The Knot has released its much anticipated wedding report, which surveyed nearly 18,000 couples who were wed in 2011. And the news is good for suppliers to the weddings industry.

“For the first time since 2008, wedding budgets are on the rise,” says Carley Roney, cofounder of The Knot. “In 2011, one in five couples spent more than $30,000 and 11 percent spent more than $40,000 on their wedding. Our research shows that couples and their families are less concerned with the economy and are increasingly comfortable investing more in the once-in-a-lifetime occasion of their wedding.”

Highlights of the report include:
Average wedding budget : $27,021
Average spent on a wedding dress: $1,121
Average marrying age: Bride, 29; groom, 30
Average number of guests: 141
Average number of bridesmaids, groomsmen: 4-5
Most popular month to get married: September
Most popular wedding colors: blue (30 percent), purple (25 percent) green (24 percent)
Percentage of destination weddings: 24 percent

A look at an average wedding budget in 2011 by category

One of our industry’s mantras in recent years is to make sure that event planners and designers touch all the senses. Hotels, it seems, are catching on to this idea.

Rosewood Hotels in North America and Saudi Arabia have added perfumes to its room service offerings. Guests may request the service 24 hours a day, receiving a sampling of 10 perfumes on a silver tray from a fragrance butler. They may try or purchase the perfume, which are tailored to evoke the nature of each particular city. For example, the hotel has chosen Hermes Eau des Mervailles for the Carlyle in New York, and Givenchy Dahlia for the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. To learn more, go to www.rosewoodhotels.com.

You’ve heard about it, read about it and have seen it plastered all over Facebook and Twitter. Maybe it’s time to take the plunge and dig into Pinterest to see what all the hype is about.

We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you get started. Of course, you learn best by doing it yourself, but this should make it a bit easier to get into pinning mode and get you into the flow of this fun, creative design tool.

What is Pinterest?
It is essentially an online bulletin board where you can “pin” images and videos onto themed boards and share them with others. Have you ever come across an image that takes your breath away, one that promises inspiration for your next event or meeting? You now have a place to save that image so that it’s not lost in the abyss of the Internet. At Event Solutions, we’ve themed our boards by categories such as food and beverage, weddings, daring designs and Idea Factory. You can create your own themes based on your interests and specialties.

Today, planners and suppliers are using Pinterest to pitch clients on a design concept, share content from meetings, promote their businesses, showcase venues and drive traffic to their websites. Some planners invite clients and suppliers to pin their own images on boards, making them a sort of mega-inspiration board that can be shared by everyone involved in an event.

Getting Started
Because the site is in beta, you need to be invited to join. If you have friends who are members, ask them to send you an invitation (there is an invitation button on the home page for account holders.) Or, you can request an invitation from the Pinterest folks, which is what we did. Some people report that they get an invitation almost immediately. We had to wait about three days, which isn’t too bad when you consider that the site has about 12 million unique visitors each month.

Once you get your invitation, you’ll be invited to connect to Pinterest through your Facebook or Twitter account. Enter a screen name, email and password and you’re on your way!

Create a Profile
In the upper right corner of your monitor, your screen name will appear. Mouse over it and click edit to access your profile details page. You can edit your name, bio and photo and link to your other social media accounts on this page.

The Pin It Button
The next thing you’ll want to do is attach the Pin It button. This will allow you to grab photos from websites and pin them to your boards (note of caution: copyright laws are a potential issue. Read Ann Turner’s blog for more details.)
To attach the Pin It button, go to the Goodies page. You’ll find this by mousing over the About button and clicking Help. Drag the Pin It button to your bookmarks bar and you’re set.

You can download and pin images from your computer as well. Simply click on the Add+ tab in the navigation bar and a window will open with a prompt to add a pin, upload a pin or create a board.

Helpful Hints
Much like Twitter and Facebook, you can follow accounts or individual boards if you find something that particularly inspires you. The boards are totally public, so you do not need to ask permission. To follow a user, you can click on his or her name, board or pin.

To add Pinterest to your blog,click on the About tab and choose Goodies on the left side of the screen. Scroll down to the Follow button section and choose the option you prefer. Copy the code and paste onto the site where you’d like it to appear.

In terms of etiquette, one of the most important considerations is to give credit where credit is due. You have the option of adding a description of each image you pin. Let the reader know what the image is and where it came from. It’s very important that you credit the photographer—they make their living on their images, and you don’t want to abuse their livelihoods.

Keep it clean, of course. This is a public site, and no nudity or questionable content is allowed. Be tasteful. Don’t post too often. Self-promotion is considered in poor taste and can damage your brand and reputation.

Follow the Event Solutions Pinterest boards by clicking here.

When their invitations arrived looking like report cards, guests know that they were going to have to make the grade at the largest fundraiser for the Adopt-a-School Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa. The intent, says planner Jade Crystal Calvert of Vicky Crease Events, was to “…make everybody feel like a kid again.”

The 1,000-plus guests were encouraged to wear school uniforms and as they arrived, they were greeted by wait staff carrying trays of snacks, popcorn and slush cups. An old-fashioned arcade with carnival games kept them amused until the school bell rang and they were invited into the venue, a car dealership that had been transformed into an event space. Calvert needed to bring in all the amenities such as toilets, mobile kitchens, dance floor and air conditioning.

Whimsy was certainly part of the design, with a pink, purple and red color palette, and entertainers such as aerial artists, contortionists, comedians and musicians kept guests out late. And even though this was a “school night,” certainly no one was worried about curfew.

Brides and grooms often ask for menus that are memorable and unique. But as a professional planner, it’s your job to work with the caterer to make sure that guests’ special dietary requirements are also met.

Here’s a quick summary of some of the more common restrictions you need to know about. The caterer for the event will be able to provide suggestions and even tastings to make sure everyone’s appetite is accommodated.

Gluten Free. Gluten is a protein molecule found in wheat, rye and barley. Almost three million people are glucose-intolerant, making it one of the most common genetic diseases. Gluten is often found in pastries, cakes and cookies.

Lactose Free. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Alternatives include soymilk, rice milk and almond milk. Non-dairy cheeses and ice cream are also available.

Sulfite Free. Some people react strongly to sulfites, which can be found in many popular foods and beverages. Items to watch out for are grapes, lemon and lime juices, and dried fruit.

Yeast Free. Candida is a yeast-like fungus typically found in healthy people. When it gets out of balance, however, it can infect the entire body. People with Candidiasis should avoid processed carbohydrates, refined sugars and dairy products, with the exception of live, cultured yogurt.

Sugar Free. People with diabetes need to watch their sugar intake and stay away from highly glycemic foods such as bagels, bread, cookies and cake.

Organic. Foods grown organically are free of pesticides and herbicides.

Vegetarian. Vegetarians avoid eating meat. For some, this includes fish. Eggs and dairy products are generally acceptable.

Vegan. Vegetarians who choose not to eat any animal byproducts are called vegans. There are many vegan products on the market today, from non-dairy cheese alternatives to frozen desserts to soy-based sandwiches and veggie burgers.

For more information and related websites, click here.

While the presidential hopefuls continue to battle it out, the event industry’s biggest election came to an exciting end on February 28 at the Spotlight Awards in Las Vegas, when the winners were announced in 15 different categories.

Many of the finalists created marketing campaigns to win votes in the “people’s choice” aspect of the awards – which this year counted for a percentage along with a merit vote by the magazine’s Advisory Board. These campaigns were built on solid platforms that reflected the brand and message of each company or individual, and they hold many lessons in how to use an award nomination as a marketing tool.

An Opportunity to Rebrand
In Miami, A Joy Wallace Catering and Production Design Team used the nomination of their sales and marketing manager, Sabdy Pacheco as Rising Star, to not only introduce her to the marketplace but to also roll out new corporate colors and identity.

The company’s in-house graphic designer, Ryan Oswald, designed an ad campaign look that meshed the black-and-white motif of the Spotlight Award logo with the company’s new teal accent and elements from fashion that branded the piece with Pacheco’s personal style. The addition of candid photos by Roy Llera Photography added more personality and recapped the story of this star’s “rise.”

The ad was first marketed to the company’s internal contact and client database. Following that it was posted on the company’s Facebook wall, as well as on personal Facebook walls by fellow employees and supporters, and sent out via Twitter. The campaign paid off; Pacheco was the winner in what was the closest of the Spotlight battles.

The campaign was successful on other levels as well. The personal branding concept led to the redesign of the company’s business cards. They now feature a black-and-white photo of each salesperson and executive member, accompanied by a one line “pitch” as to why they are an expert in their field. “Lastly,” Pacheco adds, “Our efforts resulted in several business leads as we created a buzz around the company, award nomination and the conference itself.”

A Joy Wallace Catering and Event Production Design Team

Building Visibility and Buzz
“Winning awards is fun,” says Tricia Schmitt, director of marketing at AFR Event Furnishing in Pennsuaken, New Jersey. “But they hold the most value when we integrate them with our marketing strategy.” Schmitt, the Spotlight winner for Marketing Professional of the Year, continues, “The Event Solutions Spotlight Awards give us a plethora of choices to communicate and relationship-build with our clients in a very playful, yet meaningful way. It’s assertive marketing, but totally acceptable when done appropriately.”

In addition to Schmitt’s award, AFR was a finalist in two other categories – Event Supplier of the Year (which they won) and Rising Star Female. The company took advantage of the nominations to showcase the company, improve visibility and highlight individuals in the team by creating a totally realized campaign, complete with a custom Rock the Vote logo, a “debate” e-blast that gave viewers more information on the candidates and company, web page banner, email signature, campaign buttons, postcard, breaking news items that were released on Facebook and Twitter and a last-minute reminder to vote.

The campaign also included post-award pieces. “To share our news, show our gratitude and celebrate with everyone who supported our effort, we sent out an e-blast saying thank you and included a coupon for a discount on their next order,” Schmitt says.

“The countless touch points and return on investment that we created by utilizing the awards process as an opportunity for marketing is still rolling in. The positive feedback from the campaign has been phenomenal. The true power of the campaign came when AFR won and followers tweeted, “AFR Rocked the Vote.” Message complete.

AFR Event Furnishings

A Social Media Campaign
At Warner Bros. Studios, the winner of Event Site of the Year, Caroline Lett, marketing and event administrator, worked with Hillary Harris, executive director of special events, on a campaign that was centered around an event photo that had been on the cover of Event Solutions. “Since this was the magazine’s award, we wanted to begin our campaign by attracting readers who had seen it previously,” Lett says. “Plus it lent itself to the 60s theme we wanted to go with as the colors are so on trend for spring. And, we wanted to play off traditional election campaign themes such as world peace.” In fact, people clicked on a hand making the peace sign to cast their vote. “Who wouldn’t want to vote for world peace?” Lett says with a smile.

The nuts and bolts of the campaign included Facebook – beefing up the postings and posting on the walls of others in the industry , Twitter – at least one tweet a day about the award, the blog, hillonhollywood.com – dedicated posts to the vote as well as footers each time Harris posted, LinkedIn and finally, several e-blasts through Constant Contact.

“We built up more public awareness of the studio,” Lett says, “But the campaign also helped us jump start a larger campaign for this year. And it forced us to really focus on and grow our client base. In 30 days we built our client contact base to more than 1,000 which we will use throughout the year and continue to maintain. We built up our Twitter followers fast, as well as our friends on Facebook. These are all excellent sources of possible business for us.”

Warner Bros. Studios

The Personal Approach
It was a close race this year in many categories but none as close as Rising Star Female. Giving Sabdy Pacheco a run for her money was Jackie Ross from Table 6 Productions, a national event design and planning firm. Ross is based in its Miami office. Her strategy was to eschew social media and approach the challenge one-on-one.

“I sent a personal email to every vendor with whom I have a relationship. It took weeks,” she recalls. “Then, when a mass email was sent, I didn’t just ask for the vote. I asked them to take the time to read my profile and hoped they felt a vote was warranted. For example, I sent an email to the attendees of a high-end wedding conference I attended and used my LinkedIn contacts. I was actually surprised by the responses I received.”

She also looked beyond the industry, reaching out to the workplaces of her husband and her child’s school, allowing her to reach consumers and do what every good marketing campaign should do – reach out beyond your base and find new clients in a non-sales, non-threatening and positive manner.

Schmitt said it best – if done correctly, using a popular vote type of award (and there are many others besides the Spotlights out there), can be a perfect way to gain market share, visibility and loyalty with your base and beyond.

Table 6 Productions