7 Misconceptions about event & wedding planners

1.      Highly experienced planners recommend vendors and other professionals to work with

A Memory Lane Event weddings

because they will understand your vision, are similar to you in personality, and can offer solutions within your budget NOT because they make more money when you work with the vendors they suggest.

2.      Highly experienced planners do not take over your special occasion and make it their own.  It’s your day; they are there to make it easy for you to create and allow you to be able to enjoy your day.

3.      I commonly hear … “Working with a planner will cost me so much more money then me doing it myself.”  Simply – not true.  Planners in the know – gets advance information on vendors, supply companies going out of business.  You can really make out like a bandit, getting more product for less money. Being able to have someone checking quality, prices and negotiating on your behalf can save you more too.  Finally, several vendors offer planners better pricing then you can get on your own just for the sheer volume that a planner gives the vendor.

4.      Many times planners throw in free products and services for you because they received them as promo’s from other vendors.  This saves you even more.

Jennifer Lane, A Memory Lane Event

5.      I also have heard from brides that they want to save money on services by having their friends and families do them the day of the wedding.  Result: 

a.       the brides vision sometimes gets lost in translation,

b.      your friends sometimes feel taken advantage of and after the wedding – no longer friends,

c.       your friends forget about the duties and enjoy the wedding as a guest and the list just continues. 

Many times, planners include in their month of or day of packages a couple free hours of work on the wedding day to handle these duties so your friends and family can enjoy the day with you.

6.      Planners know how locations work:  i.e. how the layout of a location will cause your guests not to be able to see what is going on.  How many restrooms you must have for comfort on the wedding day based upon the guest count.  Staffing requirements to avoid long lines and frustrated guests on the wedding day. How much time is needed for set up of your vision and how many people will take to make it a reality in the allotted time on your wedding day.

7.      Planning packages and services by professional planners are so expensive.  Your event or wedding day does not get a do-over. Its worth the price to ensure that your vision is realized and you, your family and friends get to share the day together to celebrate.  

A Memory Lane Event weddings

 

Weddings, Denver Colo

Cinco de Mayo celebrations

The other day, we were discussing a Cinco de Mayo party in the elevator and someone outside our staff asked why you would plan a party around Mayo.  Of course, we laughed, it’s funny.  And then decided why not do a party around an all-American condiment with a Spanish flair.  Yes, we are aware that they do not necessarily go together, but aren’t we all from different nationalities – that’s what makes America; America.  

Here’s what we came up with.

We have to have a 5 foot tall Mayo jar as the centerpiece to the party standing in a display of spring flowers.  Then we have to have Spanish rice, black and refried beans, taco’s and Mexican hamburgers.  To tie it all in we need dishes to hail the Mayonnaise and spring; so we have to have potato salad, deviled eggs, ham sandwiches or wraps, mint tea and margaritas. Of course both have to have little umbrellas.

For entertainment drag races.  Make sure you get permission and the permits.  The ticket cost for this entertainment without them is expensive.