Meet Alyssa Guikema | Wedding Planner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alyssa Guikema and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyssa, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work Life Balance can be tricky in the wedding planning industry! To truly understand it, I had to dive into the industry and work through the wedding seasons. Wedding planning comes in waves. In busy season, you can be working 10 – 12 hour days and weekends while in the slow season you can take some slower days and vacations. The key to managing work/life balance for me is setting the expectations that my job is not the same on a day to day basis. Overtime, I have learned how to prepare my weekly schedules and work the hours that are best for me. While our schedules are busy, I am extremely grateful for the flexibility I am given which allows me to select the hours I am working. I always tell myself if I have a weekend off, a weekend spent at home is a weekend wasted. I love to travel and take full advantage of my PTO. While I work very hard, I party hard to make up for it. 🙂

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a wedding coordinator. I have been in this industry for about 6 years. I started my career as an intern and 6 months into it I was offered a full time position. I was able to graduate from the University of Georgia with a full time job, which was amazing! This industry is so unique, Coming into it felt like a baby bird getting kicked out of the nest, and if you didn’t learn how to fly you didn’t survive. I picked up on the skills and learned really quickly. I graduated with an Advertising Degree which helped. The passion for the job stems from the clients. The job is filled with so many emotions that it is impossible not to get emotionally invested. I feel my proudest after seeing the events I plan end with success. The “thank you’s” and “good jobs” from the guests, vendor referrals, past client referrals, and getting asked to be placed on vendor/venue preferred lists make me so proud. This job is not for the weak. The emotional investment makes it feel like you are never truly off the clock. Planning the most important day of someone’s life is a big task to fill. If something goes wrong, it is on me and that is a large pressure. The pressure fuels the fire that keeps me going though. Every mistake I have made has taught me how to be better and how I can improve. I’ve learned so many things from my career. I’ve learned how to be a leader. I’ve learned how to communicate better with other businesses/vendors. Seeing the raw emotion through guests has changed me for the better as well. I’ve learned that life really is short. I’ve learned life gives you the highest highs and the lowest lows. I’ve met so many people through this career, and I’ve traveled to beautiful places. I am truly honored with every single event I am a part of and take no wedding for granted. My career is constantly evolving based on the scale of the events, and the changing trends. I feel like my story is just beginning to get started.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is the best question for a planner!! Let’s assume a Friday – Sunday in the summer time. Friday night we would grab dinner and go to see a comedy show at the Vortex in Midtown, ATL. This is such an underrated spot full of laughs and a good time. The drinks are great and the food is affordable. Saturday morning would have an essential brunch. We would either go to Cracker Barrel (my favorite) or a local trendy spot. Mojave is good and so is Murphy’s. Saturday would be spent either by the pool or shopping. Ponce City Market and the Beltline would be a fun afternoon activity. For dinner, we would go to Superica in the Battery and follow that with some bar hopping. We would also go to Punch Bowl Social to play some bowling/darts during our bar hop. Sunday Morning I would make everyone breakfast. Waffles and Bacon is a staple in my house. Anyone wanting to continue the fun would head to a Braves game with us.

One of my favorite activities is “Date Night with Davis” with my fiancé, Davis. We have a list of restaurants we have not been to and they are numbered. Once every couple of weeks we will pick a number from a random number generator and go to the restaurant associated to that number. We love it.

Some of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta are Barcelona Wine Bar, Houstons, Pappasitos, Bad Daddy Burger Bar, and Crumbl Cookie. 🙂

Some of my favorite activities are going to concerts in the Roxy or the Battery, attending watch parties with friends, attending Live After 5 in Roswell, or going to farmers markets/pop up shops.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would be nowhere without my moms. These ladies have shaped me to be who I am, and I will be forever grateful for their love and support! Mom and Kim, I am everything that I am because of you. I love you.

I would also like to thank my fiancé Davis. He is my best friend and the perfect partner in life. I could not imagine a single second without him. He always reminds me of my worth, and is my #1 cheerleader. I love you so much, Davis.

Instagram: alyssa_guikema

Facebook: Alyssa Guikema