Amanda Allsbrook loves travel, interior design, people watching, and of course, weddings! Amanda took her passion for weddings and turned it into a career. She's now Owner of Magnificent Moments Weddings, one of the top wedding planner firms in Charlotte, North Carolina! Amanda knows that wedding planning can be an overwhelming process, so she takes clients' wedding preparations off their shoulders but never out of their hands by making sure every decision is still truly theirs. She'll provide clients with the tools they need to plan, making sure she includes their personality in their wonderful celebration. Then she combines meticulous planning with impeccable attention to detail to plan the wedding of their dreams. Most importantly, she helps brides-to-be to have wedding days filled with joy and full of warmth and makes each guest feel loved and known. Keep reading to learn about Amanda's journey from civil engineer to one of North Carolina's top planners with the help of Aisle Planner!
What inspired you to enter the wedding industry?
Truly I entered the wedding industry by accident. I'm a civil engineer who was tired of working with contractors but didn’t know what I wanted to do. I decided one day to start a wedding planning business because I've always loved events and had a few friends who were engaged or about to be. The rest is history.
Why did you start Magnificent Moments Weddings?
I started MMW because I love helping people. Our mission is to help our brides have amazing days that are as stress free as possible. The satisfaction our team gets from a text the next day saying how amazing everything was is worth all of the tiredness from the day before!
If you could change one thing about the weddings and special events industry, what would it be?
I would change the stigma that it's easy. I've worked jobs that were technically complicated, but having to think so quickly on your feet is hard. There's no chance for a mess up because this is literally one day and you can't do it over. That's a lot of pressure.
How does using Aisle Planner help you deliver the client experience you want to?
We love using Aisle Planner to help guide our clients along! At the beginning of the planning process, they're so excited but don’t know where to begin and can get overwhelmed. I've set up our Aisle Planner account like a project with deliverables (engineering/project management background!) and we break the whole process down into manageable tasks by due dates. Aisle Planner is a great visual that helps us and our couples stay on track. It also helps me stay on top of my team's responsibilities. On our weekly team calls, we go over if everyone has had their check-in meetings and who needs to be reminded to do them.
What's your favorite Aisle Planner feature?
The checklist! I set it up so that I can’t forget anything. And that's worth everything to me.
If you weren't the Owner at Magnificent Moments Weddings, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?
I’d probably still be doing engineering but not liking it! My life would definitely be more rigid and less fun. An added benefit to this career change for me is all of the people I've met in the industry. One of my engineering colleagues came with me to an event one time and she said later that I was made for this job. I love networking and connecting with people.
What are three things you never show up without on event day?
Our emergency kit, water, and the wagon! We use our kit for everything, water because it helps my feet not hurt the next day, and the wagon because it's so much easier to transport everything!
What’s your personal philosophy on becoming a great wedding planner?
My personal philosophy is to listen to your clients. Even the “difficult” ones. They're really telling you they're either nervous, scared, or have too many options coming at them. When you can get them to really think about what THEY want, and not what everyone else might want or need, you can really drill down to what's important to them. And what's important to them is what they'll remember about their day.
Is there anything you're particularly excited about working on this year?
I have something in the works to train other wedding industry professionals! I've presented it locally here in Charlotte, but I can’t wait to show the world the processes I've put in place to help me scale, both in the weddings I do personally and with a team.
Just for fun
Three things you wouldn't board a plane without?
Extra clothing in my carry on (I've had luggage lost before!), a jacket, coat, or socks (I always get cold), and my giant purse!
I’m dying to take a trip to…
Top of my bucket list trip is South Africa. My husband says that I just want to go everywhere and it's true!
Dogs or cats?
Dogs!
What skill would you like to master?
Speaking French
Want to see more from Amanda? Check out her website magnificentmomentsweddings.com!
About the Author
