The wedding planner

The wedding planner

The university invited five alumni speakers onto campus for the Inspiring Entrepreneurship and Innovation at RGU programme. The five local entrepreneurs shared insights into their journey and how they got to where they were today.

Emma Douglas (BA Hons Management with Marketing 2011) is the business owner of Timeless White Wedding Planning Scotland – one of only two wedding planners to be listed in the global five-star wedding directory.

“Timeless White Wedding Planning was an idea in my head while I was studying third year Management and Marketing here at RGU,” said Emma. “The idea was, everyone is working in oil and gas, no one’s got time to do this themselves, everyone is spending loads of money on them – I’ll get involved.

“The idea has evolved a lot since then and now, actually, the vast majority of my customers are international couples coming to Scotland for their wedding.”

Emma advised upcoming entrepreneurs to really learn about the business they’re looking to get into and recalled volunteering with a wedding planner at the age of 19 for 18 months.

“I’ve been involved in 400 weddings to different levels,” said Emma. “Some of them, I’ve just turned up and provided decoration. Others, I’ve been involved with from start to finish.

“I also work with a number of venues in the Aberdeenshire area. It’s about aligning yourself with people who are likeminded. That’s been a challenge I’ve had to overcome. I’ve had to readjust myself because I was suddenly serving businesses instead of consumers.”