Since this is a question that some of my clients have hinted at and never asked, I thought I'd address the curiosity directly.
I wasn't always the unwed wedding planner. In January 2010, I married the father of my two cutie pies. We separated in April of 2016 and were in the final stages of divorce when he passed away in September of 2017. [Yes y'all, divorces can take that long...] I hid my separation from almost everyone for about six months, and from clients for about a year. I was terrified that this life experience would somehow invalidate my ability to be seen as a reliable resource and would hurt my business.
In the middle of going through the divorce, I realized that a lot of people's path to long term relationship + marriage isn't a walk in the park... Unless you're talking about Jurassic Park. A lot of people have mountains to climb, obstacles to overcome, closets to come out of, and human eating dinosaurs to fight off. [I miiiiiight be overdramatizing things a bit by that last one... But you know what I mean.]
I realized that people gravitate toward people that are transparent and authentic. The clients that choose to work with me, choose me because they like my design aesthetic, not because of my relationship status. So, I made the choice to be transparent and let people know about what I was going through. I now understand that people relate to me because I'm real and talk about real life stuff. The good stuff AND the bad/ugly/painful.
You may find that your story is a little different than the Hollywood romances. You've got some messy parts or have gone through some tough times. I see you and appreciate you. It brings me so much joy to plan events that honor the deepest parts of your story. I can't wait to hear about your story, and what makes you unique and lovely.
So, hey there, I'm Dominique. I'm a single Mom of two boys AND I'm a wedding planner. But y'all, I'm SO much more than that.
Nice to meet you and glad you're here.
Dominique
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