Facebook for Wedding Professionals

After a self-imposed blogging break to focus on completing a major client project and presentation I am back!  Amazing how guilty I was feeling about neglecting the blog - I have been Twittering away but the alternative focus on anything other than our looming deadline was just not possible

Besides Twitter, I have been quite into Facebook over the summer  -- and now I admit I totally get all the hype and am enjoying it on many levels - business and personal!

In addition to growing my 'friends' network both professionally and re-connecting with long lost friends from childhood, high school, college and beyond, I have started a group on Facebook called "Luxury Wedding Professionals" that is already 175 members strong - membership is open and I invite you to join an eclectic group of industry pros from as far away as Paris, Singapore, Canada, the Caribbean and all over the U.S!  We would love to have you join the group by clicking here.

If you are not quite convinced of the benefit of FaceBook for business - check out today's blog post by Mari Smith - called "The Pied Piper of Facebook" by Fast Company Magazine.  Her post is called "10 Reasons to Use Facebook for Business" and is a quick read that sums up the reasons to at least  make the attempt to get in the game.

Like all of this social media coming at us at such dizzying speeds - I am convinced that the ONLY way you can begin to understand it is to jump in and learn along the way - and the sooner you adapt and try to 'get it' the better - but never feel like it is too late!

Looking forward to connecting to you on Facebook! 

Announcing: engage!08: the encore

Following a SOLD OUT event in June 2008 with 85 luxury wedding professionals attending from 17 states and 5 countries, we are thrilled to present engage!08: the encore.  

Set for October 14th, 2008 at the 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 reknowned 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!

Plus:

"Queen Bee" herself, Bee Kim, founder and editor of ground-breaking wedding blogWeddingBee will share her story on her meteoric rise from bride-blogger to wedding industry innovator and include tips on blogging for your business,  how to find your authentic blogging 'voice,' developing an audience, what vendors need to understand, getting featured on other blogs and the real deal on monetizing what you have created.

CBS The Early Show lifestyle, entertainment and weddings producer Jill Meister will share the inside scoop of working with mainstream media, TV pitches that cut through the clutter, what makes a compelling wedding television segment and how to position yourself as a repeat guest. 

Celebrity publicist Eda Kalkay {David Tutera, Emeril Lagasse, GetMarried, The Marings and more} will provide secrets to creating authentic *buzz* to get the attention of bridal and lifestyle media  and how to make PR really pay.

Not to mention an incredible opportunity to network and 'engage' with the who's who of the luxury wedding industry!

Visit the engage!08 website for more details on the event and to register today - space is limited by design to maintain an intimate experience - this event is not to be missed!

Out of the {Wedding} Box Thinking...

Love, Love, Love what amazing wedding photographers 5ive15ifteen out of Toronto offer - not just the standard "engagement/rehearsal dinner/wedding/day after" coverage options but something truly out of the {wedding} box: a dress fitting session!

The importance and significance of finding 'the dress' is near the very top of most girls wedding planning dreams...what a fabulous way to document these precious moments forever.

I encourage bridal retailers, wedding planners and photographers alike to partner on creating unique {and affordable} value-added 'dress fitting' photo documentation.  If you do - share some of the results - I would love to blog them!

Kudos to the team at 5ive15ifteen for conceiving of this idea and merchandising it in such a great fashion!

Bridal Media News

From the inbox: The always amazing Pacific Weddings Magazine has redesigned their website:

And, the gorgeous Your Wedding Day Magazine has gone national and can be found in bookstores across the country.  Be sure to pick up a copy of the latest issue - yummy!
Enjoy!