Blogging Workshop for Wedding Professionals

Blogging Bootcamp

You already know why you should blog. We'll show you how.

Presented by Liene Stevens of Blue Orchid Designs and The Smart Planner™

Who: Any wedding professional who wants to effectively leverage online
media to grow their business
When:July 15, 2009
Time: 9 am - 4 pm
Where: Winfield Little Studios, 21650 Milsa Dr., San Antonio, Texas 78258
Cost: $150 per person

Click here to Register

Since the launch of the Blue Orchid Blog in 2006, it has grown to include over 3000 unique daily visitors and is partially to credit for the launch of two new Blue Orchid Designs offices on the East Coast. In the Blogging Bootcamp, Liene will share specific strategies and techniques she has personally used to grow the Blue Orchid Designs blog to where it is today.

This workshop is open to all wedding professionals, not just wedding planners. Space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis so reserve your spot now! Laptops are optional and lunch will be provided.

Topics covered will include:
*How to discover and leverage your blogging voice
*How to maximize your blogging ROI
*How to develop killer content - consistently
*How to set short term and long term goals for your blog
*How to effectively analyze your stats and blog traffic
*How to increase your readership and keep them coming back for more
*Specific strategies and techniques to use your blog to improve your main website's SEO or "findability" on Google
*How to promote your brand through your blog's design and content
*Maintaining professional boundaries while still being personable
*And more!

The Blogging Bootcamp will not be a class on blogging philosophy. You already know that blogging is a good idea. We'll be showing you how to do it so that it is worth your time. No topic will be off the table, and any questions you may have will be fair game.

With prior experience in planning events in the non-profit, corporate and private sectors, Liene Stevens opened Blue Orchid Designs, an event design and planning firm specializing in luxury weddings. One of Arizona's fastest growing wedding planning companies, they have expanded nationally to include the New York City and Washington DC bridal markets. Liene's expertise has been sought out by numerous publications, including The New York Times, Conde Nast Portfolio, Washingtonian Magazine, Arizona Society Magazine, and CNN.

Liene studied cross-cultural psychology at Arizona State University and her experiences working in developing nations have enabled her to think quickly on her feet. While serving as one of the executive directors at an international non-profit, Liene received specialized training in leadership, crisis management, teambuilding, as well as conflict resolution and mediation. In addition to planning stylish weddings and events through Blue Orchid Designs, Liene is the founder of The Smart Planner, a business coaching resource for professional wedding consultants. Event planners from around the world have credited Liene's strategic mentoring with increasing their profit margins and improving productivity goals. Her first book is scheduled to be released Spring 2009.

The Longest Day

"Twenty-four photographers. Twenty-four hours. Two teams. But there can be only ONE winner."

WPPI is right around the corner. What is WPPI? It is the mega of all conventions for photographers in Las Vegas. Why would a wedding planner care about WPPI? Well, all the great photographers will be there and the parties are fabulous. I only go for the networking and parties, I couldn't tell you squat about F Stop this or white balance that...but I can find tons of great industry friends. Since we do a lot of destination weddings, we like to use photographers from all over...

I've been watching episodes of "The Longest Day" .  At the end of this project, the winner earns $3k for their charity.  Click above on "The Longest Day to watch from the beginning.  You can watch the final product here:

You will recognize many of the names here:  Robert Evans, The [b]ecker, Joe Photo, Amber Horlitz, Dane Sanders, Brook Todd, Jasmine Star, Jessica Claire...the list goes on.  Here are my fave parts of the final product and I know you will enjoy them too:

• Robert Evans, Mr. Tom and Katie himself...and his awesome equipment bag, uh, I mean sack
• the [b]ecker with his 1's and 4's and bouncing light off the fat aunt - new fave words "Foof and Buttery"
• Dane Sanders Fast "Crack" Photography book - we need one for wedding planners
• Jules Bianchi and her gummy bear white balance solution
• the Mike Colon spoof was very very funny...can't wait to ask him about his reaction
• And please, can I send my personal photos to Kevin Kubota!?
• Bambi Cantrell can carry her bling
• And lastly, don't miss Brook Todd busting a move on stage, then off...

Wedding & Event Alphabet Project

So, I stumbled across this website: Project Alphabet. And i've done my own little twist to their idea and will be blogging about it. We will be posting our favorite wedding things that begin with a certain letter in the alphabet. Naturally, my instinct is to begin with the letter A, but I am going to start with the letter S. I love shoes - which is explains the "shoe" label on a wedding planning blog. Keep a look out for Alphabet Wednesdays....

"S" is for shoes and style. Go all out and wear some awesome shoes under your fabulous dress.

Have you considered a wedding in Tuscany?

This fall, Gabriella and John will be married in the beautiful hills of Tuscany. The above picture is what it looks like now, but they say it will be beautiful and green in the early Fall like below.

Many people think destination weddings are too expensive, but depending on some of your priorities for your budget, it may not be out of reach. Gone are the days with ballooning guest lists, insane quantities of food. Today's bride is focused on intimacy, delicious food and drink. As we see a downturn in the guest lists, I have found that dollar to euro, many of our weddings are costing the same, whether it be on swank affair on the San Antonio Riverwalk or in the hills of Tuscany.

a HOT video short

This is HOT. When I say hot, I mean smokin'. Engage is a fusion of high quality video and photography. I've been hearing about it for a couple of weeks now and my friend and colleague, Carlos Baez of Miami shared this link and the following video.

For all our international brides, we must consider this fusion team.



And this was all shot with the Canon 5D Mark II!

Holiday colors for your event

I know when you think of holiday events, or weddings during the holidays, clients really struggle with the color scheme because they don't want it to look like Christmas. Red is a beautiful and dramatic color. Here is a way to use red without the obvious Christmas comparison.