Who loves Pinterest? We do! (And I’m guessing a lot of YOU guys do too!). Demonstrating the powerful effect Pinterest has had on her business, Kelly McLeskey-Dolata of A Savvy Event created a Pinterest Design Challenge and invited their favorite local vendors to accompany the team on this creative project! Read below for a mini Q&A session with Kelly about the challenge and sneak peeks of each look we’ll be sharing throughout the week!

• Mint & Gold by Courtney Cargile
• Steampunk by Brittany Westerman
• Neon & Natural by Courtney Cargile
• Modern Turquoise & Gray by Meren Dehaze
• Gold Feather by Danielle Parra

And here’s a fun little video of the event!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKED!

1. Each planner at A Savvy Event created a Pinterest Inspiration Board.
2. The Inspiration Boards were then re-assigned to a different planner to bring to life.
3. Each planner was given a team of vendors to help them create their vision.
4. To showcase the inspiration, the Pinterest Board became a Photo Shoot!

Q&A with Kelly…

1. How did you come up with the idea for the “Pinterest Design Challenge” and how did the challenge work?

KD: We get a little stir crazy during the off season from weddings, so we wanted to create a challenge for our team to get their creative juices flowing! Pinterest has been such an amazing tool when it comes to designing events. We encourage our clients to create a Pinterest board that reflects the look and feel they are hoping to achieve at their event and we are able to get a clear picture of their vision and personality based on their inspiration board.

We decided to replicate this process within our own team of planners as practice. We asked each one of the girls at A Savvy Event to create a Pinterest board based on their predictions for the 2013 wedding trends. We then switched boards with each other and had to bring someone else’s prediction to life.

2. What was the process for selecting vendors and venues?

KD: We wanted to choose one venue location that was outside and one that was inside. It was important that we had a blank canvas to work with… so the location needed to essentially be a clean slate where we could bring in our own rentals and decor. We decided on Kunde Winery because it is the quintessential Wine Country venue. You have vineyards, landscaped gardens, a wine cave and the ruins to choose from. Cavallo Point was exciting venue option for us because we have a few upcoming wedding scheduled there and it provided a beautiful indoor space that could appeal to a wide range of clientele.

For our vendors… we basically just chose the best of the best from the Wine Country and Bay Area. All of these vendors are people we have worked with before and who deliver an exceptional service or product.

We love working with people who are enthusiastic and creative and who enjoy what they do… so we had no trouble convincing them to join us on this challenge.

3. How would you advise brides currently planning their wedding to create inspiration boards and collate their ideas on Pinterest + other social media channels? 

KD: I think a lot of people get engaged and just start “Pinning” everything they see and love! The problem is that you now have an inspiration board that is all over the map…you have some modern simplistic images mixed in with fluffy pink linens and burlap table runners. Its great to start big and get an idea of what it out there but at some point you have to reel it in and decide on one concept.

Maybe create a “Wedding Ideas” board and then later on down the road create a “My Wedding” board that reflects your favorite inspiration pictures. This is the board that you can then share with your planner.