Wedding and Event Planning Blog: September 2007

9/30/07

My Element Was Sky

This past summer NACE's Phoenix Chapter had the excellent idea do put together a table top competition and this years theme was focused on the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire & Sky. Like any planner, I love designing tablescapes so I jumped on the chance to enter. Immediately I was assigned my element of Sky. What's the first thing people think of when it comes to sky? Fluffy white clouds with a crisp blue sky. Well, not me, I wanted to surprise people and think outside of the expected. I chose to focus my table decor with what Arizona is known for; "Wicked Sunsets". First things first, I did some research on some of our more richest sunsets through photography and came up with this breathtaking picture below. This was to be the inspiration of Life Design Event Planning's table design.

Below are pictures detailing my final design of "Wicked Sunset".

All the stemware, flatware and chargers were provided by Tri-Rentals from their Unique Line. The particular stemware I used was called Amber Frost & I also used their Scallop chargers. The flatware I chose is called Antique Gold Swirl.

I wanted a fun way to incorporate our paper products so we used gold push pins with name tags displayed on a juicy pears as the place card and had custom square menus made with beaded embellishments all provided by The Invitation Lady. As you can see the menu card is propped up by a fold. We wanted to give it a three-dimensional look.

The floral was provided be Fiori Floral. I wanted the richness of purples, oranges, & golds to echo the vibrant colors of true Arizona sunsets. If you dim the lights we hid mini electric candle votives in the gold rock marbles and when it was dark streams of light would radiate out just like a sun trying to hold on to day light for just a bit longer. It was so beautiful.

The linen was by far my favorite part of this table design. BBJ helped us pull the whimsical strides of a sunset with different and absolutely non-traditional pinning and tying.

When walking through the displays at this competition I was taken back by the astounding creativity and thought that I had no chance with competing with the top florist, planners and designers in the Valley. Vendors had spent thousands and thousands on just one table where I had spent only a few hundred. Well, my mouth dropped when I was announced as the first place winner in my assigned element. It was a wonderful feeling to run to the stage for my "medal" (yes, we got metals) and award. It just reassured my feelings on the fact that you don't have to spend thousands to get that Wow Factor. It's all about design and being creative. Thanks Laurie for teaching me that lesson. :)

There was also a competition among cakes so I thought I would end this post with a few pictures of some outstanding cakes that were on display. I didn't know all of the cake designers by the pictures alone so if you are reading this and one of your cakes are posted I would be glad to give you the props you deserve by listing your company. Please feel free to email me.

Classic Cakes and Confections are an excellent resource for amazing cakes. They taste and look fantastic. Here is Ella and Neil struttin' their stuff next to their element cake. Great job guys!

Both cakes above are the element of water. The second one is from Honeymoon Sweets.

Element of Fire. So creative!

Element of Earth. Such detail!

Again, thanks to all that participated and Kudos to Jennifer from Phoenix Bride & Groom Magazine and Laurie from BBJ linen for planning this madness. It was so fun.

Can't wait to see what everyone does next year!

Special thanks to Harold of To Have & To Hold Photography for these beautiful pictures.

9/27/07

Shoot an Animated Music Video at your next Party

I saw this company online then in action in Miami and thought the whole idea would be super cute for a fundraiser, Bar or Bat Mizvah, Kids Party or any party for that matter. The "talent" is slipped in a green screen and is super imposed to be real life bobble heads in their very own dance video. People were lined out the door to do this and it was hilarious to watch. Let me know what you think! Company is called "Dance Heads"

9/25/07

Put the Fun back into Fundraising!

I had the opportunity to plan another fundraiser for the Mesa Family YMCA. This year's theme was; Showcase Showdown, A Game Night Extravaganza! We recreated game shows with the guests as the contestants and let me tell you it was hilarious! We had a tiny budget so we utilized volunteers to help decorate but over all I think it turned out great and people had loads of fun. To top it off we raised a lot of money for the Mesa Family YMCA. Here are a few shots I have to share.

Thanks to Ginia at YKnot Party Rentals for helping us with the cheesy game show staging and gold mylar. It was everywhere! It was so Price is Right!

The centerpieces were each themed after a game board. The top one was a "Junior Scrabble", middle was "The Hulk Game Board", and the lower one was "Sorry". Notice that she even made coordinating napkin rings with the games pieces. They turned out beautiful and were done by one of The Y's Volunteers and Sponsors, Mrs. Patti Barna.

A few more examples her her lovely work pictured above.

We had a great auction with items such as a Helicopter Ride to Gwen Stefani Tickets and our volunteers worked diligently to pull all the pieces together.

A great idea and fundraiser is to do a Live Dessert Auction at your next fundraiser. It's crazy that people pay several hundred dollars or more when it comes to a sweet tooth. It was a big hit!

A few of our supporters and guests.

Thanks again to all that came and supported the event. If you are interested in donating your time next year to be on the planning committee shoot me an email. It's for a great cause!

9/18/07

Event Scents really sets the mood

While at the South Beach Convention I attended last month I came across a new upcoming and fresh idea within the event industry. Event Scents! Let me explain.

At most events you engage all five senses: touch, taste, hear, see and smell.

Touch- You have an amazing dress, your favors are adorable and you hug all of your happy guests.

Hear- The guest whisper about how beautiful you look, the musical notes of your first dance or the "dinging" of the glasses for you both to kiss.

Taste- The filet is so rich and flavorful, the champagne is so bubbly and the cake is as most as you dreamed it would be.

See- The tears of your Dad as he walks you down the aisle, He sees you for the first time, your guests see you kiss as Husband and Wife.

Smell- The chicken.....ugh.....your bouquet.....what else???

There is something else! Companies such as ScentEvents is cashing in on another way to take your event to another level.

Here is a blurb from their site: Some of our more popular scents include White Gardenia (utilized recently at a southern wedding to enhance the aroma of live gardenia bushes), White Rose, Vanilla, Lavender and Orange Blossom continue to be perfect for wedding scenting occasions. For the cocktail hour we are serving scents that include Mojitos, Cosmopolitans, Vanilla Grapefruit and Key Lime martinis. For the reception, Chocolate and Wedding Cake scents are a must for any wedding celebration! Scenting a wedding is becoming as important an element as selecting the perfect bouquet."

Now sure how far this trend will take off but I think it would be invigorating to find out. If you have used this at an event let me know how it went. I would love to hear your feedback!

9/17/07

I Challenge You!

You don't really take anything seriously until it happens to you, well, it did, not to me directly but to someone very close to me; a family member I love very dearly has just been diagnosed with Cancer (due to privacy would rather not say whom). Both my Mother's Parents died of it and my dear uncle passed away just last year from it as well. When I met my Husband for the first time he had just begun the radiation process due to lung cancer and by the grace of God (yes, with a capital G!) he was healed. Now, that I hear this new news, I refuse to just stand here and do nothing. Even though I feel helpless, I am not. I will continue to pray and have faith that this family member will be healed like my husband was but in the mean time I must do something. A few months back I joined the Community Service Group within the Arizona ISES Phoenix Chapter and was given the challenge to help raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Well, I donated like a good committee member should, but now that I have heard this horrible news I can't help but be more aggressive. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be a part of the race so I chose to participate in the "Sleeping in for the Cure" portion to still be able to raise even more. I am asking you; my readers, my clients, other ISES members, Vendors, Bloggers alike, friends and family to help not only raise awareness about this awful disease but join me in fighting back. I challenge you to grab your plastic cards with the 16 numbers on it and donate to the cause. The first 10 that donate I will ship you out a wine charm (picture below) as a gift of thanks. Please click here to donate: Cicely's Fundraising Page. The race is October 14th, 2007 so please act fast.

Other bloggers that are reading this? Please, please spread the word by posting it to your blog as well. I am not looking for more traffic or any more company visibility. All I want is a cure....

Thank you all for your support and friendship.

9/13/07

My Wedding Film Hooks up with Fox 10

Many of you bloggin' readers know about a very cool trend now called "Trash the Dress". Well if you haven't heard about it check out Phoenix's own My Wedding Film & Darby Elizabeth Photography doing a segment about it on Fox 10. Great job Darby & Ande!

Touched by an RSVP.

As an option with my clients I can collect all of their guest RSVP's and update them on the status of their events attendance. My clients Kasey & Alan jumped at the chance to have that taken care of due to Kasey's busy schedule and Alan being an Officer in the United States Airforce. I recently opened up an RSVP from a Mr. & Mrs. Peele who gladly accepted the invitation to Alan & Kasey's wedding. Mr. Peele also was involved in The Arch of Sabres at the conclusion of their ceremony which is going to be such a breathtaking experience for so many. Today I received and news from Kasey that Mr. & Mrs. Peele were involved in a tragic accident and Mr. Peele was killed and Mrs. Peele left with some broken bones. Mr. Peele left behind a beautiful wife and three children which breaks my heart that this tragedy happened even more now that I know he left behind a family. I don't know The Peele's but what I do know is that they ARE a military family and Mr. Peele served as a Master Sargent in the United States Air Force. It makes me grateful to have such amazing men & women protect our country and fight for our Freedom. I pray for the Peele Family and I encourage you all to do the same. I support our troops. Thank you Kasey & Alan for allowing me to share this story with others.

9/7/07

South Beach for the Event Solutions Conference

Had the fantastic opportunity to fly out to Miami, Florida at attend the Event Solutions Conference. They had an amazing deal worked out with the South Beach Ritz Carlton so I jumped at the chance to stay there during my stay. Below is a picture of the view from my room. It was so beautiful there!

During my time there I had the chance to see some of the finest designers and event producers work and was inspired by their talents and drive for success. I will be blogging more about the event soon but thought I would give you a few teasers.