LEGAL & TAX STRATEGIES FOR WEDDING VENDORS
The Aisle Advisory Academy
A 3(ish)-hour crash course in how to set up and run your wedding business so you stay on the government’s good side, turn a profit, and avoid legal hassles
When it comes to running your wedding business, the saying is true:
You don’t know what you don’t know.
I’m going to be the bearer of bad news for a sec: when you make a mistake, you can’t get off the hook with the government (or your clients) by saying “but I didn’t know!”
But that doesn’t mean you need to spend hours frantically Googling every time you have a question like:
Can I write off the cost of my CRM / my new camera / my drive-through meal after a wedding?
What do I do when a couple cancels their wedding?
Wait, HOW much was I supposed to set aside for quarterly taxes?
Is my assistant planner an employee or a contractor?
Is it true that you can save on taxes if you’re an S Corp?
If you’re keeping track at home, the answers are:
Yes, yes, and no (sorry).
Send them your cancellation contract—you have one, right?
We’ve got a formula for that.
Good question—let’s talk about it.
It is! But not every business should BE an S Corp.
You might be feeling like our girl Frazzled Fran:
Checking USPS Informed Delivery obsessively for IRS hate mail
With a literal shoebox full of receipts dating back to 2019
Panicking about whether she has enough to cover expenses at the end of the month
Next-to-no protection when it comes to contracts, trademarks, LLCs, or insurance
When you’d rather be
like Buttoned-Up Betsy:
This diva formed an S Corp to save on taxes and set up payroll
She’s got a regular routine to pay herself, her taxes, and her investments
She’s filed all her paperwork with the state
She knows the difference between an employee and a contractor
And because Betsy knows her numbers, she’s making smarter business decisions than she was before
That’s why we created
A 3(ish)-hour video course packed with resources that walk you through forming your company, handling taxes, managing cash flow, and turning a juicy profit
$200
The Aisle Advisory Academy covers 5 key areas:
Compliance
What you need to protect yourself when it comes to the government, rogue clients, and anything else that could go wrong
Formation
Not the Beyoncé song, sorry. We’re talking about whether you should have a sole prop, an LLC, or an S Corp, and how to set it up for your state.
Trademarks
Why you might need a trademark to keep Copycat Carla at bay, and what to consider when naming your wedding business
Taxes
How to estimate them, how to save for them, and how to save on them—because no one ever woke up and said “yes, I’d like to pay MORE in taxes”
Bookkeeping
How to track your expenses, what you can deduct, and how to set up a system that works for you (spoiler: it doesn’t have to be QuickBooks)
And we don’t just dump a ton of videos into your lap and tell you to have at it.
We use a watch-then-implement model. You’ll watch a bite-sized video, then open up the matching resource and DO the thing.
You’ll get access to calculators, worksheets, and templates, including:
A small biz blueprint for each of the 50 states (and DC) that walks you through every single step of opening a new business
A calendar of all the important tax and biz deadlines within the year
My monthly profit report template
A quarterly tax calculator (and links to literally every website you need to actually PAY those taxes)
A worksheet to determine if someone is a contractor or an employee
The Aisle Advisory Academy is perfect for:
New business owners who want to start things off on the right foot
Experienced business owners who’ve been winging it, but want to straighten up
Wedding vendors who are moving from one state to another and need to check all the boxes
I’M BRADEN DRAKE: TAX ATTORNEY, FOUNDER OF THE AISLE ACADEMY, AND YOUR NEW BESTIE
Confession time: When I got my bar results, I had a credit score of 480.
In my first year of business, I made $12,000. By year 3, I was earning $70,000 a year, but at 50% profitability, that left only about $25,000 after tax. Not great.
If I was going to make this “business owner” thing work, things needed to change. So I focused on profit, made it a priority to pay myself, and built systems to support my goals. These days, I have a multi 6-figure business with a team of 3 part-time employees. I pay myself a regular salary (with room for a little treat every now and then), and my credit score is on the mend.
Now it’s your turn.
The full lesson list:
1: What You Need To Know
Our frameworks for thinking about protection and profit
2: Legal Layers of Protection
An overview of everything a legally compliant business needs
3: Your Business Blueprint
Choosing and setting up your sole prop or LLC
4: Trademarks
When you need them, why, and how to register
5: Bookkeeping
A crash course in tracking expenses and income
6: Quarterly Taxes
Estimate what you need to pay, so you can set it aside
7: 1099s
Employees vs. contractors, and how to onboard them
8: S Corps
Are they right for your business? (And how to set them up)
9: Advanced Tax Strategies
From retirement accounts to health insurance
10: Profit Rx & Vendor Vitals
Managing cashflow and making sure you’re actually profitable
When you’re done with the Academy, you’ll have:
A plan for quarterly taxes
An understanding of what you need to trademark—and what to consider when naming your business
A correctly formed LLC or S Corp
A cash flow plan so you always have enough on hand to cover expenses
A weekly finance routine (it’s more enjoyable than it sounds, I promise)
A team that’s correctly classified
Maybe more importantly, here’s what you won’t have anymore:
Hate mail from the IRS
Late fees on your quarterly taxes
No idea how much you made or paid
last month
A creeping sense of dread when you hear the word “payroll”
The urge to “write it off,” no matter what “it” is
A bookkeeping spreadsheet chilling on your Google Drive without any numbers in it
TIME FOR A Q&A SESH
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The Aisle Advisory Academy is perfect for wedding vendors who are just starting out and want to do everything by the book.
It’s also great for experienced wedding pros who are growing a team for the first time, who want to save on taxes, or who have done everything by the seat of their pants up to this point and want to fix it.
It’s also a really useful tool if you’re moving your business from one state to another—we’ve got resources to help you figure out taxes, business formation, and worker classification in your new state.
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After years of teaching “boring” topics, I’ve learned that one of the best ways to make ideas stick is with examples that are actually relatable. Take worker classification, for example. If I tell you about Joe’s Car Wash, you’re probably going to forget.
But if I tell you the story of a wedding planner who misclassified her associate planners, you’ll see how it would play out in your business.
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Yes. Our firm is based in California, but we work with clients across the country, and we’ve created state-specific resources for all of them. And some things don’t change from state to state, like trademark law or tax deductions.
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I talk about why you need a contract in the “Layers of Protection” module. But to build your own, you’ll need to join The Contract Club.
