April 30, 2010
CONFUSING INFORMATION and the LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
I would like to explain a few conflicting pieces of information that brides don’t always understand. During the course of your planning, you will hear your different vendors mention that they will be there on the wedding day to make sure everything goes according to plan. Please know that is entirely different from having a Wedding Consultant there who will oversee EVERY vendor, ensuring that everything goes according to YOUR plans. While each of your vendors will undoubtedly want to make sure that you are pleased with their product and service, keep in mind that each vendor is concerned about what THEY are providing and not what each of the other vendors are providing. Also, each of your vendors do not typically don’t know which other vendors you have contracted with or what is included in their contract, so therefore they would not know if something is wrong, missing, etc.
A Wedding Guild or Director is usually a group of church volunteers that will be present for your wedding to make sure that the rules of the church are followed and to line up the wedding party and send you down the aisle – typically these volunteers will only arrive a short time before the ceremony, which means they are not there while you are getting ready to attend to any emergencies that might come up nor will they necessarily be concerned about making sure your flowers arrive and are correct, that your transportation is on time or that your photographer is on schedule. While you may be required to use the church or venue’s Wedding Director, just keep in mind that they do not necessarily know all of the other details of your wedding vendors and will not know if there are any errors in what has been provided or not provided as the case may be. This certainly is not to denigrate the job they perform – because they certainly have an important job and should receive respect for what they do, but in most cases, the scope of their job does not contain or provide all of the other details essential to making sure your wedding goes flawlessly.
Also, your reception venue will most likely have a Catering, Banquet or Event Manager overseeing your event, but once again, they usually do not have all of the details of each of the other vendors as it relates to what was included in their contract. With very few exceptions, the venue or catering Manager will not be in attendance for the entire duration of your event – leaving no one to take care of your personal items or gifts that need to be safely packed up. Many clients will say to me that their DJ will handle running the reception – while that is partially true, in the sense that they will (or should) keep the guests entertained and having fun on the dance floor, they are not necessarily equipped to handle the many other logistics that go along with making sure that the event runs smoothly and flawlessly. These are all details that a professional consultant would oversee for you in addition to a million other tasks.
What about having a friend or family member to assist with all of the details of the day?
This is one that I hear all of the time. Unless your friend, cousin or even your enemy is professionally trained in coordinating an event, there is no way that they can know every little detail that goes into making sure a wedding goes smoothly and flawlessly. In today’s society, it’s unfortunate, but many people who have “assisted” someone with their wedding automatically thinks they are now capable of providing their services to other brides, however, I warn you about this because even if they are able to handle the details, there will most likely be an emotional tie to that person and depending upon how things are carried out, your Best Friend could turn out to be your worst enemy if things don’t end up going as you have planned. So I ask you, is it worth taking the chance. PLUS – don’t you want your friends and family to be able to enjoy your wedding? If so, then they don’t need to be involved with overseeing the event – which would take them away from enjoying the party.
It is definitely in YOUR best interest to hire a professional consultant to handle the details of your special day, then you can rest assured to have someone on YOUR side to make sure that all of the details for planning your wedding are performed in a timely fashion and then that on the day of your wedding, everything goes smoothly and flawlessly and you can be the Special Guest that you should be and know that everything will go according to plan. Also, by hiring a reputable consultant early in the process, they will undoubtedly have recommendations of excellent vendors in the industry that can provide the products and services that you are in need of, and many times at a lesser price than you would be able to obtain for yourself.
Keep in mind though, that there is a huge difference between a true professional consultant and someone who does this as a hobby. There tends to be a large variance in fees being charged to clients for consultants, and many times since budget is such a major factor in selecting your vendors, clients will mistakenly select the “cheaper” consultant. I would warn you strongly against this, because many times as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. I recently had a bride that had selected one of those “budget” consultants only to realize that the consultant had no idea of how to actually plan and detail the event. As the wedding drew near, the bride realized that the “consultant” was not doing anything for her and so with only two weeks until her wedding, she terminated her contract with the other consultant and hired us. We were able to come in at the last-minute and save the day for this bride. She said to me afterwards that had she hired me from the beginning, she could have enjoyed the planning process instead of being so stressed all throughout. Unfortunately, this was a hard lesson learned.
So, whether you are in the beginning stages or almost finished with the planning of your event, give us a call today and give yourself the gift of knowing that your special day will be everything that you have dreamed of it being.
April 13, 2010
Mazol Tov Jack!!!
The W Hotel ~ Downtown was the setting for the Bar Mitzvah of Jack, and adorable kid with the most amazing eyes and manners. He had his closest 115 friends come and celebrate with him and CELEBRATE they did.
Jack is an avid Soccer player, so the theme was appropriately Soccer. Jack’s mom stayed busy creating all of the details such as the invitations, Guest Welcome bags, Guest Welcome Letter and the prototype of the Escort Cards which were used for the 90 adults in attendance. EventScapes designed the décor and created a stunning room.
The Soccer theme was carried out for both the Kid’s side of the room and the Adults, however, the adult side of the room had a more sophisticated centerpiece that incorporated movement and lights. The tables were adorned with the hotel’s black linens with a fabulous flat-sequined overlay provided by EventScapes. The mother of the honoree created the Escort Cards and Table numbers in the same theme colors.
The evening was filled with food and fun. The Kid’s had a scrumptious buffet consisting of mini-cheeseburgers, pizza, chicken nuggets, fries, macaroni cheese bites as well as other taste-tempting items while the adults feasted on a dual entrée of chicken and sea bass. Later the in the evening, it was time for something sweet, so the Kid’s had a dessert buffet consisting of brownies and delicious cookies while the adults had a fondue station with all types of dipping selections.
The kid’s beverage station was a popular place. A specialty drink entitled, Jack’s Kickin Punch, was a huge hit.
Vibe Entertainment kept the party going all night long and I must say the dance floor was always filled. The music was fun for kids as well as the adults and many times it was hard to tell who was having the most fun.
As with any Mitzvah, it came time for the celebratory Hora. This is always an exciting and energy filled event.
The biggest hit of the evening was the Candy Buffet. Kids and Adults alike had a good time with all of the different variety of candies. EventScapes also provided the candy station furniture and black and white flooring. My staff was kept busy trying to keep up with cleaning the floor of all of the candy that was dropped.
Button It Up provided a Flip Book station complete with all sorts of props. It was hard to tell who enjoyed this attraction the most – the kids or the adults.
As the guests exited the event, they were treated to Water Bottles in keeping with the Soccer theme.
Capturing all of the fun and excitement was Ric Mershon Photography who we ALWAYS love to work with. Please note, the photos provided here are NOT their work, so don’t judge. :o) It’s always so much fun for us to work with awesome vendors because we know that the client will be thrilled with the outcome of the event and that’s what it’s all about.
Blue Orchid Productions were filming the event. They also provided the video montage which was amazing. I can’t wait to see the finished video product.
This event was certainly a hit – or should I say kick! The JBEvents team did their always exceptional job and can chalk up another successful event for the scoreboard.
April 6, 2010
Kudos from a recent Bride
The common goal at Janice Blackmon Events is to provide exceptional service to every client. One of our recent brides sent a sweet note thanking us for our assistance with her wedding. Read her comments below. We LOVE receiving notes like this, because it confirms we are providing the level of service that clients deserve and should always have.
“I was so happy you could swoop in last minute and take the driver’s seat two weeks before my wedding. I initially hired a wedding planner with little experience, but a small price tag. We were on a budget and thought she would be good enough. She just did not deliver the level of service and control that you had. It was a hard lesson to learn, but from the moment I hired you, you knew all the right questions to ask. Even though you had less than 2 weeks to prepare for the wedding, it seemed like you were with me the whole way and you knew every detail. You were proactive about details that I didn’t even think about. I am so happy you were part of my wedding day instead of that other planner! I honestly don’t think it would have gone as well without you!”
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