#BrandYou2020 Wedding Planners Education Series

Ann Johnson EventsBright Event RentalsBoho Chic DreamsEvent PlantingHilary Elizabeth LetterHotel CalifornianSPARK Creative EventsThe Twisted TwigNatalie GelmanParty Central PhotoLuxe LinenLuxe LinensKristin Banta EventsThe SEARCH Foundation

Jan 21

Written By Abbey Stewart

A few weeks ago we kicked off the new year by creating an educational event co-hosted by Hotel Californian, inspiring local wedding planners to TAKE ACTION and set goals.

#BrandYou2020 Cultivating Your Wedding Brand
A TÊTE-À-TÊTE WITH LUXURY EVENTS LEADER & EXPERT KRISTIN BANTA

Guests arrived for a quick welcome reception including butler passed shots of smoothies, mimosas, avocado toast bites and mini quiches.

After the quick reception, we moved into the ballroom where Kristin Banta shared her tips for cultivating a brand as a wedding and event expert. She provided a memorable and enlightening conversation by sprinkling her humor into her business knowledge and event experience, in turn provoking attending wedding professionals to dig deep into their personal business brand and know how to take action for their 2020 goals.

The event itself was absolutely beautiful too!

The talented team of wedding professionals that helped put this well-designed event and effective messaging together was led by Ann Johnson Events.

Ann was inspired by the existing black, gold and white of the venue, so she added an aesthetically elegant greenery vibe of live blooms by Event Planting both in the ballroom as the stage backdrop as well as on the rooftop brunch event.

The featured colors adorned the stage with furniture from BRIGHT Event Rentals including the Emerald armchairs flanking each other between the Adele coffee tables. The final touch of a branded event is to have branded signage expertly created by the masterful talents of Hilary Elizabeth Lettering.

Once the discussion ended, we invited guests upstairs to enjoy a delectable and fun brunch including mini pancake skewers, breakfast sandwiches, overnight oats, mini quiches, berry selections and a bloody mary and mimosa garnish bar (we incorporated garnish wars into the afternoon, winner announced on Instagram) among a plethora of home-made pastries, charcuterie, fresh salmon, schmear, and assorted breakfast meat. It was such a great experience working with the hotel Catering Manager, Samantha, who teamed up with the culinary team to host a creative spread. Delicious and creative, the food was definitely a talking point of the event.

The guest tables used three different colored lush linens from Luxe Linen: Tumeric, Forrest, and Taupe Velvet linens matched with three florists to create a centerpiece to match their color of tables, Margaret Joan Florals, Boho Chic Dreams, The Twisted Twig.

Beautiful and festive music played throughout the brunch strummed and sung by the talents of the dynamic Natalie Gelman who eloquently sang everything from Radiohead to Cheryl Crow, and even had one attendee ask, “Why is she here? She should be getting a record label in Nashville?”!

Finally, we had #BrandYou2020 put into play. Guests personalized their Bloody Mary by selecting the glass from the bartender who filled it with bloody mary mixings, then having a station of garnish including bacon, tabasco bottles, celery, shrimp, olives, etc. to create your own personalized cocktail, and choose your 2020 word for your business via photo-op by Party Central Photo Booth

On the way out, guests got to take home personalized desserts with a Petite Dessert station for them to assemble in mini to-go boxes.

A huge thank you to these additional partners who helped create this event and blog post: