Good news for Floridians! An LWPI certified wedding- and event-planner course is starting soon at State College of Florida in Sarasota, Fla., Sarasota County. The fall instructor will be Anna Pohl, who says her students can look forward to several field trips and some great speakers.

Anna Pohl is a certified wedding consultant with an MBA and BFA in fine arts. She says her background in business, paired with her creative side, are invaluable in navigating clients through the world of event planning. One of her strengths, she says, is figuring out what wedding style is best for each client: traditional, beach, modern, elegant, vintage, green or ethnic. She also tends to go with the creative flow and her events and weddings often counter what’s considered the norm.

She says her favorite thing about wedding planning is that “being a planner is truly knowing that I have helped couples and families to celebrate a very important occasion in their lives, their wedding.” And the toughest part? “Probably staying completely organized at all times. No slacking off for a wedding planner!” she says.

She is the owner of Day Planners (of Sarasota, Bradenton and St. Petersburg, Florida), and even before starting her own business she was an award-winning director of catering and events at Mattison’s in Southwest Florida. When she began her career she focused on event planning in the biotech industry, working on international meetings. Among her other awards and recognitions are: People’s Choice Award - Best Planner; the Herald Biz Bash Flash Award - Top 20 Event Planners in Florida Under the Age of 40; and the Gulf Coast Business Review’s 40 Under 40 Award. Anna events have been written up in several publications, including Kiplinger’s, The Knot, Sarasota Magazine, SRQ Magazine, Scene Magazine, Biz Bash Flash, Taste Magazine, Nuovo and several local newspapers. She was also recently interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, along with Preston Bailey, about wedding planning.

She wants her students to “never forget that you should do your very best to make your wedding clients as happy as possible. You should always strive for perfection and give the utmost care to your clients, their families and their friends. You shouldn’t be doing this profession if you don’t truly mean to do all that you can for those getting married. Go above and beyond, and then your clients will be thrilled and you will be blessed.”

To learn more about Anna, check out her Website and Facebook page. To register for her class, visit the LWPI Website.

Certified Wedding and Event Planner Course
State College of Florida
7131 Professional Parkway East
Sarasota, Florida 34240, United States
Sarasota County, Florida
9/22/2011 to 12/2/2011
Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m.
Register for the class

Tara Martin-Crawford’s internship with Preston Bailey Designs is drawing to a close. Now that she has experience in several departments Tara is starting to better understand her strengths. This week was filled with organization and paperwork, which she enjoys. Tara is a graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course through LWPI.

This week I resumed working in the Production Department. I must admit that although working in floral was both inspiring and informative, I definitely feel as though my heart is in production. By nature I have always been an organizer, and working in production really gives me a chance to use that ability.

This week was a very busy one for me. The Production Manager was scheduled to travel at the end of the week for three overseas site visits. He wanted to take a binder with all his important documents for the three events so I had to create that for him. When going on site visits, especially those that are overseas, the time spent there is usually pretty limited. In this case, each destination was delegated two days, at the most. Therefore, the Production Manager has to keep a pretty tight agenda in order to accomplish all his goals and meet with all the necessary vendors. As a result, he asked me to create a meeting agenda for him and contact all the vendors to confirm their designated meeting times. I was also asked to type up a list of questions and important issues that he will need to address. For one of the sites I also created a sample packet that contained renderings, dance-floor samples, linen swatches, and aisle-runner samples, which the Production Manager will show to the vendors so that they can source items that are the same or similar to those used by PDB’s local suppliers.

Preston Bailey Designs has three big overseas events taking place within the next three months. Some of the crews will consist of people from companies that are local to the events’ locations. However, PBD likes to have some of its own members working the events as well. The Production Manager keeps a list of freelance workers who PBD regularly uses and a list of who is going to be used for each event. One of my assignments this week was to create individual lists for each event with the crew members’ names, contact information, passport numbers, dates they will be traveling to and from the events, and which airports they will be flying in and out of. The events are spaced close together so many people will be traveling directly from one event to the next. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Therefore, you have to know what everyone’s travel requirements are.

As my internship with PBD comes to a close, I am really starting to reflect on how much I appreciate having had this opportunity. Not only have I gained a lot of knowledge with regard to event design and production, but I’ve also had the chance to meet and work with some really wonderful people. PBD has an amazing staff! From Day One everyone has been nothing but helpful and welcoming and I really appreciate that. Having not worked professionally in the event industry before, and having my first experience be with Preston Bailey Designs, makes me feel truly blessed and has confirmed my love and passion for the field. I know I still have some things to learn, but now, more than ever, I am absolutely sure that a career in the event field is meant for me.

Today’s post is the first of three parts on budgeting for destination weddings. Our guest writer is Chezelle Rodriguez, the owner of Chezelle Dezines, an event-planning and graphic-design company in Puerto Rico. She specializes in destination weddings, and you can read more about Chezelle’s work in her Real Weddings From LWPI Graduates post.

Photo Courtesy of Saul Padua Photography

What Couples Often Overlook and What to Expect

What is there to say about the hot trend of destination weddings? Most couples I’ve worked with say that if they had held their wedding in their hometown their guest list would have quickly grown. This is often the deciding factor to having a destination wedding: fewer guests and a wedding where they can enjoy being with friends and family over a long weekend rather than for just four hours.

Couples are always looking for smart ways to maximize their wedding dollars. And for good reason: The average cost of a wedding was $24,066 last year (according to The Wedding Report), a hefty price tag for an event that lasts just a few hours. Some couples are able to pull off a destination wedding that lasts days for a fraction of the cost.

When you use the word wedding as an adjective when speaking with venues and vendors, prices soar! Prioritizing is the key to maximizing your wedding dollars. Think about what is most important to you. Is it the food, décor, or the location? You should not have to go into debt to have a stylish wedding.

This three-part series is written to give you some good tips on budgeting for and planning your destination wedding.

The Benefits of Hiring a Certified Wedding and Event Planner

Having an onsite planner is key to planning a destination wedding! They can offer a lot of creative ideas and save you time, hassles, and they will be your eyes and ears on site. They also have preferred vendors that will be an asset to making your event flow seamlessly.

Couples use the Internet to do most of their wedding research, but you really need to inspect the site before booking it. A planner can show up at a site when it’s set up for an event and they will give you some insight on how the staff works and ideas that will help determine the décor.

Catering managers help you plan the logistics of your wedding but will only cover what is within the hotel walls. Destination weddings have many details that go outside of the hotel, for example, tourist excursions, dinners, transportation and much more.

Some local wedding planners have relationships with destination planners who will be on site the day of your wedding, saving you the cost of flying them in, booking their room, transportation and meals, which can go above the usual 5 percent that comes out of your wedding budget.

Be sure to check out Part II and Part III of Chezelle’s series on Destination Wedding Budgets!

Tara Martin-Crawford, LWPI’s intern at Preston Bailey Designs, continues her work with florals this week. Tara is a graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, and she is the first LWPI intern to work with Preston. She has only a couple of more weeks left in her internship. This week she talks about helping re-create some of Preston’s signature floral pieces.

This week was a very busy one for PBD. Cho Phillips and some of her team flew in from California to film the lessons for Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute and Preston’s next courses, which will focus on floral design. It was great to finally get to meet Cho in person since she and I have only had communication over the phone and through email. The new courses that she and Preston are creating sound awesome, and they will offer great learning opportunities for both experienced and novice floral designers. Creating the centerpieces and amazing floral pieces that PBD is so famous for would seem like an immense challenge for almost anyone. Not only are they extremely detailed, but creating them requires a lot of imagination as well as knowledge of working with flowers.

In order to showcase its famous florals the PBD Floral Department had to recreate some “classic” pieces as well as design and create new ones. One of the projects that I was given was to create a poodle out of ivy leaves and hot pink carnations. The base for the ivy was made out of chicken wire wrapped around bunches of white tissue paper. I used hot glue to secure the ivy. The foundations for the carnations were floral foam balls that were sprayed with water and plant food in order to keep the flowers alive longer. I was told to choose buds that were either fully or partially open. For ones that weren’t fully open, I used my fingers to spread the leaves and open the bloom as much as possible. The stem was trimmed to approximately three-quarters of an inch and pressed into the foam until secure. Hot glue was also used for buds that didn’t want to stay in place.

Again, when creating pieces with fresh flowers it is important to pack them in tightly so that they hold in place and stay alive longer. Also, you should always start placing your first flowers in the area(s) where you need a smooth border. That way you can make sure the edge is straight and neat and move on to the rest of the piece from there. The piece that I created wasn’t one that I would consider large in scale, especially for PBD. However, it was a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be. You have to have a lot of patience and really take your time when you create a floral sculpture because even for smaller pieces you will probably need to hand-place a good amount of flowers.

All in all I think that my dog turned out pretty well. After having the opportunity to create a piece pretty much from start to finish (I had some help along the way) I think that I will definitely do a better job next time. As the saying goes, “practice makes perfect”.

Michelle Bromley

Do you live in the Austin, Texas, area? If so, and you’re interested in becoming a certified wedding and event planner, you should check out Michelle Bromley’s class with Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute at Austin Community College in Travis County. We recently sat down with Michelle to find out more about her, her class, and her teaching style.

How did you get involved in wedding and event planning? I started working in the event industry 15 years ago at a bed and breakfast overlooking majestic Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. During my five years there we turned the B&B into a wedding venue where groups could take the place over for the whole weekend. Not only did I sell the space, but I also became the day-of coordinator for the events. You can say I got my experience through trial by fire.

What is your work/education/experience background? When the nearby, nationally renowned restaurant The OASIS decided to construct an event venue as well I was asked to help the owner of the B&B develop the wedding program. I learned a lot from that process. Since then I have worked for catering companies, a charter cruise ship on Lake Travis, and with various planners. It was about five years ago that I realized planning the whole shebang from beginning to end is my strong suit. I have a Psychology Major and Business Administration background from Texas A&M, Austin Community College and Southwest Texas State University. One of the reasons I think I am so effective as an event planner is my education in psychology.

Do you own your own business? I worked as an independent contractor most of those 15 years with the dream that I would eventually own my own business. I was fortunate enough to be able to take over Allison’s Events as the owner last July. The previous owner is a dear friend of mine, and she made it really easy for me to take her reins. Since then I submitted a press release about the takeover, changing my name to Allison’s Events by Michelle, and am now in my second phase of rebranding to eventually become Here to Help! Stay tuned for a press release about that and my new website, www.heretohelpbrides.com.

What is your favorite part of being a planner? Design and Decor. I call it the calm before the storm when I get to bring a wedding vision to life. It is so quiet when I am setting up a room, and then it is very gratifying to me when all the guests and my clients see the room for the first time. It is a very dramatic, impactful moment.

What is the toughest part? Dealing with the psychological dynamics between family members.

What is your favorite part of the class? The projects and the design boards. I enjoy the classroom interaction and turn the online projects into class projects. It is interesting to see how far the students come from their first project to their fourth in both compilation and delivery.

What do you think is the most important lesson for your students? This is not the glamorous career that it seems on the surface. It is very hard, stressful work. An event planner takes on all of the stress that comes with planning any event so having a firm grasp on all the details, big and small, is extremely important. A wedding is one of the most emotionally charged days in someone’s life, and we in the event industry are right in the middle of it. You have one day to make it memorable (good or bad), so make sure you address everything that could come up in the planning stages. If something unexpected does pop up, deal with it with calmness and professionalism.

How has teaching for LWPI rewarded you? I recently hired one of my previous students, who is now certified as an Associate Coordinator. She has hit the ground running and is doing fabulously. I get about three or four inquiries a week asking if I need interns. I have made the decision to only utilize those who have taken classes and gotten some form of certification as interns. I also work with venues and have other event industry professionals asking me for intern referrals. Taking this class and getting certified really can help you get a job in the industry.

What trends do you see growing popular in 2011? Peacocks! Also, metallic colors: gold, silver, bronze and copper.

To learn more about Michelle, visit her website or Facebook page. And if you’re interested in becoming a certified wedding and event planner through LWPI, take a tour of the course or register for a class in your area today.

Wedding and Event Planning Certification
Austin Community College
Highland Business Center Campus
Austin, Texas / Travis County, Texas
September 13 through November 15, 2011
Register for the class online

Flowers can transform a dull, melancholy venue into an astonishing, eye-popping wonderland for your special day. From the simplest to the most elaborate, floral arrangements can be one of the main things that people remember when they leave your festivities.

 But what do you take into consideration when looking for flowers? The biggest thing is time of year. Certain flowers are only in season at certain times. This means that if you want a particular flower for your wedding you might want to check to see if it’s in season so you can save some money. 
Here are some great summer flowers that are in season right now.

Chrysanthemums - Courtesy of w-wedding flowers

Chrysanthemums - Courtesy of Chiq Weddings

Peonies - Courtesy of Wedsavvy

Hydrangeas - Courtesy of Alicepub.com

All these flowers just scream summer. There are also flowers that are available year-round so regardless of the season they are priced just right.

Gardenias - Courtesy of The Twisted Sifter

Gardenias - Courtesy of Karen Tran Florals

Gardenias are so beautiful and they smell amazing. Their scent can fill a room with such an intoxicating scent.

Lily of the Valley - Courtesy of Snippet and Ink

Orchids - Courtesy of Style Me Pretty

Orchids are great because they come in some many shapes, sizes and colors.

Roses - Courtsey of Wish Special Events

Roses are a wedding staple and will always be looked at as the classic wedding flower. They are great wedding flowers because they can literally be dyed to match any color scheme. This makes them versatile and an ideal flower for any wedding, especially summer ones with bright bold colors.

Be sure to visit Shafonne’s website, read her new plus-size bride blog, follow her on Twitter, and read more about her in this LWPI Instructor Spotlight.

Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, continues her summer internship at Preston Bailey Designs. As her time at Preston Bailey’s world-reknowned design firm winds down she moves into the creative part of her internship: florals. This week she learns some great tips on creating the beautiful floral pieces that Preston Bailey is known for.

After ten weeks in the Production Department I have moved into working with the Floral Department. This week we worked both in the studio and onsite for a Christmas-theme photo shoot sponsored by QVC. Of course, this was no ordinary “home for the holidays” setup. Everything was over-the-top and awe-inspiringly beautiful. My biggest challenge this week was getting over my fear of messing everything up. I have never been someone who is really good at making things, so I was definitely proceeding with caution  so as not to ruin the beautiful look of the pieces I was creating with the floral team.

We worked with a variety of materials including fresh roses, fresh orchids, beads, silk flowers, branches and ribbon. Neatness and efficiency are two absolute requirements when doing this type of work. Neatness I’m pretty good with. My speed and efficiency will I hope come in time. I was assured by the other girls who have been with PBD for a while that once you’ve had the chance to create some pieces and see how they are put together you will begin to recognize the best techniques for each piece. Hot glue, wire and straight pins are three vital elements that PBD uses to create a lot of its masterpieces. Both of them are easy to use, easy to conceal, and inexpensive (careful with the hot glue though, it definitely does burn). One tip that I picked up this week with regard to fresh flowers: If you are creating a piece using a lot of fresh flowers it is best to pack the flowers together as tightly as possible. This will prevent their petals from falling off and keep them looking alive longer.

Because we were doing a Christmas theme, I also received a much-needed lesson in gift wrapping. Maybe this is common knowledge, but a new technique I learned for creating bows with ribbon is: Instead of making the ends of the ribbon the same length when beginning your bow, keep one tail short (the final length it will need to be to tie the bow) at the top of the box. Crisscross the ends on top of the box and then wrap the long end smoothly around the underside so that you don’t create a knot underneath and the box will sit flat.  Again, I’m sure for some of you this may be common knowledge, but I was taught to keep the ends the same length and make a knot on the underside of the package. I guess all these years I’ve been doing it wrong.  Well now I will have no excuse not to create beautifully decorated packages the Christmas!

For someone who is not naturally crafty it is difficult to visualize how to create a stunning statement piece out of raw materials. However, being around such creative and talented people as those who work at PBD is definitely inspiring. Tapping into my creative outlets that have long been dormant (pretty much since childhood) feels really good. The pieces that PBD creates are well thought out, extremely beautiful, and often mind-blowing. Being able to be part of the process in creating these pieces is truly inspirational and has made me realize that with enough vision and the right knowledge, it is absolutely possible to create magic out of thin air.

LWPI’s Real Wedding this month comes from Jennie Wiegand, a graduate of LWPI and the owner of Beautiful Day Planning, a wedding- and event-planning company in Detroit, Mich. This beautiful affair was filled with Filipino traditions and a large wedding party. The groom had this to say about Jennie’s work, “At first I had no idea why we needed a wedding planner and now have no idea how we would have succeeded without you. Invaluable. Essential. Perfect. Thank You.” You can find Jennie at her company website, on Facebook, and on her blog. She is also in the running for Best Wedding Planner at Detroit A List. Be sure to vote for her before the contest ends!

“I recently had the privilege to be involved as a day-of coordinator for the nuptials of a truly loving couple. Beth and Patrick celebrated their union on July 30 with a traditional Protestant ceremony at the beautiful, 200-year-old Central United Methodist Church in downtown Detroit. The stunning setting matched the couple, who radiate love. Their ceremony left few in the church with a dry eye, myself included!

The ceremony also honored the groom’s family by including the Filipino traditions of the arras ceremony and veil and cord ceremonies. In addition to five attendants each, the rather large procession included four primary sponsors, two veil sponsors, two cord sponsors, a Bible bearer, a ring bearer, a coin bearer, two veil bearers, a cord bearer, and one infant flower girl in her very own wicker baby carriage. (Phew!)

After the ceremony the couple and their attendants took photos around downtown while the guests retreated to a cocktail hour at the fantastic Cherry Creek Golf Course in Shelby Township. The reception had a secret-garden feel, complete with wildflower centerpieces with trailing vines, hundreds of candles, and seating cards affixed to old-fashioned brass keys. Holding to their fun-loving attitude, the groom decided to introduce himself and his bride during the grand entrance and had a groom’s cake shaped like an Adidas shoebox. Guests enjoyed a touching toast delivered by the bride’s son, who acted as best man, and a fantastic dinner followed by dancing and a traveling photo booth.

The evening was made even more enjoyable for me because I was surrounded by wonderful vendors. Thank you to everyone who helped make this wedding a truly beautiful day!

Photos – JLB Wedding, Photography by Jeffrey Lewis Bennett
Videographer – Fairy Tale Productions
DJ – Mike Staff Productions
Venue - Cherry Creek Golf

In this week’s journal entry, Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI intern at Preston Bailey Designs, learns how to deal with an unexpected increase in costs. She’s also helping Preston and his team prepare for an October wedding planned for this fall. Tara is a graduate of LWPI and Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, and the first LWPI intern with PBD.

“Even though the Southampton event has come and gone there are still lingering issues that have to be dealt with. As a result of the client’s unhappiness with the original placement of the tent and having to completely relocate it, there have been additional costs that were incurred from the vendors  Because everything had to be done in such a small timeframe, all vendors who were onsite were asked to help move the tent so that the event could get off the ground by the time guests arrived. The largest additional charges came from the tent company, however, lighting was also affected because of the changes and has requested further compensation for the install. The question has been: Who pays? 

The additional costs are significant and not a loss that PBD wants to take. Also, the client was the one who demanded the change be made. While PBD doesn’t want to make its vendors wait for payment, it isn’t fair that they assume full responsibility for the costs, either. To my knowledge, Preston and the team are still figuring out how the situation is going to be handled.

PBD’s next “big” job is an October wedding in Hong Kong. For the past week that has been the focus of most of my work. The Design Department put together a drafting packet that outlines all the areas and design elements of the event. Because the event is taking place overseas, PBD has hired a local production company to work in collaboration with in order to produce the event. The drafting packet is being sent to them, along with various samples that PBD would use to create the designs in the renderings. I was asked to collect fabric samples, label them according to their reference in the drafting packet, and provide alternative options as well. When the Production manager sends out these sample boxes he creates a list which provides the name of the item, how many there are in the box, what they would be used for in the event, and any notes that are relevant. After the production company receives the samples they will review them and present the necessary ones to the client for approval. The Floral department also sends a recipe packet that contains images and instructions for the construction of certain centerpiece and design elements that have been represented either through renderings or at the client presentation. That way, the client will be receiving the same elements she was expecting.

The packets, particularly the drafting packet, are usually revised several times throughout the design process. Some of the changes are small and some aren’t. Sample boxes are typically sent after design elements have been firmly selected. However, PBD’s design, floral, and production departments will send drafting packets back and forth with the production company via email throughout the course of the entire process. Each time PBD sends a new packet the production company reviews it, makes comments, asks questions, and sends it back again.

It is a long process and everyone has to be really meticulous about staying on top of what’s going on, but in the long run it’s easier and more efficient to hire a local production company that you trust than it is to bring your own overseas.”

No matter where you turn these days you bump into some sort of social media, and weddings are no exception. From the engagement, to the shower, to the honeymoon, couples are using technology and social media to share the details of their new life together. But just how prominent is technology in weddings and wedding planning? This month LWPI is polling its certified wedding and event planners about how bridal couples are incorporating technology into their big days. Are most of your brides setting up wedding Websites? Are they accepting RSVPs through their Website or email? Have you ever seen a bridal couple live Tweet their nuptials? Take our Social Media survey, and continue the conversation in the comments section or on Facebook!