Hello and welcome to 2025 and my gut tells me this is going to be a much better year than the wild ride that was 2024.

If you’ve hung in there; If you’re still:

• Posting on your socials
• Updating your website
• Going to Expos
• Emailing your lists

THEN CONGRATUFUCKINGLATIONS because you’ve made it through the worst year our industry has experienced and you can hold your head high.

Hopefully you’ve started to see an influx of enquiries, I take most of my bookings between now and the end of February and interestingly enough, June is looking very popular right now. HOORAY for winter weddings and not sweating like a pig in lipstick by the time the gear is all set up.

Last year, I think I became a victim to my own hubris and have, for the second time, cancelled a retreat. What I’m not doing is beating myself up about it or thinking that I don’t have enough wisdom to impart to others.

You’ve gotta try stuff, right? You try new stuff with your wedding couples too and sometimes it works and sometimes it’s crickets.

Like this “manychat” automated response thing that all the gurus say you have to do because people won’t “click link in bio” anymore (I dispute that BTW). No one is commenting on the ones I set up, but the posts are still being seen and people are checking out the profile. Some are even clicking through to the website but they aren’t keen to engage in a DM in any form with any lead magnet.

I’m the same. I don’t want to start a DM conversation with someone selling stuff until I’ve worked out if I’m interested or not. I haven’t sent up DM automated responses expecting couples to comment, I’ve set it up so that they realise this white-haired boomer knows how to do it. It shows them I’m not a dinosaur.

What I am thinking about the retreat workshops is that I haven’t built up enough street cred yet for people to feel confident to part with cold hard readies (and block out a whole weekend) to hear what I have to say.

A lot of the course material is already built, so I’m considering an introductory, free, “dot-point” webinar and then if there’s interest in an expanded version of any a specific topic offer a paid online workshop.

Anyway, I’ve had three enquiries drop through Studio Ninja in the last couple of days and I’m over the moon about that. One of those leads is from Instagram – only the 2^nd such lead in the 4.5 years I’ve been posting consistently on the platform.

Why do I bother with Instagram? Because I do get leads from Facebook, and using the scheduling tool in Meta Business Suite means I just tick a box and it goes to IG as well. No extra work involved.

I’ve gotten my shit together and I’m batching and scheduling the content a month in advance on Moreton Bay Celebrancy again……

SallyforCelebrants (consistent on FB & IG now, in place of the two different names I used to have for the second account) needs some work.

Drop me a line (Please) about the sort of help you’d like to see from me on the “celebrant exclusive” channels.

And click here to follow that account.

Click Here!

And in the meantime,

Love you long time,

xoxo

Sally