Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Chambers.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story really begins with a willingness to take a chance on something I believed could become much bigger than I initially imagined. My professional background was in education and basketball coaching, so I came into entrepreneurship with a very different skill set than someone who had spent years in the wedding or business world. What I did have was a strong understanding of people, leadership, organization, and how to manage a lot of moving pieces at once.
In 2016, I started exploring what it could look like to turn those strengths into a career of my own. I was drawn to the wedding industry because it was an opportunity to combine structure and logistics with creativity and, most importantly, people. I loved the idea of being the person behind the scenes who could take something that felt overwhelming and make it feel manageable.
Direct My Day officially launched in September 2017. In the beginning, it was very much a learning experience. I was building the business while simultaneously learning the business, figuring things out through experience rather than following a predetermined roadmap. Every wedding brought a new lesson, a new relationship, and a better understanding of the kind of company I wanted to create.
As the years went on, the company grew beyond what I originally envisioned. We built a team, expanded the services we could offer, and eventually developed Direct My Bar and Drape My Day as additional businesses. What began as one wedding coordination company has evolved into a collection of services that allows us to play a much larger role in the events we produce.
Today, nearly nine years after opening Direct My Day, I have the opportunity to lead multiple businesses, work alongside an incredible team, and serve couples and clients throughout South Carolina and beyond. The path here has been anything but perfectly linear, but I think that is part of what makes entrepreneurship so rewarding. I didn’t start with everything figured out. I started with an idea, worked hard to make it viable, learned from every stage of growth, and continued building from there.
When I look at where we are today, I’m especially proud that the business has grown without losing the personal connection that inspired me to start it in the first place. We’ve become much larger than I ever imagined in those early years, but the heart behind the work has remained the same.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, although I think that is something you only fully understand once you’ve been in business for a while. From the outside, growth can look very linear. You start a company, gain clients, hire a team, expand your services, and everything continues moving forward. In reality, there have been plenty of seasons where I was figuring things out one decision at a time.
One of the biggest challenges early on was learning how to actually run a business while I was still learning the industry itself. I didn’t have a blueprint for what I was doing, and there were plenty of things I had to learn through experience. I had to become comfortable making decisions without always knowing whether they were going to be the right ones, and I had to learn from mistakes instead of allowing them to discourage me.
Growth brought an entirely different set of challenges. There is a big difference between being responsible for your own work and being responsible for an entire team, a client experience, and the reputation of a growing company. As Direct My Day expanded, I had to learn that I couldn’t personally do everything. Learning to delegate, trust other people with pieces of the business, and transition from doing the work myself to leading others through it was a major shift for me.
There have also been the normal uncertainties that come with entrepreneurship: financial decisions, busy seasons followed by slower ones, hiring, managing expectations, and constantly trying to determine what the next stage of growth should look like. The wedding industry itself can be unpredictable, so you learn very quickly how important it is to stay flexible and keep your perspective when something doesn’t go according to plan.
I think the biggest lesson has been that difficulty doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going in the wrong direction. Sometimes it simply means you’re growing into something you haven’t done before. Almost every challenging season has required me to learn a new skill, change the way I was thinking, or become a better leader.
So no, it hasn’t been smooth, but I wouldn’t want to erase the difficult parts. They have shaped the way I lead, the way I make decisions, and ultimately the kind of company I’ve been able to build.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At its core, Direct My Day is a wedding planning and event production company. We specialize in taking all of the individual pieces that make up a wedding, from the initial planning and vendor selection to the floor plan, timeline, design details, setup, and execution, and bringing them together into one cohesive experience.
We offer several levels of planning because we recognize that couples need different types of support. Some couples have planned nearly everything themselves and simply need an experienced professional to step in during the final weeks and take over the logistics. Others want someone beside them throughout the entire process, helping with everything from finding vendors and developing a budget to designing the event and managing the wedding weekend. Our packages range from month-of coordination to partial planning and full-service planning, with additional à la carte services available for couples who need something more customized.
As the company has grown, we’ve also expanded beyond planning. Direct My Bar provides beverage services for weddings, private events, corporate events, and more. We can create everything from a traditional beer and wine service to a fully customized bar experience, including signature cocktails, mocktails, champagne towers, welcome cocktails, and other specialty offerings.
Drape My Day is our newest extension of that same philosophy. We design and install custom event drapery and lighting to transform a space and make it feel intentional and personal to the event. We work with clients on everything from ceremony backdrops and room dividers to ceiling draping, tent draping, mandaps, chuppahs, and custom installations.
I think what we’re becoming known for is the ability to make complicated events feel effortless. Weddings have an incredible number of moving pieces, and our job is to understand how all of those pieces interact before the client ever has to worry about them. We have spent years building relationships throughout the Charleston wedding industry, so we understand the venues, the logistics, the vendors, and the little things that can make a major difference on an event day.
I’m also very proud of the fact that Direct My Day has grown into a team rather than remaining dependent on one person. When couples hire us, they aren’t just hiring an individual planner; they’re gaining the knowledge and support of an entire group of experienced professionals. We’ve intentionally built systems and processes that allow us to maintain a personal client experience while still having the resources of a larger company behind each wedding.
What I believe sets us apart most is that we don’t view a wedding as a checklist of tasks. We’re looking at the entire experience from the couple’s perspective. We think about how guests will move through a space, how the timeline will feel in real time, how vendors need to communicate with one another, where potential problems could arise, and how we can make decisions that protect both the client’s vision and their investment.
I’m probably most proud of how much the vision has expanded since Direct My Day began. What started as a planning company has developed into a broader event brand with planning, bar, draping, design, and production capabilities. The fact that we can now walk into an event and help shape so many aspects of the experience. From the initial concept all the way through the last detail being executed is incredibly rewarding.
Ultimately, I want our clients to feel like they can hand us something complicated and trust us to figure it out. They shouldn’t have to spend their wedding day thinking about timelines, vendor arrivals, setup, staffing, or what happens if something goes wrong. They should be able to look around, see the vision they’ve spent months imagining come to life, and actually enjoy it. Creating that kind of experience is what we’re best at.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was born in Houston, Texas, so I always say I still have a little Texas spice in me, but I grew up in Roswell, Georgia—and I honestly wouldn’t change that for anything.
I’m the oldest of three girls, and my two younger sisters were also very athletic and involved in sports. Growing up, so much of my life revolved around basketball and soccer. By eighth grade, I already knew exactly what I wanted to do: become a PE teacher and coach varsity basketball.
Going into high school, I had a goal. I wanted to work hard enough to earn an athletic scholarship and help my parents with the cost of college. I think I realized pretty early that my work ethic and dedication were a little different. While other kids were going out to parties and drinking, my mindset was, I have to get up in the morning and train. I knew what I wanted, and I was willing to put in the work to get there.
That hard work eventually paid off when I earned a scholarship to play at Valdosta State University, where I also met some of my best friends—people who are still a huge part of my life today.
Growing up, I was actually a very quiet girl. I stayed in my shell, knew my lane, and definitely wasn’t the popular girl. I don’t think I truly grew into myself and discovered my confidence until after college. But even when I was quiet, I was driven. I knew what I wanted to accomplish and understood that reaching those goals would take discipline, sacrifice, and consistency.
Looking back now, I can see how much sports shaped the woman I became. They taught me how to work hard, lead, compete, handle setbacks, and keep going when things weren’t easy. Those lessons are still a huge part of who I am today as an independent woman and business owner.
Most importantly, I was incredibly fortunate to grow up in a loving and supportive family. My parents gave me strong role models to look up to and always encouraged me to work toward the life I wanted. I’m incredibly grateful for everything they did for me and for the foundation they gave me—it has played a huge part in shaping the person I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.directmydaycharleston.com/
- Instagram: @directmydaycharleston
