The Other Side of the Aisle

About the Book

Written by Ava Carroll Brown, author of “Where Is Your Mother?” You can’t help but come away with insights, helpful information, and be inspired when you read “The Other Side of the Aisle”. It is chalk full of 27 years of solid wedding knowledge, important lessons learned and shared with us from working with nearly 800 families. My friend and colleague Tobey Dodge has written a book that pulls on your heart strings with endearing stories while she gently instructs brides, grooms, their families and wedding industry pros through her story telling about her own family’s history, personal challenges, triumphs, and determination to make her way in the business world. I hope you will enjoy this book which is more like sitting down and listening to an old friend sharing life stories that will make you smile, shake your head in amazement, and realize that being a kind and imperfect human being can make it in business, find love the second time around, and build a business reputation that any of us would be proud to have.

About the Author

Tobey Dodge understands the wedding industry from inside out, like few others. She has helped nearly eight hundred families plan their weddings over the last twenty-seven years. She has guided brides and grooms through emotional tug-of-wars, trying to find balance between their expectations and their pocketbooks while striving to create the wedding of their dreams. Tobey shares stories about her life before becoming a wedding planner that sets the stage for her understanding of families and their cultural and ethnic diversity—from her professional teaching experience and foreign travels as a home-wares designer to her work in nonprofit endeavors for her community center. She applied her understanding and knowledge of other cultures as she assists her clients’ road to the altar. Her skill and aptitude for artfully solving wedding challenges and describing the circumstances facing many families in today’s world demonstrates her breath of knowledge and experience, creating the perfect foundation to instruct others through her stories on how to set priorities and handle the unexpected. Tobey ultimately provides the reader with a benchmark to gauge their own expectations, ward off problems before they present themselves, and realize even though a wedding is a reflection of one’s passion, self-expression, and dreams, it is also a team effort. Tobey has been a special event industry leader in Southern California for over two decades. Her professional affiliations include past codirector for the Association of Bridal Consultants, past board member and educational chairperson for the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the International Special Event Society, and past board member and former wish granter for OC/LA chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding, and she has trained and/or mentored over fifty aspiring wedding planners. She also holds the coveted designation of a CSEP (certified special event professional). Her weddings have appeared in many popular publications such as Inside Weddings, People, Celebrations, and US magazine. Her weddings have been documented on TV shows like “Wedding Stories” and “Platinum Weddings.”