Weddingbee PRO
I’d always been enamored with the Daily Candy illustrations because they were so iconic — as soon as you saw them, you instantly thought Daily Candy. I wanted similarly iconic graphics for Weddingbee, so I scoured the net for a graphic designer until I came across the work of Paige Pooler, whose cheery, girly work instantly resonated with me. We worked together on the bride illustration until it had that perfect fun, friendly vibe that I envisioned for Weddingbee.
With the bride ready to go, I came up with an idea that I think has largely shaped Weddingbee’s brand to date. Instead of using our bloggers’ actual names, I decided that each author would blog under a character handle. Since my name is Bee, I would be Mrs. Bee, and our initial authors would select another character within the bug generation.
Working with a very limited budget at the time, I purchased the following illustrations off istockphoto for about $2 each.
Using characters like Miss Ladybug and Miss Caterpillar has served many purposes: 1) it allows bloggers to maintain some anonymity because they don’t use their real names, 2) it’s much easier for our readers to remember Miss Ant rather than Jane, especially when you have 25+ bloggers at any given time, 3) our bloggers really identify with the character they select, and 4) it adds to the fun Weddingbee brand.
I’ve mentioned Rebecca Grinnals several times in past posts on Weddingbee, but she really has been like my wedding fairy godmother. I met a very enthusiastic Rebecca very shortly after we launched — she just “got” Weddingbee right away, and has been a champion of the site ever since. I’m extremely introverted and hate networking, so Rebecca introduced me to everyone in the industry when I was just starting out. She also encouraged me to speak at all three of her Engage conferences, and despite being terrified of public speaking, there was no way I could say no! She is warm, genuine, and one of the savviest people in the wedding industry today. You will never meet anyone who has a negative word to say about her — which is how she was able to get such a superstar line-up of speakers at Engage! 09 Something Blue! Thank you Rebecca for everything you’ve done for me and Weddingbee. I’m honored to call you my friend! 
So without further ado, here is my monster recap of this legendary event!
The “Something Blue” theme was carried throughout the entire conference. All images are by the talented and generous Stacey Kane unless otherwise noted.
![[linda.jpg]](http://www.weddingbeepro.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/linda1.jpg)
Hi Nancy,
I have a question for you. I recently moved, and I'm not as familiar with the vendors in my new area. I really am trying to get a small wedding and event floral business going, and I was curious what advice you have for getting to know other vendors in the area, whether it's coordinators, caterers, photographers, etc. I know that referrals are such a big part of the this industry, and I would love to get my name out there, but want to do it in a really classy way.
Thanks in advance for you help,
Starting Small
I applaud you for your bold and sincere question. Weddingbee PROs and all other vendors -I think you all could really help Starting Small. If you have any feedback please comment. 
The first thing I would say is this…
1) Ask yourself -what is your target market? Do you want to do high end, medium end, country club or society events?
2) Once you figure out what target market you'd like to serve, find like vendors. What I mean by that is, find vendors who have similar style, taste, design concepts, and market savvy. Call or email them. Take them out to lunch or meet with them. See if you can make a connection. Find the vendors in your area who do consistently great work. Read, research, and do some online investigative work. If you can't figure this out, start by meeting with venue managers.
I'll give you an example.
Behind the scenes here, one of the things we get most excited about, in addition to fabulous letterpress, is our participation in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. Bella Figura and Smock subsidize CSA memberships for all employees so a large percentage of us take advantage of the opportunity to have fresh, local, organic produce delivered to our door - quite literally, in fact, as the Downtown Syracuse delivery pod is here at the old warehouse turned artist's haven that we call home. Once a week a local organic farm, Grindstone Farm, delivers incredibly fresh and delicious veggies and herbs to us, typically within just a few hours of being picked.
Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! I want to share some fun photos with you. Over the last few months, I have had some amazing experiences with so many talented vendors in the wedding industry, and I am so happy to share them with you! This photo shoot was for a top San Diego wedding magazine, and I was privileged enough to work with LaVonne from Adorations, who did all the floral designs, Rebecca Gaffney and Mia Saling from Red Letter Days who designed the second shoot, and Karrie Pyke from Posh Paperie who did the menus and notecards.
The first tablescape was a Hawaiian theme, and I think it turned out lovely! I decided to make mini cakes for the table, and we wanted to match the invitations with the dessert so we printed the pattern on edible frosting sheets. We then covered the mini cakes in fondant and wrapped the cake with the frosting sheets. We piped mini white royal icing dots, added a yellow circle of fondant on top, and finished if off with yellow sugar plumerias. LaVonne came up with the great idea to place the mini cakes in a gorgeous peony -love, love, loved it! Everyone really came together and created a beautiful look!
Engage 09 in the Cayman Islands was, in one word, LEGENDARY. You can catch up on all the tweets about it here – most of us came back on Wednesday, but there are some party peeps still on the island! While I gather pictures from some of the many fabulous photographers that were there, I thought I’d share a video clip from a party on the last night of the conference.
Two of my favorite people in the wedding industry - 79 years young Sylvia Weinstock and Kleinfeld/Say Yes to the Dress’ Randy Fenoli — showed us all how to bust a move!
Engage 09 Party Time! from Weddingbee on Vimeo.
Don’t worry — I have permission from both of them to post this video. You have to watch until the end because Sylvia grabbing Randy’s belt is the absolute best part! Sylvia told me to go ahead and post the video because she wanted to show the world that you’re never too old. Randy told me that this was destined to go on youtube. This actually happened in the beginning of the night, so you can imagine how much crazier the night got later in the evening!
It wasn’t all partying however, although there was a lot of that going on… we also learned, connected and networked. More on that soon! Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
As usual, I'm answering your questions every week. Feel free to contact me any time through e-mail at meg@princesslasertron.com, twitter @lasertron (which is easiest for me), or by leaving a comment here!
Q: Your college studies are mostly unrelated to your creative endeavors, and yet you seem to have so much know how about running a small business - in the past few months you're full of buzz words and great advice. Where is all of this coming from? And where can I get a taste? (From Amanda)
A: Although I might appear to have traveled down a less conventional path to get to where I am, I look at my personality and see that this is pretty natural for me. I'm impulsive, entrepreneurial, creative, and I tend to have an alpha-type personality. From the time I was in high school, I never saw myself being happy in a corporate job or sitting behind a desk, so I never prepared for that kind of life. I applied for all of the college scholarships I could, chose the school that gave me the most money, and studied what was most fun for me–German and Intercultural Communication–because I had amazing relationships with the professors, the programs offered me outstanding leadership opportunities, and I was able to travel quite a bit. All the while, I planned to work in an artistic field and a few years before graduation, I already had a double life as a student/businesswoman.
Where did I pick it up? A few classes, the influence of my parents who also own a business, books. Experience. I absorbed a lot of information from my peers in local business. I attend as many conferences and workshops as I can. I think that as artists, at some point in our career when we get the first “big break”–a $5000 order, or a huge wholesale deal, or a big writeup in a magazine–we have to snap into Professional Mode and learn pretty quickly. It was then that I made lots of mistakes and did things “the hard way.” Then I did better next time.
Q: What's your favorite craft related product to work with right now? (From Brittney)
A: Tools are most important. I love my Crop-a-dile, pinking shears, and Gingher rotary cutter and cutting mat. I also go through a lot of Band-Aids. Some of my favorite things that I work with every day that are a little more fun include…
Image from Lauren and Tom's wedding
I decided that beginning with my 2009 weddings to donate 10% of my celebrant fee to an organization of the couple's choice, in their name. I think it's a great way to honor my couple's wedding, as well as give back to these fabulous local organizations that need our support.
I've chosen these five organizations, though would be willing to donate to any worthy organization of the couple's choice. I think this is a great way to give back, especially in these tough times, when organizations like these are very much needed – especially on the local level.
The Bergen County Animal Shelter
The Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey
American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
Do you have a favorite charity or plan on giving to an organization in honor of your wedding?
Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I want to share a bunch of photos with you all. We'll first start off with photos of the three wedding cakes I did this weekend. Two of the three cakes were actually chosen from designs that I had already done, with a little tweaking of the colors. I will be doing a tutorial on how to do the first cake shortly!
I flew down on a turbulent flight with Carley Roney of the Knot, Randy Fenoli of Kleinfeld and Say Yes to the Dress, floral extraordinaire Michelle Rago, and Antonia Van der Meer of Modern Bride yesterday. Luckily we all made it in one piece!
We arrived at the beautiful Ritz Carlton Cayman Islands around noon. After checking in, I worked by the pool until I got too hot (but I don’t miss the rainy NY weather), and enjoyed a stunning welcome party on the beach designed by Michelle Rago, complete with fireworks!
The Engage09 xonference officially began at 8:30am, and I’ll be live blogging throughout the day!
Cayman Islands time (1 hour ahead of EST)
8:45am - Rebecca Grinnals, the mastermind behind Engaging Concepts and the Engage conferences, gave her intro. She has been a friend to Weddingbee since our launch, and is a force to be reckoned with!
9:05am - Carley Roney of theknot is doing a presentation on wedding statistics based on a study they conducted in 2008. Some interesting facts: the younger the bride the bigger the wedding. 2/3 of couples have at least one signature element. Biggest area brides are cutting back in this economy: videographers and wedding planners in this economy. 15% use a wedding planner - almost half used “day of” only. 20% of couples have destination weddings (200 miles or more away). Brides say the number #1 they would use to describe their wedding vision is “elegant.”
9:35am - Liene of Think Splendid just twittered a pic of me live blogging!
9:45am - I’m doing an interview with a cable tv show that’s doing a special on Engage09 in an hour and a half. Thinking about what to say about trends, tips, and memorable moments at real weddings I’ve attended.
9:48am - btw — you can follow me on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/bee_kim
9:49am - Carley just addressed two of my biggest pet peeves: down with streaming music and long flash intros!
9:50am - Rebecca Grinnals says to put a picture of yourself on your site. This is such a high touch industry, people want to know what you look like.
9:55am - Darcy Miller, Senior Vice President of Martha Stewart Weddings, is up. Darcy is always so sweet to me whenever we run into each other at events. She’s talking about how brides submit Real Weddings to be featured in the magazine (you need to fill out a form). Only 5% of submissions get published. Showcasing Cheree Berry’s (cutest name ever?) Real Wedding coming out in the upcoming summer issue. On the Today Show throws a wedding with Martha Stewart, they were trying to get Danny Devito drive the getaway cab, but somehow Scott Baio ended up driving. Darcy is sharing pix and stories from her own wedding. Check out her insane wedding scrapbook here! Antony Todd did her flowers and Sylvia Weinstock did her cake (I’m supposed to teach Sylvia how to Twitter later!).
10:24am - Confession: I haven’t thought about what I’m going to say on my panel tomorrow at all. Everyone is such a naturally great speaker, it makes me nervous! I’m sitting next to Liene, who is twittering the conference, and who I will be speaking with tomorrow.
10:33am - Someone in the audience asks Darcy what they look for when they select Real Weddings. Darcy says: highly personalized, has a vision, inspirational, doesn’t necessarily have a big budget… sometimes it’s just a matter of balancing what they already have. Real Weddings submission forms is going on their website soon — Shira Sabata is the editor who collects Real Weddings so you can email her. MS Weddings wants to know about your wedding when you have enough details down, but early enough so they can fit it into their schedule.
10:45am - Went to the bathroom and missed some of the audience questions, but Fabuluxe had a great tweet: Darcy makes a point: no trend is overplayed or overdone. We’ve planned many weddings, but it’s still the bride’s first #engage09
10:58am - Sylvia Weinstock just joined Twitter — she is so funny and witty, she’s going to be a great twitterer. Between liveblogging the conference, following everyone’s tweets, and squeezing work in between, it’s quite a bit of multitasking. We’re taking a break for 15 min now… be back soon!
11:12am - So sad I’m going to have to miss Marcy Blum speaking because I have to head to my interview shortly. She is hilarious and tells it like it is!
12:07pm - Just got back from filming my interview. Phew! I think I did ok, but it was nerve-wracking! Mentioned a story about Mrs. Cherry Pie and why she chose Polebridge, Montana as her vene… they loved it and I hope they use it! The show will appear at an unknown date on one of the cable networks like Style or WE. Bee on the lookout for me dressed like a bee (yellow dress and black shoes 
)!
12:12pm - Millie Martini-Bratten, Editor in Chief of Brides Magazine is up! Rebecca has been like my wedding fairy godmother and has introduced me to wedding titans like Millie over the past three years.
12:17pm - Brides is the largest wedding magazine in the world. Millie is walking us through things that influenced wedding dress trends over the years like Gone With the Wind, Cinderella…
12:18pm - Checking out all the raving tweets about Marcy’s speech and am sad to have missed it!
12:34pm - Breaking for lunch. BRB!
1:28pm - Back from lunch where I sat next to Abby and her husband of Style Me Pretty and had a lovely conversation!
1:42pm - People still streaming in from lunch. I should start taking pictures with all of the fabulous people here. You get so busy chatting with so many different people, you forget! Who are you dying to see dear readers? I just took a pic with Darcy and Abby at lunch so I have one down and lots more to go!
1:49pm - Sylvia Weinstock is up! She is almost 80 years young, has been married 60 years (her husband Ben is here with her), and is one of the funniest, most real people around. I tried on her iconic glasses at the last Engage!
Here I am pictured with Kathryn Arce — the other half of Engaging Concepts.
1:54pm - Sylvia is showing us a slideshow of some of her gorgeous cake creations.
2:11pm - Each of the speakers is hosting a dinner at a different restaurant around the Cayman Islands. Since I came to the Cayman Islands on a press trip two years ago, I’m glad that I don’t have to go far and will be staying here at 7 at the Ritz!
2:12pm - Sylvia says people often ask her how she feels about people copying her work. She said you should feel sorry for them for not being able to come up with an original idea — “a copy is never an original!” And no on kickbacks! Sylvia works 7 days a week.
2:25pm - Rebecca says Sylvia pioneered branding in the wedding industry with her glasses. Sylvia says she saved her husband money because she can’t wear big diamond earrings with her big glasses.
2:32pm - Antonia van der Meer is on the podium and talking about Modern Bride Trendsetters. Modern Bride is 65 years old. The trendsetters is about looking forward to the future and adding to the strength and excitement of the wedding industry. She wanted to bring the same kind of recognition that other industries had to the wedding industry. The first list was 6 years ago. The first list included an organic chef, which has since become a big trend.
2:35pm - All trendsetters, past and present (including little ol me), just stood up. Other trendsetters I’m honored to be included among that are present here: Lisa Hoffman of CeciNY, Tara Guerard of Soiree, Preston Bailey, Michelle Rago, Sylvia Weinstock…
2:36pm - The list is a combination of people you expect like Vera Wang, and people you might not know like Robert Kalt who repurposes the items left over from events to people in need. They get recommendations from staff, advisory members, past trendsetters… People who are innovating or originated an idea.
2:43pm - Watching a video from 2007 on Modern Bride Trendsetters set to Coldplay featuring Mindy Weiss, Lisa Hoffman, Marcy Blum, Michelle Rago, Ron Ben-Israel, Bentley Meeker, Terry Gruber, Preston Bailey, Sylvia Weinstock, Colin Cowie…
2:50pm - The first Modern Bride Trendsetters event resulted in 1 million pageviews for Modern Bride. This year’s event resulted in 60 million pageviews in the first 48 hours.
2:55pm - I’m going to ask Antonia a question…. I asked her since Modern Bride often focuses on originators of ideas, is that why there are so few photographers named as trendsetters? Send emails to Holly Madison (photos) and Betsy Goldberg (news) and get your work in front of Modern Bride.
3:02pm - Attendees are picking random envelopes to see who they will be dining with this evening.
3:05pm - Short break and rum cake tasting time!
3:38pm - Chatted with Thayer and Alison Hotchkiss during the break. Motivational speaker Simon T. Bailey is up now!
3:41pm - Simon asks — what would you do if no one paid you to do it? What makes you come alive? Because what the world needs is people who come alive. Honestly? I’d be blogging.
3:43pm - Am sitting between Antonia van der Meer, Darcy Miller, Carley Roney and Marcy Blum. Wedding superstar overload!
3:45pm - Simon says: Release Your Brilliance: Be a Storyteller. Am I creating the tomorrow that I want to live in. And if that is so, what story am I telling today, because my story is building my brand. Why am I here, what can I do, and where am I going?
3:56pm - Vuja de - The opposite of de javu as coined by George Carlin. Looking at something with your eyes but seeing it differently. Examples: Google, Apple. They’ve taken something everyone knows and they’ve flipped it. In your business, what is the vuja de? That’s what becomes your personal brand, your story.
4:00pm - How you start the day, determines your day. The future is created in the present. Spend a few minutes each morning getting centered.
4:06pm - It’s 2019, What is your greatest achievement? The secret of your brilliance is hidden in what you really, really, really want. It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not that holds you back. (That last statement is so true for me!) We had to list 10 goals we will achieve within the next ten years… mine included: having 2 children, buying my in-laws a house, selling at least 3 companies, having the option to retire but not wanting to, being happy, and leaving my mark on the world.
4:13pm - Comparison inferiority complex - when you compare yourself to others and want what they have. You begin to reflect on the outside how you feel on the inside.
4:18pm - Simon took a volunteer from the audience and wrote her top 10 achievements. Now he’s asking her which ones are the most important. Is having a multimillion dollar empire more important than being in love with your husband? Interesting exercise in determining what is truly most important to you.
4:27pm - Brilliance is a process — not a one time event. Brilliance is a marathon, not a sprint.
4:34pm - Simon’s favorite books: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Connie Podesta, Tribes by Seth Godin, Alchemy by Paulo Coelho.
4:39pm - Just asked Darcy and Carley how many real wedding submissions they get on average. Darcy is not sure, Carley says maybe around 100/month? I also asked if they publish Real Weddings that have already been published on the web, and they both said no.
4:42pm - Simon says: Failure is not final. Failure is only feedback. And failure is the breakfast of brilliant ones. The greatest gift is the gift of failure. Let it go. Slow down in order to speed up. Relax and it will come. Not on your timetable, but when you’re ready.
4:46pm - Preston Bailey. He is an amazing speaker and it’s no surprise they’ve saved him for last! Preston says Marcy Blum is the funniest woman he knows (they are very good friends irl). She brings in clients that are in love with her because of her sense of humor.
4:50pm - Preston on branding — what is it that makes you uniquely different? He thinks wanting to be the best in the industry is the wrong approach. You want to figure out how to be different. Preston is talking about how deathly jealous he was of Colin Cowie, esp when he saw him on Oprah and then when someone mistakenly said to him, “Oh my god! I love you Colin!”
4:56pm - Seven years ago, Preston owed a million and a half dollars… until he hired Sean Low. Sean is opening is own company in a month — he has always been very kind to me, and he’s brilliant if you’re looking for business advice!
5:06pm - We’re watching a slideshow of some of Preston’s work. He has worked on some of the most lavish events around the entire world, including a wedding for 5000 people! Preston: Yes folks it’s wonderful to have a big budget. I admit it, I admit it. Preston usually offers three concept designs for his clients.
5:08pm - Preston sells and designs and promotes himself. Nothing else. In order to grow, you need to choose what it is you like to do best, and try to hire someone to do the stuff you don’t want to do. It’s time to reinvent yourself. If Preston can do it in 6 years, we can all do it.
5:11pm - Responding to an audience question, Preston says he and Colin are friends. What Colin sells is elegance. Preston sells showbiz, over the top. Two completely different approaches. He also flashed us his abs.
5:13pm - Preston: we are in the business of service. Give your clients the confidence that you will not only give them good service, but also go that extra step.
5:15pm - Time for book signings and photo ops. I’m headed back to my hotel to change and take a little breather before dinner. Fantastic day of speakers, but exhausted already! Day began at 7am. Dinner at 7pm. Dessert Reception by the pool at 9:15. It’s going to be a 16 hour day.
Thanks for following along!
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