The icing on the (wedding) cake
‘The Empire State Building is the closest thing to heaven in this city.” So says Deborah Kerr to Cary Grant in the 1957 romantic tearjerker, An Affair to Remember, as the newly entangled lovers agree to meet there in a year’s time. If that film didn’t make the Empire State Building a modern symbol of romance, Sleepless in Seattle finished the job in 1993, choosing the building’s observation gallery as the setting for the first nerve-wracking meeting between Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Ever since, management at the building have fielded requests daily from couples eager to get married at the iconic skyscraper (truly, a match made in heaven). That’s why they allow just four marriages to take place under its roof, on just one day a year: Feb. 14. Although the offer is limited to American couples, next month’s ceremonies will have a strong Canadian presence: many of the accessories (flower bowls, candelabras, that sort of thing) will be supplied by Weddingstar, a fastgrowing designer and manufacturer of wedding supplies and decorations located in Medicine Hat, Alta.
Founded 20 years ago by former hockey player Rick Brink, Weddingstar has become a global name in wedding accessories. Its specialty is innovative new products and customization, exemplified by its vast array of “caketoppers,” featuring mini-brides and grooms doing everything from skiing to playing rugby. The Internet has propelled Weddingstar from a manufacturer/distributor into a global retailer — last year it shipped products to more than 100 countries, and opened an agency in Russia.
How did Weddingstar get invited to the Empire State Building? That ticket to heaven resulted from Weddingstar’s strategy of partnering with complementary organizations.
By combining its manufacturing capabilities and growing sales clout with other respected brands, Weddingstar gains access to new products, markets and promotional opportunities. Brink says partnerships help the company fill a gap in industry expertise left by its still limited size and location. Clearly, many more Canadian companies could be leveraging partnerships to help them become more dominant players in their markets.
How do you partner with better- known brands? A year ago, Weddingstar called New York City-based Preston Bailey Designs about working together. A former fashion model turned designer and event planner, Preston Bailey’s client base includes royalty, business leaders and celebrities such as Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Donna Karan and Ivanka Trump. He has worked with big brands including Sandals Resorts, Godiva and HewlettPackard, while his art installations have drawn crowds to London’s Covent Garden and Hong Kong’s Landmark Mall. The author of four books and an article titled “10 Ways Feathers Can Figure in Your Wedding,” Bailey brings “The Wow” to everything he does.
Brink didn’t know how Bailey would respond to the call. Bailey rarely gets involved with any event whose decorating budget sinks below $500,000, but his company has produced few licensed products, and none for the mass market. Brink hoped Bailey would be receptive to Weddingstar’s proposal to produce a few items together because manufacturers have been knocking off Bailey designs. Both organizations have the same mission: “We make wedding dreams come true,” Brink said.
Negotiations took months longer than Brink expected, but the deal ended up bigger than he had hoped for — to develop a whole line of upscale Preston Bailey items, for sale through Weddingstar. com and its retail network. Bailey Designs earns a royalty on each sale.
The first fruits of their collaboration, a line of “tabletop accessories,” will debut in March, after a delay of several months caused by Weddingstar’s need to find Asian suppliers who could manufacture Bailey’s intricate designs.
This is just the beginning, Brink said: “I don’t see any end to this relationship. The opportunity to develop new products is endless.”
Lasting partnerships are those where both sides win, he said. “They are using our product development and distribution, and we’re using their design and brand. Preston Bailey can help expose Weddingstar to a whole new market around the world we don’t have access to.”
Case in point: When Bailey was hired to plan the Empire State Building’s weddings this year, Weddingstar also got an invitation. As a Bailey partner, Weddingstar paid an undisclosed sum to become a sponsor of the event, and to provide accessories for the four intimate “dream weddings,” which should receive widespread coverage. The arrangement has already paid off, as Weddingstar has been featured prominently in press releases, articles and blogs about the event. And Brink expects the buzz only to grow; on Valentine’s Day, Preston Bailey himself will be getting married at the Empire State Building. Tomorrow’s brides will be buzzing about that for months.