When does the year begin for a wedding professional?

The start of the calendar year may or may not be when you refresh your business - but it should always be a time when you stop and take stock of where you're going and determine if you have the necessary elements to get there.  Do you have a plan? 

Most front-line wedding professionals are now focused on setting new appointments and ordering supplies to support this year's business.  It's prime time to be closing new sales.

I make it my business to find out what's working and what's not for the wedding professionals I come across, and we all have the opportunity to find out directly from the couples themselves at our September bridal forum.  And, year in and year out, couples tell us to focus on customer service.  But how can you do this before you even have a customer?

Let me share a real life example someone shared with me this week.  It came from a Bridal Consultant, but could have come just as easily from a florist, photographer, or any other vendor.  The bridal consultant wanted to tell me how she got her most recent booking.  The fiance called her from his cell phone in his Lexus, to tell her they had chosen her to handle their wedding at their high end reception site (read Four Seasons, Ritz, Hay-Adams, Willard) - and that they had talked to seven or eight other consultants but the fiancee only wanted to go with her.  The consultant asked me if I could tell her why that would be - and without a moment's hesitation, I said "It's because you LISTEN".  And she said I was right - that that's exactly what the fiance said.  They both had tried to give others the opportunity, but that no one, no one else wanted to listen.

Doesn't this sound like a wedding you would like to be working on?

As we focus on filling the dates in this year's planner, let's remember.  We may be the experts, the ones with all the answers.  But remember - We're not the ones with the dream.  Let's all start with the dream, and let's see where that takes us!

Best regards,

Susan Gildersleeve

Community Service

As a result of our 50/50 raffle last year, we were able to donate $400 to our charity of choice - S.O.M.E. - So Others May Eat.

We have been invited to participate in an alliance with other DC area event professional associations to support the National Race for the Cure on Saturday, June 3, 2006 in DC.  Here are the current details:

Prentice Pollard of NACE DC writes: NACE DC, along with SGMP and ISES, are partnering to put together a team for this event. The proposed team name for our combined group is "Team Event Pros" (which I think is pretty all-incompasing).   Team members from our organzations will sign up on line to participate in the race. We will get t-shirts, hats, etc. After the race, we are searching for a hotel/venue not too far away from the finish line to host a post-race event, kinda like a mega-networking event, where all of the combined memberships can get together, have a bite to eat and network. That's the nutshell.

This is a win-win opportunity for us to help a worthy cause and extend our networking contacts.

Calendar of Events

Want to get the most benefit from your membership?  Get out your calendar and write in the following AWP meeting dates:

All meetings take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month unless otherwise noted.  You can check the Web site for locations.

February 28 - Maryland

March 28 - DC

April 25 - Virginia

May 23 - Maryland

June 27 - DC

July - Fun Meeting!  Date and place to be announced later

August - No Meeting

September 26 - Maryland

October 24 - Virginia

November 28 - DC

December - No Meeting

When you come to a meeting, give yourself a goal of introducing yourself to one guest and one member you haven't spoken to in six months.  Also, introduce at least one person to another person at each meeting.

But that's not all - we'll be working on creating new opportunities to help you gain additional exposure to members and brides.  How?  The articles you submit can be posted on our Web site and link back to your Web site - so think about advice you'd like to give the public, or specifically to professionals.  Email them to secretary@weddingprofessionals.org.

Future meetings will showcase design and decor ideas. To be considered, email your ideas to membership@weddingprofessionals.org.

On the Move with AWP

What's New, Ahead and In Place 

If you haven't noticed yet, we have a new association logo! Members may use this logo on all their promotional materials. Contact Patti Wilson at secretary@weddingprofessionals.org to request a jpeg copy of the logo.

We now have new updated brochures for your use in distributing to your current and potential clients. These provide AWP's description as well as member services for brides and other interested professionals.

New Web site design. Our Web site has been redesigned to update the association's professional image. Plus, you, as a member, can now update your own contact information so it is always current. Our Web site provides one central database from which we can now email our members.

Library - We have a number of titles, available on loan, which will be posted online.

Coming Soon - Member Binder. This will serve as a handy reference and networking tool for all members.

What's Ahead?

The Association is a two-way street.  It is what we make it.

President Susan Gildersleeve states, "I'm delighted to be working with a group of motivated individuals who believe as I do in the potential of what this organization can be.  Since taking office, these people have put in coutless hours working on the different ends of what it takes to move us towards our goal - hours they've dedicated outside their normal business hours.  So let's take stock of what's in place, what's in the buildout stage, and what ways you might get the most out of your annual membership."

What's New?

We currently have 52 members representing at least 15 categories of professional wedding services.

Our monthly dinner meetings are scheduled for the fourth Tuesday of each month, except August and December.  This gives our members a forum to discuss business challenges with like-minded professionals.

Our programs for the monthly meetings are broken down as follows:

• One Bridal Fourm
• One Fun Meeting
• Four Educational
• Four Network Building