Over the past couple months, everyone at The Wedding Planning Institute has been dedicated to upgrading our online curriculum and migrating to our new elearning server. For the most part, the work is done and the transition was a success. We want to thank all of our students, instructors, graduates, and vendors for their understanding and participation during this process.

To introduce our new format and allow prospective students to gauge whether becoming a Certified Wedding Planner is the right career choice, we have developed an online tour of our wedding planning certification course. To take the tour, simply click the image below or visit:

http://www.weddingplanninginstitute.com/tour.html

Please continue to give us feedback on how we are doing here in the blog comments, through our websites, or by email at admissions@weddingplanninginstitute.com.

Over the next couple months, we will continue to upgrade our websites and roll out new wedding planning continuing education courses and a new online community for our students, graduates, instructors, and partners.

So please take a few moments and take a tour of the new wedding planning certification course!

As we announced several weeks ago, The Wedding Planning Institute’s online certification curriculum has been updated and moved to our new elearning server. Click on the graphic for more information on the transition and for a sample of the new course format.

Click the graphic for more information.

 You will need a Flash player to view the Announcement and other course content.

We have recently learned that due to their own economic realities, Distance Learning, Inc., the owner and operator of Scribe Studio, will be closing their site on May 1, 2009. This will not affect Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute, our Certified Wedding Planner students, or our other partners except to expedite a change that was already in the works prior to this announcement.

We have utilized the Scribe Studio online classroom environment for our students’ distance learning needs for the past several years, but due to the expansion of our own business, have been in negotiations with a replacement service that will better serve the needs of our students, graduates, and other partners.

Scribe Studio

The new online classroom provider will allow our students, graduates, and instructors to communicate, share, and participate in each others’ successful wedding planning businesses as well as have continued access to curriculum resources and continuing education courses.

As the transition date approaches, we will continue to communicate the process and details to you through email, newsletters, our blog, and our websites. Our goal is to make the transition seamless and simple for our students and other partners.

Brides.com Top 75 Wedding Planning Web Sites

Brides.com, Condé Nast’s premier bridal destination, last week released its list of the top 75 web sites for wedding planning. Here are some of our favorites for the Certified Wedding Planner or those learning how to become a wedding planner in today’s tough economy.

Cost of Wedding, operated by The Wedding Report, not only shows couples the average wedding budgets per zip code, but also includes a wedding cost estimator that pinpoints the costs of each wedding budget item. Learn the marital legalities of your state with US Marriage Laws, which provides wedding license regulations from Alabama to Wyoming.

If you are in the market for unique wedding invitations at a very low cost, try Formal Invitations. In addition to affordability, they also offer recycled papers and customizable designs. Wedding Mapper provides mapping software to help you create wedding directions your guests will love as much as your invitations.

Use the free website application at eWedding or Wedding Book to communicate your wedding plans and ideas to family and friends. To capture the memories while preserving the budget, You Shoot will rent you digital cameras and then host your wedding photos online for sharing.

Color Hunter allows you to plan a color scheme by uploading an image and generating a complimentary color palette. To learn whether you have what it takes to design your own wedding florals, take the DIY quiz at Flower Bud.

Top Table Planner gives you drag and drop online seating planning software to arrange your tables, chairs, and guests until you find the perfect fit for your reception space. To find decorations and favors that will impress without breaking the budget, try Save on Crafts which everything from centerpieces and aisle runners to organza bags and vases.

The dress guide at The Dessy Group will keep bridesmaids in line and in fashion. The tuxedo boot camp at Groom Groove strives to do the same for the men in the wedding party. Nexxus and Smashbox both offer the do-it-yourself bride tutorial videos on hair and makeup techniques. Emitations offers an answer to recessionary accessorizing with faux jewelry that mimics top quality without costing you your bottom dollar.

For the bride and groom who know what they want to say but have not a clue how to say it, My Wedding Vows offers inspiration and samples for writing wedding vows. For the creative couple, DIY Bride offers advice, downloads, and links to solutions provided by their DIY members. The folks at Wilton not only provide wedding cake recipes and designs, but walk you through the kitchen cupboards to show you exactly what you need to create confectionery perfection.

Many of the sites on the Brides.com list offer unique solutions to many wedding planning issues, while others are geared toward themes such as eco-weddings. Take a few minutes to check out the entire list and let us know about your favorites, whether they made the top 75 or not.

President Barack Obama, interrupted by three dozen standing ovations in his first official address before Congress, challenged Americans to better compete in the global economy by creating opportunity through higher education.  

“And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training,” Obama said to a joint session of Congress. “This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.”

For the Certified Wedding Planner and those who aspire to become a wedding planner, this call to action, backed by billions of dollars for education stimulus in recently approved economic legislation, from a president who committed over a decade of his life to teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, is timely and reassuring.

In an economy in crisis, opportunity awaits those who seek betterment through self improvement and career training. Whether it is through a certification program or continuing education, each of us owes it to ourselves and our society to step forward and take charge of our future.

Professor Obama, The Education President

Get Married with Colin Cowie

It seems that everyone is weighing in on how brides and grooms can realize their wedding day dreams on three-fourths of previous year’s wedding budget averages.

Lifetime Channel’s Get Married host Colin Cowie, in his new book Wedding Chic, offers these seven tips for the budget-savvy bride:

1.       Dream big: Small ideas get small results, so put budget aside while envisioning your dream wedding, then figure out what you can afford.

2.       Cut your coat according to the cloth: It’s better to do five things correctly than ten things on the skinny.

3.       Consider a destination wedding: Weddings can take place anywhere, so think beyond the exotic beach and think about a bed-and-breakfast or country inn.

4.       Opt for a fantastic DJ: Instead of a big orchestra band, find a great DJ who can create great background music and just as easily keep the guests moving on the dance floor.

5.       Invest in a trusted wedding planner: A professional is there to ease some of the pressure while bringing your vision to a reality.

6.       Design a signature drink: Rather than serving an open bar, offer guests a specialty beverage that is as delicious as it is memorable.

7.       Create monochromatic flower arrangements using one type of flower: When bundled en masse in short ceramic vases, whether roses or carnations, tulips or spider mums; these flowers are beautiful and impactful.

For anyone studying how to become a wedding planner, Cowie’s tip to invest in a trusted wedding planner combined with a strong economic outlook for the wedding industry is great career news.

For brides and grooms hoping to get the most wedding bang for their wedding budget buck, hiring a Certified Wedding Planner is the best advice they can take.

By understanding current wedding trends, Certified Wedding Planners and those learning how to become a wedding planner can provide value and solutions to their clients during continued economic unease.

According to research compiled by The Wedding Report:

Areas of spending decline from 2007 to 2008

·         Wedding dress fell by 31%

·         Rehearsal dinner fell by 34%

·         Spending for a DJ fell by 6%

·         Bridesmaid bouquets fell by 36%

·         Gifts for attendants fell by 38%

·         Wedding invitations fell by 34%

·         Engagement ring fell by 30%

·         Photographer fell by 26%

·         Videographer fell by 24%

·         Wedding cake fell by 33%

·         Wedding favors fell by 9%

·         Reception food service fell by 53%

·         Limo rental fell by 24%

The current economic state is the primary factor for most spending declines, with smaller guest lists and lower-priced vendor options also contributing.

Areas of spending increase from 2007 to 2008

·         Tuxedo/suit increased by 47%

·         Ceremony location increased by 108%

·         Bride bouquet increased by 1%

·         Brides wedding band increased by 21%

·         Grooms wedding band increased by 38%

·         Reception bar service increased by 12%

·         Reception location increased by 15%

·         Reception rentals increased by 84%

Combined reception and ceremony events led to the increase in location costs while a de-emphasis on engagement rings led to higher-priced wedding band choices.

Happy Valentine's Day

 

“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” - Robert Heinlein

This Valentine’s Day, many engaged couples, new and perpetual, are taking the opportunity to celebrate their impending nuptials by working on their wedding plans. Many Certified Wedding Planners are gearing up their businesses for another very busy wedding season. Many wedding venues and vendors are speculating, innovating, rehabilitating, and reinventing their approaches to try to succeed in what promises to be a strong, but changing, wedding market.

Valentine's Day in Karachi, Pakistan

“Love conquers all.” - Virgil

As many as one out of every ten engaged couples says “I will” on Valentine’s Day. For many couples, a fantasy wedding will be very much based in the reality of tough economic times. While many will choose discounts, others will choose debt to finance their wedding day dreams. The couple who won the Clay Hill Farm $25,000 green wedding contest is the fortunate exception to the wedding budget rules.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

 “What I need to live has been given to me by the earth.  Why I need to live has been given to me by you.”  - Author Unknown

Inspiration for turning Valentine’s Day green can come from decadent vegan chocolate cakes and dissolvable dresses. It can come from recognition of the impact the gift of millions of greeting cards, boxes of chocolates, and flowers has on our environment. Wherever it comes from, the desire to make your Valentine’s Day celebration eco-friendly shows your love for our planet and benefits us all.

Dissolvable Dress

“When love is not madness, it is not love.”  - Pedro Calderon de la Barca

‘Party planner to the stars’, Colin Cowie may travel in the mad world of celebrity weddings and events, but his heart is apparently in the right place. His steadfast rule states: “If you make anyone on my staff cry, you get your check and your contract back.” In a Hollywood culture of musical marriages and laissez-faire engagements, integrity is a welcome attribute.

Kristy Swanson and Lloyd Eisler

“Who would give a law to lovers?  Love is unto itself a higher law.”  - Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy

While Valentine’s Day is providing a much needed economic boost for wedding planners, venues, vendors, and marriage bureaus nationwide, engaged couples in New York, California, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, Utah, and every state in between were recently denied the right to marry. This week marks the 12^th anniversary of Freedom to Marry Week. As we celebrate the holiday of love, named after Christian martyrs, let us remember that the struggle for marriage equality continues.

Married in Canada, Denied in Dallas

And perhaps someday soon, we can all agree that our world is better off for all the love it can muster.

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss

Peace and Love