The Week of April 8th in Review

By Paul Pannone

After a two-year investigation eWedNewz broke the story on the wedding charity, Wish Upon a Wedding, investigating allegations and assertions against the charity’s founders and how the organization is managed. This newZ source has stepped up our investigation looking into people who gave their time and abandoned the organization after a relatively short period.

Disillusioned ex-participants and volunteers are hesitantly coming forward telling eWedNewz their stories but are stopping short of going public. Some major wedding industry figures are giving their version of what happened in the Wedding Water Cooler but, oddly, have not come forward. This newZ source has determined that some are under a confidentiality agreement prohibiting them to speak freely.

An ongoing eWedNewz poll so-far shows 57% of respondents say Wish Upon a Wedding is a good concept managed poorly. 20% feel it’s a bad idea run by thieves, resulting in a 77% disapproval rate. 6% say Wish Upon a Wedding  is a very well-run, worthy cause. 14% of replies so-far say they’ve never heard of the organization but will be following the story.

 

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After Years of Silence Sources Speak out Against Wedding Charity

 

By Paul Pannone

An innocuous story tipped off by several wedding industry sources watching the charity Wish Upon a Wedding that talked about the organization’s website being down for a month woke up a flurry of new allegations and raises questions of how the charity operates. eWedNewz digs deeper into years of questions raised that were reportedly squashed by  a conglomerate of wedding professionals who support the organization.

 

Cancer survivor, Lisa Barr from Brooklyn, is the first to publicly stand behind her statements and allow eWedNewz to quote her about experiences with the charity organization Wish upon a Wedding.

Corroborating stories say any questioning, insubordinate statements made against the organization, its founding members or suggestions to help resulted in dismissal, forced resignation or members of the organization turning their backs on those asking the questions. Many of the stories were dismissed over the years sounding too much like schoolyard antics rather than a professionally run organization to provide worthy causes for those less fortunate. But years later a story about the organization’s  down website has once again opened the door for critics.

According to Lisa Barr;

“This is why I, along with the original founding members of NYC were ‘removed’ and then it took about 18 months to get a new ‘leadership’. We found that you simply don’t ask questions.  You sat back watched while an organization that asked it’s board members to pay $100 for that ‘honor and demand they find locations in NYC to give space, food etc for free. But they wouldn’t give the team ANY START-UP FUNDING FOR ANYTHING…that’s not how it’s (supposed to) work.  They were getting money in long before their fundraising certificate was established and long before they would produce certification to us.

The thing is, you hope and pray that they are doing well. You want to believe that they are helping lots of couples….but in all the years they have been ‘open for business’, it’s only been about 50 or so couples they’ve given wishes to So if you look at all the various chapters, their board, plus paying for it…yes, where IS all the money going?  Perhaps the various commissions will look into it what they are doing and if they are truly helping couples or themselves,” she told eWedNewz.

Because the concept is of merit and a worthy cause Barr said she did not want to do anything to undermined an organization that she believed in; that’s why she joined. But through her  experience with them she told eWedNewz she became disillusioned and “it changed”.

Barr added:

“This was my experience with Wish Upon a Wedding. I really do hope that they are doing what they say they are, but you have to wonder, have there really been only 50 terminal couples and what are they doing to help the chapters?  Perhaps they have a new President and she IS helping local chapters with funding – I don’t know. I’m no longer a part of the group.

I do know that as someone who had Cancer – I had 7 surgeries to put my body back together – I offered to contact Memorial Sloan Kettering (My hospital) and see if there is something they can do. I AM A CANCER SURVIVOR and am passionate about helping people because I LIVED IT! I know what it’s like to have cancer, and live with it. I offered to use my contacts and that was shut down.

As I said, I don’t know what they are doing now, I do know that the point is to provide a wedding/dream wedding for a terminal couple.  They have done that – but as everyone is questioning…where is the money going?  It can’t be all administrative costs especially when everyone is ‘volunteering/donating’…so who is getting paid?”

The organization has been very successful in raising awareness and money in the wedding industry and is supported my many wedding professionals who are willing to give their time and support to the organization.

According to Elisa Delgardio of A Flair for Affairs

“I believe in the work that WUW does, and trust in the integrity of the organization and BOD. Since WUW certainly has operating expenses, I don’t feel the $100 contribution is that big of an issue – many charitable organizations request the same (or more).”

Over the years eWedNewz has had limited discussion with the organization as we probed further including an exchange with their legal counsel who “warned” us and became very defensive when we reached out to some of their founding members, including Sasha Souza. Diligently we told their lawyers to back off (I’m being very kind) from scurrilous threats. But now emerging statements could force the organization to face some of the tough questions we posed several years ago.

What do you think?

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2013

Wish Upon a Wedding Website Up after being Down for a Month

By Paul Pannone

The Wish Upon a Wedding website was back up and running yesterday after being down for a month since March 8th. Tips from sources watching the charity that grants wedding wishes to challenged couples say they’ve watched the organization for several years.

Some say they were once supporters but backed away when leaders of the charity could not give reasons why they were being charged a hundred-dollar membership fee to give their time. Sourced told eWedNewz all products, goods and services are donated yet the organization is sitting on “a ton of cash” they’ve collected over the years. Some feel there are not enough events given by the organization to call for the type of money the they collect and hold on to.

 

From the Wish Upon a Wedding Facebook Wall the organization posted they are aware of the website difficulty on March 8th. The website came back up on april 8th, after eWedNewz broke the newZ on Twitter & Facebook.

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David’s Digital Move to Accelerate Changes

By Paul Pannone

A Press release from David’s Bridal this week trumpets a new wave of change in the wedding business away from traditional marketing, advertising and procedure, towards the needs of impatient consumers who will be getting married. Comments from the last shred of purists who’ve seen the wedding business change make way for veterans who’ve given up the resistance against change and are done waiting for things to return to the way they were.

 

Shake hands with Ray Brown who has spent nearly 35 years with America’s leading corporations helping people and businesses improve their workflow processes and sales techniques.

 

Weighing in on the David’s Bridal Press release was Ray Brown, a long-time wedding industry veteran.

“This press release supports the trend we’ve seen for the last couple of years: Couples relying more and more on the internet for wedding planning information and utilizing developing technology to enhance their (and their guests) wedding day experience. Couples are relying less on traditional methods of information gathering like physical bridal shows and print magazines due to the increased popularity and use of video and social media. Websites like YouTube, Facebook and Pinterest, by focusing on improving the user experience, have helped people feel “connected to others electronically” facilitating this move to The Digital Age.

The Digital Age and Technology will continue to have impacts on many aspects of the Bridal Industry in addition to print; particularly wedding vendor service providers. Those who resist embracing it (technological advances) and maintain the status quo in their marketing and approach to interacting with engaged couples will soon find they have fallen too far behind to ever recover in this highly competitive industry,” according to Brown.

 eWedNewz digs deeper in the weeks and months ahead, looking at how and why successful, iconic businesses of the past are failing to connect with a new breed of consumer.

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Apathy and Indifference Grips the Country; Sounds Like The Wedding Business

By Paul Pannone

Over the weekend news reports  that proclaim America is yawning at the possible collapse of the nation comes as no surprise to most.  According to ongoing discussions apathy and indifference to the troubles facing the nation is a natural progression to how Americans view the problems after continuous coverage and nothing really extraordinary ever happening.

(yawn) An asteroid falling from the sky; another bomb explosion in the Middle east…. Zzzzzzzzzz. When’s the new I-phone coming out?

 

Members of the Wedding Water Cooler say the view of the world has distorted claiming half the people in America have less in savings in the bank than they spend on the newest I-phone. To prove our point we tweeted the statement while writing this story and got relatively little response back, other than the usual voices who are passionate about how they feel.

A year after eWedNewz reported Dessy selling products online, direct to consumers, the outrage quelled into an apathetic stance– along with many other issues that plague the wedding business.

 

More of the discussions in the cooler point to the people who just muddle through life instead of picking and choosing what really matters. The usual laments revisited several topics including the online sale of products by Dessy to consumers. The original story and follow-up showed overwhelming opposition to the practice.

An update still shows 76% of replies say manufacturers should not sell goods direct to consumers.

Similarly, opposition to manufacturers opening stores to compete with accounts was also struck down in a poll:

An update shows 78% oppose this action.

Over time similar polls that asked if it matters where products are made favored buying American if prices were about the same as products made in China or elsewhere. One poll in particular  overwhelmingly favors support to a wedding industry organization if it offered good benefits, was properly run and didn’t break the bank to join. Yet the show of support falls short of financial commitment when it comes time to make good on promises or to reach into the pocket and pull out the money.

The story was picked up by The New York TimesReporter, Stacey Solie, asked us why more people aren’t talking about this. Stacey’s story gives one account of hundreds-of-thousands of online transactions happening every year affecting the wedding dress business.

“What’s frustrating about that is it’s just another news story that people breeze over. But to our business  it’s the difference between keeping the lights on in lean months,” according to Steve Lang, President and Founder of ABPIA.

Lang and other WWC members say they’re interested in the principle behind why these issues exist. As the CEO of his own company Lang has more latitude to express his feelings freely when compared to other members who work and must rely on their means of support above giving their opinion.

“Thank God I am not interested in winning a popularity contest; I’ll just continue to do what I’m doing and hope that sooner or later people realize this is for the good of their business and in their best interest to support the efforts in whatever way they can,” says Lang.

 

How apathetic are you?

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Bridal Guide Boss Claims paying “A Lot More” for “Similar” Space a few blocks away

 

By Paul Pannone

A developing eWedNewz story stemming from a simple story release could cause some seismic changes at Bridal Guide as eWedNewz uncovers new information that could force other advertisers to re-think their association with the magazine. eWedNewz fans out our investigation into the matter.

 

In a Twitter exchange Bridal Guide travel expert, Jeff Hendlin alluded to the fictitiousness of eWedNewz reporting. Yet Hendlin posted this picture of the office he is leaving behind for the “much better” space a few blocks away. Hendlin captioned the image with, “gonna miss my office”.

 A reply to the story from Bridal Guide that protested too much said:

“Bridal Guide celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. While some major bridal titles have been shuttered and others have been forced to make drastic staff reductions and changes, Bridal Guide has never dramatically reduced staffing and has no plans to reduce staff in the future. Most of our top management, editorial, and sales staff have been highly successful in their roles for decades and have been promoted from within the company. We’re proud to boast of the most knowledgeable and expert staff of any national bridal publication.

Contrary to your assertion, Bridal Guide isn’t shrinking. In fact, our focus is expanding and our bank of expert consultants in all wedding-related categories grows each year. Visitors to our new office will observe that it is an upgrade from the space that we’ve occupied on 7th Avenue for nearly eight years. The office configuration is less than traditional — with significant open space to facilitate greater communication between staff. The new office is intended to reflect Bridal Guide’s evolution to much more than a print product. As many of our advertisers already know, Bridal Guide embraces changes that include amazing advancements in our web site  traffic, our social media following, and digital publishing. In a very real sense, we’ve expanded our capabilities to establish Bridal Guide as much more than a magazine. We’ve evolved to become a communication resource that offers an efficient combination of media to produce positive results for our advertisers and an inviting environment for our audience.

Print always will be a core component in Bridal Guide’s marketing platform. We continue to stand head and shoulders above our primary competitor in this arena. As documented by the most recent ABC statements, Bridal Guide’s newsstand sales remain healthy while newsstand sales at Brides have plummeted to an all-time low of 38,000 copies per issue — lower than that every other nationally distributed bridal publication. As documented by the most recent MRI Syndicated  Research report, Bridal Guide reaches significantly more engaged readers than Brides, as well. I’m happy to provide ABC Fast Facts and MRI data to verify the veracity of these claims to you or to anyone who would like to review them. Our role in the print category continues to expand.

Tremendous changes are happening in the bridal industry — changes that are impacting the way in which we all do business. In spite of  these changes — or perhaps as a result of them — Bridal Guide offers tremendous opportunities to bridal market vendors. We attribute this to the fact that our staff includes some of the most seasoned professionals in the world. Again, neither our staff size nor our aspirations are shrinking. You were misinformed. We’re doing a lot  better than “holding our own.” Given our history, we expect another 25 years of growth and success, according to Bridal Guide.

In January Bridal Guide called out its competitors with similar information claiming to be sustaining it’s newsstand sale success. But in a developing story, eWedNewz finds dramatic information into the leadership of the company that could quickly shift support away from the magazine.

Over the weekend an exchange with Barry Rosenbloom, owner of the magazine, purports paying “a lot more” for “similar” space when faced with the eWedNewz question of whether the new offices are bigger than the ones departed on 7th avenue. Given the nature of Rosenbloom’s track record, it’s amazing– even laughable– that he would spend a nickel more for anything.

 

eWedNewz plans to dig in deeper and take Rosie up on his offer to come and view the new space, once they’re settled in.

 

 

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2013

An Angel among Wedding Planner Thieves

By Paul Pannone

 

The top story this week paralleled the wedding business to the sinking ship, Titanic, including staunch believers that everything old will become new again, just like the rich passengers that didn’t bother to heed the warning of impending danger the night the unsinkable ship sank.

Negative response to the coverage on Social Networks was overshadowed by members of the wedding business who say they’re fed up with a catty business where opinionated, self-proclaimed experts purport their views as authoritative information and aspire to “teach” the others why they’re not as successful as they are.   But truth be told, a closer look at many of the worst offenders shows their own house in disarray with a list of failures along the way.

This week members of the Wedding Water Cooler discussed  the usual array of topics but focused on the rising unrest in the wedding business due to more competition and growing economic concerns. According to the discussions part of the trouble is pinpointed to the common approach of inflicting opinion as fact. In discussions wedding planners– some not all– are seen as overbearing, over-confident and downright nasty, giving all planners a negative persona from the start. But, like we said, some– not all.

Wendy Hartigan owner of Wendy’s Affairs of Heart is a Wedding Planner based in Philadelphia who is committed to ensuring that the needs of every bride are met. With years in the bridal industry, Wendy truly understands the ins and outs of how to create a beautiful wedding. As the Wedding Planner Extraordinaire, Wendy turns the dreams of every bride into a reality.

 

 

Among the Angels is Wendy Hartigan a planner from the Philadelphia region. Wendy’s Affairs of the Heart was founded by Hartigan. Ms. Hartigan’s background is in restaurant management and events planning. She also has experience in sales, design and construction of wedding gowns and has done some backstage theater work — costume design and construction and dressing.

According to Hartigan,” The day is about the bride, not about the wedding planner. I get satisfaction from seeing a perfect day and a happy bride.”

According to sources who know Wendy, she may be “Too nice”, lacking the aloofness that is reported a standard among event planners. When eWedNewz confronted Hartigan with the statement she blew off the  idea as nonsense and replied;

“I intend to keep working my tail off for the bride and making sure I do everything I can to make sure she gets the day she’s always dreamed of.”

Hartigan’s tenacious approach is admired and respected by peers and other members of the Wedding Water Cooler group who understand the adversities she faces on her unorthodox path– of actually caring. eWedNewz caught up with Hartigan this week, blogging about the return of the tuxedo. After years of decline updated styles and fabrics caught Hartigan’s attention so she decided to write about some of the changes; but not in the usual planner way.

 

Lauren Ralph Lauren tuxedos

When wedding planners use tuxedos all are familiar with the Ralph Lauren brand.

 

“When I want factual information and the latest products I go to the experts in their field, not try to concoct an opinion and pawn it off as fact,” says Hartigan.

In her post The Best Dressed Groom she covers all the latest information about current tuxedo styles and gets applause from major fashion sources in the wedding business, including Bridal Gide VP Jim Duhe. Duhe, an avid supporter of tuxedo rentals, who has spent most of his career trying to help the failing tux rental business, had this to say about Hartigan’s post in the Cooler discussions:

“Oh My God! I must be in the Twilight Zone — or maybe I’m dreaming — or maybe I’ve crossed over. Wendy, you did an amazing job.  Please accept this in the spirit in which it’s offered.  I can’t recall the last time I complimented ANYONE about a feature on tuxedos.”

Duhe’s obvious snub to this reporter who comes from the tuxedo rental business arrives after years of “encouragement” to speak up about tuxedo rentals and what a lousy job everyone– manufacturers, retailers and fashion editors– have done to promote their use to consumers. But after asking for current information about the latest fit and styles, Wendy Hartigan was able to pull a fantastic post together that tells the truth and cannot be dismissed by competitors who say people get paid to say nice things about branded formal wear.

Wendy Hartigan tells eWedNewz she will continue to fight for her wedding couple clients in her local market and chastise planners who make it about them– all while applauding others who share her sentiments to put the bride first, last and everywhere in between.

 

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2013

The Week of February 4th in Review

By Paul Pannone

There is really nothing new to talk about when it comes to the wedding business, including directory listing website formats, now showing their age and facing obsolescence in the wake of the growing impact of Social Media. 47% of an ongoing poll so-far says wedding websites are outdated or extinct; only 24% so-far say they are fresh and up-to-date.

The decline is pegged to the declining number of formal weddings and rising number of wedding vendors competing for the lower numbers.

This week members of the Wedding Water Cooler identified and discussed wedding marketers who prey on newcomers to the industry or re-package old information and purport an old-time approach of selling to a new generation of brides and grooms to make a living.

Some of the marketers discussed includes Chris Evans, known for his battle fatigue, warlike approach to marketing. Evans was singled out because of his recent involvement with an ABC 20/20 segment that raised questions about the wedding industry– portraying it as a breeding ground for ripping off brides and grooms.

Attempts to contact Evans remain unsuccessful, along with other wedding marketing experts who refuse to return emails and calls. eWedNewz plans to ramp up our efforts in the weeks and months ahead.

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2013

Wedding Website Update: Same Old Story, Just like the Wedding Business

By Paul Pannone

It’s the time of year when wedding websites run their Best of part of their program to hype themselves and try to convince wedding vendors how important it will be to renew their advertising for another year. Members of the Wedding Water Cooler are active this week punching holes in some of the most culpable websites saying they’re weary of listening to the same old song and dance. Many of the Coolies say they’re amazed at how many wedding vendors still support some of the tired old sites, despite repackaged pitches and revamped pages.

 

According to Wedding Water Cooler experts the lies are all the same but they’ve gotten better at lying.

 

 Wedding website whistle-blower, David Fuhrer updated his 2011 statement denouncing the practices of some websites which, in his view, remain relatively unchanged for the past five-years.

“What is remarkable is the lack of innovation upon websites such as The Knot, My Wedding, Wedding Wire. It is remarkable in the sense that a complete lack of value-incentive-propositions have been derived that increase the value of what they offer vendors. From a vendor foundation perspective all of the aforementioned haven’t evolved an iota, they remain circa 5 years ago. This is the fundamental rationale for why my perspective was, and has remained unchanged, that these sites possess a finite shelf-life. In essence their “roads” do not lead to “forks”, they lead to “brick walls”. The concentration has been wholly upon the user-experience & augmenting that experience. The means by which they have augmented is via pilfering off of each other.

The Knot was not a “review” website, it was an exposure website, they now offer user reviews. Wedding Wire was a review website, yet they now offer personalized websites. My Wedding was a personalized website offering that now has reviews. Instead of innovating, they are all supposedly enhancing, via broadening their offerings to the demographic with what can be found on the other websites. They then, pass along, these value-add’s, to prospective vendors in the form of “yes” we do that & even better & more intuitively than other competing sites,” he told the Water Cooler.

The website discussion stemmed from an ongoing story involving a 20/20 segment that got the wedding business to stand up and announce they’re not a bunch of crooks, opposing the way they were depicted in the segment. In an ongoing eWedNewz investigation about wedding marketers in the business, wedding websites and the fairy dust purported are part of the same story, giving vendors misinformation on how to treat consumers.

Chris Evans was interviewed for the 20/20 segment and mentioned his Boot Camp approach to selling. Evan’s business view of marriage is discussed in the Wedding water Cooler and singled out due to the attention it gathered in the 20/20 segment. Members of the group along with other wedding sources being interviewed for an upcoming eWedNewz story say the hard selling and lack of bedside, emotional approach is what’s giving the wedding business a bad name.

According to the Wedding water Cooler discussions wedding marketing and websites need to undergo a major overhaul to appeal to new wedding consumers who no longer turn to websites and older methods– replaced by Social media and referrals from their friends.

 

What do you think?

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2013

The Week of January 21st in Review

By Paul Pannone

The wedding business continues to reel from allegations claiming the business is laden with unscrupulous practices by vendors who up-sell clients and qualify their pockets by the very car they pull up with. An ongoing poll shows 2/3 of replies says there is good and bad in the wedding industry, just like any other business. 22% feel strong enough to say the wedding business is not crooked, while 12% say it is crooked.

eWedNewz digs deeper in the weeks and months ahead to expose possible causes for the allegations including wedding marketers who teach the art of deception to vendors entering the business. Members of the Wedding Water Cooler continue to give their insight to the story.

The American Bridal and Prom Industry Association, ABPIA, announced a new creative campaign to help retailers fend off the growing problem of online piracy and sale of inferior wedding dresses to American consumers. Steve Lang, president of the group, outlined the campaign and how his fight using all available legal means is starting to have an impact.

 

 

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2013