Monday, March 29, 2010

Newbie "Wedding Planners"

I recently read an article in Special Events Magazine and felt it was worthy to share on our blog. Our consultants are constantly learning of the "newbies" in our market. Any one with the finances to participate in a wedding show, purchase advertising or build a website are calling themselves a "professional planner." Many boast of years of experience, yet the seasoned professionals have never heard of them.

We encourage our clients to check vendor and client references on the wedding vendors you are considering hiring, search the Internet but dig for the true facts. Find out if the planner you are considering hiring is in fact a professional or assisted one of her sorority sisters with their wedding or just planned their own wedding, enjoyed it then decide to become a "wedding planner".  Both of these things are honorable, but do not make for a professional planner.

Interview your planner.  Some questions to ask:

How many weddings have you done?
How extensive is your vendor base?  How do you develop your vendor base?
Is this a full-time career or something you do on the side?
Tell me about your first wedding?
Tell me about your most challenging wedding?
Tell me about the weddings represented on your website/Facebook/ blog?

Additionally, if you are comparing several planners and one is providing you with a proposal that is much lower than the others, this is a red flag. Not only do you want a qualified professional to execute your plans, but you want some one that demonstrates knowledge of his or her industry.

Enjoy the insert from the article...let us know what you think!!

Newbie "Wedding Planners" Plague the Professionals
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.

To read more please visit this link:  http://specialevents.com/weddings/newbie-wedding-planners-plague-the-professionals/index.html

Join TCWE and ISES for exclusive Sasha Souza luncheon

Raleigh, N.C. – The Triangle Consultants for Weddings and Events (TCWE) together with the Greater Triangle North Carolina Chapter of ISES (International Special Events Society) will convene for an exclusive book signing, intimate lunch and conversation with national wedding designer Sasha Souza at 11:30 a.m. April 27 at 18 Seaboard of Raleigh.

Seating for the event is limited and open to the first 18 respondents. Attendees, including top Triangle event planners, will be able to engage in an intimate, roundtable discussion with Souza as well as take home a copy of Souza’s “Magnificent Wedding Designs” book.

Contact Shawn Schindler, TCWE president, via shawn@makingyourdayspecial.com for more information on the luncheon.

Souza is one of only a handful of wedding designers who have been named a Master Bridal Consultant, the highest designation given by the Association of Bridal Consultants. Souza is the recipient of numerous awards including the Special Events Magazine Gala Award winner for “Best Dining Tabletop Design”, Event Solutions Magazine “Designer of the Year” and three ISES Westie Awards.

Later that evening, Souza will speak at the ISES meeting, making her available to those who could not attend the exclusive luncheon. For further information or to register for the ISES meeting, please visit www.regonline.com/isesgtemergingtrends

About TCWE
TCWE was introduced to the Triangle area in 2005, by a group of wedding consultants and event planners. They shared a vision to provide the social and corporate communities with an Association of special event professionals, trained and disciplined, to safeguard the hospitality industry’s high standard of excellence. TCWE members are required to have a minimum of three years wedding and event planning experience. Members must provide references from a facility/site, vendor/purveyor and client, each from a separate event that was planned and coordinated. For more information on TCWE please contact TCWE president Shawn Schindler of Your Special Day Weddings and Special Events, shawn@makingyourdayspecial.com.

Image Source: www.sashasouzaevents.com

Monday, March 8, 2010

Meet Allyson and Archie

I initially met with Allyson and Archie back in August 2009.

Allyson had booked several meetings with wedding planners to narrow the list down to one; however, after our meeting, Allyson jokingly - but seriously said, "Do I really have to meet with other planners?"

The connection was instaneous, allowing us to accomplish so much in the amount of time we had before Allyson joined Archie in January where he is currently a dentist in the Air Force stationed in England.

Because of our connection and our ability to see eye-to-eye, almost all details of the planning process for Allyson and Archie's October 2nd wedding at Barclay Villa are complete!

Warren McCormack's engagment session photographs, shot in Wilmington, truly captured Allyson and Archie's essence.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Your Special Day Weddings and Special Events, and the Greater Triangle ISES Chapter is "going green"

The "Popcork" Experience Gone 'Green'

Exploring 'Green' Food and Wine Pairing

"Going Green" is not a trend - it is a lifestyle.

Industry veteran and noted food and wine educator, Sharon Charny, will bring her unique food and wine pairing experience in this highly entertaining and interactive seminar.

Using a neutral flavored medium - popcorn - Charny will lead attendees through a tasting of four different wines, featuring specific grape varietals, along with different flavors of popcorn - lemon, salt, sugar and spice. As each wine is tasted with each flavor, participants will discuss what the flavor represents in a menu or recipe, while discovering which flavors enhance the wines (or not)!

This seminar will open up the palate to ways that certain food flavors can change the way the wine and food taste together - all with an eye toward meeting increasing consumer demand for organic options. Also learn and discuss common misperceptions about "organic" or "green" wines and what actually constitutes a "certified organic wine."

We invite you to join us at one of Raleigh's newest venues "7" on March 16, 2010 at 5:30pm.

For information visit http://www.ises-gt.org/