Today the lovely Maria Cooke of
Ritzy Bee Events has been kind enough not only to feature us on her fantastic
blog but also to spend some time answering the same questions so that they can be featured here. For me it's fascinating hearing about both the people behind these fantastic blogs and also the American wedding industry. We've also included some photos of one of Maria's weddings, you can see more
here. Here goes:
Q. Tell us a little bit about your company{rb} Ritzy Bee Events is a boutique style event planning firm specializing in weddings, social and corporate events in the Northern Virginia and Washington DC area. I launched the company two years ago after working as a corporate event planner for seven years prior. I named the company after my love for bees...and the fact the word {bee} also means "a social gathering in order to perform some task"...how perfect for event planning! We launched the {ritzy bee blog} www.ritzybee.com in late February of 2008 to have a forum to highlight ideas, trends and tips for all of the little details surrounding weddings.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the American wedding industry?{rb} The American wedding industry is enormous...with 2.4 million weddings taking place each year in the United States with an average of $30,000 {U.S. Dollars} spent on each wedding it only continues to grow. Many American couples are marrying later, have less time, and more disposable income with established careers, so they can afford to hire a wedding planner to handle the details which is fortunately a very good thing for us!
There are endless resources it seems for just about every aspect of weddings...from dresses...to invitations...to favors...it can be downright overwhelming to know where to start and who the reliable resources truly are. In the past 5-7 years there has been such a surge of wedding resources on the internet...from blogs to message boards at wedding related websites, brides-to-be have such an incredible wealth of information at their finger tip's!
Q. What locations are popular in DC & Virginia for weddings?{rb} Couples in my area are so lucky and have so many amazing venues to choose from. With so much rich history...many couples choose to have their weddings in historic locations such as
Mount Vernon {George Washington's home}, other historic manor's such as
Oatlands or in one of the many beautiful old historic buildings in Washington DC that have such amazing architecture and presence. Virginia and Maryland also have beautiful, scenic backdrops from the mountains to the beaches. Wineries & vineyards are becoming increasingly popular locations in my area too!
Q. What are the current trends in the wedding industry you are seeing there?{rb} I would say the top trends I am seeing now are:
Beautiful, bold and unique color palettes such as navy blue & marigold yellow or fuschia pink & teal blue are being used in all the little details of weddings from invitations to favors
A move from more formal, sit down dinners with a 3-4 course meal...to more of a relaxed, cocktail/lounge type set-up where heavy appetizers and food stations are set-up for guests to enjoy movement and the freedom to mingle with a lot more guests.
A focus on making sure guests have the absolute best time and feel comfortable versus just what the couple wants. With costs for traveling on the rise, couples want to show appreciation to their guests for traveling such great distances to join them on their big day!
Midnight snacks or a send-off food station serving things like donuts & milk, mini-fries and burgers, etc. are very popular right now! Guests love this!
Q. When you aren't busy planning weddings, what do you enjoy doing for fun in your spare time?{rb} I feel like I spend my time playing catch-up on my blog when I have spare time...but I enjoy spending time with my wonderful husband...we are addicted to the TV show LOST! We also enjoy visiting vineyards, traveling, fixing up our house and I love spending time with my friends and family!
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