Fab Ad:: Trump Hotel Chicago Wedding

Thanks to the amazing Traci Romano I spotted this really well done hotel wedding ad {these are relatively hard to come by} for Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago.

To see in full click on the image {this was as big as I could make it here on the blog} but the headline is: "YOUR EVER AFTER" and the body copy reads: "From our soaring, modern grand ballroom, to the glittering skyline, to the inventive cuisine and resounding service, let your vows take on a new view."

It is challenging for hotels/resorts/venues to cut through the clutter in wedding advertising and really make an impact.  This ad accomplishes all that and more -- hitting on the key points that are important to a bride when choosing a wedding reception venue in the copy but with a dramatic visual to grab the attention of any reader. With food+beverage packages beginning from $220pp++ they have certainly set the tone for what one might expect at this luxury hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago. Kudos!

Kleinfeld comes to Minnesota

Kleinfeld will leave NYC for the first time in its long and storied history - making its first stop in Minnesota for a trunk show hosted by Fashion Director, Randy Fenoli {who has been featured on this season of "Say Yes to the Dress" }.  

What a special treat for brides-to-be in the midwest - Randy is just the BEST and I have heard great things about the new Alita Graham line designed by Kleinfeld.

We are also thrilled to confirm that Randy will be joining us in a few weeks to attend engage!08::the encore along with an amazing group of luxury wedding professionals from all over the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.  A few spots still remain, so if you are able to join us - plan to!

2008 Caribbean Week: Canada

I am in Toronto where tomorrow I will give a presentation on Destination Weddings as part of the 2008 Caribbean Week for the Caribbean Tourism Organization [CTO] sponsored by The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism.  

I have quite the "blog backlog" going on and the hope is that by next week I will be able to resume a more consistent posting schedule.  A girl can dream-right?  Until then, follow along on Twitter because that is being updated a few times per day!

The Wedding Book: Mindy Weiss & Lisbeth Levine

A little while back I was delighted to receive a package in the mail containing Mindy Weiss's new Book "The Wedding Book"  with a note from her co-writer Lisbeth Levine {who is also a contributing writer for InStyle and InStyle Weddings} saying:

"Rebecca - The book was a long time coming, but it's finally seen the light of day! Thanks so much for your help on destination weddings -- your expertise made those sections richer.  By the way, I love your blog -- it's full of great wedding industry info!"  Best - Lisbeth

She then cited a number of places throughout the book that included mentions of our long-time client The Cayman Islands and even a shout out to us in the Acknowledgements section!  Really fun!

I had the pleasure of spending a long weekend with Lisbeth in Grand Cayman a few years ago as I hosted her and a number of other wedding editors for a media trip.  She was working on the book with Mindy at that time - so it just shows how intense the process is to get a book project to market! {It is a mind-blowing, amazingly comprehensive 485-pages!!}

Thank you Lisbeth and congratulations to you and Mindy on an incredible accomplishment - this book is a 'must read' for any bride-to-be!!

HARO: Help a Reporter Out

One of the biggest requests we get at Engaging Concepts from independent wedding professionals is for guidance/assistance with Public Relations efforts. Of course, that is a major reason why we have included a PR panel in the next engage symposium but in the past week I have spent some time evaluating and observing the innovative HARO "Help a Reporter Out" concept by PR guru Peter Shankman.

Based on what I have seen come across my desk a few times each day - I am convinced that it is something worth sharing with industry colleagues as a valuable resource for potential, targeted media exposure. You can read all about it and sign up for FREE by visiting the HARO site - and be sure that you review and understand the ground rules - there are some pretty major consequences if you do not - all of them very fair and understandable.

Basically, once you sign up you will receive an email a few times a day outlining a large variety of news outlets/TV/blogs/freelancers seeking specific interview topics or sources. You can quickly scan these and see if there is anything that may fit your particular business or personal niche and respond as directed.

Certainly worth a test to see if it provides any opportunities - I noticed a number of requests that easily could be fulfilled by readers of this blog and wedding industry colleagues.  

And by the way...check out his explanation of why he offers this totally FREE...it is a perfect example of the Law of Reciprocity -- love it!

If you do sign up -- let me what you think! 

77 Secrets for Greening the Wedding Industry DVD

Susan Southerland of Just Marry! has done it again!  

Fresh of her successful launch of her first DVD for brides "Wedding Planning Secrets" - she has created "77 Secrets for GREENING the wedding industry" specifically for wedding industry professionals.  Available on Amazon and from the Just Marry website and perfectly priced at $29.95 - it is a must addition to any wedding industry pros resource library!

We are looking forward to having Susan join us at engage in October and congratulate her on this latest venture!

MUSE: Wedding Inspiration

Today's inbox included a release about MUSE - a new wedding social networking community for 'like minded' to-be-weds. In their words:

What is Muse? Muse is your source of (Wedding) Inspiration.

The Wedding World is Changing

For your wedding, you need more originality and less replication. You need ideas that are practical and created by real people. You need classy mixed with cool. You need simple, quick and easy. You need one place online that forgets about everyone else and instead focuses on just you and your wedding. You need Muse.

Muse connects you to your wedding who, what, where and how. It's a social community of vibrant people that share wedding experiences.

On Muse you can...

• Find and share different ideas with people similar to you
• Plan every detail for every wedding related function
• Connect and Collaborate with your friends, guests and wedding people

One to watch! Let me know if any of your brides and grooms are using MUSE and what you here back from them...

Blog Find: Beach House Bride

oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I just got lost in the dreamy blog Beach House Bride from the owners of Tulle - the amazing bridal boutique on Martha's Vineyard {check out their "inspiration lounge" concept - fab}. So lovely and chic!  

Brings back very fond memories of some time spent on the Vineyard back in college - visiting my great friends who spent every summer there working during school...those were the best of times and life seemed so much simpler then! 

Enjoy and happy weekend!

Brides and Grooms: Totally Connected

In the 'strange but true' category and further proof that brides and grooms are eternally connected in every way - offline and on - check out Seattle-based designer Jana Brevick's  Jacked—Cat 5 Compliant Wedding Set: "A wedding set for the unconventional! The female ring has a choice of four opaque colors: turquoise, white, orange or black. The male ring stands tall and dramatically transparent. The world is your technological oyster.” 

 These rings are sold out. Believe it.

Speaking Engagement: Caribbean Travel Conference | Toronto

I am looking forward to speaking at the upcoming Caribbean Travel Conference in Toronto, Canada on September 24, 2008 presented by the Caribbean Travel Organization [CTO] - the Caribbean's official tourism development agency. 

Directed to travel industry professionals, I will address the state of millennial matrimony, the changing face of today’s destination bride and groom, tips on romancing the wedding market, key insights into how couples decide on wedding and honeymoon destinations and tips on leveraging new media to reach these consumers. 

My session is presented by The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, whom we have been providing romance strategy consulting services as part of their professional agency team since early 2004. View my full profile on the official CTO Canada site here and more details on the conference here.

Looking forward to my trip and to making more industry friends in Canada!

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!

A personal touch

You might have noticed I have added a little 'personal' touch to the blog this week - after wondering how some of my favorite bloggers had their own signature at the end of each post - I finally took 2 seconds and googled "personal signature on a blog" and waalaa - in a matter of a few more seconds had created this:



Not too bad! MyLiveSignature allows you to create a unique custom signature for your blog, website or html email for free. I might play around a bit to create a few alternatives but all in all it works for me! From google to finish it took me no more than 4 minutes and it appeared on the blog.

If there are other sites out there that you have found that offer similar services - please share!

It truly is the little things...

Twitter me This...

For the past few months I have been totally into Twittering.  

I have a bunch of new friends on there - not really many old friends or really many that I know in person {in fact, I think I can count on ONE hand how many people I am following or are following me I have ever met in person!!}.  But it has been fascinating and I admit it - totally addicting! 

Twitter has received lots of press lately - including a feature article in the business section of USA Today last week.  At first I thought it completely ridiculous and not something 'for me' -- but then again - I thought the same thing about blogging, IM'ing, texting, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and the list goes on and on.

I have expanded my wedding industry network exponentially in the past few weeks alone - it is amazing. The best way to understand it is to just DO it - just jump on in and start. You will find your 'voice' over time and trust me, you will soon 'get it' just like the millions of others who are 'tweeting' away to their own special and unique worldwide audience of new 'friends.' It is a form of super-networking - and it really works.

For my fellow wedding bloggers - there is a great article over on ProBlogger called "The Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers" that is super helpful - be sure to check it out.

Oh - and be sure to come along and "follow me" on my life's adventures and I promise to add to you my growing list of people I am following!!

Happy Tweeting!

BloggerBrides.com

Congrats to Stacie Francombe, Harmony Walton and the entire GetMarried team for the launch of BloggerBrides.com - a brand new community of 'real bride bloggers' and 'star bloggers' who will be adding fresh and exciting content to the site daily! 

I have added it to my exploding list of must-read wedding blogs and look forward to the valuable insight to be gained from all perspectives!

Color Forecast 2008: Pantone Fashion Color Report

Be sure to download the free {and fab!} pantone fashion color report fall 2008

pdf for insight into the hot colors for fall and beyond - including rich purple which we have been seeing increasingly crop up on brides and planners inspiration boards for the past few months.  

No matter your role in the wedding - you need to be aware and on top of wedding color palettes as they are one of the most important, unifying elements of a wedding event. 

Bottom line, if it is important to your brides - it needs to be important to you!!!

{thanks to weddingbee for sharing the pantone link!}

New Program: engage1to1

We are thrilled to {finally!} announce a new program being offered by Engaging Concepts based on overwhelming demand  from wedding professionals for one-on- one consulting. 

On a limited availability basis, we are pleased to offer engage1to1: high-impact wedding marketing and strategy consulting sessions designed for those wedding professionals looking to elevate and further define their successful businesses.  engage1to1's will be offered as a one-hour phone consultation with check-in/follow up calls as needed or, more in-depth 1/2 day 'super sessions' here in Celebration.

For all the scoop and the full information piece please email Kathryn at engage@engagingconcepts.com or call the office at 407.566.228

Thank you to all of you who have inquired about our services in the past and waited patiently while we developed and refined a concept that works within our unique business model!

TIME: "Downsizing Your Wedding"

Somehow in the mania that was May, I missed the article in TIME Magazine called "Downsizing Your Wedding."  Click here to check it out.

In any case - it is well worth the quick read by anyone in the wedding industry. As we all know, even traditionally recession-proof weddings are feeling the pinch in many ways - not so much in the actual cancelling of events, but rather the scrutiny over each and every aspect that impacts the wedding budget.

Ensuring that you are providing real value in helping your wedding couples get the most for their money and demonstrating that the service or product that you provide is worthy of what you are asking has never been more critical. 

 This is the time to 'overdeliver' at every opportunity.