by Holly Carney, WPICC, owner of Holly Matrimony Weddings and WPIC Barrie/Muskoka Regional Representative

The next time these ladies work with you on your wedding they can now tie ties! Being a wedding planner requires us to learn lots of skills we may not personally need but professionally they are an asset! Like how to tie a tie!

I had an amazing night this week! As The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada Regional Representative for the Barrie-Muskoka area it is my mission to get certified wedding planners together on a regular basis to help raise the standards in the wedding industry. A wedding professional should always be updating or learning new skills. This months get together was information packed!

So hard to pick one element of this buffet to show. Those tortilla chips on the left were incredible. If tortilla chips can be ‘incredible’ imagine the rest of your wedding meal??? Liberty North did a great job!

Our host venue was Liberty North, a beautiful banquet facility boasting over 5000 sq ft of possible event space! They can hosting weddings or events up to 500 people. Venue Coordinator, Lori, was eager to assist from the mention of the idea and it is obvious she is passionate about what she does. Her team provided a yummy buffet for attendees consisting of a mashed potato martini bar with a ton of different topping possibilities, chicken and beef skewers, shrimp cocktail, assorted Mediterranean dips with flatbreads and chips, and a hand carved roast beef on a ciabatta bun. Her staff were very friendly and accommodating which was wonderful!

Colleen and Courtney listening to Andrew of Collins Formal Wear talk about how to tie ties and following along with the step by step instructions.

The night started with a creative activity by Paintlounge, where attendees were asked to contribute to a canvas that had a speech bubble asking them to write about ‘wedding trends they <3′ followed by a venue tour, and then a session with Andrew of Collins Formal Wear (Andrew’s claim to fame is that he sold Justin Bieber his first tux for when he was going to meet Usher). Andrew was very knowledgeable about how the industry has changed over the last 20 years (people are getting biggger! I tried on a size 70 jacket!) and even more patient when it came to teaching how to tie a full windsor and a half windsor, as well as the proper way to fold a pocket square. If you are looking for assistance finding your wedding attire, give him a call at 705-735-0227 or email him barrie AT collinsformalwear.com – make sure you tell him we sent you!

Laura of Kiera’s Bridal Wreath and Liberty North Venue Coordinator Lori demonstrate to the group how you would properly lace a corset.

Laura of Kiera’s Bridal Wreath was nice enough to take some time out of her evening to come in and teach us how to properly lace a corset as well as how to bustle a wedding dress.  We hear frequently from brides ‘get so-and-so, they know how to do up my dress!’ but by the time you find ‘so-and-so’ it might be costing valuable time and increasing stress levels as everyone searches for that person.  If I know how to properly do it I can jump in confidently and make sure we stay on schedule and keep stress levels as low as possible. The other thing we learned is that my search for the permanent solution to bustles breaking doesn’t exist – and for good reason! Bustles are meant to break so they don’t tear the back of the dress! This was a great myth revealed to us and now I know that it is preferable for the bustle to break when someone steps on the dress. I carry diaper pins in the event that the bustle does break and have been searching for a better solution but I will stop looking!

Laura also suggests that if you’re coming to try on dresses to make sure you wear the appropriate undergarments. Lots of people show up naked! Not a nice way to start an appointment with your consultant. If you’re looking for dresses in the Barrie area, give Laura a call at 705-728-7537 or email at sales AT kierasbridal.com.

Remember this game as a kid? We added questions to make it more of a tool for discussion!

In order to promote group discussion – though this group was doing quite well on their own – I wrapped a box, each layer revealing a question about the wedding industry. Once we got to the last layer, the lucky person got to open the gift inside. It was a ring pop! HA! This was a great discussion that will lead to more in depth conversation about particular aspects of our industry.

Sending attendees off with ‘sweet dreams’, Caroleene Cook provided us with a two tiered wedding cake that would result in samples !

The last activity of the night involved cake. Is there a better way to end a great evening? Pumpkin spice with caramel buttercream and chocolate fondant – it was yummy. This cake had a purpose though. These days people are either skipping the cake entirely, or they are ordering JUST enough for the number of guests in attendance. The problem with this is that if your caterer doesn’t know how to properly cut the cake you might not end up with enough servings or you end up with leftover cake because they don’t understand how the baker intended on the cake to be cut. I have been in situations where it would be faster for me to cut the cake than have the caterers stress over it.

Caroleene Cook of Triple C Cakery provided this yummy creation and as a group we had to figure out, with the cake cutting guide provided how to properly cut the wedding cake. Success! Lots of happy people. If you’re looking for a wedding cake, give Caroleene a call at 705-735-4310 or email her caroleene AT sympatico.ca.

Elizabeth Johnston came in and put her magic touch on our space! She came with eggplant chair covers and a linen I loved! The lanterns and candlelight on the table made for a more intimate space for chatting! If you’re looking for a luxury designer, give EventDecorator.Com a phone call at 800-450-4789 or email at info AT eventdecorator.com .

Last but not least, thank you to Leslie of That’s Great Entertainment for removing the potential for awkward silences and playing some great tunes in the background. She always seems to be prepared for any situation where she might have to DJ – I really appreciate it! She works all over and her email is info AT thatsgreatentertainment.com or call her at 416-410-2577.

To see more photos and a video of us learning how to tie ties, pop over to my facebook page and check out the album! Make sure to LIKE our page while you’re there.