Rebecca Martens of Belle Events | Scaling a Team, Feedback as a Gift & Everything in Between

Rebecca Martens is the owner of Belle Events, a Houston, Texas wedding and event planning company with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She started her career executing weddings across all four Disney theme parks with Disney Fairy Tale Weddings in Orlando, moved to Houston as event manager at River Oaks Country Club, and joined Belle Events in 2015. Four years later, she bought the company. Today she leads a team of 13 planners and 20 event day assistants, serving some of Houston's most prominent families and couples.

In this episode of the Texas Wedding Podcast, Rebecca walks through all of it: what it was like to train under Disney's legendary hospitality culture, how that experience shaped the way she leads her team at Belle Events today, and what it actually looked like to grow from three people to what the team is today. She talks about the contractor versus employee tightrope, what it's like working with different vendors as a planner, and why taking care of her team and her people is always her top priority.

Then there's the flood story. A Houston wedding, a tent venue, a freak storm that dumped water across the entire event space hours before guests arrived. Rebecca walks through every detail: the mops, the squeegees, the drills going into the floorboards to drain the water, her husband running a Chick-fil-A run for a starving team, and the moment the bride accidentally saw a photo of what her tent had looked like two hours before she walked in.

Rebecca also shares the leadership philosophy she took from Disney and never let go of: feedback is a gift. She breaks down how she gives constructive feedback to vendors and team members, why she asks each planner how they prefer to receive it, and what it means to build a team culture where no one is afraid to make a mistake.

This episode is part of the Texas Wedding Podcast's WIPACon series. Rebecca will be on the business growth panel at WIPACon, the first WIPA National Conference, in Dallas. Kevin will be presenting his breakout session on video for non-videographers. If you are in the Texas wedding industry and can still get a ticket, go.

If you are a wedding vendor in Texas trying to understand what planners actually need from you, or a wedding business owner trying to figure out what scaling really looks like, this one is essential.

Follow Rebecca Martens at Belle Events
https://www.belleevents.com/
https://www.instagram.com/belleevents/?hl=en

Follow Kevin Cochran at 718 Creative
https://718creative.com/
https://www.instagram.com/718.creative/

If you enjoyed this episode, check out Jordan Fatheree of Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek for the first episode in the WIPACon series and another conversation about what it means to build something exceptional in the Texas wedding industry.