Well, hello there!  Long time no see – I have been a bit busy loving on our newest addition and getting ready for a little event called Cakes for a Cause!

Well, Abby is doing beautifully and Cakes for a Cause was last night and a HUGE success!  My dear friend Kasey and I co-planned and hosted the event at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank to benefit the Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s Operation Feed. We are so proud of how the event turned out – everyone had a great time and we raised a lot of money for a great cause!

We are still tallying the final donation but it looks like we raised $5000 or 10,000 meals!  Our original goal was to raise enough to provide every meal for a family of 4 for a year but we managed to raise enough to feed 9 people!  How cool is that?

Believe me when I say that Columbus has some seriously talented bakers and confectioners!  Here is a little sneak peek of the room and a few of the cakes – can’t wait to share more when we get them.

Kasey and I won this cake in the silent auction and served it to all the attendees – don’t worry, we kept the top layer and a few strawberries for ourselves. 

If you missed Cakes for a Cause 2010, trust me when I say that Cakes for a Cause 2011 is going to be even more sweet!

Images courtesy of C Studios

You know you haven’t been updating your blog enough when your mom calls to tell you she was looking at her Blogroll and noticed you hadn’t updated in a really long time.  I have a good excuse – between my wonderful clients, Cakes for a Cause and getting ready for this baby, I have also been working on blogs for other people!

Today, I was featured on The Stylish Planner.  The lovely Jeannine gives a good idea of how we met (and yes, the story is a long, but funny one) and we are Twitter friends as well.  She asked me to talk a little about managing pregnancy while maintaining your style and I was completely flattered!

Click here to read my post on maternity fashion tips!

And if you haven’t put two and two together – I am pregnant with Ellie’s little sister and will be delivering any day.  I will be on maternity leave for about a month once that happens but still checking my email and voicemail from time to time.  I look forward to introducing the newest addition to our family very soon!

Thanks to Jeannine for the opportunity to share my maternity tips with your readers!

I know the mastermind behind Sage Wedding Pros, Michelle Loretta, through Twitter and have always loved reading her blog – it is full of great information for wedding professionals of all kinds.  When Michelle emailed me and asked me to contribute to a series for the new vendors in the industry – I was thrilled!  She asked me for the top ten things that I wanted new planners to know – the things that no one tells you when you are first starting out.

I get SO MANY emails from girls who want to be planners and are looking for internships or part time positions with Emilie Duncan Event Planning or want advice on getting started.  Quite honestly, I get so many emails and phone calls that I don’t have time to answer all of them so the chance to get this kind of information out there was appealing to me.  Based on the comments, it hit a nerve with other planners both new and experienced – I hope that is opens some eyes and thanks again for Michelle for the opportunity!

Click here to read my 10 Lessons for New Wedding Planners

Along with my dear friend Kasey from Bliss Weddings and Events, I am thrilled to introduce Wedding Skills Workshop!

Wedding Skills Workshop is a new way to learn and interact in the Columbus area.  Kasey and I both agree that we have outstanding networking associations in the area but wanted more in depth and directed education.  We hope that other vendors will join us in raising the bar and taking their knowledge and service levels to new heights!

Please visit The Wedding Skills Workshop’s blog to learn more about our first offering: The Floral Rescue Workshop.

This workshop is perfect for photographers, catering managers, banquet managers, on site coordinators, videographers, wedding planners and coordinators – basically anyone who comes into contact with the bride and groom and their flowers will benefit from this hands on, intensive workshop.  We are limiting this workshop to 10 participants so everyone has a chance to learn and ask questions.

Just as a head’s up – I am heading to Indianapolis this morning to attend Eventology 2009 – a educational conference and gathering of some of the best and brightest wedding and event planners in the country.  I am looking so forward to meeting and learning from and with these ladies (and one gentlemen that I know of).

I will still have access to email from time to time but might be a touch slow on responses – please forgive any delays and I’ll return any non-urgent emails and phone calls on Friday when I am back.

I spent a lovely day yesterday learning all about the nuts and bolts of blogging from a true expert – Liene Stevens from Blue Orchid Designs and The Smart Planner.

We had a great turnout of about 20 wedding pros from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Kentucky.  The attendees included planners, photographers, videographers and a choreographer.  Watch for some great new blogs and amazing revamped blogs to come!

Liene is doing bootcamps all over the country this summer – very possibly in a city near you.  Whether you have a well established blog or just want to start one, the blogging bootcamp has something for everyone and I highly recommend it!

A special thanks to my co-hosts Kasey from Bliss, Julie from Blue Skies and Lisa from Red Gallery for all their help and to Liene for coming to the frigid north all the way from Arizona.

In the pictures above – picture credit to various iPhones and Twitpic:
1. Quenetta from Something Blue, Saundra from Planning Forever, Aletha from Pearls Events and Me!
2. The group during a breakout discussion session.
3. Liene – in my borrowed sweater – she’s from Arizona and was freezing!
4. Aletha, Kasey and Quenetta Twittering during a break. iPhone addicts – all of them!
5. Saundra and Liene – trouble and insight and intelligence in tiny packages.

I recently decided that it was time for new headshots – my old ones were taken way back in 2005 and didn’t really look like me so much anymore.  I was very excited when the lovely and talented Lisa from Red Gallery agreed to do them for me.  Normally, I really don’t like having pictures taken of me (I much prefer to be behind the scenes watching my brides and grooms get their pictures taken) but I knew I would be comfortable with Lisa behind the lens and that she would get some good shots.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I don’t wear makeup.  The daily extent of my makeup routine consists of Burt’s Bees lip balm and maybe a touch of mascara when I am feeling really sassy.  Because of this simple fact, I knew I needed help with my makeup for the photo shot.

That is where the lovely and talented makeup artist MelissaRoshan comes in – I told her that the last time I had my makeup done by someone else I wound up looking like a cross between a clown (way too much blush) and *ahem* a lady of the night (way too much eyeliner).  She swore she is the queen of natural looking makeup and to trust her – I am certainly glad that I did!  She did an amazing job and for me to say that is a big deal – I never think makeup looks good on me but she even did some fun false lashes and still managed to make me look like myself.  Exactly what I was hoping for!

So, what do you think?  All my gushing aside, I love how my pictures turned out – they are very me which is kind of the whole point!  I absolutely recommend both Red Gallery and MelissaRoshan. Thanks again ladies, I love how they turned out!

As a side note, these pictures might be a shock to some people as until a few hours before this photo shoot my hair was extremely long – almost to my waist!  I was finally tired of wrangling all that hair every day and chopped it all off.  I am pleased to say that the ponytail that my stylist cut off was long enough (over 11″) to send to Locks of Love – love being able to contribute to a good cause and I love having shorter hair again!

You already know why you should blog.  We’ll show you how.

Blogging Bootcamp :: Columbus
presented by Liene Stevens of Blue Orchid Designs and The Smart Planner™

Who: Any wedding professional who wants to effectively leverage online media to grow their business
When: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Time: 9 am – 4 pm
Where: The Studio at 2 South State Street
Cost: $150 per person

Since the launch of the Blue Orchid Blog in 2006, it has grown to include over 3000 unique daily visitors and is partially to credit for the launch of two new Blue Orchid Designs offices on the East Coast.  In the Blogging Bootcamp, Liene will share specific strategies and techniques she has personally used to grow the Blue Orchid Designs blog to where it is today.

This workshop is open to all wedding professionals, not just wedding planners.  Space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis so reserve your spot now!  Laptops are optional and lunch will be provided.

Topics covered will include:
*How to discover and leverage your blogging voice
*How to maximize your blogging ROI
*How to develop killer content – consistently
*How to set short term and long term goals for your blog
*How to effectively analyze your stats and blog traffic
*How to increase your readership and keep them coming back for more
*Specific strategies and techniques to use your blog to improve your main website’s SEO or “findability” on Google
*How to promote your brand through your blog’s design and content
*Maintaining professional boundaries while still being personable
*And more!

The Blogging Bootcamp will not be a class on blogging philosophy.  You already know that blogging is a good idea.  We’ll be showing you how to do it so that it is worth your time. No topic will be off the table, and any questions you may have will be fair game.

Click here to register!

This event would not be possible without the generous support of Emilie Duncan Event Planning, Bliss Events, Red Gallery Photography and Blue Skies Videography.

Emilie Duncan Event Planning’s brand new site is almost ready to launch – while we get everything up and running, you might not be able to access the main site at emilieduncan.com.

Also – while we do this, we might have some downtime in email as well so if you send us an email and we don’t get back to you ASAP, please accept our apologies and resend it!

Can’t wait to show you what we have been working on! Yay for new things!

Adding: Apparently the new site and old site are switching back and forth and will be for a few of days – sorry for any confusion!  It should be completely new by Friday!!

Observant folks have probably noticed that my name is spelled differently from most Emilys in the world.  In the wedding world there is another Emilie out there who is a total rock star.  Emilie Sommer is a jaw droppingly fabulous photographer from Maine and she is a do gooder too!  She founded the Pink Initiative to benefit breast cancer research.  Breast cancer is a cause that is close to my heart as my awesome Mom is a nearly 6 year survivor.

Emilie is giving away $5000 in wedding photography for the winner of the Campaign for Change raffle!  Tickets are $50 and as long as your wedding is in the continental US and before the end of 2012, you are eligible.

Great cause, great photos.  What more could you ask for?