WPIC

WPIC Planners of the Month:

 Kelly Spinelli & Laura Atendido

By: Kim Choy

Fast Talk with Laura Kelly Wedding Design:

Favourite Celebrity Planner: Preston Bailey

Celebrity Wedding They’d Love to Plan: That's easy! Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphris

Mentors in the Industry: Danielle & Tracey from WPIC & the entire WPIC Association

Other Jobs: Kelly – Sales & Advertising, Laura – elementary school teacher

Best Part of Being a Planner: Giving couples an amazing wedding planning experience and wedding day

Favourite Part of the Wedding Planning Process: Seeing all the details, planning, hard work, ups and downs all come together in completely perfect vision

Worst Part of Being on a Taped Reality Show: People always asking us how “real” the show is… its reality TV!

Future Goals for Laura Kelly Wedding Design: Continue to grow the company while still keeping an intimate and personable feel to who we are and what we do

 Photo by: Memories by Marie

Laura Atendido and Kelly Spinelli have been friends for many years, after meeting each other through their husbands, who are good friends.   They developed a strong friendship and then decided that they would take the WPIC Course together.  They were already helping friends and family members coordinate and plan major events and weddings and they wanted the guidance and support of a credible Wedding Planning Course/Association.  Laura and Kelly decided to take the course in 2005 and entered into the Wedding Planning Business.

In 2007 Laura and Kelly joined in a partnership and formally created “Laura Kelly Wedding Design”.  They decided to go against the odds of creating a partnership in the wedding industry.  Having the support from each other gave them both the confidence to move forward. 

Photo by: Studio 2000

They named their company “Laura Kelly Wedding Design” because they liked the sound of “Grace Kelly” name and it incorporated both of their names into their business. They also wanted to establish their company as not only a logistical event coordination company, but a design company that would help couples with the overall vision of their day. 

“Spending the time and investments on professional and custom print material and a very detailed website were very important to us.  We wanted to create a visual brand that didn’t make us seem homemade.”
                            - Laura Atendido and Kelly Spinelli

Although Laura and Kelly remain part-time in the wedding industry, they have come a long way since starting out in 2007. 

When they first began they used word of mouth advertising to create interest and generate potential clients.  To this day, much of their business still stems from referrals and word of mouth advertising. 

Photo by: John Bauld Photography

In 2008, Laura and Kelly participated in the Breakfast Television Live Wedding of Mandy and Harry. 

“There is such a personal connection when you are a part of a couple’s wedding.  We feel honoured to share in the journey and success of the day”
                               - Laura Atendido and Kelly Spinelli

Laura and Kelly were submitted to Rich Bride, Poor Bride by friends, without knowing.  They were casting for Season 5 of the show, which airs on Slice Network.  They later received emails and phone calls from the show.  Being big fans of the show, they decided not to turn down the opportunity.  After their audition, they were added to the cast of Rich Bride, Poor Bride for Season 5 & 6. 

The Cast of Rich Bride, Poor Bride

Laura and Kelly offered some advice to new WPIC Alumni entering into the industry: Invest time, money and energy into a really good website and gain experience in the industry to give you the confidence and knowledge to be your own company. 

One of the most memorable weddings Laura Kelly Wedding Design spoke about was the first wedding of this season (2011) in Muskoka, Ontario.  The bride rented a vintage boat and arrived at her ceremony on the dock by boat.  The last bridesmaid made her way to her spot on the dock, the entire bridal party pivoted towards the water and on cue, the bride and her father, sitting in the back seat of the boat, veil blowing in the wind, came out from around the bend and drove onto the dock!  “Kelly and I were literally in tears and the guests were out of their seats in awe!” says Laura. 

Jane Dayus-Hinch Speaks to WPIC Alumni

By: Kim Choy, WPIC Office Manager

On January 25, WPIC Alumni in Toronto were invited to the Hilton Garden Inn Airport to attend a special seminar coordinated by Jennifer Maxwell of WiseBride. 

Jane Dayus-Hinch, host of the Canadian reality TV show “Wedding SOS” shared her exciting and hilarious experiences she has come across in her wedding planning career.  Jane, a UK wedding planner, has been planning weddings for more than twenty five years. 

The seminar room of the Hilton was transformed into a stunning array of beautifully designed table tops. Linens were provided by Caryn Lim of A Timeless Celebration, a stationary and linen company based out of Montreal, Quebec.  The gorgeous centerpieces were created by Sheryl Hammond of Bella Chic Events. 

  
Erin Bosak of Red Thread Paper provided the stationary for the evening, containing a list of all the vendors participating in the seminar.

Robin Wight, owner of Lottie and Lil supplied each themed table with an assortment of her delicious cake pops!  The cake pops were even decorated to match each table theme!

Mike Coombs of Prodigy Entertainment provided the entertainment for us playing a mix of everyone’s favourites. 

Kimberly, owner of Kimberly Tiessen Photography was the photographer for the evening.  She did a fantastic job of capturing every moment.  All the photos in this blog are courtesy of Kimberly.

Overall, it was a great night that everyone enjoyed.  Jane has a personality like no other and is able to tell her stories and experiences with humour and passion. 

Cake Pops 4 Cancer

Two of our WPIC members were recently featured on Global news and in the Toronto Star, selling cake pops to raise money to send 4-year-old Leukemia patient-Kaitlyn on a vacation of a life time.  Currently 4-year-old Kaitlyn is undergoing treatment at Sick Kids Hospital.

All photos courtest of Engaging Images

Toronto Local and Destination Wedding Planners-Jennifer Borgh and Robin Wight were inspired to help when they heard how sick Jennifer past co-worker's daughter was.  They got together and planned their event to try and give the family something positive to look forward to, and help lift their spirits during these difficult times. They immediately started organizing Cake Pops 4 Cancer, which took place in Toronto last week.   

 Coated in purple, yellow, brown, orange, red, pink, green and blue chocolate, the cake pops are a fresh twist on traditional lollipops and make for a great novelty item at parties or a special occasion at home. Earlier this year our WPIC Blog featured Cake Pops as one of the latest trends to hit weddings.  Cake pops are delicious balls of chocolate cake dipped in colourful chocolate on a stick, making them fun for children and adults alike.  Cake pops are a hybrid cupcake/ lollipop and taste like a brownie dipped in chocolate.  Thanks to Bakerella who shares her baking secrets and baking ideas on her website anyone can attempt this or other unique recipes.

The Cake Pops 4 Cancer fundraiser is going on until August 31, 2010, if you would like to place an order for a dozen Cake Pops for $25, please contact Jennifer Borgh at [email protected] to place your order.

"Unveiled" Teaser: New Show on TVTropolis features WPIC Wedding Planners

by Danielle Andrews Sunkel

In January 2011, a new Wedding show will hit the airwaves.  The first of its kind, this show will actually be a behind the scenes look at the Wedding Planners, rather than focussing on the Weddings themselves.

As fate would have it, each of these Wedding Planners are WPIC Certified.  This is not by design, but we sure are proud of Lisa Lewis, Carol Bodenstein and Jennifer Maxwell!  Each of their assistants are also WPIC Certified.

Have a look at the sneak peak and enjoy!

A Private Tour of Kleinfeld Bridal

by Guest Blogger, winner of the WPIC Blog Contest, Jennifer Borgh

 
Jennifer Borgh and Lindsay Mogford with Randy Fenoli

In March, my friend and colleague Lindsay Mogford and I flew to New York to attend a party hosted by celebrity wedding planner Preston Bailey. The room was filled wall to wall with familiar faces from wedding professionals to celebrities and we were lucky enough to meet Kleinfeld Bridal’s creative director, Randy Fenoli. Randy invited us on a private tour of Kleinfeld Bridal that we were thrilled to take advantage of the following day. With so many brides interested in going to Kleinfeld to buy their wedding dress, it was a great opportunity to meet with the staff and see the entire store.

For over 60 years, brides have trusted the amazing staff at Kleinfeld Bridal to fit them with the perfect wedding gown. Today, they are known for having the largest and finest selection of designer wedding gowns in the world. Brides fly from all over the world to buy their dream bridal gown. We met a bride who was doing her final fitting who had flown from France, which is a testament to their selection and customer service since Europe is home to top fashion designers. Now featured on “Say Yes to the Dress” on TLC, Kleinfeld is more popular then ever. Their website even features a link for brides who want to try and sign up to be on the show.

When we entered the store, we were greeted with the friendliest staff including the owner, Mara Urshel who was walking around the store greeting brides and helping out. Her assistant gave us a private tour of the store and behind the scenes answering our many questions. A large sign on the entrance informs anyone entering the store that Say Yes to the Dress might be taping. The TV show seems to attract some brides who hope they are going to be featured on the show but these parts are cast ahead of time so the most a bride shopping around could hope for is to be seen in a background shot.

Kleinfeld staffs nearly 200 dedicated professionals, including on-site stylists and bridal consultants, custom fitters, sewers, beaders, embroiderers and pressers. Our behind the scenes tour showed many levels and rooms each housing part of the process. Hardworking specialists in each area have worked with Kleinfeld for generations and you could see the amount of pride that was being put into each dress.

Dresses run from $1500 USD+ alterations to $50,000USD. Canadian brides shouldn’t forget to include the duty and shipping charges that may apply into their budget as well as on-site fittings that might need to be done in person. Call or email Kleinfeld to book an appointment and bring some photos of styles that you are leaning towards. Plus-sizing and petite-sizing is available and with alterations on-site some changes to the style are possible at an additional charge.

Inside Kleinfeld

Adding beads to dress

Jewelry Collection at Kleinfeld

A WPIC Media Frenzy!

What an amazing start to 2010 and what promises to be an incredibly successful decade!  

We are so proud of our WPIC Alumni and want to toot their horns!  In just 14 days WPIC has made it to Newspapers, Magazines, Television, Radio and even Celebrity Blogs!  Our Association Board has had a flurry of Announcements about Alumni in the Media.

Here are just some of the ways our Alumni have been featured:

Print

The new Spring/Summer issue of Today's Bride came out this week with "25 trends for 2010" by Danielle Andrews Sunkel and Tracey Manailescu of WPIC Inc.  In the article they give ideas and tips to personalize a wedding and add the Wow Factor.  The story made their front cover!

 

Alumni, Teresa Medeiros and Nelia DaSilva of Ultimate Affairs, and Christine Martin of Pure Potential Weddings were featured in an article about Wedding Planners in The Grand Magazine.  The coordinators were shadowed at weddings and comments from their grateful clients are included as well.  Tracey Manailescu, Vice President of WPIC Inc. was also interviewed for this article.

Lindsay Honeyman, of Sheer Elegance Events, had a wedding featured in Toronto Life's Wedding issue.  The wedding featured was an Indian/Greek/Scottish fusion.  The Indian Groom wore a Kilt, the Scottish/Greek bride wore a Sari.  Food was a combination of Indian and Greek and entertainment featured a Bollywood dancer who taught the guests some new moves.

 Jennifer Borgh was just quoted in The Toronto Star today, in the article "Add Choreographer to list of Wedding Hires" by Vivian Song.  She gave tips for wedding couples wishing to incorporate choreographed dances into there reception or entrance.

Television

Jennifer Maxwell, Carol Bodenstien and Lisa Lewis, all from the Greater Toronto Area and all WPIC Certified, have been named "The Dream Wedding Planners" for the television show of the same name.  It will begin airing on the Slice Network in January 2011.

WPIC Alum, Amanda Daligadu will trade roles and be the bride on an upcoming episode of Rich Bride, Poor Bride.  Her Weding Planner, Jennifer Borgh, also WPIC Alumni, will assist show Wedding Planner, Angelique at the January 23 wedding.  Good luck girls!

Blog Love

Caryn Lim of A Timeless Celebration in Montreal, was awarded a Sassy Site Award from Get Married!  She was also awarded a spot on their Preferred Bloggers list!

 WPIC Alum, Jolyn Saramaga, of Nuance Occasions in Edmonton, was given the compliment every Wedding Planner dreams of.  She received an email from Colin Cowie telling her he enjoys reading her Blog and would she agree to be listed on his Suggested Blog list.  She now holds the Top Spot on said list!

And that is just a sample of what has been going on!

Open a newspaper, magazine, turn on the TV or the Radio, odds are one of our Alum is being featured. Not bad for 14 days into the New Year, just imagine what we are going to do in the next 341!

WPIC- 2009 Year in Review

A note from WPIC Founders, Tracey Manailescu and Danielle Andrews Sunkel:

Wow, what a year we have had!

The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada and its Association WPICAlumni is over 500 people stronger this year.  Alumni have travelled from Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Japan, China and Hong Kong to take our course in 2009.

Over 130 of our Alumni have had the opportunity to experience Wedding Destinations such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and the Philippines this year.  Some were even treated to Private Plane transportation!

WPIC certified all the Jamaican Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple staff.

We established and grew our partnerships with our fantastic travel partners:  Sandals and the lovely, Gina Tsirmpas; SuperClubs and the wonderful, Steve Koth; Air Canada Vacations and the darling, Debbie Cotton-Burinski; and The Bahamas Tourism Board and the fantastic, Vinincia Strachan, WPICC.  We owe so much to our amazing contacts at each of these companies!

 

(Click image to watch)

The media has referred to us on many occasions, we have been interviewed on Canada AM twice this year, On the Line twice, Entertainment Tonight Canada and in Today’s Bride, Chatelaine, The National Post (multiple times), The Globe & Mail (multiple), and every single city newspaper in the Sun Media Group (multiple times) as well as many other publications in print and on-line.

Our President and Vice President spoke at the Wedding MBA in Las Vegas in September and Instructor, Tara Murney, spoke to AfWPI members in California.

We’ve “Trashed the Dress” in Jamaica, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Philippines and of course, Toronto.

We just got back from our best conference to date, the 5^th Annual Wedding Professionals Conference held at the fabulous Beaches Turks & Caicos.  We had Sasha Souza, Joanne Brown, Andy Ebon and Simon & Ciara Daykin speak to us there.

Our Alumni have grown their businesses leaps and bounds, have received several top Industry Awards, been appointed the executive of Industry Associations and interviewed, quoted and featured in many Wedding and mass media publications.  We couldn’t be prouder of all our “Wedding Superstars”!

Year-end is a time to re-evaluate and set newer and bigger goals and we definitely have. 

Some the things on WPIC’s 2010 Agenda include trips to Ireland, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico and Barbados.  We will continue to offer the Annual Wedding Professionals Conference in a sunny locale.  We have started a new partnership with a very large travel company and will be certifying over 400 of their agents as Destination Wedding Specialists.  Most importantly, we will continue to produce the best educated, informed and ethical Certified Professional Wedding Coordinators.

Thank you for our best year to date and we look forward to the exciting years ahead!

Sincerely,

Danielle Andrews Sunkel and Tracey Manailescu
Founders of The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada Inc.

Home Decorator meets Wedding Coordinator: Wedding Storyboards!

by Danielle Andrews Sunkel 

Thanks to all of the Design/Decorating Telelvision Shows, couples are loving the idea of a "Wedding Storyboard". 

The Wedding Storyboard is like a Design Board with fabric swatches, magazine cut-outs and stock photos and is similiar to an Advertising Storyboard, where the Advertising Agency pitches an Ad to a company for their Media Campaign; the Wedding Coordinator creates an overall idea for the Wedding. 

As we all know, our clients don't want us to "plan" their wedding, they will have an idea and they expect us to make it happen. It is our job to show them how to take that idea and make it better. Couples have no idea what is out there, we do. 

I often send my clients web links or photos through email for them to check out items. Putting it all in a Storyboard allows them to see how the items would fit in with their scheme and getting a glance at the overall look is priceless. 

Last May, I created a Wedding Storyboard for my clients and incorporated things we had already discussed as well as things I wanted to suggest to them. Worked like a charm, they were able to visualize what I was suggesting and loved it. I gave them the storyboard as a keepsake of their wedding and they were thrilled. I brought the Storyboard to the venue meeting to show my clients, so many people came over to look at it and they loved the idea as well. I actually had a lot of fun creating it. 

Here is that storyboard: 

 

I used a foam-backed white board. On it I had photos of the venue, the tables covered in their linens, photos of the food courses including the "gourmet grilled cheese and sweet potato fries station", photos of the bouquet I suggested, the menu cards I was suggesting, three kinds of ribbon and paper colours for them to choose for their table numbers (which I hung from the curly willow in their centrepieces), the curly willow centrepieces with LED lights and roses I was suggesting, the seating chart I was proposing, the wedding day timetable, the favour boxes, a candy buffet I wanted to do, etc. 

Here is another using just photos and cutouts: 

 

This stroyboard is just one of many Inspiration Boards found at WeddingbyColor.com

If cut & paste is not your thing, an easier, cleaner-looking way is to make photo collages, like these: 

Bridal Canvas is a website that helps you put together Wedding Storyboards!  You can use your photos or any of the peoloaded photos and magazine cutouts they have. www.bridalcanvas.com

As a Wedding Coordinator, if you create a bunch of different storyboards and have them around your office during Initial Meetings, it would show your clients just what you are capable of, as well impress them with your creativity! 

Have fun!

WPIC on Canada AM: The Importance of Hiring a Certified Wedding Planner

This morning the President of The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada, Danielle Andrews Sunkel, was asked to appear on Canada AM to discuss the importance of hiring a Certified Wedding Planner.

 (Click image to watch)

The Interview request was in response to a Non-WPIC Wedding Coordinator going bankrupt and leaving more than 30 couples stranded on their wedding day. 

Our official response is:

"What a shame this happened to so many couples, but this could have been avoided, had couples done their research on Wedding Coordinators.  Couples need to exercise their own Due Diligence and make sure they are hiring a Certified Wedding Coordinator.  There is only one regulatory body over Wedding Coordinators in Canada and that is the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada. 

"Our members are required to sign a Code of Ethics prior to taking our course and are held to these Ethics, or else they will lose their certification. If couples do not hire a WPIC Certified Wedding Coordinator they have no fallback if something goes wrong, their Coordinator becomes ill or can not perform their contracted duties.

"We have made the search process very easy for couples, all they have to do is visit our website www.wpic.ca and we have listed all the Certified Wedding Coordinators who are in Good Standing and who constantly improve themselves through further training and education.  Each of our graduates has access to our free Association where they can ask each other questions, research one of the over 30,000 Wedding articles, continue their education, attend conferences and most importantly have a fall-back if they get sick, hurt or just need some help.

"Had the Coordinator in question been Certified and active in the WPICAlumni Association, this situation never would have happened.  Our members Volunteer with each other on a regular basis to help each other gain experience and better their businesses.  A suffering business owner can rely on the help of Volunteer Assistants so that the couple still gets what they contracted and paid for, and the Wedding Coordinator does not need to pay overhead expenses.  Just this past summer there have been over 100 weddings where the Wedding Coordinators used the help of volunteer assistants (not due to a suffering business, but having extra hands while providing experience to their Alumni).

"WPIC training happens at all major Universities across Canada (in Toronto at U of T Scarborough & Mississauga campuses and George Brown College) and recently we trained all the on-site Wedding Coordinators for the Sandals Luxury Resort chain in Jamaica.  Students choose between 10-week night school or intensive 22-hour weekend lecture series and then have two weeks of home study before they write an intensive qualifying Certification Exam.  Upon becoming certified, students are expected to continue their education through the many seminars, conferences and training opportunities WPICAlumni provides."

More information is available at www.wpic.ca

WPIC's Eco-Instructor, Tara Murney, Speaking at AFWPI Conference

 Eco-Wedding Photo of Tara Murney used with permission from Photographer Jodi Halliday-Yorkston

Our very own Green Expert and Eco-Instructor, Tara Murney, is speaking about "Eco Chic Wedding Planning" today at the AFWPI Northern California Regional Conference taking place in Sacramento, California!

Her speech is titled: "Green, the New White – How to Plan an Ecologically-friendly and Socially-Responsible Wedding".

While in Sacramento, Tara was also interviewed for a local TV News Program about Ecologically-friendly Wedding Planning.