Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel Wedding Marketing Workshop (Private)

Howdy,

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Wednesday – June 3rd, 2009

What a day so far. I cannot even begin to explain. First off, @lanbui, @vubui and @DFurious photographed @iJustine. As much as I wanted to participate in the photo shoot, I had to prepare my notes for the wedding photography workshop the next day.

Anyway, just wanted to share with everyone the spectacular view from our suite at Ritz carlton (Laguna Niguel).

The Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel
One Ritz-Carlton Drive
Dana Point, CA 92629
(949) 240-2000

Thursday – June 4th, 2009

Butterflies fluttering, cold sweat, nervous shivers, you name it, I got it. The only thing that got me through the private workshop were the smiles from familiar faces – thank you for your support. Prior to everyone’s arrival, I recited my lecture notes over and over in my head. Upon opening my mouth, my scripted speech turned into a series of barely cohesive words meshed into a ball of thoughts.

Why the anxiety?

1. The attendees included some of the world’s top weddings photographers
2. Even without the titles, I still had an insurmountable adulation for them
3. I copied one of the photographer’s pricing sheet when I first immersed myself into this industry

I do not remember the exact words, but it went something like this:

Me: Sara [France], I did not mean to copy your pricing sheet, but it looked so pretty.

Sara: It’s okay, when I was starting out, I copied (name).

A wave of relief swelled inside of me as I am reminded by @bullysaurus’s words that “they are regular people too, so don’t worry so much.” It’s funny because this same scenario happened in San Francisco’s private workshop.

Attendees:

• Gene Higa
• Ann Hamilton
• Aaron Dieppa
• The Boudoir Divas – Kimberlee & Marissa
• Lauren Hillary
• Sara France
• Dane Sanders
• Jules Bianchi
• [B]ecker
• Keats Elliott
• Victor Sizemore

Special thanks to: Anton Lorimer!

Some cool OC peeps:

• Bridal Mode – http://www.bridalmode.com/
• Design Visage – http://www.designvisage.com
• Jeffrey Neal Photography – http://jnpstudiosblog.com
• Jenny Liu Photography – http://www.jennyliublog.com

I am particularly proud of Victor Sizemore being able to implement the strategies taught in the workshop virtually immediately! At first, I thought Victor was chatting or writing an email instead of listening. He later shared with me what he was up to.

While you were talking, I Google’d one of my previous wedding shoots and it was on page 3 of search results. [not so good] While listening to you, I made a number of changes to that blog post. Upon return from giving my testimonial to Anton, I Google’d the same thing and I am #1. [WOW]

It made me proud to see that I was able to deliver complex concepts over effectively.

TwitPic – @bonny and @lanbui enjoying breakfast at one of the three patios while @Dfurious played server

TwitPic – @genehiga soaking in some Vitamin D outside the suite on our last day

Looking forward to the next one,

Lawrence

P.S. I am entertaining the idea of hosting my first public workshop on a yacht (in Orange County). Special perks for coming to this first one include

• wine / champagne
• get to be in a high production music video (still planning)
• boat ride – yay!

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