Chicago Area Fashions Needed...

Contact Danie Roberts if you are interested!

Danie is seeking bridal fashions, flower girl dresses, shoes, accessories, hats, tuxedos, suits, honeymoon wear, mother of the bride fashions, and fashions for the entire family for our bridal party and guest fashion show.

This is a unique and FREE opportunity to put your brand in front of hundreds of consumers at our upcoming bridal show. Show the bridal party and the family how to dress to impress at one of our shows.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/danie-roberts/10/367/69a

BBQ Goes Chic

From chic lighting tips to new twists on traditional barbeque foods, turn your backyard into a posh barbeque destination.

Invitation Idea: Wooden Utensils. Find a craft store that sells cheap wooden spoons and fork. Pair them up, tie them together with a ribbon and then attach a tag to it, along with the party details. (Don't forget to use ribbon and detailing that matches the primary color of the event - example, yellow (primary) and white (secondary).)

Drink Idea: Watermelon Punch from www.marthastewart.com (LOVE THIS!!)
Fabulous Food Ideas:

Decor Ideas: Consider lining the entrance of your home with a path of tiki torches or luminary bags. (I do this for most of my social events, I love it when guests walk up to home and/or venue and luminaries line the walk way or steps.)

Another idea - Pocket Silverware (all about the small details), I love to create paper or oilcloth pockets that matches the event theme or colors to hold silverware. Placed on a buffet tables doubles as decor!!!

Cost Saving Tips for Corporate Meetings

Order Bulk Breakfasts
For continental breakfasts, order in bulk, not per-person packages. The packages often include more food than is necessary. By ordering in bulk, you can cut it in half. And if it's a full breakfast, offer buffet meals, not plated.

Leave the Rate Alone
In a seller's market, hotels are reluctant to budge on the room rate because that is where the biggest profit comes from. If you leave the rate alone, hoteliers may be more willing to give concessions in other areas — ancillary fees (resort fees, Internet fees, etc.), comp rooms, additional staff rooms, airport transfers, even food and beverage.

Tear Down Costs for A/V
Often, AV companies will charge the same labor fees for teardown as they do for setup. Strike, or teardown, takes less time, so teardown fees should be about half or three-quarters of what setup charges are.

Use Multitasking Meeting Rooms.
For example, use the same room classroom-style for the education, and banquet-style for serving lunch. Put up screens or use plants to divide space.

(www.meetingsnet.com)

Experiance the Future of Events...

I am sold, I absolutly love this system! Spotme combines social networking via a searchable photo database, messaging, people radar, unique "Spotting" function and electronic business card exchange, with personalized agenda, audience response, Q&A sessions, messaging, lead retrieval, attendance tracking, electronic feedback forms (and more) to create the only all-in-one communication service for events of all sorts - from 200 to 5000 participants.

Networking on Steriods...The Spotme device can slice-and-dice a 1,000 person delegate list in no time. Helping delegates identify the 15-20 people that they should network with at your conference.

Followup with Contacts with an Ease of a Button... Participants can use their Spotme device to exchange electronic business cards with other participants. Then, we will send the electronic business card, photo, and any notes that they have taken to them after the conference.

Let's discuss the Bottle Line (ROI)...The cost of the Spotme service is based on the number of Spotme devices required and the number of days that they will be used at the event (including the day of distribution and the recuperation day). This gives us the number of “participant days”. There is a “set-up” fee and a fee per “participant day”. Volume discounts ranging from 10% to 50% are offered on these fees depending on the total number of “participant days” ordered.

Do I Need to R.S.V.P...

As a planner for events from 30 to 500 poeple and anywhere from 18 to 30 events a year, it is becoming more and more difficult to receive a firm indication whether or not guests will or will not attend the party, even if we literally do everything but drive to their homes and personally ask them to R.S.V.P. So why is this? I truly think it is because people do not understand what the term means.

Clarification...

The term R.S.V.P. comes from the French expression "répondez s'il vous plaît", meaning "please respond". If R.S.V.P. is written on an invitation it means the invited guest must tell the host whether or not they plan to attend the party. It does not mean to respond only if you're coming, and it does not mean respond only if you're not coming (the expression "regrets only" is reserved for that instance). It means the host needs a definite head count for the planned event, and needs it by the date specified on the invitation.

An incomplete list of respondents can cause numerous problems for a host including difficulty in planning food quantities, issues relating to minimum guarantees with catering halls, uncertainty over the number of party favors and difficulties in planning appropriate seating, among other things.

So the next time you see R.S.V.P. on an invitation you receive, please call your host and respond promptly.

Wedding Concepts

The above picture from www.polkadotbride.com is a great example of how to create the perfect wedding and/or event. Like with graphic design or interior decorating; I always have a central focus (many use the word theme) but it is really more then that that. It's like a child that "focuses" on Elmo, everything is about Elmo, from their clothes, to their pj's, to their toys...and how nicely everything fits together and defines the child's like! So, when you are in the midst of the planning process, consider color first, likes etc. and pick something that you absolutley adore and run with it!

Top Row
1. Brides.com
2. Henry Roth
3. June Bug Weddings Blog

Middle Row
6. In Style Weddings.com
7. Project Wedding.com
8. In Style Weddings.com

Bottom Row
9. Huetopia Design
10. Project Wedding
11. The Cake Girls.com
12. The Knot

Danny Clark Foundation Event

Cirque du Lumiere - Foundation Gala
NY Giant Danny Clark was in town on April 18, 2009 and with the help of Celebrity Planner, Kristie Sams-Faulkner, President of CEO of C&C Event Planning & Mgt., Inc., threw a bash Chicago style! Teammates, friends, and fans stopped by for the food, drinks, performances, and to raise money for the Danny Clark Foundation.

Special Guests Included:
Marcus Stoud, Chico DeBarge, Slique, David Tyree, Charles Tillman, Israel Idonije, Drew Sadora, Lisa E, Sha 45 Girls, Brandon Jacobs, Antonio Pierce and other celebrities.

Chicago 3 Media - Video of the Event
http://www.chicago3media.com/home.html?task=viewvideo&video_id=86