Beyond Vows and Veils: The Luxury Wedding Experience

Trending Together: The Latest in Luxury Events with Pamela Rothbard, Editorial Director of PartySlate

• Brittany Ellis • Season 1 • Episode 16

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Get ready for an exciting episode of Beyond Vows & Veils!

Join us as we welcome Pamela Rothbard, Director of Editorial at PartySlate, to share exclusive insights into the platform's mission and revolutionary impact on the wedding and event planning industry. Discover the latest wedding trends, innovative experiences, and how PartySlate connects couples with top vendors.

Perfect for event professionals and engaged couples, this conversation covers using PartySlate for inspiration, post-pandemic event planning, and essential advice on hiring planners.

Learn why capturing special moments is crucial in creating unforgettable events. Don’t miss out on this invaluable information from a leading industry expert!



For more Beyond Vows & Veils or Eventrics Indian Weddings, follow along at:

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YouTube: @EventricsWeddings

ABOUT EVENTRICS INDIAN WEDDINGS

Eventrics Indian Weddings is an award-winning team of experienced wedding planning and management experts, specializing in large-scale Indian Weddings & Fusion Weddings in Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, and destinations worldwide.

The Eventrics Indian Weddings team offers complete and partial planning services with a personal and hands-on approach. We believe each couple deserves a fully invested wedding planner to be engaged throughout the entire process to ensure no detail is missed or overlooked!

Brittany (00:00.687)
All right, welcome back to Beyond Vowels and Bails. Thank you so much, Pamela, again, for joining us today. I really appreciate your time.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (00:08.59)
Of course, I'm so excited to be here. I love that you're doing this.

Brittany (00:12.431)
Absolutely. So for those that are listening or just tuning in if you're unfamiliar with party slate that I feel like you're living under a rock because Right now it is, you know

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (00:22.286)
Hahaha!

Brittany (00:24.975)
very innovative, very supportive in terms of newly engaged couples or venue and vendor pros that are seeking to just kind of gain insight, inspiration. What else is out there? Who are some of the really great elevated vendors in our industry? What are they doing? And it's really a treasure trove, I feel like, of elevated portfolios and inspiration and just some things that you can go and learn a little bit more about.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (00:46.51)
Yeah?

Brittany (00:49.423)
We have with us the director of editorial with Party Slate. And so who better to kind of share a little bit about what Party Slate is about than you yourself. So Pam, please share a little bit about Party Slate's mission, how it helps couples throughout their wedding planning process and what have you.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (01:08.782)
Of course. So I think it's helpful to just spend a minute talking about how Party Slate got started. Our founder, Julie Roth Novak, came up with this idea out of frustration because she was planning events. She was doing a lot of large scale galas. She is not an event planner. So she was like a just a consumer who would be chairing a board or planning her own milestone birthday or some shower for a friend.

and she was using Pinterest to get ideas, which is an amazing idea generator, but then would be left cold when it came to figuring out that space is amazing, what space is that? Or that caterer and how they served this, who is that caterer? And so she just was coming up against dead ends.

And there are wedding websites, but they don't have quite the inspiration that she wanted. And they were wedding centric, obviously. And so she had a vision for a event platform that would address all kinds of events. And that would be a place where anyone planning a wedding or corporate event or gala or baby shower could go and not only find those ideas.

but also find the network of vendors who produced those celebrations and find the venues. So it is a place like in a nutshell where you can go and find a venue, your entire vendor team, and all of the ideas and inspiration you could ever want. So that was our goal. You know, we talk a lot about...

Brittany (02:54.127)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (02:59.374)
how celebrations, you know, these events that we put so much time and energy and money into and they're, you know, one day or one weekend. And what you leave behind is the memory of that event. And so I think a lot that we're in the memory business, like the creation of these moments that encapsulate a big change in someone's life.

And so we take it really seriously and we get really excited about sharing new things that we see so that everybody can kind of follow along and get ideas and also vet their vendors that they're considering and find new venues.

Brittany (03:46.063)
Yeah, absolutely. I think that it definitely was no small feat. I can only imagine what it was like to get the initial infrastructure organized and everything sort of outlined. But I know just being even a member of Party Slate, I've seen the growth and I've seen just even how much has happened even just in the past two years, right? And I feel like you guys are constantly fine tuning and tweaking it to make it easier for the user experience for sure.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (04:06.798)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (04:13.71)
That is absolutely true and I would say that we are tweaking and fine -tuning on both sides. So making it better for our vendors and venues and easier for them to show their work because the more work that they show, the more we can offer.

those couples and those corporate planners and wanted to find those ideas and connect with the people to make it happen. I'll just add that like Julie's kind of vision and goal, and you'll see this when you visit partieslate .com, was for it to feel a little bit like a modern art museum. So there's lots of white space. It's not overwhelming.

You know, it's easy to navigate, it's very clean, and the art on the site is very much those arches, those aisles, those tablescapes, you know, the stages. So that's the aesthetic of it, and it feels like a good place to visit.

Brittany (05:16.079)
Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And I think that party sleep, you know, for, for couples that aren't again, as familiar, we were talking offline about, I know a lot of couples today will come to me with like their Pinterest boards or, you know, maybe something they pinned, but I know that if I've ever gone on Pinterest and I was, I don't know, creating like a mood board for a vacation I was going to take, and I fell in love with this outfit that this girl was wearing, you know, I could click that, that picture, but I'm never going to find the source of like where that outfit came from. Do you know what I mean? And so it's,

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (05:28.557)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (05:44.845)
Right. Yes.

Brittany (05:45.985)
Then it's just like my experience kind of stops there. Whereas with PartySlate if you're a bride and you're looking at inspiration pictures, most likely there's probably a whole album or a upload that has been done by that venue or vendor that can showcase like...

something that you really resonate with, you're able to see like all the details. Who were the vendors that put that on? Where was that location? And so it's such a different, more immersive experience, I feel like for couples these days that are looking for inspiration. And even quite frankly, from a planner perspective, I know that if I'm supporting a couple with planning their wedding in an area that I've not planned out before, I'm not as familiar, PartySlate is absolutely a tool that supports me and being connected with the local pros as well.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (06:06.221)
Exactly.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (06:29.774)
Yeah, yeah, I love that. I think that's an important part of our role is helping vendors network with each other and find each other. So I love that you're using it in that way.

Brittany (06:43.567)
Yeah, absolutely. I feel like that's probably some of the key reasons of like what makes it so different from some of the other platforms that are out there. The nod or, you know, some of the other things.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (06:49.71)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (06:54.35)
I think also, like just to your point this morning, so we're in the office a couple days a week and it's brought back some of our impromptu collaboration and this morning one of our marketing team members was like, my gosh, look at the cake of this wedding that was uploaded. And it had like a little bit of a print on it. And so it was a white cake and it had like a navy print and it was just so different. It looked like print that you would find on China, not on a wedding cake. And it was so beautiful.

And like to your point, I was then able to click on that cake that she sent and see the full event. And it turns out that that pattern, they had printed on napkins, on signage, on the bar. And so it created like a cohesive feeling for this whole celebration, which you wouldn't know from seeing that one image, but that drives ideas for people's own events.

Brittany (07:50.031)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, ultimately it really is all about connection. And I know that when I was reading a little bit about your bio and just like your, you know, experience in the work field, I know that creativity, definitely sharing and connecting with others and having that be an integral part of your life, you know, clearly translates into the role that you have now. So how do you feel like Party Slate sort of supports vendors, you know, just kind of switching gears, anyone that might be

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (08:07.309)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (08:20.525)
Yeah.

Brittany (08:21.089)
listening that's from the vendor perspective. How do you feel like PartySlate supports them to showcase their work? I mean outside of obviously a beautiful portfolio.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (08:30.254)
Right, I mean, first and foremost, a beautiful portfolio. But in addition to that, the networking and not just, there's definitely the network effect on the site where if a vendor, let's say a caterer uploads a wedding that you also worked on, then those images would also appear. You could wake up and have a new event on your profile without you having to do any of the work to get it there.

and it would show up on the venue and on the rentals company and all of that. So that sort of network effect for vendors is really powerful. It's a collaborative tool that helps you populate and show examples of your own work. So I think that's powerful. But then there's also the in -person networking. And I'm sure we'll talk a little bit more about Party Slate events. But we do events in major cities, and those are events

specifically for the people who plan events. And so it is a room filled with photographers, planners, venue representatives, and people sharing ideas and meeting each other and beginning a relationship to work together in the future. So that's big. And then the other thing I'll say is that we offer quite a lot of digital marketing education. So today we're filming a session on AI.

and how to use AI to make your life easier in the event industry. And so we're very, you know, at heart on the vendor side, we are a digital marketing company. You know, we are a platform to help you with your digital marketing. And so we try to be very free with that information with vendors, you know, how can you get your blog to rank? How can you create a reel? you know,

Brittany (10:10.127)
Mm -hmm.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (10:26.221)
what are best practices for social media and hashtags and all of that. We're always doing digital marketing sessions that are free to attend. And so I think that is of help for the industry.

Brittany (10:38.967)
yeah, I think it's a huge benefit because I can't say that there are really a lot of platforms out there that I feel that put as much time, energy, effort into some of those freebie educational outlines, right? Because I know that I'm blessed enough to have someone kind of run our social media and we're only as good as the knowledge that we have, right? And so having an outlet even for her to like learn more about, because you just don't know what you don't know. And our digital, especially online,

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (10:51.853)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (11:01.709)
Right.

Brittany (11:08.833)
advertising and just showcasing your best work is always evolving and like honor the days where you could just like have a nice looking website and that's you know step one you know there's so many other facets to that and and obviously I know that you have a rich history and SEO and all those great things but but yeah I think that

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (11:17.069)
Yes!

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (11:25.261)
Yeah.

We talk a lot like on our marketing team about the idea that it takes seven touch points for a consumer to find you. Not to find you, but to make a decision. And so, yes, your website is a piece of that puzzle, but so is your party slate profile, so is your Instagram. There's a lot of ways that people will seek information, and they just want confirmation.

you are the right choice. So they're looking to vet the events that you do, learn as much as they can about you, and so the more you put out there that you control, the better.

Brittany (12:09.999)
Yeah, absolutely. Is there a particular criteria that PartySlate uses to determine if someone is a good fit to have on the platform? or is it just as long as you have a great portfolio, you can be showcased? How do you really navigate? Obviously, you're sharing the industry leaders, but how do you lead through? Is there a criteria?

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (12:31.628)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (12:35.533)
There is. So there's two pieces of it. So one is, you know, what's the criteria just to have a profile on Party Slate? And that's a little bit looser. It is the quality of the work. You know, we are not a DIY website. Like you won't find an article from me on, you know, how to use mason jars at your wedding. Like it's just not going to happen. Like we really try to support events that use a list of vendors.

Brittany (13:04.751)
Mm -hmm.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (13:04.845)
Like that is our place in this industry. So we do look at the quality of work before allowing a profile to go live. But then the other piece of it is the, I'm so sorry, is the, the other piece of it is how do we select work that we are going to elevate to the public, right? And that, and when I say elevate to the public, I mean,

Brittany (13:20.775)
you're fine. I'm fine with it.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (13:32.461)
through our articles, through our social media, and through our newsletters. And that's a little bit trickier of a question. One thing that we do is we look at every single new event that gets uploaded to Party Slate. And we are looking for new ideas, things we haven't seen before, things that are a little bit interesting, a little bit different. So that's, we're looking there for that.

We also give a little extra special attention to members. So it is free to have a party slate profile. You can have three events that are unlocked on your profile to share. And you know, you can build it out with information about your company, but we do have different levels of membership. And as the editor, it is important to me to support those vendors and try to bring them attention. So for example, if I'm doing an event,

or if I'm doing an article on black and white weddings and I have 200 black and white weddings on the site, I am first going to look to the vendors that are members so that I can give them a nice feature around the design that they did or the catering or the welcome moment that they created. So, you know, that's one way we're looking for creative design, unique entertainment, events that have personality.

Brittany (14:47.279)
Sure.

Brittany (14:55.407)
Yeah.

definitely makes a lot of sense. I think that you know, also speaking to just some of the events that party sleep has put on I was fortunate enough to go to your recent one in New York and it honestly is such a you know, how do I say this for those in the industry that you know, you just tend to stay busy right when it's wedding season. You don't have a lot of time to go to networking events and things that in I always find that you know, you have to prioritize your time. Obviously you can't always afford time wise to go to what I like to

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (15:22.731)
Yes.

Brittany (15:25.985)
to call the "Boozy Brunches" where you like go and you're kind of networking, but are you so it's like, I, I definitely really enjoyed going to PartySlate and bringing my whole team because they were able to kind of interact with people that we've obviously worked at events with before, but didn't get that one on one time to just kind of like hang out, like talk a little bit about how they got their start. We just know that they're excellent in their field, but having that one on one time to be able to just network and be efficient with kind of knowing who's going. And I just feel like as an

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (15:27.691)
Hahahaha

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (15:48.171)
Right.

Brittany (15:55.889)
Industry pro being mindful of how you're also spending your time networking is really great. So I do have a lot of respect for what PartySlate offers there.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (16:05.548)
I appreciate that. I think this industry, I mean, of course, it makes sense, but there you could go to a networking event every night of the week if you chose to write like someone is always throwing something and there's organizations committees. So you do have to be selective and choose events that you know that you're going to get something out of. And I do think that in addition to providing like the networking, our events also have.

of new ideas because we just sort of say to our planners and design teams like what's something you've always wanted to do and so it allows their dreams to kind of come true. I mean you did an event with us, our Orlando launch event and I know you tried some there were some new things there that I will talk about when we get to it but like it's very exciting.

Brittany (16:40.143)
Yeah.

Brittany (16:46.799)
Yes, I did. Yes, that was really fun.

Brittany (16:54.831)
Yeah, absolutely. I mean...

A hundred percent. I mean, we all know that any great event is definitely the team that you bring on and you partner with. And so we were very fortunate to have some amazing vendors that supported us in that launch. And that was a lot of fun. So I appreciate party. So they obviously trusting us for that. I'd love to hear a little bit, you know, just when we're talking about like trends and innovation and just things in the industry, are there like any particular like trends that you're seeing that couples maybe should know about or keep their eye?

on for like this year, next year in particular.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (17:29.388)
Yes, there always are interesting things that we see that we want to share. I will just say quickly, like when we talk about trends and inspiration, sometimes it's something that's brand new, and sometimes it's just something that we think is really going to continue or maybe get bigger. So an example.

In terms of palettes, there's two palettes that I see that are growing in popularity. And one of them is black and white. Black and white palette, that's not new, right? Like people have been doing black and white palettes, but you can even look at Google's search volume around that. And there was like a trough and then a peak because black and white is back. But then in terms of new palettes, often fashion will fuel new palettes.

Brittany (18:15.759)
Mm -hmm.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (18:22.955)
right? And so things that we see on the runway, a few months later we see entering interior design and then a few months after that we see it showing up at events. And so the color to keep an eye out for there is like a buttery, sunny yellow. Like we're seeing a lot of use of yellow and it's just it's such a happy color. I love seeing it. It's sort of the opposite side of the coin to the

Brittany (18:41.679)
love that. Yeah.

Brittany (18:48.847)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (18:52.268)
The moody, crisp, sharp, modern black and white is the kind of bohemian butter yellow.

Brittany (18:55.599)
here.

Yeah, I love that, especially for, you know, obviously we're based in Florida. So any of our Florida brides, it's such a fun color to do, especially in, you know, springtime or summer, what have you. So I love that. Are there any particular panel? I mean, you see probably some of the most innovative new, you know, photos and portfolios from vendors from obviously around the globe. Are there any like unique or memorable events that stand out?

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (19:11.819)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (19:21.579)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (19:26.955)
Yeah.

Brittany (19:27.823)
particular just through your time working with Party Slate.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (19:31.212)
This is obviously my favorite topic to talk about. I have seen some really interesting things. Something I'm seeing a little bit more of, and I really love it, is spiral aisles. So, you know, we've had like weddings in the round, right, where there's seats on all the way around and people looking. This is a different twist on that. It is quite literally, you know, the couple

Brittany (19:33.871)
Yes, of course.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (19:58.796)
walks an aisle that spirals all the way around until it gets to the center where their altar is and there is visibility from all sides. But the thing I like about it is that you literally walk past every single guest. So it's not like the crowded rows where someone might be five in kind of craning to see what's going on. Every person that enters walks past every single guest until they get to that center. And I just really, I think that's.

Brittany (20:18.223)
Mm -hmm.

Thank you.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (20:28.075)
but like a really personal and beautiful way to lay out an aisle. Something else I'm seeing. Wait, isn't that cool? Isn't that nice?

Brittany (20:33.487)
I think that's really cool. I love that actually because we a lot of times have couples that are concerned like about not being able to see all their guests, especially if we have larger guest counts and things to that end where, you know, you might not be able to table tap every single person at the reception, but having a moment where they can, you know, be closer to you, feel more immersive in that experience, I think that's really cool. That's really fun. Right.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (20:49.483)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (20:55.02)
And that's what it's all about, right? Like being able to make that eye contact. There's always, you know, when you walk down the aisle, there's always a few people you'll catch their eye and it just feels so nice. And this gives you that opportunity, you know, so much greater. So I love that. I love something I'm seeing a lot is many tiny stages.

with just a single performer, like literally little round stages. And it could be at a cocktail hour or, you know, even off to the side at a ceremony, or it could be music during a dinner, but it'll be a single performer. It could be, you know, a guitar is an easy one, but I've also seen saxophone. I've seen a ballerina just up on a stage. And so kind of...

Brittany (21:21.775)
and

Brittany (21:42.607)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (21:46.988)
When you elevate something on a stage like that, it makes it feel special. And they're not alone on a huge stage. I just, I love that.

Brittany (21:50.703)
Yeah.

Brittany (21:56.719)
Yeah, I think that's great. I think that's great because you have a lot of couples do who, or I work with a lot of couples where it's funny. They're like, I don't really want a lot of attention. And I'm like, well, you are the main attraction. It's kind of hard to not the attention, but if you're not one of those couples that you're like, Hey, I want to sit on this big stage in the middle of my reception. And when all the formalities are going on, that's where I want to be. If you're definitely someone that would be, I want to sit at a sweetheart table, or I would prefer to sit with my family and you could do like mini stages or something.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (22:07.275)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (22:16.907)
Right.

Brittany (22:26.673)
fun for the entertainment. I love that. That's actually really cool because you can create such a different environment than something that maybe guests have not seen before either.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (22:27.723)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (22:36.364)
That's right, and it's a special little moment. It could be at the entrance, it could be anywhere. So I really love that. We're continuing to see, excuse me, we're continuing to see.

thoughtfulness of dietary preferences in all the ways. So we're seeing a lot of veggie forward menus, but also something that I love like mocktails. The sober curious movement is just continues to grow and mocktails have been a thing for a while, but just recently I'm seeing dedicated mocktail bars so that, you know, it's a, it's a standalone, it's its own, it has a design and a decor. and.

Brittany (23:03.471)
Yeah. Yes.

Yeah.

Brittany (23:13.583)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (23:20.716)
you know, circa 10 years ago, a mocktail was a soda, right? But now it's like a Rosemary Simple Syrup and some fresh juice and it's like a composed cocktail. And so it is lovely to have its own space so that you're not waiting in line with a hundred people who are trying to get their rum and Coke or whatever.

Brittany (23:29.455)
Yeah.

Brittany (23:41.327)
Absolutely. I love it. I, you know, so interesting because we, you know, we obviously specialize more in the South Asian clientele, but we had a couple literally this past weekend, actually, that, you know, for religious purposes, they did not drink alcohol. So their entire reception was mocktail bars and the mocktails looked like legit. You know, they're served in the correct glassware. Some of them were blended. You know, it was literally a full curated experience for the mocktails. And I think that's really great because in the

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (23:56.691)
I love that.

Brittany (24:11.233)
the past if we've had non -alcoholic bars, you know, it's like, I'm with you, like a Sprite or like a Ginger ale with a wine. Like this is definitely a full different experience, which is really nice.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (24:20.971)
This is a whole different thing and I love it. Something else I can share is something that we're calling "food on the move" which, you know, there's always been like passed apps, right? Like that's a thing that's been around forever. So that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is finding guests where they are. So for example, our social media director,

Amanda got married recently and she had seen this on PartySlate and then did it. She had her desserts brought out to the dance floor. So, you know, there's always an exodus when dessert starts, people go sit down, but instead every single one of her desserts was made bite -size and they brought them right onto the dance floor, you know, and I've seen it done with dessert carts, coffee carts that come right to the dance floor. So I love that.

Brittany (25:12.719)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (25:15.851)
But there's other ways we're seeing it, like how there might be a station that offers customization. Now that's on the move. So literally someone with a tray that has the beginnings of a salad, but they're walking around and they can construct it for you based on your specific taste and give it to you. So I love that. And then the third thing that I'm seeing with "food on the move" is people giving.

Brittany (25:36.335)
that. Love that.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (25:45.164)
meals when people are on their way out the door. Like couples giving guests bagels and cream cheese in a box or a hamburger and fries. I just saw it was a wall with fries and burgers on it and it's at the exit. So it's like a on your way home, you're going to want to go through a drive through. Let us help you.

Brittany (25:53.743)
cute.

Brittany (26:03.055)
on.

Brittany (26:06.671)
I actually love that and that is that's really thoughtful. That's very thoughtful because.

If you're a couple and you've hosted an open bar, let's say for five hours, right? Between your coffee reception and really truly your whole dinner dance party. And I don't know, it's wrapping up around midnight or so. You know, let's just say you serve dinner at, I don't know, 830. You know, that's a long time to go without essentially anything substantial, especially if you are partaking and drinking alcohol over the mocktails. And so I think having something we've done

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (26:18.123)
Ahem, yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (26:39.275)
Yes.

Brittany (26:42.225)
like late night bites where it's kind of like in the back of the room and then people who kind of like want to partake partake and you know we'll let people know but I actually love having something that maybe has like a little cute like branded element to it to like tie the couple and like something fun for them to take as like a departure gift which I feel like food and beverage has become a lot more of that like guest favor more so than our than our clients like purchasing these little trinkets it's almost like put that money into something that you know

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (26:47.819)
Right.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (26:54.731)
Yes!

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (27:05.866)
Yes!

Brittany (27:12.145)
everyone's gonna enjoy that night.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (27:15.146)
Absolutely, I am so with you on that. I got married almost 27 years ago and the favors then were like little bags of Jordan almonds, you know what I mean? Like, and nobody can't, like nobody's looking to break a tooth on your party favor. And so I love the idea of something useful and memorable, you know, right away that can be used.

Brittany (27:41.423)
Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's fabulous. And so I think that really ties into like some of the original things we were touching based on like, how can couples use party slate? I mean, these are just a couple examples, right? But if you go onto the platform, you're really going to be able to take a deep dive and I feel like kind of get lost in just some of the really cool portfolio. And like you said earlier, kind of like a museum, you're literally looking at other vendors' arts and you're getting to see that live and getting to see what resonates with you because I have a lot of couples that will go on to parties.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (27:53.29)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (28:06.826)
Yeah.

Brittany (28:12.209)
and they'll come back with a lot more of an understanding of like, here's really what I like, here's what I don't like, whereas I feel like I...

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (28:18.922)
Yeah.

Brittany (28:20.143)
couples not to hate on Pinterest, but when they go on Pinterest, they're not able to dive deep into that concept. So it's kind of like one single picture and maybe it's just like this centerpiece I like or but I don't like anything else in the room and I, you know what I mean? And so it's like, it's able to also support, I think your planners or if you're working with a designer, a little bit more of that specific so that they're not looking to copy someone else's design, but they're able to really understand what inspired you when you were looking at that picture. Like what was it?

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (28:33.002)
Right?

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (28:45.482)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (28:50.097)
about that. Was it the floor plan? Was it that there was some element and things like that are going to really support for sure.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (28:53.546)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (28:58.251)
And I do think, to your point about Pinterest, the thing it is good for is that over time as you collect images is you start to figure out what your aesthetic is. So it may not be that specific thing that you're talking about, but overall looking. And we do have something called "Slates" that operate the same as Pinterest. So if you find images on PartySlate or vendors or even venues, you can keep it all organized in one place.

and start to get an idea for what you're leaning towards.

Brittany (29:32.239)
Yeah.

No, I think that's really great. I know anytime that, you know, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes too with party sleep. I mean, just to let any couples or vendors that are listening right now, even when we go to upload a portfolio, I'm always hearing back from your team on like, Hey, we really like this image. Like maybe get a couple more of like this particular centerpiece or like, Hey, this is really getting a lot of traction. And I think that having someone that's gonna, you know, again, I'm not hating on some of the other platforms, but from someone who is in the industry and who has

has tried out some different places to advertise and showcase our work. I've not ever had a team check in with me as regularly as PartySlate to be like, hey, how are we helping you? How can we support? Hey, did you hear about how you can elevate this portfolio? So again, for couples that are going to PartySlate, you're going into a platform that really is always fine -tuning, always editing, always showcasing what's out there and what's the newest and latest and greatest, so that you can put your own

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (30:25.579)
Yes.

Brittany (30:32.785)
spin on it, right? And so I think that's great about the platform for sure.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (30:33.995)
Yeah.

I think also in addition to inspiration, which is a key piece of our platform, I should say we have over 2 million images on the site. So the inspiration can go deep. And we have 26 ,000 plus vendors and venues on the site. So you're going to find someone who meets your needs. But I also think in addition to inspiration,

You'll find advice. You know, we have articles on how to choose your venue, how to choose your photographer, your wedding band, rehearsal dinner themes, that kind of thing. And then my product team will kill me if I don't mention the beauty of our directories. And so when you are looking for vendors, you know, you're past the inspiration part and you really want to lock down your vendors.

First of all, we always recommend choosing your planner first. Often couples choose their venue and I think the piece that they miss out on is relying on their planner's expertise of what venues would be really good to fulfill the vision that they have for their wedding. But whether it's a vendor or a venue that you're looking for, our directories, you know, obviously you narrow by place.

Brittany (31:37.039)
Sure.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (32:01.227)
But then there are all these filters to help you narrow more. So you can narrow by guest count, by the types of spaces, if it's a venue, if it's a planner, you can narrow by services offered. And you can even narrow by diversity. So if you specifically want someone that is a black -owned business, you can find those really easily. So.

Brittany (32:12.495)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (32:24.943)
Okay.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (32:26.571)
I think that the filters really act as a way to help you narrow down your initial choices and your planner. Get that planner first and let them help you narrow your selections down because they're going to have the best suggestions.

Brittany (32:41.839)
Yeah, 100%. I love that you obviously recommend planners. I'm biased being a planner, but I started this podcast really as an educational platform for couples that even if you weren't working with a planner to try to gain as much insight and information to make.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (32:53.259)
Yeah.

Brittany (32:58.607)
better and informed decisions because yeah, there's definitely nothing worse than sort of having no idea how much you want to spend on an event, but you've booked this venue. And so now it kind of has to like equate to that because you've already signed a contract. There's not really a lot I can do, but, and it's like, you know, majority of your costs are going to be food, beverage and venue. Right. And so then your portion of that is obviously all your higher pros, but,

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (33:07.659)
Yeah!

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (33:19.563)
Yes.

Brittany (33:24.303)
I think that there's obviously a lot that goes on behind the scenes. I actually had no idea that you offered advice or insight on things to ask different vendors. So that's actually a really cool, I did not know about that.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (33:33.867)
Yeah.

Well, good, I'm glad you learned something. Tell me, I'm curious when couples come to you, how many of them already have their venue? Do they have any vendors picked out before they get to you or do they tend to start fresh with you?

Brittany (33:50.223)
To be honest with you, most of them start fresh. I work with, you know, obviously a very niche clientele for the most part being like South Asian events or fusion weddings. They, a lot of my clients are very educated knowing that they have a small community to pull from. Like they probably have attended at least like 12 social functions on a regular calendar and more American or Westernized culture. So they kind of know a lot more than sort of the average client when they're going into planning a social function. So.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (33:53.355)
I love that. Yeah. Mm -hmm.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (34:09.131)
Right.

Brittany (34:20.177)
they sort of know the main venues in the area that they might are interested in talking to, or I've heard so -and -so worked with this. But as a planner, definitely depending on the day or location, that's where we kind of come in and say, hey, let's open up this lens a little bit and let's look at maybe other options. Let's maybe, you know, go to a party slate platform and take a look at what they also have to offer because especially again, if it's an area I haven't worked out before,

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (34:35.595)
Yes.

Brittany (34:47.471)
While I think that having tried and true professionals in that area and of course, venue recommendations go a long way, you have to still do your own research because if I hear from a client, I don't know, like I'm really a big fan of floral, but then we're looking at a designer that doesn't have a floral department, it's like, okay, well now we're gonna have to hire like multiple vendors to curate that look as opposed to maybe someone that already has like an in -house floral provider or.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (35:13.003)
Yes.

Brittany (35:13.743)
it might be, you know, and so that's where you just try to make the most sense of your clients, obviously, their budget and the amount of vendors they're going to hire. But I would say most of the time it's a clean slate, which is really cool. Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (35:25.707)
I love that for you. And also, especially for South Asian weddings, you need so many potential venues and vendors. It's not just one event in one location. So I'm glad that they wait until they talk to you.

Brittany (35:37.679)
Absolutely. Yeah, I love the diversity.

toggle as well or the editing platform. I don't think that I realized that you guys had that either. And that's such a huge, huge thing because you have a lot of couples who maybe even for catering, right? They specifically are going to want someone who's Indian for catering, right? It's in a different area of like what's in the vicinity. And maybe it might be someone that we would never have thought of otherwise, right? Or, you know, anything to that end. So that's actually very helpful to have those toggles because, you know, it just depends on the culture and what they're looking at.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (35:47.947)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (35:54.987)
Mm -hmm. Absolutely.

Brittany (36:12.689)
looking for.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (36:13.387)
Right, I mean you're looking at caters and if you need a kosher caterer, you know, you don't want to have to call 20 caters to find someone. So yeah, I think that's really helpful.

Brittany (36:21.967)
Yeah, and even recently I've had a lot of couples that are, which I appreciate, are trying to be a little bit more about women -owned businesses. Some of them are even like, well, I'd really prefer more woman -owned. I don't know, no hate on the men. I'm sure that they obviously do really well, but that's been interesting. Some of the brides have definitely been more in tune with women -owned businesses.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (36:30.539)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (36:36.491)
No.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (36:46.251)
Yeah, I love that. And also LGBTQ plus, you know, and so you might feel good making sure that you support those vendors. And so, yeah, I'm with you. It allows you to hire vendors that align with your values, which I appreciate.

Brittany (36:50.127)
Yes. Yes.

Brittany (37:01.935)
Mm -hmm, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, because they're going to ultimately pull off, you know, obviously the full event that you're going to want. You know, as far as like events now or future of events, you know, how do you see the future of events evolving, especially like post pandemic?

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (37:10.027)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (37:20.971)
Yeah, so it's funny. I was just talking with our VP of marketing about this idea because our world is sort of, you know, split like pre pandemic things look like this and post pandemic they look like this. And I would say that things that we thought were maybe going to happen post pandemic have worn off, you know, in that like we thought events were going to stay small, like people had realized that they just want small events and they love it.

Brittany (37:49.199)
Great.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (37:49.771)
or that there were going to be more home events, but we're right back to pre -pandemic demand for venues and these massive events. I will say that I think the one hanger on from the pandemic is an appreciation of gathering because we couldn't. And so lots more like really personal moments at events and more

breaking with tradition. You know, I'm curious because South Asian weddings are so steeped in tradition. Are you seeing couples try to do some new things or twist tradition and what are you seeing in that?

Brittany (38:36.015)
Yeah, definitely. You know, after the pandemic, we for sure as a company had no idea what was really going to happen. I just knew our clients were probably not going to have events that they couldn't have the amount of guests that they wanted because I mean, their immediate family is large, right? So it's like very difficult for them to have an event that would be under 100 people. I mean, that's almost not going to happen. But no, I think that honestly, holding true to the traditions and the, you know, pre -event ceremonies that are happening, all that's still taking place.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (38:48.042)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (38:56.01)
Right.

Brittany (39:05.969)
I think a lot of couples now are trying to combine some of those events. So for example, if they have like a holiday, it'll be like a bride and groom combined holiday as opposed to like single events, which is kind of interesting just depending on where they're coming from.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (39:12.17)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (39:16.618)
Ugh.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (39:21.162)
Yeah.

Brittany (39:21.839)
And then also a big, big conversation, which is always a conversation with families and parents is how long the ceremony is going to actually be. Because, you know, a traditional, you know, Hindu ceremony, you know, it's like three hours plus. It's kind of been interesting to see it all be like, let's keep it to an hour. And I'm like, listen, an hour is probably the least amount of time we're going to be able to keep this thing to. 45 minutes is like, we're really wishing, but.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (39:35.21)
Right.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (39:47.018)
Yeah!

Brittany (39:49.647)
You know, it's interesting because when you have a fusion couple, you know, whereas one bride might be Hindu and then the groom, let's say, for example, might be Christian or Jewish or what have you, it's like trying to really the ceremony timeframes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (40:01.226)
EEEH!

Brittany (40:04.623)
reasonable is, you know, obviously always an ongoing challenge. But I think since the pandemic, honestly, it kind of feels like Florida was a little weird compared to most places. We were like, as long as it's 50 % capacity of the ballroom space and like, you know, we're at convention properties that could hold like 2000 people.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (40:05.034)
Yes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (40:23.274)
Right.

Brittany (40:24.015)
But we weren't really like hurting too bad because I feel like Florida was a little different with that. But I think that, you know, for sure it's, you know, bigger, not necessarily better, but I think quality is a big, big part of our clients now because while they may have certain funds that they've allocated towards that celebration,

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (40:30.65)
Hahaha.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (40:40.234)
Yeah.

Brittany (40:45.583)
they don't necessarily look at it like, I have to spend this. If the quality is there and the justification is there that validates that expenditure, then great. But it's not like we just always have to go wild with the budget. Let's craft that and make sure it's making sense for the overall investment and what you're really trying to do.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (40:59.273)
Right.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (41:04.905)
I mean, I like that as a future to make conscious decisions like that. And you don't have to blow the whole budget, but also if it's something important to you. If you're a foodie couple and you really want to highlight the fare of a specific chef, that might be where your money goes.

Brittany (41:07.535)
Yeah, I did too.

Brittany (41:23.855)
I think that's really again back to couples who are trying to be mindful with their budgets whatever it is Going on to something like party sleep. I mean even just food presentation I've even seen like elevated food presentation like wow like instead of just doing a buffet They really made that look like it was a little bit more enhanced and it just looked like it had a little bit more thought into it and I feel like that's

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (41:28.297)
Ahem!

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (41:34.825)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (41:45.257)
Yes!

Brittany (41:47.375)
been the future for us with events so far has been people are just a little bit more intentional and slowing down a little bit to really make the best decision on who's going to be the right vendor to just be a team, a team player and like making this division comfortable, you know.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (41:53.385)
Mm -hmm.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (42:03.083)
Yeah, I think that's right. And I also, when I think about events, I think of them as a series of moments. You know, so like not when you talk about your budget, like not everything has to be a wow. You know, you can have a few things like the entertainment with the small stages or like, you know, one thing that I really like about PartySlate is that you can take an idea from like a corporate event and apply it to a wedding. And so.

one of our weddings, it took the idea and the bride shared with me that they took the idea from a corporate event and they put it to their wedding, which was branding the buns with their names. And so they had chosen to do, you know, it was this like really fancy sit down event at the Four Seasons. But then, and we had, you know,

Brittany (42:45.679)
Cool. Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (42:59.114)
soup that was poured to each of us individually at our table. It was table service and beautiful. But then the main course came, and the main course was burgers and fries. And the tops of the burger were branded with their initials. And that was something that they stole from corporate. So they created like a wow moment there. And I don't think you have to have a ton of wow moments, just a few things that are memorable and really personal.

Brittany (43:03.407)
on.

Brittany (43:09.199)
I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Brittany (43:26.447)
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Just, you know, what's unique to you, what speaks to you as a couple, what do you enjoy doing? Like all those things should definitely be incorporated.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (43:31.85)
Yeah!

Brittany (43:35.567)
You know, Pamela, I feel like I could talk to you literally forever, but I won't take up too much more of your time. You know, we always end every episode always saying, you know, you don't know what you don't know. Is there any particular parting words or advice that you would give to either couples or vendors just in terms of their wedding planning journey or marketing, anything that you feel like would just be a nice takeaway?

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (43:38.154)
Yeah!

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (43:45.002)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (43:57.227)
Yeah, so I think for couples that would be my big advice is just think about your event in moments to really maximize your budget is just decide a few and maybe it's like an amazing entrance that gets people talking right from the beginning they walk through a floral filled tunnel. Maybe that's a wow moment for you, but figuring that out so that you can really allocate your budget in a way that makes sense.

You know, the wedding that I was talking about that was the Four Seasons one, the table tops, the centerpieces were just candles. Like a ton of candles, but just candles. Like there weren't florals, there wasn't greenery hanging from the ceiling, that was over the dance floor. So I think for couples, I would say that. And then also circling back to my earlier thing that I really do think hiring a planner.

is going, I think a lot about the moment before I worked for Party Slate, where I was hosting my son's bar mitzvah, and I had passed on getting a planner or a decor team and decided I could do that all myself. And the event was starting and one of my centerpieces fell apart. And I'm in there with super glue and all of my guests are having cocktails.

and enjoying themselves. And even when I think about that day, it's marred by thinking about the people that had to sit at the table with a broken centerpiece, you know? And so hire a team to make sure that your vision really gets realized. So that's that side. For vendors and venues, I would say Google yourself, take a look at what your presence is online.

Brittany (45:31.499)
my gosh, yikes.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (45:50.666)
and consider ways that you can make sure that it is presenting what you want to be presented to couples or companies or charities that are looking for a space or a vendor. And you have control over your party slate profile. And so get your events up there and use descriptions to write details about what made the event special, because that helps me as an editor.

feature it and our social media team feature it like and that will give you more attention. My last note is make the most of when you do get a press mention. You know it doesn't begin and end with the mention because that's one little piece of it that gets to the audience of whoever's mentioning you but like from there you need to create a ripple that continues going and that means.

Brittany (46:20.527)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (46:48.969)
put it in your signature of your email, promote it on social media, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an underrated platform. Any professional recognition you get, you should be posting on LinkedIn. Post it in all places, put it in your newsletter, let couples know that you've worked with, that you just got recognized in this way, because it reminds them of you, sorry. It's allergy season here and I'm kind of dying. But you know,

Brittany (46:57.423)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Brittany (47:18.703)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (47:19.337)
Use it to fuel excitement and to remind people about your brand.

Brittany (47:23.471)
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I mean, to celebrate your wins, right? Like big or small, definitely like, you know, be your best hype man because ultimately if you've got a product that you're passionate about and you do a really great job by people, you know, you got to get the word out, right? Because, you know, that's just part of it. People got to be able to find you. So, yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (47:27.913)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (47:41.706)
Absolutely. Brittany, I know we're ending. I don't want to go without saying this, that I mentioned earlier that you did an event, our Orlando launch for Party Slate. And I just want to call out like a really special moment that our team still talks about, which was how you coordinated. So it was at a resort on the Disney property and you coordinated the ability to pause.

Brittany (47:45.839)
God. Yes.

Brittany (47:57.903)
Okay.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (48:10.793)
and everyone to go and watch the Disney fireworks outside and had a live violin on site playing that made it like this immersive visual audio communal experience. And that's when I talk about moments, that's the kind of moments I'm talking about. Like it was really special. Like it's one thing to have fireworks, but to have live music also accompanying it. And I just, that's next level. I loved that.

Brittany (48:28.239)
Yeah.

Brittany (48:33.423)
Yeah.

Brittany (48:36.975)
It was amazing. I'm so glad that you brought that up. You know, definitely Jennifer Sharp, who is at the property, had mentioned that, you know, you have the best view of the fireworks. We're literally at the view at the very top of the new Swan Reserve. And Rema...

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (48:40.681)
Yeah.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (48:52.489)
Yeah.

Brittany (48:54.671)
Nori Productions, she actually had a very talented violinist that came in and literally, I mean, to sync music like that is, and it was beautiful. They really knocked it out of the park. It was gorgeous.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (49:03.337)
Amazing.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (49:09.449)
Yeah, that's the kind of thing that that guests will talk about long after. Yeah.

Brittany (49:13.231)
absolutely, absolutely. If you're enjoying fireworks and it's perfectly tuned to music and it's just, it becomes like this whole experience, right? And that's when you really.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (49:19.465)
Yeah, you've got a curated mocktail in your hand and someone's coming by with a make your own bar that they're carrying. Like you're just living life. Yeah.

Brittany (49:27.439)
Yeah, you're in heaven. You're living the best life. Piafla, thank you so much again for your time and your wisdom. Honestly, it's invaluable. And I hope that this has been a supportive episode for any couples that are needing inspiration, insight, direction, where to find your venue, your vendors, and obviously for vendors also to help you elevate yourselves in your portfolio and our ever evolving industry. So thank you again.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (49:36.777)
Of course.

Pamela Rothbard - PartySlate (49:54.441)
Of course, of course I will come back anytime. Once a year to talk about the newest trends, I would love to. Okay. Thank you.

Brittany (50:00.623)
I love it, awesome. Thank you so much again, I appreciate it.


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Brittany Ellis

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