oodles and oodles of FUN!!!!!!

last monday i had the opportunity to attend a 12-hour "weducation workshop" (wedding education) hosted by the wedding planners at fete perfection. it was SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun! seriously, i had a fantastic time, i couldn't believe i wasn't tired by it all at the end of the day. haha.

the wedding planner started out by giving some statistics. brides these days are spending about $30,000 on a wedding. wedding planners usually get about 10% of whatever the budget is. MOST IMPORTANTLY: 100% of brides look online for ideas. that means if you're going to market your company, you need to be on the internet.

then a graphic designer talked about branding. branding is something that's essential to your company, but its something i lack the skills and knowledge in. i know this is an area where i'd definitely have to utilize someone else's skills.

next the videographer talked about how videography has really evolved within the last 5 years. PLEASE CHECK OUT HIS WEBSITE at www.vibrantfilm.com! he is amazing! he mentioned that he videotaped justin mourneau's wedding (the Twins first-baseman). for most couples, videography is on the bottom of their priority list. all you need is some random uncle to hook his camera up to a tri-pod and stay in the same spot all day long, rite? well, things have changed! now you can have your own little movie! its so amazing. this is one of my favorite videos from his site:

Lindsay and Brandon from John Hoel on Vimeo.

it was really kool cuz as i was reading his blog about mother's day, i thought to myself, "man that guy looks A LOT like our worship pastor, stefan." and guess wat? it was! i think they know each other from working together at churches in the past.

next was the photographer. then a luxury limo picked us up and brought us to a decor rental store called linen effects. that was my FIRST time in a limo! (i never got to ride one for prom or for my wedding.) hehe. the decor store was soo kool too! it was just like on those wedding shows where you get to go and see examples of centerpieces and linens and chair covers all put together in a demonstration. it was really neat.
www.lineneffects.com (crystals are really IN rite now)


then the limo brought us back and we learned how to set a table. wedding planners need to learn in case the venue is running late and you have to help out, or else the venue might do it wrong and you'll be the one to correct it! we did a menu tasting by a caterer which was SUPER YUMMY. then we learned about flowers, dj'ing, invitations, and dance lessons. i still wished we could have had dancing at our wedding, but its okay. maybe for our children we can do that! =)

next an owner of a '62 rolls royce brought his car for us to check out. he does a lot of weddings and of course it's the #1 car couples want to ride off in just like the movies. then the owner of award-winning Buttercream cakes came and talked to us about wedding cakes. we learned how to cut cake and of course eat it too! (i thought of johan and how jealous he would have been as i ate two slices of cake. haha.)
www.americandreamcars.com


then a vendor from a tent rental company came and talked about rentals. gosh, its amazing what they can do! i always wanted a tent wedding, especially after seeing "my best friend's wedding." but its so expensive. the costs really do add up and in the end it probably would have cost more than the venue where we held it at, so--oh well! its still very beautiful tho.

finally at the end the wedding planner talked about consultations and contracts. she saved the most important stuff till the end, as all of this info was extremely pertinent and essential to someone who is interested in starting their own wedding planning company.

it was such a FUN day. i would do it again in a heartbeat! its definitely got me thinking more about starting my own company, but i need to learn more about the wedding and event planning industry before i feel that i can take the dive and open my own company (if thats even wat i want to do.) =D

to all the vendors that i met that day, i was in complete awe of their courage to take the ultimate plunge and start their own company. i know thats wat i want to do in the future, because ive always wanted to be my own boss! but i really do need more experience before i do something like that. all-in-all im still in awe of these people's courage to start their own companies...WOW! i hope one day i will have enough courage and faith in myself to do that!

-p