This Week I'm Loving ... Enchanting Weddings

It seems as if my inspiration for wedding design is just growing by leaps and bounds lately.

And, why not? Inspiration is not only everywhere I look in day to day life professionally, but with the various social media sources that are at our fingertips!

This week, I'm loving the use of foliage and greenery in wedding and event design. I'm currently designing a gala for this upcoming March with this very concept in mind.

I have sensed a notable shift in design priorities with my clients of late. Many want to maintain an elegant, sophisticated vibe with more "grounded" elements ...Event design ingenues such as Preston Bailey can always help us dream it to the next level!

Dare I say, Kate and Will may have had something to do with this?

Whatever the case, I'm just loving the lush and flourishing options-

How enchanting! xo

engage! 08 Part Deux...

For all of my industry friend and blog readers, if you have not already, do look into engage! 08 to broaden your horizons.

Caution: Bring a notebook, laptop, recorder--whatever it takes to enable you to retain the wealth of information you will receive from this symposium-

I attended this past June and, in an intimate setting at The Celebration Hotel, learned and networked amongst the country's finest in or industry. Of course, it didn't hurt to have friends and colleagues, Michele Butler, Susie Weiss and Jay Casiano there either. And, meeting new friends like Liene Stevens was the icing on the cake!

Rebecca and Kathryn somehow planned and executed the finest symposium I personally have ever attended. Intimate, full of information, excellent presenting guests and, hey, I'm going to be perfectly honest, the swag was stellar!

Above are some pictures I took this past June from that great day...What a specific treat it was to hear Marcy Blum be so candid and "real" and Simon T. Bailey for being so incredibly motivating.

Straight from the engage! 08 blog, allow me to "engage" your curiosity:

"Set for October 14th, 2008 at the spectacular Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes this high-impact b2b luxury wedding business symposium will include appearances by The Knot founders Carley Roney & David Liu, cake diva Sylvia Weinstock, WeddingBee founder Bee Kim, CBS The Early Show producer Jill Meister, Sean Low-President of Preston Bailey Designs and wedding PR guru Eda Kalkay and will include discussions on:
Building a global wedding brand
Diversifying your business
Targeting [and managing!] the affluent bride and groom
Insights into the mindset of millennial matrimony
Blogging and leveraging new media
'Romancing' the bridal and lifestyle media
Turning your passion into profit
Real, honest and interactive including an "Inside the Wedding Studio" style Q & A session with Carley & David on building the most powerful wedding brand in North America while balancing it all as a husband and wife team and parents of 3 young children!
A candid discussion with wedding cake diva Sylvia Weinstock, fresh off the set of hot show "Gossip Girl" will 'dish' on starting her company at age 50, going global, and the real story behind those signature glasses!
President of Preston Bailey Designs, Sean Low, the business mastermind behind one of the most successful global wedding names in the world will share specific strategies on how to take your wedding business to the next level, elevating your level of clientele - and getting paid what you are really worth {and beyond!}.
Special guest speaker, Simon T. Bailey is back by overwhelming demand. Internationally renowned author of "Release Your Brilliance" will lead an inspiring and motivating session guaranteed to examine your potential, insight, genius, innovation and ideas - just waiting to be released. Truly transformational!"

Friday's Chic Style Sheet: June 6, 2008

Don't worry..."b. happy!" {Bags, that is!}

Outside of the wealth of information I received this past Tuesday at the Engage '08 symposium hosted by Rebbecca Grinnals, one of the many, many items received in our goody bag was--well...

Our Goody Bag!

We had books by Preston Bailey and Simon T. Bailey and lots of other loot placed in these highly styled, uber-chic bags by b. happybags.

Our bags coordinated the styling of the entire symposium and was even tagged with an initial embroidered luggage tag. {Yes! With each individuals first initial: nice touch!}

I think the bags are fabulous in their own right and figured it would be a natural fit to recommend to my clients for hospitality bags for out of town guests or for bridesmaids' gifts.

I was even happier to learn that as they describe it: "necessity is the mother of invention," and they designed these bags are meant to be reused in lieu of the countless paper and plastic bags we discard and never recycle.

In their words:

"Our goal in producing these bags is to appeal to the people that think you have to don your Birkenstocks to make a wise post consumer decision. Not only does it save a tree or a barrel of oil — it makes your shopping trip a hell of a lot easier. And — it’s much more fun to carry home your cantaloupes in a zebra print bag. We sincerely hope that our bags will help to eliminate the destructive overuse of disposable bags."