We at All the Best just love tented events! Before you decide to have your wedding or event under a tent take a moment to look at s me of the things you’ll need to consider.

Tented events are very labor intensive. Think about it – everything that goes under that tent has to be brought to the site. Every utensil, plate, and glass. Every bite of food, every drink, every everything has to be delivered, unloaded, set up, cleaned up and packed up. I tell my clients to count on paying, on average, 20% more for a tented event than for a similar event held at a reception venue (unless you’re serving ziti in aluminum trays on paper plates with plastic utensils).

Let’s look at the logistics of a tented event. First, there’s the tent! You’re going to need a place to put it.  The size of the tent will depend on the number of guests and what they’re doing.   If the tent is for a wedding where are you having the ceremony & cocktail hour?  Do you need a dance floor? Are you going to put a floor (with carpet) under the entire tent? Are you having entertainment? Band or a DJ? Do they need a stage or a riser? Sit down dinner or buffet? Assigned seating or open seating? Don’t forget lighting and the ability to power not only the lighting but the entertainment and maybe fans, air conditioners or heaters.

Consider your guests.  Are the arriving in daylight but leaving after dark?  Where are they going to park?  How are they going to get back to their cars in the dark? Are you doing this in a residential area?  Are there ordinances for noise?  Do you need a permit to erect the tent?  Does the permit require inspections?

For your decor you’ll need tables, chairs, linens and all the tableware. Are you having a bar? Who’s doing the catering? What are they bringing with them that will need to be powered? Do you need a generator and an electrical distribution system (and the electrician to set this all up)?

Are you going to cover the ceiling in the tent? Do you have poles in the center? Are you going to cover them? Does your tent come with sides and windows? Gutters in case of inclement weather? Do you need a tent tech on site to help put the sides up and down?

What about bathrooms? You’ll need at least one for every 50 guests. I’ve used solar powered individual units that come with running water and flush. I’ve also used the super nice trailers with individual stalls, paneling on the walls and are air conditioned. Will you need access to water and electricity?

Other considerations include where the tent will be placed. Is the ground level? Are there trees in the way that have to be cut down? You might also need a cook tent.

I always watch the weather starting 10 days (or more depending on the size of the event). If there’s a hint of rain you’ll need to make sure the lawn is mowed short and the tent goes up before it rains.  This will help keep it dry under the tent even if a monsoon hits before the event.

Then there are the logistics of the deliveries. The tent has to be up before you can do anything else. Your tent company should be able to provide you with a CAD layout of your tent and event space showing placement of dance floor, band riser, cook tent, guest tables & chairs, etc.  Don’t forget to ask how often their tents are cleaned and inspected.  No one wants a dirty, moldy tent with holes where there should be holes!

Personally I think a tent offers one of the most unique ways to put your personal stamp on your event. You’re literally starting with a blank canvas so you can make it as casual or as formal as you’d like.

Putting your tent around or near a pool? You can create a custom mat for the bottom of the pool. You can also have custom decals created for the sides or top of the tent.

Bring some color in with linens and lighting. Keeping it casual? Try picnic tables with bench seating.  Want to go a little more formal? Long tables with ballroom chairs will look fabulous!

Just remember you can’t do anything about the weather so you will have to have a Plan B in case it rains (they do make rain gutters for tents and covered walkways can be added),  unexpected costs can add up and you’ll need to be on your toes with the details if you’re doing this on your own.  IMHO it’s so worth it!

ATTENTION Brides and Grooms!! Did you know that you need to feed the professionals working for you at your wedding? The the band (or DJ), photographer(s), the videographer (s)?? Did you read the clause in their contract that says a meal must be provided? If you saw it what did you think that meant?

The reason I ask is that I just saw a post on Facebook by one of ATB’s strategic partners about vendor meals. He worked 11 hours for his clients and all he got was a cold sandwich. While the bride is the one who ordered the food I’m going to point the finger at the venue for offering sandwiches as an option.

There are several venues here at the Jersey Shore that (a) only offer sandwiches to the vendors or (b) have the option of sandwiches instead a hot meal. Shame on them. The kitchen is already cooking for the guests and have ordered extra just in case some guests show who weren’t included in the count. The vendor meal count is given at the same time as the guest count so it’s not a surprise. The wait staff had their family meal prior to the event. Bet they didn’t have cold sandwiches.

All the Best has been fortunate to work at some very high end venues and with some of the best offsite caterers in NJ. All of them provide hot meals for the professionals. Several even provide the first five at no charge with the others charged on average $25.00 per person. Usually we eat what the guests eat at these venues with a wait staff person assigned to us for soft drinks. It’s a gesture that makes us all want to recommend the venues and caterers to future clients.

I’ve seen professionals who think they’re guests at the event they’re working and take plates stacked high with cocktail hour food. Personally, I think that’s rude. Drinking alcohol is the biggest no-no of all for a professional.

I also think it’s a little cheeky for a professional to put in their contract that they won’t eat chicken for their meal. Unless you’re a vegetarian you’ll eat what’s put in front of you and be happy you got fed. If the guests got chicken why are you too good to eat it?

If you’re a professional working an event for one of my clients I promise you a hot meal. I don’t know what it will be (we were served eggplant parmigiano the other night – a little burnt but edible) but I promise it won’t be sandwiches.

If you’re the bride and groom please be kind to your professionals and make sure they get a hot meal. It shouldn’t cost you too much and it will pay big dividends in the end. If your venue only offers sandwiches then insist that they provide a hot meal. You’ll be glad you did!!

WELCOME to the new All the Best Weddings & Celebrations website and ATB-BlogBites Blog! I cannot tell you how excited I am about the new design and content. Thanks so much to Eric for his patience and guidance throughout this process. I just LOVE the result and hope you do too!! The website is a constant work in progress and I’m always looking for feedback. Don’t hesitate to contact me with your thoughts!

There are lots of wedding & event bloggers out there that give you their take on inspirations for all types of designs, themes, and colors. The ATB team does things a little differently from other planners and that message will run through our blog. It’s my goal to post at least once per month. Here you’re going to find information that you NEED to know. Yes we’ll post on things that inspire us. We’ll also post on the issues & logistics of event planning.

Planning a wedding is time consuming. Doesn’t matter if it’s 50 guests or 500. Big budget or small – most of the same elements apply. My blog posts will walk you through the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly. I’m always looking for topics so if you have a question I’ll be happy to look into answering it for you right here. Next blog post is on the schedule for after June 1, 2011.

So sit down, put your feet up, and have a bite with us! Because planning your wedding should be a piece of cake!

Kathi

Look for new blog soon – www.ATB-BlogBites.com. It will be linked to the All the Best Facebook page and Twitter feed. Sign up now so you won’t miss anything!!

Does Experience Count?? In an effort stay abreast of the latest trends in the wedding industry I try to attend one major conference per year. In 2010 I choose the Wedding MBA conference that was held in Las Vegas in September. It was amazing!! I learned so much I thought my head would explode.

One of the speakers is the well known editor of a very well known wedding centered website along with their related national and regional magazines. Her talk about bridal trends and how brides make decsions was going well until she said “Bride’s don’t care about your experience.” I think I saw the entire room (and there was about 1500 wedding pros in attendance) sit up and say “what?” in unison… She went on for a bit more but I know I really didn’t hear anything else. At the end of her presentation she took questions. A planner from the mid-Atlantic region who you’ve seen on “Whose Wedding is it Anyway?” stood up and (basically) said “I will run rings around any brand new wedding planner out there. My years of experience will beat her brand new ideas any day of the week.” The majority of the room applauded (including me) and the speaker tried to back track by saying “Of course experience should count but brides just don’t care about it.”

I understand why another speaker said not to put a number to the years of experience you might have. Don’t want to appear too old to prospective clients.

So I ask all yo brides out there reading this blog; is it true that you really don’t care about my experience? You don’t care about the number of weddings I’ve done? You don’t care about the skills I’ve honed over the years that I’ll bring to your event such as contract negotiations, strategic partners, or logistics??

What do you care about? Cost – I know that’s a big one. Testimonials from former clients? Awards won?? Compatibility? Professionalism?? What else do you care about when it comes to hiring vendors for the biggest day of your life??

Please tell me! I’d love to be able to go back and show this speaker just how right or wrong she was.

You Get What You Pay For

Recently a friend of mine asked for help in finding hotel rooms for a first time visit to Switzerland.   I recommended she contact a travel agent who I knew was originally from Switzerland and would be a wealth of information.

The agent recommended several hotels and booked them rooms.   When I asked her about the experience of working with the travel agent she was very complimentary of his knowledge but said “You know he was charging me more than the rate available on the internet.”

I would have expected to pay a little more when working with a travel agent then trying to do the bookings on my own.  The time saved alone would be worth it to me.  Working directly with people is expensive.  It’s why almost every business in the US has automated phone systems.  I’m all for  keeping costs down but sometimes I just want to talk to a company representative rather than search the website’s FAQ section or spend time pressing phone buttons and still not getting the info I need.

So what’s it worth to you to take advantage of someone’s expertise?  Travel is one of those areas where I think  it’s worth it to pay a little more to get the piece of mind to know that you’re not going to be sleeping on a cot in a non air conditioned hotel in the worst section of an unfamiliar city.   I can read all I want online, however, talking to an expert travel agent who’s been there/done that helps me to know that the money I’m spending on a vacation is going to be worth it.

As an example, my husband vacationed in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico last winter.   I did some online research and did all my own bookings.  Had I consulted with an experienced travel agent we would have known that it’s almost impossible to get out of the airport without being hassled to take a timeshare tour.  We would have known what the peso to dollar conversion rate should have been.  We would have known not to take the whale watching tour and we would have had recommendations for restaurants.  For all of that I would have gladly paid a premium for someone’s expertise.

“…..  But she’s got a great personality!”

In the last 5 years I have been very fortunate to work with some of the best photographers in the USA let alone NJ.  At one wedding the photographer was very concerned that the bride didn’t have the type of  personality he needs to make his photos work.  “You know me Kath” he said, “I need personality, someone who’s going to relax and let go.  You know how I work.”   At the time I knew what he meant – the bride was a little stiff.  However, being the pro that he is, he worked well with what he had and the pictures were amazing.

His comments got me to thinking about how the personality AND style of  your wedding photographer should match YOUR personality and style.  Say you’re looking at samples of a photographer’s work and you see some photos that you like.  Think about what those subjects had to do to get that shot (“OK John lean in like you’re going to kiss her but don’t kiss her – hold it right there.  No, don’t close your eyes, look right at her but softly – don’t blink.  Sorry, I know the sun is in your eyes….   Hold it, hold it.  Good!!”).  Some great shots are done without the subjects knowing there’s a camera anywhere near them.  Others are  set up and made to look like no one was holding a camera anywhere near them.  Are you willing to do what it takes to get that shot done??

Right now I have a core group of photographers that are my “go to” shooters.    Each one has a different personality and photographic style.    Tell me what type of person you are and what kind of photos you’re looking for and I’m confident I can find the right photographer for you at the right price.

Your photographer is going to be with you all day.  Make sure the person behind the camera is someone you want to spend that much time with  otherwise it’s going to be a really L O N G day for everyone and both of you might not like the results.

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

I am going to be amongst those telling my grandchildren that Twitter was new when I first got onto to it and that I remember when Facebook was for college students only.  They will look at me like I have two heads.  I’m slowly getting the hang of Twitter.  I find it to be a cyber abyss similar to links on the internet – one leads to another and before you know it an hour has gone by and I have no idea why.

I am becoming competitive with my social networking – “become a fan” on Facebook; “follow me” on Twitter.  I will my numbers to go up each day as I search for relevant content.  I try to come up with unique ideas that I find in the (what seems like) hundreds of trade related magazines I read each month or post info about new professionals and trends in the wedding and event industry that I think might be worth noting.

I bring an old fashioned approach to my work as an event planner and I think I have an old fashioned view of social networking.  Bring some value and experience while keeping content relevant not boring and not too personal.   Really??  Who cares what I do all day??

So if you’ve got the time – become a fan of All the Best Wedding & Celebrations on Facebook or follow @ATBWeddings on Twitter.  Let me know if you like what I post and if you have any suggestions for new posts.

What Just Happened??

Last Friday I attempted to load a security software suite that had been charged to my account monthly for almost a year but had not yet been installed.  Something went horribly wrong during the installation and my entire hard drive was virtually wiped out.  No one from tech support knows what happened (“this has never happened before”).  Fortunately I have an external back up and was able to restore the majority of my files with the exception of e-mail.   It appears that I’m missing about one year’s worth of information including all the dates stored on my calendar.  It has taken me four days to restore what I know to have been lost.  The rest will be done as I go along and realize something’s missing.

As a wedding planner I am the external back up for my clients.   The list of services we provide is extensive, however, the best planned event can still have a glitch or two.  If you don’t have an event coordinator – who’s going to handle those glitches for you on your wedding day??

I have consulted with a few clients who have decided not to use my services for a variety of reasons.  I have heard stories after the event was over that includes the groom missing the entire cocktail hour because their DJ showed up with an iPod and no play list.  Or the venue that can host more than one event at a time and got the passed hors d’oeurves mixed up for two events  so that each got the others food.   Then there was the bride who wanted to control every last detail which caused her to be 2 hours late for her pre-ceremony pictures which then delayed her ceremony by almost an hour  which then caused her to have to pay for overtime so that her reception wasn’t cut short.  The list goes on and on.

A wedding is a once in a lifetime experience.  Don’t be caught wondering “what just happened?” without a good back up.  If you’re not going to hire an event coordinator then designate someone not involved with the wedding party to take care of any issues that might pop up.   Most weddings go off without any glitches – have your back up ready just in case!

A Celebration of Life!!

All the Best had the privilege of working with Tina and Bob while they were planning their September 2009 wedding.  They had been dating for quite some time and they were both excited to be married.  They chose a site on the beach because the ocean is very special to both of them.  They are both merchant marine captains whose fathers were both merchant marine captains.

Shortly after we started working together Tina told me that Bob had been diagnosed with cancer.  In no way did this slow either of them down – full speed ahead went the planning!  We chose a venue and they found a church nearby.  Photographer, DJ, and florist were chosen while Tina was on leave from her ship.  When she was in captain mode we communicated by e-mail and cell phone.  Bob’s treatment was on going and when one therapy didn’t work Tina researched and found others.

It was so easy and fun to work with them.   Tina knew exactly what she did and did not want.   She chose carnations for most of their flowers because Bob liked them.  The DJ went out of his way to find a particular sailing song that while solemn was one they both liked.

Their love and faith in each other never waivered and Tina always had something positive to say.  Bob even planned his therapy around the wedding so he would feel as well as possible on the big day.  Family and friends traveled from near and far in order to celebrate with the happy couple!  As a testament to his sense of humor Bob had a “NIC (not under command)” symbol on the sole of his shoe that all could see when he knelt during the ceremony.  At the end of the day both bride and groom were very happy with the way their day had gone.  We at All the Best were proud to have been a part of it all.

Tina called yesterday to tell me that Bob had passed away on Thursday after a 3 year battle with cancer.  She also told me to tell the photographer that she would be in touch to order her wedding album and would be using some of the proofs at his memorial.  She and Bob had picked out the pictures.  I am  devastated.  I can only imagine how Tina feels.  They were married for just about 5 1/2 months.

So the next bride who gets upset because something ridiculously small happened to cause her day not to be perfect will hear the story of Tina and Bob.  A life together cut short because of a deadly disease that no amount of planning or detailed lists could make perfect.

Tina seemed to be at peace knowing that Bob was not suffering any more.  My heart goes out to her and the members of Bob’s family.  He was a great guy who loved Tina and will be missed by all who knew him.