Wedding 360 Heads South! { Day One }

Last week, Jean and I flew to Dallas with our awesome filmmaker Andrew Hsu of Studio MSV, to begin the filming of our very first series of online courses to be released at the end of this summer. Our short two and a half day trip was jammed pack with activities with Todd + Gang of Todd Events, beginning with our first night at Todd's restaurant Tillman's Roadhouse.

We knew Todd had a vertically integrated business, but we had no idea it included a restaurant as well. Of course, a restaurant owned by Todd Fiscus would naturally be fun and fabulous, and no detail is left without a touch of Todd's creativity! I especially loved their private dining room, named the Peacock Room for obvious reasons (I wish I had better photos!). Their menu, presented on an acrylic backing, had so many great choices that it took us awhile to decide on our orders. I loved the trio of fries that we shared, which had parmesan black pepper kennebec fries, chili dusted purple peruvian fries and smoked salt scented sweet potato fries with housemade ketchup and horseradish pickle mayo. Oh, did I mention we also got truffle infused popcorn prior to the fries? What completely blew us away though, were the out-of-this-world desserts that included old childhood favorites brought back with a modern twist. The best item to me, by far, was the S'mores Table Side, which included orange, maple and coffee marshmallows, cinnamon grahams, dark chocolate bark, and we actually got to roast them on skewers at the table!

What a warm welcoming we received from Todd and his team. Definitely Southern hospitality at its best! Hey, if you don't know who Todd Fiscus is, you need to. Here's a fabulous article to read, to get to know Todd!

What's Next for Wedding 360?

 The learning at Wedding 360 Academy SF was life changing....and the learning goes on!

Images of Wedding 360 Academy for Planners + Designers, San Francisco, March 2010.

 Orange Photography.

We will be introducing the first Online Academy for Planners + Designers at the end of June! Each content-rich online course will be taught by an esteemed professional who enjoys success in multiple disciplines. Join in the academy to partake of their knowledge and insights, specifically tailored to wedding planners, designers, and floral designers.

As planners ourselves, we juggle businesses, families, and our personal lives on a daily basis, just as you do. We understand the difficulty of leaving your business and family for several days to attend a conference—plus the considerable investment of time and money. Like most of us, you probably cannot do this more than once or twice a year, if at all. So we’re bringing education to you! Learn from top experts, at your own pace and on your own time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

The first videos to be posted online will be a selection of recorded presentations from our March 2010 Academy for Planners + Designers. In July, we are heading to Dallas, Texas to film Todd Fiscus of Todd Events which will begin a new series of hands-on, educational sessions to be released throughout summer and fall this year.

We know how important it is for students to have a chance to be up close and personal with the professors. To encourage such interaction we will be producing the Intensive Academy in Spring of 2011, in San Francisco, California. This two-day program will combine large-group classes with smaller-group sessions, where students will spend concentrated time with one faculty member and discuss their individual businesses.

We are not a conference; we are an Academy focused on content-rich education for a very specific group of professionals.

We welcome you to join us in this new journey! Go to our online Education Center now.

Recap of Day 3: Academy for Planners + Designers

Day 3 was the final day of our Academy, and it was another full day of valuable education for attendees. We began the day with Tara Guerard's class on 'Spatial Planning' and her southern charm surely won everyone over. Between all the great knowledge we obtained from her, we got some good laughs as well! She really tells it like it is, and everybody loved her sense of humor.

The first panel was focused on the important relationship between photography, event design, and editorial. Gene Higa and Catherine Hall represented the photography aspect, Youngsong Martin of Wildflower Linen represented event design, and the lovely Grace Ormonde represented editorial. It was an interesting mix of personalities that came together to teach us the essence of getting your work published in magazines.

The second panel was made up of our uber talented designers for the Design Showcase at The Academy--Asiel Design, Grant & Co., Nancy Liu Chin Designs, and Tara Guerard. Each of them were given a small meeting room at The St. Regis to transform and they all pulled it off in their own unique, spectacular way. The styles were dramatically different, and it definitely inspired our attendees! We invited them to talk about their individual showcases, so that we could understand the inspiration behind the design as well as the production process.

At the end of the day, we concluded with a final class on Food & Wine, taught by Ethan Mantle of Componere Fine Catering and Henry Wine Group. Ofcourse, what's a food and wine class without an actual tasting? We got to enjoy some really creative bites from Ethan, paired with just the right wine and champagne from Henry Wine Group. As a farewell, attendees left with 'Nitro Ice Cream' made to order with -320 degree liquid nitrogen!

It was too hard to say good bye to the new friends we've made, so we had to have one more drink together! Credo, a new hip bistro in the heart of the financial district in San Francisco, hosted a Happy Hour for our attendees. As sad as we were to see everything come to an end, we also knew it was just the beginning for something extraordinary......

Photos by Orange Photography

Recap of Day 2: Academy for Planners + Designers

Day 2 marked the 'official' start of our education program. Attendees woke up bright and early and were treated to a hearty breakfast at the Four Seasons San Francisco. After a short welcoming from Jean and I, Rebecca Grinnals of Engaging Concepts presented on the state of the wedding industry as it pertains to planners and designers. She was a dynamic speaker, and when she talked about the critical do's and don't's of a planner and designer's website, her examples were illustrated with images from the websites of our attendees in the room. Everyone absorbed the information like sponges, and learned an incredible amount from Rebecca.

Following Rebecca were presentations by Sean Low, David Beahm, Todd Fiscus, and the brilliant ladies behind Two Bright Lights--Siri and Rosalind. Attendees continue to absorb a massive amount of education from these experts and yearned for more after each session. David and Todd both shared design tactics and showed amazing images of their events' schematics and photographs. Todd and Sean, in particular, taught on the strategies of running a profitable design business and shared an incredible amount of valuable information for attendees to take back to their own businesses to implement.

Prior to our lunch break, we invited Liz Guthrie, Founder of Wish Upon A Wedding, to talk to our attendees about her wonderful new non-profit organization and the ways that we as wedding professionals can help.

 In the evening, attendees were once again awe-inspired by the amazing design of Gloria Wong, at the Museum of Petals dinner at the St. Regis, which was in honor of the notable Grace Ormonde.

Photos by Orange Photography