Top 9 Place Card Displays

Traditional display

Wine inspired - garden infused

Vintage inspired using wine corks

Using your color scheme - elegant

Candy & flower inspired

Garden and vintage inspired

Elegantly

Color scheme, elegantly arranged

Vintage-ly framed

Top 7 wedding Photo Poses

Soft and romantic is here to stay

Drama is important

Some fun pics - necessity

Some pic's of just the two of you - priceless

Just before the first look - make sure to have a few quiet moments.

Unique and artsy.

Show your style

Events and Weddings of A Memory Lane Event

Check out our latest video.

Events and Weddings of A Memory Lane Event..

Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

Informal interview of Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

Weddings with Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

What inspired or motivated you to become an Wedding/Event Planner?  I started in the industry at the age of 16 and just feel in love.  It’s like this industry was made for me.   I’m a night owl and a majority of events and weddings happen at night and on the weekend with the clean-up ending around 2:30 in the morning.  I love how every event and wedding is different even though they contain the same activities. Why? Each client has a different vision and I strive to match the vision and exceed their expectations. 

Tell us the day in the life of a Wedding/Event Planner?  Every day in the life of a Wedding/Event Planner is different, you can start the day with researching a destination for a client and acquiring pricing, by lunch loading vehicles for an event, for the average wedding, it can be up to a full sized U-Haul, and then racing to an event with a team of 10 people to set up. After another 6 hours of running around setting up and getting half way through the event, the bride’s bustle breaks and I’ll be sewing the bustle back onto the gown so that she doesn’t ruin the gown over the next couple hours. Four hours later, we’ll be re-loading the vehicles and driving home.

Why should someone hire an event or wedding planner?  Event planners know in advance when vendors will be having sales, when there will be businesses in the industry going out of business so they can purchase supplies for their clients at discounted prices, where to locate the professionals to assist with their clients vision that have the unique skills set desired, how to reach the professionals that will really make their clients party the one to talk about for the rest of the year.  How to ease their clients fears, and handles all of the details for several events at a time. Event planners are responsible for payments to all of the vendors, counselling clients, curving arguments between families, and overall making sure that their clients are tickled pink with the results on the day of their wedding or event.

Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

What are your favourite events to organize?  I love events where I can use my creativity, that is a big reason clients use us.  They desire something that hasn’t been seen before.  Kids parties, sweet six-teen parties, anniversary theme parties and weddings are the most fun for me.  All of my initial training I received while working at the Country Club, therefore I specialize in high-end, unique and completely customized special occasions.  

What special skills do you need to be a successful wedding/event planner?  A successful wedding/event planner must be super organized, very creative, personable, and bring a level of fun to a special occasion while being professional and able to run a team of about 25 people while working with outside vendors and a location, while understanding what each companies job is and not stepping on the toes of those involved with the event.  

What are the advantages of working for yourself? Being able to set your own hours and being able to meet the demands of clients.

What are the disadvantages of working for yourself? Having to do everything yourself. Be the CEO, the website designer, marketing, sales team, and the behind the scenes staff to set up, take down and attend marketing events…. Sometimes it can be overwhelming.  Life was easier when working at the Country Club and having only the clients and the event to be in charge of.  Going out on your own adds 4 more full time jobs to your daily job description.

What has been your greatest challenge so far?  My biggest challenge has been trying to be all things within the business.  It’s hard to be the marketing department, the sales department, and be able to handle all of my client’s needs simultaneously.  Many times, marketing and sales suffers because I will not allow client’s needs to not be meet.

What are your greatest achievements?  With a majority of events we and weddings we do, we are brought in to increase a clients status in the social scene.  Our clients want a professional, fun, elegant, unique occasion that will be remembered as a show stopper for years to come, instantly giving our clients a “rock star” status in their social circle.  So far we have been able to obtain that mark every time.

How do you ensure work life balance?  I have no life/ work balance.  It is all work, all of the time.  I try to give myself 1 or 2 days a month where I do nothing to recharge. 

Weddings with A Memory Lane Event

Who are your customers?  We work with the elite, socialites, country club members, celebrities, corporate clients, families and brides primarily in Colorado, the U.S and in international destinations.

What advice would you give to someone starting a business?  Of course it depends upon the business that you want to start.  The best advice is, however, whatever your endeavor, make sure you love it.  It will be a ton of work, if you don’t love it, you will burn out fast.

Name one thing that you could not live without in your business. I could not live without my i-phone and my team of interns to rely on to assist with getting everything done.

What is your favorite or most popular product/service? My most favorite product or service depends upon on what it is used for. 

What is your ultimate goal - and has this changed from when you started?  In 25 years, my ultimate goal has never changed; it’s that my clients come first and their vision is realized.

Tell Us Your Story of Love - Don Hakicek Photography

One of our favorite photographers is Don Hakicek,

See his contest here

St. Patty's Day Dessert

 

Looking for the perfect dessert to go with your green beer at this year's St. Patrick's Day Party? These cupcakes have Guinness chocolate cake, Irish whiskey ganache filling and Bailey's Irish cream frosting. Don't they look delicious?

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey
For the Baileys Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

Directions:

1. To Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.
3. To Make the Whiskey Ganache Filling: Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.
4. To Fill the Cupcakes: Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a large decorating tip), cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping back with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
5. To Make the Baileys Frosting: Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.
6. Using your favorite decorating tip, or an offset spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

(Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Cathedral Wedding

Weddings with Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

Downtown Cathedral Wedding

Recently we have been revisiting the weddings from over the past years, and there always seems to be one that jumps out and reminds us what are focus as a company is. That wedding is Kristen and Franco’s, from the get go they wanted high end glamour, in a luxurious and elegant manor; all while keeping the reception fun and entertaining.

Colorado weddings with Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

With the stunning backdrop of the cathedral in downtown Denver, it set the day off with the perfect romantic feel. Everyone in the room could feel the love and commitment the two had for each other.

 

Kristen and Franco chose a purple motif for their special day. Keeping with that color scheme the bridesmaids dresses were a beautiful, rich, plum color; as were the accents in their floral bouquets. Searching for that excitement and energetic reception LED lights were brought in to capture the ambiance of the day; highlighting the entire hall in a purple blanket of lights

Top 5 Reasons you want a Professional Event & Wedding Planner

Top 5 reasons you want a professional event and wedding planner

A Memory Lane Event's happy couples

There’s ton’s of reasons you would want a professional planner and not a hobbyist, or a weekend warrior wedding planner.  We’re just going to cover the main one’s.  I strongly believe that more information is far better than not enough, however at the same time, there is such a thing as too much info and overwhelmed with the amount of it.  

Here’s the biggest reasons you want a full fledged wedding professional.

Professionalism and experience.

1.        The special occasion planner that lives, breathes, sleeps and eats all things special occasions from the sweet and simply stated to the elaborate has their thumb in the pulse of industry.  They are going to know the best of the best, the best quality, steals and deals for you and when the best time to purchase items for your event is.  Not just will refer you to the best of the best wedding professionals, but actually knows the professionals who fit best with your personality, style and most of all in your budget.  In addition to all of this, they have the experience you need in order to successfully assist you in planning your wedding and then coordinating on the day of all while making sure its yours and your finances style that shines through on the day of the wedding or special occasion.  This planner is cost you more, however when you think of it in terms of schooling or experience it not only makes sense but is a given.  Such as you wouldn’t pick a doctor or dentist because he’s the least expensive and has only been out of school for a couple months, right.  Why would you do that to your wedding.  It’s the biggest day of your life next to having your little ones.  She’s not going to refer you to use other professionals, that may or may not show up, where you have a 50/50 chance that the work will arrive the way you envisioned it nor vendors who don’t have a proven track record.

On the flip side, the weekend warrior wedding planner is only going to know their little group.  The other wedding vendors they know may or may not be the best of the best and many times aren’t tried and true.  In addition, they only have their hand in the industry upon occasion so their experience level is lower.  They may not be prepared for any chaos that may occur on your wedding day.  Usually they don’t think to check your orders or verify vendors before hand so vendors may be showing up at the wrong location, late or not at all.  Things may slip through the cracks because your planner doesn’t think to check and verify that they’ve been completed.  Items that you thought that they handled you may find out at the last minute, not only weren’t handled but she doesn’t even do them.

Agreement so there’s no surprises.

2.        The professional wedding planner is going to have an agreement that spells out her responsibilities in detail.  In addition, that agreement will spell out in detail what, if anything depending upon your package choices are your responsibility to handle.  The agreement isn’t there to scare you, but protect both yourself and the wedding professional.

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard from a new wedding vendor that they don’t have an agreement for their brides to review and sign but don’t plan to have one, because isn’t everybody trusting or that way, I can change my responsibilities in the middle of the wedding and not be held accountable.  What???!!?.  Run, seriously, run.

Deals and Steals

3.        We touched on this in number 1, but here it is in more detail.  The wedding professional, has world wide connections, gets the first word on sales, purchases in bulk so items cost less then getting it on your own, has access to different quality of goods, if a wedding or event business is going out of business, many times they get a heads up and can purchase items at a steal for their clients.  In addition, because the wedding professional has been such a valued customer over time, that same business sometimes gives them even better deals.  The wedding professional will have “assistants” who can spend the time to research and make sure that the absolute best price is being achieved for their clients.  If you want high quality or low quality products they know where to find them for you.

Inexperienced wedding planners and vendors, aren’t going to have the same pull just due to sheer volume, and having their name and company out long enough for people to know who they are.  As a result, the client pays more. 

A Memory Lane Event, Denver Brides II

Quality of Service and Time Spent

4.        With the wedding professional with years of experience you have far more tips and tricks that the professional can put in practice for you.  Have knowledge of space requirements for you, your guests, the bar, buffet vrs. seating, how many restrooms should be the minimum for your guest count, when invites and such should be mailed.  She’s not stingy with the tips she passes onto you.  Has the knowledge and foresight to see where there could be issues and quickly swoops in to make those adjustments so it’s not noticed.  The professional knows approximately how long and how many people are required to install your chuppa or décor design, the set up of the room and has relationships with the location and the professionals to put it all together.  She’ll go above and beyond to ensure that her clients are taken care of.  Due to the amount of experience chances are she’s worked at your location.  Her duties will be outlined and she’ll make sure that you truly understand what all of those duties are, ultimately reducing your stress, removing the frustration, saving you money and most importantly saving you time.  She’ll have ton’s of pictures and a good planner will have pictures from several different price ranges so you can see all of the possibilities and not just the best of the best and super high end pic’s of events and weddings but some that may not be as fab.  The professional, knows she’s already had her wedding and don’t impose her ideas on you.  She’s there to make your vision a reality not to recreate her wedding day.  She’s there to assist you, guide you in making decisions so when you look back on your wedding album it’s not dated to an era, to listen to you and be a sounding board.  Absolutely not take over.  An experienced planner has all of these connections at her finger tips and therefore saves you and your pocket book ton’s of time and extra expense of searching for it.  She knows the costly traps that new brides and planners get stuck in and she’ll steer you away from them.

The weekend warrior, not having the experience rarely can do the same.  She may go above and beyond to the best of her abilities, however due to lack of experience that may not be enough to get all of the above handled.  She’ll have very few pic’s for you to see and review, some suggestions, but probably won’t just roll off her tongue, won’t have any idea if the ideas she’s throwing out would possibly be able to fit in your budget.  In some cases, I’ve heard where the brand new planner, or weekend warrior planner – takes over the brides wedding or is overbearing like having a second or third mother.  OMG, who wants that?

A Memory Lane Event brides

Control and who makes decisions

First you want a well rounded planner, one who knows and understands design, décor and floral, someone who will gently guide you and finally not interject their own opinions or makes you feel pressured.  You should always have the final word and decision making.  I personally have a few clients that leave a majority of decisions up to me, once they’ve told me the budget, theme and goal, however these folks have been clients of mine for literally years and know that I fully understand their vision and trust I’ll do it exactly as they’ve envisioned and throw a couple extra wow factor items into the event while keeping them in budget.  This isn’t the norm for a wedding.  Usually you strive to do your wedding only once and that really packs on the pressure to ensure it’s right.  Having a planner with a team to back them is safety for you…how, there’s a check point, a double check and a final check to ensure that your vision is completed to your specifications on the day of your wedding.

The brand new planner, although charges less, is still trying to figure out exactly what her job is and how it’s supposed to be done.  She’s going to be all over the board and you’re not going to feel like you’re being taken care of.  She’ll make some decisions for you and you’ll find out about them on the day of your wedding.  Not the way you want it to be.  Believe it or not, these early in their training stages planners, sometimes fall off the face of the earth.  I’ve not only seen it, but it’s happened to a few of my brides that I was blessed with working with later when the planner packed up shop and left with no contact info.

The bottom line is that you pay more for experience, knowledge, expertise, connections and quality.  In the long run, it saves you costly mistakes, time, frustration and oops during the planning process and on the day of.  Having a professional to be able to help you where and when you need it is not a luxury but a necessity when you’re talking about the biggest day of your life that doesn’t get a do-over.