Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Love Resists Recession


Part One: Financial Experts Debate Recession, Wedding Industry Finds Love

We didn’t need the world’s richest person, Warren Buffet, to tell us that “people are already feeling the effects (of a recession).” We feel it every time we fill a gas tank or buy groceries. But when he continued with “It will be deeper and last longer than many think," he had our rapt attention.

While economists and politicians may stand by statistical measures to deter or promote recession talk, the National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER) Business Cycle Dating Committee assigned with raising the recession flag has declared the undeclared U.S. recession should end by September 2008.

An awfully pale recession may be good news for people in the unemployment lines and at the gas pumps finding job hunting to be a financial chess game. The combination of recent record jumps in the unemployment rate and crude oil prices is leading more and more Americans to seek employment solutions that offer more than just a paycheck.

A changing economy brings opportunities not previously available to large numbers of wage earners. In an effort to improve employability and avoid added time and transportation costs, millions of people are using distance learning to obtain the skills and education needed to reenter today’s job market. Many are electing to turn an unemployment situation into the start of a new business.

One industry standing defiant in the face of recession is the wedding industry. The Wedding Report, Inc. estimates nearly 2.2 million U.S. couples will exchange vows in 2008, spending an average of over $28,000 each to celebrate and share their nuptials. Wedding industry experts predict that both the number of weddings and the average money spent will continue to increase over the next several years.

The Wedding Planning Institute is the industry standard for wedding planning certification. The How to Start a Wedding Planning Business course is offered through online distance learning as well as in college and university classrooms across the country. WPI Certified Wedding Planner graduates enjoy the benefits of post-graduate intern/apprentice, continuing education, and employment programs as well as working in an industry long considered resistant to the effects of economic recession.

In part two of Love Resists Recession, we will examine the difficulties brides and grooms have planning a wedding during a recession as well as The Wedding Planning Institute’s solution to the problem.



Instructor Spotlight: Lisa Gorman at Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

Lisa Gorman has a passion for creating distinctive events. Her attention to detail, style and quality, always tailored to the client’s vision, is her professional trademark.

Before launching Memory Makers Events in 1999, Ms. Gorman spent over five years coordinating special events for non-profit groups and community theatre.

She has planned dinners for 15 to 1,500 guests, coordinated high-end weddings, arranged store and restaurant openings in Indianapolis and planned corporate events as well. Along the way she has acquired a keen understanding of what makes an event special: persistent attention to detail coupled with creativity, sensitivity to the needs and wishes of the client, and an insider’s knowledge of available venues and resources.

A graduate of the University of Toledo, Ms. Gorman lives in Indianapolis. “My education and experiences opened doors and presented opportunities in many different directions, but my love for making the ordinary memorable always led me back to this chosen career.” At Memory Makers Events (http://www.memorymakersindy.com/), she focuses all her creativity and effectiveness on planning unique occasions for her clients.

“Our mission is to provide the most memorable occasions by ensuring each event will be special and unique while supplying the best services and value to every client,” says Ms. Gorman. She has brought her passion for event planning to the classroom to instruct Wedding Planning Institute certification students at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Lisa Gorman is a married mother of two grown children (Robert and Cecily) and one little one, 4-year old son, Colin. She and Mark have been married for 14 years and live in Indianapolis. Go Colts! They share their home with their loveable and lazy dog, Elroy.