Tina Dannel – Pivoting with The Metro
Like many wedding planners, the pandemic threw a wrench into Tina Dannel’s business model. Then along came a 1958 Milk Truck that changed things, for the better. Listen to this episode and hear how The Metro has been a positive pivot for Tina’s wedding business, and how it’s added new opportunities beyond its original intention – a mobile wedding chapel.
About Tina and The Metro
Tina Dannel is the owner and Lead Wedding Planner with Serendipity Events by Tina, a full-service Wedding Planning company located in Dallas, Texas, and Orlando, Florida.
Visit her website at https://www.serendipityeventsbytina.com/
Or check them out on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/serendipity_events_by_tina
https://www.facebook.com/SerendipityEventsByTina/
In this episode you will hear about Tina’s pivot, where she created The Metro DFW. The Metro DFW is a 1958 International Harvester Metro step van converted into my business on wheels. It’s Dallas’s only DRIVE-THRU wedding! They also offer Wedding Delivery, where they come to your house to officiate a wedding.
With everything opening up now and people getting back to big events, they are now renting The Metro to use it as a bar truck, photo backdrop, coffee bar (they partner with Hot Shots Coffee https://www.hotshotscatering.com/ ), DJ booth, or whatever you can imagine!
To find out more, check out https://www.drivethruweddingdallas.com/ or take a look at their social pages at https://www.instagram.com/TheMetroDFW/ or https://www.facebook.com/TheMetroDFW
Feel free to contact Tina for more information at [email protected]
Serendipity Events by Tina is https://www.serendipityeventsbytina.com/
The Metro DFW is https://www.drivethruweddingdallas.com/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/serendipity_events_by_tina/
https://www.instagram.com/TheMetroDFW/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SerendipityEventsByTina/
https://www.facebook.com/TheMetroDFW
If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at [email protected] or visit my website www.AlanBerg.com
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Below is a full transcript. If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at [email protected] or contact me via text, use the short form on this page, or call 732.422.6362
Please be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review (thanks, it really does make a difference). If you want to get notifications of new episodes and upcoming workshops and webinars, you can sign up at www.ConnectWithAlanBerg.com
– When I think about pivoting, I think about my next guest because she did something really cool, and you’re going to want to hear this. Hi, it’s Alan Berg and welcome to another episode of my series on The Pivot. I’m so happy to welcome a friend and client, Tina Dannel. Tina, how you doing?
– I’m great. How are you doing, Alan?
– I am doing so well. You’ve done a couple of different pivots and that’s why I wanted to have you on, because you kind of pivoted into the industry and then with COVID last year, you took a really cool pivot. And I want people to hear about that. So tell, tell everybody first, you know, just, what’s your business? What do you do?
– Okay. I own a wedding planning company. We have several planners on our staff. It’s called Serendipity Events by Tina and we’re located in Dallas, Texas. We also have a satellite company in Orlando with a couple planners, also, Orlando, Florida.
– Okay. All right, but that’s not the pivot yet, we’re going to get to the pivot. So how did you get into the industry? You know, I’m always curious because you pivoted, you were, was it, you were going to school for business, right?
– Yes, yes.
– Okay. Right, so how does that connect to being a wedding planner?
– Well, my brother was a wedding DJ and I would assist him with weddings, occasionally, as a single mom. And I saw such a need and it’s seemed a lot more fun than corporate America. So I decided to get certified as a planner and start that business instead.
– How long ago was that?
– 11 years.
– 11 Years, okay. So let’s see I’m out of the, not 10, so I think I met you, you were still kind of new in business. I spoke down in Dallas and we met at an event. Right?
– Yes.
– And then, we’ve worked together before. So, you got your wedding planning business, you’re starting to grow your wedding planning business, and like with everybody else, the COVID storm hit everyone. And then I had seen that you were doing something different. So what was your pivot? Last year, weddings stopped. Although you’re in Texas, I’m in New Jersey, wedding stopped here. Texas, they kind of hit a speed bump, right?
– Yeah. They stopped for about two months. Like, you know, we were shut down just like everybody else. And yeah, it was devastating. It was devastating for our clients. It was devastating for us. I cried with so many clients, you know. And just kept saying, “This can’t last long.” And it kept lasting.
– Yeah.
– Um, and the one thing they kept saying is, “We’ve been planning for this date for so long. We just want to get married.” And so I was trying to think of a way to help them still be able to do that. And I mean, the justices of the peace were closed, everything was closed. So, so how do you make that happen? And so, so that’s where I came with up with the idea.
– You came up with the idea of something called “The Metro.” And The Metro is just way cool. I love the branding of it, I love what it is. And people are like, “What is The Metro?” Right? Because The Metro could be anything. It could be the train in Paris, right? Right, what is, so what is The Metro?
– So The Metro is a drive-through wedding service. So it’s a 1958 step van truck that I’ve had converted to make it have a service window. And we can perform weddings out of the service window.
– So you said “drive-through,” but it’s kind of drive-up.
– Well, yeah.
– Right? Because you’re, you’re not a physical location. You are, but you can bring that location to them. That’s what I think is so cool, because people think drive-thru wedding, you think Las Vegas pull-up to the window, you know, like, can I get fries with that? Can I get married here? But you are a vehicle. What was The Metro vehicle before it was your vehicle?
– So originally it was like a milk truck. And like people I purchased it from actually, in Arizona, they used it as a bar truck. So it is a full service bar. It’s got the bar sink and everything in it, which I have a piece that my husband made to cover that up for the drive-through weddings. But, but we can use it for other things, such as the bar, now.
– So it’s kind of like a food truck feel, right?
– Exactly, yes.
– Okay. But again, for people’s pictures, certainly, you know, if they don’t, haven’t gone to your website yet, which we’re going to put all that into the show notes, it looks like a 1950’s milk truck because it was a 1950’s milk truck. So think about your old movies. There you go. So you have a window on the side and you are a licensed Justice of the Peace, right? You can perform ceremonies?
– Yes. I actually require all my lead planners to be officiants, just in case anything happens on their wedding day and the officiant can’t show up. So we were already equipped as officiants, you know, when everything happened.
– Right. Which is a great tip for all of you listening. I know DJs that are ordained that way. I know what other planners are doing in that way. Alan Katz, who’s an officiant in Southern California, they do over a thousand weddings a year, he will go to venues and he will ordain people at venues for the same reason. You know, what happens, what if, you know, they can’t make it, something happens, what do you do? Okay, so you’re already ordained. Now you have The Metro. So do you go to their location? Do they come to you? Do you set up times that they can come and drive up and get married? How does this work?
– Yeah. So we actually have a couple different options. And the first one is that drive-through wedding option, where they come to us. So during COVID especially, we were set up, we would have a date. I would put out ads saying, “We’ll be at this venue on this date, make a reservation for your time.” And so they could schedule with us and then they would drive up at that time. We also allow them to supersize their wedding so they could add on options, such as photography, a cake cutting, floral, hair and makeup, anything that they wanted. Even Elvis officiating, if they wanted. So…
– So if you can’t go to Vegas, we can bring Vegas to you.
– Absolutely.
– All right. So now explain, drive-up wedding. Do they just like pull their car up to the window or how does that work?
– Yup, exactly. So when it’s the time for their reservation, they pull up to the window, give me the marriage certificate, which we’ve already discussed and made sure they’ve had it for the three days to make it legal, all that kind of stuff. So then they’ll pull up and hand me the marriage license, I will officiate the wedding. We will have already talked, you know, just like any wedding, what they want said, do they want to do their own vows? I make sure they have their rings out. And, and we officiate the wedding.
– Now you need, what’s the rules in Texas there, do you need witnesses?
– No, you don’t.
– Okay, so they just need you, and them, and it has to be, they have to get their license three days before. That, that’s, that’s basically as in drive-up. So are more of them just the couple or is like somebody else in the back seat or?
– A lot of times, they’ll have someone with them, friends, or I had one where both of the Moms were there. I had one where their dog was dressed up like in a tux and he was the ring bearer. So, you know, they can have a carload is, you know, with the fee. So as long as it’s a, you know, all-in-one vehicle, it all is included in that prices.
– Okay, so let’s roll back to this. It’s 2020, you’re sitting around, you know, with a box of tissues for you and your clients. How does this, where did this idea come from?
– Well, it was, it was definitely just the idea of how, how can we make this work, keep everybody safe, keep everyone socially distanced. And you know, the whole Vegas thing comes up and we were seeing people doing the drive-through, drive-through weddings on the news and everything, where they were getting married in their front yard and all their friends were driving by. So this, it just kind of came from all of that.
– Okay, but what about the vehicle itself? Was it sitting in your backyard or?
– No, it was not. I, once the idea came to fruition, I spoke to my husband about it and we kind of started looking at food trucks. And you know, some of those were just too big and not what I was looking for, and then I saw a Metro and I fell in love with it. And it turns out my Grandfather, who was a milkman, actually drove the same kind of truck. So I’m working on getting that picture. But so it even seems more special now that I know, like my Grandfather drove a 1958 Metro and now I am, so.
– Okay, so “Metro” is the, the name of that, is that the brand, the manufacturer, or is?
– It’s an International Harvester Metro.
– Metro, okay.
– They were only made for a couple of years.
– So talk about Serendipity, your, your business name, that fact that you picked a vehicle like your Grandfather’s, now did you know that beforehand?
– I didn’t, I actually was telling my Dad my idea, and he said, “Oh, you’re Pepe,” which is what we call him, you know, “That’s what he used to drive. And we’ve got a really cool picture of it.”
– Wow. That is, again, that is serendipity, or kismet, or whatever you want to call it over there. All right, so now we are, you’re, you’re doing that still now. We are not fully post-COVID, as we record this here. What are your plans for The Metro going forward, when you know, we start partying like it’s 2019?
– Well, as I said, there’s three options with it. And the drive-up wedding is the first option. The second option is wedding delivery, and we bring it to your house. And we’ve had some fun people that are like, “We’re going to have a housewarming party.” And so all their friends come over for a housewarming party, we drive up and knock on the door, they come outside, I get back in The Metro and officiate. So it’s kind of like a surprise wedding. So those seem to be very popular. I actually had two inquiries on those today that I’m following up with right now. So, but once, I mean, people always elope, so I it’ll always be relevant. But, because I am a planner, and I’m doing a lot of big weddings, we actually incorporate it with our clients now. Like my client last weekend, we used it for a bar truck for their cocktail hour. So their cocktail hour was outside and we had everyone out there, so we just pulled up the truck right next to the venue.
– So The Metro, for, again, most people are listening on audio here, The Metro does not say, “Drive-Up Weddings,” you know, on it, right?
– It has a, a magnet that I’m able to remove at the events so that it doesn’t say it during those events. But when I’m driving down the road, it does.
– Oh, absolutely. Promoting that one. I remember when you first started doing this, we had a consult and we talking and I told you to park it outside the TV, the newspaper, and places like that, so people would just see it when they’re coming out. Like, “What is that?” So.
– And it worked. I was on the news with it.
– All right, love when stuff works out like… Okay, so the first one is drive-up, the second is drive to you, the third is what?
– Rent The Metro.
– Okay. For, for what, rent it?
– So you could use it for, we’ve had clients use it as a bar, that’s the most popular, but we also have a client that is renting it, her wedding is all outside, they’re having a bar truck, they’re having food trucks. So her DJ is going to be in it, playing. So that gives them a little bit of cover outside. We have a outdoor picnic that’s going to use it as a charcuterie station, dessert station. Some people just want pictures with it. And so I’m saying, set your photo booth, you know, camera in front of it and use it as a backdrop for that. So, lots of different uses for it.
– You said, you said “dessert.” I worked with a venue outside of Austin, Lake Travis, over by Lake Travis and they have a vehicle, very similar to yours, but it doesn’t run, it’s just in the parking lot. And they serve dessert out of it, as if it was a food truck, so cupcakes, ice cream, whatever it is. So there’s another thing is work with the bakers or work with the ice cream companies and let them rent The Metro to, you know, to do desserts on site. That would be kind of cool too.
– Yeah, we’ve actually partnered with a coffee company right now, Hot Shots Coffee. And they will be renting it out to their clients and, and using it as a coffee bar.
– Love it. And you can just put up another banner, or magnetic sign, or whatever, and have that for them. So very cool. So this idea, that was a born-in-COVID, has turned into so much more. But you’re still doing wedding planning.
– Oh yes, definitely. So that’s still your passion and this became, not a prop, but this became an option for your customers. So have, have you gotten any of these ideas, did they come from your customers or did they all come internally?
– They, they came from my customers’ need and how we can make it happen.
– Right. But, but the idea of let’s say renting it out to other, you know, for other types of things, was that somebody said, “Hey, can I rent it?”
– I actually knew the coffee company was looking for similar vehicles. So I, so I approached him on, on maybe partnering with us.
– Right, right. Okay, so now you have a 1950’s van. It’s reliable?
– We have a done lot of work to it, and we will only drive so many miles, otherwise we’ll just have it towed just to, to keep it in as good of shape as possible.
– Exactly. I was joking with you, because I know you put so much, so much effort into this. The paint job is great, the mechanics and all that stuff. No, it’s really great. So this is why I wanted to have you on, because you pivoted into an industry and then, you know, 10 years later, you find yourself with, “Oh, what do I do? I could sit around here and wait for things to come back or I could do something cool with this.” And it’s turned into it. So, so what’s next, what’s next? You have these, these three things already. Is there anything next for The Metro that you’re like, I’m thinking we might be able to…
– Well, we’ve talked about expanding and getting more Metros, because we really do love it. My husband loves to work on old vehicles as well. So it’ll be something for him as kind of a hobby job also. So that will be his pivot for retirement.
– That is a very good thing to have, is a mechanic in the house.
– Absolutely.
– A very good thing there. So, well, Tina, thank you so much for joining me here. We’re going to put into the show notes, links and things like that. But if people wanted to find out more about you, and more about Serendipity and The Metro, where should they go?
– For The Metro, it’s TheMetroDFW.com.
– Okay, so like Dallas-Fort Worth, for those of you who are not familiar with the area, TheMetro, M-E-T-R-O D-F-W.com. Okay, cool. And Serendipity?
– SerendipityEventsByTina.com.
– SerendipityEventsByTina.com. Tina, it’s always great talking to you. I love the story of The Metro. I’m so glad that it worked out because I was talking to you at the beginnings of, of this there, when you we’re probably biting your fingernails, like “What did we do? We got this truck and what do we do?” It is so much fun. So I’m going to put it into the show notes, all the links. And I can’t wait to hear what’s next for The Metro.
– Thank you so much.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
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