Notes From The Bridal Roundtable November 9th 2006

The average cost of a wedding here in New York is over $30,000 (according to the website Cost Of Wedding.com). This website has a breakdown of average costs for various items like flowers, wedding attire, and more. The question is are you in touch with your customer base and are you charging fair market rate or well below the industries numbers?


On Nov. 9, 2006, The Local Development Corporation of East New York held it's first Bridal Roundtable, below are notes from that event:

Greetings to all our colleagues and friends in the bridal industry!

The LDC of East New York held our first bridal industry roundtable on Thurs., Nov. 9, from 6–8PM. A very dynamic group got this networking group off to an exciting beginning.

Seven bridal vendors took part, representing a rich spectrum of knowledge, skills, and experience:

• two event planners
• a cake maker
• a photographer
• a maker of handmade soaps that are sold as favors
• a stationery designer
• a headpiece designer.
  
  We kicked off with introductions and brief descriptions of each business. We then had each entrepreneur state her immediate business goals and what actions she is taking to achieve them. We heard a number of common goals:

1. build website presence and internet commerce
2. increase overall sales volume
3. attend/take a booth at a bridal show
4. cross-promote with other vendors
5. generate press coverage

We followed goals with needs: what needs do you have that the bridal networking group could help with, or that the LDC could help with? Responses included:

1. develop a team
2. do joint advertising and email blasts, sharing costs and labor (and possibly lists)
3. share supplier resources
4. get some help with pricing and marketing
5. organize a small, targeted bridal expo

After a lively conversation, the group decided to meet again on Thursday, January 18 at the LDC. That meeting will start with a show-and-tell, in which everyone shares their product or service (samples, portfolios, photos, etc.). Following the show-and-tell, we will discuss initial plans for an expo/event in Fall 2007. Several participants expressed an interest in creating a “one-stop-shop” bridal network, where a bride can get custom help on every aspect of her wedding, and we may pursue joint direct mail or press efforts.

If you are a New York City entrepreneur in the bridal industry, please join us at our next Bridal Roundtable—and bring samples for show-and-tell!

Thursday, January 18th 2007

6-8PM

Local Development Corporation of East New York

80 Jamaica Ave., (at Pennsylvania Ave,), 3rd Floor

Brooklyn, NY 11207
Please RSVP to Teresa Stern, Marketing Coach at the LDC:

(718) 385-6700, ext. 17 or teresas@ldceny.org.

Black Style Now

Cassandra Bromfield's Wedding Dress Patchwork dress

in the Daily News September 17th, 2006

I'm gonna live forever! You remember this from Fame, the 1980's movie with Irene Cara singing the title song. Incidently I went to the famous school the movie is about, but my immortality isn't from old movie magic. My patchwork dress actually is on exhibit at The Museum of the City of New York, Black Style Now. From September 9th to February 19th the museum explores the influence on fashion through Hip Hop and casting a light on black designers like myself. Photographs of the past and present fashion icons are on display as well.Don't miss this ground breaking event.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St
New York, NY 10029
Phone 212.534.1672
Fax 212.423.0759
info@mcny.org E-mail
Museum HoursTuesday - Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.Closed Mondays.
Open on Monday holidays including Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day.

Cassandra's Quinceanera

Just like a wedding, a Quinceanera is filled with ceremony, pageantry, frills, and excitement. I was honored to create a gown for this lovely lady, Cassandra (we share the same name).

A Quinceanera

This rite of passage for 15 year old Latina girls is a celebration filled with great tradition. The young girl crosses over into womanhood with her family and a community of friends who act as witnesses to this important event. A Quincearnera is long associated with the Aztecs. 15 is the age a young girl will leave her home to marry and create a family of her own. From this moment on she is considered an adult and will be treated differently.
Today's Quincearnera's are very similar to American's Sweet 16. However, Clara (Mom) kept the traditions that were important to her family.
The event begins with a full Mass. There are 7 to 8 couples representing the number 15. They were all dressed in her favorite color. The men in white tuxedos carried white canes.


A young boy carries a pillow with her "first" high heels, she enters the church in flat shoes. A young girl carries a heart shape pillow with a crown on it. During the ceremony Cassandra's grandfather changed her flat shoes to the high heels and her mother placed the crown on her head. After the Mass, the Princess and her Court was then whisked away in a huge limo to the party. This was no simple little birthday party it was a catered event jammed packed with fun.

 
Like most teenagers, Cassandra had a vision. This included a picture of Beyonce and could I make that. Well, we had some revisions. However, her strapless dress was in a China silk that was tie dyed 5 different colors. The bodice was hand roused with a straight short skirt under. The removable overskirt had miles and miles of hand torn ruffles. This allowed her to dance later in a short dress. The dress took a little over 24 yards. I kept calling this the first wedding and you could say she married into adulthood. I asked her mother Clara "What are you going to do for the wedding". She said with a sigh and a huff "She's on her own!"

 Proud Mom Clara