5 Books Every Wedding Business Owner Should Read
- May 25, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 13
When I started out, there were no Instagram gurus, no endless stream of business coaches in your feed, and definitely no TikTok telling you how to become a six-figure entrepreneur before breakfast.
I learned the basics of business the old-fashioned way. I read.
And while I’ve learned plenty through experience, trial and error, and occasionally doing things the hard way, there are a handful of books that have genuinely shaped how I think about running a business.
If you work in the wedding industry, you already know that being great at what you do is only part of the job. You can be an incredible photographer, planner, florist, DJ, beauty professional, venue owner, or wedding creative, but you’re also running a business. And those are two very different skill sets.
So whether you're brand new to the wedding industry or you've been doing this for years and are ready to run your business a little smarter, these are five books I think are worth your time.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This is personally my favorite business book of all time. Maybe because it was the book that turned everything around for me early in my entrepreneurial journey.
The big lesson? Being good at your craft does not automatically make you good at running a business.
And if you work in weddings, that lesson hits hard.
You probably started your business because you loved photography, flowers, makeup, planning, music, design, or whatever your particular wedding-world superpower happens to be. Then suddenly you're also responsible for sales, marketing, contracts, client communication, bookkeeping, systems, scheduling, and approximately 4,827 other things.
The E-Myth teaches you to stop thinking like someone who simply works in the business and start thinking like the person building the business.
I know that sounds simple, but it completely changed the way I approached systems, processes, and growth.
This book is a super simple, easy read and will completely shift how you think about your business. And for only a few dollars for the paperback on Amazon, that's an investment worth making.
Another super easy read that walks you through not only how to set effective goals, but how to determine what those goals actually need to be.
Because “I want more weddings” is technically a goal, but it isn't a particularly useful one.
How many weddings? At what average booking value? What kind of weddings? How many inquiries would you need to generate to book them?
What needs to change in your marketing, pricing, or sales process to make that happen?
Goals become a lot more useful when you can turn them into something measurable and actionable.
I revisit this book often when I feel like I have gotten a little off track and need to refocus on what I am actually trying to accomplish.
You may be reading a dozen emails, responding to Instagram DMs, editing a gallery, updating a timeline, answering an inquiry, trying to remember whether you posted this week, and wondering why you somehow worked all day without getting the one important thing done.
Welcome to entrepreneurship.
This book is all about cutting through the noise and figuring out what deserves your attention right now.
A lot of wedding business owners fall into the trap of trying to fix everything at once. Their website. Their social media. Their SEO. Their pricing. Their branding. Their client experience.
The ONE Thing gives you a ridiculously simple framework for identifying the thing that matters most and putting your energy there first.
Simple concept. Surprisingly hard to practice. Incredibly effective when you do.
I love Brené Brown. So much.
And yes, technically this is not a business book, but I would argue that running a business, especially one as personal and relationship-driven as a wedding business, requires a ridiculous amount of vulnerability.
You put your work out there for people to judge. You sell yourself. You hear no. You get ghosted. You compare yourself to competitors. You deal with reviews, difficult clients, pricing insecurity, imposter syndrome, and the occasional social media post that gets three likes after you spent 45 minutes creating it.
Fun times.
Brené's work on vulnerability is an absolute must-read for anyone who owns a human being for that matter.
Okay, especially for business owners.
Instead of giving you a synopsis, I think this quote from the book sums it up perfectly:
“It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”
If you're building a business, you're in the arena. This book is a pretty great reminder to stay there.
Okay, yes. I wrote this one.
And yes, I am absolutely putting my own book on my list.
But there's a reason I wrote it.
After years of working with wedding professionals, I kept seeing incredibly talented business owners struggle with the same thing. They knew their craft. They cared deeply about their clients. They delivered beautiful work. But when it came to marketing, they were piecing together advice from Instagram, blogs, courses, gurus, and whatever the algorithm happened to serve them that day.
The problem wasn't a lack of marketing information.
It was too much information without a clear understanding of how all the pieces fit together.
Ever After Marketing was written specifically for wedding professionals who want to understand how to market their business without becoming full-time marketers in the process.
It covers the bigger picture of wedding business marketing, including your brand, website, SEO, social media, content, networking, advertising, and the strategies that help those individual pieces actually work together.
No magic formulas. No promises that one Reel will change your life. No pretending you need to be everywhere, doing everything, all the time.
Just practical marketing strategy built specifically for the wedding industry.
And unlike the other books on this list, this one was written just for you, the wedding pro.
CONCLUSION
I think the biggest problem most people have today is that they have very little patience for pain. They don't want to put themselves in the arena. It's too hard and scary.
Running a wedding business will test that patience.
You'll have seasons when you're booked solid and seasons when inquiries slow down. Marketing strategies will change. Platforms will change. Your business will change.
But the fundamentals of building a strong business don't change nearly as quickly as the internet would have you believe.
That's why I love these books.
Each one tackles a different piece of the puzzle: how to build a business instead of simply working in one, how to set meaningful goals, how to focus your energy, how to have the courage to put yourself out there, and how to market your wedding business in a way that actually makes sense.
You don't need to read all five this weekend.
Pick the one that speaks to where you are right now and start there.
The only true “answer” is you have to do the work.
Now, I'm sure I left some of your favorites off this list. I want to know what I missed.
Shoot me an email and let me know the business book you recommend to everyone.
