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.

Tips for Shopping for Wedding Gowns (Philadelphia, New Jersey Event Planner)

As women, most of us love to shop.  Shopping for your wedding gown is one of the very exciting items on your wedding to-do list, but it can also become stressful.  One of the main problems that I see in wedding planning today is not the issue of being able to find ideas and information, it is information overload.  You can type “wedding gowns” into your web browser and come up with enough results to be searching through them for weeks, and become so overwhelmed that you feel like you are right back where you started.  A current Events by Monroe client has been facing some stress in finding a dress, so she is our inspiration behind putting this article together for our readers  

Read these tips, and complete these tasks BEFORE you go shopping, and it will save you time, stress, and aggrivation. 

1. Consider the style and tone of your event.  Is it a beach wedding?  A black tie affair?  A reception in a restored barn with an outdoor cocktail hour?  This is the first thing to consider.  You may have had a vision in your head of what your dream wedding dress would look like since you were 5 years old, but will it match the look you are going for.  If your wedding is on the less formal side, a knee length dress would be appropriate.  If you are holding a black tie wedding go for a beautiful formal gown.   If you are holding your reception in a restored barn, maybe you are going for a vintage look.  Whatever the style of your wedding, your dress should reflect that.
2. Consider your timeframe.  You will want to order your wedding dress approximately six months prior to the wedding, so nine months in advance can be a good time to begin shopping.  If you are doing a last minute wedding, or are already beyond this time don’t panic!  You can still get your dress in time, there just may be a few additional charges for the faster service.
3. Make sure you are comfortable.  Although a dress may look phenomenal on you, if it is not comfortable it will affect the fun of your day.  If you love to dance and plan on moving around a lot make sure your dress can handle that when you are trying it on.  You dont want to have to be tugging your dress up all day, or adjusting it so the zipper will stop poking you in the side.
4. Consider your shape.  Men have the luxury of knowing what size they are, going into a store for jeans, picking up a 34×34, continuing to the register and out the door, without even a glimpse of worry over whether they are going to fit.  Infortunately, us ladies don’t have that luxury.  Every designer is different in sizing/styles as well as what shapes their clothes will fit.  Pull out your photo ablbums and start looking through formal events you have gone to in the past.  See if there is a pattern in the style of dress you usually buy.  As you are looking through the photos consider which of these dresses you felt the most confidant and beautiful in.  After this exercise you should have a guideline of the type of dress you would like to look for.  You can also look through the bridal magazines and websites for advice on what shapes look good in what types of dresses.
5. If you have a day you can take off of work, or a day your office is closed during the week try to shop then.  It is easier to have a salespersons full attention during the week, rather then a Saturday when the store is busy.
6. Money Saving Tips.  There are many ways to save on your bridal gown.  You do NOT have to spend thousands of dollars if you can’t afford to.  You can look for sample sales or floor models that are being discounted.  There are often one day trunk sales that travel around who often have sales.  Although it may seem odd many designers will try to sell their dresses on ebay for a great discount.  You can find some hidden treasures in consignment shops.  You can also find bridesmaids dresses in white or an off white shade that you may love (nobody has to know).
7. Sizing.  Wedding gowns run small so don’t be alarmed if your gown is larger then your normal size.  Also every designer is different.  Sales people at the stores should know how each designers dress will fit.

Here are just a few tips.  All wedding websites also have a plethora of information for you to read about gown shopping.  Feel free to contact us with your specific questions we can advise you on.  Happy Shopping!