Association of Bridal Consultants Annual Convention 2008

It was great to see Colin Cowie again at the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC): Business of Bride Conference in November 2008 at The Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach. He spoke about design and details of various weddings from across the world. A very inspiring 1 hour! The ABC had asked that I give 3 presentations to a crowd of 80+ consultants at each session. Thanks to my intern Jenny, I presented a power point presentation on building a balanced foundation for a thriving wedding planning business, i.e. Layers of Success. Much of what I spoke about is in my upcoming book, “Wedding Wisdom: Advice for the Bride, the Planner or Both”. I was also able to make time to meet with 12 career counseling appointments with wedding planners from across the USA. I love meeting and helping other planners maximize their talents and offer advice of ways they can grow their business and continue their success.

Here is Mary and Colin after his speach

Bloomingdales' Pre-Wedding Party at Fashion Island

Mary had the pleasure of being invited to speak at Bloomingdales' "Pre-Wedding" Wedding Party at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. The beautiful event featured different vendors from the industry. Mary spoke to a full audience of brides, grooms, family and friends about staying balanced throughout the whole planning process. She was also able to talk to many of the brides after and offer her expert advice on planning.

Here is Mary and one of her Event Managers, Holly at the booth.

Here is Mary speaking at the "Pre-Wedding" Wedding Party

One angle of the booth

Jack Caputo, Photographer, Will Be Missed

The world has lost a great photographer and friend! Jack Caputo passed away last Wednesday from a loosing battle with colon cancer. He was survived by his wife, 3 small children, numerous family members and thousands of happy past clients that still cherish the memories he captured by video and photography.. Jack was like a brother to me in so many ways.. I first met him in 1995, when we did our first wedding together in La Quinta Resort and Spa (The Bride was Marcia Badgley.. the twin sister of the Designer Mark Badgley aka: the “Badgley” of thee Badgley Mischka).Jack was my first introduction to a “celebrity photographer”… He had an office in Beverly Hills that he shared with Mindy Weiss. Jack helped me plenty with my adventure of being an independent wedding planner by taking head shots for my brochure (we did not have web sites at that time.. marketing was all about your brochure), editing the wording of my brochure, and inviting me to “the best of the best in the wedding industry” parties. Thanks Jack for all the love and support! I hope you knew how loved you were during your short time on this earth…You GENEROUSLY shared your talent, wisdom, laughter, kindness and top standards of service with me… I am so grateful to have traveled the journey with you!!
Thanks for being another Angel to help guide us along our earthly journey …

A Sensational Summer!

Its been awhile since our last post! We've had such a jam packed summer and now that we are heading into fall I wanted to update you all on what I've been up to. Here are some pictures and the scoop on some of my favorite weddings of the summer.

photos by Epic Imagery

Denise and Erik picked a romantic location in the desert to get married- La Quinta Resort & Spa ( which is one of my favorites!!) Denise's parents have a house in Palm Desert so having spent so much time out there together, they knew it was the perfect location for them. With beautiful flowers including hydrangeas, an outdoor dance floor with lots of lush white fabric in an open tent, and a dazzling sparkler exit. Denise and Erik had their perfect night!



Jessica and Chris were engaged at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and decided to have their wedding there 1 year later. She wanted and clean and chic look- so we did potted phalaenopsis orchids. It was different then most of my events and I loved helping to coordinate all the rentals and the planning details to to compliment the look of the wedding.
photos by Kerry of David Michael Photography

Susan and Jeff had a purple inspired wedding at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywod.  This location is so unique because it is graced by the presence of many of Hollywood's elite celebrities and entertainers.  I loved that they got married in part of the lobby which had a fabulous fountain that we adorned with potted hydrangeas and floating gardenias.  The cake was so cute and was done by Nancy Kay Confections (did you know she does the best red velvet cake?) 

Photos by Asgeir of Asgeir Fotographica

Wedding Planning 101 Seminar

Mary holds quarterly seminars for brides to be and wedding planners who are looking for some fabulous tips on planning weddings! We had a very successful turn out at our "Wedding Planning 101" session at Mimio Papers in Pasadena. See our flyer below and this picture from the event!

Featured on "The Brides Cafe" Blog

We are so excited that The Brides Cafe blog, created by Janie Medley, has featured our "Wedding Wands". We love this blog and read it everyday and couldn't be more honored to have been mentioned.
See the post here or check out the details below:

June 06, 2008

Mary Dann Offers Memorial Services

Celebration of Life Services

“Helping you in celebrating the lives of your loved ones with special memorial services & events”

During a time of loss, we often can use a helping hand and heart to get us through this transition in life. Losing a loved one is never easy and we are here to offer tenderness and guidance to move you through this process with grace. Mary Dann and her team are here for you. We can do as much or as little as you would like at an hourly rate of $120 per hour. Time will be kept track of in 15 minute increments. Any additional costs incurred to execute your request, such as film developing, postage, etc. will be reimbursable to Mary Dann Wedding and Party Coordinators.
In addition, Mary Dann Wedding and Party Coordinators will keep accurate records of all time spent on phone calls and meetings made on your behalf. A statement of such record keeping will be sent to your attention at any time during the planning process.

Showcase and Celebrate Life!

Services include but not limited to:

Venue Selection, negotiation and design

Menu Selection that reflects your taste

Procurement of memorial announcements, programs, and prayer cards as a keepsake

Photography to capture the memories

Videography and Video montages to remember the joyous past

“Life is not measure by the number of breathes we take, but by the moments that take our breath away…”

photos by Sean Azul

The Mary Dann Collection: "Wedding Wands"

FAMED WEDDING AND EVENT PLANNER, MARY DANN ADDS WHIMSY AND FLAIR TO EVENTS WITH NEW COLLECTION OF WEDDING WANDS

Los Angeles, CA (April 7, 2008) – Famed wedding and event planner, Mary Dann has added to her signature collection of event accessories with the addition of whimsical, hand-made Wedding Wands. Waving joyfully in the air, Wedding Wands are a creative, exciting way to add flair to any event, especially wedding ceremonies. Dann’s inspiration for creating Wedding Wands was to give brides and grooms the choice of a fun, interactive accessory that their guests can wave to celebrate their union. Standing side by side, often creating a receiving line on two sides, guests are able to greet the new couple with fanfare, when other noisemakers or objects can not be used or are not desired.

For centuries, waving beautifully colored streamers and banners has been a way to add extra praise and adulation to guests-of-honor in celebrations. Dann has brought this tradition to modern events with her Ceremony Wands available in 22 different colors ranging in every shade of the rainbow. The wands can be designed in up to four colors- one basic color for the handle of the wand and three accent colors for the six ribbon strands flowing from it. A glistening rhinestone is adorned at the top of each wand where the ribbon strands are attached, giving an extra touch of elegance.

In addition to weddings, Wedding Wands are also appropriate for birthdays, anniversaries or any other celebratory occasion which calls for festive adulation.

For a full list of colors available or for more information on Mary Dann Wedding Wands, please visit www.marydann.com. $5.50 per wand, minimum of 20 wands per order.

Bloomingdales' Bridal Event & Monique Lhuillier

We were asked to be the exclusive wedding planner represented at the Bloomindales' "Pre-Wedding" Wedding Party featuring Monique Lhuillier's new china line. Although Mary is still on maternity leave she was able to come out for a few hours and meet the many brides who stopped by our booth.




Mary Dann and our event managers Constance and Holly








Wildflower gave us a beautiful linen and Carissa Jones from jl.designs did all the flowers for our table. Here is a picture with one of our event managers, Holly with the beautiful flowers and our great set up.Our staff with one of the girls from Bloomingdales and some of our favorite vendors who were also sponsors of the event, Margaret of Mimio Papers and NancyKay of NancyKay Confections







photos were taken by Fotonuovo

Sohpia Has Arrived!

Sophia Helen McNamee

was born on

February 15, 2008 at 9:42am weighing in at 8lbs 1/2 oz and 20 inches. Mary and Sophia are doing very well and enjoying lots of one on one time :)

New York New Year's Eve

On New Years I got to be more of a producer/designer for the EDS New Year's party at the Beverly Hills Hotel which hosted top executives from Fortune 500 companies.

The theme of the event was a black and white "New York New Years".

Set up included:
cocktail reception: all white furniture and all white flowers with some black accents
dinner/dance reception: primarily black and white colors with accents of cabernet red

Instead of bringing on a floral/event designer & staff- I ordered the flowers from one of my favorite floral companies and handled all the design and installation myself.
I hired my own crew to hang the fabric and lighting and the balloon drop. Usually I out source everything and oversee the set up but in this case I was in an integral part of the set up
( running around working while at 8 months pregnant!)

photos by Brian Kramer Photography

Why I liked it: I just love flowers and creating different looks and styles of arrangements-it's one of my favorite things to do when I'm not working. I don't often get a chance to do that as I am usually called into the mediating and planning portion of weddings. This time I got my opportunity to bring toge her linens, fabrics, ambient lighting, and floral arrangements picked out and created by me!