Today's episode is sponsored by Sandals Resorts.

Let's get this party started and embrace your inner bride chila.

What's up, Chillas?

When wedding planning, after you get engaged, one of the first things, and actually pretty much next to the budget is the first thing you should do,

is find your venue. Everything else is a domino effect after that, as we know. And to help us with

this today is Shannon Tarrant, who is the founder of Wedding Venue Map, expert on all things

venue, and I'm so excited to have her here today. Welcome, Shannon. Oh, sharing about

venues and finding a venue is my cup of tea, so I'm excited to help. Well, tell us a little bit about

your background, because you kind of serendipously fell into hospitality and catering. Yeah, I, you know,

was always such a fan of working in restaurants and things like that. So I started my career really in off-site catering where I found my love of venue because I got to bop in and out of all of the different venues in our central Florida market and kind of graduated into working specifically for one venue and just loved it being able to help the couples find the perfect

space, whether it was us or somewhere else. But after 10 years of working hand in hand with the

couples, I just saw a really big hole in our small market here in central Florida in the Orlando

area that there were so many incredible venues in the market that

the couples had never heard of or weren't finding. And so that's how wedding venue map was born.

It's a print and digital directory that allows the couples to be able to filter between like

75 different criteria to really find the right venue for them instead of just only what's in the market.

And I know at first hearing that, especially if this is your first time planning a wedding or any

kind of event, hearing 75, like that seems like a lot. But really, when you break it down,

you're probably figuring out your aesthetic, your vibe, your guest count, because all that's a big factor,

right? Absolutely. And even things as small as if in tying your pet into the wedding is super

important, you want to find a venue that is pet friendly. And so we really took the time to

talk to the couples and look at the data and the stats as to what was important to them

...