I spoke and attended the Association of Bridal Consultants convention in November. I love attending seminars because they give me wonderful, creative ideas. Even better, it helps me recharge and get excited about my job.

This year, one of the luncheons was dedicated to finding balance as a wedding planner. Mary Dann, a wedding planner out of California, gave a wonderful presentation on the importance of positive thinking and also on living and enjoying life while maintaining a career.

The presentation made me think about many of my clients. They are not only planning a wedding, they are building houses, changing careers and negotiating the politics of joining two families together. Anyone of these activities would be stressful, but couples are actually combining these life-changing events.

Most of us are good multi-taskers and can handle the stress of the aforementioned tasks, but it is important that we take time to relax — enjoy the planning process and the engagement. Brides and grooms should never forget to take care of their relationships while taking care of seating arrangements. Find good, quality time to spend with one another and put the planning book away — at least for a couple of hours!

Wow! October flew by. I traveled for most of the month. I spoke in Colorado, then in Indianapolis for the International Special Events Society and then I went to Las Vegas for a few days. The last week of October I spent sick in bed… That’s what I get for flying so much!

Anyway, yesterday I spoke for the Association of Bridal Consultants Business of Brides Convention. Luckily, it is here in Orlando. No travel involved! I spoke on marketing to the Echo Boomer Bride. The Echo Boomers, or Generation Y, are just starting to get married. You are an interesting group! I had several Echo Boomers in my audience who also are wedding planners. It was interesting to hear their feedback on weddings, particularly with regard to technology, creativity and the desire to have a one-of-a-kind wedding.

I am anxious to get more feedback from Echo Boomer brides. If you were born from the early 80′s to the early 90′s and you want to share anything about how you use the computer for planning to ways of creating a unique event, YOU are an Echo Boomer bride. I would love for you to write to me, as I want to do some more research by talking to some of you.

More later, I have to get back to the convention. I hope to have many more interesting ideas to share!

I have had the most amazing week in Colorado. What a gorgeous place to get married!

I was here to speak to the wedding professionals who advertise in The Perfect Wedding Guide in Boulder. It was the perfect place to start this speaking tour because I think Colorado, Boulder in particular, is on the leading edge in the conservation movement, not only in weddings, but with daily life and all types of commerce.

Our topic, was “Making Green from Green Weddings.” Of course the speech was geared towards making wedding businesses eco-friendly and profitable, but I learned so much about making eco-friendly weddings that I wanted to share the information with you.

Weddings have a huge impact on the environment. Guests’ traveling via plane and car sends tons of carbon into the atmosphere, transportation of goods and services to the wedding also creates pollution. Pesticides in the flowers have an environmental impact as well. I read a study that said that commercially grown flowers have 1000 times the amount of cancer-causing chemicals compared with food products. (ecobusinesslinks.com) Photo paper and chemicals have an environmental impact as do paper products and food waste.

Of course we are not going to change the traditional wedding, but their are some things we can do to help protect the environment. Consider requesting organic and locally-grown food. Organic will help reduce the chemical impact of your wedding and by purchasing locally, there will be reduced transportation costs. Also, find out if your reception site or caterer will consider donating leftover food to a food bank, this will help those in need and reduce waste.

Flowers are a bit of a controversial issue — go organic or go local? Going organic is a great way to reduce the use of pesticides, but there are very few organic sources for purchasing flowers. The transportation impact from shipping organic flowers across the country may have just as great an environmental impact as using locally-grown flowers with pesticides. Regardless of where your flowers are purchased, ask your florist whether or not she can compost the wasted and leftover flowers, or if she could donate them to a local hospital or nursing home.

When it comes to photography, for those who are technologically savvy, there are some great ways to reduce paper and chemical use. Consider having an electronic album, or rather than having all of your proofs printed, do online proofing. Digital frames are also a great alternative. Imagine having a beautiful frame on your coffee table that cycles through all your beautiful wedding photos rather than just an album. You could also have a pod crunch done. You can share your photos with your family and friends right on your I-Pod!

The most interesting method of off-setting a weddings environmental impact I found was purchasing carbon credits. There are websites that can calculate the amount of carbon your wedding sends into the atmosphere based on the number of guests you have, the number of nights they are staying in the hotel, and the number of miles they travel by plane and car. Once this amount is calculated, you can purchase carbon credits. The money is donated to organizations that do things to improve the environment, whether it be an organization that plants trees or builds windmills. It is one way to give back to the earth in honor of your special day. If you want to learn more about carbon credits go to www.terrapass.com

Please note that these organizations are not yet regulated. Make sure to do some research prior to making your donations.

Incidentally, my plane trip to Colorado created 2407 pounds of Carbon Dioxide emissions. To offset that, my company will be purchasing a Terrapass for $9.95 counterbalance the impact of my trip. The donation will be put towards a wind farm which helps generate clean energy.