One more DWP Congress for the bill! Once again I was invited VIP and only Brazilian to participate in this amazing event, which this year brought together more than 500 wedding market professionals around the world (there were 70 countries in all). It’s a lot of emotion, right? In all, I have been participating for five years – Mauritius (2015), Italy (2016), Thailand (2017) and Mexico (2018) -, and this year I was very happy with the city chosen to host the event: Dubai !
And this year I also had a new experience at the congress. If last year I was invited to take on the role of Border Member, this year I received one of the best , if not the best, news of my career, which was the DWP Ace Planner Award 2019 nomination , one of the most important in the media market. weddings in the world. I ran alongside names like LISA VORCE, the wedding and 40th party head of HOLLYWOOD JOHN LEGEND, and JENNIFER ZABINSKI, wedding of the award winning TENISTA SERENA WILLIAMS. We compete in the GLOBETROTTER – THE AMERICAS category, which awards the best wedding planner in the Americas that performs incredible weddings outside of their home country . I didn’t take the title home, but just the nomination for these beasts on the worldwide Destination Wedding market is worth it to me!
As every year, the idea of the event is to bring together the best in the market for lectures, panels, studies and debates about the wedding market in the four corners of the world . I really liked the talk “ The Business of Luxury: 5 steps that guarantee a stunning event ”, but not so much for the theme, but more for the voices that participated. As it was a mix of professionals from different countries, it is very nice to see what each culture understands as luxury. This is basically what I do when I go to a destination wedding . The key part, the success of a wedding abroad is basically able to combine the two cultures (the country of the bride and groom) and make it the best experience for the guests.
But for starters, I wanted to talk about the event’s charming Hotel partner Atlantis, The Palm , who welcomed us with open arms. The hotel has a gigantic resort infrastructure with all the services you can imagine. Upon arrival, we were greeted with several goodies that the DWP offered us and throughout the stay, various stewardship.
Basically, the congress, which lasts three days , is divided into: panels with lectures and meetings with sponsors during the day (it is very busy and tiring, there are 39 lectures and panels and more than 40 meetings in 3 days) and parties at night (could not miss, right? The event is for the world wedding market, what we can best do is party! kkk…).
Right the first night , we had a welcome drink with a Vitamin Sea theme , and where the dress code was the sea and, especially, the Pantone color of the year, the Living Coral.
On the second night , we had an immersion in the Arab world . I LOVED that day, it was a party, a lot of a party, food, dancing, music… Everything a good Arab wedding has.
And of course, you couldn’t miss the traditional gala dinner to close the DWP Congress . And here, the glamor was the glamor of Dubai, that is, it was pure brightness! I love the parties, because that’s where me and my friends from so many years have fun, catch up and laugh. This exchange, for those who perform marriages in different countries, is fundamental.
After the congress, I spent a few more days at the invitation of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Board to know the destination (I already knew it, rss). Our accommodation was at the wonderful Emirates Palace (I made this wonderful post), where I already want to make a wedding for yesterday. What a wonderful place, what architecture, what an incredible destination. No kidding, grooms who want to surprise and leave an eternal mark on their guests, Abu Dhabi is their place. It’s all so different from us that basically until good morning becomes a very interesting event.
In Abu Dhabi, we know a lot of amazing hotels, like the Jumeirah Saadiyat Hotel, which is actually a complex that has everything: hotel, beach club for welcome drinks , villas for families… Super recommend ?
On the second day, we visited Qasr Al Hosn , which is Abu Dhabi’s oldest stone building; the Abu Dhabi Louvre (Paris’s iconic memo and museum); the Ritz-Carlton ; and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque , which could not be missed. Here you can live well the culture and places to put in the destination wedding script.
So, did you enjoy my trip? I LOVED everything, and I already have all the details and news noted to put into practice with my boyfriends.
I hope you enjoyed all this news,
To the next,
Simone
