Remembering the purpose of the planning

This Memorial Day, whether you are planning an important party for a client or your own backyard BBQ, I hope you were able to stop and think of why and what we are celebrating in the first place. When planning events it is easy to get focused on the color pallet, linen choices, food selection, centerpiece choices etc. and forget all together why we are getting everyone together in the first place.

We have all heard the term bridzilla. This is a bride that has completely forgotten why she is in that church in the first place and instead is upset at her bridesmaid for getting an updo when she specifically said everyone wear their hair down, and mad that the florist who put cream roses in her bouquet when she told her she wanted ivory ones (is there a difference?). The wedding ceremony itself is just a way to show your devotion to each other amongst those you love most. The Marriage is what it is all about. The marriage, that is why that bride is in that church, she is there to join in union to the one person she loves the most, till death does she part. The flowers, the food, the dancing....it is all just an added bonus that makes the atmosphere magical and for the guests, more enjoyable. And as a planner, we are just blessed to help take the burden of creating that atomosphere off a bride's shoulders and on to our own.

The same goes for this Memorial Day. I hope you stopped to think about why you were inviting friends over. There is a reason that day is on the calendar, and there is a reason you are home from work hanging out with friends and family. You have the freedom to have a cookout because others have so bravely sacraficed for that freedom. Just as that bride stands in that church and realizes what that day is really about to her, we need to remember what this day is really about to us. Let us all remember those men and woman that have fought in the past for us, and those who are still out there today. A special thank you to those serving our country, and another thank you to your families for being strong while you are away.

Moral of the story: God Bless America!

Carnival Photo Cage

I recently had a client ask me to do her son's 1st birthday party. She wanted a children's carnival inside her inlaws raquet ball court.

I decided on three primary carnival colors and ran with it. The raquet ball court was filled with games and tents made out of cardboard and table cloth rolls and baloons, within the color scheme. When the place was finally all set up the colors pulled everything together and created this wonderful flow throughout the room.

The kids enjoyed fresh popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cones. They loved picking out of a goody bag after each game they played. They ran around in there for hours all while listening to circus music playing through the speakers. But one of the best ideas I had for the whole day was the photo cage. Not a photo booth, and not a cutout of a circus clown's face, but a photo cage. I wanted a photo op where the whole family could participate. I saw a similar one at Disney and thought it would be perfect for this carnival. I painted and cutout cardboard to make it look like a train cage, like something you would see a circus train pulling (like in the movie Dumbo). I painted the words "Wild Animals" above it and was not even expecting some of the reactions we got in the photos. Everyone LOVED it! The kids, parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents, all got really into it. In the picture above are the birthday boy's grandparents taking time for their photo op. A perfect example of how much fun they had.

The whole thing ended up being the highlight of the day. The parents of the birthday boy even took photos of each family in the cage, had them printed into postcards, and sent them to the families as thank you cards.

Moral of the story: If you get them interacting, you'll keep them entertained!