Nostalgic Event Raises Money for Atlanta's Hungry

Event planning is an art, and Sheffield School's Complete Course in Wedding & Event Planning helps you master the basics, grow your people skills and planning acumen, and chart your future path as an "amateur" event planner (hey, your own or someone else's wedding, community events, etc.) or a pro. 

I'm always on the lookout for great events to bring to everyone's attention on Sheffield Says, and I found a great one this week! The Atlanta PROM will celebrate its second year this coming December 10th - and advance tickets are available for the popular event. This is a great concept: enjoy the nostalgia of getting dressed up elegantly in evening attire and party the evening away in far more style than you did in high school. Funds raised go to benefit Hosea Feed the Hungry & Homeless, so everyone feels wonderful about participating. The ticket price covers limousine shuttle service at the venue, "The Red Carpet Experience," a live performance by R&B Grammy nominee Anthony David, a three-course gourmet meal and drinks, and live entertainment with bands and a house DJ. Watch this event video from last year's PROM, and see how much fun this year's event will be.

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Couture Wedding Jewelry Sparks Bridal Fantasy

 

The creative force behind Mandelina Jewelry in Portland, OR grew up in Alaska. Her mother was a portrait painter, and their small community had a high concentration of artists; she took the art plunge at age 14, painting miniature totem poles as souvenirs. Flash forward to the present, where she pursues her one-of-a-kind bespoke jewelry business, with a heavy emphasis on bridal couture pieces. Some of her work is featured in this video from Black Label Films, a Portland boutique cinematographer specializing in wedding films. I love the video's portrayal of a bridal forest fantasy, reminding us of Twilight and Lord of the Rings themes.

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Interior Design's Guilty Pleasure: Flipping Out

It's been great fun for the past four seasons of Bravo TV's Flipping Out to see star designer Jeff Lewis morph his business with the present economy. He was all about flipping houses ("flipping out" refers both to Jeff's real estate transactions ... and his paranoid and OCD mood swings), but that changed as the reality series progressed into a more full-fledged design business. According to his former assistant and now COO, Jenni Pulos, new season five of the show will see Jeff's business expand beyond residential to take in another restaurant and perhaps a hotel. Watch our featured video below, an interview with Jenni, and see the decorating trends she's noticing from the front lines of interior design. Okay, this is one of my big TV guilty pleasures, along with much of the HGTV lineup. I love Flipping Out for the hysterical Zoila Chavez, Jeff's live-in maid. Do you love watching them, too?

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Wedding Slideshows - Boring or Brilliant?

Have you ever wanted your wedding planning to be really prestigious? Wouldn't you love to have a celebrity make an appearance, as in Bridesmaids or The Hangover? We found this comedy spoof of the traditional wedding slideshow from the tongue-in-cheek folks at Olde English, and it features the bride and groom - with a persistent celebrity appearance in the background....

All joking aside, I asked Caroline Wolfe Papocchia, our wedding and event planning student advisor, what she recommended for a wedding slideshow that wouldn't put people to sleep. Her suggestions:

1. Avoid glitzy slideshow effects, like photos that warp and zoom out of frame. Juvenile.
2. Add a narrative to the slideshow that helps tell the bride and groom's special story.

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Deconstruct Original Jewelry Pieces for Fun & Profit

Photo: Brian Appio

Have you ever thought about turning your jewelry-making skill into an unfinished project? Huh? Instead of finishing off a piece, perhaps you could package the components in a baggie along with a sheet of instructions. Instant craft! The following video shows a simple stop-action process that's very effective in demonstrating how an assortment of beads and hemp form a bracelet. Could you turn one of your projects into an easy-to-make craft? For fun, try designing a piece with packaging as a craft kit in mind. Thanks to clever musicman Christofer Drew (see photo above), aka Never Shout Never, for this great way to further "productize" a jewelry designer's work.

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