Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Trotter.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After college, I moved from Minnesota out to California for a marketing internship that quickly became a full time job. Part of my job responsibilities in my marketing role was to work with my company’s private parties that were booking for weddings or rehearsal dinners, birthdays, etc. This was my first step into event planning. After working in California for a few years I decided to move back to Minnesota.
Soon after moving back, I got married and while I was planning the wedding I was always told “you should do this for a living.. you are really good at it.” I really did not give this too much thought, I was enjoying my new job in Minnesota and was excited to start married life. It was soon as after I returned from our honeymoon that I realized that I really did miss planning our wedding and started to create a plan to combine my love of events and the knowledge I had learned planning my own wedding to start Lasting Impressions. This was in 2006… at the time there were only about 3-4 other wedding planners advertising online and I was not sure that there would be too much of a demand for wedding planners in Minnesota..
Two years after starting Lasting Impressions I realized that my prediction was wrong and that there was a demand for planners…. we started to book 15-20 weddings per year and soon grew the company to the point that we were planning around 40-50 weddings per year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I put a lot of work into creating Lasting Impressions from the beginning.. I had a professional website, invested in advertising and spent a lot of time marketing the company. I think that this did create more of a smooth road and foundation for the company.. but yes, there are always struggles in starting a business.
There have been plenty of years of uncertainty not knowing how many weddings we will book and in the last few years, covid has really created numerous obstacles.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the owner of Lasting Impressions Weddings and the lead planner. We specialize in helping couples plan their dream wedding. We are known for our hard work and years of experience. I am most proud of the relationships we have with our couples and vendors.. I want everyone to feel like we put everything we could into their wedding day to make it special to them!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
You have to work really hard… Put in the time and make sure you don’t cut corners. There is no easy road to being successful but if you work hard and are nice to people it will all come together for you.
Contact Info:
- Email: sarah@lastingimpressionsweddings.com
- Website: www.lastingimpressionsweddings.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lastingimpressionsweddings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LastingImpressionsWeddingsMN/
Image Credits
Uppercase L Photography
Janelle Elise Photography
Russell Heeter Photography
