It is often said that a person should not have more than one major life change at a time, but more often than not, we find that our couples are not only planning their wedding, but also moving (sometimes to another state or country) and/or starting a new job!

So how do you keep your life in balance when you have so much going on?     As a professional event planner, small business owner, mother, wife, daughter, friend and mentor, these are some of tips I would like to share with you.

1)   Make time to plan out your week’s schedule.    Think about how many errands that you may run in a week (ie: bank, groceries, gas station, farmer’s market, etc.) and then think about how much travel time you waste when you do these errands individually and/or during peak traffic or busy times.      We designate two days a week and map out our errands so that we are traveling from point A to B to C to D, etc. and then back home.   By doing this, we are taking the shortest route, combining errands with other appointments, saving time, gas, etc.

2)  Focus on your three MITs (Most Important Tasks).  All of us have deadlines that have to be met, and some of those are in conjunction with someone else helping us gather information or providing a quote.    Take  20 minutes a day to map out your next day’s schedule to ensure that your three most important tasks are taken care of first, then  proceed on with the rest of your list.

3)  Shop Online.  Do you really have to drive 35 minutes to an office supply store?      That 35 minute drive is actually 70 minutes roundtrip (without traffic) plus the cost of gas.   Considering the value of your time and the cost of gas, shopping on-line often can save you money.

4)  Rather than picking up dinner on the way home, create your menu for the week.    By looking at on-line ads, you may determine what items will be on sale and plan your meals around it.   Many grocery stores even have it set-up where you can just click on your item and it will create your shopping list for you, all you have to do is print it out.     On Oahu, Safeway actually has a “deal match” program where you sign up and will get the best price available so you don’t have to go three different grocery stores to try and save money.

5)  Just say “no thank you.”    How many times have you been invited to an event that you really didn’t want to go to but did because you didn’t want to offend someone?   Think about a Saturday night potluck party with your friends.   First, this was the day you planned to catch up on some of your sleep and “to do list” and now, instead of catching up, you not only lost the time you will be away for the potluck, but you’ve also lost the time to worry about what you’re going to make, the time to shop for the item, the prep time for the item and if you enjoyed too much wine that evening, may even sacrifice the next morning with a hangover.

6)  Create a pie chart and split out your projects.   Many get overwhelmed with wedding planning becauses they are looking at all of the things that needs to be done between now and the wedding day.  What we do is take the big pie and break it down into pieces, identifying what you need to do first, and then tackle each section a little at a time.   You’ll find that if you continually do a little at a time, you will feel more in control.

7)  Remember that life happens…….sometimes we get sick, have technical difficulties with our computers, have a new work or school project that is taking more time than we thought, etc.      Just do your best and communicate with others that it may affect, get through the challenging period and then start back at #1 and #2.

8)  Make time for gratitude daily…..be thankful for your blessings and remember that challenges always makes us stronger.

When going through all of the fine details of your wedding day, we ask is whether you will have placecards, escort cards or table tents.      Often times, clients do not know the difference between the three and whether they were required or not.

Place Cards

Typically individual cards that are either set alphabetically at the reception table for your guests to find their own seating assignment, or they may be preset on the guest dining table.  If its sole purpose is only to provide a table assignment, then you can manage with one per couple,  versus one per person.

How you create your placecards may be dependent on several factors:

1)  Do you have an outdoor or indoor wedding reception?   If it is outdoors the wind may blow away your cards unless they are secured to something heavy.

2)  If you are pre-assigning seats at a guest dining table, then place cards would be preset at the dining table in the position you envision it.  We have templates that we send our clients to complete with seating assignments so we may ensure cards are exactly where you want them.  The reason for this, is that if placecards are just placed inside a bag, they may shuffle and get out of order.

3)  Are you having a “choice of entree” menu in which you need to have some type of entree indicator for the waitstaff to know what your guests are eating?     We normally suggest presetting cards on the guest dining table to ensure they are in a position the waitstaff may see.   When guests pick up cards at the reception table and bring it to the table it often a disarray or sometimes has been tucked into their purse.  The same chart we use for table assignments will also list the meal selection to assist the servers.

Are placecards required?       The answer is yes and no.  Yes, if you are assigning specific seats at a table or have a choice of entree meal.  Alternatively, for smaller events, we have used pictures of the guest tables to provide their seating assignment, or have also used the “seating chart with names/entree selection” but it is better to have the placecard in order to cross-check that guests stayed in the seat they were supposed to be in (yes, they do sometimes switch on their own).

No, if placecards are strictly being used to give guests their table assignments, then we may manage with an alphabetical list at the reception table.

Escort Cards:

Often confused with placecards, escort cards can be one simple card that has your name, date or simply your wedding motif and table #____ on it.  When guests check in at the reception table, the reception table worker will write in the table # on the card and hand it to the guest for them to remind them of their table assignment.

Are escort cards required?   No, guests may simply be advised of their table assignment and if they do happen to forget, they may come back to the reception table (which rarely happens).

Table Tents:

Table tents are a list of all the guests that are seated at that particular table.    Some will print this information on a table tent type card or set inside a frame.    This list is so that guests at the table know who else is seated with them.   Word of wisdom, print these at the last minute as you undoubtedly will have last minute seating changes.

Do you need table tent cards or frames?  No, it is not required, but a nice “special touch” if time and/or budget permits it.

The most important thing to have is one consolidated guest that has first and last names, table assignment and meal selection (if applicable).  Keep in mind that while you know everyone on the list your reception table workers usually don’t.

We’re often asked where do we get our inspirations. Like you, we are inspired by event industry icons such as Preston Bailey, David Tutera, Steve Kemble and of course Martha Stewart.

We also follow industry blogs such as “Style Me Pretty” and television shows such as “My Fair Weddings” and follow the work of celebrity planner Mindy Weiss, just to name a few.

Our inspiration sources?

- Nature
- Architecture
- Art
- Home furnishing stores
- Our couples personalities

When designing events for our clients, one of the first things we ask them to do is to complete a floral worksheet that gives their color palettes, likes, don’t likes, and their inspirations. We also talk to them to learn about their ideas, concerns and of course budget goals.

Some clients have a keen sense of what they are looking for, and others will tell us that they don’t have a creative bone in their body. The majority have alot of ideas, but need someone to take their ideas and help pull it all together, and weed out the items that may not really compliment their design or event goals.

We also love to include the couple’s personalities, whether it be things that are symbolic to their relationship, favorite foods or places, cultural elements and engage their guests which is truly what makes your wedding memorable.

An example of a special touch was using pictures of places the couple have traveled to as their table names in lieu of table numbers. Throughout their courtship they had traveled extensively and the places all had a special meaning and fond memories. What made it more special, was that the couple had pictures of the family or guests that they spent time with at each of these places.

In lieu of printed placecards with the guests name, they printed pictures (13 cent prints) and placed on card stock paper. These cards were then placed at each place setting for the guests to find their seats and on the back of the card was a personal thank you note to that individual.

The world has literally no boundaries, and the changes you are capable of achieving is often inhibited only by yourself. My little corner of the world is my family, my friends and Hawaii Weddings and Events. When all of these elements of my life are in order, then my personal life is happy.

As Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.” What are the changes that we’re making and would like to see for others?

Balancing Work and Personal Lives:
First of all, we’re re-balancing our work and personal lives by establishing regular days off which in a society that is 24/7 is unheard of. We’ve found that by having this time off, we are not only more efficient and focused, and our creative side is flowing with new visions because we’e allowed ourselves time to rest and think.

Continuing Education:
We know from experience, that continued education is the key to success, which is why we continually attend event industry conferences such as CaterSource, Event Solutions, NACE Experience and Wedding MBA.

Every year I go to Kapi’olani Community Colleges’ event management class. You should see the look on the students faces when I tell them their education doesn’t end once they graduate.

I would love to see more seasoned veterans take the time to teach others, for they are the future of our industry. I not only continually educate myself, but continually educate and challenge my team and share my knowledge with those that truly have a passion for our industry.

It’s unfortunate that many businesses cut back on training programs, as the dollars they save on training hours would generate more business in the long run due to exceptional service.

When we train interns they learn the “basics” of setting up a table, locking it’s legs, learnng how to define linen size, how far to set flatware from the edges of a table, etc. You would be amazed at how many have never set a dinner place setting

Change your services to meet your clients’ needs.
The needs of clients are ever-changing, and for those businesses that have offered the same services for the last 10+ years or aren’t up to date with social media, find themselves struggling to make ends meet. You can’t remain status quo, the packages and services that Hawaii Weddings and Events offers today, is much different than what we offered in 2006.

Each year, we re-evaluate all of our packages and update at least one or two times based on our clients’ feedback and what we see as changing needs and our company goals. We encourage you to relook at how you are doing things and determine if it is meeting your clients’ needs as well as your own.

Do you remember the day you received your very first e-mail?

Do you remember how excited you were with the new wonders of technology?

Do you remember the last time your e-mail inbox was empty?

We truly appreciate e-mail for it allows us to plan destination weddings from all over the world and we even use e-mail for our busy local couples. The ability to communicate at any time of day and sharing pictures of inspirations and ideas simply by typing and clicking send is nothing short of amazing.

We do, however, want to give you some tips on how to reduce e-mail clutter in both your personal or business lives.

1. Create a separate “wedding” e-mail account so that all of your wedding planning is one location.

2. Create a separate “shopping” e-mail account so that your Groupon, Amazon, Snapfish, etc. orders are all separate from your personal account and most importantly, your business account.

3. Create labels so that you may file away your e-mails. Did you know we actually save each and every e-mail from our clients? We actually have two files for you, one that has your date/name and a second one that is date/name and DONE. When we receive an e-mail we review/answer and then place it in your date/name file. Then, when we have finished placing all notes into your timeline or set-up notes, or taken care of vendor requests, it is moved to the DONE file.

4. Create filters for your e-mails. Spam filters are obvious, but did you know you can also create rules to have your e-mails automatically labeled or forwarded to someone else?

5. Lastly, rather than writing several small e-mails, gather your thoughts throughout the day and save your e-mail as a “draft.” You may continue to update your “draft” e-mail and then at the end of the day send a comprehensive list. You can also make notes in the subject line (for example: Flowers-Minister-Musician) so that you can keep track of your e-mails.

As our 2011 wedding season starts to wrap up, we’re already busy at work developing “value added” offerings for our clients which will help stretch their hard earned dollars.

These special “added value” options are provided as a courtesy by our vendors as they know from experience that their day is much easier when our Hawaii Weddings and Events team is involved in the planning and on-site on the wedding day.

Stay tuned for more details!

This afternoon, in between meeting with two of our destination couples for this Saturday’s weddings, I took time to reflect upon the past year and our goals for 2012.

They say “to be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work” and it is so very true!

Over time, I’ve learned what gives me the greatest joy is:

a)  Seeing the bride and groom see everything that they’ve been planning “come to life” on their wedding day and exceed their expectations.

b)  Meeting people from all over the world and seeing them enjoy our Paradise with their friends and family.

c)  Making the time to teach others about our industry.    I’ve been blessed to have great mentors throughout my career, so I pay it forward by having students from Kapi’olani Community College event management class work with us on events, offer non-paid internships and continually support my team as they are confronted with new challenges.

On May 2, 2011, we launched our “First Two Promotion” whereby the first two couples that book our “For Sanity’s Sake” package within a given month saved $500 off this super value added package.

Due to the amount of time that we devote to serving the client in this package, we limit the number of full service packages to only two per month/per coordinator.

The promotion has been a tremendous success, as Dianna has already confirmed two packages for May, June, July, August and September 2012, so the “last two” packages for each of these months will be with our awesome coordinator Wai.

Why do offer another $500 savings off a package that already is super-value added?

1. We would like to reward couples that reserve their wedding date early.

2. We feel we can be of better service to you if we are assisting from “beginning to end” as we can help avoid costly mistakes, ensure what you envision may be done within the set-up time allotted time and keep your stress level down during the planning process so you may enjoy your engagement.

3. We love to assist clients with their event design!

The “For Sanity’s Sake” package is limited to two bookings within a given month, so please contact us directly to check current availability as bookings are not confirmed until signed contract and retainer fee is received.

We’ve taken a new direction for 2012:

- Dianna will be handling a limited number of full service and event design packages. She will continue to develop new concepts and is developing “value added” options with business partners for our valued clients.

- Wai will service full service, partnership-in-planning packages and a few day-of wedding management packages.

- Ramona will be handling our day-of wedding management packages, beach weddings and a few full service packages.

We will be scaling back on the number of events that we do each month, so we encourage you to book sooner than later.

As the peak of our 2011 wedding season draws near, our Hawaii Weddings and Events team will be putting together our 2012 vision boards for both personal and team goals.

Moving forward…..

- Dianna will be handling a limited number of full service and event design packages. She will continue to develop new concepts and is developing “value added” options with business partners for our valued clients.

- Wai will service full service and partnership-in-planning packages.

- Ramona will be handling our day-of wedding management packages, beach weddings and a few full service events.

We invest alot of time, hard work, devotion and long hours to ensure the success of each and every event. This dedication to service excellence is continually reflected in our positive reviews from our past clients.

We realize that our new direction will result in taking less events, but we feel it will be in everyone’s best interest.

Excluding rehearsals, weddings and special events, our new business hours will go into effect on October 16th:

Consultations are taken by appointment only with a recommended two week advance notice as our schedules do fill up quickly.

Evening appointments are available upon request.

Sundays – OFF
Monday – 10am to 6pm
Tuesday – 10am to 6pm
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – 10am to 6pm
Friday – 10am to 6pm
Saturday – 10am to 6pm