A New Years Wedding

I got to start my 2010 with a beautiful celebration this year! I was blessed to be the planner for Michelle and Joe's wedding on 1.1.10 at one of my favorite venues--the St. Regis San Francisco. Weddings usually have great energy already, so imagine one that's held on New Years day, when everyone is feeling excited and hopeful for what the new year will bring. It was a celebration in so many ways, and in the center of it all was the love that Michelle and Joe shared for one another.

I met Michelle nearly two years ago, when she was the Maid of Honor for her sister, Emily's wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. I was honored to have been Emily's planner too, and I so enjoyed that experience. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when Michelle called me shortly after to tell me she was ready to plan her wedding! There is something incredibly special about planning multiple weddings for the same family. I think in part, I felt bonded to the family already through Emily's wedding and it just made it all the more fun to be able to extend that through another celebration within the family.

Michelle is by far one of the most creative, talented, and crafty bride I've ever encountered. Throughout the year of wedding planning, she and her mom worked religiously on different craft projects, one after another, from origami flowers to printed patterns on vellum, to favor boxes that were wrapped in 8 different layers of paper! It was really impressive to see the amount of effort that was put into all the details of the wedding. I secretly vowed to myself that I would do the same for my daughter Bridgette when her time comes! :)

Here are some lovely images of Michelle and Joe's wedding from the amazing Jose Villa! I so enjoyed working with him, and despite his reputation as being one of the top photographers of the world, he is the most down the earth and easygoing person to work with. Love him!








Thank you to my fabulous team of Event Professionals:

Barry Peterson of The St. Regis San Francisco
Enhanced Lighting
Jose Villa
Waterlily Pond
Savadelis Films
Wildflower Linens
Hartmann Studios
Taylor Pham
Ron Grandia, A Different Kind of DJ

Raising the Bar

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind as the inaugural Academy for Planners + Designers came together in full swing. It was probably the most exhausting, but rewarding week of my career. I got to meet so many of my peers from across the country, Canada, and Mexico! It really took a village to produce the caliber of a boutique conference that we envisioned, and I certainly could not have done it without a stellar team of people behind me.

Wedding 360 is my baby, because I have had this dream for the longest time to focus on education for planners and designers, as well as brides and grooms. For the past two years, my team and I have been working so hard to make this a reality! This does not mean I am giving up my wedding planning business though. In fact, everything that I am learning through Wedding 360 is only going to make me an even better planner for my clients!

I love the wedding industry, and I'm so glad that through Wedding 360, I was able to contribute just a little bit to raise the bar for planners and designers. In our business, it's definitely a revolving door because our jobs are perceived as one of the more fun and glamorous jobs out there. However, despite the glamour of being surrounded by incredibly creative and talented people, and beautiful things, it really is one heck of a hard job that we have! Imagine being completely responsible to create and/or produce the day that is often described as 'the most important day' in people's lives! To be a great planner goes beyond just knowing how to throw a great party. You must have a breadth of knowledge on a large variety of fields, from etiquette to interpersonal relationships to food and wine to design to lighting, production, and MUCH more.

My clients don't hire me just to make things look pretty. They hire me to advise them efficiently, effectively, and to provide solutions. If you wouldn't build a house without consulting an architect, then there's no reason to plan a wedding without a wedding planner.

The above photo is of me, my business partner Jean Marks, and one of our fabulous speakers David Beahm of David Beahm Design from NYC. It was taken by one of out attendees, the very creative Holly Chapple from Virginia!

I want to share a fun edit from my favorite filmmaker Andrew Hsu, of Studio MSV, of our Emerald Underworld Welcome Party at The Academy!


Academy of Planners and Designers from andrew msv on Vimeo.

Counting My Blessings

As I gear up for a big week ahead, with our inaugural Academy for Planners + Designers, I finally had time to sit down today to write my 'speeches'. As co-founder of Wedding 360, LLC. I will be doing a welcoming speech at our kick-off party on Sunday, an introductory speech before the first class begins on Monday, and then a thank you speech after the last class concludes on Tuesday.

As I wrote down my thoughts, I realized that this has been one of the most amazing journeys of my life. It's hard to believe that it was just one year ago that Wedding 360, LLC was formed, and we began planning for The Academy. So much has happened in one short year. We have learned a great deal, made a ton of new friends, and planned the biggest event we've ever planned.

During this past year, I worked harder than I ever had, and I was already somewhat of a workaholic before all of this! So many days, nights, and weekends were spent planning all of the intricate details of this 3 day event, from getting some of the best experts around the country to come teach, to working out the design elements with the fabulous Gloria Wong, to thinking 'big picture' for Wedding 360 with my business partner Jean.

As with any new business venture, there were frustrations, road blocks, and costly mistakes. It sure is easy to get swept into all of that and spiral downward. But the passion that I had for this business kept me going. It is so important to have a vision and a passion, because without that, it is too easy to throw in the towel and call it quits.

I really need to count my blessings, because so many amazing people have helped me through this incredible journey. I'm not going to list all of them here yet, because I want to save it for my speeches at The Academy, but there is one person I really want to acknowledge on my blog right now, and that is my husband Alan.

I am so grateful to have the most supportive husband in the world. He is always patiently listening to my crazy ideas (and I have lots of them!), and he willingly supports me in all my ventures. He always tells me he believes in me, and that gives me a lot of strength to get through all the hardships of being an entrepreneur. For the past year, he has shown his immense support by taking over the parental duties when I am not around, so that I can focus on building my new business. Some people tell me I am a superwoman because I can juggle two businesses and a 3 year old, but I think my husband is the true superman because he masters an intense career, handles a workaholic wife with patience and grace, and manages to spend a lot of quality time with our daughter, who simply adores him (just like I do)!

After The Academy is over, my biggest goal is to create a more balanced life, so that I can be around for my family. It's the hardest thing to do when you're an entrepreneur, because you feel like you have to work all the time, but I am determined to do it!

Can't wait to see everything come together for The Academy! Follow us on twitter for updates!