New offering coming up on September 18th – training catered to the South Asian Wedding Industry

If you have ever been to an Indian wedding and have wondered what it would be like to plan such an affair, here’s your chance!  SATHI™ is a business association and certification institute serving the South Asian wedding industry. It is dedicated to providing wedding industry vendors & wedding planners education, training, latest trends and community support to better serve their client’s needs and grow their businesses in this affluent niche market.

ACPWC and SATHI™ have partnered to bring ACPWC members another way to differentiate themselves in the wedding market while expanding their planning service offerings to more brides, specifically South Asian brides.

We welcome Shena Cherian, CEO design Wedding Consultants and Viviana Vargas, Shaadi Association & Training Institute (SATHI™) to ACPWC.  To learn more about upcoming educational workshops, courses and certification please visit www.sathiinstitute.com.

In the Atlanta area on September 18^th?  Be sure to register now!  SATHI is hosting Bridging the Gap: Western meets Eastern Hospitality workshop.

• Gain better understanding of South Asian wedding customs & traditions
• Gain insight on what makes the client tick
• Bride the gap between the family’s needs & expectations while delivering a mutually valuable & profitable experience

Download ACPWC members brochure for workshop information.

ACPWC will receive a special discount.  Please contact Viviana directly at viviana.sathi@gmail.com if you’re interested in attending this Atlanta Workshop!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS:

Shena Cherian, founder of design Wedding Consultants, graduated from the #1 ranked undergraduate Entrepreneurship program at the University of Houston which gave her the skill sets to truly understand business from the perspective of CEO. Finding something you are passionate about and making it a business is a philosophy that stayed with her after graduation.  She launched her business in 2004 because she was able to couple her entrepreneurial training with her passion for weddings.

Having worked with the premier South Asian wedding magazine, Shena saw that the market needs were growing for a qualified wedding professional and soon realized that there was no company in her area that sought out to service that niche.  design quickly became the first company of its kind in the Houston metropolitan, and today has grown to be the largest South Asian wedding consulting firm in the area establishing a reputation for sophistication and excellence.

Shena has more than 10 years of experience in planning, consulting, directing and coordinating South Asian weddings.  Having worked with hundreds of brides and being South Asian herself, Shena is uniquely qualified to help vendors understand this market and has partnered with SATHI to educate vendors nationally on how to capitalize on these lavish affairs.  Shena is also a Professional member of the Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants (ACPWC).

Viviana Vargas has built her in-depth experience with more than 17 years as an entrepreneur and marketing consultant in a range of industries.  Her background includes wedding & event planning, marketing, coaching and project management. Viviana was introduced to the wedding industry in 1995 when she began as a bridal consultant in a local bridal shop.  She quickly realized that she had a passion for the wedding industry and started her wedding consulting company, which later expanded to corporate luncheons, galas and meetings.

Viviana combines her skills in improving performance, productivity and efficiency with her experience in executing multi-cultural weddings and her educational training/coaching models. Through SATHI (Shaadi Association & Training Institute), her focus is to deliver to wedding vendors & service providers the education, training and overall understanding of the South Asian client’s needs when it comes to planning their wedding.  She is committed to working with service providers to complete certifications and develop a culture of knowledge sharing within the industry by offering more value, higher quality of resources and a unique approach to the traditional educational experience.

Viviana graduated from the #1 nationally ranked undergraduate entrepreneurship program at University of Houston with a BBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.  In addition, early in her career received accreditation as a Professional Bridal Consultant by the Association of Bridal Consultants and was awarded a certificate of completion for Bridal Consulting 101, a 6-hour comprehensive study of Consulting as it relates to the wedding industry.

including Higher Education, Internet-based Technologies, Financial Services and Event Management.

I spent much of this time thinking about my personal purpose.  A question which is asked often by many, I discovered that for me, my purpose is and has always been that of a support system, educator/trainer and coach to help individuals and organizations reach their objectives.”

Prior to SATHI, Viviana was with Ameriprise Financial supporting the Texas Market Group by providing marketing strategies and leading advisors to implement customized, laser-focused plans to grow their practice.  This role included assessing advisors’ business plans, their client base, their current and future goals then determining which marketing strategies would best fit their strengths and business model. Viviana also led the effort in implementing client referral events for the six area offices, with the ultimate objective of meeting advisors’ growth goals. She brings to SATHI a proven format of how events can be used to grow a business and how thoroughly understanding your prospects result in acquiring clients.

Previously, Viviana came from an entrepreneurial background having established a successful event-planning boutique implementing a spectrum of events from business luncheons to elaborate weddings.  As owner of Vivid Events, she consulted for clients such as Trade-Ranger, Vision America and Buchanan Ventures on services ranging from media relations to vendor management and on-site event execution.  In addition, she helped numerous brides & grooms execute flawless weddings that matched their style and personality, while keeping them on task and within budget.

As Production Manager at Ashford.com, an online retailer of luxury goods, she was part of the start-up team responsible for the design, development and production of the website.  She managed the team that served as liaison between the Merchandising, Marketing and Technology departments to meet the sales and project goals for the company. Prior to Ashford.com, she was Director of Marketing for Synergy Development, a technology consulting firm, where she developed a marketing plan integrating the company’s hardware/software services and the new media service offerings to effectively implementing a unified message, brand strategy, speaking engagements and event marketing.

Viviana graduated from the University of Houston and holds a Bachelors degree with concentrations in both Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (now the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship).

While Viviana can quickly adapt to any industry, her focus is to provide wedding vendors & service providers the education, training and overall understanding of the South Asian client’s needs when it comes to planning their wedding.  She is interested in working with service providers to complete certifications and develop a culture of knowledge sharing within the industry by offering more value, higher quality of resources and a unique approach to the traditional educational experience.