Often find you have your phone in your hand with your thumb constantly hovering over the Instagram icon? Do you also love to (or secretly in the doctor’s waiting room) read Hello! or OK! magazines and know exactly who’s marrying who, when and how? If that’s the case, this is a must read for you!
The worst thing that can happen to you as an event manager is becoming stagnated in your creative thinking for your next event. That’s why it’s important that you keep expanding your knowledge and get inspiration from the experts. Here are five of the best Instagram accounts of celebrity event managers that you should definitely follow!
On her Instagram account, Mindy Weiss shares the perfect wedding manicure, pictures of her delightful offspring Goldie, and exceptionally colourful event inspirations with her followers. This includes not only elaborate company events and dinner parties but also real celebrity weddings. She is known as the ultimate wedding planner and has done so for pop star Fergie and her husband, television host Ellen Degeneres & Portia de Rossi, Nicole Richie & singer Joel Madden and the muso couple Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale.
Colin Cowie not only has a very inspiring Instagram account, he also has his own slot on American breakfast television. On the Today Show, he regularly presents last-minute decorating ideas for events, holidays, birthdays etc. He can boast some of the crème de la crème of Hollywood as his famous clients. Besides Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian West, his top customer is superstar Oprah Winfrey.
The queen of Instagram event inspiration for me is Sharon Snacks. Santorini, Nice, Paris, Florence, the Hamptons… The list of locations reads just as magnificently as the list of clients, who trust her with the happiest day of their lives. She is the celebrity wedding planner. Recently, Sharon and her team organised the two weddings EVERYONE was talking about: George Clooney & Amal and Kim Kardashian & Kanye West.
For the Kardashian-West wedding, they even completely rebuilt a 16th-century castle in Florence. Sharon also followed reality TV celebrity Kim Kardashian’s wish to keep the ceremony as free from paparazzi as possible and had a 6×10 meter protective wall built out of white roses and orchids that stole the view of every uninvited onlooker. Wow!
Magnificent table decorations, thousands of flying orchids, 1.70m high gilded tarts and elaborate themed Bar Mitzvahs – there is nothing Oren and Cove cannot do and later showcase on Instagram with their event team Party Slate. Here, you can find all the “over the top” events and wedding superlatives. From Adam Levine and Reese Witherspoon to Cameron Diaz, Natalie Portman and Anne Hathaway all fall under the Party Slate realm.
Marcy Blum lives up to her name by enchanting her followers with elaborate floral décors and extraordinary locations. Marcy, the event manager of NBA star LeBron James and Kevin Spacey, recently revealed her ultimate tips for a good mood at events to Architectural Digest Magazine:
The most important thing to consider when entertaining] is the guest list, but if it’s family, then you are stuck. A seating chart saves awkwardness when people are finding their place around the table. Music and lighting are equally important. Some of us find Christmas music overly sentimental and prefer an upbeat mix to add some energy to the gathering. I’m partial to some old-school hip-hop.
Conclusion
Obviously, Sharon Sacks, Marcy Blum and the others are hired by people with unlimited budgets. That is why they host over-the-top events and make it into the likes of Hello! and OK!. However, even if your customer’s budget or the budget for your own event is only a fraction of George Clooney’s, you can still learn from the big players. With a little creativity and practical thinking, many of the celebrities’ events can be re-enacted on a smaller scale and with more affordable alternatives. Look closely and learn, get inspired, and reach for the stars from time to time. Have the courage to tackle bigger projects, think outside the box, and wow your guests with your own over-the-top event – think big!
