Wedding Planners’ Social Networking Happens Over Cocktails

Sure a lot of good social networking and self promotion happens online.  You’re the CEO of SEO and doing it while sitting at home eating oreos. Great! Right? Well…sometimes a girl’s got to make some friends. Live and in person – not of the facebook variety.

Where does one do this? Meet sympatico types who share your passion for the wedding/event business, and want to share idea, inspiration and business tips, tricks and advice?  Professional associations and groups are a great way to go.

 

 

 

Here in the Coachella Valley, we started a group called Wedding Warriors.  As you can tell from the name, we’re a little more rock-and-roll than your average consortium of bridal professionals. Boiled down, our mission is to educate, to build relationships with other business people, and to give back to the community. In practice, we come together to learn from each other about the business climate in the wide variety of communities that make up our region – and the best ways for small businesses to survive and thrive.  We enjoy each other’s company at some HOT parties (these are not your Mama’s COC meetings)! And last, we raise money at each of our events for a community charity. Funds raised at our April 4 gathering will benefit the music department at Palm Sprinhs High School.

So want to get linked in in real life? RSVP now for the Wedding Warriors April Spring Fling Mixer.

We’ll be celebrating the season at Palm Springs’ most colorful new resort hotel, the Saguaro. Come join in the off-line, real-time actual live, in-person fun!

Hope to see you there, party people!

RSVP

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Now That’s What I Call A Wedding Crasher

You’ll see stories from time to time about a couple who had an unexpected guest show up at their wedding – but not in such a bad way. If your uninvited plus one or two is a celebrity, somehow that turns a nightmare into a crazy, fun wedding memory.  There’s a couple who had Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez come strolling down the beach into their tented reception, and then a lovely English couple who found the cast and crew of “The Iron Lady” attending their ceremony. (At least Meryl Streep is well raised – she brought a gift).

But by far, this weekend’s instance of a celeb turning up unexpected (though not uninvited) is one that will be tough to top. This couple invited Queen Elizabeth to their wedding as a bit of a lark, never expecting her to come.  Indeed, they received a polite decline.  But lo and behold, on wedding day, Her Majesty and Prince Philip dropped by to wish the couple well. Now that’s a crash to end all crashes! And such a cute hat, too.
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Just goes to show, you’ve got to think outside the stationery box.  Want The Clintons at your wedding? Cher? Send the invitation. You never know who’s going to take you up on it.  But that also goes for people who get the “obligatory invitations” that you might rather not see.

The take-away: don’t send an invitation to people you can’t stand OR that are beyond your social circle thinking “they’ll never come” because they just might surprise you. Good advice all around, if it’s applied to Barry Manilow, or Uncle Eugene. You’re rolling the dice, and you might end up with a floorshow, but you’re also risking a monologue about the war years in Moldavia.

Be well, and love well!

Dinah

 

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Amazing Ceremony Decor Idea – Artists Are Full Of ‘Em!

This image, from the photostream of fiber artist Odile Gova, is a phenomenal idea for a ceremony site full of trees.  Labor intesive to be sure, wrapping trees in lace would be no picnic. But the greater point here is the non-traditional source of the idea.  I found the image on Pinterest – but nowhere near the “weddings/events” category.  My point – event design is an art – so why not follow the lead of visual artists? Cast your net beyond Mindy Weiss and Martha Stewart.  Think outside the Tiffany & Co. box, people!

Lace covered tree

Some artistic folks/blogs to keep an eye on.

Grace Bonney of Design Sponge


Merche Grossomodo – Architect/textile designer/tastemaker in Madrid

Jessica Colaluca – amazing eye for color in the world – and pulling palettes to match.

 

Live well, love well, and BE CREATIVE!

-Dinah

PS – need a Pinterest invitation? Leave your email and/or Facebook info below and we’ll send one along.

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