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vendor reviews: decorators
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Interviewing Dianne McDonald, A Touch of Class Gifts & Events
Dianne McDonald is one of the most genuine people you could ever hope to meet in your wedding planning travels. There isn't anything she wouldn't do for you or your wedding, if it is within her power. From customizing your wedding favours to decorating your entire reception hall, A Touch of Class Gifts & Events offers sweet, subtle décor with mixes of different fabrics, lighting, and colours.
Dianne can offer a unique combination of services that's rare to find from one vendor. She can create favours, decorate your entire wedding, and even plan parts of your event. You'll love working with her as soon as you get a chance to meet with her in person. Her personality is warm and her inability not to help you with
everything you need is endearing. We highly doubt that Dianne has ever said no to a request from her couples, and we know that you will feel more than taken care of with her...
Personally speaking... We were greeted by Dianne's warm smile as we entered her home to find out more about her decorating. Every need that we had was attended to with doting and attention that is a treasure to find in the service industry. This translated in the offering of food and beverages, and in the careful way Dianne listened to every question we had, made sure to give us every bit of information possible, and followed up with a level of care that any bride would be pleased with.
Refocusing on brides Since her husband passed away eleven years ago, Dianne has been busy refocusing her life. With the encouragement of her grown children (son Chris - 32, and daughter Laura - 28), her creative nature and a successful career as a Senior Corporate Executive Assistant organizing and coordinating everything from small meetings to major events, Dianne left the corporate world to open her own business in 2002, Virtual Business Resources Inc. Then in 2004, with the urge to provide a wider range of services to her clients, Dianne expanded her business to include all-occasion gift arrangements, event planning and decorating for corporate events and special family occasions. This new branch, A Touch of Class Gifts & Events was launched and Dianne has watched it grow more and more successful since then.
Working as an event planner/decorator had always been a dream of Dianne’s (no wonder her two favourite movies are The Wedding Planner and Father of the Bride) and she expanded her business even further by venturing into the wedding world. After decorating for a wedding at a trendy hall in Niagara, the Manager of the venue was 'completely blown away' by the way she transformed their ballroom and asked if he may refer clients to her for future decorating. She found herself buying more and more props as interest grew in her decorating services for both weddings and corporate events. Now she is thrilled to report that she has finally found her true passion and her newest loves are her brides.
Bring on the weddings... After several years building her business, wedding décor is definitely keeping her busy. Her growing list of couples who recommend her work reminds Dianne that weddings are the right place for her to be. In fact, she recently launched a new boutique-style bridal show, A Touch of Class Wedding Show (formerly the Tri-City Wedding Expo). The show's next dates are Wednesday, September 24, 2008 and Thursday September 25, 2008, from 5 to 9:30 pm. Click here for more info.
Dianne has even taken on an assistant to help keep up with her growing popularity. Though she continues to maintain a busy work schedule, she limits the number of events she'll take on for any given day, so that she can offer each one the attention and care it deserves.
When the Best Western Cambridge asked for her assistance on an event for some very important clients, she did such a detailed beautiful job on the room they asked her to be their Exclusive Decorator for all future corporate events, family occasions and weddings. The décor she created featured two water fountains on either side of the entrance to the room, custom centrepieces, accent trees, a folding black screen, pillars with floral arrangements, and various other details to complete the look. "We are very impressed with the decorating services you are providing to our hotel and our valued clients. Your professionalism, experience and dedication to our needs and that of our clients is very much appreciated and reflected in the excellent feedback we receive during and after each client event," says Romy Ahuja, the Director of Sales at the Best Western Cambridge Hotel and Conference Centre.
Time with Dianne When you get the opportunity to meet with Dianne, she'll invite you into her home where she has a showroom just for discussing décor. There's a cute wooden sign on the front of her house in her signature purple colour, carrying through the consistent details, theme and style that Dianne brands her business with. Meetings in her cozy seating area are as long as the bride and groom need - anywhere from a half hour to over three hours. After your time together, you'll realize that Dianne not only invites you into her home, but also her heart.
Nearly the entire main floor of her large Waterloo home is set-up with décor ideas that are there just for you. A few of her backdrops are displayed using different colour schemes with gorgeous fabrics. There are pillars with artificial floral arrangements in several spots accenting the room. Two tables display different wedding favours and centrepiece ideas for you to choose from, or for inspiration to create your own. Dianne also shows an album on her coffee table with photos of most of the designs she has done so you can get a feel for her work.
Subtle sweetness... A Touch of Class' decorating style is true to the name Dianne chose for her business. There is nothing over the top or overbearing about the designs that Dianne creates, but instead she offers fitting, subtlety sweet décor for her clients. Anything from a simple classy ceremony to elegantly breathtaking reception décor, and from trendy chair covers to complete room transformations are possible with A Touch of Class. Dianne aims to continue learning from others in the industry and from her own brides and suppliers, continually offering more options and an increasing inventory. Her most recent additions are enough beautiful white damask linens, skirting and napkins to accommodate a wedding of 400 people.
Doing more... What Dianne considers to be part of the service she offers to brides is above and beyond what you'd reasonably expect. More than a just a decorator, Dianne will assemble the centrepieces that you have sourced out yourself. She'll set out your favours and place cards in their proper place at the reception. She'll make sure your rental chairs arrive at your outdoor ceremony location on time, set-up and decorate for a perfect open-air service. All the visual details are under the watchful eye of Dianne on your wedding day so that some of the planning stress can be off your shoulders. Once you hire Dianne, you can truly relax knowing you are going to be very well taken care of.
Pricing and details A Touch of Class also offers competitive pricing (entire weddings can be done for only $795) and 'a la carte' pricing so you can tailor a customized decorating package to your specific needs. Choose from a wide style and range of items from guest books to candelabras and chair covers to stunning backdrops. Dianne offers personalized guest favours starting at $3 each.
"Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job of decorating our wedding. Everything was perfect. We enjoyed working with you and will recommend you to others..." - Marg & Steve Geerts, married September 24, 2005 "I really don't know how to write this letter. Every time I start it I get emotional. I think about the day and what happened, good and bad, all I see is that beautiful room. I want to walk into a room like that every day. It was definitely a room that my dreams were made of. Even though we met several times, I knew the kind of equipment that you were going to use but never did I imagine walking into the room and having every childhood dream put into place. It was like you were in my mind the whole time and were able to make it a reality. I really appreciate you coming before the reception and seeing that I was stressed beyond belief and you taking that few minutes to tell me everything was going to be alright. You were calm and professional and huge support for me that day. I am and have been telling everyone about you and your business and I am prepared if you ever need me, to talk to anyone about the amazing day you created for us. Thank you again Dianne." - Aimee & Jon Watson, married April 8, 2006
"Dianne was instrumental in planning our successful company Christmas party. She was professional in all aspects of her work and her production was elegant, beautiful and perfect. Dianne went far beyond our expectations..." - Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. & Maple Automotive Corporation
To contact Dianne McDonald
at A Touch of Class Gifts & Events, give her a call at 519-880-9300, or
email her at
dianne@vbri.ca.
Dianne will
Dianne's showroom is located at 499 Ennismore Place in Waterloo - she'll be happy to schedule an appointment time that is convenient for you. For more on A Touch of Class Gifts & Events' services, check them out online at www.vbri.ca.
- The Staff at theweddingring.ca * Prices are all approximate and are subject to change and verification by authorized staff and management of A Touch of Class Gifts & Events. * Second photo from the top courtesy of Stone Photography. |
For
subtle décor as sweet as the decorator herself, A Touch of Class goes above and
beyond
Dianne
Inotherwords...
"With
thanks to you for all your help and for a job well-done. Your special
contribution was an all-important one!"
- Lynn Wilson, Tara & Ryan Harrington, married October 1, 2005
Contacting
Dianne...
answer any questions you may have about her decorating services or
anything else you need from her.