The Grand del Mar Wedding Experience

What an exceptional week! I just got back from spending 2 nights at the “The Grand Del Mar Wedding Experience.” Paige Levy (one of my former brides!) and the “Wedding Specialist”/Catering Manager @ The Grand Del Mar hosted a beautiful three day event at their stunning hotel, nestled in the La Jolla Mountains. They hosted a yoga class, golf lessons, a nature hike, spa treatments, dinners, dancing and a mock wedding. It was a tantalizing 3 days and I enjoyed experiencing the luxury and reconnecting with top wedding planners throughout Southern California. Now it’s back to the office and back to reality! I really missed my husband and baby girls.

See some great pictures from the week below, by Boyd Harris Photography

Casa del Mar/Shutters on the Beach Event

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending a fabulous reception and dinner for wedding planners hosted by Casa del Mar and Shutters on the Beach. Toby Lent, Director of Catering for Casa and Shutters organized the entire evening and did a superb job! Cocktails started over at Casa del Mar where they showcased their ballroom and saw a beautiful ceremony set up. We then walked over to Shutters on the Beach into a beautiful ballroom with gorgeous long tables, romantic lighting, and Stunning flowers…. Exceptional job Ricardo (from Luna Gardens). The delicious five course dinner was followed by espressos (Tricia from America’s Cup) and amazing mini deserts (Epicurean Umbrella). I always enjoy reconnecting with other industry professionals, especially at one of my favorite Hotels! Thanks to my husband (who stayed home with the girls), I had a wonderful night out!

Here I am with Toby, and my two office managers, Holly and Constance

Bridal Shower in Honor of Jennifer Zins

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of creating, planning and MC’ing a beautiful bridal shower for one of my brides, Jennifer. She is getting married at Trump National this May and just held her bridal shower last Saturday at The Hotel Bel-Air. Jennifer looked absolutely radiant and was surrounded by 50 very important women in her life. The flowers, done by Nisie at Enchanted Florist, were absolutely perfect in shades of pink and really complemented the pink linens, provided by Elegant Designs. We played several games including Bridal Trivia (questions to see how well you know the bride) a He Said/She Said (a game where we interviewed the groom on video and replayed the answers to see how close they were to Jen’s) and a timeline game (people had to try to guess the years of significant events in Jen’s life) Check out some of my favorite images below as captured by Danny Baker from Epic Imagery….he did a fabulous job as always!

I loved helping this bride and family through such a beautiful day.. I especially loved that the bride and her mom had a smile on their face the whole day.

Speaking at ABC Inland Empire

I just got back from San Francisco and I am off to speak to again.. this time, much closer to home!  This Tuesday, the 27th (also the birthday of our intern, Jenny!)  I will be speaking at a meeting for the Association of Bridal Consultants in the Inland Empire.  I was so excited to be invited to their first chapter meeting of the year at The Mission Inn in Riverside.  I am going to be presenting my insights on “Sweet Layers of Success”, this is what I presented  at theNational Annual Convention of Bridal Consultants (ABC) in Newport Beach last November.  In my presentation, I will share insights into building a firm foundation of a successful wedding planning business, diversifying your business,attracting a better bride and much more.  I am excited to help other planners grow their careers and flourish in a competitive market, it should be a great time!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a warm and wonderful holiday season! Sorry for the delay in posting to the blog…time just seems to slip away! For those of you who didn’t receive my holiday card, here it is! I hope you enjoy it.

I am excited for an exciting 2009 filled with joy and happiness! I am also looking forward to speaking at Bloomingdales San Francisco on today. My talk will be on balancing wedding planning emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally….It was a hit at Bloomingdales Newport Beach, CA and Aventura, FL….so San Francisco here I come…

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