WPIC Year in Review: 2015

WARNING: At WPIC, we love our photos, so prepare for a bunch of photos and video 😉

Every year, we at WPIC, start writing about the year past, and every year we are amazed at just how much fabulous we can pack into 365 days!

We now have over 6,500 WPIC Alumni all around the world, including: Canada, USA, Mexico, The Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua, Barbuda, Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, England, France, Brussels, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, Sweden, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Ghana, Nigeria, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Australia, and more!

We started the year off with an International Class held in Jamaica, at Couples San Souci in Ocho Rios, lead by WPIC Instructor Monica Caesar.

For the last few years WPICers have started the year off with the “WPIC Kickoff”, an event put together by our WPIC Regional Representatives.  2015’s theme was “Be Bold” and our Reps didn’t disappoint! Check out the video courtesy of EventSource.

See more photos and the complete write-up here. 2016’s Kick-off promises to be amazing!

At the Kickoff, we said we were going to focus on featuring our WPIC Alumni, their events and accomplishments.  Our Alumni have given us tons to gush about!

Within our “Featuring You Campaign” we launched the hashtag #LifeofaWPICWeddingPlanner for Twitter and Instagram.  Alumni can tag their photos of events and we might repost it on our WPIC Instagram feed @WPICinc.  We have also featured many events and weddings here on the WPIC Blog.

Such a great photo! Thanks for sharing your couple’s special moment with us #lifeofawpicweddingplanner @t.r.events Photo: @@s95photo #realwedding #grafittiwall #weddingplanner #wpicalumni In love with this fun shot of one of our summer couples in front of their custom made graffiti wall by @diyadecor Photography: @s95photo #Repost @amsandu.nord with @repostapp ・・・ “Married and Mature” #not #amsquared2015 #yyzgraffiti #torontoweddingplanner #torontoweddings #wpic #lifeofawpicweddingplanner #wpicalumni #RepostIt_app

A photo posted by WPIC Inc. (@wpicinc) on Dec 20, 2015 at 6:45am PST

In March, WPIC Co-founders Danielle and Tracey participated in the Hong Kong Overseas Wedding Show!

While out for a morning walk along the streets of Hong Kong, they were thrilled to see the WPIC Logo go by on a city bus and then found it at a bus stop when they were walking by.  What an exciting surprise!!

We brought WPIC Alumni, Janis Martinello of Brocade Events, on as our WPIC Regional Representative Manager to help oversee the WPIC Regional Representatives and help provide stellar Professional Development Events for our Alumni.

We also held our Wedding Pro Workshop in Calgary at the end of March.

See our recap Blog of this amazing two-day event here.

In April, we sponsored The Wedding Lounge at the Canada Special Event Conference featuring Youngsong Martin from Wildflower Linens and Renee Strauss of Beverly Hills Bride fame.

In June we took 11 Destination Wedding Coordinators with us to visit the Couples Resorts in Jamaica.

Watch the Video shot by Rohan Laylor of Phat Dog Visuals and edited by Wedding Films Toronto below.

Co-founders Tracey and Danielle then flew to Barbados to deliver an International Wedding Consultant and Coordinator Certification class at Ocean Two.

During the summer, we had a custom Swarovski crystal-encrusted WPIC sign created for us by Love Letters by Elite Designs.  WPIC Office Manager, Kaley Campbell, obviously loved the sign and insisted on bringing it everywhere.  We posted the photos of her and the sign in some strange places, on our Instagram account @WPICinc.

#WPIC Office Manager @kalcamp having her #starbucks on the steps at a nearby church. We aren’t sure why she had to bring the WPIC sign with her though? She brings it everywhere! #LifeOfAWPICWeddingPlanner

A photo posted by WPIC Inc. (@wpicinc) on Jul 22, 2015 at 7:54am PDT

In July, we took over the studios at Phat Dog Visuals and had a “WPIC Office Design Challenge.”  We each were assigned a chair flower and given $150 to design a theme around that flower, using similar elements.  Our Alumni and Blog readers then voted on their favourite design.

Read the Blog about the Challenge to see the full designs and then the Results Blog.

Early in August, WPIC Co-founders Tracey Manailescu and Danielle Andrews Sunkel, went onsite at Jewel Resort’s Runaway Bay location to train and certify the wedding and event staff at all of the Jewel Resorts, as well as the Hilton Rose Hall Spa Resort.

Also in August, we held a fantastic Destination Wedding Specialist Certification class, followed by a pool party at the Radisson Admiral Hotel in Toronto.  The pool party was a major success to cap off the event thanks to D & W Entertainment.  Check out some of the photos of the event courtesy of A. Vision Studios or visit their Facebook page to see all of the photos.

September is always a very busy month for us at WPIC, and this September was no different.  Co-Founders Danielle Andrews Sunkel and Tracey Manailescu were not only speakers for the 8th time at the Wedding MBA Convention in Las Vegas, but they also MC’d and managed the new Wedding Planner Track breakouts.

Before the conference ended in Las Vegas, Danielle and Tracey were on a plane to Jamaica to speak at the Jamaica Wedding Professionals Conference for the second year.

WPIC Instructor and Destination Wedding Planning Guru, Monica Caesar of Aisle Plan Your Day, was also a speaker at the Conference.

They then taught a Wedding Consultant and Coordinator Certification course at the Couples Swept Away Resort.

A week later WPIC held its Semi-Annual “Working Head Shot Extravaganza.” This is a chance for our Alumni to get amazing photos by professional photographer for their website and Social Media pages. Over 30 vendors came together to create stunning backdrops for our Alumni. See this phenomenal video by Tom Sokalski of Wedding Films Toronto showcasing the event.

December means the Love Mexico Conference for WPIC.  Each year we are proud supporters of this amazing event in which many WPIC Alumni always attend.  This year we were extra proud because two WPIC Alumni were also speakers at the Conference!  Paras Mehta delivered a fabulous seminar about Destaintion Wedding Decor and Jamie Valdes-Reich sat on a panel for Destination Wedding Travel Agents.  Danielle and Tracey were thrilled to present the 2-hour seminar, “Anatomy of Destination Wedding Planning” to a standing room-only group, along with Deborah Moody, Executive Director of the ACPWC.

After Love Mexico, Danielle and Tracey stayed on in the Riviera Maya to facilitate the 4th WPIC training and certification of the Palace Resorts Wedding department.

We are always striving to improve our courses & Alumni Association, and 2016 will be no different.  We have FAM trips, specialized classes, professional development events and course improvements planned and scheduled.