Green weddings

So the trend is moving on to Eco-friendly weddings. There's a whole web site dedicated to just this. http://www.justgive.org/worldwildlifefund/weddings/index.jspIt ceases to amaze me how many different directions any function could go. I recently saw a client who is throwing a Quinceanero for her daughter and we must have spent 1/2 hour dedicated solely to finding a theme that fit the birthday girl. I'm sure that there is a bride out there who is itching to have a "green wedding" and just didn't know if they should pursue it - honestly, I've never done one but I'd love to. I hate to sound like a commercial but I'd like to help you have your wedding exactly how you envision it. That's part of the passion of this industry. Stepping back seeing what the client sees and executing a perfect delivery. Besides, if you try to plan this wedding yourself you're just going to spend a whole lot of gas in your not-so-conservative-gas-guzzling-car when all you have to do is make a phone call to me!!

Don't ring the "Bells"

I've had several people ask me about the Wedding Bells show today. My sister said she was going to call me and get me out of bed to watch it - since I was sick - and BTW... my eyeballs are feeling just fine today, thank you. Anyway, I did watch the show. Actually I was really looking forward to it. I thought it would be a bleed from "Whose wedding is it anyway?" but it was far from that. Yes, I did laugh when the wedding singer sang "I will survive" - who sings about surviving a break up at a wedding? - and I did laugh when the planner spoke into her talkie "we've got a runner" but other than that it was very disturbing. Sure we get difficult clients - none of which are you! - but thankfully they are few and far between - if they weren't I wouldn't love this industry so much - but to build a whole show on the difficult client, have a planner sleep with one of the groomsmen - in a linen closet no less - have one of the planners drink at one of the functions, have a Rabbi bribed to say "Jesus" and have one wedding totally cancel is not what we do. Oh, and why do they always make men out to be total morons on TV? Do you actually think my husband would be calling out day and night "but I'm the COO" - what the heck is the deal with that? Why is it that the man has to play a total idiot on TV? Did you ever notice that? They're always really big dummies that remind you of Baby Huey. At any rate, what a total let down. I don't watch TV much since Seinfeld went off the air. I think I may watch an hour of TV a week. So needless to say, I was totally looking forward to having an addiction to this show that would tie into my business. I thought it was going to be something that was going to be a buzz in our industry. Something that we could run to the web and say "did you see those totally AWESOME centerpieces on the Bells last night?" Instead LOTS of planners were disappointed last night. I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

Would my eyeballs hurt so much if they weren't so big?

That's the question for the week. I can tell when I'm getting sick because my eyeballs hurt. My son who doesn't have large eyeballs thinks this is weird. My daughter who does have huge eyeballs knows exactly what I'm talking about - BTW she knows about those air bubbles under the eyelids too! Soooo, my eyeballs hurt! I thought, yesterday, that they were hurting so much because I did a photo shoot for Whit (which, btw, was very painful in itself - when I was done with the shoot I went to the bathroom and saw I had a huge piece of an almond stuck between my front teeth! ugh. How come Whit didn't notice that? She claims she is being graded on lighting... these pictures are going to be just lovely) well she had me moving my eyeballs all over the place! I told her they were going to fall out of my head but she didn't believe me. So in addition to my eyeballs hurting, my throat (or like my kids used to say "my troat") has been throbbing for 2 days. I can safely say I think I'm getting sick. Out goes the theory that you can't get sick if you work from home. I think germs some how come to me, though - maybe through family and friends. I get sick few and far between - thank God Almighty, but this is the kind of sick I hate... hurting eyeballs (the worse in the world), face that throbs, throat kills, skin hurts, hair hurts... you know the kind. I'm going to bed and watch Opry. Hopefully by dinnertime I'll feel like living again. I have to construct my 40th birthday invites and am really looking forward to that. Maybe that's why I'm getting sick... I'm facing the fact that I will no longer own collagen, gravity will win (always does), metabolism will pack its bags and leave me and Author will come to visit the joints. Hello 40! Nevertheless, I look forward to it - not like 30 - and will delve right into my favorite thing in life.... CANDY for my party. But until then... I have to contend with the hurting eyeballs. .... funny, Tylenol doesn't have "hurting eyeballs" as one of their symptoms that they claim to relieve. I have to go on faith, take 2 Tylenol and hope for the best. I'll let you know how they're doing tomorrow.

10 things to do with your fiance before you get married!

I found this really cute article. It's probably 5 yrs old or more:10 things to do... 1. Read the inscriptions from your high school yearbooks. 2. Practice your first kiss as man and wife. (BTW... I always tell my brides this one!! - it's so important, people!) 3. Spontaneously call in sick and spend the day together. 4. Write funny fake wedding vows like: "I promise not to roll my eyes while you watch The Simpson's." 5. Re-create your first date. 6. Give each other foot massages (no cold feet here). 7. Toss your ex's memorabilia. 8. Burp. It happens, and you better just get over it already. 9. Get caller ID to screen calls from your "wedding planner" parents. 10. Confess your most hated possession of the other's and agree to donate both.

OK... wasn't that cute? I just love them. I'm on planner overload with wedding season quickly approaching. This weekend I had a Quinceanero that was booked here. They didn't procure my services for planning. The parents of the Quinceanera are from another country that doesn't hurry and hustle for a living. They were running behind and when they finally got here I was in fifth gear. Then I realized I was the only one moving fast and the only one that was anxious plus they really didn't need my help. Not everyone needs to have every detail to be exactly perfect... so I politely excused myself and allowed them to take their time and do it as they pleased.... in first gear. In the end it was simply beautiful and everyone was happy. I'm ready for wedding season.

Never a dull moment....

Yesterday being Thursday, of course, I made my weekly visit to the town's Market House - my favorite thing to do on Thursdays (BTW... Market will be open on Saturdays starting next week - woo-hoo!) after having very meaningful conversations (not) I came home to change my clothes and start wash - one of the glories of working from home - I guess someone would say - that someone isn't me. Anyway, I came home changed into the wonderful sweats and start sorting wash. (I love that I can throw my baskets over the balcony and not have to carry them down the steps. ) Anthony came home shortly after. He says "hey, what's that smell?" "what smell?" "I smell something metallic" When The Chemists speaks I listen. I come out the laundry room and I smell it too. I have a bionic nose, BTW. The search began. I touched every electrical outlet, cord, appliance - anything that had to do with electricity because it smelled electrical. We searched for 40 minutes to no avail. I called my nephew the firefighter and he treks over. He says "Aunt Daysi (that's how they all pronounce it) I think you should call it in." Just then Tony calls from Hsbg. He's asks all of the no brainer questions and just frustrated me more. OF COURSE I CHECKED THE SPACE HEATER IN THE OFFICE!! So Lewie calls it in. The three ring circus began. The police show up first and say "ma'am, get a coat on and step outside ... you may want to take your dog with you" so Pebby, Anth and me go out. A truckload of firemen show up - none say "HI" - what's the deal? - they begin up the steps. There's one particular fireman that catches my eye.... he's carrying a very large poker. "Uhhhh, I hope you guys ask before you use that thing!" I shout. Lewie goes in after them. After about 15 minutes the firemen all start pouring out. The Fire Chief says "I'm sorry, we didn't find anything. If you feel you need us, don't hesitate to call us again.... by the way, you sure have a nice house there" ...... thaaannnkkks. I come in and turn to the boys... I still smell something. The boys tell me the firemen used meters and such and I just had a nervous nose. K - got it.Hours later, Tony comes home and says the place is freezing - I've been running around setting up for an event this week, working in the office, doing the wonderful wash, cooking, washing last night's pots (gasp) and cleaning so I was not cold. He turns up the heat and heads upstairs. He yells down "why didn't the heat kick on?" - I KNEW IT!! It's got to be the HVAC system!! I want to scream out the window "I KNEW IT!!" but fought the urge. Tony asks the frustrating questions again "did you guys check in the utility room b/f calling the firemen?" - Anth and me just look at each other and yell "YES!" together. So out come the space heaters - these tiny little things that are supposed to warm up over 2200 SF. *sigh* He'll have to call the repairmen in the morning. How much is that going to cost???? In the meantime, fire up that dang stove! Just last week we had to remove the spouts from the outside because they were totally frozen solid. Here's some of the storm aftermath ... I knew the pictures would come in handy. That's going to cost a pretty penny to have replaced. UGH....

What a great party we had!

I finally can get around to talk about the party. What a great one it was. Considering that the party was nearly cancelled, I was very happy to have it. Our host of honor is, indeed, loved. The place was packed. The jazz trio was AWESOME - as always. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of them! As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I don't have one picture of them. Hmm, have to do something about that one. Back to the party; I asked the wife early on if we needed a gift table - she didn't think so - well, we did. It was great. I think that one of the reasons people really poured out to support him was because the party was almost cancelled. I'm really glad you chose to stay with us, guy! The food was great and the waitstaff was fabulous - they never let me down. The Cosmo luge was a hit - I had a Cosmo at 11:30 at night - of course, after the party - no one wanted to see me sliding around the room - very good. I have to put cosmopolitans on the top of my mixed drink list - along with the other two that are on there. That's about all I can handle. By the way... I never got around to talking about the Sweetheart Banquet. Well I really have to give kudos to that one... it was fantastic. With cancelling and not cancelling the Cosmo party I never had a chance to check in here. Well, the food was probably the best catered I've ever had. Terry Sears made his fabulous fudge - which he then cut into hearts - a very big hit. Everyone had an awesome time - which I'm ecstatic about. I didn't get any pictures of the room after it was all set up but Whit did. This picture was taken in the middle of everything. Of course, I don't have the pics yet but when you check back (with the new web site under construction) I'll have them under "Sweetheart Banquet". Well, everyone asked if they can make reservations for next year. Sure guys but what about that soup party I'm having? All you soup people come join us with your best ever soup. Say good bye to the cabin fever for one night, bring your soup (enough for 6 people) and join us for an awesome time. I can have soup anytime of the year but my soup parties are always a great time in the dead of winter while spring is just starting to bud and bring us beauty. Contact me if you're interested in attending - we'd love to have you. My favorite soup is cheddar - broccoli!

Cosmos anyone?

Here's what's left from the Cosmo party. I had to take a picture of it since I was soooo stressed about the cosmo luge melting. It's 2 days later and the thing is holding up!! When my new site gets released (how 'bout it Shoff?) I'll put the pictures into a showcase for you to see. Until then, I'm too proud not to show you what the space looked like. Before:

After:

My Funny Valentine

Valentine is my favorite Holiday. My very favorite. I love Valentine’s Day for two reasons; I love love and Tony’s birthday is on Valentine’s Day.Our “first born” (as he likes to be called) wanted to buy his father dinner today for his birthday. Nothing was open because of the storm. His plan B was to have the Courier Carrier deliver something from one of the finer restaurants. To no avail. – what’s the deal with that anyway? You would think they’d really jump on that one since it was pretty evident that no one was going out to dinner this evening. At any rate, we had to settle for Columbia Pizza. Don’t get me wrong; Columbia Pizza’s pizza is probably one of the best pizzas in Lancaster County! But we didn’t want pizza… we wanted Mexican. So we call in our order and are informed that they are no longer delivering this evening. UGH. Who’s walking? I ask. We all just look at each other. The birthday boy certainly can't go... so the first born and me decide it's us. I go up and put my Wonder Woman boots on - truly, they ARE wonder woman's boots - and first born doesn't want to go out with me looking like that. After some convincing we decide to make the trek.I can't tell you how flippin' freezing it was out there. It was still snowing with intermittent sleet that was wind driven. Some businesses in the downtown district hadn't bothered to shovel. It was quite the process. We did, however, make it. But on the way up to the pizzaria I told the son the story of love sickness. It was the winter of 1983 during the blizzard on Feburary 14. It had snowed 6 feet of snow... remember that? Well, being the good girlfriend that I was, I ordered a bouquet of balloons to be delivered to Tony at his job at 7-11. The balloon company called me and said that they could not deliver the balloons - after all, it was a state of emergency. Well, that wasn't going to stop me. I called my girlfriend Wanda and said I had to pick some balloons up "just around the corner". I was 15, Wanda was 12 so she believed me. 5 miles later and having to say "just around the corner" some 20 times, we finally get the balloons and trek over to the 7-11 - another 6 miles. Picture that; two school girls walking in the snow but you can't see the girls all you see is balloons over the top of snow. What you won't do for love!! The first born thought that was pretty funny. So we get home and decide to watch "The March of the Penguins". How appropriate! As the son said "you couldn't pay me to be a penguin" - true. What penguins do for love is better than walking 11 miles for your love. If you've not watched it - rent it, it's pretty good. So that was my evening with my funny Valentines... the Son and the Love. Having pizza in front of a fireplace watching the March of the Penguins. The only other thing that would have completed me as a person was to have the daughter home. *sigh*

The cutest thing

Yesterday I cut out a picture, of my 10 y.o. neighbor boy, that was in the paper. He made it into the spelling bee. I added a note that told him I was proud of him. I put the article in his mail box. At about 8 pm while I'm setting up for the Sweetheart Banquet my door bell rings. It's him. God love him. He's real shy looking and he says: "thank you for the note that you wrote me." "Oh, you're welcome", I say. "that was very nice of you", he says. "you're welcome"... then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Valentine. "I have a Valentine for you" and he hands me a Sponge Bob Valentine. OMG... he lowered his eyes and got all shy.... how darn cute. "Thaaaannnk you" I say and he gets embarrassed and says "I have new sneakers" and shows me his new sneakers. The innocence.... I tell my hubby who says "it must have been your new haircut". Great, at my age I can't woo a little boy on my own - by the way, my hair is really very short for the wintertime. I feel like a fat little boy.

What did that Mayor say?

Among other things that Perfect Settings is the nicest place to book in Columbia. - well he really didn't say that but we are! Mayor Lutz is such a good guy. He really knows what's best for the community and isn't afraid of making enemies to prove it. I was given some time to speak and I got tunnel vision. (Give me a reception of 200 or more and I'm fine - a group of 40 and I feel like they're looking at my every zit.) I hammered the most important things like wedding coordinators aren't for the wealthy anymore, we give you options of being different, we provide a reasonable budget that everyone agrees on, we suggest items to change to save you money and of course booking at my site and hiring me will automatically save you money on the booking.

7/7/07

How cool is that? One of my dearly beloved was born on 8/8/88 so I'm thinking that 7/7/07 is almost as cool.Anyhooooo, I was contacted by AFWPI regarding availability on the venue and am most happy to post the link. http://afwpi.com/777/pennsylvania.html I have a ton of cool ideas for a wedding like this!

Ledger

This was in this week's Ledger. Tune in to see what the Mayor did say. It was a great breakfast and Mayor Lutz did a fantastic job of telling and informing everyone of the accomplishments and upcoming changes to the Borough. He was very energetic and contagious - not his cold, his attitude. He made most of us walk away from the breakfast feeling refreshed and encouraged that our attempts are going to be very fruitful.

Full moon

I debated about writing this one.... but there's certain things that you'd rather write about than talk about.I went to Dr. Hassel's viewing last night and woke up thinking of Jennifer Hassel. I went there to comfort her because I knew how much Mark loved Jennifer and how much Jennifer loved him.... and she ended up comforting me. I'm in the wedding industry. I love the feeling of love. I love that people look into each other's eyes and fall in love. I love that one look at a bride from her groom and she melts. I love dating and the anticipation that you'll spend the rest of your life with the one you love. ... all these things that I love, Jennifer and Dr. Hassel loved too. I knew I was in for tears and hurt. There was a montage of Dr. Hassel's life that easily brought me to tears. After speaking with Jennifer and looking into the faces of their children I had to sit and compose myself before leaving the sanctuary, knowing that the foyer was full of people waiting to come in. People that Dr. Hassel's life changed in one way or another. After leaving Dr. Hassel's viewing last night. I looked up and saw there was a full moon. - something he would have loved. It brought this deep howling sob from me and I sat in the car for more than 1/2 hour sobbing my eyes out because of the unfairness of it all. - that I won't go into. Let's just say Dr. Hassel was 47 .... nuff said. Once the tears started I couldn't contain them or control them. I sobbed for the whole ride home and often wondered what people thought of me when they either passed me or turned towards me and stared .... I just couldn't help it. The bottom line..... I still have my husband today because God has blessed me beyond measure. Jennifer's family is less one member today, tomorrow and forever.... and it's not because God hasn't chosen to bless them. This is what disturbs me most.

10 Ways

I just spent an hour on LancasterOnline.com trying to find the article that was in today's morning paper about saving money on your wedding.... to no avail. The search engine is horrible. I probably could have scanned it in much faster but whatever.... get it if you want to read it. For the most part it's a good article. I did want to mention that although I agreed with almost everything.... (especially the plug about my girlfriend from highschool (Claudia) who writes the craft corner) .... in the article, I'm not really feeling the ipod wedding. We recently had one of those - against my recommendation - and I can really tell you, there was a huge void in the reception. Spend the extra money on the DJ or band. You won't regret it.... it's money well spent into the temporary investment you've come to call your wedding. Your ipod isn't going to read the crowd when everyone is yelling "play it again!". Take the time to write down your fav hits and make sure you meet with the DJ. Last and surely not least... hire a wedding coordinator - if not for the whole job just for the day of coordination! Nothing looks worse than a bride approaching the DJ or running around looking for trash bags!

Sweetheart Banquet

Perfect Settings is hosting a Sweetheart Banquet in celebration of my most favorite holiday. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested since space is limited. The cost is $30 per person.

My Dr. Hassel

He's probably everyone's Dr. Hassel today. I felt like somehow I had to mark it in history somewhere that our precious Dr. Hassel went to meet the Lord this morning. My heart is saddened for Jennifer and their children.... but softened by the fact that he is no longer suffering.

Tax Season

I'm trying really, really hard not to be short since tax season is upon me once again. ... I think I'd rather deal with Christmas again than to tackle books that haven't been balanced for 4 months. ... along with a ton of construction receipts. *in through the nose... out through the mouth* .....

Marriage License Info

I get the question - a lot - of when a bride and groom should get their marriage license. I'm not sure where this source originally came from so I can't give it proper credit but as far as I know, it's correct info. Here's the skinny: Where to apply: Office of the Clerk or Orphans Court, second floor, Lancaster County Courthouse. Hours are: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm M-F. Phone number: 717.295.3522 The marriage may take place anywhere in PA. When you apply: The couple must appear in person to complete the marriage application. Social Security numbers are required. Remarriages: Applicants who have been previously married must provide additional information concerning the dissolution of the most recent marriage. Call for complete information. Medical Exams: The state of PA no longer requires a blood test or medical exams. Who may not marry: Blood relatives down to and including first cousins may not marry according to PA law. When to apply: In PA there is a three day waiting period before the license is available. Apply at least one week before the marriage date. The license is valid for 60 days after the license has been issued. Fee: The fee in Lancaster County is $40, cash only.