Wedding Planner Certification - Tips for Getting Event Planning Contracts

Every couple and their family starts planning and preparing for their wedding reception much before the actual day of the event. How would it be to appoint a professional wedding planner for all arrangements related to your ceremony? Don't you think it sounds great! No doubt you can plan everything yourself. But a skillful event manager is trained to have a better illusion of the whole event and can tactfully plan out everything much more early and in an easy way. Thus assigning an event planner relieves you of the burden.

Looking at the rising demand of event planners in this competitive era when people really want perfection of their occasions, you must look forward for Wedding Planner Certification. If you avail wedding planner certification from some reputable institute, you surely have a bright future. You have many opportunities of getting a job as an event manager at five star hotels and can earn a lot. Some popular wedding planner companies also provide Wedding Planner Courses and Certification. If you get yourself registered with one of the recognized companies for your certification then there are many chances that they will themselves offer you a good job.

Thus your journey as a wedding planner can begin from wedding Planner Company. As you are now well versed with event planning and management, you can work on personal bases to get more and more contracts. Initially you can do some volunteer work and manage the responsibilities of small events for your friends, neighbors and relatives. When you have won many appreciations and are confident enough about your skills, you can then begin as a paid event planner on small scale.

You can make your own personal website and introduce yourself as a certified event planner for birthdays, dance parties and small scale business conferences. You must also get your own business cards published and involve in a little marketing to gain fame. For the success of event management, two most important keys are to have excellent coordination and time management skills. Friendly atmosphere and team work are very necessary to bring up a qualitative conclusion of the event. To get many things to be done simultaneously on time you need to deal very well with all people indulged in managing different categories of the occasion.

When you have arranged quite a lot of small events successfully and have become popular in the business, then you can expand your business and step towards arranging events on big scale like weddings, concerts and seminars.

Hiring an Event Artist for Your Wedding, Function or Party - The Elegant Extra

The Elegant Extra -

Hiring an artist for your special event

Planning a party, celebration, corporate event, reunion or wedding that needs to make an impression? Looking for something out of the ordinary that guests can take home, something by which they'll always remember that day? Nothing surprises and impresses guests like finding that the reception includes a professional artist working live to "capture" them on the spot.

For example, today brides are definitely looking to put the stamp of their own style and personality on their weddings. They want something that will make their ceremony and reception uniquely their own, and make their day stand out in their guests' minds from all the other weddings they've attended.

If your reception is formal, or you'd like it to have a vintage theme or a nostalgic aura, consider hiring a silhouette artist or two to cut traditional profiles of the guests. Their silhouette becomes their favor, and being one-of-a-kind, is likely to be treasured as an heirloom rather than left behind at the table or discarded.

Additionally, guests find watching an artist work live immensely entertaining and even educational. Because relatively few professional silhouettists are at work in America today, many guests have never had their profile cut or watched an artist create one. Seeing likenesses start to emerge in just seconds from simple black paper and scissors wows viewers.

Silhouettes fit in perfectly with most events from parties for kids to 50th wedding anniversaries, whether or not the theme is "vintage." The art of the silhouette was at its height in the mid-1700's to mid-1800's, with another important resurgence in the post-camera nineteenth century. But from the middle of the twentieth century, the number of artists with the skill diminished. Thus today freehand silhouette artists create excitement.

Many folks can recall having their head traced in grade school from a projected shadow, but have never seen an artist cut freehand. Most are astonished that a piece of cut paper approximately 3 x 4 inches can capture so much of a person's appearance, posture, and often even personality.

A good silhouette professional will offer a number of different options, tailoring their work to exactly what will best satisfy your vision of your event.

If you want to emphasize FUN at your party rather than tradition, it may be more appropriate to engage a caricature artist. A good one will make every guest laugh and stress the idea that this day is meant to be a fun-filled celebration. Whereas the average silhouette takes about 5 minutes to complete, paste-up included, you should expect a caricaturist to work on each subject for closer to 10 minutes if working in black and white, and a little longer in color.

There are even a few artists available who will bring an easel and turn out a painting of the crowd at your wedding reception or party! This makes a great memento for the happy couple and is fun for guests to watch, though it does not result in a gift they can each take home.

What will hiring an artist cost? Obviously, it depends upon the artist and their reputation and experience, as well as what extras you may want included (for instance, duplicate silhouettes for an album) and how many hours you want them to work (some artists have a three hour minimum, for example.) However, as a ballpark figure, you should expect to pay in the range of $1,000 to $1,500, not including travel expenses, if you want professional results.

Event artists are harder to find on some websites than, say, photographers. You can't always count on them appearing where you might expect, such as under "vendors." But if you use the right search terms, and keep looking, you will find the perfect artist for your event. You can search under the keywords for the type of artist you seek, or look on special occasion sites such as GigMasters.com

In many cases the best artist won't live in the next town over. Nonetheless, if your budget permits you to fly a good one in and put him or her up in a hotel, you may find it is one of the best investments you can make.

After all, every well planned affair has guests, flowers, food and music. It's only the extra special ones that have that crowning touch of a live event artist to help make the day unforgettable for all.

Ruth Monsell

Artful Heirlooms Silhouettes and Caricatures

Tips on Planning Your Corporate Christmas Catering or Work Christmas Party

Are you in charge of planning your work Christmas party? Are you a boss who wants to provide your employees with some good Christmas catering? Or do you simply want to know what to expect from Christmas functions? Whatever the reason, this article will give you five tips to make your corporate Christmas catering go perfectly.

Alcohol - if you are going to have a festive time over Christmas then you will almost definitely going to supply alcohol to your guests, what work Christmas party would be complete without a few drinks? It is advisable not to provide 'hard liquor' or 'spirits' to your guests, beer and wine are good enough for a work function. The reason for this is because it stops people getting too drunk, too quickly. Generally, the staff will see the free alcohol from the boss or the firm as an invitation to drink a lot and quickly. By limiting the amount of alcohol they can drink in a short time, reduces the problems associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Remember, you are the host providing the alcohol and so you bear some of the responsibility associated with serving the alcohol.

Theme - A themed Christmas party is always good because it unites people in a common goal. There is no staff/boss relationship if everyone is dressed as superheros! A theme is a great ice-breaker too, it puts guests at ease right from the start of the party and provides a focal point and direction for the event. If the stress or financial constraints associated with sorting out a great costume are too much, consider a 'bad taste' theme or a colour theme for your Christmas catering function, we all have clothes in our closet considered 'bad taste', right?

Hiring Equipment - If you are having a work Christmas party then chances are that you will need some equipment hire? If you live in the northern hemisphere then you might need some heaters for functions outside. In the southern hemisphere you might need to hire shade cloths so that it doesn't get too hot. As well as those items you might need trestle tables, bar tables, bar serving equipment, adequate seating and a lot more besides. Your Christmas catering company will be able to help you with all of these needs and more.

Staff - You might be lucky enough to have some willing people to serve drinks and help set-up and break down of the staff Christmas party, if not, then it is a great idea to hire some service staff to take care of all of this. Professional catering staffs are trained in the service of alcohol and will have the training and experience to be able to handle most situations should they arise. Service staff should cost between twenty five and forty dollars per hour which means that for a few hundred dollars they are a great investment. We recommend one wait/bar staff per thirty guests, to ensure that all of the staff get the correct attention.

Catering - Lastly, if you are planning a corporate Christmas function or staff party it is important that you get the right caterer. You need to engage an experienced catering professional who has experience with staff functions. Talk with your caterer to assess your exact requirements based upon your budget, you might not want to go for a sit down, roast turkey style of function but opt for a barbecue or canap矇s with noodle boxes instead. You must make sure that there is enough food, especially if there is going to be alcohol served, because guests will get drunk, more quickly on an empty stomach than a full one. Also, it is a good idea to provide some food right from the start of the staff Christmas party so people don't consume alcohol first with catering served two hours later. A few platters scattered around, gourmet breads, crackers and dips is an example of how to get the guests eating food as well as drinking alcohol.

If you follow these simple Christmas catering tips then your staff party should be a fun, festive and fantastic affair. The last thing anyone wants is to make a fool of themselves, lose their job, drink and drive or worse. It is important to be safe as well as having fun.

Small Business Marketing Strategy - Attract and Defend

Any sound small business marketing strategy for growing your company should establish an online and offline presence. This article provides some marketing strategies for you to use.

Offline Attraction Strategies

Local community involvement - Make sure you know the people in town. Can you help them solve their problems better? It's important to make a name for yourself by giving things away, volunteering, and associating yourself with other companies to get more attention locally. You can basically try anything to be well known and liked in your community.

Media strategies - Many local media (tv, print media and even local news sites) face strong competition from the new media and many are willing to accept your contributions if they are free. If you write a helpful and authoritative article on your topic, people will appreciate it. It's better not to write articles as if they were long ads, just keep it educational and mention your brand or your business one or two times.

Online Attraction Strategies

Run a great website - What usually works best, is running a keyword rich content website, meaning lots of great information for your customers. This way, you will turn up high in the search engines for information searches, which is a great way to get your solutions before the eyes of potential customers.

Social media - People love small local businesses that go the extra mile, and will easily become a fan of you on Facebook or Twitter. Your fans will write about you, they may tell their friends, and your client base will grow steadily.

But of course, it's not only about attracting new customers but also about defending your business against negative attacks from competitors. Here are some ways you can do this.

Offline Defense Strategies

Keep in touch - Never let your relations with other local businesses sour, even when your business is thriving. Always remember you are part of a local community and the people you relied on in earlier times will be your strong allies when the competition gets fiercer.

Treat competitors as allies - When you're in a small business startup, it works well to be friends with the big established companies in your niche. Introduce yourself, buy business owners dinner, and offer them to take over smaller clients if they can't handle them due to their size. You will get new customers and other businesses will remember you in a good way, even when you get larger and become their competitors.

Online Defense Strategies

Keep producing positive content - Things often don't last very long on the internet. That's why you have to keep writing on your website or social media pages. If a competitor posts a negative article about you, best respond with a series of positive pieces to keep the momentum on your side. Besides, people don't like slander from other businesses who have vested interests in taking you down.

Start email newsletters - Your competitors will try to convince their customers subtly or less subtly that their brand is preferable over yours. Publishing a newsletter is one way to combat this. Don't fill it with ads, but try to write stories and pass information that creates relationships with your customers. People like to buy from those they like and trust. It is a low-cost and high-value strategy, though it takes some discipline.

Starting a new business isn't easy. On every part of the road, there will be hurdles. The good news is, you'd be surprised to see how many of your competitors don't really know what they are doing, and nowhere else this is clearer than on the internet. So, take the above tips, get out there and play ball!

5 Tips to Organize a Smart Outdoor Event

Summer is here and so is the time to relax under the warm sun with family and friends. Every year, I make it a point to take some time out from my busy schedule to arrange a wonderful outdoor event with plenty of food and free flowing beer. This year too, I have planned to host a gala poolside party for my friends. However, for all those who are first timers in organizing an outdoor event, let's have a look at the top tips to make your parties a grand success.

Select a Venue

Outdoor events should be organized in areas that provide sufficient recreational opportunities. For example, there should be a playground for the kids, a pond or a stream where you can indulge in some natural swimming, etc. However, the biggest challenge to hosting an event outside can be unfriendly weather conditions that may spoil practically everything. The best alternatives to open-air parties are arranging them on midsized yachts, outdoor amphitheaters or by erecting tents. If these are not possible, choose a location which may have some sort of natural shelter nearby for your guests to run to in case it rains.

Proper Communication

Outdoor weddings or birthday parties or similar events such as these should not be arranged in an area that is far away from the locality. Guests who do not have private transportation of their own will be hassled just trying to reach the location on time. Moreover, ensure the venue has a spacious parking area, for those who do choose to drive their way to the location. Thus, you should look into these matters to offer a tension-free, comfortable experience to the guests.

Choose a Theme and Decoration

The theme should go hand in hand with the image of the event. For example, if you are planning a wedding, then you can combine rich textured patterns with colorful flowers to make the area look chic and glamorous. For a pool party like the one I host every year, you can decorate the area with some real sea shells and use bright colored table cloths.

Lighting

I have decided to use hanging strings of lights around the pool to give a special effect to the setting and decor. Nevertheless, you can use some more lighting concepts such as hanging lanterns if you have planned a garden party. You can also set out colorful candles on the tables provided the region doesn't face strong winds that will blow them out.

Looking after the Comfort of your Guests

No one likes to sit on bare ground. It is therefore better to opt for modular sitting arrangements which is quite trendy plus is space-saving. Sanitation is one of the crucial elements to keep an eye on. The wedding or party area should have well-cleaned and hygienic restroom facilities with fresh towels, hand wash and tissue papers. You must not forget to keep one or more generators in case the power goes off during the event.

Wedding & Corporate Event Planner

A planner refers to a person that plans each and every aspect of your wedding and corporate event. The success of an event whether wedding or any corporate meeting or seminar depends upon the competency of the planner. No doubt, marriages are made in heaven but a professional wedding planner recreate the aura of heavenly experience on earth and fascinate your guest with their exceptional service.

They manage the overall wedding event and ensure that everything goes exactly as planned right from the initial stage to the closing stage. They will not only assist you in making right selection and choose the perfect wedding vendors and venue but also maintain a balance in what is happening, when it is happening, who is doing it while keeping a strict watch that everything goes within budget.

But you don't need to worry as both the wedding and corporate event planner is supposed to work under your supervision. Effective communication between you and the planner is quite essential to make the event successful. Just tell him plainly your taste, preferences and desires and it is his responsibility to make arrangements accordingly. Make sure to follow their work and always remember that you are the one who will pay the cash therefore, your decision will always be final and binding.

Wedding is certainly once in a lifetime affair while corporate events strengthen your business and motivate your employees! Therefore you must choose a reliable planner.

The planner should be competent and skilled enough to implement your ideas and understand your needs and objectives. Discuss the plan with him and analyze the aspects of the event will they cover and how much say so are you going to have in the planning?

You should feel comfortable with them as you will be spending considerable amount of time with them. Planning an event whether corporate or wedding can be a great deal of fun, but there are often several hectic times as well. A professional planner can go a long way in making your event memorable and mesmerizing.

Event Marketing and Consumer Purchase Decision: Companies Turn To Outdoor Movies To Promote Brand

Marketing is always changing. Chances are, a strategy that has worked for you in the past will not always bring the same success. To stay competitive in the dynamic marketing arena, it is important to stay on top of current marketing trends and learn how to use them to best promote your brand.

A new study released by the Event Marketing Institute presents some interesting data on Experiential Marketing. The study reveals that spending by companies on Experiential Marketing and Experiential Marketing events is growing; and with good reason. The figures show that this type of marketing is highly successful; with 58% of event attendees making a purchase following the event, and 86% of those who made a purchase turning into regular customers.

What exactly is Experiential Marketing? Experiential Marketing attempts to create a connection between potential customers and the brand using meaningful experiences. Experiential Marketing aims to entice customers to make a purchase by appealing to both rational and emotional behavior. Successful Experiential Marketing is highly impactful. Consumers need to come away with a positive feeling about the brand that they will remember and talk about. The idea behind Experiential Marketing is not to be an advertisement for the brand, but rather, a fun and memorable experience that consumers will connect with the brand that will encourage them to make a purchase.

Modern technology has made this type of marketing easier than ever. In order to host a successful event, consumers must be aware of it. The Internet, and, specifically, social networking sites are playing a large role here. Companies can get the word out about an event quickly and easily by using social networking. A buzz is created about the experience before it even takes place.

This past year, several large companies creatively reached out to consumers and promoted their brands using outdoor movies. In Bogota, Colombia, commuting is usually a pretty miserable event; with drivers spending about four hours per day in traffic. A popular soft drink company decided to reach out to these commuters and transform the highway into an outdoor cinema- complete with a large movie screen, popcorn to snack on, and, of course, soda pop to drink.

This move by the cola company truly embodies what Experiential Marketing is about. Commuters stuck in miserable traffic who were then offered a cool drink, and entertainment (short movies), will almost definitely experience a positive emotional response they will connect with the company's soda brand.

A big box electronic store made a comparable move in 2011 on Black Friday. Approximately 120 of the electronic superstores across the country came to the rescue for Black Friday shoppers waiting in long lines, and offered a big screen outdoor movie event featuring the new Blockbuster film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2.

For the 25th Anniversary of the classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a daily deal coupon internet company decided to host a screening of the film at Wrigley Field. The location was perfect since most of the movie was filmed in Chicago. Three huge screens were set up, and the daily deal site, fittingly offered a deal on the tickets. $10 was all it took to get a bleacher seat for the event.

To promote the release of a new Italian car, the brand hosted a drive-in movie event in Times Square featuring free entertainment, food and drinks. The best part was that attendees could sign up and view the film from inside one of the automobiles. After the initial Times Square outdoor cinema event, it was taken on the road to other cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. Since the Italian car were re-makes, the films chosen were also re-makes; selections included Ever After and Romeo and Juliet.

Experiential marketing events like these are enjoyable for those who attend and are meant to create a positive buzz about the company. When successful, the experience has an effect on not only those who attended, but all of the people the attendees tell about the event.

Hosting an outdoor movie event on large inflatable movie screens is one of many ways to promote your brand and create a positive buzz about your company. If you are trying to make a big impact, an outdoor movie event is certainly an Experiential Marketing approach worth considering.