A couple of things you might not know about Susanne from crown weddings...1. she has a heart of gold and gives back with a generous spirit and compassion2. is featured in exquisite weddings for hayley and eduardo's wedding
3. has lived in london and france
which makes her a perfect person for this weeks theme. I am definitely a fan of this international sensation, ...wait is that a line from Cabaret? Cheers to Susanne, let's learn some more about her.
www.crownweddings.com
here is the link to the EW article--cut and paste it in a new browser http://www.exquisiteweddingsmagazine.com/media/Exquisite-Weddings/Fall-Winter-2008/A-Spirited-Latin-Celebration/
Describe yourself in five words. Enthusiastic, Dedicated, Loving, Loyal, Calm
Describe your craft in five words. Detailed, gratifying, emotional, creative, Challenging
Complete the sentence: I cannot live without… my children.
Where would you love to live and why? I have been lucky enough to be able to live in Coronado for the past 14 years. I fell in love with it 15 1/2 years ago when I was in Dallas on business and extended my stay and flew to San Diego and stayed in Coronado.
It is a very beautiful and safe place and I never get tired of the view as I come home over the bridge.I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else..
What inspires your style? I have always been into “details” and the finishing touche elements that make an event or a room or a painting unique and personalized.
I have painted since I was young and have a passion for decorating (I change my bedroom every 6 months !)so I have an affinity for color and mixing different textures and palates.
At the end of the day in my job the client is the inspiration, their enthusiasm for their wedding and finding out what they love and how they decorate their homes and their favorite foods.. all give me inspiration to create an event that’s a reflection of them.
Complete the sentence: What the world needs now is... peace and happiness and people to be more green.. !
What is one of your favorite words? Brilliant !
What are you proud of yourself for? Why? I am proud that I am bringing up 2 boys by myself and that they are turning out so far to be loving, funny, well mannered and balanced children.
I am also proud and grateful that I have been able to have my company Crown Weddings be a success for over 9 years which has afforded me the luxury of being able to spend a lot of quality time with my children.
What is something you would love to accomplish? Balance in life…..and seeing my own children walk down the aisle happily married to wonderful women. I also want to raise enough money this year to help build a school in Africa.
Where have you lived and worked up to this point? I was brought up in the North of England and spent all my Summer vacations in Ireland where my parents are from.
I lived in London for 8 years before I came over to San Diego and spent a lot of time in Paris for business and pleasure. I was going to transfer there but ended up moving to San Diego. I was then offered a transfer to Phuket Thailand and went for a months vacation and realized it wasn’t the right move for me so I returned to Coronado and remained there ever since.
Has working in the UK changed your perspective on how to handle coordinating events in the United States? I didn’t co-ordinate events in England but as Director of Special events I was involved in all aspects of the events from the hotel side. The service levels are very different in the hotels I worked at for example in some cases the entrée is paraded into the room by the chefs and you have a master of services that introduces all the courses etc.
I have been in charge of departments with major budgets to achieve and with over 50 staff members to co-ordinate. I have opened hotels and been a Hotel Manager in my career so all these experiences have allowed me to be able to work easily and affectively with clients budgets and with all the logistics involved in ensuring a well orchestrated event.
What drew you to weddings over corporate events? I have done corporate events for years and weddings are so much more fun, they are alot more work and demand more emotional involvement but as I am naturally outgoing and creative person you cannot beat meeting the couples and the great satisfaction of seeing an event come together and having a happy bride and groom…TOTAL JOB SATISFACTION.
What are some of your most memorable events and why? I do many stunning events and so the memories for me are the people more than the décor or locations etc.
For example
1. A very outgoing Italian couple who had a wedding complete with a to scale hand painted 5 foot leaning tower of Pisa cake / The groom designed and carved a bench for their sweetheart table (a work of art) and Vibrant Itaian music and food and lemoncello shots for the toasts. (there were lots of toasts) The groom was arrested for base jumping a tall tower in Canada on his honeymoon !)
2. A stunningly beautiful Italian bride who fell in love with her handsome husband on an Al Italia plane and when he got off the plane and transferred to his wheelchair she didn’t care and married him six months later. Their connection to each other was heart warming and she was crazy fun it was a pleasure to meet them both.!
3. A wedding where the father of the groom had passed and he was an avid golfer and so we had a hurricane candle lit on the edge of the golf course at Torrey Pines and when the ceremony was over the groom stepped aside and tee-d off onto the 18th hole in his honor.
4. A father who had 3 daughters and always taken them to the Hotel Del every labor day as children. He worked hard to make sure his 1st daughter could get married there too and for a personal touch since all of his girls had been born over Texas soil he sprinkled soil by the arbor so his daughter could be married over Texas soil too.
5. Memorable LOCATION for me : The Beverly hills hotel… recently.. its such a classic historic hotel and all the staff were absolutely fantastic to work with. The wedding was in the Crystal ballroom with the famous crystal chandelier and it was stunning and exciting to be there where so many famous people had been before.
In your opinion, what are some elements that make an event memorable? Here are some things I have seen.
1. Things should begin at the ceremony with personalized elements such as hand written vows, unique poetry or readings or words on love from a relative and musical choices can be very moving and memorable such as a gospel choir to welcome guests/ a fabulous soloist or even Bagpipes.
2. Brides and grooms often incorporate ethnic and cultural references in the food or entertainment and that is memorable for the other guests.
3. Surprises…. The groom singing to the bride, the bride learning how to hula !!Even an uncle spontaneously singing an aria at the cake cutting ! Fireworks are always a big hit.
4. Great music.. and good food…
5. A fun departure, sailboat, sparklers, golf cart !