When you have that much fun, the show has to be fantastic – and it was!! Gail and Jaime with the Perfect Wedding Guide do a great job every year with all of their bridal shows. Check out the pictures at the link above!

We met so many great brides (and grooms!!) and their families. People once again loved our “stress relievers”… I can’t believe how many people really wondered what was in those little bottles! (If you weren’t there, it was just M&M’s!)

So I managed to take pictures of our booth, but compeletely forgot the Inspiration Gallery tables. I’m hoping the fabulous Jerry Dillard of Jerry Dillard Photography managed to take some pictures of our tables. They’ll be coming soon.

So many great comments about our color scheme – not one we use often, but the pink/green shimmery fabric was just beautiful and I couldn’t resist building our display around it. People LOVED the LED lights, too. I keep trying to tell other folks that they are beautiful. Thank you all for proving me right!!

We had a lucky winner of the Colin Cowie book and Cherished Celebrations tote bag.

Congratulations to Erin Hill!

And also a big congratulations to Latesha who won our doorprize at the show. My friend, the fantastic Dr. Heather Sefried, the owner of Nirvelli Day Spa gave us a 1 hour Hot Stone Massage. Latesha was very excited when I gave her the gift certificate. Her friend told her it was from the booth with the “stress relievers”…

Let me know what you think of the booth!

Happy wedding planning!

Catherine

And as I was thinking, I was browsing the internet. I just happened upon this great site by Dessy and Pantone. Amazing stuff! So, instead of putting together a board like I usually do, I decided to try this. It’s a teaser about my booth for the show, too.

Tell me what you think! Next up is the inspiration for the Budget Showcase at the show. Yep, 3 reception tables decorated by Cherished Celebrations, too! I can’t wait!

Catherine

As always, planning that once-in-a-lifetime celebration in this new decade is all about attention to detail, with couples showing their individuality and signature-style. Through the years, while some things about weddings change, others remain exactly the same. While the past is fondly remembered, this year, the present is important too! Save the date cards, self-written vows, mismatched bridesmaid dresses and eco-friendly touches are all new additions to this upcoming wedding season. With the length of engagements today, as people save up for their wedding, save the date cards are imperative! Use this to set the tone of your wedding and have fun with it! I’ve always said (since the 90′s – so for over 15 years -YIPES!) that bridesmaid dresses should be picked for the person. I also think that the groomsmen should wear their own shoes, too.

Veils, cakes, the first dance, champagne, lace, tulle (Urgh. White tulle. Only on a dress, please!!), something old, new, borrowed, blue, and wedding photographs have all remained constant, in an ever-evolving wedding day. New social media such as Facebook and Twitter and the online personalized bridal widgets and web casting of the ceremony in real time, highlight all the couple’s news and the wedding day festivities. Talking about Facebook and Twitter – do you actually look for vendors there? Or is it a way to keep in touch with your friends about your wedding? I believe it is the second. I use both as a way to keep in touch with vendors and former brides and grooms. I don’t think it is a business solicitation forum.

This season’s focus is on retro chic and the Hollywood days of glamour. The traditional black tuxedo is back for the gents (see – it’s just black shoes for the guys… let them wear their own!!) and for the bride, it’s all about accessories; gloves and pearls. I also think that, especially in the south, the bling is still king. Crystals and diamonds are still huge accessories here. The bird cage veil and the emergence of bridal hats and the bouffant or French twist hair styles make for an elegant look. Flowers, feathers, and hair broaches are all immensely popular. The inspiration comes from the sophistication of the 50’s and 60’s. Strapless wedding gowns are as dominant as they have been in the past, and, they will quite likely continue to be in the future, but expect to see sashes of black and high waistlines. Be careful with this trend, though as a slash of color across the body isn’t for everyone!! Gold is back for engagement and wedding bands after an absence of a few years, where silver was prominent as the metal of choice.

The vintage glamour look, which emerged last season, continues this year, and is gaining strength. There’s a breath-taking ambience to today’s weddings. The “something new”, could be hair extensions, while “something blue” can be the sky over a Jamaican destination wedding. Honeymoons are all-inclusive and brides and grooms are gravitating to luxury resorts with their amazing meal packages and opportunities for many different adventures. And this hasn’t changed in a while and I don’t think it will anytime soon!

Invitations range from fun to fancy formal, and some even have illustrations of the bride and groom illustrated in pencil sketched artwork. Look for vibrant colours that match the wedding’s theme such as turquoise/raspberry combinations as well as the traditional and elegant colour scheme of black and white. Invitations are one of my favorite things! Peacock, marigold, purple, traditional navy, the ever present green (in a slightly different shade this year!!), and silver are also very popular. Highly personal and widely seen, the invitation is very important for your day!

Brides and grooms are revamping their first dance with a routine that is a medley of songs, replacing the traditional first dance of the reception, which in 2010, is just called the “party”. I like the “party” aspect, but I sure hope the south misses the whole choreographed production number as the first dance. I love the tender, romantic, and beautiful couple dance. It’s one of the few spots in a wedding that make me want to cry! On the other hand, if it’s a “routine” with all sorts of stuff, I won’t have to worry about waterproof mascara!

Weddings are elegant with a lot of character. For comfort you’ll find wedding venues with comfy couches and living room settings, set up for the ceremony and reception; adding increased comfort and coziness for the guests. Sit down dinners are still in style, but look for cocktail receptions with a supper club feel- cocktails- think, martinis, Manhattans, old fashioned cocktails and big band sounds. I have seen a trend in the south to bands for the reception music again. The bridal lounges have made it here, too. We’ll probably hold on to them for a couple of more years as well.

Wedding cakes continue to be tiered, but the trend is to more white cakes with butter cream or fondant icing, topped with an heirloom antique cake topper of a bride and groom. Monograms are still big here. I don’t see the bride and groom toppers coming back in North Carolina yet. Colourful macaroons are replacing cupcakes. MMM. Macaroons. Dance floors are adorned with custom vinyl monograms of the bride and groom’s initials. I certainly wouldn’t go vinyl. Have a beautiful gobo designed and light it. Which leads right into… and look for special lighting, which amps up the décor of the reception site, adding warmth and atmosphere. Here’s where I get to say to that other article – HA! It’s LED lighting….

On this special day, couples want their signature style shining through. The possibilities are endless! From sheer whimsy to the outrageously breath-taking, today’s couples are style-makers and it shows! There has never been a better time to marry! So we can help you make your event Always unique. Never ordinary.™

Catherine

I must give credit where credit is due. I found the original article via Wedding Business Today, from The Wedding Guide Windsor/Essex County. I have modified and added to the original article with the trends and tips that work for North Carolina brides!

When you hire a wedding professional, we have an obligation to you – that’s a given. But we also have an obligation to the other professionals you have hired for your special day. Just as you wouldn’t go to a surgeon without checking him or her out, you should check your wedding professionals out as well.

Now, I’m not saying that people who are new to the business are all not to be used – everyone is new at some time or another – but even those who are new to the business should be a part of some professional organization and actively seeking education about the wedding industry. The Craigslist planners may be wonderful, but they are usually undercutting pricing from educated professionals and actually damaging the opinion and profession by what they sometimes do.

Please ask when and why they decided to get into the business? As a planner, if they say they planned their wedding and knew it was for them, ask how much research into the area did they do? How many networking events do they attend? How many training and educational classes have they taken?

The answers may surprise you. Just remember that price is not the only factor in making your wedding day special!

Catherine

From Special Events Eventline - full text below

Newbie “Wedding Planners” Plague the Professionals
Mar 24, 2010 2:11 PM, By Lisa Hurley

Along with price-shopping brides who haggle over every penny in the wedding budget, veteran wedding professionals face another headache these days: the newbie wedding planner. Often armed with little experience—other than their own wedding—the newbies drive down fees and taint the value of experienced wedding pros, many in the business say.

Newbies are not a recent phenomenon, explains Joyce Scardina Becker, president of San Francisco-based Events of Distinction and founding president of the Wedding Industry Professionals Association. “However, they do come in waves,” she says, “and right now it feels like a tidal wave!”

The San Francisco Bay area sees “at least one newbie a week,” says Jenne Hohn, founder of Napa, Calif.-based Jenne Hohn Events. Although the recession has pushed the newly jobless to try to break into weddings (“I’ve heard of corporate planners who said they would never touch weddings now seeking advice on how to plan them,” Hohn says), she thinks the problem started while the economy was still healthy. Many planners and vendors “saw that the wedding planners were doing well and decided to add planning to their repertoire a way to get a piece of the pie.”

DAY-OF DILEMMA
One of the most galling trends, Scardina Becker says, is the low-cost, “day of” wedding coordination service many newbies offer.

“I’m not sure how the term ‘day of’ coordination originated, but it is a term that needs to be eradicated from the vocabulary of the wedding industry,” she says. “No wedding planner of sound mind, experience and education would simply show up on the day of a wedding, wave their arms in the air like a symphony conductor and expect everything to flow flawlessly.” Instead, she says, a professional wedding planner would spend from 30 to 45 hours a month out from the wedding date, making sure all plans are in place.

Note: Hohn shares her thoughts in “The Myth of ‘Day Of’ Wedding Planning”; click here to read more.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUE
The problem stretches across the Atlantic to England, notes London-based wedding planner Siobhan Craven-Robins, a 15-year veteran professional.

Until 1995, weddings in England and Wales had to take place in a church or register office. But when the law changed, a wide range of venue options became available to brides, and wedding planning blossomed. Craven-Robins notes, “In the U.K., wedding planning is still a growing industry, and a difficult one to get into if you are not setting up your own business. Consequently there are always new planners setting up.” She adds, “Most don’t survive long as they have a somewhat rosy view of what the job really entails! I get on average four CVs [resumés] a day from people wanting to be wedding planners.”

Although her strong brand has protected her business thus far, Craven-Robins sees the same problems with newbies in the business. “A number of planners have complained about the novices starting up and seriously undercutting on price,” she says. “In the long run, it does no one any favors. They will be unable to sustain a business on such small fees, it devalues the brand, and makes the industry unnecessarily cutthroat.”

REPUTATION AT RISK
Along with driving down fees, some newbies are compromising the reputation of wedding planning by their ignorance or—or disdain for—professionalism, some veteran planners say.

Colette Lopez, head of Santa Barbara, Calif.-based La Fête, said she was “floored” a few years ago when her client posted photos of the wedding Lopez created on the Web site of the new “planner,” claiming they were her work. “I see a lot of blogs that are showing just table designs and set-up shots instead of actual events,” Lopez adds.

Tara Wilson, founder of Tara Wilson Events in Fort Worth, Texas, has been pestered in recent months by callers pretending to be prospective brides. She knows why they ask detailed questions about her pricing and services: “It’s very frustrating to have newbies calling and pretending to be brides to pick my brain,” she says. “I would much prefer a start-up planner ask to take me to lunch and discuss her questions rather than try to sneak answers past me. I would be happy to share my insights about this challenging and unique business with the right person, but honesty is the best way to go about it.”

Besides knowing little about the wedding business, many newbies know little about business period. For a presentation at The Special Event 2008, Scardina Becker polled wedding planners and learned that 45 percent did not carry business insurance, and 13 percent had no license. “This was a motivating factor for me to help start the Wedding Industry Professionals Association,” she says; WIPA members are required to have a business license and insurance.

WEDDING-DAY WOES
Yet the shortcomings of the newbie planner show up in time. “I hear all the time from my vendors all over,” Lopez says, “that the florist, photographer, band emcee or head captain ends up taking over the event to keep it on track with planners that are not experienced.”

Janice P. Blackmon, with more than 25 years in wedding planning, was called on recently to bail out a newbie herself. The head of Janice Blackmon Events in Atlanta—a market “saturated” with wedding planners, she says—tells the story of a newbie planner so ill-equipped to handle a wedding “that on several occasions she even asked the client what they should be working on next,” Blackmon says. The worried bride checked with her venue for a recommendation on a planner, and Blackmon’s name came up. “I was able to come in with two weeks until the wedding, pull everything together, and create and produce the flawless wedding that the bride had been dreaming of,” she says.

Blackmon hopes for the day to return when clients “understand that to have the event they desire, it takes quality vendors and professionals to work together to achieve that goal.” But with the bumper crop of inept newbies, “I fear we will continue down the road as we are today,” she says, “with having to spend extra time explaining why we charge what we charge for our services and why we can’t just give away our time and expertise.”

Hohn, however, is more optimistic. “Ethical planners have held a constant fee structure as a way to maintain the integrity of the industry,” she says. “These planners have found ways to reword their assistance structure and more clearly define what it is that they do. Not only that, they are educating brides along the way. This type of education is what will save the industry from the ‘attack of the newbies.’”

I met so many nice people and learned so much that it’s going to take some time to share everything (and that’s a good thing!!!).

The highlights for me – and they are BIG ONES!! – I won!!! What, you ask? Two things. First, I am now the Association of Bridal Consultants’ Rising Star for 2009! I did win the yearly award and I was very, very excited to have my good friend and mentor Char Hein present me with the award. I don’t have a picture. Yet. I’m questing.

Then, the same day, my name was drawn to have VIP seating at the Woodland Garden Luncheon. With Sylvia Weinstock!!! And, yes, I have pictures of that!

See!?! She also tweeted while at lunch – she was showing me her Blackberry Apps!?! – and the geek that I am, I took a picture of her while she was tweeting. Then, I came home, screen captured her tweet, and voila!

I didn’t have the guts to ask her to say with @CatherineKatz in her tweet. Boy, I should have!

The very nice lady on the other side of Sylvia is Janice Jackson from Elegant Events by Jan. She was just as thrilled to be seated next to Sylvia as I was. Sylvia is very knowledgeable about the wedding business overall and gave us some very good advice about building our businesses. We were so very fortunate to speak at length with her!

I can’t wait for you to see this beautiful new facility!

A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC), naming me the Cele Lalli Rising Star Award winner for the second quarter of 2009.

The award honors the memory of the retired editor in chief of Modern Bride Magazine. Lalli, a long-time ABC supporter, died in 2002 in a tragic car accident, a few years after her retirement. She had been editor of the magazine for 32 years. She was a great friend to ABC and a strong proponent of education and professionalism in the industry.

As a quarterly winner, I am now eligible for the annual Rising Star which will be presented at the Business of Brides, ABC’s Annual Conference, in November.

I am very proud to be a part of ABC and even more so to be recognized for industry excellence!

So, now, Cherished Celebrations is an award winning company!

I can’t stop smiling since this morning when I showed one of my brides a sample I found this weekend. She was so happy because it was just right for her.

That is absolutely one of the biggest reasons I plan events. I love to make people happy! When you look for a wedding planner, ask them why they decided to do what they do? A lot of people say they love weddings – which is true – but what is underneath that statement. Do they like to organize? Do they like to coordinate? Or do they like making people happy?

There is a big difference. I hope your wedding planner likes to make people happy!