S11E1: Create an Inclusive Wedding Experience Your Guests Will Love
Everyone should feel seen, heard, and loved.
Having an inclusive wedding experience - from engagement to honeymoon - makes every piece of the wedding planning process special!
Guest: Radhika Graham, Rad Occasions
This week, we’re dishing about…
What are some of the places that you see allow for growth in terms of inclusivity and diversity?
What made you take notice that a change needed to happen in the industry?
Why are you so passionate about inclusivity?
How are you putting into practice what you preach in your own business that other pros can also implement?
... and more!
Meet Radhika, Rad Occasions
Radhika, or Rad for short, began working in the wedding industry over a decade ago and in 2015, Rad Occasions was born! Over the years their focus has evolved into creating intentional and sustainable events, something that she saw a need for as couple after couple was coming to me looking for something different and unique to them.
As a certified planner with the Wedding Planner's Institute of Canada and a lifelong romantic, she prides herself on going the extra mile for the couples she works with – whether it’s folding 500+ paper cranes or running Olympic sprints in heels to save bouquets from stormy weather. Aside from planning weddings, Rad also teaches with the Wedding Planner’s Institute of Canada and is getting over her fear of public speaking by speaking in public, of course!
Her team can attest that she:
✨adores eating a delicious piece of wedding cake
✨can’t help but tear up when listening to beautifully written vows
✨love spending time with her little family (Rob and the bean) whether it be checking out the newest restaurant (happy hour anyone?) or strolling the Songhees Walkway
Business Info
What areas do you serve? Victoria, BC, and beyond
Why did you decide to start your own business?
I planned my own wedding and although the marriage didn't last (my current husband and I call that my "starter marriage") my love for weddings and events bloomed. I started off assisting for another local wedding planning company and when their lives took them down different paths I decided to open up my own business. With a natural knack for logistics and a passion for design I started Rad Occasions while still working full time. Now in my 9th year I am full time with my business and looking back I realized that starting my own business afforded me the confidence to break free of the abusive relationship I was in and know that I was going to be ok in the end.
What's the coolest thing about owning your own business?
Seeing the impact we make on people's lives in small and big ways is definitely really cool but personally, I think its fantastic that for the most part I can set my own schedule - something that is really important while having a toddler running around at home and a husband that travels more often now for work.
What challenges have you had to overcome?
I touched on it a bit in the question above but I battled a lot of insecurities and ridicule from my ex-husband that left my self confidence in shambles. Starting the business made it really clear how insecure he was as I noticed that the more notoriety I gained through my business the worse the emotional and physical abuse got. With the help of my mom and a close friend they helped me realize I could make it through and no matter what he couldn't take away what I had built. Even though I was soooo scared I made it through and here I am today!
I also had to re-examine how we handled business and what kind of couples we worked with when the pandemic happened. It made me really sit down and examine the why behind it all. It also made me want to make the wedding industry better and more inclusive. I feel like a lot of the time I am under-estimated or seen as the underdog and that's fine by me because I know that they people who have chosen to work with us (and vice versa) know that we are here to be their advocate in the still very white and heteronormative world of weddings.
Do you have a favorite story to share?
There are so many - I wouldn't know where to start! We have gotten to work with so many people with such unique visions for their day from a hawk flying in the rings to surprise drag queen performances to getting married in a graveyard!
What advice could you offer to someone starting a business like yours?
Yes, do your market research but don't focus so much on what others are doing. We all have our own path and there are going to be couples/clients that are the best fit for you.
Also, be really clear on your values from the get-go, it will really help attract like minded individuals.
Your Wedding
What was the most important decision you made about your wedding?
To break free of expectation - it is something that we see all of the time when it comes to weddings so we opted to have a surprise wedding. We surprised our families at dinner, threw a surprise engagement party (and pretended my BIL was throwing the party), and then surprised everyone when we walked into the party. It was memorable not just for us but for all our guests, it was so nice to plan a wedding without all the opinions, even if those opinions have the best intentions at heart.
How did you choose your wedding vendors?
I was lucky enough to work with many of our vendors for years before the wedding so we had our must-have vendors and some of them we are friends with, they have even seen our son grow up! We were very familiar with their values and knew how they operated so it was an easy decision for us. We also opted to work with vendors that were as close as possible to our venue to help cutdown on our carbon footprint. Most of our items were sourced within 20 kms of our venue/home with the exception of our invitations and wedding outfits.
What, if anything, would you change about your wedding?
I would have tried to keep sustainability more of a focus and asked more questions about where the ingredients for the food we served was being sourced from. At the time the thought never even crossed my mind. I also would have hired security as people were looking for a wake that was at an address close by and walking into our wedding being adamant that they were in the correct location. Yikes!
What advice could you offer to engaged couples planning their wedding - as both a wedding professional and a married human?
1. Take your time to be engaged and enjoy the moment before diving into planning.
2. Get clear on your top 3 priorities (each) and then come together to see where you can compromise. This will help form your budget and the vision for the day
3. Research the going rate for the categories in your budget before settling on a number
4. Take some time with just your partner at some point during the day to let it all soak in
5. Keep the communication open, incorporate your planning into date nights whenever possible
Have something else to share? A funny story? Something crazy that happened?
So our photo/video team was pretending to have dinner at the restaurant where we surprised our families and when all their cameras came out my mom says " are these people with you?" I still can't stop laughing about this, but maybe it's only funny for me.
Did you participate in any family, cultural, or religious traditions into your wedding?
We incorporated both our cultures into the day but not many: - I had henna done with friends a couple nights before, nothing formal just a casual get together - we had incorporated mithai (Indian sweets) into the day + traditional with a modern twists treats for Rob's British background. Our cake was actually decorated with a henna design and was London Fog on the inside - we decorated with tropical flowers to incorporate some of the flowers that would have been part of an Indian wedding - the food that was served was a combination of asian fusion and the food that we enjoyed on our travels to Italy and Greece.
Photography credit:
Photography: @teganmc
Makeup: @erinbradleyartist
Studio: @cinderbloc_studio
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