Local business lady Jo-Anne Brown of Celebrations will be under the spotlight for nine weeks as cameras film her every move for a new Travel Channel series focusing on her business and the Cayman Islands.
The Travel Channel reaches 77 million homes in the United States and its target audience is adults aged 25 to 54 years of age. The channel boasts one of the most affluent viewerships. So impressed was The Travel Channel with Ms Jo-Anne and Grand Cayman that the series, Destination Travel Planner, will focus its first six episodes (six hours of viewing) solely on Celebrations and Cayman.
An emotional Ms Jo-Anne told a press briefing Monday morning, ‘This is an incredible opportunity for the island. I’m still trying to come to terms with it.’
She added, ‘I’m absolutely humbled to have been chosen for this’.
Pointing out that this is an incredible opportunity to showcase the exceptional world-class work and talent to be found in the Cayman Islands, she said, ‘It also comes at a time when the exposure of the islands following Ivan is very much needed’.
Mr. Billy Burgess, producer/director explained that different factors contributed to their decision to focus on Ms Jo-Anne and Grand Cayman: it is a family business; the island itself has character (with friendly people and a real sense of community); real attention to detail is given by Celebrations at each wedding and special event.
Destination Wedding Planner is a brand new series. It will follow Ms Jo-Anne and her team of event planners and designers and is the longest programme ever done by this channel featuring one area of the world.
The events are planned at a variety of local venues exposing the Cayman Islands as the dramatic stage for picture-perfect weddings. The first wedding is carded for The Wharf but will include a ride to Stingray City on a speedboat from Red Sail Sports and a visit to the Marriott. As filming continues, there will be widespread opportunities for exposure of all businesses in any way connected with the weddings being carried out by Celebrations. The episodes will be airing in early February 2006.
One of the reasons Ms Jo-Anne was so surprised she was selected for the programme was because the business has still not fully recovered from Hurricane Ivan, and is right now moving back into its offices.
In early May Mr. Burgess did a casting scout and Ms Jo-Anne and the Cayman Islands were picked from a large selection of other event planners in the Caribbean. The search was narrowed down to various planners in Jamaica, Bermuda and Cayman.
‘I was blown away when they called me to say I was chosen at all and I couldn’t believe that we were to be the focus of the entire six hours,’ she said.
Now Ms Jo-Anne’s wish is that the entire country will embrace this opportunity following Hurricane Ivan and the country’s quest to be known as a place for destination weddings.
According to Supervising Producer Aliyah Silverstein, the production team (14 members) has been received with such warmth in the Cayman Islands that it is clear they have made the right choice. ‘We’ve been here a week and already we feel like we’ve run into people we know,’ she said.
The reality show will focus not only on special events being staged by Celebrations, but what life is like here, both for residents and tourists and coverage will also be given to aspects of the culture and community life, such as upcoming Pirates Week celebrations.
‘I’m thrilled this is happening. It fits in perfectly with our wedding strategy on the island,’ said Public Relations Officer, Department of Tourism, Jo Gammage. ‘Although we were not part of the selection process, we’re helping to make it happen in terms of work permits,’ she said.
Destination Weddings are growing in Cayman and while the Department of Tourism is pushing for the growth of this sector, Ms Jo-Anne said she is not sure the rest of the island realises the huge potential this area of the wedding market has. With an average wedding party of 88 and a stay of at least four days, it is not unusual for guests of the original wedding to return for their own wedding, and another popular trend is for the couple to return for anniversaries.
‘All the way around, it’s very positive for the island,’ she said.
‘I’m graced with an unbelievable, incredible team. We’ll make Cayman proud. We feel like ambassadors for Cayman,’ she said.
Brides from across the US will be interviewed to describe their expectations and their reactions to their weddings and the experience of having a destination wedding in the Cayman Islands. Local brides will also share their experience of having Celebrations execute their weddings.
Rebecca Grinnals, strategic consultant to the Department of Tourism for the wedding and honeymoon market said, ‘This is an amazing opportunity for us to showcase how fabulous destination weddings in the Cayman Islands can be, and we are confident that the show will translate into increased business in this segment’.
Perfectionist planner, Ms Jo-Anne has been in the wedding business since 1988. While she handles the creative end of things, her eldest daughter Amanda concentrates on the managerial side. Jo-Anne’s husband is the owner of the business centre where Celebrations is located, and their youngest daughter works in accounting. Her son-in-law is even the company’s computer technician.
In all the company has 35 employees and handles all elements of the day including flowers, cakes, balloon design, prop building and tuxedo rental.
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