Small business Q&A
UK-born Nelson woman Terri Everett, celebrant and owner of wedding planning company The Dream Maker, tells Aimee Shaw how Covid-19 has wiped out regular business and why she’s eager for domestic tourism to open up under alert level 2.
What does your business do?
The Dream Maker sets up weddings, elopements, vow renewals, commitment ceremonies and other events in the Nelson-Tasman region. My clients are generally internationals who come here looking for the wow factor. Weddings are our most common event and we put on about 30 each year. I’ve been doing this for a decade.
What was the motivation for starting it?
It was around the time of the Christchurch earthquakes. We originally had a boat charter, I was a host on a boat, and I got a phone call at 4pm from a very tearful bride. They were flying from the United States to Christchurch to get married, everything had been planned and organised and then of course the earthquake hit and they were literally relocated to Nelson. Someone had put her in touch with me because they knew we did special boat charters. We basically arranged everything for them. At 10am, they were at the beach and we took them off for the day in the Abel Tasman. At the end of the day, the bride put her arms around me, gave me a very sincere hug and whispered in my ear that I was her “dream maker” and that’s how the business evolved and I got its name. It was such
an amazing moment for me.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business?
When there are disasters, love stories are created; there’s always a silver lining. I have had to cancel some weddings or postponed them because of Covid-19. In other instances, it has forced couples to get creative. I had a couple who were adamant that they wanted to get married on March 25, a date that was very important to them, so we ended up doing a wedding on Zoom in their backyard and I was there on Zoom to officiate and orchestrate to make it special. It was beautiful.
I’ve started to pull some packages together where for $200, which is refundable, I plan and organise the whole event with them exactly as I would in any other situation but with an unconfirmed date — once the date is confirmed and I get the deposit, then they get their $200 back. I’ve already booked two of those — one is going to be a vineyard wedding and another is going to be two landings in a helicopter on a mountain and a beach for a renewal of vows. All in the tourism industry are scared we’re not going to get enough visitors, but people are still going to get engaged and want to get married — we’re hoping they’ll want to do it here instead of overseas.
How long do you anticipate New Zealand’s borders will be closed?
I think it is quite likely that our international borders, even if they open, are not going to attract people, as no one wants to spend two weeks in a hotel isolating. Until we’re confident the rest of the world has got this under control, I don’t see how any of this can be undone. We have to be patient and responsible.
It’s an incredibly scary time for businesses with massive overheads and huge amounts of staff. I work from home and I contract all of my staff out, so I haven’t got a lot to lose. I really don’t know what the future is but I do know that wallowing in the uncertainty isn’t going to help us in any way. We all have to individually look outside of the box. I’m not worried . . . I think I’m going to come out better at the end of this.
What advice do you give others thinking about starting their own business?
Do a vision of what your dream is because that’s always great to look back on to see how much you have achieved. It also reminds you of what is important. If you love what you do and it makes you sing inside, then you’ll be successful.