March 24th, 2010
Here’s another event story from before the blog:
Three sisters wanted to throw a surprise birthday/anniversary party for their parents. Two of the sisters lived out of town; the third sister worked full time, had small children, and was going back to school, so she couldn’t do much planning. They needed someone to find a nice restaurant for the party, work with them to finalize the menu, arrange for decorations and set them up, and find a hotel for their guests. I worked with them on all these things, plus getting a birthday cake and finding another restaurant with a party room for brunch the next day. I was able to keep the costs under their budget and save them some headaches, as well. Their parents were beautifully surprised when they entered the restaurant’s party room to see all their friends and relatives from out of town there to celebrate with them.
Posted in Family Parties, Parties and Special Events | No Comments »
February 22nd, 2010
It's all about you.... Courtesy of sprungphoto.com.
I was most honored to receive a very positive review on Yelp that described me as, among other things, having a “servant’s heart.” At first, to be honest, I was not sure what kind of a compliment that was. After all, I am a professional and consider myself to be a manager.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that it is one of the highest compliments I could have received. My work is in a service industry, after all. My goal is to make magical things happen while remaining invisible, myself. My focus is on my clients and on their wishes. These are, I think, all the hallmarks of service. If that is what is in a servant’s heart, then I do fit the description.
I’m sure that I came by this ethic by working as a theatre stage manager for so many years. In the arts, the highest goal is to serve the artistic product. There is no room for ego, so I learned to think less of myself and more of the art. This has carried over into my practice as an events professional. It’s not about me. It is all about you. And I am very pleased by the feedback that tells me that I am achieving that goal.
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November 18th, 2009
No disappointments here! Photo by Magical Moments Photography.
How do you know which vendors are trustworthy? How can you be sure to hire people who will deliver? How do you avoid wedding scam artists? If you’re planning a party or a wedding, I am sure that these questions have crossed your mind.
Well, because of who I am, I will give you the self-promotional answer first and then some further thoughts: The easiest way to get trusted vendors is to hire an event planner who doesn’t take commissions from vendors and ask for her recommendations. Not only does a professional have to have good contacts, but also no vendor is going to take a chance by letting down a planner. Vendors rely on planners to recommend them to future clients, so they are less likely to let you down.
Not everyone can or needs to hire a professional planner, however. If you are hiring vendors on your own, here is how I find good ones. First, I ask around. Someone you know has the information you want. I found my favorite caterer via the recommendation of a friend of my mother-in-law. You never know who knows someone.
Then, always (and I do mean always) check references. Ask for the names and phone numbers or e-mail addresses of at least three recent clients. Don’t just get the information but also call or e-mail these people. They have agreed to be references so they won’t mind talking to you. Chances are, they are more than happy to tell you the good experiences they had with the vendor. Ask specific questions, such as:
- Did this person deliver on what they said they would do?
- Were they easy to work with?
- Did you have any difficulties with them?
- Do you think you got value for your money?
- Would you recommend this person?
You can also ask for a general description of the reference’s experience with the vendor. Almost any specific question you ask will probably give you some of the information you need.
Some people, I think, hesitate to ask for references, thinking somehow that it is a sign of a lack of trust. But when potential clients ask me for references, I am actually very glad. First, I know that my references will say good things about me. Second, it shows that the client has done her or his homework. Finally, I find that clients who ask for references end up trusting me a lot more. When they believe they can trust me, we work well together.
With a little time and effort, you can find trustworthy vendors who will make you happy with their work.
Posted in Family Parties, Parties and Special Events, Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »
November 2nd, 2009
I get a lot of questions from my clients about when to send out invitations. Here are a few guidelines to get you through this part of wedding or party planning:
You can send out save-the-date cards (or e-mails, or you can make phone calls) about six months in advance. If you have guests who might come from overseas or who have other situations that require more notice, you can alert them to the date a year in advance. Most people have trouble planning anything more than a year in advance, though, so if you tell people farther ahead than that, expect to remind them at about the 6 to 9 month mark.
Be prepared to put your invitations into the mail six to eight weeks before the event. Leave yourself ample time to address all the invitations if you are doing them yourself. If you are hiring a calligrapher to address them, be sure to ask him or her how much time is needed for the number of invitations you have. Then add a week, just to be on the safe side.
Your RSVP deadline should be about three weeks ahead of the wedding or party. (If you only plan to get the invitations into the mail six weeks ahead of the wedding date, you can get away with about 2 weeks for the RSVP date.) Your caterer will probably want a final head count between a week and two weeks ahead of the date, and you want to leave yourself enough time to call the people who have not responded by the deadline.
And there will be people who don’t respond. Be sure to leave yourself enough time to call them and just check in. You don’t have to remind them that they have been rude enough not to reply. Just ask them if they plan to be there (and what they plan to eat if you have asked people to tell you in advance). Don’t skip this step. You don’t want to have people show up if you haven’t planned to feed them.
Your spreadsheet is useful for making place cards, too. Photo courtesy of Artisan Events, Inc.
I find that the best way to keep track of the guest list is with a spreadsheet program. I like to have columns for name; address; save-the-date card sent; invitation sent; responded yes or no; and dish requested. The same sheet can also double as a gift tracker so you know what to thank people for and whether you have done so. And you can use it to help you make place cards.
These are only guidelines, of course. Special situations may require a different approach. But you can use them as a road map to get you started on this most important part of the process.
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