Message from the State Coordinator

As North Carolina newsletter for the Association of Bridal Consultants members is much needed and I am very proud and honored to be the one putting it together for everyone. I am very excited to begin planning our quarterly meetings and yearly event also!

First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Veronica Horton and I have been a member of the Association since 2003. Currently I run my business – Behind The Scenes Inc, out of my home, but am hoping to open a store front sometime this year or very early next year. I am not a native on North Carolina, but I have lived here for about five years. I love the weather and the family values that North Carolina shelters.

I used to coordinate employee events for my previous employer. I also have coordinated fund-raisers for my daughter’s school as both PTA President and Vice President – Fundraising Chairperson.

I would love to hear your ideas and your needs and I promise to try my best and fulfill all of those needs so we all can grow and learn and succeed together. I will look forward to meeting each and every one of you!

Articles / Activities

Since this newsletter is for each of you to enhance your skills and learn new tricks of the trade each time you receive it, I would love to hear from you on what kind of articles you would like to see appear in this newsletter. An idea would be to focus on areas of your business that you need help with or are very interested in learning about.

Another area I would like to us to focus on is activities. We are required to hold quarterly consultant meetings where all of our membership is encouraged to attend. If you have some ideas on presenters and subjects of the meetings please let me know. I plan on hosting meetings in Greensboro/Winston Salem area, Charlotte Area, Raleigh/Durham area and I need one more area to host our fourth meeting in.

Please e-mail me with all of your ideas on articles and activities to: behindthescensinc@triad.rr.com or you can just give me a call at 336-375-3164! Thank you!

Please contact me with any ideas or needs you may have for articles and actives!

Advertising

As a group we get to choose up to four (4) “local” publications per year to advertise the ABC and our own businesses. All advertising must be approved by the corporate office in advance and coordinated by each state coordinator. The ABC will pay for $175 per ad, plus an additional $225 to round up the ad size.

Co-op ads should be placed with either ABC Vendor or ABC Corporate member publications. If the publication does not wish to join the ABC then they are welcome to pass on our business.

Ads can feature the names of the coordinators/vendors helping to pay for the ads. This would include phone numbers, web address and/or e-mail, depending on the size of the advertisement. Only consultant level or vendor level members are allowed to take advantage of this program and at least 10% of membership must participate in each ad.

Bridal Shows

With this option the Association becomes the “nth” participant in the booth. So, if the booth is $500 and there are four members participating, the Association will pay $100 as do all of the participants.

I did e-mail everyone some of the local upcoming shows that I knew of and I encourage you to forward me information about other shows I may have missed so I can get all of our members participating.

Only current Consultant and Vendor members may participate in a booth. If you are a novice member and want to participate, you must upgrade your membership first.

Also, the Association will supply the “Do You Need A Consultant” brochure, at cost if you need it. Please contact me if you are interested in participating.

Quarterly Meetings

Our first quarterly meeting is going to be coordinated by Nanette Jerrigan of The Proper Setting. This meeting will take place October 28/29 in the Outer Banks! Its all about the destination! We have asked Kim Sardo of Sandals to join us! More info will follow shortly!

Our second quarterly meeting will be held in February and will be coordinated by Samantha Slapnik of Emma Grace Designs in Raleigh. More information will follow.

We still need two more coordinators for upcoming quarterly meetings. If you are interested in volunteering please contact me!

Huge thanks to Nanette and Samantha!

Weddings are what we do!

Fact Caravan

This is such a huge opportunity!

Meghan Rathburn has volunteered to help coordinate a Fact Caravan. What is a Fact Caravan you ask? Well, it’s when a bunch of us consultants get together for one day and visit local event and wedding venues.

We are currently looking to do this once every three months and in all different areas of the state so not only does everyone get the chance to participate and meet one another but we also get to see many different places.

It is said that some venues will even try to “wow” us with foods and deserts!

Thank you Meghan for volunteering to coordinate these events! If anyone would be interested in helping Meghan please contact her via e-mail at meghanr@yahoo.com.

Also e-mail Meghan if you have any suggestions or contact at venues that would like to have us pay them a visit!

Upcoming Events

We do finally have some event dates sent or at least the months set. You will be notified of any changes or updates of specific events. If you are interested in hosting a quarterly meeting, seminar or information session please e-mail me at behindthescenesinc@triad.rr.com!

Quarterly Meeting in Outer Banks October 28/29 2006

Quarterly Meeting in Raleigh February 2007

New Horizons – ABC Meeting To Be Announced

Annual Conference, Colorado Springs November 12-14, 2006

Quarterly Meeting – (need coordinator) May 2007

Quarterly Meeting – (need coordinator) August 2007

Please make sure that I have your e-mail address! Especially our novice members, as I only have a few e-mails listed. You can shoot me an e-mail to behindthescenesinc@triad.rr.com.