Day One of Be Sage Conference was so incredibly magical. There’s something about the energy of a room filled with 80 passionate, eager to learn, experienced wedding pros who are looking for advanced education that is literally electric. Today we’re going to recap the speakers from Day One, the incredible sponsors, and share with you some of the nuggets of wisdom that attendees learned the first day. All of these images are perfectly captured by the fabulous Barbie Hull Photography.
Quick note: If you want to join us in 2016, let us know here. (We’ll be sending out a special rate for interested people.)
We held Be Sage at the historic Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas. Huge thanks to Paula Fenner and her amazing staff for the warm hospitality, delicious food, and amazing ambiance they provided!
This year, wanted to run with our “BIG” theme (after all, everything IS bigger in Texas!) – take your business BIG, create BIG goals and dreams, walk away with BIG ideas to implement into your biz. You’ll notice our branding, decor, and content reflected this theme. We had a *tiny* bit of fun with this, too. 
The amazing decor you see was designed by Debby Jewesson and her team at Branching Out Events. One of our most favorite details they provided on the tables were geodes for each guest to crack open. Be Brilliant. Be Rare. Be Sage. We loved that it complemented our theme so well and was such a thoughtful favor!
The lovely stage furniture, facade, and tables for the Junebug Weddings Lounge were provided by Suite 206. That most perfect lucite podium customized with our logo is from LeForce Entertainment – who also so graciously helped us to emcee the conference and provide lighting and sound – big thanks to Glenn Roush and team for all that you did to make the A/V run so smoothly!
Rentivist, a brilliant platform for creatives to find and share rental items, provided the lovely tote bags on each attendee’s chair. We loved having Rentivist CEO and founder, Alyson Newquist, also attend Be Sage! The most perfect linens and tables were from Ducky Bob’s. Michelle Edgemont always wows us with her creative inventions for name tags, and this year she surprised us again with these phenomenal gold star name tags – seriously, so cute!
Stamped Paper Company designed and printed all of our signage – including all paper invites attendees received for Be Sage. Jill and Christi – you’re amazing! They came up with our fun hashtag table names – #quesocuresall and #bighairdontcare, to name a few.
The custom ring dishes you see on the table settings are from Whatsoever Things – Julie creates fabulous products and we loved using these as an alternate to the traditional place card. Nikki from DoodleDog also provided the handy notebooks AND designed our logo and website for Be Sage! Our workbooks this year were so lovingly designed by Mintwich Design and printed by Stationery HQ.
That incredible copper signage you see on stage? That’s from Artifacture Studios, who also provided the AMAZING “Meeting of the Minds” display you’ll see below. Debby came up with this idea where attendees would receive a light bulb upon check-in and place it in the marquis. Literally, a meeting of the minds occurred and it was such a fun experience to watch attendees do this together!
Time for the doors to open, guests to find their tables, meet new friends, and for the BIG education to begin…
First up, Michelle and I kicked off Be Sage by having a discussion on “Who Do You Want to Be?” Do you want to…be rare? …be wise? …be innovative? …be strong? …be confident? We asked attendees to reflect on their core values, what they want to be known for, and what they ultimately want to be.
Then, Mayra Castillo and Xochitl Gonzales from A.a.B. Creates (founders of a luxury Planning firm in NYC) took the stage with their presentation, “Be A Bestie”. They attended and spoke at Be Sage in 2014 with us as well, so we were honored to have them return! They shared their experience and encouraged everyone to step out of their comfort zones – “make tiny seismic shifts or major shifts” based on what you learn from Be Sage. After their conference experience in 2014, they created a new branch of their business called Besties in Business – a space to learn lessons from other amazing business ladies. They didn’t waste any time, and we love how they USED the knowledge they learned at Be Sage to create something new.
Next up, was Jackie Nwobu, founder of Munaluchi. Her presentation, titled Be Rare, explored how to find opportunity in differences. She shared that there is a void in every single business. YOU can fill the void. She challenged us to think about this very important question: “What is that THING that’s going to bring you more business?” Be a “Difference Thinker” – they’re empathetic, have a clear idea of the change they want to make globally, and they ask the right questions and ignore empty criticism. So good, Jackie!
After Jackie’s dynamic presentation, we broke into breakout sessions. Betsy Butwin, attorney with Bernick Lifson, covered off on “How to Legally Cover Your Business”. Our very own Michelle did a breakout on “How to Be Cash Flow Positive”, walking participants through cash flow strategies. Lastly, I did a breakout on “How to Expand Your Name” – mostly through licensing/expansion opportunities to consider. We had such great conversations in each of these groups and heard so many people buzzing with ideas and thoughts after the breakouts.
SO much learning before lunch has happened…love it! After breakout sessions, guests were invited to The French Room at The Adolphus Hotel. RW Elephant graciously hosted this lunch for us – Allison Howell is the founder, and is such a genuine, savvy business leader. RW Elephant is an online inventory management system for rentals – brilliant…check it out! After lunch, she provided guests with the most powerful experience – a “Reminder Station”, where she had postcards set out for people to write down their nuggets of wisdom they learned and wanted to remember from the conference. Guests could choose which timeframe they wanted to receive the postcards in, and Allison is mailing them to each guest. Such a fun experience!
After lunch, Beth Helmstetter of Beth Helmstetter Events, presented “How to Create Consistent Service, Experiences and Design No Matter Where You Are In The World.” She designs and executes luxury weddings all over the world, and guests enjoyed learning from her expertise in the somewhat complicated world of destination weddings that so many want to break into. She shared openly about her practices, the challenges that often occur with destination weddings, and how to create a consistent experience and process for clients – anywhere in the world. She also happened to be wearing one of the most fabulous dresses!
Lastly, Michelle Edgemont wrapped up Day One with a fantastic presentation titled “Be Bold” – how to create brand partnerships and collaborations. She is an amazingly talented designer who challenged guests to think of additional revenue streams to pursue, and gave ideas of how to create brand partnerships. Michelle practices what she preaches, as she just launched a new site to sell modern, unconventional product that she was having a hard time sourcing for her clients – be sure to check out her new shop!
At the end of Day One, Junebug Weddings hosted a super fabulous dinner for attendees who won a contest we ran prior to the conference. Junebug was our main media sponsor for the entire Be Sage Conference, and we LOVED having their entire team participate with us! They engaged with our guests in such meaningful ways, offering mini consult sessions during breaks…these ladies are SMART and have big hearts. Whenever we consider partnering with a sponsor, we make sure their values are in line with ours. They are ALL about empowering the industry, fostering education, and being involved in community to support each other. Huge thanks to all of the Junebug ladies for joining us!
That’s a WRAP for Day One! Be sure to stay tuned for the Day Two recap coming….SOON! (If you missed our Welcome Party recap – check it out here!)
Be Sage!