Getting Started...with Your Wedding Planning 2010

Mark your wedding planning calendar for Thursday, January 14 2010. This is the Bridal Academy kickoff session for the Spring 2010 series. This exciting Bridal Academy event focuses on the first steps of planning you most special day.

The Bridal Academy sponsors will share their experience with you on:

Wedding Themes
Invitations-They Set the Tone for Your Wedding
The ABC’s of Selecting Entertainment

Be sure to call 260-482-1250 to reserve your spot for this informative wedding event. Bridal Academy Sessions are ten dollars per person and a limited number of complimentary V.I.B. (Very Important Bride) passes are available from the Bridal Academy Sponsors. Each bride may bring one guest. The Bridal Academy January 2010 session begins at 7pm. Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion during the informal bridal Q and A portion of the event. Each bride will receive a goodie bag filled with special gifts, information, and wedding offers. Hope to see you there.

The January session will be at the Monogram Shoppe in Covington Plaza-6410 West Jefferson Blvd in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Hope to see you there!!

Bridal Academy Session Dates Set for 2010

The Bridal Academy Sponsors are pleased to announce the 2010 Bridal Academy session dates. Mark your wedding planning calendar for these Thursday dates including:

January 14, 2010
February 18, 2010
March 18, 2010
April 8, 2010

Check back often for the up-to-the minute session topics, additional information, and session locations. The January Bridal Academy session will cover "Starting Your Wedding Planning" and will be very helpful for all those newly engaged girls or if you are planning a 2010, 2011, or 2012 wedding.

Call 260.482.1250 to reserve your seats today as space is limited.

The Bridla Academy Sponsors are the Wedding Place, the Monogram Shoppe, and Megasound.

Mark Your Calendar for the Upcoming Bridal Spectacular

Whether you are engaged or about to be engaged (Christmas is right around the corner), mark your wedding planning calendar for the upcoming Bridal Spectacular. The Bridal Academy Sponsors are participating in this two-day bridal event on January 2nd and 3rd, 2010 at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum.

Plan to visit the Monogram Shoppe to see all of the newest styles of wedding invitations, save-the-date cards, and wedding party gifts. The Wedding Place will feature the latest gowns and accessories from today’s top designers.

The fast-paced, “New York-style” fashion show hits the runway both days at 1:30pm. The Wedding Place will present the hottest bridal gowns, colorful bridesmaids fashions, mother’s dresses, tuxedos and more. June Hoffman from Megasound will be your MC with a brand new 2010 runway music soundtrack.

The Bridal Academy Sponsors will be on hand to answer all of your wedding planning questions. For more details check out the Bridal Spectacular website. The Memorial Coliseum is located at 4000 Parnell Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Tickets are available at the door. Hope to see you there!

Keeping Dollar at Home - Monogram Shoppe Quoted

Bridal Academy Sponsor, Sara Keltsch owner of the Monogram Shoppe was interviewed for her support of the 3/50 Project.

The Journal Gazette story details:

Anyone caught in the crush of Black Friday crowds would probably doubt there’s any pressing need to support local merchants. But Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, was followed by Cyber Monday, when attention quickly turned to online shopping, the biggest threat to brick-and-mortar retailers.


Sara Keltsch, who owns The Monogram Shoppe at Covington Plaza, suggests holiday shoppers should now embrace “Local Saturdays” – three weeks of buying from local businesses. Her idea dovetails nicely with a national initiative she supports, the 3/50 Project.


Minneapolis-based retail consultant Cinda Baxter came up with the idea for the project. She calculated $50 a month in purchases made by half of the employed U.S. population in small, independent businesses would generate $42.6 billion in a year. For every $100 spent at independent retailers, $68 returns to the local economy through employees’ paychecks, taxes and local bank transactions, according to Baxter.


“Ask consumers to frequent three local brick-and-mortar businesses they don’t want to see disappear, and to spend a very affordable $50 per month doing it,” her Web site proposes. “Could be those three. Another three. Doesn’t matter. It’s about funneling revenue back into local business. You know – the folks that pour money back into the community via commercial property taxes, payroll taxes, sales tax and salaries (not to mention all that good will by way of volunteer time, silent auctions, sponsored softball teams, workshops, book signings, etc.).”

Keltsch is less discriminating in her definition of a local retailer. She said she hopes area shoppers will support all brick-and-mortar businesses, including franchise and big-box stores. Like independent businesses, they employ local residents, support the local economy and generate sales tax revenues.


“The governor was just talking about the shortfall in sales taxes and what that means,” Keltsch said. “I would love to help increase that amount. Seven percent of my sales goes to the state. If you buy online, nothing goes back to the state coffers – that’s something people don’t think about.”


So, how about it? Three Saturdays to go before Christmas, three Saturdays to spend dollars that will support local jobs. Those are dollars that will stay in northeast Indiana, supporting other retailers, restaurants, contractors, churches, charities and health providers. The sales taxes will stay in Indiana, supporting state government and schools, and fewer empty storefronts will appear. It’s a project worth supporting this month and throughout the year.

Several Fort Wayne businesses have signed on to the 3/50 Project to promote local buying:
•Fast Print Inc.
•Fort Wayne Outfitters and Bike Depot
•Freeman Jewelers Inc.
•Hall’s Restaurants
•Knitting Off Broadway
•Rusty Gate Decor, LLC
•The Monogram Shoppe
•Wild Hare Décor
•Wooden Nickel Music