Updated Website

Happy Sunday everyone! This is going to be a very short post. What a long and exhausting week between the kids sports, meetings, and not feeling well. I was out helping a friend today with some birthday items for her daughter upcoming birthday. It was actually a little funny as she said "this is very exhausting, how do you do it?" I just giggled and said, it is actually fun and something I just enjoy. When you really enjoy something, it does not even seem like work to you and that's how it should be.

Okay, now to get to what I was originally posting about. During the last few weeks I have been working on my website and I am quit pleased with how it turned out. Check it out at www.sincerely.yourseventplanning.weebly.com

Hope everyone has a wonderful start to their week!

What's Trending Now....

Often I sit and read on what is currently trending for the month, year or better yet for the current week. As an event planner it is always good to stay on top of what is trending, just to stay relevant in this business. After reading I thought of some great points that I wanted to share. I really feel that these things are super important when it comes to planning one of the most important days of your life.

• Stick to your budget -  Sometimes that is easier said than done, however this is one of the top issues that couples run into, busting the budget.  It is so easy to say well, we can spend a little more on this, or a little more on that and before you know it you are way over budget....eekkk.  I usually tell couples that they have to live after this wedding and that is just the honest truth. Believe it or not there are many ways to cut your cost when planning a wedding or any event for that matter. I always say that you can have a Memorable and Fabulous event without spending a ton of money. 

• Unfortunately, you can not invite everyone  - We all want all of our family and friends to share in our wonderful day and the truth is, not everyone can attend. I think this brings us back to sticking to your budget. It would be wonderful to have everyone attend, but cost wise is usually not in our budget. I tell couples to invite those that are close to you. Friends from college or long lost co-workers that you haven't talked to in years probably should not be at the top of your list (unless they have been an important part of your life in some way).  I had a bride that had this extensive guest list and I repeatly told her that she may want to go over her guest list and shorten it a bit due to the added cost of food, drinks and even more space that she would have to pay for would again blow her budget. After much thought and consideration, she decided that she could not invite everyone. This turned out to be good for her as it kept them within their budget. 

• Do what you want - There is no right or wrong way to do your wedding, again it is YOUR WEDDING. Do not compare your friend, cousin or co-worker wedding to what yours. Anything goes and weddings are more out of the box now than ever and I love that! This is the day that you get to express sides of you that no one has ever seen. Your wedding can be anything you want or think of and the possibilities are endless. I said all of that to say that it is okay to be different. That is one thing that I love about what I do.

• Figure out what is important? - Maybe this should have been my first point....Figure out what is important and what is negotiable. This could mean that there are some things that you must have on your wedding day. For example, the venue and food is most important to some couples, where music and the wedding cake is more important to another couple (you get my drift). Some things are no negotiable and are just must haves for your day and that is understandable. Just figure those important things out and what you will not budge on. Don't get me wrong, some things will have to be negotiable. For instance, for my wedding I wanted long stem white Calla Lilies for my bridesmaids to carry. Well, the florist was unable to get them in and they had no idea when they would arrive. I was so upset about this and instead they carried long stem white roses....far from Calla's, I know but that is one thing that I had to negotiate on. I could have maybe went to another florist but they were probably having the same issue with the flowers. This also brings up another good point, which I will not expound on too much but having more than one option: florist, bakery, photographer (that will be another blog post ;-) 

Planning your wedding should be fun, stress free and memorable. Do not over do it by stressing, remember it is all about what YOU want and what makes you happy. Stick to your budget, be different, figure out what is important to you and Happy Planning! 

Get creative on a budget

What can I say, I love to shop! Especially when I can get things at a super cheap price and it looks like I spent a ton of money on it makes me SUPER happy! Okay, maybe I am a little overjoyed about my purchase, but I could not help but to share this awesome find. This makes me a little happy because in Italy, demijohns (will have to post pics of those) are all the rage with the Americans here and any type of vase that you can find that is a bit different. This is the best time to shop, after the holidays. Everything is priced so low as stores are trying to rid themselves of the inventory and for us it can be a goldmine of savings $$.

For those that like to decorate and change things up often (like I do), finding sales is always an added bonus. While I was exploring the store the other day, I came across these beautiful hand blown amber vases from Spain and immediately wanted all of them, but then I thought (my husband will go through the roof). After giving it much thought (a couple of minutes), I went for it and got a size of each.

More than excited about my purchase and the awesome price after I checked the sticker again, the next question was, where are they going to go? Considering we are only living in our space for a short time, I did not want to clutter the place up but they had to go somewhere.

I found a perfect little spot for them which is right by the terrace door. It adds so much rich color to the room and I could not wait to tell my husband about the great deal that I got. He was not as thrilled as I was but I got a great deal and absolutely love how they look in my living room.

Shopping on a budget is not always a bad thing. It's amazing how you can spend so little and with just a little work can give something a different look. Everything in the photo cost me about $20, that's right....$20 bucks! The flowers I found in the Christmas area of the store...however, they are not too seasonal where I can't use them after Christmas.

My great find of hand blown amber vases from Spain...great buy!

Also, do not pass up shopping at thrift stores either. You will be amazed at what you can find and at such a steal of a price. I even come across brand new items. I will post a few pics later of my thrift store finds. Happy shopping!

With a little added pop of color (forgot I had these in storage :-) 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2016 Everyone! Hard to believe that we have started another year. 2015 was full of wonderful and great experiences and I hope that we can all say that we will have many more of those this year. With so many things on my plate last year, I did not get a chance to do a lot of things that I had planned to do, so I am really excited to get the ball rolling with a lot of those things this year.

Wishing you all a very Blessed year ahead and as always, 

Happy Planning!

~Welcome~

Welcome to my new blog spot! I have been blogging for a while on my website and thought I should just start a separate one up...made more sense! Hope you will check back soon and often. Also, check out my website www.sincerelyyourseventplanning.weebly.com and "like us" on Facebook www.facebook.com/SYEventPlanning

Italy - Ciao Bella!

Beautiful Sorrento, Italy

Ciao! I have the opportunity to be in Italy for a while and I can say that it is absolutely beautiful here and I have seen some great places for a destination wedding, vow renewal or just a great girls trip. Question of the day...Would you choose to have a destination wedding? If so, why or why not?