Eventista’s Enthusiastic
Eventista has been catching up on her “cases,” she follows a few murders and kidnappings each season (yes, a macabre sort of hobby for someone who is afraid of everything) and this year, unfortunately with that poor woman at Yale and the girl who has been found after 18 years and 2 children by her abductor and the man who apparently killed his new wife while they were diving, well, she has been quite busy reading tabloids and the news and the internet to keep on top of the developments.
And, while she definitely has attended a few inhospitable hospitality events lately and a few less-than-fashionable fashion shows, and been horrified by some of the incessant, white bread, “let’s make sure all brides are the same,” Wedding TV Shows – she has decided that this particular post would be a selection of things that made her smile, and that she thought would interest our readers, from her various wanderings over the past two months, a veritable outpouring of sweetness and light:
From the Summer International Gift Fair in New York City, while there was, as usual, a lot of schlocky stuff, there were some real gems:
Areaware- www.areaware.com – a divine company offering all sorts of great gifts and home decor elements that are fresh, slightly edgy without being weird and mostly adorable – a few favorites:
and elegant ottomans:
Watch in the next few days for what I loved on the runway at New York Fashion Week – including items that one could actually wear…
Fashionable/Fanciful
To begin with, a Public Service Announcement:
For Fashion’s Night Out tonight, my oh-so-clever friends at Be&D have created this terribly fashionable life-size circus where you can pose with all your favorite fashion icons while carrying one of their incredible handbags-(of which I own far too many) Saks Fifth Avenue, 8 pm
Wedhead has a few favorite things to share:
My very favorite new spot as venue for a small rehearsal dinner or a civilized bachelor party bacchanalia is Hotel Griffou. It’s very hip, but somehow not horribly pretentious. Our friend Anne Thornton has the world’s most interesting job combo- pastry chef and event manager, so the desserts are heavenly and the parties run well. The food is good (it’s not “ooh” and “ahh” deserving but it works) and the set up, the design- a maze of cozy rooms including a clubby wine room with a long banquet table, feels celebratory even if you don’t:
And, today I was walking down Madison Avenue and the Men’s Dolce and Gabbana store stopped me dead in my tracks- the fall tuxedos and dinner jackets are so lush (the over-the-top quilting especially) and so spectacular for a groom, groomsmen or guest who not only has some presence but is gorgeous enough to pull it off. Unfortunately, being a nascent blogger, I was cameraless (won’t happen again), so these images come from the web:
On the complete other end of the wedding spectrum, I attended a low key and no muss, no fuss wedding in Vermont in August. As you must realize by now, I’m egalitarian on the subject, if it’s wedding-related, I’m into it, and this for all sorts of reasons, was just wonderful- starting with my very favorite bride and groom’s entrance of all time:
The bride as she alights from the bicycle she arrived on with her father
The groom starts the ceremony by playing the accordion
Eventista Erupts
First off, Eventista apologizes for being AWOL for a bit, she has been in a slight end-of-summer funk, but is coming out of it and is quite grateful for all her readers who clamored for new pontifications. I’ll start today with a fairytale:
A very long time ago in a far away place there was a wee eventette, who was asked to speak at The Special Event Convention. Being immensely flattered and with her ego buoyed by recent career successes (perhaps 15 parties and 8 weddings over 3 years) she jumped at the chance and spent weeks upon end creating spread sheets, hand outs and the like for her prospective audience to teach them the secrets behind her grand career. The big day arrived and she was suddenly on a stage speaking to about 500 professionals in what seemed like Radio City Music Hall. Being young enough to not realize that her being there was absurd at best, (”yes, she was so much older then, she’s younger than that now”), she proceeded to give a rather complicated and circuitous dissertation on budgeting, client relations and other clever concepts that she had clearly pioneered.
Her audience was filled with many real stars of the business who, to her eternal gratitude, were kind enough during question and answers to allow her to preserve her delusions and not eviscerate her (although she did have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps she was outclassed). It is only in retrospect though that she is able to giggle privately about how much she didn’t know, and wonder why in the world, people would have come to hear her speak so many moons ago?….
Eventista’s mailbox these days is cluttered with very creative emails offering a variety of courses GUARANTEED to make one a zillionaire in the special events and/or wedding industry. From tele-sessions a la “The Secret”, BELIEVE IT AND IT WILL HAPPEN (quaint), to a course promotion I received yesterday, billing itself as a “University” for both wedding planning pros AND brides- how very ecumenical.
Suffice it to say that Eventista cannot say with conviction that all of these seminars are worthless (and, full disclosure, my dear friend Marcy is speaking at Engage 09 The Encore so you might feel there is a conflict of interest here). I am only strongly suggesting that before you spend your hard-earned or inherited cash, you do your due diligence as to who is offering these courses/get rich quick schematics (how many events have they planned or what is their business background?, years in business, clientele? etc.) There is plenty to be said about attending a new age-y conference just for the sheer motivating essence of it (Eventista is particularly fond of, and has benefited greatly from, Anthony Robbins seminars around the country). Just be sure that you have a clear idea of what you expect to get out of your investment of both time and money.
Something else is on my mind today as well; the subtle yet very real differences between arrogance and confidence.
There is no question that great confidence (at least outwardly) is a necessary facet of marketing one’s business. Arrogance, however, is something else again. I have read several interviews with well known and succesful pros in our business who repeat ad nauseum the clever sound bite that “they couldnt find anyone in the wedding business who was creative enough or had real vision so they had to go into business.” It’s almost as if it’s a public service really, virtually a not for profit….
This is not only insulting to the masses of extraordinarily talented and visionary people in the event business but patently untrue- they went into business to make money, which is just fine (but that doesn’t make a great sound bite)…
I’ll post later this week some of the best doozies from clients that were sent our way, there are some good ones!
Eventista elucidates
I’m compiling a compendium of favorite quotes from event and wedding clients and would dearly love to include some of yours. Please send your doozies to info@adventuresofwedhead.com. Quotes must be verifiable as being, unfortunately, real.
I’ll start you off:
Bride presents planner with a photo of a wedding she ABSOLUTELY adores. In the photo are red floral centerpieces, red linens and chair back covers, red candles, and a red crystal chandelier hanging from a red draped ceiling. “Oh,” the planner says “we can definitely do this, not a problem at all, I just had no idea that you loved red so much.” Blank look from bride followed by, “No, I don’t want it in RED.”
Wealthy groom to planner upon seeing hotel estimate for food and beverage: “You obviously don’t get it, rich people don’t pay full price.”
Socialite upon receiving planner’s fee: “Who do you think you are, Robert Israel?”
***************************************************************************************************
***From My Over and Out posting- a few of you were confused by my obviously too obscure allusion to the “de rigeur wedding shoe photo.” I was referring to the absurd popularity of a photo of the bride’s Jimmy Choos, or Manolos sitting in the dappled sunlight before she puts them on, somehow I’ve missed the romantic aspect of this.
Eventista emotes…
While the next post is scheduled to be by Wedhead, Eventista couldnt resist writing a few words before that:
Truly delighted you have all responded to my rant so graciously and all of us here are thankful that you are letting us work out this weird blogging thing in front of an audience (a few kinks I’m sure you’ve noticed). A few of you had some items to add to the “Over and Out” list and, as this is a democratic blog (particularly when you agree with me), and, as I realized that there were a few particularly nasty things that I inadvertently left out, here follows the finale of items we could really do without, even, as I mentioned before, if they were once cute as buttons.
Oh, one further thing, and I really hope I’m crystal clear on this terribly controversial subject; as so many people were offended by my being foodist about cupcakes (so sensitive)- I wasn’t advocating a pogrom against all cupcakes, I was only suggesting that the cupcake tier in lieu of a cake is t i r e d……
So, the addendum:
*Chocolate fountains
* French Manicured acrylic nails the thickness of windshields
* The de riguer truly romantic and beautifully lit ”Designer Shoe” wedding photo
* The concept that sugar flowers on a cake are remotely”edible”
Over and Out…….
So rumor has it that at Engage 09, the luxury wedding symposium in the Cayman Islands, a very vociferous planner in the audience attempted to bully the very elegant and very ladylike Darcy Miller into spilling what “trends” she thought had run their course. While Darcy is far too clever to be baited so easily, Eventista has no such qualms and actually has been chomping at the bit to give everyone the list of things she, personally, thinks are VERY MUCH over…
Some of these items (like a favorite song that the radio destroyed by playing over and over until you could no longer bear even a note) were good ideas once. Others were always inane, boring or just plain stupid- she will leave you to decide which things cited fall into which categories:
*Tiers of cupcakes as a wedding cake
*Cutesy and colorful candy displays at weddings (replete with insufficiently sturdy paper bags to take your goodies home in)
*”Celebrity” wedding planners (it says so on their websites) whose celebrity client list consists of having worked with Jennifer Aniston’s body double’s third cousin
*Event planners who are now self-proclaimed “lifestyle” experts (Is there a correlation between throwing a good party and pontificating on styling someone’s life? …I’ve missed it)
*White lounge furniture for after-parties (and pretty soon altogether)
*Poor miserable dogs being stuffed into absurd costumes and dragged down the aisle as a flower creature or ring bearer
*Same goes for terrified small children
*Releasing doves (read this horrendous story today http://news.aol.com/article/wedding-doves-stuck-in-nyc-park/591904), butterflies, or any other living creature as a testament to your new-age fabulousness
*Television shows that not only encourage but delight in brides and grooms behaving horrifically
*Bride and groom’s first dance that soooo unexpectedly (wink, wink) turns into disco madness (by the way, the wedding party groove down the aisle that was everywhere this week- that was actually cool)
*Etiquette columnists in bridal mags that don’t have a clue what in the world they are talking about and are advising [poor women who listen to them] some bizarro nonsense
*Starting a sentence with “In this ecomomy…”
*Bridesmaids dresses for under $200 that anyone actually thinks will be worn again
*Pretentious and absurd pronouncements on entertaining, such as “Rum is the new Vodka”
*Event/wedding designers “demonstrating” with no irony whatsoever how they can shop in a bodega and throw an absolutely extraordinary 16th century ball for 12 dollars max
* Inspiration boards that are Kafka-esque in their relation to a real wedding (uh, let’s see- I’ve got a twig, a sequin, horses, a fountain, a doorknob and George Clooney)
*4-hour posed photo sessions before the wedding ceremony-(bride has to be up at 4 am for hair and makeup)
*”Black tie preferred” (the super-duper passive aggressive attire suggestion)
Oh, and just for good measure, empty restaurants that wont seat incomplete parties…