We’re pleased to announce that Wish has been invited to join a Virtual Soiree with Fabuluxe Events!  Here’s the details straight from the Fabuluxe blog:

“Want a team of the hottest wedding planners to help you with your wedding?  Done!

Fabuluxe is excited to announce Cocktails & Details: Virtual Soiree on March 5th.

We are extending invitations to a select number of brides.  Here is your chance to pow wow with the industry’s hottest wedding planners!  Ask questions, get advice and be fabulous in a comfortable, relaxed setting.

Would you like an ultra-exclusive invite?

Send in your request to blog@fabuluxeinc.com.  Simply let us know your wedding date and be sure to let us know where we can find your wedding website or blog.  We’ll get you on the guest list!

Stay tuned for more fabulous details!”

We are thrilled to be participating in this online forum.  It’s your opportunity to get planning advice from some of the industry’s top event professionals.  We promise there’s no catches either…no sales pitches or shady deals.  We’re just looking forward to helping you plan the perfect day.  See you there!

What are you doing this Sunday?  If you answered “going to see Laura at the Engaged! Magazine bridal event at the Willard hotel” then you would be correct!  Join us this weekend for one of the most luxurious bridal shows of the year.  Here’s more details from the Engaged! website:

As you begin your wedding planning journey, be inspired and attend Engaged! at the Willard!  Meet the charming Clinton Kelly, co-host of TLC’s ‘What Not To Wear’ as he shares his styling expertise with real brides on what TO wear on the big day.  An elegant brunch will be served in the Grand Ballroom of the Willard Hotel during Kelly’s presentation.

Additionally, you will find absolutely the area’s finest wedding vendors – from fashion to flowers and everything in-between, you will meet the professionals with must-have products and services for the sophisticated bride and groom. Enjoy one-stop shopping with the best of the best!

Truly, a celebration of style!  Join us!

Click here to purchase your tickets.  $55 seems steep but is a fantastic value.  Your ticket gets you a fabulous brunch from The Willard, a chance to chat with Clinton Kelly, meet & greet time with many top DC-area wedding vendors, and even a hair and makeup trial from the ladies at Elizabeth Arden.  Think of the time you’ll save by meeting all your wedding vendors at the show instead of scheduling individual appointments all over the city!

Ms. Post will talk with brides, members of the bridal party, and family members about how to handle difficult moments during wedding planning.  From invitation wording to thank-you note tips, Anna offers insights that will keep brides sane and their mothers nodding in approval.  And, whether it’s the future mother-in-law who insists on hosting a rehearsal dinner that’s more formal than the wedding reception, a maid of honor who won’t return the bride’s calls, or perhaps a bride with a wee bit of a control problem, Anna offers helpful advice about how to handle emotional interactions with those around you leading up to the big day.

Bazin’s on Church
111 Church Street NW
Vienna, VA

Sunday, March 22, 2009
3:00-5:00pm

For more information or to make your reservation, email Lindsay at the Dandelion Patch or visit one of their stores in person.  The $60 ticket includes an autographed book from Ms. Post!

This is part of a series on The Special Event show 2009.  See this post for more information.

The second day of the conference held a special treat for us wedding planners.  The Wedding Luncheon was held at the Hard Rock Hotel in the gaslamp quarter, almost directly across from the convention center.  This beautiful hotel was built in 2007 and is sparkling clean both inside and out.  The luncheon ticket included a walk-through exhibit of wedding ideas called the Designer Wedding Gallery.  I’ll have those photos up sometime this week.  For now, let’s check out the main event.

The Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego:

Ladies in beautiful wedding gowns walked around the lobby area of the function space:

Stepping inside the ballroom took everyone’s breath away.  There must have been somewhere between 40-50 tables.  At front there was a large stage flanked by two huge screens.  When everyone was finding their seats they played popular music videos.  Then when the speakers took the stage they were projected for guests in the back:

Here’s a video of the room in all it’s pink and blue glory:

Of course I have photos of all the different table setups.  Rumor has it that there were thirteen different table settings in the room!  These are just a few of the ones I particularly liked:

A couple with flash so you can see the detail and actual colors:

The stage with funky swagged drape and larger-than-life crystals strung across the back:

Carley Roney was the guest speaker and described the ‘millennium bride.’  Nothing we didn’t already know but it’s good to see The Knot is keeping up with the trends:

So what does a $195 ticket get you for lunch?  We started with a light salad and California cheese plate.  Executive Chef Jeff Walter explained that nearly everything on the menu was locally sourced:

The main entree was lamb and some sort of locally-caught fish.  I’m not really a lamb or fish person but both were pretty good.  My favorite was the layered sweet potato gratin in the center:

Cyndi Lauper, Cher, and Madonna (lookalikes).  I wish I had photos of the front of these ladies!  I spoke with Cher for a few brief moments.  She was surprisingly realistic and knew just about everything about the actual Cher.  They were all really talented and roamed the party to keep people entertained:

I think the most impressive part of the whole thing was the amount of work that went into it.  This amazing party was planned by Rachel Peniche of Plan It San Diego and Kathy Wright of Kathy Wright & Co.  Here’s a time-lapse video showing how it all came together:

Seeing as how there were 400+ wedding planners in the room, I figured there MUST be more blog posts about this amazing party.  You can see a few more perspectives and photos here, here, and here.

I have more great stories from The Special Event!  Stay tuned the rest of this week for my recap.

Every year there are a handful of major conventions held for wedding and event professionals.  This January I attended The Special Event, one of the biggest conferences of it’s kind.  This event draws 7,000-8,000 attendees for four days of classes, events, and a gigantic trade show.  This year’s conference was held in sunny San Diego, CA.  Over the next couple days I’ll be sharing my experience through photos and video that I took.

Later today I’ll have photos from the Wedding Luncheon, one of the most popular events at the show.  Stay tuned!

Laura is not only a wonderful wedding planner, but she is also the fabulous wife/mother to three boys (two of them are wonderful, the third one has issues saying he is wonderful because he was elected to type this blog post.  The other boys lack fingers for typing).  While Laura is working at a wedding tonight, all three of us boys spent this valentines day having a family meeting to come up with all the reasons why Laura is the most important thing in our life.  The meeting really didn’t have to take long because it was a simple task.  We decided to share the minutes from our meeting to Laura’s community through her blog (the nice thing about owning the server that her site is on is that I can login and do this without her knowing!)
————————————-
Auer Family Meeting
February 14th, 2009

FAMILY MEMBERS PRESENT
Chris the husband
Schooner the dog
Mico the bird

FAMILY MEMBERS ABSENT
Laura the wife/mom

CALL TO ORDER
This meeting was called to order by Chris the husband at 8:59pm after her rounded up Schooner the dog from the kitchen sink he was standing in again and Mico the bird from the cage which he was standing in.

NOTES FROM MICO ABOUT MOM

- Love the fact that mommy chases me around when I need to get exercise by flying.  Lord only knows how out of shape I would be if she didn’t make me fly (boy I know its a gift but I hate to use it)

- She makes the best corn/pellets/banana meal I have ever known

- She is always so willing to share her cereal and her ice cream with me, I love her for that

NOTES FROM SCHOONER ABOUT MOM

- Mommy is so soothing.  There can be scary things like the leaf blowers out side or people walking outside our door, but when she starts calming me down… nothing else matters

- She is really fun to play with. Not very good at throwing the ball, but no human is perfect.  I think I almost have her trained to throw the ball properly

- SPECIAL NOTE: Schooner has a longer list, but he has left the meeting temporarily to attend his 9:05pm appointment to try to hide his bone in the perfect spot.

NOTES FROM CHRIS THE HUSBAND

- Laura is one of the most caring persons that I have ever known in my life.  Whether its her family or her business, she always puts in 150%

- Even though she is the most detail oriented individual I have ever known, she still is capable of being completely spontaneous

- The way I look at it, there are 6.80 billion people in the world.  Half of the population doesn’t necessarily fit my criteria for marriage for one reason or another.  My odds for finding the perfect wife were 3.40 billion to 1.  I think this makes me ONE LUCKY DUDE for getting it right the first time!

ADJOURNMENT
This meeting was adjourned at 9:22pm on February 14th, 2009 after Schooner returned from finding the perfect hiding spot (yeap, under the curtains again).

—————————

Happy Valentines sweets!

Love

Chris the husband

Guess what we got??

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Wish Special Events has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Wish Special Events is one of the very best wedding planning companies in the DC/Baltimore region.

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

Wish Special Events would like to thank our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!  If you had a positive experience with Wish and want to share, we’d love your opinion.  Just click here to see our WeddingWire page and review us!

Still looking for a reception venue?  Or how about a place for your guests to stay?  This weekend, eighteen different DC-area Marriott hotels are hosting an open house.  They will set up their ballrooms as they would for a wedding reception.  They’ll give tours of their guest rooms and have sales associates ready to answer questions.  This is the perfect time to choose your reception location and nail down your wedding date.

When: Sunday, February 8th, 1pm-5pm
Where: Any of these participating hotels:

DC:
Washington Marrriott at Metro Center
Washington Marriott
Renaissance M Street Hotel
Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
Renaissance Washington DC Hotel

Virginia:
Crystal City Marriott at Reagan National Airport
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Fairview Park Marriott
Key Bridge Marriott
Tysons Corner Marriott
Washington Dulles Airport Marriott
Washington Dulles Marriott Suites
Westfields Marriott Washingon Dulles

Maryland:
Bethesda Marriott
Bethesda Marriott Suites
Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center
Greenbelt Marriott
The Inn & Conference Center, University of Maryland University College

The kicker is that they have fabulous door prizes to give away (including a honeymoon by Marriott and a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes).  The more hotels you visit the better chances you have at winning!  Check out their website for more specific information on this fantastic city-wide event.