cheap wedding inspiration

Inspire Smart Success was a Success!

Last week I had the immense pleasure and honor to be a speaker at the first annual Inspire Smart Success Experience in Riviera Cancun, Mexico – and had the time of my life meeting, learning from and educating a diverse and talented group of wedding business pros of every level. Oh, and drinking copious margaritas. And mojitos. And basking on the beach. And dancing by the pool. And periodic tequila shots. Y’know, all the things that make a trip to the Caribbean… well, a trip to the Caribbean. That is, if you like to party. And oh… I likes to party.

(you should know that I am a WHORE for all-inclusive resorts after our honeymoon at Dreams Los Cabos. You give a broke-ass like me permission to eat and drink as much as I want, including room service an a mini bar? I might never leave. And I will gain like 20 pounds. Yeah, that happened.)

I can safely say that it was the most fun Hunter and I have ever had at a wedding industry event. It was impeccably planned, designed and executed by Stacie, Rachel and her team, and the people it attracted were some of the most outgoing and genuine I’ve had the chance to meet in this business. Such a bad-ass crew. Stacie definitely attracted an amazing crew of attendees and speakers! I miss them all already.

Inspire Smart Success was created by the incomparable Stacie Francombe (former founder and CEO of GetMarried Media) as a full service entrepreneurship mentoring concept. From a quarterly magazine to regional conferences to one-on-one mentorship and beyond, Stacie is building an empire focused on helping people develop and grow their businesses to their fullest potential. She’s done several city-specific mini-conferences this year and wrapped it up with a 4-day experience in the most gorgeous of gorgeous settings at the Now Sapphire Resort on the sparkling gulf of mexico.

From the minute we arrived, we were blown away by the attention to detail and level of service.  And our room… well, I’ll let the photo speak for itself.

Champagne. Waiting for us. In the room. (I am also a whore for champagne)

Walking out of our room, this was 20 steps down the path:

It’s a bar. ON THE BEACH. I mean, come on. (everyone, wave at Fresh Hubby!)

Friday night was the Blanca Beach party. After drinking margaritas all day, then champagne while getting ready for the night, then switching to beer and sake for Japanese dinner with our FABULOUS and fun friends Robert Evans and Mike Colón, then back to margaritas at the event, I was left looking something like this:

Hot mess.

That’s Bernadette from 14 Stories behind me, hamming it up. She was one of my favorite new friends from the trip – what a hoot! And yes, that’s me on my bag. Because I’m awesome. And vain. or both. Anyway, the point is, I went to bed early that night. Like a boss.

I’ll have more to share about the rest of the conference, the sessions and events, but for now… check out this incredible teaser video by the pimps over at Epic Motion – they really captured the essence of the week… so take a look!