Speaker 1: There's nothing worth and so on. Has worked so hard
Speaker 1: in a party and then is in the kitchen when
Speaker 1: people come. You know, once the party comes, just let
Speaker 1: go and enjoy it.
Speaker 2: I've known Darcy Miller since the early nineties, nineteen ninety
Speaker 2: two to be exact, when she started working at Martha
Speaker 2: Stewart Living. Darcy was right out of college answering the telephones.
Speaker 2: Both she and the brand Martha Stewart grew up together.
Speaker 2: Darcy was essential to the creation of Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine,
Speaker 2: where she set the tone for what would become one
Speaker 2: of the most beautiful weddings magazines ever. Speaking of weddings,
Speaker 2: I even introduced Darcy to her husband, and then we
Speaker 2: covered their wedding in the magazine and on our television program. Today,
Speaker 2: Darcy is at the helm of her own business, Darcy
Speaker 2: Miller Designs, which is all about celebrations and joining me
Speaker 2: here at New York City's New Stands Studios right at
Speaker 2: Rockefeller Center, we are going to talk about working together,
Speaker 2: being an entrepreneur, and of course, how to add a
Speaker 2: little celebration into everyday life. Darcy Miller, Welcome to my podcast.
Speaker 2: Thanks you Martha and it's so nice to have you here.
Speaker 2: I visited with Darcy last Friday. We see each other
Speaker 2: on and off all the time because we like each other.
Speaker 2: Tell me about your new business, because you left the
Speaker 2: editorial world and then decided to use your talents, which
Speaker 2: are amazing, to create a business called.
Speaker 1: Dartymowe Design de Sign And you know, I've been I
Speaker 1: feel lucky to be doing something that I really love,
Speaker 1: and so I launched Darcy Miller Designs, which we have
Speaker 1: a website and we do product and we give lots
Speaker 1: of ideas to help people celebrate every day. We have
Speaker 1: downloads on our website. But then, you know, after a
Speaker 1: couple of years, I really missed being involved in people's
Speaker 1: events like I did at Martha Stu at weddings. So
Speaker 1: I started a concierge business called Celebration Expert. Were somewhere
Speaker 1: between your fairy godmother, your creative director, and I help
Speaker 1: people with their events. I'm not their planner, I'm kind
Speaker 1: of their advisor.
Speaker 2: And you put everything together right because.
Speaker 1: I hear from you and people say to me, well,
Speaker 1: I don't want the whole package. Can you just tell
Speaker 1: me who to use as a florist or I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: because I really need to talk to you and hear you.
Speaker 1: And you know, so much about the weddings is again
Speaker 1: about the experience and having the right fit for what's
Speaker 1: right for you.
Speaker 2: And so you are like the matchmaker between the party
Speaker 2: giver and the people who actually make the party happen.
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean that's one part of it. And then
Speaker 1: we're also kind of help you with ideas, and I like,
Speaker 1: think of kind of your party shrink. I had one
Speaker 1: of my clients, the mother was having a little bit
Speaker 1: of a difficult time with the daughter, and you know,
Speaker 1: and part of it's just helping them through through it
Speaker 1: and then also giving them creative ideas. And you know,
Speaker 1: who makes the best chocolate cover oreos, who makes the
Speaker 1: best petty forwards? And so for me, that's fun helping
Speaker 1: make people a special day even more special and enjoyable.
Speaker 2: Darcy gets down to the nitty gritty and that's that's
Speaker 2: her talent. And and for anybody giving a party, if
Speaker 2: you don't get down to the nitty gritty, your party
Speaker 2: is going to be kind of wishy washy. Your parties
Speaker 2: are to the point and fabulous, No, they really are.
Speaker 2: And Darcy has a fantastic presentation to to encourage people
Speaker 2: to use your services. That's right.
Speaker 1: And we do have our books celebrate Everything, Oh yes,
Speaker 1: which is the book is filled with lots of details.
Speaker 1: And then Celebration Expert is the higher end custom program.
Speaker 2: That's and and this is this is an amazing grochure.
Speaker 2: Then go over with Darcy personally and understand what your
Speaker 2: party can be. Is there any other celebration Expert like this?
Speaker 2: I don't know of one.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many planners, great planners, and for me,
Speaker 1: I felt like that this business is a combination of
Speaker 1: everything I've done. It's not exactly what anyone else does.
Speaker 1: I'm not your planner, I'm not your event you know, designer.
Speaker 1: I'm your celebration expert.
Speaker 2: Darcy's worked with the best party designers, you know.
Speaker 1: I've worked a lot with David Stark, Lewis Miller. But
Speaker 1: one of the things I love about the industry is
Speaker 1: meeting so many different designers and there's always new people
Speaker 1: and getting to support the new people. And on our
Speaker 1: Instagram we do meet the blank and we will introduce
Speaker 1: people to a cookie person or a florist, and so
Speaker 1: that's a really fun.
Speaker 2: Part can you mention any of the big, big name
Speaker 2: clients that you've worked with.
Speaker 1: Oh, yes, yes, we did a Bloomingdale's shop, but we
Speaker 1: did a Valentine I love Valentine's Day because along with this,
Speaker 1: you know, service business, we give you content every day
Speaker 1: on our website and our Instagram. So we've done I'm
Speaker 1: a big Valentine's person, you know, you're a Halloween and
Speaker 1: Christmas on Valentine's Day and so we did a love
Speaker 1: shop and it had everything from a Naeste Later bag
Speaker 1: to all these great Levi's embroidery, and we have a
Speaker 1: We're coming We're about to do something else with Bloomingdale's
Speaker 1: which is coming up in the fall. I'm not allowed.
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'm allowed to say. And then we have
Speaker 1: a Chasing Paper collection with wall decals. So all those
Speaker 1: decals that you saw in my office, the frames and
Speaker 1: all the post it's, those are all sold through Chasing Paper.
Speaker 1: And then you know we've done. We did a Minion's
Speaker 1: collection for Paper Source, which was really fun and so
Speaker 1: kind of they're all different, and you know, we help
Speaker 1: Serena Williams with her baby shower and a couple other
Speaker 1: you know kind of VIP, but most importantly, I throw
Speaker 1: Martha Steart's seventieth birthday party.
Speaker 2: That's true. So what do you think it takes to
Speaker 2: create a brand that really sticks.
Speaker 1: It has to be authentic, and you have to have
Speaker 1: a passion. You know, it's something that you've been in
Speaker 1: my DNA, I've always done it, you know, had a party,
Speaker 1: favorite business at Penn when I was in high school.
Speaker 1: You have to have a passion. Also, you have to
Speaker 1: work hard and nothing, nothing is too small. And I
Speaker 1: think all the people at Martha we all felt that way.
Speaker 1: Nothing was too small to do and we would do anything,
Speaker 1: you know, to get what we needed to get. And
Speaker 1: you don't even think of it as work. If you
Speaker 1: find something that you love to do, I feel lucky
Speaker 1: because I feel like it's not work, it's fun. And
Speaker 1: sometimes we joke around about we're like, well, what how
Speaker 1: big should the confetti circle be on this? We're okay,
Speaker 1: we cannot be having this conversation listen to us. And
Speaker 1: I have friends Susan Domchek and Bob Vonderhide who are
Speaker 1: on colleges at Penn, and whenever I have dinner with them,
Speaker 1: like what's going on? And they'll say like where they
Speaker 1: are with the vaccine, and they'll be like, how's work
Speaker 1: with you? And I'm like, oh, we're, you know, gearing
Speaker 1: up for July fourth ideas, And you know, they remind
Speaker 1: me that helping people bring joy to life and celebrate memories.
Speaker 2: Helps with your business and help us your mental health.
Speaker 1: And you know, especially today with mental health, nothing as
Speaker 1: important as making people feel good and creating memories.
Speaker 2: What's your ultimate vision for your business?
Speaker 1: The name of my books that celebrate everything. And you know,
Speaker 1: this new business, Celebration Expert, is a more custom business,
Speaker 1: so that's kind of hard to scale. It all goes
Speaker 1: through me. You know, our website and our downloads is
Speaker 1: available to everyone. And that's nice that we have these
Speaker 1: two things that you can always print out for Mother's dan.
Speaker 1: I love seeing you know, Mother's Day people on Instagram
Speaker 1: printing out like easy, you know, last minute ideas. It's
Speaker 1: a nice balance to the bigger events.
Speaker 2: You helped with Jude's first birthday. Do you remember at
Speaker 2: Perry's Street the animals? Yes, you know we did. We
Speaker 2: did a stuffed animal party at Perry Street by Jean
Speaker 2: George and that was the most charming little birth but
Speaker 2: it was for all adults, and we photographed that for
Speaker 2: the and then all the birthday parties after that they
Speaker 2: I think we did seven Extravagance.
Speaker 1: That wanted stare it with the planet.
Speaker 2: Oh, that was so great. Yeah, there was the solar
Speaker 2: system party. Alexis made the cakes. You remember we were
Speaker 2: talking about how difficult those cakes had been to make
Speaker 2: the whole solar system out of cake, and that was
Speaker 2: that was fun. But but you had such an influence
Speaker 2: on all of those of those parties because you sort
Speaker 2: of taught us how how to do it studio. No no,
Speaker 2: I certainly did. Yes we did. But you've you've made
Speaker 2: you've you have made celebrations important and beautiful and fun
Speaker 2: and all encompassing. And that that is your talent, Darcy.
Speaker 2: You have an amazing talent.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Martha, and I'm of course incredibly grateful
Speaker 1: and lucky for my many many many years from you.
Speaker 1: As I said, I was going to go to maybe
Speaker 1: business school or art school, and I said, instead, I
Speaker 1: started at Martha Stewart and never made it to business
Speaker 1: school or art school because Martha, working at Martha Steart
Speaker 1: living was that and more. And not only everything we learned,
Speaker 1: but the people and the family that you created.
Speaker 2: I feel like you hardly need business school. You are
Speaker 2: an amazing entrepreneur and you teach all of us so
Speaker 2: many things. Darcy. How many years were you actually at
Speaker 2: Martha Stewart living a lot?
Speaker 1: I started in ninety two and until recently was you know,
Speaker 1: the editor at large. So many years, so many.
Speaker 2: Many years, and it was such an exciting career. I
Speaker 2: remember clearly the day that your parents walked down Lily
Speaker 2: Pond Lane. I had a house out in Easthampton, and
Speaker 2: the and the Miller's had a house not far from
Speaker 2: my house, and they came screamed through the gate, when
Speaker 2: are you going to hire our daughter, Darcy?
Speaker 1: When are you going to kind of stalk you guys
Speaker 1: to hire me?
Speaker 2: She was stalking in stock It was definitely pressuring me
Speaker 2: to hire Darcy Miller.
Speaker 1: You're lucky there was no email that I couldn't have been,
Speaker 1: you know, texting you and emailing you at the time.
Speaker 2: And then I said, I said to to our HR department,
Speaker 2: I said, let's hire this Darcy because she is so
Speaker 2: great and I know her parents and I know she'll
Speaker 2: do a good job. You were right out of University
Speaker 2: of Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: Yes, well, when I first graduated, I had a party
Speaker 1: favorite business when I was at in high school and
Speaker 1: in college, and my parents said, and I really wanted
Speaker 1: to go to art school. My parents said, you have
Speaker 1: to get a real job for a few years. And
Speaker 1: so I actually had two interviews. I interviewed with Anna
Speaker 1: Wintour to be her assistant, and I had this interview
Speaker 1: to be Gail's assistant.
Speaker 2: Gale Towie, our creative director's assistant. We have the issue,
Speaker 2: the first issue of Weddings. Where is that first issue
Speaker 2: with the buquet, the heart shaped bouquet on the cover,
Speaker 2: This beautiful bouquet that has about one hundred roses of
Speaker 2: pale shades of pink and apricott and pale yellow on
Speaker 2: the cover. And I was making the bouquet myself. I
Speaker 2: remember you were there at the studio, and I kept
Speaker 2: I kept making the bundles of roses that then were
Speaker 2: tied all together, and it turned out it was a
Speaker 2: heart shape. And everybody rolled their eyes, and I said, oh,
Speaker 2: I like this. And Darcy she was not exactly enamored
Speaker 2: of the heart shaped bouquet, nor was the photographer, nor
Speaker 2: was the other stylist. But I persevered and that became
Speaker 2: one of the iconic bouquets.
Speaker 1: Everyone watch to their floorished with that.
Speaker 2: They went with that picture, as.
Speaker 1: They did with all with the magazine, with many pictures.
Speaker 2: Oh everything, and all your ideas were reflected in Wedding
Speaker 2: after wedding after wedding all across the world. Actually, Darcy,
Speaker 2: I do remember this.
Speaker 1: I was twenty five and single and we had done
Speaker 1: one I had been working at Living and we did one,
Speaker 1: you know, test issue, and then Martha said, you know,
Speaker 1: we're going to change your toilet title from style editor
Speaker 1: to wedding editor. And I was like, I am twenty
Speaker 1: five in single, do not want to be the wedding editor.
Speaker 1: And you had said to me, you know, well give
Speaker 1: it a try, you'll it's all the stuff you love,
Speaker 1: you know, fashion and you know, flowers and jewelry and travel,
Speaker 1: and that is the great thing about the wedding business.
Speaker 1: Encompasses everything. And it's also I like people. So it
Speaker 1: combined me and relationship.
Speaker 2: Dartsy likes relationships, she likes putting people together, and you
Speaker 2: you were probably the best weddings editor ever ever, ever,
Speaker 2: And we went on to feature Darcy's own wedding in
Speaker 2: two thousand and one. Oh gosh, it was already two
Speaker 2: thousands when you.
Speaker 1: Got hurry, you know, I was too busy. You told
Speaker 1: me I wasn't allowed to get married because then I
Speaker 1: won't want to do the magazine. And then at some
Speaker 1: point you said I was getting old and I better
Speaker 1: get married.
Speaker 2: Yes, thanks mom, And she married one of my attorneys,
Speaker 2: Andy Nussbaum, who is this brilliant, really amusing, very very
Speaker 2: very smart young man, and happily ever after three daughters. Yeah,
Speaker 2: one is just at Harvard. I'm so proud of I'm
Speaker 2: proud of you and Andy, but I'm also very proud
Speaker 2: of the girls for growing up to be such lovely
Speaker 2: young women.
Speaker 1: Well, I will say it was just Mother's Day and
Speaker 1: my girls, you know, wrote me separate notes and both
Speaker 1: you know, said you're an inspiration and we look up
Speaker 1: to your hard work. And you know, when you're working
Speaker 1: as a mother, you're always having that juggle of oh
Speaker 1: I'm going to miss the school, plaguau, I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: on a shoot. I'm at a wedding Saturday night. So
Speaker 1: I you know, it is always a juggle. So I'm
Speaker 1: I made it through without you know, it's.
Speaker 2: A juggling act, and they're not mad at you at all.
Speaker 2: I think it's just incredible that that you've made, You've
Speaker 2: created an amazing home, amazing celebratory events constantly in your
Speaker 2: in your life, and you and your husband are just
Speaker 2: still the charming couple you've always been.
Speaker 1: Well and thanks to you, who you know, not only
Speaker 1: fixed me up but also convinced me to go out
Speaker 1: with him.
Speaker 2: I remember telling Jarcy that my daughter found him very
Speaker 2: found Andy very attractive. And when I said that, I
Speaker 2: think your attitude changed a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I remember you saying to me, even if you
Speaker 1: don't like him, just marry him. I'll be such a
Speaker 1: good father. And that is true. But although now I
Speaker 1: like him, but I love him, but he is a
Speaker 1: very good father. Well, the thing about Martha is having
Speaker 1: worked for her for one hundred years, you tend to
Speaker 1: always think you're right, and usually you are right. And
Speaker 1: so you know, when you told me that he was
Speaker 1: my husband, I'm like, oh, Martha, you don't know what
Speaker 1: you're talking about. But for a change, you or right.
Speaker 2: There you are. I was, I was a good fixer upper.
Speaker 1: I know I know you a fix up.
Speaker 2: So everyone listening is about twenty years late. No, you
Speaker 2: know whatever, I could love his love.
Speaker 1: If anyone has a guy, come to me first, because
Speaker 1: I will not only fix her up, but then I'll
Speaker 1: do the wedding.
Speaker 2: Darcy evolved the wedding's business that Martha's Stewart Living into
Speaker 2: a really beautiful, well read, very beloved magazine Martha's Stuart Weddings,
Speaker 2: Oh Me and a lot of other We did lots, well, yes,
Speaker 2: we did so many times. But we did beautiful books,
Speaker 2: We did beautiful calendars, beautiful TV, beautiful guides for the
Speaker 2: bride and groom. We did a lot and we actually,
Speaker 2: I think altogether we changed the face of American weddings.
Speaker 1: I like to think so. I mean, when we started
Speaker 1: the magazine in ninety five, weddings were a little more
Speaker 1: cookie cutter, and you know, we tried to add to
Speaker 1: the personalization and the color for everything, the palette and
Speaker 1: the details. And I think we were one of the
Speaker 1: only people who actually went to weddings and worked with
Speaker 1: couples to help them with the details.
Speaker 2: And I remember so, I remember pretty much every single
Speaker 2: weddings issue because not only were they very beautiful and visual,
Speaker 2: but also very very heartfelt in the way they covered
Speaker 2: real weddings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we weren't scared to kind of do different things.
Speaker 1: I remember one of the first issues, Gail had a friend,
Speaker 1: Jinny Edwards, who was wearing a green dress, which back
Speaker 1: then not a lot of people wore a green dress
Speaker 1: for their wedding, and so I went around to find
Speaker 1: you know, we made her green cake that Wendy Chromer did.
Speaker 1: And then it was when Kate Spade was just starting
Speaker 1: her business and I said to Katie, you know, I
Speaker 1: need a green purse for this wedding. And it was
Speaker 1: a chartreuse perse that Hannah made, this Guardina bouquet. And
Speaker 1: you know, at the time, there weren't a lot of
Speaker 1: Chartrouse weddings.
Speaker 2: Not at all, but your wedding. We focused on that
Speaker 2: wedding in our magazine because it was held at the
Speaker 2: iconic Four Seasons restaurant, which was one of the most
Speaker 2: It was one of the most beautiful weddings ever. I'm
Speaker 2: looking at the pictures of the dessert buffet. That's fabulous
Speaker 2: wedding cake and was that made at the Four Seasons.
Speaker 1: Wendy Chromer made it.
Speaker 2: Wendy made it. Oh my gosh, when.
Speaker 1: We were first going out. We went to Paris, and
Speaker 1: I love lady, and so I bought all these boxes
Speaker 1: and he thought I was crazy. And so the wedding
Speaker 1: cake looked like stack boxes. And that's really how we
Speaker 1: approach weddings with these really level of detail and personalization.
Speaker 1: So it was filled with you know, and people always
Speaker 1: say to me, oh my gosh, your wedding, you know,
Speaker 1: after having run, marked, stir at weddings for so long.
Speaker 1: But when I think about our wedding, it just felt
Speaker 1: really personal, unlike us, you know, and that's why it
Speaker 1: was special.
Speaker 2: No, the cake looks like a stack of pink Laugerie
Speaker 2: boxes right with chocolate embellishment, the croak and bush, the
Speaker 2: mounds of delicious desserts. It was spectacular. And this is
Speaker 2: what month was this?
Speaker 1: And we got married in May two thousand and one,
Speaker 1: and then that was the fall issue.
Speaker 2: Such a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: And you gave a very funny toast, I did you
Speaker 1: and Sharon gave a very ton somehow. You know, you
Speaker 1: knew that Andy knew all the prepositions in alphabetical order,
Speaker 1: so your toast was about us in prepositions.
Speaker 2: I love doing that. That was so much fun, and
Speaker 2: oh wow, did we have to get dressed up for
Speaker 2: this wedding.
Speaker 1: I remember taking you to Vera Wang. I mean I
Speaker 1: took my niece, you know, and then I took Martha,
Speaker 1: I took my mom. I took Martha for her dress,
Speaker 1: and you know.
Speaker 2: All that part her dress.
Speaker 1: Did she dress there too, It's all part of I
Speaker 1: don't remember.
Speaker 2: She got hers at sex remember that.
Speaker 1: You know. I always say, the wedding's not about that day,
Speaker 1: It's about the whole process. And you threw that beautiful
Speaker 1: engagement dinner and uh, it was such a you know,
Speaker 1: special time.
Speaker 2: At Jean George. That was so beautiful.
Speaker 1: Dinner.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, it was cast and then the rehearsal dinner.
Speaker 2: It was amazing. And it was the wedding that I
Speaker 2: never got to have for my own daughter because Alex
Speaker 2: has decided after we reserved the Four Seasons, I think
Speaker 2: it was prior to was that prior to your wedding? Yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: prior to Darcy's wedding. We were going to have that
Speaker 2: that wedding at the Four Seasons with Alexus and John Cuty,
Speaker 2: and then she decided she didn't want such a John
Speaker 2: George for lunch we did. We had those beautiful.
Speaker 1: Banners on the cakes, those beautiful cakes.
Speaker 2: We had beautiful, beautiful luncheon, but it was tiny and
Speaker 2: so I never, I never, in our family didn't get
Speaker 2: to celebrate a wedding like that.
Speaker 1: Chris and Tims was at your.
Speaker 2: House, Yes, it was.
Speaker 1: That was very beautiful and Sophie's remember we went to
Speaker 1: Las Vegas.
Speaker 2: YEP. That was so much fun. And all of these
Speaker 2: have been documented extensively by Darcy and her team to
Speaker 2: make beautiful memories of beautiful events, and that's what Darcy
Speaker 2: really does. You learned all this stuff as editor of
Speaker 2: the magazine. Do you remember any problems when you were
Speaker 2: when you were working on these weddings? What was the
Speaker 2: most what was the most difficult wedding you ever attended
Speaker 2: and photographed?
Speaker 1: I don't know if there was a difficult one. I mean,
Speaker 1: like anything you challenge, there's always issues and there's always
Speaker 1: you know, when I had son, who is you know,
Speaker 1: frustrated with the father in law, whatever it is, it's
Speaker 1: just all part of the process, you know, and you
Speaker 1: just can't lose sight of that that it's about something good,
Speaker 1: whether it's a you know, birthday, anniversary, wedding, but we
Speaker 1: had a few hiccups along the way. Any bridezillas, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't call them bridezillas. I just call them,
Speaker 1: you know, people who are focused on a perfect day
Speaker 1: and having challenges along the way.
Speaker 2: Where did the name for egg Zilla come from? Anyway,
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: It wasn't us, No, it was not mark Ster Weddings.
Speaker 1: But you know, we really had fun, and the team
Speaker 1: at Mark Strat Weddings had fun working on the real weddings.
Speaker 1: And all the weddings are so different. People say to
Speaker 1: me like, oh, what's your favorite one? I mean, duh,
Speaker 1: my wedding course, But after that, they're just all so different.
Speaker 1: I just remember Carolyn kelly wedding in that restaurant and
Speaker 1: it wasn't over the top, but it was so special.
Speaker 1: At the one at the bunch Aft House when Alison
Speaker 1: and JP got married. I don't know if you remember
Speaker 1: this or I ever knew this, but this was two
Speaker 1: our directors who were very specific and had very great
Speaker 1: taste and had given the cake baker pantone chip, a
Speaker 1: color chip to match the exact you know, color of
Speaker 1: the cake, and when it was being driven out, it
Speaker 1: was in the window of the car and half the
Speaker 1: car cake changed colors.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. I didn't hear that.
Speaker 1: I just remember the driver giving it to me and
Speaker 1: be like, oh my god, the cake is So we
Speaker 1: were like, oh, what do we do?
Speaker 2: Why did we change color?
Speaker 1: Do you from the sun? And so we ended up
Speaker 1: just flipping the cake and changing the other half. And
Speaker 1: I felt like by that time, and once she was married,
Speaker 1: it was the cake was coming out at night. I
Speaker 1: think we maybe first photographed the good side before before
Speaker 1: we switched it.
Speaker 2: These are real people's, real celebrations, and you can't be invasive,
Speaker 2: you can't be difficult. You have to really go with
Speaker 2: what they want and still end up with beautiful photographs.
Speaker 2: And you were the best at doing that. Nobody, nobody
Speaker 2: could get in your way.
Speaker 1: Oh you have to have that gene. I think to
Speaker 1: be in the wedding business that you love and you
Speaker 1: love the people. And I go to this conference called Engage,
Speaker 1: which is with the luxury wedding industry, and we all
Speaker 1: it's just a lot of people who love do it.
Speaker 1: You have to love it to be in it. And
Speaker 1: you know, I don't remember at the Levenson's wedding. It
Speaker 1: it poured rain and we last minute god umbrellas and
Speaker 1: you know, it's just you have to do it. And
Speaker 1: one of the things that I do is part of
Speaker 1: my business, is that you can hire me to be
Speaker 1: at your event that day with my phone and I
Speaker 1: take video and photo and then I make you a
Speaker 1: real after And for me, I just love helping people
Speaker 1: and trying to help people be relaxed, because a wedding
Speaker 1: means nothing thing if you don't enjoy it, you know,
Speaker 1: and trust me, I am not the most relaxed perts
Speaker 1: And I was giving Pantone chips myself to the pastry
Speaker 1: chef at the Four Seasons. But at some point you've
Speaker 1: got to let go.
Speaker 2: The wedding industry was very different when we started this magazine.
Speaker 2: You just you just alluded to that fact. What is
Speaker 2: it like now?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's totally different.
Speaker 2: It is. Well, first of all, destination weddings have become
Speaker 2: the most popular form of wedding.
Speaker 1: Yes, And I think that happened because when we started
Speaker 1: weddings they were cookie cutter and dresses were white, and
Speaker 1: you know, there were wedding flowers. And over the years
Speaker 1: they've become more personalized and also more individual so as
Speaker 1: people wanted to have a different experience, you know, the
Speaker 1: idea of going away with friends and family and spending
Speaker 1: a couple of days as opposed to a couple hours.
Speaker 1: We just saw there were not even so many designers.
Speaker 1: And over the years, I remember go to Monique Lili's
Speaker 1: for a show, Akuaras for a show. There's all different
Speaker 1: kinds of weddings. I don't if you remember we put
Speaker 1: cupcakes on the cover of the magazine Stack Cupcakes one cover,
Speaker 1: and Sylvia Weinstock said to me, I mean cupcakes are fine,
Speaker 1: but not for a wedding. I mean, now you people
Speaker 1: have pies for their cake. I mean you name it
Speaker 1: or don't have cake, have a deserved.
Speaker 2: That all evolved during your tenure as editor, because I
Speaker 2: remember what we mentioned. Wendy Kromer. Here's a Midwestern girl
Speaker 2: who taught self taught baker who created cake after cake
Speaker 2: after cake for our Weddings magazine and for our weddings books.
Speaker 2: Incredibly beautiful cakes, very professional and very tasty cakes. My
Speaker 2: whole idea of wedding cake is that you can eat
Speaker 2: it and it doesn't taste like cardboard.
Speaker 1: And there's so many incredible cakecakes. I mean, Ron Ben
Speaker 1: Israel has made a lot. One of my favorite parts
Speaker 1: of the magazine was finding new talents and finding new
Speaker 1: you know, and the team was always so great.
Speaker 2: War Fuller is a great grone dome of wedding cakes.
Speaker 2: She was so much fun. She was a good friend
Speaker 2: of yours.
Speaker 1: Yes, she was amazing. And again that's another person when
Speaker 1: you talk about people have a passion. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure you know how old she was, whether she
Speaker 1: was in her ages or when she was making cakes
Speaker 1: to the very end and just loved it. And as
Speaker 1: you as you mentioned before, brides are not they always
Speaker 1: and grooms are not always the easiest to deal with
Speaker 1: and my mother's but again you've got to love it
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm talking about the I mean, I started catering
Speaker 2: before I started the magazine, and those those catered weddings
Speaker 2: that I did were not exactly cookie cutter, but they
Speaker 2: were all they all followed a pattern. And now now
Speaker 2: weddings can be anywhere. They can be large and small,
Speaker 2: they can be colorful or old white, and they really
Speaker 2: have taken on a life of their own. What happened
Speaker 2: during COVID with weddings, you know, postponements or a combination.
Speaker 1: Some people did micro weddings and just had you know,
Speaker 1: close family outside, or just did something with literally the
Speaker 1: bride and groom and their parents and then decide to
Speaker 1: have a party later. But I have to say, what
Speaker 1: makes me happy is that people found like what the
Speaker 1: true meaning of a wedding is. As much as I
Speaker 1: love a dessert buffet, it's not about the desert cafe.
Speaker 1: It's about finding each other. And I think the people
Speaker 1: who didn't want to wait still did. And then there
Speaker 1: was a huge boom in weddings, you know, in the
Speaker 1: last year or so. It's which is so nice for
Speaker 1: the industry because there's so many talented photographers and bands
Speaker 1: and so for me, I love to hear when people
Speaker 1: their business is great, and because really the wedding business,
Speaker 1: of course, there's a lot of big companies who are
Speaker 1: part of it, but it is a lot of the
Speaker 1: experts and vendors are smaller. You know, mom and pop businesses,
Speaker 1: people who make the case or you know, the lighting companies,
Speaker 1: and there's just so many incredibly talented people.
Speaker 2: To see the evolution of your business. The wedding's business
Speaker 2: is extraordinary.
Speaker 1: The way we approach weddings, I think also has affected
Speaker 1: all types of celebrations. You know, what an anniversary party is,
Speaker 1: what a fiftieth birthday? I mean, what a birthday party is?
Speaker 1: You know, And I think maybe part of it was,
Speaker 1: you know, Instagram and but even you know when I
Speaker 1: did my daughter's first birthday and which was in Mark
Speaker 1: Start Kids and her name is Daisy, So I had
Speaker 1: a Daisy birthday and it wasn't about being fancy. It
Speaker 1: was about being really fun and personal. And that was
Speaker 1: at my mom's and I have all those cute pictures
Speaker 1: of you and you.
Speaker 2: Know, it was a party. It was around the pool.
Speaker 2: Oh that was that was how I know? That was
Speaker 2: Paul PAULA Yeah, Paul Paul came to the birthday party
Speaker 2: and he was so beautiful.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: But it's also for me, it's about all this like wedding,
Speaker 1: you know, birthday, it's really about creating memories and parties
Speaker 1: are about getting people together, people you love and you know,
Speaker 1: creating memories of celebrations.
Speaker 2: Well, how how important is photography to you in a celebration?
Speaker 1: Oh? I mean, come on, that's like my number one?
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: When I got married the first person. Before I would
Speaker 1: pick a place, I called, you know, John Dolan and
Speaker 1: and I'm still that way. We had to move Pippa's
Speaker 1: bot Mitz because of COVID, and before we picked a
Speaker 1: new date, I called Donna Newman. I said, just making
Speaker 1: sure you can do this date and for me as
Speaker 1: a scrap worker. And you know, I obviously love the pictures,
Speaker 1: but even if you're not, no matter what pictures you take.
Speaker 1: I mean I just went through before we did at
Speaker 1: this and was looking the other night. I'm going to
Speaker 1: make something for my Instagram of so many pictures when
Speaker 1: I look at all the pictures of you at the
Speaker 1: kid's birthday parties, and you know, it's as much as
Speaker 1: we all say, we're going to remember it. It's so
Speaker 1: nice and also nice to show your kids. I will say.
Speaker 1: My kids are always like no pictures, no pictures. But
Speaker 1: let me tell you, they're like, mom, do you have
Speaker 1: a picture of me and this person? Mom? Do you?
Speaker 1: And I what makes me really happy of one of
Speaker 1: the things I see in my kids, of things that
Speaker 1: they do not for me but for other people, and
Speaker 1: things that they make for my mother, And you know
Speaker 1: that they.
Speaker 2: Are anybody anybody have your particular style of drawing any
Speaker 2: of the girls. I don't know so much, but you
Speaker 2: and your mother had that style. My mother these are
Speaker 2: these are line drawings of like caricatures of friends and family.
Speaker 2: Darcy and her mother are perfection in terms of creating.
Speaker 2: I mean, with three lines you can make mind.
Speaker 1: I remember when I drew you. I threw a seventieth
Speaker 1: birthday for you, and so I drew all the Marthas,
Speaker 1: and as we know, there's a lot of Martha's. There's
Speaker 1: a television, the author, the gardener, the cook, I mean,
Speaker 1: the beak.
Speaker 2: They all were exactly accurate.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if you knew this, but my
Speaker 1: mom is my cloak for her natural handwriting is great,
Speaker 1: so like in the book and in places when you
Speaker 1: see the writing, it's my mom's.
Speaker 2: Oh I love it so much. The last party I
Speaker 2: went that you designed was your daughter, Hippas Mitz but Mitzvah.
Speaker 2: What a party that was. It was on Park Avenue
Speaker 2: in that that beautiful former Christian science church. The setting
Speaker 2: was incredible. All of us seated up. Well.
Speaker 1: Again, it's it's always for us about making a personal
Speaker 1: and making it, you know, like for us one. We
Speaker 1: always do these crazy toasts, and my husband and I
Speaker 1: sang a song. We are not singers in any way,
Speaker 1: shape or form.
Speaker 2: But you were coached. You were coached. Yes, you got
Speaker 2: the right lyrics.
Speaker 1: Artists help us and get friends for in the industry. Who.
Speaker 2: So, if you if you're thinking of having a party,
Speaker 2: Darcy is the kind of person that you want involved
Speaker 2: in making sure that that particular party is exactly what
Speaker 2: you want. I keep thinking, gosh, when will I have
Speaker 2: a party like that? And uh, maybe maybe jude sweet
Speaker 2: sixteen party. I'll wait four more years. Jude is now.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, we really need to focus on this. I
Speaker 1: need to fix you up so I can throw your
Speaker 1: engagement party.
Speaker 2: Or or my wedding. I think the wedding would probably
Speaker 2: be fabulous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean after that Sports illustrated. Oh, I mean
Speaker 1: come on knock your door.
Speaker 2: Well, let's hope they do. Gosh, you know, I need
Speaker 2: a garden or I need somebody who likes to garden.
Speaker 1: Okay, everyone who's listening, do you know a cute guy
Speaker 1: who likes to garden?
Speaker 2: Yeah, guy who likes to garden and uh and has
Speaker 2: uh has the It was energetic and curious like like
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 1: And respects a strong woman. I mean that's one of
Speaker 1: the things.
Speaker 2: That for me, she's matched me. I think her real
Speaker 2: business is as a yenta. Well, weddings season is coming up.
Speaker 1: Yes, well, it's always wedding season.
Speaker 3: Three.
Speaker 1: People say to me, you know you must be busy.
Speaker 1: It's June. I'm like, people are planning year round, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's not just wedding.
Speaker 2: So you're you know, how long does it take to
Speaker 2: actually plan a big, spectacular wedding.
Speaker 1: I mean, it takes as long as you have, you know,
Speaker 1: But I would say the you the longer you have,
Speaker 1: you can do it in a little bit more of
Speaker 1: a relaxed way and you can meet some different vendors
Speaker 1: and not be crazy. But it's not good to have
Speaker 1: too long.
Speaker 2: You have d I T versus d I Y, which
Speaker 2: I know is do it yourself. What is d I T?
Speaker 1: Well? D T stands for do it together. And as
Speaker 1: much as some of our stuff is to do it yourself,
Speaker 1: for me, all this creating parties, baking cakes, you know,
Speaker 1: having birthday parties, anniversary parties is about doing things together.
Speaker 1: And for me, when I think about my birthday parties,
Speaker 1: when I was little with my mom. I remember the parties,
Speaker 1: but I actually remember even more like doing it with
Speaker 1: my mom, making the invitation together and making you know,
Speaker 1: setting up the table. And so I always say, you know,
Speaker 1: saying what I was saying about the wedding. You have
Speaker 1: to enjoy the process. And you know, whether it's one
Speaker 1: memory that like you bake the cake every year with
Speaker 1: your kid the night before their birthday, or you and
Speaker 1: your friends, you know, are having a birthday for an
Speaker 1: office mate, you know, it's about kind of doing it
Speaker 1: together and enjoying the process.
Speaker 2: So the family has always been the focus of what
Speaker 2: you do. Are your daughters interested in joining your business?
Speaker 1: Do you think we'll see? I will say that I
Speaker 1: am super proud of all them. Ella during COVID started
Speaker 1: a tidie business and she said, oh, I need a project,
Speaker 1: and decided to donate all the money to pediatric cancer
Speaker 1: to the Sunrise Association, and it's called tidi for a
Speaker 1: Good Cause. And actually, now I'm thinking about it, she's
Speaker 1: gonna kill me because she made you a sweatshired for
Speaker 1: a long time and she said, oh, will you bring
Speaker 1: it to Martha, And I'm realizing that I didn't bring it,
Speaker 1: so I have to get that for you. But I'm
Speaker 1: really impressed because she has stuck to it and she's
Speaker 1: working there this summer. And when I see that, first
Speaker 1: of all, the fact that she has stuck to it,
Speaker 1: that she organized it. She started a website and an
Speaker 1: Instagram you follow. It's called Tadi for a good cause,
Speaker 1: and she wanted a time when she gets in order.
Speaker 1: She titi A. Our bathroom has the evidence of it.
Speaker 1: But you know what, I don't even care. As someone
Speaker 1: who likes things neat, I'm like so happy to see
Speaker 1: those danes. So you know that entrepreneurial spirit. There's always
Speaker 1: a little bit of that juggle of working mother and
Speaker 1: feeling the guilt if you're missing stuff. But when I
Speaker 1: see her doing things like that, it makes me super proud.
Speaker 2: How can one spice up a last minute celebration, Just.
Speaker 1: Whoever the celebration is for, just think about what they love.
Speaker 1: We did a birthday for my friend Nancy Ducks, her husband,
Speaker 1: and ordered He has a go tea that he's known for,
Speaker 1: and we ordered go tees for everyone. Oh, John, you
Speaker 1: know it's amazing what you can get on Amazon, Etsy,
Speaker 1: or you can make yourself and it was really fun
Speaker 1: that everyone held it up when they were singing happy.
Speaker 2: That you hold in front of your face.
Speaker 1: That's and then I ordered some the go teas for
Speaker 1: the kids when they were doing their toast. It was
Speaker 1: just like one of the super personal things. It was
Speaker 1: really funny.
Speaker 2: What should every celebration include or what should every celebration
Speaker 2: not miss?
Speaker 1: Every celebration should include a toast, because that's what it's
Speaker 1: about being together. Whether you have just your family or
Speaker 1: three hundred of your friends, just make sure to express
Speaker 1: your love and gratitude.
Speaker 2: Toasts are hard to write. Sometimes they're very hard to write.
Speaker 2: Are there any resources for telling us how to write
Speaker 2: a toast? Yes?
Speaker 1: There are. Actually, those are some of the resources I
Speaker 1: give our clients. There are people in the business who
Speaker 1: help people write toasts. I don't even remember Susie Flax,
Speaker 1: who used to work with us. These people aren't about
Speaker 1: writing the toast for you. They're helping you get your
Speaker 1: voice out.
Speaker 2: So people are doing kind of odd parties nowadays. They're
Speaker 2: doing gender reveal parties, they're doing oh that's not even odd,
Speaker 2: celebration of life parties. Yes, it seems like celebrating is
Speaker 2: such a big thing. Have you done any of these parties.
Speaker 3: Celebrate anything and everything. I mean, the name of the
Speaker 3: book is celebrate everything. It should be celebrate anything and
Speaker 3: everything because at the end of the day, whether it's
Speaker 3: a wedding, a gender reveal, or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: You know, I give someone this art. Client's a crazy
Speaker 1: questionnaire that asks us everything about you, and then we
Speaker 1: approach it by making the.
Speaker 2: Day like that.
Speaker 1: There's nothing that you can't celebrate, you know. And again,
Speaker 1: I feel like the one thing I say to people
Speaker 1: is don't worry about what other people do, and don't
Speaker 1: worry about what you should do, work could do. If
Speaker 1: you don't like cake, you don't need cake, you know,
Speaker 1: just do what you want to do. But also think
Speaker 1: about your guests. And actually that's one thing I tell
Speaker 1: you know, couples who are planning a wedding, even everyone
Speaker 1: says it's your day, it's your day, but you want
Speaker 1: your guests to be comfortable and think about them too.
Speaker 2: So are there any mistakes that you have to avoid
Speaker 2: when planning a celebration? What are those big mistakes that
Speaker 2: you could possibly make?
Speaker 1: You definitely want to make sure there's enough food, there's
Speaker 1: stuff to drink, if you're having a wedding and it's
Speaker 1: outdoors and it's hot, having drinks in the beginning, you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes you focus and also you know, we're about all
Speaker 1: the details and the personalization, but just enjoying it. And
Speaker 1: there's nothing worse than so on who's worked so hard
Speaker 1: at a party and then it's in the kitchen when
Speaker 1: people come. You know, once the party comes, just let
Speaker 1: go and enjoy it.
Speaker 2: So digital scrap books as opposed to physical scrap books,
Speaker 2: would you I write them both.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people well to each year
Speaker 1: do a family scrapbook a digital scrap book. I always
Speaker 1: also say do what's right for you. You can if
Speaker 1: you're not a you know, don't want to make that
Speaker 1: physical scrap book, throw in a box your the birthday
Speaker 1: invitation or a note. And you know, I'm actually very
Speaker 1: behind on my scrap books. I was really good in
Speaker 1: the beginning, especially when I had one child, right But
Speaker 1: there's so many great digital scrap book companies, so whatever
Speaker 1: it takes, just make them. And the nice thing about
Speaker 1: a digital scrap book is that you can also make multiples.
Speaker 1: And when my father passed away, I made a book
Speaker 1: of letters that he had written them and their wedding invitation,
Speaker 1: a bunch stuff about my in laws, and I made
Speaker 1: copies for all the grandchildren, So I definitely wouldn't not
Speaker 1: have made myself ate copies, you know, so they can
Speaker 1: be you know, greate the digital scrap books.
Speaker 2: So for more ideas and inspiration, pick up Darcy's book,
Speaker 2: Celebrate Everything, publisher HarperCollins. You can also bring your parties
Speaker 2: to life. Follow Darcy at Darcy Miller on Instagram and
Speaker 2: check out her website which is Darcymiller Designs dot com.
Speaker 2: So much fun to talk to you, Darcy, Martha