2011 Business of Brides Conference Recap

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the annual Business of Brides conference in Baltimore, Maryland which is put on by the Association of Bridal Consultants.  For those of you who may not know, the Association of Bridal Consultants is the oldest and largest organization exclusively serving wedding professionals and offers tons of professional development. This was my first time attending and I am so glad that I made the decision to go.  It was such an amazing conference! I had a great time meeting and sharing ideas with wedding professionals from all over the world. 

The conference was held in the historical Tremont Hotel.  The architecture and decor was absolutely stunning!  It served as a amazing backdrop to all of the activity that took place during the three day conference. My favorite session was hearing the key note speaker, Diann Valentine, host of WE Tv's "I Do Over".  She was so inspirational and provided real advice that I plan to implement here at Precious Occasions.  The most important lesson or "ah ha moment" that I had during her talk was that Precious Occasions sets the trend...we don't follow them.  We're hoping to continue to be a leader in expertise, ideas, and customer service.  I also attended a session that was about unique ways to Dazzle Your Reception.  It was great learning the different ways to get the party started as well as neat ways to get the whole reception engaged in the reception.  I can't wait to share these as well as create innovative ideas with my clients.

Another great session was the Sandals Resort Training where I became a Certified Sandals Specialist.  This means that I can assist my clients in planning their next vacation at any of the Sandals family resorts which includes Sandals, Beaches, and Grand Pineapple Resorts.  Whether you're planning a honeymoon, romantic anniversary trip, a family reunion, or girls getaway, Precious Occasions can now help you to find the right Sandals resort to fit your needs.  I'm uber excited to be adding this to our services!

The Business of Brides conference provided us with the push that we needed to expand our destination wedding services.  We have been planning destination weddings in the continental US but have been eager to expand this services outside of the states.  I attended several sessions on planning destination weddings, spoke to and gathered information from a couple of Tourism Boards.  I'm proud to say that I am a Certified Mexico Destination Wedding Specialist.  With that being said, beginning in January 2012, Precious Occasions will be able to provide our clients with destination wedding planning services to Mexico as well as the Bahamas.  I'm so excited about this news since I know that it wouldn't have been possible if I had not attended the Business of Brides conference.  Look for these as well as so many other positive changes for Precious Occasions!  We had such an awesome time in Baltimore and can't wait to attend next year's conference in Denver.  Enjoy some of the pictures that I took while at the conference!

 

 

~Emmanuela