Earth Day! Be Green In Your Home And In Your Events.(Philadelphia, New Jersey, Event Planner)

As you may or may not know today is earth day. Some common misconceptions about “going green” or becoming “eco-friendly” are that it will take a substantial amount of extra time out of your day, and that it is much more expensive then your current lifestyle. There are actually many simple substitutions you can make in your daily lifestyle that will help the environment without costing you a penny, and in many cases can even save you money. Here are just a couple that I found in a article by bankrate.com titled 153 Ways to go Green .

Stop the junk mail

If you are interested in reading the rest of the article it describes easy ways to go green in your home, at work and school, with technology, with food, and at play.

There are also many ways to go green with your event or wedding.

Invitations

• There are several types of recycled paper. You can also get “Tree Free Paper” which is made of hemp, organic cotton, bamboo, or banana stalks
• Create Save The Date thumbdrives with PDF files containing all information and a link to a website that will be updated as more information becomes available for the event or wedding.
• There are invitations available that contain seed within the invitation.  After the wedding invitees can plant the invitation in their garden, which will eventually grow into a plant or flower.

Favors

• Make a charitable donation in lieu of a traditional favor.  Donating to an environmental cause gets you double points.
  
• Bamboo
• Soy candles
• Use potted plants as centerpieces and allow guests to take them home.
  

Location

• Consider where the majority of your guests are coming from.  Will they have to travel far?  Destination weddings can be beautiful, but damage the environment from all that traveling.  Hosting your wedding locally will be more eco-friendly.
• Have the ceremony and reception in the same venue.  Reducing the travel necessary for your guests, therefore reducing the carbon footprint.

Food & Decor

• Use a caterer that purchases their product locally.
• Obtain your flowers from a florist who uses local and organic farms.
• If you are looking for something exotic look for a wildflower grower at your local farmers market.

Attire

• Think vintage!  Shop at a vintage store for your wedding dress or tuxedo.
• Donate your dress to charity after the wedding.
• Buy a dress or tux that you would wear again.

Honeymoon

• Use a travel agent who specializes in eco-friendly trips who will ensure the location and other details are environmentally sensetive.
• Rent a hybrid car.
• Look for a location that may involve off the beaten path types of adventures.  Get involved with nature.
• Stay in a hotel that recycles.  Leave a note for the cleaning staff asking them not to replace your towels every day, but every third day instead.

There are many more options and ideas. If you are interested in having a green event please contact us for further information.

Saving The Earth In Style – GreenChic Living (Philadelphia Event Planner)

Earth Day is April 22nd, and is quickly approaching.  Mainline Magazine & Bucks Life Magazine will be supporting the “Green Phenomenon”  next Wednesday at The Crystal Tea Room from 5:00pm – 9:00pm with their event titled GreenChic Living.

Events by Monroe is excited to be partnering with these great publications as well as LUXE Marketing to bring Philadelphians the most stylish and interactive green showcase yet.

There will be a vast assortment of eco-chic products for the home and body that compliment your lifestyle without compromising style, function or comfort.  In addition you will have a chance to hear Katherine Gajewski, the Czar of Sustainability for Philadelphia, speak, as well Greenandsave.com’s Charlie Szoradi discussing all the latest innovations.  There will be a fashion show taking place where you can see some great organic clothing.  Stop by PECO’s booth to hear about the changing energy laws, then swing by and speak to a few solar companies to see how you can reduce your electric costs to counter these energy law changes.

Other highlights include a beauty bar, solar innovations, green fashion and home goods, local wine and food companies and much more.  Cost of tickets are $15.00 in advance which can be purchased at greenchicliving.eventbrite.com and $20.00 at the door which includes cocktails & hor d’oeuvres. Proceeds to benefit the Sustainable Business Network and Schuylkill Banks.

Take a look at the Notes section on the GreenChic Living Fan Page to see a list of all the participants and sponsors. http://bit.ly/9wBl4v .

Real Weddings 2009 Survey Results (Philadelphia, New Jersey Event Planner)

Real Weddings conducted a nationwide survey which included over 21,000 couples that were married in the US in 2009.  The results along with the interpretation are very interesting and informative.  If you are a former bride who was married in Philadelphia and you are reading this blog DON’T PANIC when you see the numbers mentioned in this report.  Keep in mind these are national averages.  It’s ok if you paid $1200.00 for your Wedding DJ and the report states the 2009 price as $892.00.  We are in a highly populated city, where costs of living are higher then in some other areas of the country like Arkansas or Idaho.

Here is the link to the article discussing the results.  It touches on many areas including budgets, number of attendees, music, the use of planners, cakes, etc.  Enjoy!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Knot-Unveils-2009-Real-bw-2004126660.html?x=0&.v=1

You Get What You Pay For With A “Virtual Event Planner”(Philadelphia, New Jersey, Event Planner)

I am a faithful reader of Real Simple Magazine.  They always have great products to promote, recipes to share, and new uses for old household items.  While reading through the February issue something caught my attention in their article titled 9 PROBLEM SOLVERS OF THE MONTH.  Number 8 is listed Mypunchbowl.com.  So I began to read the description, and became immediately disgruntled .  The description reads as follows:

“Need a virtual event plannerto organize your sister’s baby shower (turned thunderstorm)?  This party-savvy website allows potential attendees to vote on the best date, creates online invitations, and helps you find a theme, a venue, a caterer, and more, leaving you ample time to shop for Onesies”

I took a look at www.mypunchbowl.com.  It is a great resource for gathering ideas, getting some inspiration for your event, creating gift registries, etc, much like weddingwire.com, theknot.com, and many others.  You can find unique favors, fun themes, and even create some online save the dates to send to your guests.  Online event resources are very useful, and neccessary.  According to recent studies 94% of brides will use the internet at some point when planning their wedding.  So you may be thinking “So what is my issue then?”  Here is my issue. . .

My anger stems from the wording “virtual event planner”.  There can not and will never be a virtual event planner.  A virtual event guide, yes.  A virtual event resource, yes.  But a virtual event planner, no.

An event planner/wedding planner has progressed from a luxury to a necessity in todays society.  An event planner is an extremely creative  individual who is knowledgable in todays styles, trends, and etiquitte.  The major job of an event planner is to get to know their client personally by learning their wants, likes, and needs, and to then take that information and match it with the industry professionals that will fit into their criteria, in addition to having compatible personalities.  Please show me a computer that can do that.

Using the wording “virtual event planner” gives readers the impression that they can go onto this website for free and use their resources in place of hiring a professional event consultant.  I stated earlier what you will get on this website.  Here is what you will not get.

• You will not get the organizational skills of a professional to tell you how the flow of your event timeline should go to optimize your guests enjoyment.
• You will not get a professional on site the day of your event to fix a last minute emergency should things go wrong.
• You will not get access to a planners industry connections that they spend hours each week building so that their clients can get the best value for their money.
• You will not get a professional to look over your event contract and make sure you have not been overcharged, taxed on non taxable items, or that important elements have not been left out.
• You will not get to have a stress free day that you can enjoy every minute of knowing that there is a professional seeing that everything goes as planned.

Please take the previous points into consideration when trying to decide whether or not to plan your event on your own, with simply a computer.  Use these sites for what they are created for, ideas, inspiration, and a good starting point.  The cost of event professional pays itself after all the tragedies averted, budgets kept, and the value of professional service is accounted for.

Great Wedding Resource! (Philadelphia, New Jersey Event Planner)

I have recently become more acquainted with Wedding Wire, a great resource that I am now using on a daily basis.  It is a great site that you can use to search for various types of professionals to assist you with your event.  It also has a multitude of useful tools to help you stay organized and on track with all the planning for your event.  They are very interactive on Facebook and Twitter, where they keep you posted on all their latest tips and advice.  You can now find Events by Monroe, LLC as a listed event professional on Wedding Wire, as well as Best Philadelphia Weddings, and Martha Stewart Weddings.  We are very excited to be expanding.  I hope you get some use out of these sites and the great tools that they offer!

Exciting News! (Philadelphia, New Jersey Event Planner)

So.  . . as promised, here is the big announcement.  About two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went out to dinner, and he proposed to me!  Of course I said yes!  We are both very excited.  I wanted to find a way to make this an exciting  adventure for all of my readers also, and here is what I came up with . . .

From now until the wedding I will be writing about all the details of our planning, no matter how big or small, exciting or aggrevating    You will all be able to follow along with all of the decisions we face, and I will even be taking polls to let you help us to decide on many things.  We would also love to hear any feedback and comments you have regarding our big day! 

So. . . now you will not only be staying up to date on all the latest trends and advancements in the event industry, but you will actually get to help in planning my wedding!  I can’t wait to start.

The Man Registry (Philadelphia, New Jersey, Event Planner)

I came across http://www.themanregistry.com/ a few months ago. It is a great site geared towards grooms. All you brides-to-be should be sure to tell your fiances’ about this site. It has tons of features, as well as how to guides, tips, ideas for unique bachelor parties, and more. They also have a great blog that can be found at groomsadvice.com. Log onto their blog today to read about their new give away

New Twists on Old Traditions. (Philadelphia, New Jersey, Event Planner).

I was just reading an article on 7 New Twists on Old Traditions. There are three that definitely stood out, I have been seeing a lot more recently, and just love

Cutting the Cake
Trends are saying that it is now acceptible not to have a wedding cake and opt for sundaes or pie instead. I don’t necessarily like this. I’m far from traditional, but I do love the symbolism of the wedding cake, and your guests are going to want to see what you came up with for yours. I do however like the trend of instead of having one big wedding cake, allowing each individual table have a small wedding cake of their own as a centerpiece. They can all be the same, similar, or each can be different, depending on what the couple is aiming to achieve. I personally think I would still want my big “wow” wedding cake, but this is another option and emerging trend for others to think about.

The Anniversary Dance
I love when they do the anniversary dance at weddings. In today’s society being married for 52 years can be a rarity, and is an achievement that should be celebrated. If you aren’t familiar the DJ calls all of the couples to the floor and will ask only couples who have been married longer then a year to remain on the dance floor, then five years, then ten years, etc. until you are left with only one couple. The new trend is to do it in reverse. This can be a great way to segway from dinner to the dancing portion of the evening because by the time you are done you will have a large amount of your guests already on the floor.

The Bouquet Toss
I love that this was mentioned in the article because I hate the bouquet toss. I know it is a tradition that many people love, and if you love it, don’t let me stop you from doing it at your wedding, but here are some reasons against it.

• Not all of your single friends, even more after a certain age, want to paraded out on the floor and displayed as single (especially if they are already insecure about it).
• You may not be as accurate of a pitcher as you think you are. It can go to high and hit the chandelier, too far back and land on the other side of the reception hall where no self respecting single lady is going to chase it that far, or it can hang a wide right and hit an unsuspecting guest in the face.
• It can lead to a downright rumble with the right amount of alcohol.
• Finally, just because a woman is not married, does not mean she is not in a committed relationship. It can be uncomfortable for all parties involved when you have a boyfriend, and you have to sit in the middle of the floor and have the grooms thrid cousin sticking his hand up your dress.

Some of the new trends replacing this tradition, are to skip the garter and bouquet toss all together, to have a flower for each single woman at the reception, or to simply say a toast to all the single ladies there.

Create Your Own Stamps (Philadelphia, New Jersey, Event Planner)

I was just referred to this site. If you are looking for an extra wow on your next events invitations check out this site:

www.perfectpostage.com

PS. Don’t forget postage has gone up recently. It is now $0.44

Trick or Tweet. (Philadelphia, New Jersey, Event Planner).