New York Study Trip – Part 1
At the beginning of October I had the opportunity to travel to New York for a UKAWP study trip. This was something members expressed an interest in a couple of years ago, the wedding planning industry is huge in the U.S and New York is considered the Mecca of wedding trends.
I’ve only been to New York once before many years ago when I was at CNBC Europe I organized a sales trip there for the international sales team, but it was all work no play, I literally saw no sights or shops so I was determined to make the most of it this time! We had some fabulous meetings lined up so that combined with shopping & sightseeing meant I was very busy indeed.
Wednesday, 10th October
I met my dear friend and fellow UKAWP director Kelly Chandler at Heathrow airport, after a swift check in we indulged in a leisurely breakfast bypassing all the shops, weren’t we good?!
Luckily we were seated together in the 2 seat configuration as I think we talked literally the whole trip – sorry fellow passengers! Also on our plane was the gorgeous Melanie Kiani so once we landed at about noon we all took a taxi to our hotel in Manhattan. We met up with the members and Sandy who were already out there and spent the day familiarizing ourselves with the area and schedule for the following day. We popped over to Grand Central Station albeit forgetting it was rush hour so naturally swarming with people!
Kelly and I managed to stay awake and had a wonderful Mexican dinner with all the girls.
Thursday, 11th October
After logging in to check my emails we all had breakfast together before heading out for our first meeting of the day with Ceci Stationery.
Ceci Johnson was incredibly welcoming and her studio simply divine.
Looking at all her stationery designs was a joy and I sincerely hope to work with her in the future. I think my favourite was the invitation styled as a board game, the level of detail was astounding.
To be continued……
Photo Credit
Grand Central Station – New York Write Itself
All other photos – Andri Benson