day to be yours,
00:24:07
Speaker
you are going to have to pay for it because if they're if someone else is paying for it, your opinion is probably on the lower end of the totem pole. And for the vendors, it's really difficult because we're going to have to answer the person who we're getting our money from.
00:24:24
Speaker
Yeah, I was literally just thinking about this because I was thinking of you know putting some money aside like in some custodial account or whatever for my kids we just for the wedding and I'm like well if I put in whatever 50k at most then am I gonna want the say and like who they pick for a photographer or florist or whatever or are they am I gonna be like like what type of mom am I you know what mean you can still do that it could be for a home yeah so expensive out here yeah I mean me and you are Chinese I remember ah like my grandma gave me um
00:24:58
Speaker
She started getting giving me some money in college, but she was kind of like ingrained in my head. Like, I help you, but you help me type of thing. So it was always like, you're my biatch type of thing. Like, you take me to doctor's appointments. You like cut my toenails. You run my feet. But, you know, I give you money.
00:25:18
Speaker
That's so real, though. i Yeah. Yeah. I get that. I do. Especially if you're like o the more accomplished grandchild or like you're the one closest to her, like just distance wise. i get it. You know?
00:25:31
Speaker
miss Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so funny. Okay. So I want to kind of pick your brain a little bit with the clientele that you kind of go after or come to you. Like, is it people that are want to be like cost efficient and like budget friendly? or is it people like you mentioned that want to show off their money? Like, who would you rather work with or?
00:25:50
Speaker
Like, what's your opinion on that? I mean, I'll go with your first question about like, what kind of clientele do come knocking on my door? They're definitely like your your average citizen.
00:26:01
Speaker
These are not people who are making like clearing 500K or a million in a year. So they are very budget conscious. um Everyone's going to ask pricing off the bat when they do an inquiry. I'm sure it's maybe the same for you too. Like after there's a lot of people that do what I do, but there's only one me.
00:26:23
Speaker
um And I think same for photography services. Everybody can take photos, but can they take it well? And if you they like your style, they're going to inquire your price. And so yeah to answer your question, one, probably they're going to be your, your like standard. I probably make a hundred K a year.
00:26:40
Speaker
maybe put together, maybe be slightly less, but put together, like if if it's a dual income household, maybe like 150, 160. one fifty one sixty um And then in terms of what I would rather, who would I would rather work with?
00:26:53
Speaker
um You know, I have very seldomly worked with people who like to shower or show their wealth. And if they do, i think it's in a way where i I enjoy quality things, so I'm going to pay for that rather than let me just waste money on this and like have that be there and just for shows. um Yeah.
00:27:14
Speaker
I feel like i haven't had I haven't had the opportunity to work with those types of clients. And in terms of who I would rather work with, I would rather work with someone who ah values what I have to provide. Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:31
Speaker
because I'm not the most expensive person on the market. I think I'm middle. Like there are people who are far more expensive than me and there we are people who are far more inexpensive than me. But for what I am providing, I feel like they're getting a bargain because I'm not going to be like, this is my scope of work. Like this is all I'm going to do.
00:27:50
Speaker
You know, like I'm going to be flexible, you know, here and there. And I trust that my clients will see the level of flexibility that i provide and the willingness that I will help outside of my scope.
00:28:04
Speaker
And they will appreciate that. Whether that is in the form of like writing me a review, whether that's in the form of tipping me, like either, or that's kind of confirmation that like, okay, we're in sync.
00:28:15
Speaker
Like we can work together. What I saw in you is what you saw in me. And like, we're on the same page. Yeah, I think whenever I talk to people on the podcast, it like brings back memories of like the past whatever decades. But I think we did a wedding together.
00:28:31
Speaker
i won't say their names, but I can't remember their names, but it was during COVID. And I think I did the beginning of the wedding. And then we went to like a Chinese restaurant after and you were there.
00:28:43
Speaker
But they were like, I the uncle was just super rich. I think he owned like a bunch of strip clubs, but they had a mansion.
00:28:53
Speaker
but i think i heard like it like snoop dogg or if someone lifted like with their neighbors or something like that but um that day was so long it was like a bazillion hours um but you ran the show really beautifully remember i don't know what you're talking about i know and i remember your dad he's like so good with the group photos he's just like like normally i have to be in charge but he's like He's like, everyone point to the couple. Everyone like, like, like have their kids. And he just like, so spot on with his directions. I'm like taking notes. I'm like, damn, this guy's good.
00:29:26
Speaker
You know, what with the ba that day was like a 300 person wedding, I think. Yeah, yeah.
00:29:33
Speaker
And at that point, you're like herding cats. Yeah. that's not totally you just you need to like hurt them and and sometimes it might not be like very nice but we need to get the job done and at the end of the day like your your butt's on the line as well if if they say i want a group photo and like you're unable to get it for whatever reason like not everybody's in it or one person's head is like covered and then you know they're gonna be like why don did you take a photo like that you know so you like need to You need vendors that like help you out too, you know. Totally.
00:30:08
Speaker
And like table toasting, as you know, um some coordinators do, some coordinators don't. I always try. I always go with the Groom and Braille table. Yeah, you do. You do. I get the other table ready. I'm like, you know, who's talking? You? Great.
00:30:25
Speaker
the mic is going to you
Marketing Without Advertising
00:30:27
Speaker
and everybody like get up everybody like go on one side and makes your job you know or else you'd have to be yeah you have to have experience with that because you know my early years like that was a complete shit show like you know being surrounded by that many people and like people pulling you like that was sometimes i would like want to like faint after that but it takes some experience to get through the table rounds with like 300 chinese people It's squishy. People are like squeezing past you. it takes a really long time.
00:30:58
Speaker
yeah yeah lot I have an interesting question for you. I'm just kind of curious because I feel like your you know your parents established this business. You guys have a lot of referrals and a lot of like venues. like You guys are in the venue, so you have constant leads, um but you have a full-time job as like a lawyer. so in your brain, like how do you organize like your year? Like, how do you say like, I want to take this many weddings because I feel like you, if they just pitch you, you could be filled up like 50 plus weddings a year So how does that all work?
00:31:33
Speaker
Yeah. So my leads don't come consistently. So sometimes I would have like five leads a day and then it's just crickets for a month. And so on average, I think in terms of like my day to day,
00:31:48
Speaker
My nine to five will always be nine to five. It sometimes can be nine to four. And then at night, every night, that's where I start to answer my emails. That's where I have my client calls.
00:31:59
Speaker
That's where I do my music prep or I write my efficient script. um yeah And then in terms of leads, um I would say on average, we probably have about 50 to 60 a year and that's no marketing. So we don't do ads. Wow. Yeah.
00:32:18
Speaker
We don't do any ads period paid or non-paid. um Our contacts with the vendors, we don't have like a financial thing where like, oh, I pay a vendor like I'm on your preferred list.
00:32:28
Speaker
I don't do that. um I've been very fortunate enough where some of the venues that we have worked with do automatically include our, you know, a contact. Oh, nice. Along with other MCs or other MCDJ like teams.
00:32:45
Speaker
And then I think my whole thing is If I, on average, had five leads in a in like a month, I try to get 50% of it, and I'm happy.
00:32:56
Speaker
Like, one out of five, okay, 50 is probably ambitious. I would say one out of five, I'm happy. If I get two out of five, even better. um Yeah. When I was starting, I would beat myself up a lot when I didn't get it. And I would be like, why? Like, why wouldn't they choose me? Like, and yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:33:14
Speaker
Very like a hot, a very haughty mindset. Like I'm the only person that does this. And it was just like, no, yeah so many other vendors out there and it's not personal. Like it's just probably, maybe it's not, maybe they're looking for a guy, like maybe that's what they want. Right.
00:33:31
Speaker
They're looking for package deals. Like they want lighting and they want dry eyes. It could be anything. And so I think as when I started to get more no's, I was more immune to it. And I just like, oh, okay, that's fine.
00:33:45
Speaker
but Learning experience. It'd be great if you like, I would often ask the clients if they didn't choose me, I was like, you know, just for feedback purposes, like for my learning sake, could you share with me?
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah. what What, why was the other team like a better fit for you? And is it something that I can improve on in the future? And if like the feedback is, oh, they were cheaper. I'm like, okay, cool. That's fine.
00:34:09
Speaker
I can live with that. I can live with that. Yeah. I like to know too, like I went to Catalina on the, this week and then I had a call like right when I got off the the ferry. Yeah. And then um I had a really good call. I added like a bunch of added value, even offered to use like my cheap, you know like like random stuff like that. But I'm like, are you guys going to hire me? But I don't like think they're gonna say yes or whatever I have no intention but they're like oh yeah we have one other girl photographer we're going to talk to but she hasn't been got back to us so was like okay well at least I know yeah so I was like I am like ahead of the game if she hasn't contacted you and I'm like all up in the grill so um it's just really good for for me to gauge that and I'm like I gave my all on that call and
00:34:58
Speaker
you know, that's all I could ask for. And if they, you know, come with me with yes, then great. And then no, like I have not like hurt at all. Right, right. But you like you gave free information.
00:35:10
Speaker
And I think like, who doesn't want free information and free help? And that's probably one of the things that will increase your possibility of landing a sale.
00:35:21
Speaker
um Because everyone wants to charge you for everything. And sometimes it's also like, a vibe check too. Like yeah maybe you are more expensive, but if they like you, they'll go with you because you're going to working with them for at least a couple of months if you're doing their engagement shoot and like not just the wedding shoot, maybe you're doing like other shoots offsite, you know, and the wedding process. So like that, that relationship will span over the course of like five, six months at least. Totally. Yeah.
00:35:51
Speaker
Yeah, since we're talking about like budget allocation, what is like another tip and trick that you could give to couples today on like budgeting?
00:36:04
Speaker
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00:36:17
Speaker
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00:36:28
Speaker
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00:36:46
Speaker
I mean, i would just start like from the big ticket items in your life. Do you wanna, if you're gonna spend this much on the wedding, are you gonna have enough for a honeymoon in a house?
00:36:58
Speaker
Because if you think about, like what's this all the package that goes together when you when two become one? Okay, great. yeah there There's the engagement room, but that's the guy. we'll We'll leave that aside.
00:37:11
Speaker
Talking about dual finances, where it's just like two people have to make a decision is the wedding budget. And then after the aftermath is what you have to worry about. Is, am I going to pay this off in full?
00:37:24
Speaker
Or am I going to be paying off my wedding for the next three, four years, which will render me in like incapable of buying other things like a home, right? So like, what is your priority? Is your priority to be a homeowner at the same time you get married?
00:37:41
Speaker
Do you wanna shell out like $5,000 for a honeymoon? So I feel like when you have those other big numbers at play, it'll give you a better idea of what your actual budget is. Because I think most people like have an arbitrary number like, oh, I'm gonna spend 100K on a wedding. Okay, you spend a hundred ki on a wedding, that's great.
00:37:59
Speaker
And you you know, like you end up aiming below, you spend 80, but you had a competing priority, like a house. And you're like, Oh, now I can't do that anymore. I got to wait another decade to, to, you know, purchase
Mindset and Reputation Building
00:38:13
Speaker
that. Yeah.
00:38:14
Speaker
Yeah. Start there. And then, then you just gotta look at the, the, the second biggest thing I probably think is just the venue venue is like more important than all the vendors. Yeah.
00:38:25
Speaker
<unk> um And I think like if you if you can save money on the venue, you're probably like ahead of the game. You can spend more money on vendors you really want to work with. So if you don't shell out for the Marriott's and like the Westin and like the Hilton, then you could spend more money on like a high-end photographer or like a high-end wedding planner or like lights and like cool little add-ons that are a part of like the actual wedding itself indoors.
00:38:55
Speaker
So, I mean, that's where I would save the most money, like, is a venue. venue venue yeah guess how much guess how much my venue was. I don't even know where your venue was. Well, it was a little, like, hipster venue in l L.A., but it was only – my venue was 3K. In L.A.?
00:39:15
Speaker
and l a when Yeah, but it was not kind of the ghetto, but it was one of those, like, cute little hole-in-the-wall ones. Kind like a smog shop, but they're gone. It was $13.42. But, yeah, I got skimp out on the venue cost and then, you know, get all the bells and whistles of all the knick-knack paddywhack stuff.
00:39:35
Speaker
Did I include – is that, like, valet, right? you get No, I think I had to pay for valet, and then it didn't come with, like, any staff. I think like one person that was like on site, but yeah, it was definitely a learning curve because I had to like do everything myself.
00:39:52
Speaker
I was going to say going to to hire like food, the caterer, all that. I was like, who's going to give like water? Who's going to scrape the plates? Like i was like, oh crap. I didn't think of all that, but it was really cheap. Again.
00:40:07
Speaker
It's only fair, right? Like if you're going to pay a cheap price, there's a lot of things that don't come with it. But it really just comes down to like how much time can you allocate to the wedding planning process? I think is really important.
00:40:18
Speaker
If like you're the type of person that likes to delegate like, oh, I cannot be bothered with this. Then be prepared to pay some money because someone else will do that for you. If you're like, oh, I love this. Like I enjoy doing this.
00:40:30
Speaker
I like planning. Then by all means, you can save lots of money because you're going to do it yourself. Yeah. yeah Oh my God. Okay. So i just want to ask you like more mindset because you were instilled with like these hardworking um values.
00:40:49
Speaker
What would you tell like wedding pros listening today? They feel kind of stuck. They feel like they are doing all the things or posting consistent consistently on Insta, they're networking, they're going to like meetings, they're I don't know, doing the Facebook groups theyre doing ads, but they're just not getting like enough leads. Like you have the leads.
00:41:10
Speaker
What would you say to them to do today to kind of get them out of the rut? I don't think I'm the best person to talk about in terms of posting because I haven't seen success on my end. Like I have to be brutally honest.
00:41:25
Speaker
um I very often struggle with feeling discouraged every time I post because no one sees my stuff. Or I feel like, oh, this is so insightful. Why is it not reaching a larger audience?
00:41:36
Speaker
I see it. I see it. Okay, but go on. and No, no, no. i mean, like, my followers will see it. But, you know, I think when whenever you're trying to post and gain attention or traction, you want your post to reach a new audience so that it expands your network.
00:41:50
Speaker
So I will say, though, i'm currently I'm currently on my journey to building my TikTok. And i have been posting, like, I would say four to five times a day. It is very, very, very thing.
00:42:04
Speaker
And, you know, it's very discouraging to see like 20 views or like 10 likes. And I think, I think it's normal, you know, um people, especially coming from this business where my parents have been in it for like over 30 years. Yeah.
00:42:20
Speaker
yeah It takes 30 years to build a reputation. So if you're going to start a TikTok and expect followers to come overnight, like think about how long it took for you to get to the reputation you have today.
00:42:34
Speaker
So yeah, I think about if I were to start my business from scratch, and I didn't have like MCM before. you know i probably wouldn't see the success that I do today. So i like have to be i have to acknowledge some of the advances that I have, some of the advantages that maybe other people don't.
00:42:54
Speaker
But even with that being said, i think my best like mindset is doesn't matter the amount of ads and marketing. you just choose Every single time you go out there and do a gig, that is your best marketing.
00:43:06
Speaker
That is your advertisement. not Not like Yelp stuff, Facebook group, because they don't see you in action. They don't yeah do the work. They don't see how you interact with the couple or even with guests or with other vendors.
00:43:22
Speaker
So every that's for me, especially coming from the company where I don't do any ads and I still manage to get like relatively consistent leads. That's how I treat my business.
00:43:34
Speaker
Yeah, I see that in you guys so much because it's like all eyes are you. Like we are performing for our next five weddings, you know, like there's all these engaged couples there, they're friends and they're watching our every move, how we direct, how we carry ourselves, how we dress, how we talk to other vendors, you know, like how we make eye contact with other people. Like, you know, are we on our phone? Are we, you know, um you know, are we engaging? Like we're fun to be around or energy. So I love that tip.
00:44:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like, think if, if you think about like when you buy something, you will always want to try it out. If it's like a product, you want to see it, you want to touch it. You want to like, you know, what can it do for you? And then I guess for us, that's kind of like the best way to convince a couple to book with us because you're literally seeing it.
00:44:25
Speaker
You don't have to go to my website and look at my packages and what we offer. Literally you're, you're, you're seeing it live. yeah. if you If you wanted to book us, it would just be a simple, are you available? We've seen you in action. We like you.
00:44:41
Speaker
You're available. Cool. And then the deal is closed. Love that. Yeah. And it's cool to be like full service because I saw your website and you offer like the whole nine yards, everything. And that's like your whole family.
00:44:55
Speaker
I will say my company is more talent-based than equipment-based. a lot of people yeah I lose a lot of clients because I don't have equipment but that's okay because I I acknowledge that shortcoming and it's fair like this is business you're gonna have competition and I I admit it right but I'm okay losing to to vendors like that because I don't have that yeah oh my god yeah I mean like you said, they want you for you.
00:45:26
Speaker
And yeah, they want me for my dad or like, you know, for my mom. And it's, it's the service that we provide even prior to the day of is like how responsive you are.
00:45:38
Speaker
You know, if I if I text you, are you gonna, you gonna reply to me? If I make changes to a program? Are you gonna be patient with me? um yeah All of that, like,
00:45:49
Speaker
factors into their assessment of your team. um Not just how we execute in like the six hours of the wedding. Yeah. Cool.
Closing and Contact Information
00:46:00
Speaker
Cool. Okay. Rapid fire questions. I don't know what I'm going ask, but let's see. These are more like shorter answers. um But what's like your favorite song to sing at a wedding?
00:46:09
Speaker
and Right now it's your song by Elton John. oh Oh, I love that song. Okay. um what You've been posting on TikTok and you said you're not getting that much re traction, but what is like your biggest content creation hack or tip?
00:46:24
Speaker
Oh, hack or tip. ah Don't try too hard. Don't try too hard. Oh, yeah, yeah, got it Yeah, some of the things, like if you over edit and you think it's going to be amazing, it's probably not.
00:46:37
Speaker
But some of the... Some of the low effort ones like end up doing really well. And like, yeah and posted this other day is TikTok is like a casino.
00:46:48
Speaker
They want you to keep playing. And that you know, your your time and your energy, that's chips. Those are bets, because you just never know which one is going to hit. So I mean, like,
00:46:59
Speaker
If you're okay with that, placing beds every day, just know eventually the house always wins, but like every now and then you'll get a winner too. And like, that's just how it works.
00:47:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we're all fighting for attention. I was telling someone that I get like 300 downloads for this podcast per episode, which is I think it's really good. And I was like comparing it to Serena Williams. She was on the podcast with like ah Melinda Gates and it only got like 600 views. So I'm like, like everyone's competing for attention. So I was like, damn, I got like just 50% of that. Like, that's crazy. didn't know that. That was so amazing. 300 downloads.
00:47:39
Speaker
I'm so happy for you. Thank you. And then what other um I was going to you? um Oh, yeah. Any workflow software that helps you or workflow hack?
00:47:54
Speaker
Probably Canva. Maybe um I'd say try low. I mean, I use Google. like Yeah, we like the whole cheese. sweet yeah um Yeah. Maybe Excel. I'm not too fancy, like with my stuff because I don't do like full on. I mean, I do sometimes, but 99% of the time I do day of coordinating. So it doesn't involve like huge Excel spreadsheets and all that, all that stuff. So I keep it simple.
00:48:24
Speaker
Nice. And then favorite heck yes technique, sales technique. Oh, quickness. Oh, nice. Just just be quick. Like, just know that when they reached out to you, they reached out to five other people.
00:48:42
Speaker
So, damn yeah, you got to be snappy. Then, you know, like order matters. I will say that order matters. If you get back to someone quicker, um that's a good impression.
00:48:55
Speaker
Yes. Well, Marcy, I love this conversation. You are so beautiful inside and out. Where can everyone find you and work with you? Yes. So you can find me on MarcySK. That's my name. M-A-R-C-Y-S-K.com. That is the website for my MCM Entertainment group.
00:49:12
Speaker
If you want to follow me on social, you can. My personal one is Marcy underscore SK. Very, very basic. Just my name. If you want to follow my TikTok, it is... um Oh my gosh. I forgot my TikTok name all of a sudden, but it's Marcy... I think I'll link it up.
00:49:27
Speaker
Yeah. I just started, but I'd love to meet you all. And thank you for tuning into Curse's amazing podcast, meaning so much a success, goals. and thank you
00:49:43
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine.
00:49:59
Speaker
See you next time, wedding pros.