Happy Memorial Day to each and every one of our readers.  I took a moment this morning of silent gratitude for those who served, are serving, or gave their lives in service.  We also honor the families have sent their men away to serve, or currently have voids in their families while men complete their service to our country.  Thank you never seems like enough…

The Stylish Planner and family fly the flag at our home in Georgia.  Because freedom isn’t free.

Valentino has a limited addition sister line aptly called Red Valentino. RED stands for Romantic Eccentric Dress, as well as the company’s signature color.  The line is incredibly sophisticated, yet still has just the right amount of edge.  These are wonderful designs that an everyday woman could apply to her wardrobe.  Neiman Marcus.com carries the full line, but I’m not only suggesting that items from the line would be a good addition to your wardrobe, I would also suggest that you take note of the details.  These are the styles and details that you will see coming from women’s retailers this Fall.  Here are three of my favorite looks:

From left to right:  Houndstooth Bow Dress – $595; Cinched Pocket Jacket & boot Cut Pants – $160 – $595; Flock Print Sleeveless Dress – $695 all from www.www.neimanmarcus.com

Happy Friday!

Note from Jeannine:  I am so fortunate to know Melanie Pink of Le Bonne Fleur.  We met in March of this year when I needed a few extra flowers very last minute for a wedding.  Not only did Melanie come through for me, but the flowers were stunning!  I hope you enjoy meeting Melanie.  Be sure to check out her website and follow her on Twitter: @lebonnefleur!

Name:    Melanie Pink

Location:    Atlanta, GA

Company Name:    Le Bonne Fleur Floral & Event Design

Number of years in business:    2

Website:    www.lebonnefleur.com

Blog:    http://lebonnefleur.wordpress.com/

Twitter handle:      @lebonnefleur      

If you are a wedding and event professional other than a planner, please describe your product or service.     Le Bonne Fleur is the premier boutique floral designer in Atlanta. With each client and event Le Bonne Fleur creates a custom and completely personal design, using the season’s most quality blooms to reflect each client’s personal style and event vision. The personal touches and attention to detail will not be unnoticed, leaving your guests wowed and you with beautiful memories.  Le Bonne Fleur designs for any event from a small dinner party to your wedding centerpieces and personal bouquets. Discover the creativity and quality of custom floral design. 

How would you describe your personal style?   My style is classic and casual, like my floral designs. I like to mix textures, be comfortable and not make too much of a fuss over things.

What is your “go-to” meeting attire?  A comfortable pair of jeans with a cute textured or color t shirt and a blazer or cardigan of some sort. A flat shoe with a punch of color and some pearls.

What is your “go-to” evening industry event attire? (i.e., associational meeting, vendor or venue open house, etc.)     Usually something black.

What is your attire for wedding/event day set-up?   
Comfy, clothing. Floral design is not as glamorous as it may seem all the time. I spend a lot of time carrying boxes, filling vases and getting dirty.

What is your attire for actual wedding/event?    I can go two directions. If I do color, it’s got to be bright and make a statement. If I do black, very simple and elegant, but this is where the shoes and jewelry comes in. They must make a statement.

What style and brand of shoes do you wear on wedding/event days?    Either JCrew driving shoes or sneakers.

Tell us about your favorite jeans and why you love them.  JCrew makes a great jean. I have several pairs from there. Relaxed, toothpick, cropped. They all fit great and are durable

Who is your favorite celebrity style icon and why?    Probably Angelina Jolie. She has very relaxed style and sometimes even a little androgynous, but every once and a while she likes to get all “gussied-up” and wow some people with her glamour and grace.

Please share with us (in 50 words or less) your favorite style tip:   Stay true to yourself. Be who you are, not what you think the style is right now. In doing so you will feel more comfortable and confident and that exudes style and class far more than the latest trend.

What would you like people to know about you that they may not discover just by viewing your website or blog?  I love getting to know my clients and really enjoy figuring them out and what they are looking for.  Sometimes that is an even more important part of the process than the flowers.

What is your most treasured possession?  My engagement ring. It symbolizes so much… and is a pretty diamond.

What message would you like to convey to others in our industry?   Work it!

How could you possibly be in a bad mood when you wear Lilly Pulitzer?  I love the bright colors and patters that are used, especially in their dresses.  This dress takes the maxi dress….well – to the MAX.  I love it!

Jillian Dress – $368

Do you have a Lilly Pulitzer item that you love?  Tell me about in in the comments below.

It’s no wonder so many of the wedding and event planners that have been featured on The Stylish Planner list Reece Witherspoon as their favorite celebrity style icon.  The 34 year old actress seems to hit it out of the park for every public appearance she makes.  It’s not just planners that love her  style, Reece has been featured four times in the annual "100 Most Beautiful" issues of People magazine.  Additionally, in 2007, she was selected by People and the entertainment news program Access Hollywood as one of the best dressed female stars of the year.

I chose these photos to specifically point out her choice of very tailored clothing.  You will see her quite often wearing fitted sheath dresses.  She also wears strapless dresses frequently, and limited accessories due to her petite 5’2” frame.  Notice how each of these three dresses have very defined waistlines – simply fabulous!

If you are fine-tuning your personal style or working to determine a signature style, Reece is a great example of classic elegance.

I respect her as an actress as well.  Without telling my own age, let’s suffice it to say that I’ve enjoyed watching her grow up.  Here is my favorite quote from Reece: “It’s important to scare yourself, to do things you don’t think you’re capable of doing.”

Photos courtesy of Google Images

What do you think about Reece Witherspoon’s style?  Who is your favorite celebrity style icon?

Note: This is a previously run post from April 8,2010.

Do you ever offer unsolicited help to vendors re:  their pricing or service offerings?  For instance, if their pricing is very low and they could charge more, do you tell them?  If their services are too limited, do you tell them? 

Thanks for sharing – Happy Tuesday!

It is sometimes hard for me to wrap your head around working on anything a year in advance.  We are only into the fifth month of the year, yet, as the 2012 inquiries are FINALLY starting to trickle in for me, I know I need to look ahead and set my 2012 calendar.

www.viscoimages.com

The way I did this last year has really worked well for me.  I’ll share with you here what I did, but keep in mind that every business is different and you may need to expand these methods for your business structure.

Step 1)  Take a look at the 2012 Holiday Calendar.   Decide what Holidays you are willing to work and which Holidays are important for you to take time off.  I do not work Holidays at all.  I did in the past and found that I was a grumpy, resentful mess when I did because my family was having fun and I wanted to be with them instead.  Not to mention Holiday traffic in Atlanta is HORRIBLE and many venues are poorly staffed around Holidays.  I simply found that for me, the money was not worth the extra trouble.  Hey – if I’m anything, I’m honest.  This also ensures that I am not working when my son is out of school for various Holidays, so childcare does not become an issue for us.  Additionally, December is pure chaos in our house.  Between my husband’s corporate Holiday party, our social events, my son’s school schedule and trying to shop, wrap, cook, decorate, etc. I am a bonafide crazy lady.  I once did a wedding a week before Christmas. Talk about a Scrooge.  Neither the wedding or my family got the best of me that year.  I know who I am, ok?

Step 2)  Take a look at your honey’s company holiday schedule.  If you enjoy traveling, you may want to maximize your significant others time off by taking 3 day weekends here and there.  We always schedule our vacations around my husband’s work schedule so he has days built up for a long vacation in the summer while our son is out of school.  Speaking of school…

Step 3)  If you are a parent, take a look at the school schedule for the next school year.  Our school system just finalized and released the official schedule for the 2011 – 2012 school year back in March.  We quickly began to discuss what to do & where to go during my son’s time off because we take our time to plan out fun trips and look for travel deals well in advance. 

Step 4) Plug it all in.  Incorporate all three of the above calendars into your “master” calendar.  Whatever weekends remain are dates you could be available for weddings.  I like having two to three available dates in any given month.  If I book one of those dates, I also mark off the weekend prior and the weekend after.  I block off the weekend prior so that I have additional time to prepare if needed, and to spend time with my family – the calm before the storm, so to speak.  I block off the weekend after a wedding just for downtime for myself and to catch up on other weddings that may have been put aside while working on the recent wedding.  I burned out a few years ago and this is my way of maintaining sanity.  It has worked really well for me and ensures very prompt service and undivided attention to my clients.

Step 5)  Take the seasons into account.  If you live in a particularly warm or cold climate, historically, you may not have booked many weddings in a certain month of the year.  For instance, I have never booked a wedding in July.  People do get married in Atlanta in July, I’ve just never booked one.  The first year, that was devastating to me – I thought, “This is peak wedding season and I’m not working!!”  It turned out to be a blessing.  July is miserably hot in Atlanta, so it’s kind of nice to kick back and spend extra time at the pool with my son.  I still work, of course, but I’m working on Fall weddings in the comfort of my air-conditioned office.  The down time helps me recharge, get my kid ready for the new school year and enjoy a couple of weeks at the beach.  Also, consider if your area receives an influx of traffic around the Holidays.  If you live in a beach town, does your town fill up around the fourth of July?  If you live in a major metropolitan area, do Holiday attractions create an influx of tourists into your city?  If so, do those factors affect your desire to work or not work around seasons or Holidays? 

Step 6)  Religiously maintain the calendar.  Things happen, schedules change.  Unexpected snow days this year resulted in my son’s winter break being cancelled with only a month’s notice.  Make sure you update your calendar frequently and mark off any days where your schedule may conflict with working.  I could recite dates and times for everyone of my weddings off the top of my head, but I have to refer to the calendar when it comes to school schedules.  I need the calendar to be totally current.  I recommend updating it once a week at the least to ensure you don’t have scheduling conflicts.  Even better, use your Smartphone calendar so you have updates  24-7. 

So, what exactly is the purpose of putting this much prep work into my annual calendar?  For me, it ensures that I am in control of my schedule and my schedule is not in control of me.  I also like being able to tell a bride as soon as she contacts me if I am available for her date or not.  She can move on to another planner, or we can proceed quickly with getting her under contract.  There’s also no internal debate on my part about whether or not I want to work on any given date.  I got an inquiry for a Memorial Day wedding once and really struggled with whether or not I wanted to take it.  Memorial day is usually a three day weekend for us to get out to a Braves game, sleep in, take a drive, cookout with friends, etc.  Nothing special, but not something I wanted to give up either.  Having the pre-set calendar eliminates the debate with myself.

I hope you find this helpful and use these guidelines to help set your 2012 calendar.  

Do you have any tips or tricks for setting your annual calendar?  I’d love to have you share them in the comments below!

I am so happy to see cork return as a detail in footwear this Spring.  I snagged a couple of great pairs with cork detailing last year and still love them!  Cork can have a bohemian effect, and goes great with nautical looks that are quite popular this season as well.  Check out a couple of my favorites here:

Bianca Cork Pump by Christian Louboutin – $775 at Neiman Marcus

Payless Cork Sandal shown in denim – $26.99

Will you be wearing cork this season?

Happy weekend!

What affect do you think last week’s Royal Wedding will have on your wedding business?  Increased bookings?  Higher than average fees? More traditional style weddings?  I have my thoughts, but I really want to hear yours.

Happy Tuesday!

Just a few weeks ago, I attended my favorite conference of the year.  Eventology, the Science of a Wedding Business is an awesome conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.  This year was the third annual conference hosted by Katasha Butler and I was extremely honored to be a speaker among so many other ladies that I admire.  Linnyette Richardson-Hall spoke on Confidence – I love hearing her speak, so I really enjoyed her session.  During Question & Answer time, one planner asked how to show confidence as a new planner.  My mind immediately took me back to my early days.  It isn’t too hard to remember how awkward and inept I felt when I first started.  The good news is, there are ways to overcome those feelings.  Here are my recommendations:

1)  Dress the part.  You may be young, you may be right out of college, but you don’t want to look like it.  If you want to be taken seriously, then dress seriously.  If you look like a college student when meeting with other vendors, you will have a hard time gaining control over the event, and your planning efforts will be an uphill battle.  Furthermore, being dressed well will make you instantly feel more confident and that will show in your overall demeanor.

2)  Don’t point out that you are new.  Of course, don’t lie if you are asked how long you have been in business, but don’t open your conversations with that.  You will have a hard time overcoming the judgments made about you and shedding the label of the “new” planner.  Instead, you might say something like, “I haven’t coordinated an event at this venue yet.” or “I haven’t had the pleasure of working with that vendor yet.”  A statement like either of these indicates that you are in unfamiliar territory without calling your capability into question.  Even seasoned industry veterans work with vendors that are “new” to them as circumstances dictate. 

3)  Pull from your past work experience.  If you had 10 jobs prior to becoming a wedding planner, then you probably have at least 10 very different skills that will help you as a planner.  Did you work in accounting?  Then budgets will be a breeze for you.  Did you work in retail?  Then you will have strong client service skills.  Were you a file clerk?  Then you will be highly organized – a must have quality of a wedding planner!  My past jobs include stints in insurance underwriting, insurance claims, receptionist, executive assistant, etc.  Along the way, I picked up a paralegal certificate that helps me tremendously as a planner.  This knowledge helps me review and negotiate the best contracts for my clients.  As an Executive Assistant, I planned travel itineraries and meeting agendas for the V.P. of a fortune 500 company.  That knowledge helps me today when drafting wedding day timelines and meeting agendas.  I also planned the companies annual meetings for shareholders, which were usually held in tropical locations.  That knowledge helps me today when planning destination events.  One past job in particular afforded me the opportunity to act as a corporate hostess to international employees and clients during the 1996 Olympic Games held here in Atlanta.  While I love my weddings, being involved in something as monumental as the Olympics was the opportunity of a lifetime.  That experience took out of town guest hospitality to a whole new level.   No doubt, you have similar experiences to draw from that will prove to be invaluable information for your career as a planner.

4)  Make up for your lack of experience with passion.  When a client asks for something from you, turn it around as quickly as possible.  Double check your details.  Over deliver – every time.  Inexperience does not equal incapability.  Show everyone that you can do the job effectively and efficiently.  Any doubts about you will soon dissipate if you consistently deliver the best results possible.

5)  Get creative.  Literally – if you have little to no weddings to showcase in your portfolio, partner with an up and coming photographer and design a creative shoot together.  This is a great opportunity to show your design talent, build relationships with other vendors and work on your coordination skills at the same time.  Even a creative shoot needs a schedule and attention to details, and while photo shoots are much more laid back and less detailed than weddings, use a shoot as an opportunity to showcase what you can do.  When the shoot is done, shop the images around to blogs and magazines.  You will need to learn the ropes on how to do this so that you can submit your future fabulous weddings!

6)  Be patient.  Each wedding will bring with it new knowledge.  Before you know it, you will no longer be the “new” planner in town and you will have several weddings under your belt to draw from.  In the meantime, make sure you are tapping into the knowledge that is available to you through books, magazines, blogs, conferences, etc.  When you are doing work that you love, your confidence will show and no one will question your abilities.

Any other tips on how to build confidence for new planners?  Feel free to share them here!

Happy Planning!