Engage09 The Encore - Recap

(images Garrett Nudd Photography)

Myself and Sylvia Weinstock

AH, I am still reeling from the whirlwind of The wedding Symposium, "Engage09, the Encore. "
Compared to Engage09 in the Cayman Island in June, this was more intense, a lot of information rolled into one huge day, and lots of networking on the other days and evenings. I was glad that I arrived a day early, not only to get the opportunity to create some fun floral arrangements for all the speakers, but to catch up with everyone that I had connected with at the last Engage.


(and to make 100 unique, orange cymbidium with slate gray feather corsages....ouch!) Yes, I offered to make corsages for everyone attending - which was a great idea in theory, until I spent my first day in Vegas up until 3am making them - thank goodness for my friends Stephanie at PartyCouture and Jennifer Ederer from Modern Day Floral for helping!! But it was a blast to see a room full of people wearing my creations!

The intensive day was tuesday - boy, was my head spinning by the end of that day! From 8am until 6:30 pm we were presented with business strategies, thought processes and advice from some of the brightest in the industry:

Rebecca Grinnals, originally from Disney Weddings, and now a consultant to the luxury wedding market, both for venues and individuals. Rebecca and Kathryn make up the Engaging Concepts team and have created these incredible symposiums! What a pair of brilliant, inspiring minds!

Sean Low, past President of Preston Bailey designs, and one of the most intelligent, best informed business strategists for creative businesses I have ever met. I have had the pleasure of of working with him one on one over the last few months, and boy, has it changed how I view and operate Bella Signature Design (Watch out Seattle!!) At Engage, Sean made a compelling point in how we as artists need to view our work in a business sense, and how best present our art to our clients.

Sean Low, myself, and Michelle Rago

Simon T Bailey was as inspiring as ever - actually, more than ever. This man is so full of inspiration, it's ridiculous. He speaks all over the country to bring out people's passions, ideas, and give them the confidence to follow through with their business. He always manages to put my life into perspective, from both a personal and business perspective
"treat your family as if they were your clients" (meaning, don't ignore them!) and
"What you don't deal with now, will eventually deal with you." Well said.

Marcy Blum was as wry, hilarious and right on point as always. I adore hearing her insights into the wedding industry!
Todd Avery Lenahan spoke about his design sense, and how he creates his art - some of the most stylish interiors around...It was fabulous to see the process of someone so successful at creating their art, and managing that line between what the client thinks they want, and presenting them with something that exceeds their expectations...a hard line to balance.

What a fabulous group of people I had the honor of being with! I left with new connections, closer friendships and a ton of information to process and put to use! How many more people I briefly talked to but didn't get the chance to know better...there's always the next Engage (back at the Ritz Carlton in Cayman - YAY!)

Interested in seeing other Engage09 Encore Recaps?? See below!

Sean Low

Southern Weddings

Julianne Smith from Garter Girl

Lienne Stevens from Think Splendid



Daniela

Read more...

Cocktails with Preston Bailey?

Phaelanopsis tree created by Michelle Rago

I just had to write a headline that grabbed the attention of all those who love Preston Bailey's designs! This last week I had the most amazing experience: being part of the luxury wedding symposium, Engage09.

I have to admit, the first thing that caught my attention, was that by attending, I would get to meet one of my design idols, Preston Bailey. The lure of listening to panels by the incredible Marcy Blum, Sylvia Weinstock, and the editors of fabulous magazines such as Darcy Miller of Martha Stewart Weddings and Antonia Van Der Meer of Elegant Bride/Modern Bride made it that much more tempting, and when I took The Smart Planners' (now ThinkSplendid) Blogging Bootcamp a few months ago Liene Stevens made me realize that I could not miss this event. Thanks Liene, you were so right!!

What I hadn't expected was how much I learned from my peers who also attended - We shared information, sources, strategies...more about this on the next post!

The first day started out by a Welcome Party on Seven Mile beach at the Ritz Carlton, Cayman Island. The hotel is beautiful already, but the uber-talented Michelle Rago, with the help of staff from Celebrations, (a full service event decor company on Cayman), put together an AMAZING beach party, complete with a steel drum band on a boat and fireworks on the beach. The decor included cabana style tents, comfy and stylish ottomans, and an incredible manzanita tree created with 100 stems of Phaelenopsis Orchids. Swoon.

Day two was a full day of speakers. Marcy Blum was hilarious, blunt, and cut through to some issues we face as planners/designers of weddings. What a wonderful, warm, sharing person! Talking with her over the rest of the 3 days I was there I got an idea of how passionate she is about what she does, and how willing she is to share with those eager to listen. Thanks Marcy, for willing to share and teach - and being so direct! Daniela and Marcy Blum

Sylvia Weinstock was SO funny, insanely talented, and her story of how she started absolutely inspiring. Her husband and her were one of the sweetest couples I have ever met, getting up early to swim in the ocean, and staying up late to party with us into the night. An incredible amount of talent and personality all in one person. (she even learned to twitter at the conference!)

Michelle Rago, Daniela and Sylvia Weinstock

I had heard of Simon Bailey, but wasn't prepared for how inspirational his talk would be! Within a short time I was able to create my top ten goals for the next ten years, and rank them in order of importance. Through an AMAZING 30 minute coaching session I did with him later, I got a ton of perspective on how to start accomplishing these goals. Watch out world, because I am inspired AND enlightened! A dangerous combination for a passionate Sicilian/determined German girl. :) Thanks Simon, for taking the time!

Antonia Van Der Meer of Elegant Bride/Modern Bride spoke about the incredible Top 25 Trendsetter List and what it means to be a trendsetter. Nothing like being inspired to keep improving oneself!

Darcy Miller shared some fabulous insights into Martha Stewart Weddings, as well as sharing stories and images of her own wedding. What a woman full of humor, talent, and elegant tenacity. Oh, to spend a whole day working with just one of these women!

Darcy Miller and Daniela

And of course, seeing Preston Bailey speak and talk about his jaw-dropping talent was exquisite. Images from his events and his design philosophy were a delight to watch.

Daniela and Preston Bailey

And that was only day two! Kathryn and Rebecca of Engaging Concepts who put together Engage09 really outdid themselves with this symposium - it has changed how I see my business and how I approach it's daily workings and outcome, and utilizing all that passion that I have for Bella Signature Design to create stunning events for all my clients.
Thanks Kathryn and Rebecca, for letting me a part of something so wonderful - hopefully I can assimilate it all by the Encore!

More about Day 3 in the next post - the brilliant Sean Low (President of Preston Bailey Designs), fabulous Randy Fenoli of Kleinfeld, and practical and smart Liene Steves from the Smart Planner gave us a ton of advice over a course of four small panels - I'll go more in depth next post!

Daniela

Read more...