Well, last night we had our second Santa Barbara Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort. I've been to a couple and they're all different so I was wondering what this one was going to be like, anyway, we all met at the bar and grouped together a bunch of tables, had some drinks and ordered appetizers. Isn't that a great setting for a meeting?!?
We had a decent size group with David Jay as our PUG leader and we had some great conversations! Our PUG meetings will only get better. I really enjoy meeting up with other photographers in my area to get to know them and to discuss all the things that will make our businesses grow. DJ shared all the latest and greatest with Pictage and also shared the newest version of ShowIt Web! An answer to all my wishes for a slideshow presentation!
Anyway, thank you to David Jay, SB PUG kicks butt!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Interesting Santa Barbara County Stats
Santa Barbara County, California Wedding Market Overview (www.theweddingreport.com)
The 2006 Santa Barbara County, California (includes: Santa Barbara, California and Zipcode 93105) wedding market can expect no change in the number of weddings over 2005 with 2,270 estimated weddings. Number of weddings could reach 2,160 by 2010.
Expect a 6% increase in wedding cost with an estimated cost of $29,600.00.
Wedding cost could reach $35,400 by 2010.
See (Table A) for 2006 Santa Barbara County, California estimated weddings and wedding cost, including a U.S and State comparative.
Santa Barbara County, California Wedding Market Overview
2006 Est. Weddings 2,270
2006 Est. Wedding Cost $29,600.00
Comparative
Location 2006
U.S. Weddings 2,271,910
U.S. Wedding Cost $26,800.00
California Weddings 207,150
California Wedding Cost $28,700.00
Consumers in Santa Barbara County, California (includes: Santa Barbara, California and Zipcode 93105) will spend on average
$2,034.00 on Wedding Attire,
$2,581.00 on their Wedding Ceremony,
$1,220.00 on Wedding Favors & Gifts,
$1,255.00 on Wedding Flowers,
$1,921.00 on Wedding Jewelry,
$1,018.00 on Wedding Music,
$2,936.00 on Wedding Photography & Video,
$15,123.00 on their Wedding Reception,
$894.00 on Wedding Stationery,
and $622.00 on Wedding Transportation.
The 2006 Santa Barbara County, California (includes: Santa Barbara, California and Zipcode 93105) wedding market can expect no change in the number of weddings over 2005 with 2,270 estimated weddings. Number of weddings could reach 2,160 by 2010.
Expect a 6% increase in wedding cost with an estimated cost of $29,600.00.
Wedding cost could reach $35,400 by 2010.
See (Table A) for 2006 Santa Barbara County, California estimated weddings and wedding cost, including a U.S and State comparative.
Santa Barbara County, California Wedding Market Overview
2006 Est. Weddings 2,270
2006 Est. Wedding Cost $29,600.00
Comparative
Location 2006
U.S. Weddings 2,271,910
U.S. Wedding Cost $26,800.00
California Weddings 207,150
California Wedding Cost $28,700.00
Consumers in Santa Barbara County, California (includes: Santa Barbara, California and Zipcode 93105) will spend on average
$2,034.00 on Wedding Attire,
$2,581.00 on their Wedding Ceremony,
$1,220.00 on Wedding Favors & Gifts,
$1,255.00 on Wedding Flowers,
$1,921.00 on Wedding Jewelry,
$1,018.00 on Wedding Music,
$2,936.00 on Wedding Photography & Video,
$15,123.00 on their Wedding Reception,
$894.00 on Wedding Stationery,
and $622.00 on Wedding Transportation.
Wedding Stats
I wanted to share some wild wedding stats with you, check them out:
Statistics on Weddings in the United States
By Sound Vision staff writer
• 2.3 million couples wed every year in the US. That breaks down to nearly 6,200 weddings a day
• The average age of a bride in the US is 25.3
• Average age of a groom is 26.9
• Average number of guests invited to a wedding is 178
• One-third of those getting married each year have been married before
The money behind the marriage
• $72 billion per year is spent on weddings
• The average wedding budget is $20,000
• $1,016 is the average cost of wedding rings for the bride and groom
• Traditionally, the father of the bride would pay for everything. Today, however, the bride and groom themselves pay for the wedding about 30 percent of the time; the bride's parents pay about 17 percent of the time. As for the rest of the time, costs are covered by different sources -- the bride and groom and one or both sets of parents, according to surveys by Bride's magazine.
• $19 billion per year is spent on wedding gift registries
• $8 billion per year is spent on honeymoons
• The average honeymoon budget is $3,657
• Over 91 percent of all to-be-weds register for gifts. The couple receives gifts from an average of 200 guests
• Most wedding guests spend between $70 and $100 on a gift
Timing of weddings
June is the most popular month for weddings, then August, followed by September and October
Here’s a monthly breakdown:
January 4.7%
February 7.0%
March 6.1%
April 7.4%
May 9.8%
June 10.8%
July 9.7%
August 10.2%
September 9.6%
October 9.4%
November 7.4%
December 7.8%
Where do weddings take place?
• 80 percent of weddings are performed in churches or synagogues
Honeymoons
• 99 percent of newlyweds take a honeymoon
• the average couple will spend three times more on their honeymoon than a regular vacation
• 40 percent of honeymooners will travel within the United States, about 60 percent will travel to a foreign country
• honeymoons usually last 7 to 9 days
• the most popular destinations are Las Vegas, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and
Jamaica
• 35 percent of brides and grooms have a valid passport
Other Interesting Info
• the top wedding city in the world is Istanbul, Turkey with 166,000 for the year
• Las Vegas, Nevada is in second place with 114,000 weddings.
Sources for our statistics
US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03ff02.html
The Knot (http://www.theknot.com/au_industrystats.shtml),
The Association for Wedding Professionals International (http://www.afwpi.com/wedstats)
Sellmoreweddings.com
Sellthebride.com (http://www.sellthebride.com/tipsstats.htm)
American Demographics
Bride's Millennium Report: Wedding Love & Money
Bride's magazine
Statistics on Weddings in the United States
By Sound Vision staff writer
• 2.3 million couples wed every year in the US. That breaks down to nearly 6,200 weddings a day
• The average age of a bride in the US is 25.3
• Average age of a groom is 26.9
• Average number of guests invited to a wedding is 178
• One-third of those getting married each year have been married before
The money behind the marriage
• $72 billion per year is spent on weddings
• The average wedding budget is $20,000
• $1,016 is the average cost of wedding rings for the bride and groom
• Traditionally, the father of the bride would pay for everything. Today, however, the bride and groom themselves pay for the wedding about 30 percent of the time; the bride's parents pay about 17 percent of the time. As for the rest of the time, costs are covered by different sources -- the bride and groom and one or both sets of parents, according to surveys by Bride's magazine.
• $19 billion per year is spent on wedding gift registries
• $8 billion per year is spent on honeymoons
• The average honeymoon budget is $3,657
• Over 91 percent of all to-be-weds register for gifts. The couple receives gifts from an average of 200 guests
• Most wedding guests spend between $70 and $100 on a gift
Timing of weddings
June is the most popular month for weddings, then August, followed by September and October
Here’s a monthly breakdown:
January 4.7%
February 7.0%
March 6.1%
April 7.4%
May 9.8%
June 10.8%
July 9.7%
August 10.2%
September 9.6%
October 9.4%
November 7.4%
December 7.8%
Where do weddings take place?
• 80 percent of weddings are performed in churches or synagogues
Honeymoons
• 99 percent of newlyweds take a honeymoon
• the average couple will spend three times more on their honeymoon than a regular vacation
• 40 percent of honeymooners will travel within the United States, about 60 percent will travel to a foreign country
• honeymoons usually last 7 to 9 days
• the most popular destinations are Las Vegas, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and
Jamaica
• 35 percent of brides and grooms have a valid passport
Other Interesting Info
• the top wedding city in the world is Istanbul, Turkey with 166,000 for the year
• Las Vegas, Nevada is in second place with 114,000 weddings.
Sources for our statistics
US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03ff02.html
The Knot (http://www.theknot.com/au_industrystats.shtml),
The Association for Wedding Professionals International (http://www.afwpi.com/wedstats)
Sellmoreweddings.com
Sellthebride.com (http://www.sellthebride.com/tipsstats.htm)
American Demographics
Bride's Millennium Report: Wedding Love & Money
Bride's magazine
Saturday, March 11, 2006
March 11, 2006
Well, it has rained almost every weekend for the past 3 weeks! I guess I shouldn't complain since we rarely get rain and it's almost always beautiful here in Santa Barbara. Anyway, the rain we got this weekend brought snow to our mountain tops.
It really makes for some beautiful scenery. On my way up to the mission, there were people everywhere taking pictures of the snow. You'll even see where people have driven up to the mountains and brought back snow for their kids to have snowball fights. Here we are in Southern California and there are kids having snowball fights in shorts and flip-flops. Yeah, I know, as if no one has ever seen snow before, but hey, some people around here really haven't!
Here are some shots I got today from my neighborhood and at the mission.
It really makes for some beautiful scenery. On my way up to the mission, there were people everywhere taking pictures of the snow. You'll even see where people have driven up to the mountains and brought back snow for their kids to have snowball fights. Here we are in Southern California and there are kids having snowball fights in shorts and flip-flops. Yeah, I know, as if no one has ever seen snow before, but hey, some people around here really haven't!
Here are some shots I got today from my neighborhood and at the mission.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Weekend trip to Ojai
Last weekend I went up to Ojai, CA to photograph The Day Spa of Ojai. Melissa Mellot, the genius behind www.spadefined.com had an appointment to review the spa for her website. She has done an incredible job putting together an exclusive Spa review site for Santa Barbara, Ojai and the Santa Ynez Valley.
This is great for me since I get to visit and photograph all of these beautiful spas. Ojai in itself is a beautiful place to photograph so it was no problem for me.
We had a great picnic lunch and then went touring around to check out some of the other spas in the area. I'll be photographing them soon, can't wait.
I attached some images I shot around this great spa, which is housed by a 100 year old home.
This is great for me since I get to visit and photograph all of these beautiful spas. Ojai in itself is a beautiful place to photograph so it was no problem for me.
We had a great picnic lunch and then went touring around to check out some of the other spas in the area. I'll be photographing them soon, can't wait.
I attached some images I shot around this great spa, which is housed by a 100 year old home.
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