September 2024 has been an exciting month for the posh events industry, with the inaugural RSVP Club American Symposium going down in Recent York. As a British wedding planner within the US attending the event as a member AND speaker, I’ve been reflecting on what an exquisite thing it’s to be an element of – and all the pieces I learnt and gained from the experience, all of which I can apply to planning weddings in the longer term of my very own business.
RSVP Club is a networking organisation for planners, suppliers and venues in the posh events industry. It provides regular opportunities for us to attach, collaborate and learn from each other, and since becoming a member I actually have built incredible relationships with among the industry’s most eminent players. Being involved in RSVP has really helped the expansion of Elegante by Michelle J, and so too has the club grown – now into the American industry.
I used to be privileged and honoured to be invited to attend the RSVP Recent York symposium as a speaker (the one British one!), they usually really outdid themselves with the venue, theming and decor. When the event industry hosts, they really do it well! Held in the distinguished Rainbow Room at the highest of the Rockerfeller Centre, the event was themed for The Beatles with the dress code ‘a touch of Carnaby’. As a Brit in Recent York, this was pretty special! Views of the Hudson River and iconic Manhattan were our backdrop.
Each speaking session was interactive, with a 20 minute session followed by 10 minutes for Q&A – but these sessions aren’t about methods to plan a marriage, moderately about methods to improve the way in which we run our businesses and take care of ourselves while doing it. It’s all about ensuring we’re (and remain) the most effective within the business. The session I hosted was all about stopping burnout, which is a hot topic in the marriage industry. We usually work on events that run until the early hours of the morning, oversee big builds and sophisticated logistics and timelines, and don’t get many days off in the course of the season. It’s easy to not take care of ourselves and find yourself getting burnt out.
We also are inclined to lose sight of what we’d like to charge and the way we’d like to grow our businesses, and a part of my message is that success doesn’t have to be measured by how stressed and burnt out we’re, and it shouldn’t be glamorised. I talked about methods to handle this, including constructing an amazing team, setting up systems and processes, and ensuring we take day trip for self care and wellbeing. These are all things I actually have implemented at Elegante by Michelle J with a view to proceed to grow without detriment to my mental or physical health.
There have been also speaking sessions on the expansion of social media content creators and the way they must be integrated into a marriage, something that’s more developed in America, in addition to the facility of claiming no and never taking up weddings that aren’t a great fit. There was even a session on meteorology and the way this has now change into a service available for the marriage industry. I heard and learnt about so many things that I can take from the US wedding industry and apply to my very own business and UK events at large.
On day two we were invited to the gala dinner, which was an actual masterclass in event construct and design. Themed across the Met Ball, everyone dressed glamorously and started the event by walking the red carpet. Designed by Jen Gould and produced by Norma Cohen and Colin Cowie, no detail was spared and the entire thing was awe inspiring. Not only was it incredible to see, it also showed the contrast and differences between US and UK events. For instance, the entire flow of the evening is different with a giant emphasis on the bar and entertainment, whereas within the UK the food takes more of a starring role at a marriage.
For a British wedding planner within the US it was fascinating to see the similarities and differences in the way in which we host, structure and design events – all of which may be applied to weddings. I learnt a lot from my American colleagues and now feel well-connected with the most effective of the industry across the pond, and might bring a lot of this data and way of doing things to my couples’ weddings here within the UK.
You’ll be able to visit my Instagram page @elegantbymichellej to see more of the RSVP Symposium. With huge because of all of the wonderful speakers I shared the stage with, in addition to everyone involved in putting together this show-stopping event.
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Images by Anastasiia Photography
