Since I love traveling, I also love the concept of a destination wedding. I was thrilled to coordinate the destination wedding for Joe and Jina… in the beautiful Bahamas! Given that most of their close friends and family were spread across the US, the couple reasoned that a flight to the Bahamas was almost the same cost as flying anywhere else in the continental US, so why not treat their guests to a vacation? They also loved the idea of celebrating their marriage for a long weekend with all of their guests… so the Bahamas, just a quick 3-hour flight from New York City, was the perfect choice.

Welcome to the Bahamas!
Gorgeous, sunny weather and bright turquoise water greeted us when we arrived! Since most guests were staying for at least three nights, I helped the couple put together an itinerary of events and carefully vetted excursions to help guests get settled in the Bahamas and provide opportunities for them to meet each other at wedding and non-wedding events. Some highlights included the following:

• Welcome dinner for all guests at Carmine’s (Atlantis Resort)
• Swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Cay
• Brazilian steakhouse dinner and hand-rolled cigars at Graycliff Manor
• Wave runners and water park at The Atlantis
  
• Rehearsal lunch at the uber stylish Dune restaurant at One & Only Ocean Club
• … and snorkeling, golfing, and horse back riding!

Wedding Day
Prior the the ceremony, the wedding party gathered at the lobby of the One&Only Ocean Club. You may recognize the classy scene from the Bond flick, Casino Royale:

The ceremony was held across the street at the stunning Cloisters at the Ocean Club. The contrast of the garden of pillars against the bright blue sky and ocean provided the perfect backdrop for the ceremony. Since it was a fall wedding (even though it felt like summer!), the bride chose a vibrant color scheme: red, orange, kelly green, and a touch of ivory.

The reception was held back at The Atlantis:

Trashing the Dress
The couple left the island with some gorgeous shots (even a trash the dress session which I have always wanted to do!)… the wedding was even featured in Destination Weddings Magazine! Here are some of my faves… the couple is so sweet & romantic:



(All photos by Kenny Kim Photography)

While most of my classmates will be taking positions in finance, consulting, and other traditional MBA industries, I will be venturing out on my own by establishing Elisabeth Events. I may be the first ivy league MBA grad to start an event planning firm! My close friends know that this is exactly what I was meant to do, but others may be a bit curious, so here is my story:

My Roots in the Nonprofit Sector
Prior to Columbia Business School, I worked at Advocates for Children (AFC), a nonprofit educational advocacy organization serving NYC’s public school students. Although I joined thinking that I wanted to pursue a career in public interest law, I was immediately drawn to the management side of the organization. While I was there, AFC reached a turning point in its 30 year history — it had grown from a staff of 6 to over 50 in just 6 years. This resulted in opportunities for me to gain responsibility quickly, and I took the lead on AFC’s business development initiatives which grew the operating budget by 26%:

• spearheading new marketing and branding initiatives;
• cultivating AFC’s Junior Board to increase pro bono and fundraising resources;
• directing a lobbying campaign targeting the NYC Council to secure funding for a citywide education helpline; and
• leading a team to plan and execute the annual summer benefit (the favorite part of my job!)

Since I recognized that the nonprofit sector has become a highly sophisticated (and competitive) industry, I wanted to become the most effective leader I could, using strategies drawn from case study examples and sound business reasoning… so I decided to pursue an MBA, ultimately knowing that I wanted to use what I learned for the benefit of the nonprofit sector.

An MBA at Columbia Business School

This year, I am continuing that role as Cluster Chair and I also serve on the Graduate Business Association’s Events Committee. I also had the honor of coordinating two major industry conferences: the 2008 Columbia Women in Business Conference (Reception) and the 2008 Social Enterprise Conference. Right now, I am thrilled to be spearheading a committee to plan our annual school-wide Spring Fling gala, which will be held at Cipriani Wall Street in April!

Lifestyle Marketing at Strategic Group
Last year, I was thrilled to intern at Strategic Group, a boutique lifestyle/luxury marketing firm (the marketing arm of Strategic Hospitality, which owns hotspots such as Tao, Tao Vegas, Marquee, and Lavo). The firm is a fashionista’s dream: hosting Bridgehampton Polo, hiring celebs to pose with our client’s luxury products, operating gifting suites during Sundance and Fashion Week, etc. Having heard about the company before school, I was really excited to work on these types of glamorous projects.

Me with Nacho Figueras (Ralph Lauren model & polo player) at Bridgehamton Polo!

However, after two semesters of working there, I quickly realized that this world of glitz and glamour was not for me. Each day I spent there, I longed for something more meaningful to do with my life… I wanted a personal connection with clients, and I wanted to have more direct social impact.

Luckily, I still had a year of school left, so it was not too late! Upon returning to school in the fall, I immediately became more involved with the Social Enterprise club and entrepreneurial initiatives/courses. After making the decision to launch Elisabeth Events instead of pursuing a more traditional MBA career path, I finally felt at peace. Plus, I built up my luxury marketing and branding experience, which has been extremely helpful for my nonprofit clients since I learned the secret sauce of how big brands are able to engage consumers through events!

Each piece of the puzzle fit together to give me the necessary experience, professional network, and skill set to achieve my goals. Now, every day, I am so excited to work on my business and bring it to life!

The One event which inspired me to pursue event planning full time is none other than my own wedding, which took place on April 7, 2007. After dreaming of the perfect wedding since I was a little girl (yes, I was that girl who used to make fake wedding invitations with my best friend…), it was an absolute joy to finally plan the big day… and of course even better to marry the man of my dreams!

We wanted to have a wedding filled with personal touches that allowed our guests to see glimpses of our personality… something stylishly elegant yet romantic and playful… celebrating both our cultures (I’m Chinese and Brian is Korean)… and lots of GOOD food and dancing! We know that our goal was achieved since our friends still rave about our wedding as one of the “most fun” weddings they’ve ever attended! Here’s a peak at some event details:

The Ceremony
The ceremony took place at Arcola Korean United Methodist Church in Paramus, NJ and the reception was held at The Estate at Florentine Gardens in River Vale, NJ. This was incredibly special to us since Brian’s father, a Reverend in the UMC Church, married us.

Chinese Tea Ceremony & Korean Pae’Baek Ceremony
Both Chinese and Korean weddings have unique cultural ceremonies, and we wanted to incorporate both into our wedding as a means of paying respect to our families. While our guests indulged themselves in our 10-station cocktail hour, our family and wedding party joined us for the Chinese tea ceremony and the Korean pae’baek ceremony. I will elaborate more on these ethnic ceremonies in future posts!

The Reception
The feel and flow of the reception was really important to us because we wanted our guests to be fully engaged at all times. We followed the excellent rule of thumb that something new should happen every 30 minutes or so (i.e. introducing the wedding party, serving new courses, tossing the bouquet, cutting the cake, etc.)… and it worked like a charm! Since Brian is a huge music junkie, he hand selected every song that was played that night… and the DJ did an amazing job of working with the emcee to make sure that guests were up on their feet for most of the night. Some people ask what my favorite part of the day was, and after being on a strict timeline all day, I was just so thankful to have a few moments alone with my new husband.

Wrapping it all up…
One of the reasons I was sold on Florentine Garden’s in house videography team is because of their “wedding wrap up” video. A growing trend in the wedding industry, our videographers edited and compiled a 5-minute video wrapping up our entire day to show to guests at the conclusion of the reception… from wedding ceremony to the cultural ceremonies to the reception (and you might even catch a glimpse of the bride and groom tearing up the dance floor)! Without further ado, here is ours:

And that’s a wrap! Thank you so much for reading! Through this blog, I hope to share

• Photos and stories from other events I’ve planned
• Insider tips about event planning
• Design and style inspirations
• … and much more!

I hope that you’ll subscribe and stay connected to Elisabeth Events!

(All images by Milton Gil Photography)