Today we’d like to introduce you to Ren Newey.
Hi Ren, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Ten years ago, I was planning my own wedding when lightning struck my wedding venue, burning it to the ground months before the big day. At the time, I was working at the State Legislature running a Texas Senate Committee. I had no choice but to hire a wedding planner to save my vision (and my investment). The experience sparked my interest in the industry and that dramatic moment led to a 10-year career as a luxury wedding planner.
I took all those cultivated skills of project management, budget management, and professional communication and shifted my career in a complete 180 to become a wedding planner. I was still paying off grad school debt, but it felt so right. There were plenty of naysayers; however, from my perspective I was moving away from an industry of negative infighting to one of joy, inspiration, and happiness.
I made more money in year one than the highest-paid staffers at the legislature and I was truly happy and most importantly, surrounded by a beautiful community of supportive and creative solopreneurs who provided never-ending sources of inspiration.
Fast forward ten years, and in 2020 I pivoted again. The events industry was nearly decimated due to the pandemic, but I had this idea. I created a platform that provides free virtual tours of wedding venues with an interactive budget calculator.
As a wedding planner, I see this trend of advertising and marketing that’s not grounded in reality. Yes- inspire me. But not at the expense of reality. Don’t show me a $14k gown on a beach with taper candles so perfectly lit while the model’s hair blows in the wind. I’m a natural pragmatist. Yes, a romantic too, but we all live in a world where budgets matter and I’ve always had a distaste for wedding industry marketing.
I want to democratize the wedding shopping experience.
In an age of such technological advancement, you should be able to book a wedding venue without hiring a full-service wedding planner. Wedding Scout empowers couples to make an informed decision on this big one-time investment. Local professionals guide couples through the ins and outs of comparing venues so they can decide with confidence and start having fun.
I feel a real sense of mission to what I’m doing, but at the base of it — it’s just time the industry catches up. The wedding industry is still very antiquated in my opinion.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle I’ve had is getting out of my own way. I book my wedding calendar over a year in advance, so there comes a time when you have to stop saying yes to the cash flow and believe in the next steps. But I can’t turn the spigot off immediately. I am contractually obligated to fulfill my promises of the future. With that said, I’m finally at a place in my career where my client base is coming to me asking, “what can I do to make you my planner? please?”
I worked so hard to get to this point, but there is a voice deep inside that wants to, once again, pivot.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Our team travels Central Texas touring wedding venues and reporting back with cinematic-quality film and all the details you need to make an informed decision. As a veteran wedding planner with ten years of experience in the Austin-area market, I lead recently engaged couples on a journey interviewing venue managers and asking all their burning questions, plus the ones they didn’t think to ask! Our film crew brings the most popular wedding venues to life so couples can tour from the comfort and convenience of home!
Venue selection impacts nearly all your subsequent wedding planning decisions. Without seeing the space, it can be difficult to make a choice. Our virtual tours cover everything you need to know in 15 minutes, organized neatly into five chapters.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Without a doubt BAD luck has consistently played a role in my life, and I’m so grateful.
Ten years ago, I was planning my wedding when lightning struck my venue, burning it to the ground months before the big day. That experience sparked my interest in the industry and let to a 10-year career as a luxury wedding planner.
Seven years later, my husband and I came very close to building wedding venue. We had the property, the architecture schematics, a 70-page business plan, and investors. The day I logged on to register the business with the state, I received an invitation to a breaking ground ceremony for a venue just down the road that looked curiously similar to our designs. I already had a hunch that the industry was becoming saturated, and that was the nail in the coffin. We pulled out, and I was devastated for days. I had put months worth of research into this project.
In retrospect, both of those events led to the business I have today. I couldn’t be more grateful.
Pricing:
- Wedding Scout is free to all users
Contact Info:
- Email: ren@weddingscout.com
- Website: www.weddingscout.com
- Instagram: #myweddingscout
Image Credits
Ashlee Newman Photography and Janeane Marie Photography
