A Scottish Flavor

Once you and your fiance have agreed to marry, you begin one of the busiest seasons of your life:  your wedding season.  Depending on your lifestyle, and how you both feel about wedding etiquette, you will be participating in some “extra-marital” parties before you meet at the alter on that all-important day.

Many couples whom we have assisted through their wedding season have chosen to tie together the various parties, dinners and showers with a central theme which will be fully realized during the wedding day events themselves.

Simple, but elegant

A theme can be as simple as a symbol you have chosen to represent your union.  For example, if you choose red roses for your symbol, tying together your wedding season events is as simple as making sure a bouquet of red roses is on the table for each event.

A more challenging theme might be a color grouping, or even a country of origin.  The following list of wedding season events and some light hearted examples of a unifying theme should give you some ideas:

Engagement Party

• Color Theme:  Fuchsia and Kiwi – use kiwi colored linens on the tables and fuchsia colored hanging baskets as decor.
• Country of Origin Theme – England:  hold high tea at 4PM.

Bridal Shower

• Color Theme:  use fuchsia and kiwi colored napkins; have the cake decorated with the theme colors; centerpieces (balloons or flowers) should reflect the fuchsia and kiwi.
• Country of Origin Theme – England:  hold the shower outdoors in a garden; serve blancmange instead of cake; play Beatles music in the background.
  

  A Taste of the Big Apple

Bridesmaids’ Luncheon

• Color Theme:  place a small gift at each bridesmaids’ place in a fuchsia gift bag with kiwi tissue paper; color coordinate the flowers in the centerpieces.
• Country of Origin Theme – England:  make your bridesmaids Queens for a day with a “royal treatment” at a day spa.  Or have an Elizabethan mini-banquet with Renaissance music; give each attendant two tickets to Shakespeare in the Park.

 Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties

• Color Theme:  ask all attendants to wear something fuchsia (dark pink) or kiwi (citrus green).
• Country of Origin Theme – England:  plan a pub crawl; hold the party at a fish and chips/brew pub; decorate the venue with Union Jacks.

Rehearsal Dinner

• Color Theme:  decorate liberally with fuchsia and kiwi
• Country of Origin Theme – England:  include English fare on the menu, such as Beef Wellington.

Wedding

• Now is the time to bring your theme to the entire event.  Decor, flowers, linens, wedding party attire, music, ceremony, reception and anything else that can be themed.

Your wedding planner can help with more theme ideas and suggestions.  Integrating your wedding season with a wonderful central theme is just one more way in which a professional planning service can be indispensable.

Ciao!

Carmella

Little Italy/Chinatown, New York City – December 2010

Mr. & Mrs. Claus

Who doesn’t love a parade?  Or Christmas?  The staff at Crown Jewel Events got up close and personal with Santa and his elves at the 4th Annual East Meets West Christmas Parade.

The day started off brisk.  The executive boards of Little Italy Merchants Association and Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation honored their local New York City Councilmember, Margaret Chin, as “Public Servent of the Year”.  Once the photo ops were done, the real fun began!

NYPD Emerald Society Marching Band

Co-Grand Marshals - John Liu and Valarie D'Elia

and winding down the streets of the the historic districts known as Little Italy and Chinatown.

Dragon dancer

Jenna Esposito performing on a float

who have served in our military!  It was a fun day for everyone as parade marchers handed out treats of candy canes and fortune cookies to those lined up along the parade route.

It was an honor and a privilege to be able to help put this wonderful event together and we are all looking forward to it being another fun day this year!

As a professional event planner, my number one tool is a schedule.  Of course, each event requires its own customized schedule which includes the vendors and other factors unique to the assignment at hand, but a detailed schedule for the day of the event is absolutely indispensable.

I make certain that each of the people involved on event day are provided with the same schedule well in advance so that they can coordinate their role accordingly.  For example, when planning the day of a corporate fundraiser, my scheduling will include the timing for cocktails, hors d’ouevres, the order of speakers, dinner service, entertainment, dessert and coffee service, an so on.  Each event participant – bartender, server, sound system technician – can check the schedule and easily do their part to make the event timing perfect.

Of course, there are always moments during any event that threaten to throw scheduling out the window.  Perhaps the keynote speaker develops a case of nerves and cancels on the spot; maybe the caterer discovers, at the last minute, that one of the dessert options has been forgotten.  In these emergency situations, having a professional planner on hand behind the scenes can literally save the day.  Your planner can do the juggling required to repair the damage, invisibly and effectively, while the event continues on schedule.  Believe me, a professional planner with any experience has learned to think on their feet!

Knowing when the candy buffet should come out is key to timing for a wedding.

Other timing considerations not necessarily covered by a written schedule might be an impromptu music request, the addition of an unexpected dignitary to the speakers’ roster, or even a guest’s spur-of-the-moment desire to make a toast.  With the assistance of your professional planner, any or all of these events can be smoothly incorporated into the seamless timing of the evening.

When you and your guests look back on their experience, they will remember an enjoyable evening.  If all went as planned, the mechanics of the event timing will be the farthest thing from anyone’s mind.  The most successful events are those where the organization is effectively invisible.

Ciao!

cocktail seating

In October 2009, I was fortunate enough to work with the team of James Tramondo Events on Mike and Allyson’s wedding.  Both ceremony and reception were held at Ramscale Studio, a loft art studio along the West Side Highway with views of both the New York and New Jersey skylines.

The bride decided on a Big Apple theme, as she and her husband were from California and her family was from Alaska.  There were beautiful autumn tones, apples and pictures of various New York City landmarks placed around the venue.

Loft Wedding Ceremony

Although the day started out with heavy rains, the bride and groom were able to say their vows on one of the patios just before sunset!  It turned out to be a beautiful evening.

cocktail reception

The wedding guests were treated to a wonderful buffet dinner and cocktails, catered by Scoozi Events, various flavored cupcakes, and each guest left with a goody bag filled with items of New York City.

We would like to thank Allyson and Mike for having us be a part of their very special day!

Let’s face it; when you sit down to plan the event of a lifetime or the meeting that’s going to land the big client, the last thing you want to bring up is the budget.  You might as well pull up a chair so you can be comfortable, because the budget is always present, looking over your shoulders, breathing an invisible pall of worry into the atmosphere above your head, always weighing heavy on your shoulders.

I have seen clients overspend extravagantly in order to turn their dreams of the perfect event into a once-in-a-lifetime reality.  But after the last guest has gone or the contract has been signed, they are left with an enormous debt.  What began as an event of a lifetime will follow them like the big bad wolf, demanding to be fed.

So my biggest secret I try to share with all my clients, whether they are planning a wedding, a party, or a business function, is to begin by making an accurate budget based on the money that is physically in hand, and stick to it.  Not very dreamy, you say? Perhaps not, but when the party is over, you will have only happy memories of the experience.

One of the reasons to hire an event planner is to stay on budget.  It may seem counter-intuitive to spend money in order to save it, but if you have ever been involved in orchestrating a big event, you know how difficult it can be to stay within a budget.

At our initial meeting, I recommend to my clients that they make a list of “needs” and “wants.”  The needs must be coordinated within the budget, while the wants can be covered as funding allows.  For example, under the needs column, you might list such items as venue and catering.  Under wants would fall such extras as a chocolate fountain or additional entertainers.

The guest list is another area where it is difficult to stay within budget.  An objective planner can help you scale down your list according to how many people you can afford to entertain at the wedding reception or corporate function.

You may try to save the fee you would pay for professional event planning by doing the legwork yourself.  But remember, an experienced professional has built a network of vendors over the years and is able to negotiate discounts on all the elements you need for a successful event.

Ciao!

Carmella

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