Author: Stories of an Event Planner

I love spontaneity and traveling as much as I can. I love trying new foods, taking pictures, enjoying nature and animals. Every day is a brand new day to try new things for me. I enjoy hiking, running, dancing, and trying new exercises

MACE 2019

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A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Mid-Atlantic Conference and Expo (MACE) at the MGM National Harbor hosted by Meeting Professionals International Potomac Chapter (MPI). It was a day-long conference and it was one of the best conferences and experiences I’ve had in the industry.

We had great keynote speakers including Sonia Aranza, Tracy Stuckrath, and Joanna Coles, Former Chief Content Officer at Hearst Magazines. To say the least, these women are great professionals in their field, and an inspiration to as all. They all came from different backgrounds, and throughout their sessions, they let us understand a little  more about themselves, how they got there, and how they are succeeding.

At MACE, we got to meet so  many wonderful people in the industry and got to learn about important topics that are being mentioned more and more such as diversity in the work place, learning and being prepared to cater to all people no matter their dietary restrictions, social media and more.

One of the key things that I took from this conference is about diversity. Sonia Aranza, who was the keynote speaker for this topic, reminded us about all the generations working together in one company, or in the same department. We may not always think about it or at all, but we are working with millennials, generation X,  baby boomers, etc., and all of us were born when different things were happening around the world, and lets not forget about our cultural differences.

When I had a difficult encounter with someone who had a different view than me, I would always think of them old school, or that they were afraid of change, which I don’t have a problem with, so after this session, I thought about my past experiences, and realized that I need to step back and put myself in their shoes, and approach them in a different way. They may not budge, but at least I’m hoping I will be more aware of the whys in their hesitations or reactions to certain things, so that we come to an understanding and move forward.

Overall, MACE was great! I definitely look forward to next year’s event and also the upcoming educational events coming up.

There isn’t such a thing as knowing it all or too  much. Continuously learning keeps me motivated!

with love,

Natalie

What drives you to do better?

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How you ever felt the need to keep learning? I’m sure most of you do whether at work or mastering your hobby.

I’ve done this before, but today specifically, I really paid attention to the satisfaction I get when I learn something new at work. In my current position, there are many things that I learn everyday from working with staff, setting the table right, new menu items, learning the ingredients in those dishes, learning about new trends so that I can give ideas to my clients, etc., so, today, when we had our first session, of many to come, of how to work towards the direction that we want to go, I understood the importance of not just management to learn new things, but also for the staff to become a part of it.

I’m not going to get into specifics of our sessions since this is mostly my opinion on the benefits of education at work, but I will say that if I feel good about learning new things at work because I feel more prepared, knowledgeable about what I do, and also satisfaction knowing that the place I work at sees and considers learning an important step to accomplish its goals and also values its employees, wouldn’t you think that employees would feel the same no matter in what position they are in? I think so. There’s always space for improvement, learning, and providing the opportunity for everyone to become better and in doing so, they most likely will be more involved in their job, want to do a better job, want to help and teach a new employee, and feel good about themselves  knowing that they are mastering the skills needed.

This may sound obvious to you, but you’ll be surprised how many companies don’t understand the benefits and don’t want to put the resources and time to make it happen.

If you are already working in a company that provides learning opportunities for you, take advantage of it. It will benefit the company and you.

Happy Thursday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Room Changer

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Today is another wedding day, and with that, I would like to share some of the gorgeous centerpieces of the past few weddings that I’ve had the pleasure of working.

A little observation that I came to realized today. Wow! The difference flowers make and  how it transforms a room!

Hope you enjoy them!

 

cherry blossomsMuseumPurpleunnamed

Bridesmaid’s Gifts

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A couple of days ago, I went out to dinner with one of my college friends who, sadly, is moving back to her home state. She’s currently planning her own wedding, and bridesmaids presents came up. What do you give to your bridesmaids? How much to spend on a gift? How many gifts do you give?! So many questions…it can get overwhelming trying to think of that perfect gift for every single bridesmaid, who let me tell you, they all like different things and have different interests. So, how do you choose one gift that will be perfect for each and every one of them?

I’m all about simplicity and peace of mind, so I try not to stress too much about things like this. To answer one of the questions: how much to spend? This will depend on you and how much you are willing to spend. Don’t be cheap either, and cheap I mean spend I don’t know $5 on something that you know it’s not going to have any use.

When choosing the right gift, try thinking about the person individually and not about everyone all together. What is it that you know this person would like (that’s also a hard one sometimes)? Do you know her favorite color? Do you know if she likes to wear makeup? Does she like jewelry? Does she like hair products? You can learn a lot about a person when you see them. Watch what they are wear, what they tend to talk about, etc.

Now, you’ve thought about all your bridesmaids. If you have 5-7 bridesmaids, it can be a pain to buy something different for everyone, and it’s okay. This is not supposed to be another thing to worry about on the top of planning your wedding. With a big group of bridesmaids, the simplest thing to do is to buy the same thing for everyone. You can always personalize a gift, get it in their favorite color, etc., but remember it has to be something useful because otherwise it’s going to go to the box of forgotten things…and that’s awful.

If you have a smaller group of bridesmaids and you know their taste pretty well, get creative and give them something different to each of them.

These gifts are pretty cool, I would say, and they will be used more than once  instead of using it only before the wedding and bachelorette party. Check the link below!

https://www.purseandclutch.com/blogs/news/ethical-bridesmaids-gifts-that-they-will-

 

 

Friday Intro!

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Hello everyone!

#fridayintroductions have been popular for a while although I’ve noticed it’s sort of slowing down now, but since I’ve never done one I thought I would give it a shot right here on my blog.

I’m trying to not make this post like a biography because I tend to write too much and it’s hard to keep it short (sorry!), but I’ll try my best.

Since this blog is about my experiences in event planning I thought I should keep it to this topic but what’s an intro without the background story? I will begin with how my father brought me to become an independent and business forward child. I tried, I really did. At one point, I was making ice cream at home and selling it. I bought all the materials, the juices, milk, chocolate, the little baggies, you name it. It worked, people were buying homemade ice cream from me and I learned to give change back. This happened back in Chile. After that I sort of gave up on that, and I shifted my attention to something that I seemed to be good at: meeting new people and organizing things. So, the very first thing I organized as a child was a dance routine with two of my best friends. The song was from Christina Aguilera “Ven conmigo” and it seemed to be going well. The purpose of the dance was to perform at the neighborhood’s Christmas event at the plazuela (square) where they gave out candy. In order to do this, we had to ask permission to the president of the board of the neighborhood, and my two friends and I presented ourselves at his house and told him our idea. He was convinced enough (how could he not? three young girls with a dream). We practiced and practiced until we knew every move and coordinated our outfits and performed in front of the entire neighborhood who was present.
Apparently, our idea was very popular because the following year another group of girls performed after us. I decided to not perform the second year but helped with the routine and outfits.

Fast forward to 2008, my high school graduation in the USA, and then later that year Penn State University graduating in 2012 with a bachelor in Marketing, which I obviously didn’t end up pursuing after graduation.

I had so many random jobs before I figured out what I was meant to do and what I thought, and still think, would make me happier. Somehow from the many random, low paying jobs, weird hours, nice and bad bosses, I ended up where I’m today with a pretty clear idea of where I want to go from here.

The one thing I know for sure was that I was not afraid to switch up my jobs when I felt like it was time, or when I applied to a job that I thought I wasn’t ready for but did it anyways because I wanted to prove to myself that I could and that I was not afraid. I had a lot of ups and downs, and I definitely did not start on the path where I had a good or decent job after college and could afford rent and food. I did have a lot of help and support from my mom and dad and they definitely trusted me for some reason.

Fast forward to 2018, I am doing what I want to do for a long time, still planning for the future with some ideas under my sleeve and currently doing some research. Maybe my father instilling in me that I should do what I believe in and not do what we think we are supposed to do is coming handy, also my mom’s sense of responsibility and consistency with everything you do.

I would still be somewhere on an Island living life if it were up to me, but I have to be somewhat responsible, I guess.

Oh, I almost forgot, on my free time I enjoy reading fiction books, watching movies and currently obsessed with movies like The Duchess and Marie Antoinette, spending time with my family and baby Leo, face timing by precious Renato, and hopefully going out hiking soon once the weather warms up because I can’t handle the cold.

The Wedding Exit

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Final stage of the wedding! There’s something that always excites me about the exit. There are so many ways to do it and be creative. This is the last impression you get to make on everyone and for you to experience the day of your wedding. Who doesn’t love getting all the attention walking out while everyone is cheering for you? It literally reminds me when at parties we did the tunnel and everyone had to go through–it was the most exciting thing. Or the train?! Well, now you understand why I get so excited, it’s just so fun!

There are so many ways to have a cool exit, but there are some things we need to consider so that not only it’s epic, but also responsible. For example, doves? No, so out of date and plain mean to the beautiful birds. Not only they get super stressed out to be in a cage for hours before they get released, but it feeds to that idea that they are cool and more people are catching them or breeding them for this purpose. What life is that?  Same with butterfly release. Googling dove wedding exit, a website popped up from FL saying that releasing doves was sustainable because you are using live doves and basically because they will continue to be used, it is a recyclable method. I vote 100% against this! Totally bs on their part.   Confetti poppers? I vote no. Imagine all the tiny pieces of colored paper that probably were not made from recycled paper, and working at venues, not fun to clean up at all. Also, most venues don’t allow any confetti.

Let’s look at some really cool exits that you will definitely enjoy on your special day instead that are really cool, creative and beautiful:

  • Flowers? yes! Imagine colorful, full of life and beautiful flowers being toss in the air, landing on your hair and dress? I think that would be a great picture. Don’t think that only loose petals can be used, get creative and use the entire head of the flower without the long stem.
  • Lavender? I can already smell the lavender just writing about it. Calming smell and colorful. Put lavender in recycled paper cones and give them to your guests as favors.
  •  Rice? An all time classic. I like the idea and what it means, but not so much for photos
  • Colorful cloth streamers? This would work if you didn’t have to buy new cloth to make them. Do you have old t-shirts that you were thinking about donating? You can reuse them and make streamers for guests to use at your exit.

I hope you liked the ideas!

With love,
Natalie

Bouquet Toss

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Hi everyone!

We are almost at the end and guess what? You know it–the bouquet toss. At most weddings now a days, there’s no bouquet toss and you know why? Because wedding bouquets are some what pricy and who wants to toss it away for someone else to have it? Personally, I love the tradition and I would have done it. I think it’s fun and it gives a little hope to the single girl who’s been wanting to get hitch..or not.

One little anecdote, once upon a time when I was just a teenager, I think I was about 14, I was one of the bridesmaids at someone’s wedding. It was really fun, it was literally my first wedding experience because in Chile parents don’t take kids to wedding. Say what?! Yep, they just didn’t, so I never really got to go to one until here in the US of A. The wedding was terrific and I danced a lot, one thing I didn’t know was that I was going to catch the bouquet. I didn’t plan it, the flowers literally landed on my feet. I don’t even know why I was there with the rest of the girls in the first place–marriage was definitely not in my mind then, but there I was and I picked it up. The next part it’s kind of shocking, especially to a 14-year-old girl who just wanted to wear a pretty dress and dance all night, a young boy my age caught the garter and yep it really did happen. I had to sit on a chair and let the young boy put the garter on my leg which by the way it was totally embarrassing considering the entire party was watching and we were in the middle of the dance floor.

Anyways, that’s my very first experience with a bouquet toss, but nevertheless I love the tradition. There are different alternatives to still toss it and to keep it to last for a very long time. One option (which is the most popular one) is to have a tiny bouquet for the toss. This will obviously cost you more, but if you want to keep the tradition and not get rid of yours that’s the way to do it. To keep costs down, remember there are so many flowers in season that you can choose from so talk to your florist and let her know what you are dreaming of!

Also, to keep your bouquet for a very long time (longer than 3-4 days if that) you can preserve it. Check out this website https://www.brides.com/story/how-to-preserve-wedding-bouquet.  It has some cool ideas to preserve it!

Another really cool company that I’ve been following on IG for a while now is Eco Flower. Check them out https://www.ecoflower.com/  They have beautiful flower arrangements for wedding to home decor.

Now you have some ideas of what to do with your wedding bouquet! Get planning!

With love,
Natalie

The Reception

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The wedding reception is the most fun to plan, I would say. There are different things going on and it could be really fun and beautiful or kind of boring, so plan ahead and consider everything! Here is where you really get to show off your style, your dream wedding, your one big day to shine.

Now a days, there are so many different wedding styles such as timeless and elegant, rustic, or themed, etc., and below each of these styles, there are endless options. One thing to consider is to be conscious of what you are getting. For example, do you really need to pay that much extra for flowers or food that are out of season? Honestly, you want to choose food that is in season because it will taste the best and it will be the most fresh. Also for flowers, you can always use the arrangements from the ceremony and bring them inside for centerpieces. This way you will save money and be more eco-friendly.

If you have no idea of what is in season, don’t worry! There are so many experts in the industry that your only job will be to choose your style, tell them what you are thinking of having based on your taste and budget, and they will show you the options available.

Ahhh the party favors…I still don’t know how I feel about them. Every wedding that I have attended to as a guest, as far as I can remember, has not been memorable and I have not kept it throughout the years. There was one wedding that I loved that I coordinated a couple of years ago that had the cutest party favors that also served as the centerpieces. The couple chose a plant that still had the root and they placed them in vases with water. At the end of the night, guests got to take it home and planted it in their yard. How cute is that? Now all the guests who took the plant will always remember the couple because every time they see how beautiful the plant is growing (that’s only if you are not a plant killer…I’m still working on keeping my house plants alive), they’ll think of them.  Also, I’ve seen the cookies wrapped in individual plastic baggies..Stop doing this! I feel the same about straws. A good alternative to this is to choose recycled paper baggies or a cute cotton bag, but keep in mind how this baggie can be used again.

In all honestly, all the elements come together at the end and no matter how minimal you feel it could look, it’s going to look beautiful. Remember, this is one day out of your entire life ahead, so plan wisely!

With love,
Natalie

The Cocktail Hour

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Hi everyone!

We continue with the wedding ideas saga! Last week, I shared with you ideas for your ceremony and today I want to share ideas for the cocktail hour.

Cocktail hours can last as little as 30 minutes and I wouldn’t go longer than 1 – 1 1/2 hours. At this point, guests are talking about how beautiful the ceremony was and how happy the couple is. Everyone is really excited for the rest of the wedding and want to start celebrating with cool cocktails and yummy appetizers. But if you make it too long, you may run into guests getting too hungry or bored, so if you will have a longer cocktail hour I would suggest having interesting cocktails, and a little more appetizers and possibly something to do in the meantime to entertain guests. Don’t over do the food though. You could possibly do an interesting station that could work as an activity as well like the one I found in The Knot website https://www.theknot.com/content/ways-to-make-your-cocktail-hour-more-fun

Here is where you get to get creative and show a little more about how the reception will be. When choosing your caterer is always easy to look up any vendor with good reviews and probably on the cheaper side because who wants to spend that much money on food? Everything adds up. right?. Also, you are probably thinking that you wouldn’t want to serve too much food (which in a way I totally agree), but, there are so many options now that offer sustainable food, and they are just as tasty and gorgeous if not better! So, don’t slack on your research. Also, remember that there are professionals whose job is to do the research for you, so don’t hesitate to contact them.

Just one tip, please tell your caterer or whoever is providing the alcohol to not put a straw on the glasses. There are so many other options like bamboo, paper or metal straws that could also work as favors. Guest can use the same straw all night and take it home once done! Check these out! https://pebblemag.com/magazine/living/5-eco-friendly-alternatives-to-plastic-straws 

Also, you won’t need much decor for this. If the ceremony is outside, have the cocktail hour outside as well and add cocktail tables and votive candles on the tables. The less the better. You don’t want to spend too much money here. Instead, look for fun activities for your guests to play and amazing drinks!

What was your favorite activity at a recent wedding you attended?

With love,
Natalie

The Ceremony

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Hi everyone,

So, earlier this week I told you that I would post about eco-friendly ideas for your wedding! Earth friendly weddings don’t have to be plain or boring. You can get really creative and play around with all the textures, colors, and smells.

I guess the very first thing that you have to consider is to choose the right venue for you. Your venue will dictate your style and overall look of the wedding. Sometimes couples think that choosing a cheaper venue will save them money, but if the venue they chose doesn’t really match what they are looking for, they’ll spend more money on decor and rentals trying to hide what they don’t like or trying to make it look more their theme, so choose wisely and consider all the facts!

For the ceremony outside:

Having your ceremony outside really helps having all that nature around you already from trees, flowers, grass, sand, cobblestone, etc. Take advantage of those natural pieces to not have to get too much decor to make the ceremony look beautiful. If there is a tree at your ceremony site, use it and hang lights or seasonal flowers if you don’t like it bare. For example, the ceremony below didn’t need much decor. There was tons of trees and green grass that made this ceremony beautiful full of colors yet simple and elegant.

Ceremony Set-up2.jpg

For the ceremony inside:

You can make a backdrop with string of lights, or recyclable paper cranes like in the pictures in this link https://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/minerva-erik/

Depending on the venue, you can always select for the ceremony to take place by a window (if the view from the window is pretty) and use soy candles or seasonal flowers to decorate around. You’ll be surprise how pretty a space looks without over doing it.

Choosing vendors:

When picking your vendors for your wedding, ask them questions. They are there to help you. For example, the florist, ask them if their flowers are sustainable. Is their wholesaler near by or are they getting their flowers from oversees? Ask them what types of flowers or greenery is in season on the date of your wedding. They’ll tell you right away and will be happy to help you.

Also, remember to use real flowers if you are using them for isle or for guest to throw at you when you are walking out. Remember, anything plastic won’t vanish after your wedding is over, and using real plants is way better and it looks so much more beautiful.

I hope these ideas help you! Remember, you can still have your dream wedding while being eco-friendly and save some $ for your honeymoon or the new house you want to buy or for the baby on the way!

With love,
Natalie