Wedding Planners Debate Rewards, Risks of 'Day of' Coordination

Mix a sluggish economy with a crop of brides who see media versions of beautiful weddings everywhere and use the Internet to price-shop—and what do you get? Relentless pressure on professional wedding planners to pare down their traditional role as experts who guide the bride for months ahead of the big day. Instead, many brides who believe they can "do it yourself"—the DIY brides—are pushing wedding professionals to offer "day of" wedding services.

The topic brings a range of responses from professional planners, with those who flat-out refuse to offer such services and others who have added some form of short-term planning to the range of options they offer. Link to full article.

Please Toss The Bridal Show Chairs

For your next bridal show, 86 the chairs!!

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5-Week Course for Wedding Planners

Las Vegas, June 7, 2010 – With the growing number of women entrepreneurs wanting to enter the wedding planning business or expand their base of knowledge, The International School of Hospitality (TISOH) will offer a special, FASTtrack Wedding Coordination & Design course starting July 12. Students completing the 5-week course will earn a Certificate in Wedding Coordination & Design. Students will learn the best practices of wedding coordination/planning and the latest in wedding design and trends. Classes are taught by industry professionals, and include externships and various site visits.

This is the first time the school is offering this course of study as a 5-week program. Classes meet Monday through Friday from 9 AM until Noon. The school will help out-of-town students with housing options.

For more information and to sign up online, please go to www.tisoh.com

The Wedding Market Blog

Recommended: The Wedding Market Blog
by Andy Ebon

Wedding Planners Develop New Strategies to Handle Price-shopping Brides

From Special Events magazine:

To fight against bargaining brides and the sour economy, many wedding planners have developed new ways to package their talents. Some examples

Edible Wedding Dress

This wild and crazy design, known as the Cake Dress, will allow everyone to congratulate the bride and get a piece of wedding cake, all at the same time More photos.

Couple Replaces Wedding Cake with Giant Tuna Fish

A company in Japan is taking the traditional wedding cake in a very different direction, replacing it with a giant tuna.

In a video on YouTube a Japanese couple cuts a 100 kilogram -- or about 220 pound -- BigEye tuna with a very large knife at their wedding reception.

Elegant Table Numbers

20 Free Templates from Martha Stewart:

Hotels and restaurants usually provide table numbers for your wedding reception but those are often run of the mill numbers printed on cheap cardboard. If you want a touch of luxury and personalization to your wedding reception, why not try your hand at these DIY table numbers. They are surprisingly easy to do! Link.

All You Need is Exposure - Market Your Wedding Planning Business

So you have all the necessary staff, equipment, technology, contact and resources already at your fingertips, but you need clientele to drive your up and coming wedding planning business. Exposure is a key component in any business, especially the multi-billion dollar wedding business. After all, it’s a once in a life time (or more than once for some) announcement to friends and family that the couple has found each other. They now need someone to make this moment memorable enough till death or other circumstances do them part.

Lay a good foundation!

Start with a snazzy slogan or a memorable jingle that catches people’s attention. Incorporate it onto your flashy website complete with touched-up photos and dreamy wedding tunes. Remember to stimulate the senses as much as possible so people can linger a bit longer at your site and come back to you when they have done their research. The more information you can provide on your website, the more engaging your wedding planning business will seem. It is an all-service business, so provide your recommendations when it comes to details like where to find gifts for bridesmaids, the perfect church for the ceremony, honey-moon destinations, catering services, tailors, makeup artists, photographers, salons, hotels, live bands, jewelers, etc. – the works! More.

A New Cable Channel Dedicated to Wedding Planning

A new wedding themed cable channel is on the horizon. Rainbow Media is getting ready to launch a network that will cover nothing but wedding planning programming. Link.

We offer a Wedding Coordination & Design Certificate Program. Link.

2009 Hotttest Wedding Trends - Vibrant Wedding Colors

Think wedding and pretty pastels, pinks and whites spring to mind. Not really the perfect wedding color combination for colour-loving brides! If you love colors, fret not because the hottest 2009 wedding trends are filled with bold and vibrant colours to make your wedding a colourful and exciting event. More.

How to Have a Green Wedding

A 2009 David's Bridal Internet survey found that 45 percent of some 500 engaged or recently married women had considered some aspect of caring for the environment in their wedding planning decisions. This trend is going to continue to grow and although hard figures are difficult to find, evidence of the growth of green weddings can also be seen in the increasing availability of green wedding planners, caterers, limo drivers, florists, DJs, photographers, and honeymoon hotels and resorts.

Of the 2.5 million weddings that take place each year a small fraction can currently be considered green by virtue of the waste accumulated from just one wedding. What all green weddings typically share is an effort to conserve resources and reduce waste.

More.

Green Weddings

The Ultimate Green Wedding Guide is a blog with many relevant articles about planning green weddings, including Green Wedding Cakes and Green Wedding Dresses. Link.

The Man Registry

One Stop Resource for Grooms

An online wedding resource provider for grooms based in Overland Park, KS, has launched the world’s first wedding registry and informational resource designed specifically for men. While most grooms have typically been left out of the wedding planning process, TheManRegistry.com is poised to change that. This unique website puts men in the driver’s seat, providing couples with the ability to register for gifts that appeal to grooms and help engage them in the wedding process. Link.

Certificate Programs Starting in Las Vegas

CMEP: Conference Management & Event Planning

Industry leaders with decades of combined experience teach this 12-week comprehensive program. The course is delivered through lectures, discussions, site visits, and talks by guest speakers. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to succeed in their careers as conference and event planning professionals.

Classes Start: May 18, 2009
Classes Meet: Monday and Wednesday (6:00 pm to 9:00 pm for 12 weeks)
For More Information Click Here

WCD: Wedding Coordination & Design

This program is designed to provide participants with a foundation of knowledge on wedding planning and the confidence to enter and succeed in the industry. Upon completion, graduates will be able to work towards careers as independent wedding consultants; employment as planners with hotels, resorts and special event companies; or for positions with allied businesses.

Classes Start: May 18, 2009
Classes Meet: Monday and Wednesday (6:00 pm to 9:00 pm for 12 weeks)
For More Information Click Here

AOC: The Art of Concierge

This program is designed to provide thorough hands-on training in world-class concierge service and guest relations skills, along with the required supervisory and communication skills to succeed in hospitality operations.

Classes Start: May 19, 2009
Classes Meet: Tuesday and Thursday (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for 10 weeks)
For More Information Click Here

Back to School

The Wedding Wire blog has a cute post with photos, about a wedding for elementary school sweethearts. Link.

Wedding Gown with the Longest Train in the World

Link.