Yes, sometimes we do get out and have some fun! This year’s holiday party consisted of cosmic bowling and a variety of ugly Christmas sweaters….with a few select prizes for the most creative. We had great fun with each other during a relaxed evening away from work, but some competition was definitely going on between the lanes…and the santa gift exchange!

We hope that you all have a wonderful and happy holiday season, and we’ll see you next year!!

Images courtesy of Elle G Photography

Members enjoyed a delightful meeting at the Loew’s Coronado Bay Resort.  Our President, Ann Strobel, was busy coordinating a wedding in Northern California so our very capable Krista Murphy, acted as our Hostess/Emcee.

Krista introduced our guests: Jen Ragusa, Pink Star Design, Betty representing Concepts and Brent, the other half of Studio Carre’ Photographie.

Our showcasers were Shannon and Brent of Studio Carre’ Photographie.  Shannon explained the importance of building a relationship with their clients, customized packages, creative shooting, whether it be an intimate beach or large wedding.  They keep current with the trends and styles.  Not only do they shoot weddings, but also corporate business to boudoir photography.  They are talented and easy to work with and we are so proud to have Studio Carre’ in Weddings of Distinction.

We did a trivia test on Coronado and drew names of our drawing winners, Carmin (for 2 bottles of wine) and Andrea who won gift certificates to Vigiluccis and Truluck’s La Jolla.  Paula of Rae Florae provided beautiful florals and Lisa from Elle G captured our event through her talented lens.

The Loews Coronado is a beautiful resort, it’s pet friendly, has three ceremony sites, beautiful ballrooms and gondelas for a relaxing, romantic getaway around the bay. “Gordie” offered a tour of the property at the end of the meeting.

Next month, our hostess will be Carlie McVay from the Hilton Del Mar.  We are planning a fabulous open vendor panel to discuss educating vendors to educate clients, being a team player and ways to overcome obstacles in selling.  The focus will be on solutions and everyone will walk away with new knowledge and skills to improve their business!

photos courtesy of studiocarre.com

Members had a great time at the University Club atop the Symphony Towers last month.  Ed Westfield told us about the awesome renovations recently completed…they love to book weddings and were very excited to host WoD and share the beautiful new changes!

Our guest was Darrin Dietz, representing AFR and our Showcaser was Paula of Rae Florae, who is celebrating five successful years and growing to six assistants/designers. What’s big in florals?  Succulents, painted and lots of greens.  Her designs are simplicity created and expressed in a new way.  Her expertise is reflected in her level of detail and excellent service!  And, she’s really, really sweet!

We did a little ice-breaker game ~ “two truths and a lie” and tried to guess who did what.  It was hilarious ~ we have some very creative people in our group and learned lots about each other!

Kimmy from Sensation Show Band told us about her new band, 80’s Beta Max.  Kimmy will be playing at the Del Mar Powerhouse concert in the park on 9/18.  A bunch of us rocked out at Viejas with her too ~ it was a disco inferno! Her bands are jamming!

Lunch was delicious, champagne flowed and raffle prizes were drawn.  Everyone was very busy networking, excited about the busy summer months and our meeting next month at Loew’s Coronado!

Our July meeting at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town was quite an experience.  Our lunch began with three different drink samples as we chatted away.  Nothing like a Whiskey Sour, Manhattan or Margarita to get your meeting started!   We got a tour of the hotel where we learned that the bottom floor of the building was built in 1829, when the land was still part of Mexico!  Our pleasant guide presented colorful details of the Cosmopolitan’s long history, including the life of the owner with his family, the stages of the building’s use—from stagecoach stop to restaurant, some shady business transactions, and a “haunted” room.  Our  treat continued with lunch on the outdoor patio, with live piano music in the air.  We were served some very creative and tasty dishes, in several courses, and were continually attended to by our host and the waiters.  Thank you Cosmopolitan Hotel, you out did yourself!

Maurice Wright of Betwixt Studio was our showcaser.

Photos by Kristina Chartier Photography

images courtesy of kristina chartier photography

Jenny and Drew’s wedding took place at the beautiful Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla. Although the wedding was around the 4th of July, they stayed with a neutral palette of white with hints of green and yellow with linens provided by Concepts Party Design. They also included their super well behaved dog Sadie who got to take place in the photos taken by Kristina! After indulging in Guiseppe’s food and gelato, everyone got cozy, enjoyed the ice luge for shots, and took in (an almost personalized!) fireworks show.

photos courtesy of abi photography

June’s meeting took place at the oh so sweet, Sweet Cheeks Baking Co.! This month was a change from our normal daytime format and we were able to network and socialize more informally. We got to indulge in some yummy paella that David from San Diego Paella provided for our dinner. And of course to top it off….a smorgasbord of yummy treats personally made by Elaine and Donna that included mini tarts, cookies , and mini cupcakes. Delish!

We were privileged to meet at The Abbey, a truly unique venue–there’s nothing else like it!–located in downtown San Diego.  Also unique was our delicious luncheon, with very creative dishes, such as cold melon soup with a creamy dollop, and Portabello mushroom/leek loaf.

Our hosts, Kristi and Jill, pleasantly interacted with us throughout our time together; they ate with us and participated in our open discussion. Host Kristi shared with us concerning the Abbey.  Built in 1910, it served as a church building for fifty years, then as restaurant for 25 years, then for 25 years as it present venue.  As the Hornblower’s “land” location, it hosts weddings, proms, dinners, and many other events.  The Abbey can customize any food item.

The Hornblower provides full service event planners for its seven different-sized boats as well as for the Abbey.  The boats also give harbor tours.

President Ann opened the meeting by introducing an open forum, which addressed good business practices, emphasizing the importance of our being “vendors of distinction.”  As we dined, our industrious board members gave a well-organized, helpful presentation, along with a printed outline.

Strongly stressed was the value of high integrity, in such matters as timely response to clients, consistency, sincerity, and compassion toward often-stressed brides.  We were advised to pay attention to our branding–identifying our own specific type of client–and also to consider using free service of interns for assistance in our business activities.

Next month we’ll be meeting at the studio of Hartworks Floral Design and dining on delicious San Diego Paella!

images courtesy of Studio Carré Photographie

Ross + Katie were married at the beautiful Ponte Estate Winery in Temecula. Originally from the east coast, they wanted to wine and dine their families and friends and show them a unique southern California winery experience. Their wedding was photographed by Weddings of Distinction member Studio Carré Photographie, and officiated by Patricia Coleman. With LOVE as their theme, each colorful detail and special moments were a highlighted and everyone danced the night away!

Photos courtesy of ABI Photo

The networking at our April meeting was impressive.  We were hosted by the Mission Valley Marriott with our Event Manager Kim Tourtellott.   We welcomed our guest Johann Cazorla, intern for Carmin Design Events.  We enjoyed learning about the Mission Valley Marriott and its variety of ballrooms and events.

Our first showcaser Tiffany from CaliCards started her business in 2005.  Her invitations are all custom, one of a kind, unique and fabulous.  Her prices include packaging and addressing. Her philosophy is to be creative and make the invitation a glorious window to each event.

Our second showcaser was Diane from Silverwood.  We were greeted to the sounds of Silverwood during our mingling time.  Delightful and catchy tunes from Diane, Gary’s son Joel and Jason Coleman, vocalist.  Extremely talented and devoted to their craft, it’s always a joy to listen to their music and variety of songs.

After a delicious lunch, our President, Ann from Ann’s Plans, discussed next month’s Open Forum topic “Presenting Yourself as a Vendor of Distinction”.  Our new brochures were passed out ~ thank you Lola, Shannon and Tiffany.  The brochures are dynamite, classy and fabulous!   Raffle prizes were given away to Merrylin, Elaine and Susan.

We were reminded of the Celebration of Life for Peggi Walker at the Bali Hai that evening.  An evening of food, dance and song ~ Kimmy, from Sensation Show Band, will be rockin’ the attendees and creating a festive, joyous atmosphere. Many WoD members are involved in this event, donating food to décor.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 24 at The Abbey.  We appreciate the Marriott for their food, service and hospitality.  We thank Paula Rae for the centerpieces and décor and Dennis Way for taking our photos.

After the hotel tour, we left happy, anticipating the start of another wonderful month of referring our WOD members!

The guests were transported to the ceremony in an Old Town Trolley where they arrived to Paul’s friends band, Science Fiction, playing their soothing jazz & contemporary music. The aisles were adorned with burlap runners, black wooden boxes of potted succulents and yellow billy balls and staggered vases of candles & dried black beans. Cocktail hour immediately followed the ceremony where a cigar bar enticed the men!

The reception was held inside the Museum in the Axline Court, where an amazing clerestory lantern lit up the ceiling with strips of light while bringing in the natural moonlight from the open spaces. The guests enjoyed a dessert bar filled with cupcakes in 4 flavors, “presidential pralines” (yes, the actual ones given during the Clinton Administration thanks to Sweet Cheeks Baker, Donna who was their pastry chef!),  See’s chocolates, coconut macaroons and of course for the bride’s family, a plethora of Italian cookies. Fellow San Diego Weddings of Distinction members Concepts Event Design provided the decor. You can view more images from Andrea and Paul’s Museum of Contemporary Art wedding by visiting Betwixt Studio’s blog.