Party and Wedding Faire at the Sheraton

2011-08-31T07:30:01Z

Weddings take a long time to plan, organize and prepare. Flowers, invitations, photographers, cakes, caterers, limos, carriages, ministers, wedding planners; so many things go into a wedding. As soon as the bride and groom become engaged and set a date, the clock starts ticking, and although a wedding date is planned well in advance, the date always arrives quickly.

A Party and Wedding Faire took place at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on 1230 J Street this past Sunday. Organized by Julia Costanza of Trade Secrets, the event brought together many wedding day vendors and planners under one roof for those seeking help with planning their special date.

The Party and Wedding Faire was held on the Ballroom level of the Sheraton. People who attended the event registered as they entered the ballroom and it was there that I met Julia Costanza, owner of Trade Secrets. Costanza was busy with guests and making sure the event ran smoothly.

Once inside, vendors occupied several stations on the left hand side of the hall. On the right side of the ballroom, a stage was set up for various entertainment and showcase activities. A deejay, along with a few other vendors, was situated alongside.

On stage, Angie Zimmerman talked about flowers and flower arrangements. The stage had a runway and chairs were lined up on three sides. Zimmerman operates Heavenly Flowers and Events. Her demonstration showed how to use roses to decorate a wedding and had several items for sale including a Do It Yourself Wedding Flower Guide that included a workbook and five DVDs. Zimmerman also teaches flower arranging classes via her own internet TV channel, Flower Arranging 101. She brought her extensive experience to the stage and received positive comments from the audience.

Services offered ranged from catering to wedding favors and everything else that you could think of including wedding entertainment by belly dancers. Some vendors, such as ENTICE Weddings and Events, offered numerous services under one roof, from invitations to honeymoon travel arrangements. Others, such as Capital City Catering, offered services from established vendors.

Places such as the Firehouse Restaurant and the Sheraton host weddings and provide a venue that offers catering and other services. The Sheraton and other hotels can provide many things other venues are not equipped to do, especially for out of town guests attending a wedding in Sacramento.

Reservations for many of the venues extend into the future, in some cases even a year or two away. Frank Carney, Special Events Director for the Firehouse Restaurant indicated that as an established business, they have more to offer.

“With the Firehouse being there for over 50 years, we’re now marrying children of people who already had weddings there, it’s really unique.”

The Firehouse and Sheraton have been around and have an established reputation. Their situation gives them the ability to book wedding events far into the future.

During the event, the Camellia String Quartet performed soothing classical music onstage. The group has been performing since 1980 and provides music for weddings and other occasions.

Costanza moved from one station to the next throughout the event, making sure things ran smoothly. She also directed a camera crew that was recording the event for future showings. Costanza gave me rundown on the event and some of the more unique aspects of the Party and Wedding Faire.

“We’re doing a new thing that’s never been done in bridal shows before. Normally, in wedding media, wedding businesses like these have one of three ways to find their customers. They use this type of trade show style where everybody sets up booths and the bride comes and they get to interview each vendor and meet them in person.”

Costanza noted that bridal shows in their traditional sense are in decline right now. Attendance is dropping because people just don’t want to leave the house and instead rely on websites via search engines. Doing so makes things easier, but at the same time, it cannot account for integrity.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you’re getting. Online advertising is great but it removes the personal aspect. You want to meet the vendor, shake their hand, get the personal feel and look at their work, their portfolios. On the internet you don’t get that face to face interaction.”

Wedding magazines are yet another venue for advertising.

“Magazines still sell,” said Costanza, “they still have an audience but again you don’t have that personal relationship. It’s one step above the internet but it’s still not solid.”

By this point, Costanza became a little more passionate about the event.

“What we’re doing here today is that we’ve set this up just like a regular bridal fair. We have actual brides, these are real brides attending today who are interviewing, you know, deciding if they want to hire these vendors. What we’re doing today is we have this film crew filming everything that’s going on at this event and we’re actually going to make television episodes and an actual online experience of this show, so that the bride who doesn’t want to leave the house can still access this in-person experience over the internet or through television. No one else is doing this. No other shows are doing this.”

Costanza noted that somebody has to step out and be the leader in using technology to promote the new age of wedding media. This is the goal for the event.

While working as a wedding planner, Costanza got the opportunity to purchase a business from the owner of Party and Wedding Faire. Later, she bought a wedding magazine business and a website. Putting these three media forms together has allowed her to move to the next step. She can offer customers what they want to see in the convenience of their own place.

Costanza explained that a limited number of vendors were chosen in each category.

“We try to have a really good selection so we have all different forms of entertainment, bar services, decorations and so forth, and we’re very selective. The people in this room are the cream of the crop in Sacramento. These people in this room have the highest reputation and proven quality in this market.”

Nearby, several models in wedding dresses posed for photos near the Bella’s Bridal Shop booth. Models Tilly Lewis, Ellen George and Michelle Parker each wore elegant bridal dresses and also conducted a small fashion show. Parker’s mom was on hand and proudly noted that her daughter was Miss Sacramento Teen 2012.

For those who wanted to learn how to dance, the Arthur Murray Dance Studios brought a couple of dancers to the stage. The couple from Arthur Murray showcased the foxtrot and other dances and looked quite elegant on the stage.

Nyla Crystal, a belly dance performer and instructor also had a booth and it was interesting to see something a little different than traditional wedding entertainment. Unique entertainment at a wedding will probably make the event a little more special and leave a longer lasting memory. Crystal performed several dances at the event and thoroughly entertained guests sitting around the stage area.

Music To Go had a spot near the entrance and I stopped to chat with Greg and Lauren Dills. The organization has been providing music for weddings, dances and parties since 1973. Their professional demeanor and experience have brought them many challenges and just as many rewards. Looking at their station, I couldn’t help but notice their state of the art equipment and how personable they both were. Lauren indicated they had made a couple of bookings during the event and looked forward to getting more.

“We go with the mindset of saying to ourselves, ‘If this was our wedding on that day or our event, how would we want it to be for us?’ We bring their style out with our experience and put it all together.”

They have more experience than most, having done 4 - 5,000 weddings over the years.

“We’ve seen everything and it’s not like we say let’s try this and see what happens; we say let’s do this because we know what’s going to happen.”

Jeanne Felix, a travel agent for Hearts on the Go! a division of Cordially Yours Travel, had a booth that provided information on honeymoon destinations. Felix said that they had travel packages that can be given as gifts for the bride and groom. The packages could be split into smaller gift certificates and together could be a large honeymoon package, making it more affordable to complete a package for the newlyweds.

Many brides-to-be took advantage of onsite vendors, talking to as many as they could and making decisions when they could.

Holly Winckel was one of the future brides who came to the event with several friends and her mom. Winckel will be getting married in June.

“I’m recently engaged and I got an email to the event, so this gave the girls and I a chance to get together and check it out.”

They were all having a great time at the event and indicated one of their favorite stations was the photo booth. Winckel’s mom said pictures from the photo booth would make for great favors.

This will be one of the first ever televised bridal events with internet availability. Once editing is complete, information will be posted on the Party and Wedding website. There, you can also view all participating vendors and the services they offer.

Sacramento to be part of 2010 Amgen Tour of California

2009-10-23T05:17:30Z

At about 9 a.m. Thursday, three-time Amgen Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer announced via a "tweet" that he was going to defend his title in 2010. It was part of a high-profile Twitter conversation started by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that went something like this:

"@schwarzenegger: Great news for American cycling fans and CA. The 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be better than ever. @lancearmstrong will you join us?

@lancearmstrong: Absolutely! @schwarzenegger, I've decided to ride the #Amgen Tour of California in 2010. Can't wait. What about you @levileipheimer?

@levileipheimer: I'll definitely be racing the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, defending my title."

Then at 4:30 p.m., the defending champion spoke at a press conference for the 2010 race at The Firehouse Restaurant in Old Sacramento.

"It was a lot of fun being in the announcement today on Twitter, so I feel like I'm really a part of the race," Leipheimer said to a crowd of about 50, which included the mayors of Sacramento, Nevada City and Davis, and local legislators.

"Right from the fall of 2005, when we first announced the Tour of California was going to happen, I felt like this was something that I needed to be involved with, and I think that's been the secret to my success the last three years," he added. Leipheimer has won the last three Tours of California.

Mayor Kevin Johnson also expressed excitement that Sacramento be will be involved in the tour again. In addition to hosting the pre-race team presentation and gala on May 14, downtown Sacramento is where the first stage of the tour will conclude May 16, after a start in Nevada City.

"That allows us to have four or five days of activities and make it a really special weekend event," Johnson said. "We're going to have about 70,000 spectators that will participate over the weekend. This event brings in $8 million dollars, and that is very significant."

He also addressed last year's "hiccup": During the race, Lance Armstrong's time trial bike was stolen in Sacramento. The mayor joked that although the chief of police had promised tighter security, riders should bring their own locks, just in case.

Davis's Mayor Dr. Ruth Uy Asmundson and Nevada City's Mayor Reinette Senum said they were honored that their cities were part of the race as well.

A big change in the 2010 tour is that it will be held in May instead of February.

"We did it to showcase the state of California in a better way," said Andrew Messick, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group and tour director. "There's a lot of terrain you can't get to on a bicycle in the wintertime."

Moving the tour dates also means that it will overlap with the peak of the European cycling season. As a result, it is unclear whether Europe's top racers will choose the Tour of California over the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy).

"There are probably some Italians who will end up going to the Giro, but I don't think that we're going to see any impact because of the two races conflicting," Leipheimer said. "(The Tour of California) is better preparation for the Tour de France in July."

Leipheimer, Armstrong, and most of last year's Astana team will ride together, but have moved to the newly-formed Team Radioshack. A 2007 Tour de France doping scandal, near financial collapse and a talent overload (three of the top four 2009 Tour de France riders) sent many former Astana riders elsewhere for 2010.

Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "firehouse restaurant"

Party and Wedding Faire at the Sheraton

Sacramento to be part of 2010 Amgen Tour of California