The Art of Wedding Coordination with JDWC Weddings
Here at IndyBride2B, we know that planning a wedding is no easy task. And we also know that handling wedding-related tasks the month of your wedding can be really difficult and if you don’t have anyone to help you on the day of the wedding, that can easily bring a lot of unnecessary stress onto your shoulders. Your wedding day should be a time for you and your family to enjoy together, not a time for you to be stressed.
Brides, hiring a wedding coordinator is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself on your wedding day. With a professional like Jessica on your side, you don’t have to be stressed! So, we sat down with Jessica Dum, owner of Jessica Dum Wedding Coordination (JDWC) to find out a little bit more about her and how she works her magic! Here’s a look at our conversation!
Photo by James Ivan & Emily Louise
Tell us about yourself
I was born and raised in Indianapolis and graduated from Purdue in 2009. I’m married to my husband Mike for almost 7 years now, mom to Will (2.5) and we are expecting our second little one this fall!
What are your favorite things? Family, traveling, summer days at the lake, a good cup of coffee, home improvement projects
Favorite TV show? Friends – forever and always!
Favorite food? Homemade popcorn
How long have you been in business? Since 2012.
How did you get started in wedding coordination? I always knew I wanted to be in the event industry in some capacity and graduated from the hospitality program at Purdue.
I interned and ultimately took a job right out of college with a corporate event planning company where our primary focus was on tradeshows and conventions! I absolutely loved learning about the corporate side of the industry and am so grateful for the experience and knowledge I gained from that time.
As far as weddings go, I honestly kind of fell into it when family friends, or friends of friends would ask me to help with their weddings. What started off as a fun thing I randomly did here and there, quickly turned into a business idea. It was helping those friends with the execution side of the wedding planning process where I realized there was a need for more Wedding Coordinators who could step in towards the end and manage the day on their behalf!
While Day of Wedding Coordination (or Month of Coordination to some) wasn’t necessarily a new concept, there was however no one else in Indianapolis who offered solely that. I’ll be honest – it was difficult at times to navigate starting a business that not many people understood, but over time we have been able to educate brides (and Mother of the Brides!) that they can get the best of both worlds and not only plan their dream day, but actually get to enjoy it as well!
I knew from day one that Day of Wedding Coordination was our niche, and am really proud of how far JDWC has come!
Photo by James Ivan & Emily Louise
What is your favorite part about wedding coordination? I love nothing more than working with couples who enjoy planning their own wedding, yet value having a professional step in to manage and execute all the details for them on the day of.
There are a lot of moving pieces no matter how minimal or detailed the wedding, and while I do love great design, my passion lies in the logistical and execution side of the wedding planning process. Our team excels in stepping in approximately 2-3 months prior to the wedding day to help pull all those final details and logistics together!
What is something you know now that you wish you would have known when you first started? To focus only on the things that move the needle forward, and not to sweat the small stuff.
Did you always envision this for your career or did it take you by surprise? Yes and no. I always knew I wanted to be in the event industry and also grew up with parents who owned (and still own) their own business together – so while I always thought owning a business was a possibility, I didn’t necessarily think it’d be in the wedding industry.
I had a hard time making the decision to leave the corporate event world, but as my business grew, I knew this was where I was meant to be!
What are some of the most difficult parts of running a business? Wearing every hat imaginable. Some days are full of client details, timeline creation, venue walkthroughs, networking, and client meetings. And others are spent doing bookkeeping, troubleshooting IT problems, blogging, running payroll, paying taxes, social media management, updating our website and so on.
Tell us more about your team: Absolutely! There are officially 5 of us on our team – myself and 4 other Lead Coordinators (Brittany, Megan, Kendra and Natasha)! They are simply amazing and I feel especially lucky to have these women a part of this little dream of mine.
What I’ve always prayed for and hoped for when bringing on a new team member is someone with a big heart. Someone who will step into their role as a Lead Coordinator representing JDWC and care and love on our clients, their families, their friends and their vendors just how I would.
When I first added to my team almost 5 years ago, I knew it was the right move to make. By adding to our team, we are able to be a part of many more wedding days – providing even more couples with an unforgettable experience and a stress-free wedding day.
Do you have any upcoming projects or weddings coming up that you’re excited about? The remainder of our 2019 wedding season is full of some pretty exciting weddings, and we are looking forward to a fun 2020 wedding season as well.
Jessica Dum Wedding Coordination
Instagram: @jdwc_weddings
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