An Event To Remember's Blog

Wedding Merchant's Business Academy

I just returned from Phoenix where I attended the Wedding Merchant's Business Academy.  Phoenix had been a city on my places to visit list for so long.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and attend the Conference there.  I thought the city was very beautiful however, it was quite hot there.  I think the temperature was around 105 the whole week I was there.  One of my hobbies is collecting shot glasses.  I was able to add an Arizona glass to my collection.  My goal is to visit and have a glass from every state.

The WMBA was an excellent conference.  I was very impressed with the speakers and their topics.  Some of the topics discussed were blogging, websites, marketing, bridal shows, the 21st century bride, etc.  I brought home a lot of valuable information from each session.  Now I have to find the time to review my notes and apply what I learned.  I think it is so important for anyone who considers themself to be a professional in this industry to attend educational conferences.  One thing I learned early on in this industry is that you have to constantly reinvent yourself and your business; if you don't you will be left behind.  Alan Berg, VP of the Knot was one of the speakers.  I always take valuable pearls away from his presentations whether they be in person or online during his webex seminars.

 
Calandra and Alan Berg, VP the Knot

I believe there were about 700 vendors in attendance at this conference and I gained so much information from networking.  On Wednesday evening we had a banquet and party.  The party was quite fun.  Peter Merry, former ADJA president provided the entertainment for the evening.  Peter conducted two sessions during the conference and I was quite impressed with his speaking skills and he also did an excellent job keeping the guest entertained with music. 

My favorite part of the evening was the photobooth.  My table was very close to the booth so I got to take my picture before a line formed.  I had not been in a photobooth since I was a little girl at the mall.  I had such fun behind the curtain trying to come up with creative faces for my pictures.  Ladies if you are trying to come up with a unique form of entertainment for your receptions I strongly recommend the photobooth.  Guests of all ages enjoy taking silly pictures of themselves.  I have checked to see if there are companies in the Northern AL area who provide photobooths and there are.  As far as cost is concerned you can have a booth at your reception for around $1,000.00.  Remember the picture also serves as a favor.  Look at my pictures below.  Do I look crazy or what?

 
Calandra at WMBA conference

Calandra at Preston Bailey event

 

Last night I saw Preston Bailey in Birmingham and the event was absolutely awesome.  Preston shared with us details about some of the jobs he has done and how he gets his inspiration.  Wow, looking at his work and listening to him talk made me dream of having a gifted staff of 50 to help me design fabulous events in my wonderful venue on 10 acres.  I don't have that, yet!  However, the beauty of going to events like the one last night is that it allows us to get ideas of how we can add drama to events and perhaps create something similar to the work of Preston Bailey.  It is absolutely unbelievable what can be done with thousands of flowers, champagne glasses, or ribbons.  Preston is truly gifted!

                                                        

This winter wonderland themed wedding in December of 2006 was actually inspired by one of the weddings found in Preston Bailey's wedding book.  I think creativity is so important for every bride when planning her wedding/reception.  Clearly, most brides do not have the budget necessary to hire Preston Bailey.  However, we can use the imagination to create a beautiful scene that is absolutely awesome.  Color, lighting, ddesign creation, a couple of trips to rental and linen stores, and a few discussions with lighting technicians are very important when creating an out of the box, anti cookie cutter wedding theme.  Color, color, color!  Brides don't be afraid to use colors in creating your theme.  I am not talking about the basic colors, I am talking about bold colors, color combinations that in your mind you think would not work together; until you see them on the table with decorations and lighting and then the thought process switches to WOW!

Godbold/Athnos Wedding

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend.  We had the pleasure of directing a beautiful wedding and reception on August 30th for Carol and Tom Athnos.  I was very concerned last week with all of the recent hurricane activity that we might have rain on Saturday, but it did not rain and the day was absolutely gorgeous.  The Athnos ceremony was held at the Botanical Garden in the Arbor Courtyard.  Bishop's did a beautiful job decorating the arbor with fabric draping and ribbon (very pretty).  After the ceremony guests moved inside the Arbor room for the reception.  Guests were greeted by Tom and Carol as they moved into the Arbor, as soon as they got into the room they were served a glass of champagne punch off of a champagne display, served appetizers and invited to partake in a candy buffet during the cocktail hour.  Steve Metz of Metropolitan DJ provided music as well as up lighting in the room.  Ladies the Arbor is a gorgeous room but when you add colored up lighting it becomes an awesome room.  Huntsville, we finally have someone who will come out and set up your up lighting as well as maintain it throughout the event.  Yaaaaaaaay!  Once the bride and groom came into the reception, they did a choreographed dance that was learned in lessons (they did a very good job), enjoyed some wonderful food prepared by Terry Hodge, and danced and mingled for the rest of the night with their guests.  Carol, Tom, and their guests had an enjoyable time eating, drinking and being merry.  I will provide pictures from this event within the next few weeks.  Carol and Tom are in St. Lucia enjoying their honeymoon.  I hope they are not affected by the newly forming hurricanes but in case they are Sandals has a hurricane guarantee.