Well, the time has come… Darcy is starting daycare on August 1st which means my workflow will be going back to its norm.
However, with that being said, I’ve been working REALLY hard on maintaining and honoring my work/life boundaries. The thing about being a small business owner and working from home is that you’re truly never “out of the office.”
So while I will be going back to office hours here are some things to note:
One: My office hours are now Tuesday-Friday 10am – 3pm CST. During this time, I will be responding to emails, texts, calls, etc. It can take me up to 24 hours to respond during wedding season. Some Fridays I may be out of the office sooner due to rehearsal times.
The first Tuesday of every month is reserved for time with other wedding pros so communication may be slow those particular mornings.
Two: All client calls that happen after business hours will be scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday. Now, I know that sometimes calls will have to be scheduled for other days of the week BUT Wednesday and Thursday will always be my go-to and most available evenings.
Three: If you text me outside of business hours, I will most likely respond during business hours. Please know that I do not mind you texting me AT ALL. However, I’m trying to do right by my family and not be in “work mode” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It drives my husband crazy.
Four: I am working on updating my welcome kit BUT please know that EMAIL is truly the best way to reach me unless asking a quick question. My phone number that clients text me on is my personal cell phone. This means I get a plethora of texts and sometimes I open them with the intent of responding later and never do. I never want clients to feel like I’ve forgotten about them because I’ve unintentionally ignored a text.
PLUS, while I want my couples to feel like they are my only couple, we know that isn’t the case. If I’m getting texts about multiple wedding topics from multiple couples on my cell phone, things start to get very blurry. With email, I’m able to mark things as “unread” and label each email to a specific couple. This helps me stay organized and not forget about particular communication. Mom Brain is a real thing, y’all, and I don’t hold information like I used to.
With all this being said…
I cannot wait to be back to a more consistent workflow. I’m ALL in my momma feels about Darcy Girl (my last baby) starting daycare, but I know it’ll be good for both of us. One of the main reasons I went full-time for myself was so that I could stay home with my littles for as long as I wanted to. And, I’m proud to say that I was able to stay home with both my kiddos until they were both 7 months old.
To all my current couples…
Thank y’all from the bottom of my heart for being patient with me during this season of me being full-time stay-at-home-momma and full-time wedding planner. Not really taking a true maternity leave took a toll on me (physically and mentally) and every one was very gracious as my response time was all over the place.
Side note for all my fellow business owners out there TAKE THE MATERNITY LEAVE.
To all my future couples…
If you’ve been wanting to reach out to me about wedding planning, now is the time to do so. ESPECIALLY for 2023 couples as I am limiting my Saturdays for the 2023 wedding year. I already have TEN weddings on the book for next year and will most likely be capping it between twenty and twenty-five weddings for the entire year.
To learn more about my planning services, you can click here. To inquire, click here.
