The 1st Annual Santa Barbara Wedding Industry Summit 2018
Event Industry Businesses & Professionals, Industry Shenanigans, Our Events Industry Pros, Special Events / 12.15.20180 comments
On Tuesday, October 16, 2018, an entire industry came together in the Santa Barbara region for the first ever State of the Santa Barbara Wedding Industry Fireside Summit “Define. Design. Evolve.”
The event, which was sold out 3 months in advance, was described as “the leading industry event of our area of all time” by one of the attendees. After 20 years in the Santa Barbara wedding industry as an event planner, trainer and speaker, I witnessed many changes over the years, but none so rapid and dramatic as the last 5-7 years. And what was happening on a national level was compounded ten fold in the unique niche of the American Riviera: Santa Barbara, CA with the recent Thomas Fire and Flood , plus the challenges in our area with private estates hosting events. After observing numerous industry social media groups’ conversations, I noticed there was an incredible opportunity to help colleagues define what was going on so they could custom design a plan best for them, and most importantly: evolve. In order to evolve, however, a foundation of understanding had to happen.
Read More >>The State of the Santa Barbara Wedding Industry Autumn Fireside Summit: “Define. Design. Evolve.”
Blog, Event Industry Businesses & Professionals, In the Press, Industry Shenanigans, Innovations / 04.17.20180 comments
“DEFINE. DESIGN. EVOLVE.”
A Fireside Wine Summit Experience
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
4:00pm-6:30pm
at the historic
The Fireside Wine With a Wedding Planner series continues with perhaps the first-ever Santa Barbara Wedding Industry Summit: “The State of the Santa Barbara Wedding Industry: Define. Design. Evolve”.
A Mini Summit: Encore Presentation of Wedding Planner Mentorship PowerLunch Experience
Blog, Event Industry Businesses & Professionals, Industry Shenanigans / 02.02.20180 comments
On Wednesday, January 31st, we welcomed wedding professionals from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara’s own wine country for a “mini summit” at Ventura Rental Party Center. This was an encore presentation of our last sold-out Wedding Planner Newcomer Mentorship/PowerLunch Experience, and I was excited to share even more updated information and offer the opportunity for collaboration at the end. As attendees arrived, they were greeted with sparkling bubbly and tablescape inspiration styled and designed by the professional talent at Ventura Rental. As with all our workshops, our signature “Little Black Box” made an appearance, too. Photographer Isabel Gomes from Isabel Lawrence Photography was on hand to capture the story of the afternoon in photos (see below).
Fireside Wine With a Wedding Planner: An intimate “workshop chat” for wedding consultants
Blog, Event Industry Businesses & Professionals, Industry Shenanigans, Our Events Industry Pros / 12.02.20170 comments
Continuing the Wedding Planner Mentorship Series is Fireside Wine With a Wedding Planner, an informal “chat workshop”, which will explore in more detail two of the most popular topics from the Wedding Planner Newcomer PowerLunch #1 on October 25th. You spoke and we listened. The top two topics requested for more intense detail from our last workshop were: 1) Deciding What You Will Offer (packages, hourly rates, flat fees, the extent of types of coordination/planning/design) and 2) Marketing & PR for the Independent Contractor & Small Business: Cost-Effective, Powerful Methods (including tune-up tips for current endeavors to capture revenue during this prime booking season, which is now through February)
+PLUS+ Bonus Content: delving into the one factor no form, market research, budget projection or potential client filter questionnaire can do for you with regard to sales & booking new business. We will continue to take a more in-depth look at that #1 Source of Revenue we discussed in our first workshop on October 25th & the factor many miss when building their wedding planning business. Bring your most pressing questions, because this informal chat workshop around the cozy fire allows for some personalized consultation!
What makes this workshop especially unique is the intimate nature and the fact we are reserving a whole section for you – the wedding consultant/professional- to bring your most pressing business and marketing questions for professional consulting from an expert – as well as some of your peers.
Read More >>
Wedding Planner Newcomer Workshop | A Power Lunch Mentorship Experience
Blog, Event Planning Advice, Industry Shenanigans / 07.01.201715 comments
Wedding Planner Newcomer Workshop
“A Power-Lunch Mentorship Experience”
Third-generation Santa Barbaran, Certified Wedding Professional, and founder of one of the area’s most successful and long-standing event planning companies Kerry Lee (Dickey) Doehr created this workshop in response to the demand of local newcomers seeking authentic and experienced advice from a trusted and experienced professional.
Read about our last sold-out PowerLunch Mentorship for Wedding Planner Newcomers from October 25th.
Workshop Highlights:
- The unique challenges of Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties on producing events
- Deciding what you will offer– packages, hourly rates, and more
- Contracts– basic inclusions, including suggested terms and conditions
- Marketing & advertising
Review of online and print options
The best course of action for starting out
Read More >>Mark & Cristina Enjoy Mobile Wedding Planning Tour for 2 and Find Their Dream Wedding Location
Blog, Event Planning Advice, Industry Shenanigans, Innovations / 04.11.20170 comments
Photo by Jose Villa
The Mobile Wedding Planning Tour for Two is perfect for couples just like Mark and Cristina who knew without a doubt they wanted to get married in Santa Barbara, but a) did not know where to start and b) were not sure they wanted to invest in a full-service wedding planner and c) had a limited spending plan (aka “budget”).
One of the biggest mistakes I see newly-engaged couples make is to spend weeks or months researching venues in an area on their own, and then when they find their dream venue, often fall so in love with it that they do whatever it takes to book it and sometimes a site fee alone can eat up almost half (or a good portion) of their spending plan, if they aren’t careful. They then find themselves over-committed financially and sacrificing on the other absolutely-crucial elements necessary for a lovely, memorable event for themselves and their guests. All of this could be avoided with coming into the whole planning experience with an overall spending plan and a professional to guide them up front.
Read More >>“Jump Start Your Wedding Planning” Mobile Wedding Tour For Two
Blog, Industry Shenanigans, Innovations / 03.27.20170 comments
Before “My Big Fat Fake Wedding”, before the “Faux Wedding” there was The Mobile Wedding Planning Experience (also known as The Mobile Bridal Faire), developed and copyrighted by Santa Barbara Wine Country Weddings & Events CEO/Founder Kerry Lee (Dickey) Doehr in 2004. This event provided a luxury motorcoach tour to 5 leading Santa Barbara venues, which were all decorated as “real” weddings and receptions (some with model bride & groom as well). This allowed guests to interact with event partners in their element, as well as provided event partners the opportunity to showcase themselves in front of pre-qualified leads (every attendee had to be looking to plan some aspect of their wedding).
Ms. (Dickey) Doehr’s ground-breaking industry concept earned her the attention of upscale luxury national wedding resource Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine, where they created an exclusive category for her as well as The Texas Board of Tourism who contacted her for consultation on how this was done to further their destination wedding revenue stream. There was no doubt that this was a win for event partners and wedding clientele alike and created a whole new business model and concept.
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Certified Wedding Professional and 3rd generation Santa Barbaran Kerry Lee (Dickey) Doehr has continued this concept through the years but customized it on a more intimate level for couples until the next big mass mobile bridal faire is produced (TBA).
Read More >>Fresh & Successful 2016 Season for Party Time with Scott Topper
Industry Shenanigans / 04.11.20160 comments
The amazing Host, Producers and Sponsors for Party Time With Scott Topper 2016 Season on TVSB pose with me
When Scott Topper first asked me if I wanted to co-produce and coordinate for his Party Time with Scott Topper show for 2016, I was honored. He told me straight up that the show was like “community theater” and when he said that, he had my heart and attention. Having a background in musical theater and also loving to support community, I knew the spirit in which the show would be produced and couldn’t wait. Shows like this are all heart. With an audience that reaches approximately three times the amount the Santa Barbara Bowl holds, as well as 5 million homes being able to watch the show on ROKU, this was a great opportunity to showcase some real collaborative talent and have fun.
The first order of business for me was to come up with something fresh for his show for the new year, something that had not been done yet. The sets in the past were gorgeous, and each year only got more beautiful. They were a lovely backdrop for guests to come, sit and be interviewed about their job. And while this is the basis for the show, I wanted the way they were presented to be different. I wanted to focus on a viewer “experience”, and do something different for 2016 that added dimension.
Read More >>Wine With a Wedding Planner’s Seasonal Grand Finale in the Funk Zone: Jump On the Wedding Planning Bus
Blog, Event Industry Businesses & Professionals, Industry Shenanigans / 02.24.20160 comments
“Wine With a Wedding Planner” offers an innovative, community-based, complimentary approach to wedding planning in complete relaxation (and some unconventional fun). On Saturday, March 5th, for our last one of the season, we are offering a “Grand Finale” of sorts: Jump on the Wedding Planning Bus with our partners from Jump on the School Bus in Santa Barbara’s famous FunkZone! There is no charge for the complimentary wedding consultation
Catering Connection Showers Event Profs with Love- and A Guest-Interactive Experience
Blog, Event Industry Businesses & Professionals, Industry Shenanigans / 02.11.20162 comments
I love my job, especially because of events like last night that combine my favorite ingredients of life: amazing food and beverage, great company …and the pièce de résistance: great humor and fun between everyone. As a mom who juggles two event businesses and all that life slings at her, you could literally hear the wheels of my car peeling out when the babysitter showed up and I high-tailed it to Catering Connection’s culinary studios last night. In an industry where our entire focus is taking care of others, it is especially meaningful when someone takes care of us. And Catering Connection, one of Santa Barbara’s leading full-service caterers who just celebrated their 20th Business Anniversary last year offered to do just that. As a thank you to those with whom they work, they decided to do more than just drop off a plate of cookies (not that there’s anything wrong with that- I will never turn down a cookie). They decided to give their event supply partners an evening out- an experience – if you will.
About Me
I am an Innovator. Inspirer. Story-teller. Believer in the magic of life and humanity.
