Today we are spotlighting our member Ad Astra Events LLC! This planning was founded in 2014 by Maggie Burns.

Because no two weddings are the same, Ad Astra hand-crafts all package proposals. This means couples can choose how many meetings they want, what extra services they think they'll need, and how much of our time they want. This means couples only pay for what they need!

What do you enjoy most about your work?

My favorite part about owning a wedding planning company is that I get to use a variety of my skills in an incredibly unique way. I'm incredibly detail-oriented, which makes me great at keeping clients organized (read: stress-free). I enjoy the days where I sit down with a cup of coffee and create an entire folder full of spreadsheets and templates for new clients based on what their wedding goals are. This sets them up for a fun and easy planning experience.

On the other hand, I love working with all the people. Meeting with different vendors and professionals in the industry while working together as a team to serve clients brings unparalleled joy to my heart. The feeling of serving the vendors to ensure they have what they need to create a successful event for the couple gives me an unrivaled high. If I can set all of the vendors up for success, that makes for an ideal wedding day.

What motivates you?

As an enneagram 1, I have a strong desire to design and plan weddings that fulfill my clients' vision and dream. This usually means working hard to understand their vision and crafting an event based on their goals and objectives. I'm constantly striving to be "right" by the client. My 2 wing motivates me to serve couples to the best of my ability. At the end of the day, the couple is the hero of the story and I'm just here to serve them. I love being behind the scenes supporting my assistants and planners, the vendor team, and the clients. The highest compliments you can ever pay me is to say that I made something more efficient and was able to perceive and address needs before they became a problem.

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What are the first steps you take with new clients?

During an initial consult, I'm searching for some key info that will determine how we design and plan their wedding. I need to know what their top three priorities are - what do they want guests saying about their event on the drive home or the next morning, what do they want to be communicated in their images and videography when they watch it in 10 years, what are they wanting to be able to say to their kids and grand kids about their wedding day. This has a heavy influence on the entire planning process. Throughout the engagement, I often review these pieces of info before I make any final decisions ensuring everything fits under their main objectives and goals for the wedding.

What is your trademark or super power?

Spreadsheets! Formatting and designing functional, branded spreadsheets is one of my favorite things to do! I've actually been contracted to help companies create spreadsheets and processes/systems to make them more efficient. I love that I have planners that work for me and can walk into an already thought-out system empowering them to focus on client-satisfaction. I suppose a more broad answer is operations in general, but my husband actually refers to my love language as spreadsheets. Super romantic, I know.

What is one of the biggest or most important lessons you've learned since becoming an entrepreneur?

I'm not the hero. If you own a company and haven't read Storybrand by Donald Miller yet, you need to. It completely transformed the way I interact with clients. My goal is to help them achieve their dream wedding and make them successful. They are the hero of their story and are searching for a vendor team that will assist and help lift them up. They're not looking for vendors who only toot their own horn. That and also that adaptability is key! If you're not changing and evolving your company, you'll soon be obsolete.