How You Can Support and Shop Small Wedding Businesses

Coronavirus has certainly been a disrupter of not only our everyday lives, but our celebrations. Events and weddings have all been upended, changed, postponed, cancelled or just put on hold.

And while the focus of our blog and our tips is centered around helping those who are engaged and planning an event, I want to bring some attention today to the other side of events.

All the vendors, people and businesses that help make your wedding or event happen.

And this includes Mango Muse Events!

We are the side you don’t see. Because we’re not meant to be seen.

We’re here to make everything go smoothly. We’re here to be invisible so that you and your guests can focus on being in the moment, having a good time and making memories together.

That’s what we do.

But that invisibility has come to hurt the events industry.

Because while everyone talks about the travel industry or the restaurant or retail industries, no one is thinking about or talking about the events industry.

And we are hurting right now.

The truth is the event industry and all of its small business (and the majority of businesses in the events industry are small businesses) are struggling to stay afloat.

Because as we all know gatherings and COVID don’t mix well. And our industry is all about gatherings.

But, we understand. We want people to be safe. Protecting everyone is important to us too!

But, what that means is we’re all essentially out of work.

The events industry has been out of work since March. And we will continue to be until normal life resumes and COVID restrictions are no longer a thing.

Many event businesses have already closed and unfortunately more are likely to close in the near future.

So, why am I sharing this?

No, not to depress you.

And not to take away from any other industry and small business. Because I know there are so many who are struggling right now.

I share because with everything going on, it’s more important than ever to support small businesses and shop small.

Not just during this holiday season, but in 2021 as well.

But, when you think about shopping small, you don’t think about event and wedding businesses.

Be honest… you don’t, right?

You think about the Etsy seller or the local mom and pop restaurant. You think about the small boutique children’s clothing store or the nail salon. And those are all small businesses.

But, I’d like to expand your idea of shopping small.

Because you can support small event and wedding businesses and you don’t have to be having an event to do so.

You don’t have to be engaged or celebrating some big milestone or life change. You don’t have to be planning a party. And you don’t have to be spending thousands of dollars to help.

There are so many ways you can shop small and support the event industry right now, during the holidays and in 2021. And here are 5 ways to do just that.

5 Ways To Support And Shop Small Wedding Businesses

#1 – GIFTS FOR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND YOURSELF

What a lot of people don’t realize is that event and wedding businesses many times also offer services and/or products outside of events. And some have just started offering additional items due to the pandemic.

Either way, this is a chance to get some really great products and services made by professionals for family, friends and of course yourself!

Order chef prepared meals, delicious cake and desserts, and beautiful flowers and plants and get it all delivered to your door.

Book a photo session or commission a video to document your family or your life right now.

Learn something fun and useful like how do a special hair and makeup look, how to mix drinks or how to paint or do calligraphy.

Hire a driver for that day trip and have a planner plan it out for you.

Gift a special beauty product from a hair and makeup artist, some beautifully designed notecards or commission a song or stream some music from a musician, band or DJ.

Or since you’re spending so much time in your home, why not light it up or get it decorated professionally?

These are a just a few ideas which are great for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions or to say thank you, hello or I miss you. Or a treat for yourself just because it’s Friday.

And it all can be provided by a small wedding business.

And to help, we’ve started a list of event and wedding businesses to help your shopping! You can check it out here.

And if you own an event or wedding business and you have a product or service that someone could purchase right now, fill out this form to be added to the list.

#2 – LET’S HELP EACH OTHER

Another way to support a small wedding or event business is to partner with them! If you own a small business yourself or you work at a company that is also pivoting, why not work together?

The event industry is great at creating temporary spaces and we have a lot of services and products that could help another business get back on their feet.

Rental companies have tons of products to help create comfortable outdoor spaces for restaurants, retail shops, salons, gyms and more. Planners and designers can help create those spaces and make them work functionally and aesthetically.

Other event professionals can also help to bring a space to life whether virtual or in person.

And then there are other services a business might need to operate in these COVID times, like a videographer to film a house or a space. Or equipment to be able to provide a virtual class.

This is also a great opportunity to connect people. Because supporting small businesses doesn’t always have to be about spending money.

If you know of a business who could use some help, why not share a wedding business or a resource (like this blog post!) that could maybe help them? It may or may not work out, but it could also make a difference.

#3 – REMEMBER AND SHARE THE LOVE

If you’ve worked with an event business you loved whether personally or professionally, now is a great time to remember that and share the love.

And writing a review is an easy way to do that! It costs you nothing besides a little bit of your time, but can be so helpful for a small business.

If you had a great wedding, a wonderful event or even attended one as a guest, this is a great time to shout your love from the rooftops.

Share the love on social media and tell your friends. Like in #2, recommend this great small event business to friends, family members or colleagues.

A review and referral are also a great way of saying thank you that your event or wedding professional will appreciate greatly.

And if you’ve been dragging your feet on any post event items like making that album, buying prints, ordering the keepsake, or sending a tip, now is also a great time to do it.

It’s another way to support a small event or wedding business even though the event is over.

#4 – INVEST IN A FUTURE EVENT

When this pandemic is over, we will all want to celebrate. And celebrate hard.

So, why not invest in a future event?

Planning your event now might not be in the works, but you can buy a gift card or credit towards future services or products for yourself or someone you love.

You can gift planning or design sessions, a planning course like Passport to Joy or hire a vendor completely for someone.

How awesome would it be to get a gift that helps you create your wedding, event or celebration? That’s way more special than a gift card to Apple or Amazon.

And more helpful!

You can also make a donation straight to a company. It would support not only the small business and its employees, but their families as well.

And it can help make sure that when you’re ready for them, they’re still around to help you.

#5 – CELEBRATE NOW

And while gatherings as we know them are not in the works right now, you can still celebrate. And you should!

Because celebrating is happy and we can all use more happy and something to look forward to.

And if you’re celebrating, it’s a great opportunity to support a small event business!

Whether you’re celebrating a marriage, a baby, a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, a milestone, an achievement, a holiday or just to brighten spirits, event professionals can help!

There are so many companies offering both virtual and in person products/services to help you plan a safe event. Everything from planning and design services to virtual hosts and photobooths to beautiful outdoor venues.

And even if you’re planning on DIYing most if it, you can still utilize the help from event professionals in a smaller way. Like hiring a DJ to create special playlist, getting some initial guidance from a planner or ordering some curated bouquets from a florist.

No matter how big or small your celebration, you’ll likely need at least a little bit of help. And utilizing the help from an event business not only helps you, but helps them as well.

Shopping small is always important, but it’s even more important now. And when you shop small, don’t forget to include event and wedding businesses as well!

Because in order for there to be an industry to support you when life goes back to normal and you want to celebrate, we need your support now.

Please consider supporting local or national event and wedding businesses as a part of your efforts to shop small.

And if you’d like to support us and our business, we’d be so honored.

There are a few ways you can do that as listed above! But the easiest is to check out our services and find one for you or for a gift, leave us a 5 star review on Google and please refer us!

You can share our blog with a friend or give us a shout out on social media. And thank you so much for being here and for your support.