The Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC) Heartland Regional Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri! And let me tell you, I’m glad I didn’t miss out! It was a very informative day with lots of awesome presenters including Lacy Branch Events, Engaging Events by Ali, Always a Bridesmaid and Splendid Communications.

LACY BRANCH EVENTS. St. Louis planner, Lacy Branch, kicked off the meeting with a piece on finding your niche and discovering who your bride truly is a.k.a. your “flavor!” Not all event planners are the same and not everyone has the same bride, so it’s important to find out who your “flavor” is and focusing on attracting that type of bride…something I will certainly be keeping in mind for the future!

ENGAGING EVENTS BY ALI. Next up was our first keynote speaker, Ali Phillips from Engaging Event by Ali out of Chicago, Illinois. Ali led us through some of the newest and best design trends in the wedding industry including ceremony and design trends. Plus, she shared lots of great photos from several of her more than impressive events – did I mention she’s done over 250?!?

ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID. After an amazing lunch, our next keynote speaker was Xochitl Gonzalez from Always a Bridesmaid in New York City. Xochitl walked us through one of the most important aspects of having a wedding planning business, Public Relationships…not just Public Relations. It’s all about building relationships while getting your name out there and promoting what you do best!

SPLENDID COMMUNICATIONS. The meeting wrapped up with an educational presentation from Liene Stevens from Splendid Communications in Phoenix, Arizona. Liene gave us the 101 on social media with a focus on integrating blogs, Twitter and other social media into your business marketing plan. We learned about the six blog myths plus great tips on building your brand!

All in all it was a great event and a terrific learning experience for me, not to mention I got an opportunity to meet some of my event industry peers from all over the midwest! My  hat goes off to Lacy Branch and Lisa Zweifel of St. Louis for putting it all together! I’m just sad I missed the welcome reception which included, from what I hear, an amazing signature margarita!

Now I leave you with my favorite quote of the day, from Shay Freeman (an ABC Master) out of Little Rock, Arkansas – “I would rather apologize for price than quality.” Words to live by the in wedding business!

P.S. In the end, I decided to join the Association of Bridal Consultants too! Good move I think!

This was posted on facebook by John Goolsby Videographer

Frank Andonoplas from http://www.frankeventdesign.com in Chicago is in town to speak at tomorrow’s ABC meeting at http://www.MissionInnWeddings.com We took a tour and had lunch at the Pelican Hill Resort http://www.godfatherfilms.com/videos/pelican-hill-resort-spa-and-golf-course I saw Frank speak at the national ABC c…onvention and thought he was great. He is just the same on and off stage. We expect a record turn out tomorrow. 

March 23      6:00-9:00 PM.

                       Dinner Meeting

                      Master Bridal Consultant Frank Andonoplas was the keynote speaker

                      and highlight at last year’s ABC International Convention, receiving a standing

                       ovation for his outstanding, inspirational and humorous presentations. Owner of

                      Frank Event Design in Chicago, he has been featured in numerous books

                      and periodicals including Brides, Modern Bride and all five editions of The

                      Complete Idiot’s Guide to a a Perfect Wedding and was named as one of the

                      Top Ten Wedding Consultants in the Country by Association of Bridal Consultants

                      Frank is flying in from Chicago just for this program.

                      Venue: Mission Inn (Room TBD)

Please join us at our Wish Upon a Wedding Chicago Chapter Launch Party on Wednesday, March 24th, at 6pm at Ravenswood Event Center. Chicago is fortunate to have some of the best wedding professionals in the country and some of the most giving people. We hope you will joins us on March 24^th to learn how wonderful this cause is and how you can get involved. Please RSVP for this wonderful event at this link. 

Wish Upon a Wedding is America’s ORIGINAL wedding wish granting organization that grants weddings & civil union ceremonies at destinations across the United States to couples facing life-threatening medical conditions, celebrating the courage & spirit of these couples.

To learn how you can volunteer, become a wish granter or to make donations, please visit our national website. A special thank-you to our current sponsors for their generosity in helping us host our launch: Chicago Social Brides Ravenswood Event Center Blue Plate Catering D’Absolute Catering Food Evolution Hearty Boys Catering Jordan’s Food of Distinction Classic Party Rental Take the Cake DJ Harsh Art of Imagination Deja Views BBJ Linens Erickson Design ShutterBooth Chicago Dragon Bleu Vodka If you have specific questions about how to get involved or how to become a Wish Granter, please contact the Chapter President, Ali Phillips 773-777-2299 For questions about our Launch Party or sponsoring this event or future events, please contact the Chapter Event Planning Chair, Melissa Phillips 312-576-7910

My colleague, Frank Andonoplas, of Frank Event Design, Chicago was challenged to create his gallery from an everyday material, and use it as inspiration for his design. The element assigned to him was metal, and from there his vision took flight. Working in tones of silver, from deep gunmetal to icy mercury, Frank designed a table that was characterized as ‘boho chic’.  He used an eclectic mix of silver vases, some curvy with high shine, others more linear, with a matte finish.  Silver charger plates held charcoal satin napkins, on top of which, were menu cards, printed on thin sheets of metal. The flatware consisted of a mix of hammered silver and matte copper pieces, while gorgeous, silvery blue linens graced the table and served as backdrop for the tablescape.   Bejeweled, silvery blue votive cups added candlelight on the table, while whimsical, wired candlebra’s brought additional ambiance.  Glassware  consisted of a mix of clear and colored glass, that was spread across the table in no particular order.  More color was expressed through the floral pieces, that utilized dusty miller and silvery blue hydrangea against which jewel toned tulips, orchids, roses and delphinium were placed for maxium visual ‘pops’ of color.

The tables were configured in a large X design, which I feel could be used for any number of gatherings, a small wedding reception, rehearsal dinner, bridesmaid luncheon or dinner party, just to name a few.  Frank used silver Chameleon Chairs with a medium grey suede seat cushion to complete his design.  I enjoyed working with Frank on his design and loved being in such a creative and collaborative environment! Enjoy!!

FRANK you are so inspiring to all of us in Chicago and ABC.

Please join us at our Wish Upon a Wedding Chicago Chapter Launch Party on Wednesday, March 24th, at 6pm at Ravenswood Event Center. Chicago is fortunate to have some of the best wedding professionals in the country and some of the most giving people. We hope you will joins us on March 24^th to learn how wonderful this cause is and how you can get involved. Please RSVP for this wonderful event at this link. 

Wish Upon a Wedding is America’s ORIGINAL wedding wish granting organization that grants weddings & civil union ceremonies at destinations across the United States to couples facing life-threatening medical conditions, celebrating the courage & spirit of these couples.

To learn how you can volunteer, become a wish granter or to make donations, please visit our national website. A special thank-you to our current sponsors for their generosity in helping us host our launch: Chicago Social Brides Ravenswood Event Center Blue Plate Catering D’Absolute Catering Food Evolution Hearty Boys Catering Jordan’s Food of Distinction Classic Party Rental Take the Cake DJ Harsh Art of Imagination Deja Views BBJ Linens Erickson Design ShutterBooth Chicago Dragon Bleu Vodka If you have specific questions about how to get involved or how to become a Wish Granter, please contact the Chapter President, Ali Phillips 773-777-2299 For questions about our Launch Party or sponsoring this event or future events, please contact the Chapter Event Planning Chair, Melissa Phillips 312-576-7910

The proposal is one of the biggest days of your life and you never saw it coming. All you ask for is your guy to make you feel like you’ve never felt before. To give you that wow factor. That feeling that’s so jarring, it almost makes your heart hurt, but in the non-heart attack hurts-oh-so-good kind of way.

And one that makes your friends more jealous of you than they’ve been in their lives.

Is that too much to ask?

No, it’s not. We guys know your engagement is a magical moment that you’ll remember and brag about forever. Trust us, we want to deliver that awe-inspiring, knees shaking, oh my god! tear-filled moment.

But sometimes, we just don’t know how.

When the pressure is on and we don’t want our Groomzilla to show through until the time is right, what’s a guy supposed to do? Call in the professional proposal planner. An emerging trend in event planning services is wedding engagement planning, where the groom-to-be hires an event coordinator to focus on all the little stuff to make the most out of this big moment.

I know what some of you zillas are thinking. Does your engagement magical moment pack the same punch if your man hired outside help?

Melissa Phillips of Simply Perfect by Melissa says, “You bet it does!” Melissa is a seasoned wedding planner who started her Simply Proposal service in 2009, and says that with every couple she’s worked with, the bride-to-be is more than excited that her man put in the time and effort to create such a truly special moment.

DIY Public Relations for Small Businesses…Guest Post on Its Better Together Blog juliannesmith | March 4, 2010 at 8:30 am | Tags: business, diy, my life | Categories: diy, my life, the business | URL: http://wp.me/pwEFg-Be

My life is one big do it yourself project. Be it raising my family or designing my wedding garters or cooking dinner, I’m always looking for ways to do things myself. I never usually hire someone to help me until I’ve messed it up myself first. I guess it is something about getting my hands dirty and the love of a challenge that makes me a gultton for DIY punishment.

I’ve mentioned before that my background is in public relations, before stylish wedding garters and babies. Recently, I spoke at the Chicago chapter of ISES on how to do your own public relations. At the event, I had the pleasure of seeing the talented Trisha again and she invited me to do a guest post on the Its Better Together blog. I really like this blog because it is from a group of Florida businesses who get together and support each other, because after all, it really is better together!

Here are some tips for how to do your own PR…

DIY PR For Your Small Business
By: Julianne Smith, owner of The Garter Girl by Julianne Smith www.thegartergirl.com

When you run a small business, it seems that everything is a do-it-yourself effort. You are the accountant, the salesperson, the shipping department, the marketing executive, and oh yeah, you are the one actually doing your craft! I get it. I’m in this boat right now with my stylish wedding garter company. I’m trying to keep costs low and test the waters with different strategies to build my business.

The thing that tends to boggle the minds of small businesses and thus the first thing to get pushed aside in the race to get it all done is PR. That is: public relations. How do you do what you do on a daily basis and still have time for letting more people know that your company exists?

Here are some tips for getting your PR machine started. A how-to guide for DIY PR, if you will. ‘Cause let’s be honest, affording a publicist is probably out of the question. Keep in mind, this list isn’t all of puzzle the pieces, just some things to think about before you jump in…

What do you want?
Before you do anything, put some effort into defining what it is that you want. Saying that you want more clients or that you want to be in a magazine isn’t enough. Be more specific. And, be honest. What end goal will being in that magazine bring you? Do you want to be known as an expert in your field? Do you want credibility in the industry? Defining what you want will help you to be productive. Working on PR is another thing to add to your to-do list. So, if you aren’t calculated with your moves, it will be a lot of wasted effort. PR does take time. And, it takes time away from working on your craft.

What will get you there?
What specific things or PR “hits” will get you to your goal? If you are a photographer, is it having your photos published? If so, which publication? Do you want your products featured on a TV show? Do you want to be on the best-of list in your area? Spend some time looking through magazines, blogs and other media outlets and start thinking about where you and your product would fit in. Define what your dream PR achievement would be. Once you know what you want and what it will take to get there, you can go after it more efficiently.

Organize Yourself
Every small business should have a few short sentences, buzz phrases and answers to questions about their company. You should have a sample “pitch” drafted up. So, when the time comes to make your move, you are all set. You should be using your phrases in everything that you do, including Facebook, your website and when you talk to clients. If you have products, gather the 10 best pictures of your work and get them ready to be E-mailed. This way, when an editor asks you for examples if you work, you can quickly respond.

Be Realistic
In my opinion, small business (especially in the wedding industry) really only need about two to three major media hits per year to be relevant. If you keep your goals realistic and know that you have 12 whole months to make two or three things happen, it is less overwhelming.

Practice
Start out small and get yourself some practice. Does a friend in the industry have a blog they could interview you on? You need to know what it takes to engage in PR and how much time it will take. Also, this will help you to gather your thoughts, answers and buzz phrases. Practice can only help. Besides, with the power of Internet search engines, no press hit is too small.

Members are welcome to invite your favorite non-member vendor to register to display their services or just come to network.  The ABC member with the most invited guests to attend and join ABC will receive a special gift certificate.  Please do not invite brides or prospective clients.

Costs for the meeting are:
Before February 16th: 
Members = $25   Non-Members = $35

Checks received after February 16th are subject to a $15 late fee.

Make checks payable to:  ABC-IL
and send them to me at:
10858 E. Sentiero Avenue
Mesa, AZ 85212
THIS MEETING ONLY

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