Speaking Engagement :: International Caterers Association (ICA)

Another great time I had recently was speaking to the International Caterers Association (ICA) for their Regional Education Days (RED).

Officially known as ICA RED.

This was my first time speaking just to caterers (not mixed in with other wedding industry pros) and what a great, fun group they are!! The day's events were held at the very impressive new campus of The Rosen College of Hospitality Management- part of the University of Central Florida. Wow!

Thank you to long-time friend, supporter and former colleague at Disney Weddings, Warren Dietel who is on the board of ICA (and President and Owner of top Central Florida Catering company Puff 'n Stuff) and planned this extraordinary RED experience for asking me to speak to this amazing group of top caterers from around the country. It was truly a pleasure and fun to see some familiar faces of friends like Simon T. Bailey (also a speaker that day and former colleague of both mine and Warren's from our Disney days!), Pauline Parry and Joy Wallace and meet some wonderful new friends as well!

Looking forward to staying in touch with everyone!

engage!11 :: the grand del mar

We are thrilled to announce that engage!11 will be hosted in San Diego, CA at The Grand Del Mar May 30-June 2, 2011 -- simply an incredible resort and a perfect place for our 7th engage! event!! Much, much more to come but we hope you will consider joining us for what promises to be another impactful and 'engaging' luxury wedding business summit! Reserve your spot by clicking here.

Behind-the-Scenes visit to The Martha Stewart Show!

The 'icing on the cake' to our whirlwind New York visit last month was getting to join many of our wedding blogger buddies for a behind-the-scenes visit to the taping of The Martha Stewart show that included a segment on Sandals Weddings by Martha Stewart and destination weddings.

A few photos ::

Here we are with Darcy and Jen Ruske of Martha Stewart Weddings, Joann Delgin from Sandals and many of our favorite bridal bloggers including Harmony Walton, Ali Philips, Stephanie Frasier-Grimm, Christy Weber, Bee Kim and more!

With Randy in the Green Room!

Randy and the uber-fab Anthony Luscia of Martha Stewart Weddings!

This was our second visit to the Martha Stewart Show - last year we were lucky enough to have VIP seating for a taping of an entire show dedicated to Destination Weddings! Here I am with friend (& former client from Sandals) Liz Kaiser waiting for the show to begin.

In the studio...

Thank you Darcy, Anthony and Joann for the amazing invitations to get a glimpse into this wonderful world -- we loved every minute of it!!

New York Bridal Market Parties 2010! :: The Knot Industry Gala

Next up on our whirlwind NYC bridal market adventure was the party celebrating 15 years for The Knot. We are proud to have been one of the earliest supporters of The Knot those many years ago while at Disney (back when we all still referred to it as "the world wide web"!) and have been delighted (and more than a little blown away) at the explosive growth and superstar status that founders Carley Roney + David Liu have achieved. We couldn't imagine not being there to celebrate their success and remarkable achievements.

A few highlights of the extraordinary party held at The New York Public Library ::

Really, there are no words. This 12-foot tall, fresh floral masterpiece was designed by the one and only Preston Bailey!

Preston and the gorgeous Carley Roney!

Friends!! From left: Marcy Blum, Bryan Rafanelli, me, Carley, Randy Fenoli and Kathryn

Love this shot of Carley + Randy...it really sums up the spirit of the night!!!

New York Bridal Market Parties 2010! :: Martha Stewart Weddings

We really love parties - especially when they are filled with many of our very favorite wedding industry friends! Kathryn and I decided completely spur of the moment (literally hours before!) to fly up to New York for two very special parties :: The Martha Stewart Weddings event and The Knot's 15th Anniversary Party...because after following all of bridal market *buzz* on Twitter we simply couldn't stand to miss another second! Here are some highlights from the incredible celebration at The Martha Stewart offices...complete with a behind-the-scenes tour with Darcy Miller!

Kath and Me with the incredible celebrity photographer (and recent engage!10 :: the breakers speaker!) Donna Newman and our dear Cayman Islands friend Danielle Wolfe of

The Caribbean Club!

Me, our gracious hostess Darcy Miller and Kathryn!

Me and Kath with Darcy, famed designer Monique Lhuillier and husband Tom!!

Kathryn, Joann Delgin and Me...the Disney Weddings dream team together again!!

Thank you to Darcy, Anthony, Shira, Jen Ruske and all of our friends at Martha Stewart Weddings...it was truly an incredible party and so worth our impromptu trip!!

Speaking Engagement :: WPPI Road Trip Orlando

I was so honored when the oh-so-wonderful Garrett Nudd asked me to share the stage with him recently during the WPPI Orlando Road Trip. WPPI stands for Wedding and Portrait Photographers International and it is one the largest (if not THE largest) associations for professional wedding photographers in the world. It was a great pleasure to spend time with so many talented pros! Thank you to Garrett for including me!

Here Garret and I are pictured after the presentation with the lovely Joy Nudd, Lisa Konecny of E-Events and Jeffrey Stoner of Stoner Video - great times!!

Client Project :: Sandals Weddings by Martha Stewart

We recently had the honor of working with our long-time Engaging Concepts client Sandals & Beaches Resorts on the roll-out for their very exciting and innovative partnership with Martha Stewart called "Sandals Weddings by Martha Stewart." We were involved in the training & development of their teams from all 19 resorts throughout the Caribbean (Jamaica, Antigua, the Bahamas, St. Lucia and Turks & Caicos) and in their wedding sales offices in Miami.

We designed a comprehensive training program and delivered it multiple times over the course of a week in Jamaica. We also supported the team from Martha Stewart Weddings in the hands-on training of the actual wedding collections ( & learned alot along the way!!). They are all beautiful and are incredibly affordable! Every wedding at a Sandals or Beaches Resort is a Martha Stewart Weddings-designed affair (including the free WeddingMoon package with minimum night stay). The upgraded collections begin at just $1600.

Here are a few of our favorites ::

Chic & Natural ::

Vision in White ::

Seaside Serenade ::

And lucky me, in August I had the opportunity to travel to visit the newly expanded Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort on a special fam trip hosted by Martha Stewart Weddings Editorial Director Darcy Miller. It was a wonderful trip away with cherished industry colleagues...and the resort is a family-paradise!!

Pictured here at our "Island Paradise" collection dinner table on the beach at sunset with my dear friends Joann Delgin, Director of Weddings and Debbie White Director of Public Relations for Sandals & Beaches Resorts!

Here is a link to Harmony Walton of The Bridal Bar's round-up of our trip, with loads of great pics!

What an honor the entire experience was from start to picture-perfect finish!!!

Speaking Appearances at WIPA :: San Francisco + San Diego

I had an amazing time in California speaking for WIPA (Wedding Industry Professionals Association). I am so incredibly impressed with this organization and the level of professionalism, creativity, passion and commitment to creating a community of top-tier wedding professionals. I look forward to being a member of this organization in the coming year. Here are a few images from my whirlwind trip to The St. Regis in San Francisco (my second stay there in less than 6 months - spoiled!) and The Grand Del Mar (an amazing & very special resort!!). Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to join us!!

Here I am in a fabulous creme & gold Raj Tent with owner Maurice. I have always loved these gorgeous tents and was thrilled to get to finally see (& enjoy!) one in person!!
The specialty Raj tent on the lawn at The Grand Del Mar.

Enjoying an afternoon glass of wine with the fabulous Dez Patterson (one of our new engage!10 :: cayman islands friends), Pauline Parry (President of WIPA & owner of Good Gracious Events! in LA and an industry icon!) and Natasha Chornesky of WriteShot in Las Vegas and who gave a lovely introduction to my presentation.
With the fab Pauline Parry on one of the incredible staircases at The Grand Del Mar - what an enchanting resort...I can't wait to return!!!