We know that as graduates of Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute you dream of having a successful wedding and event-planning business of your own. Just like in any part of life it’s helpful to gather hints and learn from people who are living the dream! We welcome today’s guest writer, Nadia Digilov, a celebrated wedding and event planner in New York City. She has great insight into the trends for 2010, which you can pass on to your brides and clients this year as you plan their festivities!

Top 10 Wedding Trends for 2010
By Nadia Digilov, the founder and CEO of NYC event-production firm Celebrating in Style

Whether you are planning an ultra classic or a super modern wedding you can implement some elements of the trends that are happening this year in to your wedding day. Here are some of the latest styles in catering, decorations, flowers and much more!

1-Reception Venue: Transform a restaurant dining room into an ultra chic reception with the creative use of the right lighting. No longer do you need a family country club or a local catering hall that has already been used over and over again by friends and family!

2-The After Party: The after party is a great marriage of the old and new at one significant event. During the reception you will have traditional wedding customs such as your first dance and in some cases some religious traditions. The after party is pure music and dance and is usually held at a separate room that is transformed into an ultra chic lounge.

3-The Decor: The natural trend is still going strong this year, with the use of trees being a unique way to replace the traditional flower decorations. Candles hanging from the trees are a wedding classic, however, this year why not get creative and mix in a feeling of whimsy by add in ribbons and wind chimes.

4-Seated Dinner Twist: Consider serving some dishes family style and having your caterer arrange the platters on a couple of different levels. Serve your guests food rich in color, which adds a feeling of abundance, color and life to your wedding tables.

5-Late Night Surprise: Your guests will love you for some late night snacks after they dance up a storm and a hefty appetite. Just when the guests thought the food, was done have the caterer bring out some late night snacks like mini hotdogs, cheese and crackers!

6-The Bar: Last year we saw a whiskey and bourbon trend, the year before it was champagne, and the 2010 trend is tequila! Margaritas anyone? Impress your guests with non-traditional cocktails like cool refreshing blackberry mint or grapefruit basil martinis.

7-Cake Top: The classic bride & groom cake top has some competition this year. The trend of the year is to substitute the good ol’ cake top with gorgeous symbolic flowers, custom made by your florist at the cake top of your wedding cake.

8-The Wedding Dress: Add some color to your wedding dress with the use of flowers, head-pieces or jewelry. Check out the line of unique jewelry from Marie-Lise Lachapelle which incorporates real flowers such as orchids, pansies, and roses covered in gold, silver and lacquer to preserve the shape and color of the actual flower. These unique pieces can be worn as necklaces, earrings, or even pinned into the hair for a boho-chic look: http://marieliselachapelle.com

9-The First Dance: Many of brides are going back in time to the 1940’s for the music and are choosing the romantic classics such as “I’ll Be Seeing You Again” and “Moonlight Becomes You.”

10-Dessert Table: A candy table in place of a full Viennese table is a very hot trend for 2010. The traditional Viennese table is filled with heavy cakes, while a candy table is fun and arouses a feeling of adventure and youth in your guests! Who wouldn’t like that?

Nadia Digilov is New York’s premier luxury wedding expert and the founder and CEO of NYC event production firm Celebrating in Style, www.celebrating-instyle.com. After seven years on the trading floors of the largest investment banks on Wall Street, her passion for production led her to begin creating luxury events that leave a lasting impression. Since 2002 Nadia has created weddings, corporate events, concerts, trade shows, and marketing events in major cities around the world; including New York, Miami, Moscow, Tel Aviv and St. Petersburg.

Gray and Yellow Palette for 2010

One of the first ways a bride sets the theme of her wedding is with her invitations. Everything about that single piece of paper conveys a message about a bride’s style: colors (classic or funky?); fonts (simple, whimsical, dramatic?); shape (horizontal and traditional? square and modern?); and even wording (funny? romantic?) As a certified wedding and event coordinator it’s a good idea to be up on wedding-industry trends, especially in the world of invitations. It shows a bride that no matter her style you know what’s what in the bridal world. Plus having suggestions at the ready for every style bride is a great way to show you’re, you know, coordinated!

Wedding Paper Divas, a leader of premium, personalized wedding stationery, has recently announced the top stationery trends for 2010. From the save-the-date cards to the post-wedding thank-you notes there are new themes and color choices to be had! Among the newest trends are:

Enchanting Forest for an Ethereal Feel

* Enchanting Forest: These invitations have an ethereal feel, with earth tones and pastel colors. They would be a gorgeous addition to any outdoor wedding. With their simple branches and birds they would give guests an idea that a bride is trying to achieve a natural setting; perfect for an early spring ceremony!

* Old Hollywood: Imagine a bridal party made up of Old Hollywood Glamour - pin curls and waves, bright red lips and form-fitting gowns. There’s a reason that Mad Men is all the rage right now, and brides can have a retro wedding but still fill it with glamour and class.

* Fresh color palettes: We’ve already discussed that turquoise is the IT color of 2010, and the perfect accompaniment? Orange! You can also expect brides to ask about violet (again with orange as the perfect accent), as well as paler colors such as champagne, pink (with vintage gold accents. *Sigh*) We at Lovegevity also expect a rise in a gray and yellow palette. Vintage is all the rage right now, and these two colors fit right in!

Old Hollywood Brings a Touch of Fun and Glamour

There is definitely a distinct business side to being a wedding and event planner. You have to know how to budget and how to find brides. There is definitely a fun and creative side to wedding and event planning, too! The instructors at the Lovegevity Wedding Planning Institute can teach you everything you need to know, but it’s up to you to stay on top of the trends (but this falls into the fun category!) There will always be traditional, classic weddings to plan, but there are brides who like to run with the pack and ones who like to forge their own path. Keep these great new ideas in mind as 2010 weddings start to take shape. An invitation is the perfect place to begin working out a wedding theme, and all the choices in stationery make this a fun place to begin. Help your brides get their creative juices flowing with some of these great ideas!

We’ll freely admit that the first time we actually saw what Trash the Dress meant we were kind of horrified. Wedding gowns can cost serious money, and the thought of trashing it - literally! - after the wedding festivities are over is more than a little shocking. At the same time, however, we can think of a few situations - and a few brides - where trashing the dress is less surprising and more acceptable. And as a certified wedding and event planner you’re expected to have all kinds of weapons in your arsenal so when That Bride walks in and expects you to suggest the unexpected, a trash the dress folder may be the little detail she has been looking for!

Christa DiPaulo Becker, a bride that the New York Times intereviewed several years ago when it did a piece on this wedding trend, said that trashing her wedding gown seemed fitting because after everything was  said and done she was feeling pretty “antiwedding.” So for the brides who want to shed a little stress post-nuptials a trash-the-dress session may be just what the doctor ordered.

Trashing an expensive wedding gown may understandably send shivers down your spine. If you have a bride who knows beforehand that she’s interested in a post-wedding trashing session you may be able to persuade her to go green and buy, perhaps, an inexpensive used gown or something vintage that won’t break the bank. She’ll be saving the earth and keeping a little green in her wallet at the same time. (Plus, you may prevent the Mother of the Bride - or Father(!) - from having a heart attack at the thought of a $5,000 gown covered in, uh, mud.)

Michael Cooper, a Las Vegas photographer who is credited with starting the trend, said he was bored of traditional wedding photos. His edgy suggestions ultimately led him to putting brides (and sometimes grooms) in unexpected places: mud, water, by dilapidated buildings. Thus, a trend was born. For the bride and groom who like to think outside the box this may be a trend they latch onto. As a wedding and event planner it may be worth it to scout out a few places around your region where a trash-the-dress session would work. (And find out in advance which photographers are willing and experienced!) And, yes, grooms can get in on the action. Think how cute the photos would be of couples, while still in their wedding attire, climbed trees together, rolled around in the sand by the ocean, or played in the park. No - this has no aura of traditionalism about it - but weddings are about memories, and this is definitely one memory a bridal couple would never forget!

Links to check out:
* trashthedress.com
* a flickr thread dedicated to trash-the-dress photos
* it’s news to us, but this type of photography is also called rock the frock and fearless bridal!
* it’s all for the amazing photos, one recent bride says

Being a certified wedding and event planner means that you’re up on all the trends, and you can guide couples in any direction they want to go. As the wedding industry expands on television and the Internet there are literally hundreds of thousands of ideas out there. Sifting through all of this information can be overwhelming for couples - especially those whose idea of the perfect wedding may be less formal and/or less traditional. This is where a wedding coordinator comes in: It’s your job to help them form their idea of the perfect day then make it a reality.

According to the Wedding Report, traditional, formal weddings continue to be on the decline. Surveys of real couples in 2008 and 2009 found that brides and grooms are looking for less opulence and more focus on the family. Sure, crystals and sparkles are fabulous, but in today’s economy couples are putting more focus on their vows, their families and each other on their special day. Some wedding planners disagree with these findings, saying, “I’m getting my price, planning the right wedding for the budget. It’s all about knowing your market and providing the right service– and caring,” according to eWedNews. But that’s where we think experts are right: Being a wedding planner doesn’t mean you only work with couples who have huge budgets and big dreams. Being a wedding planner means you help all brides, regardless of budget, bring their fairytale to life. If this means a more intimate ceremony and a smaller reception that’s okay because all brides need help with the details.

Brooch Bouquet

Among the more popular low-key wedding ideas are ceremonies on the beach or at other outdoor locations and those with DIY touches. Some other ideas for low-key weddings may be receptions with more home-style food and personal touches during the ceremony such as a bouquet made of brooches that belonged to the bride’s family members.

What are other ways a certified wedding and event planner can help a bride and groom have the wedding of their dreams but make it a more simple day? The idea isn’t to cut their budget; it’s to make their budget work better for them. That’s where you come in. Start a folder of ideas for simple weddings. Show brides with smaller budgets that a wedding planner can still be their best friend. A good planner makes every wedding special, no matter the cost. And we all know that if you do a good job and make a great impression the referrals will start to flow in!

We’ve all heard of what some might call “Wacky Weddings.” If you’ve ever seen TLC’s A Wedding Story you know that couples are choosing to be married in lots of places other than churches. A few we’ve noticed are those in art museums, aquariums, and we even know of a couple who were married in an airport lobby! There is always a special tie to these places: Perhaps the couple worked somewhere together, or maybe they choose to marry in the place where they first met - even if it is a bit unconventional. There was the Georgia couple who were married in a Waffle House. And there was the couple who were married in Walmart. Well, add the Apple store to that list!

Joshua and Ya Ting Li recently said “iDo” to each other at the event on Valentine’s Day in the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. They were surrounded by a few friends and family, a lot of curious shoppers and some very surprised staff! They exchanged rings that were attached to, what else, iPods?! And one more curious tidbit: The wedding was conducted by a priest dressed like Steve Jobs. It may have a been a short, wacky wedding, but with those kinds of details no one can say they didn’t do a bit of planning!

As certified wedding and event planners you may be approached by couples who want their wedding to be unique, and yes, maybe a bit unconventional. It’s fun to think outside of the box, and graduates of Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute are always ready to put on their thinking caps and make any and all weddings those of a couples dreams! (Even if they want to, say, jump off a skyscraper while they take their first kiss!) Check out these links for some great Wacky Wedding ideas!

* LA Times’ photo gallery of Wacky Weddings
* Underwater Weddings in Australia (A guide! It could be a destination wedding, with a twist!)
* Bing.com’s Top 10 wacky weddings video
* The photographs from this actual Star Wars wedding are phenomenal!
* Renaissance weddings are hardly wacky anymore, but they’re certainly non-traditional.

The Next Big Thing: When it comes to weddings these few words are what every couple strives for. Wouldn’t it be great to start a trend? Jeff and Erin are one couple who are raising the Save-the-Date bar; who needs post cards and magnets when you can make a movie? Or, actually, a trailer for their movie, a.k.a. their wedding! (Perhaps they’ll follow up with a Dance Down the Aisle - remember this?) Some people may say these videos are annoying, but as wedding planners we know that friends and family would flip over something this cute. It would really help couples stand out, and it would be the perfect way to create anticipation for The Big Day!

A wedding is a big deal, and it should be treated as such. It’s the details that make weddings special, and you can’t get much more special than starring in your own epic feature! A certified wedding planner can help couples make their day even more special by introducing them to industry trends and by helping them bring their not-so-traditional ideas to life. Jeff and Erin created an action-movie trailer, but other couples may consider comedy, film-noir or even documentary-style trailers. Perhaps someone filmed their engagement. Maybe they’d like to include their wedding party in their save-the-date video. The possibilities are endless, and a certified wedding planner is just the person to help tap into couples’ creativity and alleviate their stress.

What do you think? Is this an up-and-coming trend? How could you help couples expand this idea and incorporate it into the overall theme of their wedding?

We’re excited to announce that Pam DuVal, a Certified Wedding Planner and Instructor at Carteret Community College in Morehead City, North Carolina, has been given a 2010 Bride’s Choice Award! Pam’s company, Promised Hearts Inc., has been chosen for this award, which recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service and professionalism. The Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through extensive surveys and reviews, which means Pam’s past clients have spoken on her behalf and chosen her to receive this honor.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

Everyone at the Wedding Planning Institute is extraordinarily proud of Pam for the excellent work she is doing for her wedding planning and rental clients, as well as the incredible lessons and example she provides for Carteret’s certification students. It is especially impressive that this award was determined exclusively by surveys and reviews from actual newlyweds.

You can contact Carteret Community College about upcoming sessions at 252-222-6204 or learn how to become a wedding planner online. For more information for interested vendors or brides, you can contact Pam DuVal at 252-671-6939. Congratulations to Pam on her much deserved recognition and continued success in all of her endeavors.

Tomorrow night, cable television adds yet another entry to the wonderfully ubiquitous wedding-related programming that has been building over the past several years. “Masters of Reception”, airing the series premiere on Discovery’s TLC network at 10pm, stars Robert and Jerry Frungillo, New Jersey caterers-extraordinaire for the last three decades.

Series Premiere Airs August 18 at 10pm on TLC

According to the TLC website, “The Frungillos tend to every single detail of a wedding and ensure that the bride and groom are completely satisfied on their big day. But managing four different facilities and up to 10 weddings at once will naturally lead to drama.”

As any Certified Wedding Planner knows, managing multiple bridal clients on a single day can lead to triumph or heartache. Drama on television is good. Drama for your clients is not.

The Masters of Reception, Staffed for Drama

Our apologies in advance to William Shakespeare, but this wedding news story brought out our romantic side.

Two households, both alike in history,
In fair Mesopotamia, where we lay our scene,
From recent grudge break to new unity,
Where civil blood turns civil hands clean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
Pairs of star-cross’d lovers pledge their life;
Whole governmental payouts overthrow
Do with their vows bury their parents’ strife.
The joyful blessings of their inter-sect love,
And the continuance of extremist rage,
Which, but the people’s will, nought could remove,
Is now returning to this war torn stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

“Oh Muhanad, Muhanad! Wherefore art thou Muhanad?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

And I’ll no longer be a Shiite.”

Muhanad and Samma, among 1,700 Sunni/Shiite newlywed couples helping to heal Iraq's civil discord.

Jill and Kevin and their Dancing Wedding Party

Two weeks and over 14 million YouTube views later, newlyweds Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz have become famous for their unique and inspirational wedding dance processional. In a twist worthy of their gyrating church entrance, they have responded to their fame and the backlash for resurrecting infamous batterer Chris Brown’s career by using his song “Forever” in their video into a force in the battle against domestic violence.

Sheila and Paul Wellstone

 Through their new website, the couple is accepting donations for The Sheila Wellstone Institute, a program founded by the surviving sons of Sheila Wellstone and Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone in honor of their parent’s commitment to the elimination of family violence. 

After sitting down with The Today Show, ticking off Good Morning America, making Google richer, ignoring the media, and being flattered down under, the besieged couple has decided to turn the spotlight onto a very worthy cause.