A planner resembles a tribute: I do whatever it takes to win the game and do it with flair, because all eyes are watching.

Meet District 5 Tribute - Keri Ketterer

Country: United States

Keri's Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/somethingblue13/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1238490186

Pinterest Board for District 5: http://pinterest.com/WedInstitute/district-5-catering-keri/

Industry: Catering

Final Mood Board for District 5

Interview with District 5 Tribute - Keri

In Suzanne Collins’ riveting tale of life in North America after its destruction, a powerful Capitol emerges as residents of its twelve outlying Districts individually struggle to survive under its bleak rule. Each year, the Capitol assembles its Gamemakers to create an elaborate arena filled with deadly trigger points and calls upon one girl and one boy from each of the twelve Districts to play in its nationally televised Hunger Games. As part of the ‘game’ The bored, wealthy people of the Capitol are entertained by the spectacle and Capitol-appointed prep teams create an image for each tribute by providing costumes, makeovers and talking points. Tributes who impress the Capitol viewers win "sponsors" — or wealthy fans, who will fund gifts of food and equipment at critical points in the Games.

Q1: The Wedding Games has no such sinister plot, instead they are our chance to celebrate creativity and your chance to impress your audience and win ‘favor’ and prizes, just as the contestants of the Hunger Games must.  The Heroine of the Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen.  She is a witty, survival-savvy girl who yearns to trust in a world that has shown her nothing of the sort.  In 25 words or less define your image for your voting public. A young, creative and vibrant event planner all about creating a meaningful, complete vision in a world of details.

Q2: What inspired you to enter the Wedding Games?  Are you an experienced designer looking to showcase your talents, or someone just starting out and wanting to make a name for yourself.  Maybe you are a Hunger Games fan.  Give us some insight into what has motivated you to enter the arena. Like many I am a Hunger Games fan, but that is not the reason why I entered the Wedding Games.  I am a young event coordinator who has had an amazing education, graduating with my BA in Hospitality with my concentration in Event Planning, and has had 6 years of outstanding work experience and internships with prominent event planners within the industry.  But there is always room to grow, more to learn, and more experience to be had.  And the best way to learn  by getting your feet wet.  What better way to expand knowledge through a creative, fun competition like this and the possibility of winning something that could expand your career?

Q3: In the Hunger Games, the ‘Gamemakers’ design and control The Hunger Games. They design the arena, the outfits, and a number of the deaths. From the tiniest detail to the biggest bloodbath, the ‘Gamemakers’ are in charge of entertaining the Capitol to the fullest.  Turning back to the much more wonderful world of Weddings and Events, who are the ‘Gamemakers’ who inspire you?  We want you to give us the names of 3 and tell us briefly what it is that inspires you about their work.

• Rafanelli Events has been a major inspiration to me, as it has been for so many event planners in the industry.  There is nothing that those event planners cannot do.  What makes that company so great is the "out of the box" creativity that the team brings to every single event.  Not one event is the same.  There are no "cookie cutter" model weddings.
• Pink Polka Dot Events run by an inspiring young entrepreneur named Jen is a Gamemaker in my book.  Jen is inspiring individual who understands what it means to provide quality.  She does very elegant, yet fun and preppy events with such a caring hand.  And her success inspires all young event planners who are finding it difficult to break out into the industry that they can do it with two things: vision and a lot of hard work.
• The blog StyleMePretty is another Gamemaker in my book.  Today when so many couples are turing to planning events on their own, they are going to blogs like StyleMePretty to find ideas from beautiful floral design, to unique color palettes, to incredible attire.  Isn't that why Pinterest has become such a phenomenon? Blogs like this one got the ball rolling for couples to find inspiration and post ideas.  These bloggers may not all be event planners, but they have changed the game.

Q4: Finally, what can we expect to see from you in your Wedding Games submission (we don’t want you to describe your submission here, but instead give us a teaser or a sense of how you are going to approach this design challenge). Every event should be meaningful and deliberant.  By the end of the challenge, I hope the fans and sponsors will say to themselves "she got it and the Hunger Games, she gave us what we were looking for."

Happy Wedding Games! May The Odds Be Ever in Your Favor.