In a day and age where information about all things wedding related can be found on the internet, on TV and in books, I am always astounded at the amount of brides that wear wedding dresses that do not suit them for their special occasion.

TV programs such as “Say Yes to the Dress” do all they can to show brides the pitfalls of taking family and friends to choose your wedding dress. Week after week we see brides with a large entourage of the aforesaid family and friends ‘umming and arrghing’ at the dresses picked by the experts. OK, understandably the experts are trying to meet their sales targets but the brides still insist on relying on the advice of family and friends instead of listening to the people with the knowledge for the needs of their clients.

In my capacity as an English Toastmaster and On-the-Day Coordinator, I have seen some absolutely beautiful brides but on the other end of the scale also seen many wedding dress disasters.

Many brides are driven to buy dresses that do not suit them because ‘fashion’ dictates it. They buy a dress because they have read in some wedding magazine that someone who has a figure like a model says that it is trendy and the height of fashion. I know that the same applies to everyday life, with some people wearing things that do not suit them because they have been told that item is fashionable.

Some of these brides do not realize that their wedding day is probably one of the most important days of their lives and will be recorded forever in photographs and video. You can rely on your Wedding Photographer to capture the day, but you can’t rely on your Wedding Photographer to make your dress look better using Photoshop if they have not got the ammunition to start with.

Brides please take a long hard look in the mirror before purchasing your wedding dress. Make sure that YOU look at it from every angle before you buy.

Nice day here ( again… ), hoping it starts cooling down a little soon, so I just thought that I would attempt to put up my new Wedding Show set up to make sure that I can manage it on my own. Going to look well I think….

I got the banner on Ebay from Kreative Labs in Texas, the price and quality is outstanding. Try them @ http://stores.ebay.com/Kreative-Labs?refid=store

I took delivery of a new set of stands and a 4′ by 8′ vinyl banner for the upcoming Weddings in Style Show in New Orleans. I’ve been adapting the stand for a 10′ booth and will put a photograph up on my next post.
Busy week this week as I have to go back to Baton Rouge to our storage unit to get a monitor to show my presentation on and getting all the paperwork I need designed and printed.

Up bright and early as I’m catching the ferry into the city this morning to meet with Katie (Jr. Editor of Weddings in Style ) about the upcoming wedding show at the Marriatt Convention Center. After the meeting I am going to roam the city and take a few photographs to use for advertising purposes.

Since moving to New Orleans I have been contacting various Wedding Professionals with the hope of getting the ‘English Toastmaster’ name known in the city and surrounding areas.

I met last week with two very charming ladies, who are the Editors of the ‘Weddings in Style’ magazine, where I was treated to the most gracious hospitality at our very lengthy but informative meeting. The Wedding in Style magazine is in my mind one of the best in New Orleans and I look forward to working with these two ladies in the future.

At present I am collecting information and putting it together to make a video presentation to show on my booth at the upcoming ‘Weddings in Style’ Wedding Shows.

Well… we are now living in New Orleans and loving it…. What a city, it’s so vibrant, alive and diverse, filled with friendly people. I think, that from my initial meetings with interested parties, the English Toastmaster services are going to be very much wanted in the Big easy.

Well we finally made it to the USA, even though we cut it a bit fine ( My visa was delivered from the US Embassy in London at 5.25pm (at a cost of £450) on the day before we flew at 9.00am ).

We are now firmly ensconced in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the weather is warm and sunny at the moment but will get humid and warmer over the new few months. Getting to know the area a little and finding out where things are has not been much of a challenge as I have been researching for a few months using Google Earth to get around the place.

We both have iPhones now and are busy downloading Apps to make our lives easier and to stay in communication with everyone. Skype though, has been a boon for keeping in touch with family, friends and clients in the U.K.

I have added two more websites to the Toastmaster family as SE grabbers…. they are…. The English Toastmaster in the USA and The English Toastmaster in America

I am going to try to keep this Blog fresh now that the dust of our arrival has settled…. so more later

After many months of waiting, filling in forms, having medicals, etc., etc. I am having my final interview at the US Embassy in London in just over a weeks time and have already booked our tickets for the 18th March. We’re flying from Manchester to Atlanta, then from there to New Orleans ( A thirteen hour trip ) but we are so looking forward to getting to the States and starting my Toastmastering business out there. I will be sad to leave the UK but from initial response, it looks like the business is set to go platinum over in the USA…. Watch this space….

Had a great time yesterday with Lisa and David Wilkins as Toastmaster at their Civil Wedding at the Doncaster Racecourse. I had many great comments about the event from the Bride & Groom plus the Guests. Nice to see Rob Taylor doing the photography. Looking forward to seeing the photographs.

I have one busy week ahead…. Meetings tomorrow with two Photographers, Dentist, haircut and networking with other wedding professionals Tuesday, English Toastmasters Trafalgar Day meeting in Chelmsford on Wednesday, Charity Golf match on Thursday, Friday I am working on websites and Saturday I have a Wedding. Loving it….