Notes from Chris

Episode 773

Oli Sansom describes himself as a photographer and international lecturer on creative thinking. From what one could see from his website, he does a lot of different things. Among others, last year he was selected to document and create a film on the world's largest female-only science voyage to Antarctica.

But today we’re looking at something else, which requires another introduction. Oli’s friend and business partner, Matt Hedrich, works as an industrial electrician. He also creates pieces of lighting using found objects such as old kerosene lamps, and parts of sunken ships and other found material.

Their side hustle is called The Arbourists. The Arbourists design and rent out the worlds first day and night arbours, and serve an industry steeped in tradition thats slow-changing: the wedding industry. Definition time: what’s an arbour? These are the centerpieces behind the couple getting married. They’re able to be moved to anywhere at the reception, either indoors and out, to help make some small mark on the language of the day, and a wonderful selfie backdrop for the guests.

The service includes setup, location-moving (from ceremony to reception), and tear down. Their motto is "making you look damn awesome, and raising your grandma’s eyebrow."

Oli has photographed over 150 weddings worldwide. He points to three observations that led him to start this project:

1. People were, more and more, wanting to inject "more of themselves" into their wedding. This can take many forms. The industry has deep roots in tradition—and there's a range of differences in how folks are either aligning with or completely rejecting tradition.

2. The wedding industry is full of waste: both in materials, and labor. The Arbour, a token centerpiece that can give a little stylistic personality and frame the couple, is beautifully setup, adorned with florals used for an hour and then deconstructed and packed away.

3. He believes that night weddings, and alternate ceremony times, are going to be the next thing. Why not party first, then have the ceremony at midnight? He wanted to present an option for evening, or at the very least, "Dark" themed weddings.

Let’s talk about the money. Startup costs were $1,800 Australian dollars, and all costs were for materials and labor associated with fabrication: Aluminium lengths, lighting strips, and powder coating.

Oli and Matt divided the labor, with Matt focusing on production and Oli on photography, writing, and web design.

In the first season, they booked about 10 clients. Once they had clients they chose to invest more in the business, with the money coming from the revenue they received.

Clients pay 50% up front, and bookings appear largely around two peak wedding times. They started by charging $800, but once they had some rave reviews, they raised the rate to $1,100, all inclusive of setup and tear-down.

So what’s next? They do have some challenges ahead. Neither of them wants to become a full event-hire company, they just want to have fun with this one thing. So now they need to decide about outsourcing, creating relationships with stylists, or switch to a sale-only model.

Alternatively, they could build the brand to even more of an exclusive item, making it so incredible that the market is more than happy to pay a premium rental fee. There’s no stress, no pressure, and they’re open to either option.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Arbourists: Take another look at Oli and Matt's unique wedding displays on their website, and while you're at it, check out their Instagram story wars!
• Squarespace: the webplatform Oli and Matt used to create their website

SEE ALSO:

• Writing Duo Makes a Vow To Improve Wedding Speeches: Two freelance writers use their wit with words to write wedding vows for tongue-tied brides, grooms, and sometimes even the best man
• Atlanta Duo Gets Paid to Help Engaged Couples Elope: Feeling disappointed with the wedding industrial complex, where the average ceremony costs $35,000, this unconventional couple creates an alternative option
• Birds of a Feather Flock to Your Bank Account: A couple in Virginia ‘home’ in on a side hustle renting out white doves for weddings and special events

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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