Jack and Ye - July 11, 2010

As I explained in an earlier post, I had quite the busy summer. But it started off beautifully, when I handed off a wedding I was planning to a day of coordinator at Exquisite Occasions (http://www.exquisiteoccasions.ca/) to carry across the finish line for me.

Ye and Jack hired me last October to plan their wedding. A wonderful, and incredibly busy couple, they were looking for a "secret garden" kind of wedding. 95% of their guest list, including their parents, would be taking the voyage to Toronto from China. Ye and Jack wanted to be sure that they hosted a very western wedding without overlooking their eastern traditions. Our first stop, was the Fantasy Farm, and this was followed by some very trustworthy and wonderful friends of mine in the industry.

When I broke the news to Ye and Jack that I was expecting a baby, completely unexpectedly, my heart was broken. My baby's due date was just a week before their wedding date, and I was incredibly nervous about oing into labour at the most inconvenient time, or having to deal with complications when I should be managing the details of their big day. I left it to them to decide whether they wanted me to back out completely and help them find another planner straight away, or if they wanted me to complete the major steps of planning and hand off to a day of coordinator to help bring the last month of details together for them.

Much to my happiness, they asked me to stay on as long as I could, and together we would interview potential day of coordinators to help them fully realize a most wonderful day. :)

And of course, they had a lovely one. From the venue to the flowers, the photographer and the cake. We came in under budget, and we have evidence that a really beautiful day gave Ye and Jack and their family and friends a moment to remember!

Our major vendors were:

Fantasy Farm (http://www.fantasyfarm.ca/)

Wild Orchid Creations Photography (http://www.wildorchidcreations.com/)

Sounds of Distinction (http://www.soundsofdistinction.com/)

Fran Sackler Florals (http://www.fsflorals.com/)

Alisa Lyons (http://www.whataface.com/)

Cakeaholic (http://www.cakeaholic.ca/)

Congratulations Ye and Jack. I wish you many years of married bliss. You are a special couple, and have a bright future. Thank you for trusting me with your big day!

Passion for detail

What it takes to plan a wedding is a lot of passion and a keen eye for detail. With a wide variety of budgets to contend with, and a whole lot of various decision makers at the ready to tear things a part, it also takes a lot of guts.

When I learned how to manage the intricate details of a project in my old IT career, I also learned how to do this with no budget. My only budget allotted to me was out of my control, and was allocated strictly to my extended teams' salaries. With no development budget to actually spend it was always a matter of being as creative as I could to Macgyver a robust process that would dazzle my superiors with nothing but a paper clip and a shoe string. This is the exact foundation I needed to start my career as an event planner, and moreover, as a wedding planner.

When you learn how to do things right, you learn how to turn a rustic old building into a lavish 50's style dinner club. You learn how to hire the right vendors who'll transform an old 70's banquet hall to make it modern and contemporary, or who will photograph the event in such a way as to disguise and play down anything that glares out as an oddity. You learn how to take a paper clip and a shoe string, maybe a bit of glue, and turn them into a wrist corsage that would make the mother of the bride cry with pride. And you'll do it with no one being any the wiser.

You learn how to network and you learn how to dazzle your clients with your professionalism. You'll make yourself remembered among your network of suppliers as someone they would prefer to do business with over any of the competition.

Where do you learn something like this, without losing half of the practical education that helps you to help your own business succeed? Excellence In Event Education has the answers you need and has the teaching method that really helps you to take your time to learn it right. http://www.excellenceineventeducation.com/

New Adventures

Well it's been a long time since I wrote anything, and well, that's because I've been extremely busy! I'm a new mom, and I spent the last trimester of my pregnancy, feverishly writing the curriculum texts for my other brand new adventure.

Not to worry, I'll still be dabbling away at wedding planning, and florals. But this new adventure is pretty extreme. Let me get a quick proud mama moment out of the way and share a photo of my beautiful daughter with you first!

In addition to this beautiful piece de resistance! The newest baby is a distance education school by the name of Excellence In Event Education (http://www.excellenceineventeducation.com/) or E3 for short. Unlike every other event planning school out there, the major difference we're offering is a more thorough curriculum and virtual classroom instruction. Courses can still be completed in the privacy of your own home and at your own pace. But you get full on support from the school throughout the program, and onward after you graduate. The deal is that we're aiming to prepare graduates to manage their new careers. We're not simply presenting the shiny object, and collecting fees for the distraction. Our tuitions are lower than the others too. There's only success for the student who graduates from our program. And we're not stopping with wedding planning. We know what it takes to be a success in this industry, and it's diversity.

So come the new year, we'll be offering more than just wedding planning, you'll be able to certify and learn how to plan things like parades, trade shows, destination weddings, and more! Who knew planning a funeral could be part of a course curriculum? And when you leave, you're prepared to enter the career through another employer, or you're prepared to start your own business and take the leap. We dive deep into marketing the business, analyzing industry statistics, and developing business strategies. It's not just grab your license and go! And with over 40 combined years of experience at the helm, we can show you how!

Visit http://www.excellenceineventeducation.com/ right away and register! Start your new career today!