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Ep. 113 - Being a wedding vendor and becoming a Bride - Maleka from The Siren and co
127 Plays1 year ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays!
I have my friend Maleka in the Get a HECK YES house. (one of my fave videographers). I know her from WIPA. She is the owner and creator of the Siren & Co Weddings. She is a lover of Disney, a connoisseur of Sugar cookies and big believer that when in doubt buy the shoes!
Her Woo factor is I'm a modern twist on a timeless classic. I always tell people this is not your parents wedding video, but I can guarantee you'll rewatch it every year
She got married this past weekend and she is the most beautiful bride!
https://www.instagram.com/coupledwithdisney Check out her and her hubby. OMG, so cute, rrrighttt!!
My Hot topic, Being a wedding vendor and becoming a Bride and seeing it from the other side, what I would have done differently
1: Stop being nice
2: Had a serious talk about budget with my fiancé
3: Had a top 5 items list instead of a top 10
Connect with Maleka
https://www.instagram.com/thesirenandco
Connect with Carissa Woo
Recommended
Transcript
Malika's Wedding Planning Journey
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Boo Wednesdays! I have my girl Malika on the podcast today. She is a videographer and her company is called Siren & Co. We have gotten closer. We go to Bippa events together and she's so much fun to hang out with. She also has an Instagram with her future hubby. It's called Coupled with Disney. They are adorable.
00:00:23
Speaker
This episode is basically all about her planning her wedding. She's getting married in two weeks. She has really great advice for you and she tells you what she would have done differently while planning her wedding and planning a wedding as a vendor. I love her perspective.
00:00:41
Speaker
Also, if you haven't done so, DM me the word DEMO to my Instagram, at Carissa Woo, and I will send you a 20 minute video training on how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox. It is fire. But first off, enjoy this episode.
Introduction to Wedding Creative Success
00:01:03
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. 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,
00:01:32
Speaker
time-packed 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. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
00:01:55
Speaker
Hey everyone, happy Woo Wednesdays. I have my friend here, Malika, and she is the owner and creator of Siren and Co. weddings. She is a lover of Disney, a connoisseur of sugar cookies, and a big believer that when in doubt, buy the shoes, hell yeah. Today is a fun hot topic. She is going to be a bride herself in two weeks. So the hot topic is being a wedding bender and becoming a bride and seeing it from the other side.
00:02:24
Speaker
and what she would have done differently. So this is amazing. And if I didn't say she's an amazing videographer. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here. I'm very excited. So let's get started. How are you feeling? Your wedding is in two weeks. And you must be feeling all the things. So just kind of walk me through your head a little bit.
The Evolution of Malika's Wedding Plans
00:02:50
Speaker
I'm feeling all the things. I am very nervous and also very stressed because as you said, I am still a wedding vendor. And as a videographer, I still have two more weddings that I have to film.
00:03:03
Speaker
And two weddings I have to edit and get out before my actual wedding. And so. Wow. That's a lot, girl. I'm stressed for you. Thank you. I appreciate that. So where is your wedding? You don't have to tell me all specifics if you don't want to. But describe your big day. What's it going to be like? So our wedding is in San Clemente. So our big day, it's going to be a lot bigger than I had envisioned.
00:03:31
Speaker
Our wedding is about to be 110 people. I had only envisioned like originally like 75 maybe like 80 tops.
00:03:42
Speaker
And so we're a little bit over budget by like, you know, 25 people. But it's gonna be a blast. My fiance had a lot of opinions because he had, we had done a ton of style shoots together. So he has seen what he likes and does not like. And so he was like, just firing off like what his top five were and just going for it. So we have like,
00:04:10
Speaker
a perception hall is gonna just be like dance floors, flowers, key chain wall, donuts. Yeah, it's gonna be a blast. It's gonna be fun. Aw, I wish I was an invite, but we just met from what button? I was like, I want a girl.
00:04:28
Speaker
You and your fiance, you're so cute. Tell me how you guys met.
A Disney Love Story
00:04:33
Speaker
This is a really cool story. Oh my goodness. This is a very long story. So. You're sure? I'm not sure. I was trying my best. So we met at a company called North of Grumman. I was a film editor, which I still am there. And he was a copywriter. So we met on set. He was asking all the questions and I was behind the camera.
00:04:57
Speaker
We basically, on the first day I met him, I did not like him. I was just like, oh, he's so amazing. But he wore me down and then we had our first date at Disneyland.
00:05:08
Speaker
And we kissed at Disney and I was like, this is magic. So. Who's idea was the first date at Disneyland? It was mine. To be honest, I don't think he'd show up because Disney is so expensive. And at the time I was an annual pass holder and he had just moved to California like a month like in to our us actually dating. So.
00:05:36
Speaker
Wow, that's crazy. Tell me about, I know Siren & Co is your videography company, but tell me about your Disney Instagram. And it's so, so cute. But yeah, talk a little bit about that. So we have a Disney Instagram called Coupled with Disney. And it's just basically us going to Disney as a couple and showing us, showing people everything that we basically do at Disney. Beforehand, it was like tips and tricks, because I was back in the day when they were tips and tricks.
00:06:06
Speaker
Now it's just us being cute at Disneyland. You're like proud of it. Yeah, it's just us going. Your cute little outfits. You guys are adorable together.
Influence of Styled Shoots on Wedding Choices
00:06:18
Speaker
Walk me through this these five style shoots that you just mentioned. What was like your favorite one? Why did you do them? And then what
00:06:27
Speaker
Why did it make him so opinionated after? So the first one we ever did, he was in a, that wasn't Burbank. He was in a mob suit and he hated that. And he didn't like the wedding colors. They were too bright for him. So he was like, he fell. The second one we did, he kind of liked that one, but that one was on a golf course. So he was like, no golf course. I'm not doing that.
00:06:56
Speaker
Um, the third one was at a, a hotel. Uh, and that was, but that one was, that was a style of shoot, but that was like a bachelorette bachelor's like party kind of style. So he had, yeah, he had fun doing that. Cause you know, he was in the water and doing stuff, but he didn't like, uh, and he, and it was right next to the ocean. So he was like, I like this. I like being next to the ocean. But what he didn't like was the hotel and all the people that were there.
00:07:22
Speaker
Uh, for the simple fact that someone could just walk on and crash our wedding at the hotel. He was like, no. And I was like, okay. So then, uh, that's four, right? It's at three. And then we did the golf course and then we did one more. The last one I, but I'm like, I feel like I'm missing one, but one I know he was really opinionated about, we did a, uh,
00:07:44
Speaker
Which one? Oh, the great, no, the great officiant, but the greatest showman, the greatest showman theme-style shoot. He didn't like, that one was at the the e-bell in Los Angeles. Wow. And that one, he was like, it was too dark in there to like get good shots. And he was in like this bright red suit. He was like, this is also too bright. And I was like, okay. Yeah.
00:08:07
Speaker
everything he had like an opinion about or what he didn't like, what he liked and you know went from there and I was like, okay, okay. Yeah, I mean, I guess just if you guys are listening and don't know what a style shoot is, it's when like a lot of vendors collab and they put together the style shoot so everyone could have like really good content. And you guys are not like looking at Malika right now, but she's gorgeous and her, you know, future hubby is
00:08:37
Speaker
good looking too. So I'm sure a lot of photographers asked you to do these style shoots, right? Yes, they do. Cool, cool. So, um, I guess we could one more question before we go into hot topic.
Managing Family Expectations and Guest Lists
00:08:52
Speaker
But you know, what was how was your experience been like, you know, in the different lens, like you're planning your own wedding and working with vendors, you probably worked with
00:09:03
Speaker
before planning all the little details with two different families, how has it been? So it's been a little like hot and cold kind of thing. So like I said, my fiance is very opinionated. So he made sure that he got all his top five and then he was like, all right, I'm done planning. And I was like, wait, wait, we have to have, you know,
00:09:26
Speaker
everything else that goes with a wedding. And he was like, ah, yes. And then I have my mom, who's also very penitent at the same time, who wants all the things, but isn't paying for anything. So I'm like, and we have to invite all the people. And I'm just like, no, no, no, let's just invite people that maybe I know personally and not like, because the ritual plan was to have it just to be people that me and Jason know. And that was easy to knock it down to that
00:09:55
Speaker
you know, 75, 80 people tops. My mom was like, we have to invite everyone that you have ever met. And I was like- That's hard. Where things got complicated and difficult very, very quickly. At one point we had 200 invites and every invite had a plus one. Wow. Yeah, we only got half of the invites back. So that was actually really, really good.
00:10:22
Speaker
Good. It reminds me of, like, Father Debrai. They're like, oh, Uncle Bob died. And he's like, yeah. They're like, they're not coming. So cry about that list. Yeah, that's hard. You know, moms, I'm probably going to be that momzilla as well.
The Dual Role of Bride and Vendor
00:10:40
Speaker
When my daughters get married, just I want to invite
00:10:42
Speaker
all my friends and go bake or go home. But yeah, tell me about this hot topic. Being a wedding bender and becoming a bride and seeing it from the other side, what I would have done differently. All right, all right, all right. This is a pretty, pretty cool topic, kind of spicy. Okay, so number one, what would you have done differently? Okay, as a hot topic, I would have done differently is I probably would have had a planner
00:11:10
Speaker
from the jump, like the very, very beginning. And they would have planned everything. Like I would have gotten emails going like, what option do you like one, two or three and called it good. Because what I didn't know is I had opinions from my fiance and my opinion. So I would have had a joint email and been like, just email us both these opinions, we'll discuss it and go from there. Wow. Yes.
00:11:35
Speaker
Hey, shout out to the planners, not just day of. And you know, planners hate when they say day of because it's never day of planner. And I've talked to many planners and I feel like they really enjoy the full service brides and grooms better because they could see things full circle.
Budget and Priorities in Wedding Planning
00:11:53
Speaker
And, you know, we think as, you know, I was a bride too. We think that we are saving money.
00:12:00
Speaker
Um, we think that maybe we're, we know it better, especially because we're vendors. Um, but at the end of the day, you know, we become very like decision fatigued, you know? So, you know, what you're saying is in the start, if you had like less decisions, it was more efficient, more effective. It could have saved you a lot of probably headache, right?
00:12:23
Speaker
Probably it was definitely time. So I actually have saved a lot of money as a vendor. I have cashed in a lot of my vendor like favors and credits. But the time that I cannot give back is just I didn't know this at the time, but I like my time. I like being able to chill, have fun, you know, go out to the beach and just, you know,
00:12:47
Speaker
relax. I haven't done any of that this year. I have been just like weddings and my own wedding. I haven't had any chill time. And having a planner full time would have given me back my actual personal time.
00:13:02
Speaker
That's cool. It's one of your top values. And shout out to you. I do owe you a favor. So well, you guys filmed me for my first big speaking event for WIPA at the Monk and Dollar. And I can't be more grateful. The video is amazing. And it could be the launch of my speaking career. So
00:13:22
Speaker
I owe you a shoe. I do appreciate that. Yeah, my film is amazing. You do great work. Okay, take it away with what you would have done differently. Part number two. So part number two, I would have actually what I didn't do is so I believed that
00:13:50
Speaker
as the bride, the wedding's all about me. Because that is what I have seen throughout my whole career. That's what movies teach us. So my fiance told me that is not the case. And I did not think he was serious. And so I would have actually sat down with him, gone through his top five, gone through my top five, and then had just one top five. Because we actually had a top 10, and that got expensive quick.
00:14:20
Speaker
Um, so yeah, he didn't care about flowers, photo, video, the cake. And I cared about all that. And he wanted, you know, a venue next to the beach or on the beach. He needed to have a DJ, you had to have favors and he had to make sure the food was good. But I was like,
00:14:40
Speaker
If we had to discuss, we could have probably scaled this down a lot smaller and, you know, probably save more money than we're saving now because we stopped to pay for the honeymoon. Yeah. Okay. So praise basically you're saying is have a serious talk with your fiance about budget. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:00
Speaker
And that's a really sticky conversation. I used to hate looking at finances, so I would tell my hubby, oh, can you get more money? And I'm like, oh, can I see the worksheet or the finance sheet? I'd be like, whatever, I'll just pay for it. Yeah, basically. Yeah, this is the start of your relationship. So it's all about having
00:15:24
Speaker
very tough conversations in the beginning, but, you know, we could do hard things and these tough conversations you're going to have to have throughout your whole entire marriage. So it just kind of sets the bar of like, we could get through this. Let's do it together. Let's be educated and let's not break the bank and go into debt. So I guess I think I told him, I was like, baby, this is our first big budget meeting that we've had for
00:15:52
Speaker
you know, our lives. And I was like, we failed at it. We did not come together as the team we think we are. We kind of like went off on our separate ways, and just spent money for the wedding. And I was like, I feel like everyone has told me budget yourself. And I was like, I did. I budget myself. We were both dipping to the same budget, which was not correct. Hilarious. That's hilarious.
Balancing Bride and Guest Experiences
00:16:15
Speaker
Let's talk about top five. What does that mean to you?
00:16:21
Speaker
Pardon this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called The Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing.
00:16:37
Speaker
create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo.
00:17:01
Speaker
and DM me the word demo. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy guys. So my top five was my experience as the bride at a wedding. And that's all I really cared about. Like I wanted to make sure it was documented like
00:17:26
Speaker
photos, video. I wanted to make sure that I looked good, so I had to have a good dress, hair and makeup.
00:17:33
Speaker
And I also wanted to dance at my wedding, so I had to have a DJ. So that was my top five, which was all about my experience at my wedding. My fiance, Jason, his top five was the guest experience. That's all he cared about is he wanted the guests to make sure that they all had fun. And remember this day as the best wedding they have been to in 2023 and hopefully beyond. Wow. Yeah.
00:18:01
Speaker
That's kind of cool though. It's like, you do you, he does everyone. I wasn't sure if I was being selfish because he was so kind and giving person for he wanted to give you foodless wedding. And I was like, I can't curse. I was like, forget them. This is all about me. I need to just have fun of my wedding. I'm paying for it. And
00:18:26
Speaker
And we'll go from there. They could watch the edited video. We're good to go. Yeah. So is your team going to be filming at your own wedding? Yes, they are. Cool. And then how did you select your, your vendors? Were they just friends and you just trusted them? And you said a lot of them are friends. I think out of
00:18:50
Speaker
all of the vendors. I think only the DJ is not a friend because my fiance booked that. He booked the DJ. But photo, video, the cake. And I'm actually using
00:19:05
Speaker
Jasmine from Couture Cakes. Yeah, she's doing her wedding cake. And so I'm like super excited about that. And so, yeah, we didn't taste thing. And I like fell in love with that Celtic caramel. So like a lot of the vendors are basically a frienders. Yeah, that makes it more fun. I think you feel like they have, they got your back and they're like almost like guests of your wedding, you know, but they're kind of working at the same time. Yeah, definitely.
00:19:33
Speaker
All right, take us away with the last, the third thing you wouldn't have done differently with planning your wedding. So let's see. The third thing I probably would have done, definitely besides talking to the budget and discussing things, is I would have compromised more. The thing is, my fans, we did not compromise. We didn't give in to what our ideal wedding was.
00:20:03
Speaker
Um, so I feel like I would have compromised. Uh, I mean, at this point I bought the shoes. I'm wearing them. We're not doing it. What kind of shoes did you buy? Uh, to be honest, I got them off Amazon and they are basically, uh, just modernized like white shoes with, uh, pearls on the strap and then a bow in the back. Ooh.
00:20:30
Speaker
Yeah, I scoured through to find like the perfect shoe. So I could like be comfortable because I have to wear them for like eight hours a day. Yeah. So yeah. And also I had to do my dance lessons in them as well. So. Oh, awesome. Oh my God. I can't wait to see the video. It's going to be amazing. This is kind of a fun question, but if your wedding was a brand, it could be clothing brand or any brands. What would it be? What would it be?
00:20:59
Speaker
a wedding was a brand? Oh, that's a tough question. I didn't describe it as like brand words. Like, as an F, you know, Jason's copywriter, your film in industry, like, just describe your wedding as like a brand. If I had to write any brand, I'm gonna have to go with the hotel for seasons. It's very, yeah, it's upscale. It's black tie fair. But we're also gonna have fun as well. So
00:21:29
Speaker
My wedding's a brand, it's a 14th hotel. I love that. What have you learned most about Jason through this whole entire wedding process? And something you didn't know about him before, besides the opinionated one. I'm sure you probably knew that already. That grooms can be brides too. I did not know that was a thing until I met him, but grooms can be brides too. Wow.
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah. What do they call it? Groomzilla? Groomzilla, for sure. I had one of those on my hand. He was the, uh, uh, I think I told him that 90% of the grooms don't care about anything. Their whole thing is, uh, tell me where to stand and I'll show up. And then you get the other 10% that are like, I need to be part of this. It's also my day too. And I didn't think he was at 10%. And, uh, I found out that he is. Wow. That's so funny. Oh my God. Yeah. He knows what he was. Um,
00:22:28
Speaker
Okay, now, we'll probably should have another podcast after the wedding, but now being a wedding vendor, videographer for all these years, and then putting yourself into the shoes of a bride, how has it changed you?
Empathy and Business Adjustments
00:22:45
Speaker
Has it made you more empathetic towards brides? Do you see things a little bit differently? Is it going to change your business in the future of how you run your business?
00:22:55
Speaker
It has two images already. So for when I contact, I used to like give it like, Oh, give me 24 hours. Now I just like shoot them an email. And I go, Hey, I'm out and about doing stuff. Can I text you? Because I can text you like immediately if you need an answer for something. And then we can schedule a call. And I shoot off like my calendar lead to be like set up a set up a call and let's go for it. And they're like, Oh, I love this. It's a lot. This is quick. This is easy. I can get to you now in like seven minutes rather than that 24 hours.
00:23:25
Speaker
Like that's like as a bride, I like appreciate that, that immediateness kind of thing. Cause I make decisions very quick. I'm a very like snap person decision person for sure.
00:23:37
Speaker
Also, to be honest, I actually like pricing on the website. I would like to know if I can afford you off the bat. And if I can't, just to talk to you to figure out, you know what, if you're worth it kind of thing. But pricing for sure. I like pricing on the website. I realized that going forward.
00:23:59
Speaker
Interesting. Wow. That's a really good thing. I'm a big texter too, because you know, I could just get it off the list. I can't write some like, you know, their own nice email. I just want to answer the question and move on. That's interesting about the pricing. I feel like, you know, people are so
00:24:20
Speaker
They don't want to sit through like a bazillion like vendors and they just want to know like where do I pay, make it easy for them. So I totally get that. Can I tell you my perspective?
00:24:31
Speaker
Yeah. So it was interesting, but I think as photographers, like we do have like egos and it's sometimes about like the shot, you know, getting the shot, which is great. Like we have a lot of pressure to get the shot. But not until like I was on the other side as a bride where I was like, wow, it's not really about the photographer. It's about the bride.
00:24:55
Speaker
And my photographer, I think my grandma's best friend, she like little tiny lady with like glasses and she was like, you know, trying to take pictures and get the shot and
00:25:04
Speaker
The photographer is like, don't, no, don't take photos. But it was fine with me and like we had never, I never said unplugged or anything. So that's when I really realized like, I really want to pick the bride's brain about like what they want, how they see the wedding flow and really get in their heads because if there's some sort of disconnect, like it could be like a little bit of off experience for them.
00:25:30
Speaker
So I wanna pick your brain later and like how you see after you experienced your whole wedding. But yeah, I want you to have the most amazing wedding. I guess I'll end it with a couple rapid fire questions, one last question and then yeah, so let's see. You said if you want the shoe, buy it. What is your, besides the one you bought at Amazon, what's your favorite pair of shoes and why?
00:25:56
Speaker
Oh my goodness. My favorite pair of shoes. I like Mary Kay's. I'm a sucker for a Mary Kay shoe. If you see my couple of Disney Instagram, I am wearing Mary Kay shoes and probably like every club. I have them in like different colors. I have them in a nude, I have them in pink.
00:26:17
Speaker
I have them in black, I have them in white. I just love them so much. I saw it, I think, but I was like, I don't know, probably 16, and I never went back. I get it if I weren't like right now. You make me so happy. I love it. Good shout out to Mary Kay. What is your
Unique Videography Approach
00:26:40
Speaker
woo factor? What makes you stand out? My woo factor is that,
00:26:46
Speaker
I don't know if it's like two or one, but someone had told me my Woo factor is that my lens seasoned to the soul of the couple. Yeah, I know. I was like, that's super intense. I believe that my Woo factor is that I'm like a vibe.
00:27:02
Speaker
that I can like, you know, be a frequency to your frequency and basically vibe with you at your wedding. Like when I'm at your wedding, I'm dancing with you on the dance floor with your grandmother. And I'm also like capturing you like those intimate moments, just like chilling and you know, your battles will be dancing with your girls. So I feel like I'm like, you know, I'm a vibe and I'm here for it. Dude, those words, those buzzwords, frequency, I'm loving them, digging it. Where are you going for your honeymoon?
00:27:32
Speaker
So I'll tell you two places. So we're going for a honeymoon. We're going to Paris so that we can go to Disney Paris. And then we're hopping over to Italy, so I can have my honeymoon in Italy. Yeah, look at you. You've been working hard for this.
00:27:48
Speaker
Yes. So you worked your your butt off for this. And if brides are listening, someone getting married, and they're feeling stressed, just speak to their hearts. Like, what would you tell them to just kind of enjoy the moment, relax and any more lasting tips from you for planning your wedding?
00:28:12
Speaker
I would say take a day, you know, it'll still be the tomorrow. Just take a day, go for a walk, go see a movie. I mean, have a spa day, just relax yourself and just, you know, decompress before you have to jump back in it. Because it is a lot, the details, the do pile up, but you know, take a beat. I love that. Cool. And where can everyone find you? You could kind of give both Instagram accounts.
00:28:40
Speaker
Um, so you can find me at the Siren and Poe, or you can also find me at, uh, at the couple with Disney as well. Yay. Thank you, Malika. I can't wait to see your wedding pictures and what you post on Instagram. And I just wish you the best. Enjoy every moment of it. And you are going to be the most beautiful bride. I appreciate that. I'm very excited and very nervous at the same time. And I can't wait to, you know, also show you everything as well.
00:29:10
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. See you next time, wedding pros!