S12E11: Personal Styling for Couples - and for Wedding Guests
We're dishing about personal style coaching for couples, and for wedding guest attire this week.
We cover considering a theme, dress code, venue, and weather when choosing an outfit for a wedding, and the significance of dressing appropriately as a wedding guest (and some mistakes Sara has made in the past as a wedding guest).
Guest: Jia, Simply Jia
This week on The Wedding Dish podcast, we’re dishing about…
There’s a big difference between photoshoots and events. How do you recommend couples figure out what to wear for different events?
What’s the most important thing to keep in mind when deciding what to wear for wedding events?
How do you figure out what to wear as a wedding guest?
Can we take a moment here to talk about the importance of looking your best as a guest?
What final advice do you have for couples who are figuring out their style for their wedding events?
... and more!
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Meet Jia, Simply Jia!
Jia builds confidence of self identity through personal style. She's a personal style coach who works with career-driven professionals to find their best fits, colors, and style personality to dress for their REAL lifestyle. Jia has a simple and timeless approach to style so clients can feel good no matter what size or season of life they're in.
Personal style is often the overlooked topic that people procrastinate on in weddings. It’s easy to think about the big things - the venue, florals, music, catering, etc. Of course there’s the dress and suit - but what if we found the dress/suit earlier in the process, so everything else in the wedding reflects your own style? Your personal style can be the anchor so that your florals, decor, music, and even invitations then all follow suit (no pun intended haha).
It's also about the events leading up to and after the wedding that few think about. What about your engagement party, engagement shoot, bachelor/bachelorette party, wedding shower, rehearsal dinner, honeymoon - and in some cultures you may have even more events/multi-day wedding celebrations. Thinking about these events ahead of the wedding will avoid a lot of last minute stress on top of all the other things you’re managing the day of these events. - Jia
Business Details
What areas do you serve?
DMV area, virtually everywhere!
Why did you decide to start your own business?
I went through my own journey with personal style, so I was in my clients’ shoes and can understand how frustrating it was to not have it figured out. On paper I was successful but when I looked in the mirror, I felt nothing like it. I finally got tired of feeling like I wasn’t enough and wanted to feel confident on the outside like I did on the inside. It was when I stopped following bloggers, style influencers, and everyone else telling me what to wear and instead studied the foundations of fit, color, and finding your style personality that I truly found my own style. I created my own framework and realized that this could work for others too. I want to share that you don’t have to be born with style. Style can be learned which is empowering for those who may not have the conventional body shape and are feeling like they can never fit into the clothes they like.
What's the coolest thing about owning your own business?
I get to see people change their lives through personal style. Style is not about the clothes. It’s about learning how to communicate who we really are and embracing it with confidence whenever we step out to be seen, whether we want the attention or not. The people I work with typically don’t search for the attention but they know they’re being seen. For them to finally feel comfortable in their own skin and then feeling comfortable enough to smile fully, laugh unapologetically, speak with no fear - that’s the coolest thing about my business. Also, a secondary more fun side to it: I get to live vicariously through clients who have different styles that I wouldn’t necessarily wear. I’d consider my style to be pretty simple and basic, but my goal is never to dress a client to look like me. So when we find how different everyone is with personalities, color preferences and designs, it’s so much fun to play with different pieces that I can appreciate on someone else who can pull it off effortlessly.
What challenges have you had to overcome?
Educating people that personal style is not the quick fix. It’s not the magic turnaround with a 2-hour shopping trip or even what you see in the dramatic closet declutter. It doesn’t start there. It really starts with knowing yourself, creating this blueprint first of what your style is before you can get to the tactile changes of your wardrobe. This is challenging because this is the hardest part that can be a lot of work depending on who you are. But if you’re willing to put that work in up front, it’ll last you a lifetime and you’ll be able to edit your own wardrobe over and over again without the feeling of having to start over.
Do you have a favorite story to share?
So many! I’d say the overall theme is clients come to be because they want a more organized closet - they want efficiency. A favorite win from a client is when she shared that she did her laundry for the first time since after we curated her closet and she immediately folded her clothes afterward. She felt like it was easier because she actively liked everything she was folding and knew where it went and what category it was in. Before, she felt like a lot of clothes she was wearing, she had a hard time putting them in categories so she would procrastinate folding everything and end up shoving them in drawers randomly without giving them a permanent home. Having a clear sense of your style not only makes you more confident in getting dressed but also creates a tidier home, a happier environment.
What advice could you offer to someone starting a business like yours?
Stay true to your own process. There are so many different approaches to style and so many different ways to get styled. Think about who you want to work with, how you want to help them, and be confident in your own approach. It’s easy to get distracted by what others are doing and think you have to do what they’re doing. Focus on what you do best and you’ll create a category of your own.
Your Wedding
What was the most important decision you made about your wedding?
The venue. Everything else we decided was based on the mood of the venue to reflect our personality - also a reflection of our style!
How did you choose your wedding vendors?
Lots of research. I was the type A asking an essay of questions for every serious vendor I considered. Secondly, I considered what felt like our style. Reviews and approved vendors are great, but we really went with our intuition on what we liked and stuck with that.
What, if anything, would you change about your wedding?
I wish we had more time! It was during COVID, so we condensed the celebration for everyone's safety. It was still the perfect wedding we could've dreamed of.
What advice could you offer to engaged couples planning their wedding?
Be firm with what you want for your wedding. Every wedding is different and there's no right or wrong way to do it. Have great support, whether that's your wedding planner/coordinator, Maid of Honor, Best Man - someone who is not emotionally invested.
Have something else to share? A funny story? Something crazy that happened?
I’m currently the Maid of Honor and stylist for a dear friend’s wedding this year. It’s a fine balance of asking my friend questions about what she wants and also reminding her that there’s no right or wrong answer! We’re currently planning her bridal shower and it was such a perfect example of guiding her in what she wanted. We were thinking of a theme and she didn’t know where to start. Then we thought about how she’s into houseplants right now, so we’re making the shower plant-themed.
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This episode is brought to you by:
Photos from the Harty, internationally acclaimed wedding photography
District Bliss, the support you need to skyrocket your business with ease
Sprout Creative, marketing for entrepreneurs
17hats. Business just got easier. At The Wedding Dish, we use 17hats for scheduling guests, questionnaires, to develop our show notes, and for our all of guest management. It’s the CRM that makes it easy to run two businesses and two podcasts seamlessly.
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