Stamps

People hire me to bring something new to the table of ideas. I recently had a situation where my client asked for her 50th birthday party to be about her... she does for so many people all of the time on various boards that this time it was going to be about her. Point taken. The w/e after meeting with them I proposed to revolve the party around her life and the things she likes to do. Each table would be themed after a time of her life. For starters I suggested that the invite and postage stamps be pictures of her when she was just a little girl. I asked her husband about her life and he enlightened me on a spectacular detail; her father raised exotic animals when she was growing up. One thing led to another and he provided me a picture of her and her sister sitting on a carpet with two chimpanzees between them. One of the chimps is "reading a book" - or so it seems. It is ADORABLE. Welllll..... I propose that we use this image as the postage stamp. He loved it. I submit the stamp.Never heard a peep. Then I got to thinking... hey, what happened to the stamps? I go on-line to check my order and it's been canceled. I do more researching and I'm told that the image was inappropriate. Inappropriate to whom?... I want to know. I go on-line looking for someone to talk to. Guess what? There's no one to talk to. Not a single phone number on the site. I submit an on-line email stating my qualm and get a form letter response asking for the information that I had already put in my email. I resubmit my information and get the SAME form letter. I'm seething at this point. I email back... same form letter. So I decide to reorder the stamps... with a note on my order... there's NOTHING wrong with the image and it fits their criteria. You guessed it ... canceled again. Reminder: without my knowledge. Can I tell you how furious I am at this point? Soooo... I email them yet again b/c God forbid there be a contact number to call. Yep, same form letter. I send respond to their email and am told pretty much "sorry, please order again" I respond pretty inappropriately and I'm told: We apologize for the trouble you are experiencing. In order to resolve your issue in the quickest and most effective manner possible, we will need you to speak with one of our customer service representatives.

Please call us toll-free at 1-888-434-0055. Our hours of operation are from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST, Monday through Friday.

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and thank you for visiting PhotoStamps.

NOTE TO Everyone: pick up the phone and call their top secret phone number right now and tell them they're jerks!!

Anywaaayyy... I call them. She tells me that I need to reorder the stamp... lucky for me I did that the night before! I give her the new order number... she tells me the image is in the "inspection" area and she adds "it will most likely be rejected again" "WHY?!!" I ask... she's not sure... no one can give me a straight answer. So she emails me an Affirmation of Rights Form ... what-freakin-ever!! I sign the form and I get the same email back telling me to reorder. You're probably wondering if I'll use them again... well, yeah, it's a division of the United States Postal Service... do I have a choice?

121

That's how many days of shopping we have until Christmas...Just thought I'd throw that out there while you're busy planning your event!

Murder Mystery

Mark your calendars... the next Murder Mystery Dinner Theater will be on December 31, 2008... yep, New Year's Eve.More details to follow.

Hope you can make it!

Stay-cation

Hello there! I've been gone for some time for a multitude of reasons. However, I've listened to all of you that have dropped me a line to say that my blog has been stagnant. So sorry!Along with everyone else that I know, we decided to take a stay-cation that was close to home but far away enough from the business. We spent a week in Mt. Gretna and I can't tell you how spectacular it was. (I can't find any real good links - that's the reason it's so untapped, I guess) I can tell you that there was no cell coverage there... NONE. At any rate, with such a busy wedding and celebration season I hadn't gotten a chance to read through the business journals, business magazines and Oprahs that I had been accumulating... I took a stack about 2 ft high and.... unfortunately, brought them all back. *sigh* My time at Mt. Gretna was to relax and by God Almighty, I was going to relax. There's a section in the forest that has a little fairy garden in it. It's soooo charming - to say the least. It doesn't matter what time of the day you go you are sure to find little girls (and sometimes boys) sitting there having tea with the fairies - or the boys who call it tea with the gnomes. There's a journal on one of the benches that they keep in a plastic container and little people leave notes to the fairies... it was too darn cute. If you look closely at the first picture in the second set, there's a little girl there reading one of the journals. I think people come from all over to bring little tea cups to the fairies. I was at the Jigger Shoppe (an ice cream shop built in the 1800's) and I hear this little girl, of about 5, say to her dad; "Oh, Daddy, we must go see the fairy garden right now!" and he said "well, I'm not sure if I know where it's at" - obviously deviling her. She said "it's along this path right here" and Tony turns to me and says "that's why I can't have little girls, I'm no good at standing up to that tiny voice"... of course that Daddy was taking his little girl right away. Enjoy...

The last set of pics are Mt. Gretna living. The residency there is 50-50 of people that live there year-round and people that only have vacation homes there. Take a look at the community library. Talk about nostalgic. This whole little community puts you in mind of the the village or town where the movie Dirty Dancing takes place... remember that? The back woods, the foot trails, the play house, community room (where they show B&W movies!), ice cream shop... even the lake. It's all there at Gretna. What a great stay-cation!

Competition

"Competition is good for you... it makes you better" Gordon Ramsey Hell's Kitchen

Morons

They come in every shape and color.... I'm no exception. Turns out that I ruined my blog - some weeks ago - and I've been panicked ever since to even touch it. So easy does it... I'll be posting pics here but as for my showcase and slideshow... I have to get over the anxiety. Trust me when I tell you that not everything can be fixed as they tell you in school.

This is one of my favorite pics with the gobo shining on my couple.

How cute is this one?

Love this one... sooo nostalgic.

This one is a carefully executed theme... nailed right on the head.

Business Mixer

Along with Wedding Season, Perfect Settings continues to push forward in the business community. Last evening we hosted a Business Mixer that was a huge success. I forgot to take pictures beforehand but managed to get a few shots before tear down. I'll be adding more of these shots to the slide show. I know, I know... I need to update that slide show. Wait no longer!!

21 Suggestions for success

Came across this and thought that this would benefit everyone during this busy time of year. I believe these originally came from Mark Kingsdorf of the Queen of Hearts Wedding Coordinating. • Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

• Work at something that you enjoy and is worth of your time and talent.

• Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

• Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

• Be forgiving of yourself and others.

• Be generous.

• Have a grateful heart.

• Persistence, persistence, persistence.

• Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

• Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

• Commit yourself to constant improvement.

• Commit yourself to quality.

• Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

• Be loyal.

• Be honest.

• Be a self-starter.

• Be decisive, even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.

• Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

• Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.

• Take good care of those you love.

• Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

At a time when life is in such turmoil and you gauge your relationships by your current events... we need to stop and be mindful that there's more to life than planning, partying and celebrating. Stop and cherish those folks in your life for what and who they are. Daisy

Finally

The last 2 weeks have been super busy at Perfect Settings. I won't bore you with the details... I will however, inundate you with pictures as soon as they are available to me. Well... all the children have graduated. What a tremendous blessing. Anth did a dissertation while Whit had a portfolio review on display. My kids can't be farther than different from each other. Whit's portfolio was one of the nicest sets of prints that I saw - that's an unbiased opinion, too. These are the kind of pictures you get when you go to art school. How very cool is that? You've got to click on the picture to get the full effect of this shot!

Timeline

Being a wedding planner, I just automatically assume that I'll be handling the timeline and hence not having to have my brides stress about this (one tiny) detail. However, I'm now a venue owner. It occurred to me last week that most people don't know the timeline of a wedding reception. I'll outline it here for you.Hors D'oeuvres and your cocktail hour. MC announces wedding party Bride and Groom make entrance First dance (optional at this time) Blessing of food Toasts Dinner Cake is cut and served Bouquet and Garter Special Dances (father-daughter, etc) Dance!

For the most part, this is how a reception is run with the exception of the 1st dance. Sometimes the B&G want to have dinner first then dance. It's a personal preference. But in the end... it's your reception and you can do whatever the heck you please.

Tag

We bloggers play tag all the time. I've been tagged by the fabulous Kim Petyt from Parisian Events - in the middle of wedding season, no less. I think bloggers get a kick out of inundating other fellow bloggers because once you get tagged it's like the gnawing tooth ache that you need to address at some point.The tag is based on 5 corny songs that we love and why. I read others that have been tagged (to find available suckers) and now those dang songs are stuck in my head. OK... Song #1: Dancing Queen by Abba. Stop snickering. It's a cool song that takes you back to the 70's. Song #2: The Electric Slide by Neville O'Riley Livingston (you know I had to google that one. No one knows who that dude is.) I love this song b/c when you hear "It's electric!!" you can look in the sea of faces at a wedding or party and see everyone's eyes scanning the room and them thinking "are you in, am I in? Let's do it!" BTW... I was at the grocery store one time and this song came on the radio and my sister started to do the slide in the middle of the bread aisle. It was hilarious. Song #3: September by Earth Wind and Fire. I just LOVE this song!! Ok, ok! I'm old school... the secret is out. Earth, Wind and Fire, the Commodores, DeBarge and the Isley Brothers *sigh* those were the days... Song #4: My Everything by Barry White. I saw this on Isis' blog (YESTERDAY) and now I can't get that song off of my brain. So Barry White is pretty cool. I had an anesthesiologist tell me one time that Barry could say; "hey baby, you know I didn't mean to punch you in the nose and break that pretty little nose" and make it sound oh, so sexy. Yep. That's Barry. BTW... that doc has been sniffing too many gases. Song #5: You Make Me Feel Brand New by the Stylistics. Good Lawd, people... you have to love this dang song!!! Makes you melt... puts me right back in the 70's riding my purple bike with the banana seat that had bright yellow daisies on the seat and colorful stringys coming off the handle bars. All the while pumping up my calves to be the hideous things that they are today... but you gotta love it... God bless you! You make me feel brand new! For God blessed me with you! You make me feel brand new. I sing this song for you... make me feel brand new.... *sigh* I'll be singing this for the next week... and all the while wondering how does that man sing so freakin' high?? I'm off to tag another sucker... I think the only people not tagged yet are newbies or people that have 30 weddings this year. Let's start with Leslie - from Leslie - Manning Events she never blogs about anything unrelated to weddings - take a chance Leslie, it won't hurt your following... and Samantha - she's a newbie. I'll tag Shayna from Williamsburg Wedding Design and I'll tag Christina Wright from Simply Modern, too. Get to blogging guys... this was pretty tough.

Side note: How's life across the pond, Kim?? Now everyone knows just how cornball I am... hope you're happy.

Nuff said!

You're just going to have to click on the image! Disclaimer: Received this from a client... trust me, I believe in marriage!

Who's lovin' beer?

I can tell you who's lovin' beer. Cristy and Dave. That's who. They love beer so much that I suggested they center their wedding around beer.They like brewing their own beer and initially I suggested that they have a beer tasting station. They were loving that until they decided to brew and bottle three different kinds of beers. We gave them as favors. I'm sure the professional pics will be awesome but you have no professional photographer here so deal with this shot. Either way, you get the idea. They customized the labels and brewed 3 faves. When I get the professional shots I'll be sure to post them. Trust me when I tell you that you won't appreciate my shots. They're ok but have no punch. I'm waiting for the punches!

Another wedding for the heavens...

Cristy and Dave are getting married on Saturday so if you contact me via email this is the message you'll get - you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this if you're going to get the message anyway. ummm... I'm telling you just in case you don't get the message - I'm no tech guru and I'm not sure that I set up the away message correctly. I never do it right.... it either goes only to my Blackberry or only to my site... never both.... Thank you for contacting me and considering Perfect Settings, LLC. Please note; I will not be available on Friday, April 18th or Saturday, April 19th in preparation for Cristy and Dave's wedding. However, your message is very important to me! I will be checking my messages on Sunday morning, so please be patient. I will return all messages on Monday but should you need assistance today, please do not hesitate to contact me at 717.951.8541 If you are inquiring about our reception facilities, please note that all of the packages are outlined on our website. You may call the number above for specifics. Also, feel free to navigate my website and be sure to read the blog! - as our current events and happenings are always posted there. www.perfectsettings.net I'm off creating more Perfect Settings! Cheers! Daisy

Favors

A lot of folks ask me about favors and the relevance. I have to tell you, I personally love edible favors; candy bars, sweet endings bar, chocolate covered strawberries, mints ... you get the picture. What I'm really not feeling are nick-nacks - they are soooo passé, people! I hate to tell you... no one is really interested in having another votive candle. They were cool back in the 90's. I'm sure that you didn't know that. However, when people go to weddings - trust me they do - the last thing they want is to go home with yet another nick-nack that won't be finding a shelf at home. There are a lot of tasteful wedding favors these days that could be re purposed... seeds, letting folks go home with the toasting flutes - un-engraved! , wine stoppers, wine!, champagne... follow? What we don't want are pictures of the B&G left at every single placesetting - this is priceless to mom and dad - even your siblings may love it - but I hate to tell you, that coworker that you invited that is hoping you quit your job is not going to enjoy that picture of you and your boo on vacation. I love this site: Stupid Wedding Crap The very old archives are hilarious, but now that she's getting serious about planning everything doesn't seem stupid anymore. This happens to most brides...

Oprey

Oprah is having a show today about puppy mills. I'm embarrassed to say that it was filmed in Lancaster County - apparently, the Puppy Mill Capital of the World. This morning's paper talks about how the host got Oprah's attention for the show. He paid for a billboard outside her studio, with pictures of puppies being mistreated, and asked for Oprah's help. She called a week later. I'm a dog lover - so much so that I won't be watching this show. This stuff disturbs the crap out of me. So I'm asking you all to watch and support the effort to get rid of the puppy mills here. http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200804/tows_past_20080404.jhtml?promocode=HP21

Be advised... Lisa Ling cried for two days. I have enough drama in my life... thank you very much. I won't be there.

Soooo excited!

I have just been approved by the Borough of Columbia... I'm just too excited... we have FINALLY (after long hours of secrecy) gotten the approval to have our reception hall turned into 2 studio apartments. This is going to produce sooo much more income than running a ballroom. I can not wait. It's been a long time in the works... gotta love town hall.

April fool's, everyone. One of my favorite days of the year.

Marriage License

Back by popular demand... an old post.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. - and they really do mean only.

What does a Wedding Coordinator do on the weekends?

Most of my colleagues either take a day off, do site tours or thank God for a weekend off. What do I do... I work on a 200 year old warehouse.When we were told that buying new flooring for our first floor was going to be close to $18,000.00 Tony and I decided that the sanding option wasn't too bad. So we took on the sanding. I was in charge of the edging. I'm told that I was in charge of this task because 1. the drum sander is over 100 lbs. and 2. apparently, I'm a good edger. - don't think I don't know when someone is patronizing me. Anyway, it took over 18 hours to do 3,000 square feet in May 2005. We didn't have AC and it was so hot those 2 days. If you've ever edged floors you know you have to stoop and squat for all of the edging. Do that for 18 hours. My behind didn't forgive me for months. We were so exhausted that at the end of the 2nd day of sanding we stopped at the threshold of our entrance doors. That means that the foyer outside my door and the first landing (2nd one too) were untouched. Of all the tours that we have had through our home I have told everyone that would listen to me that I'd never ever, as long as I lived, EVER sand again. Well, I lied. We decided to sand my office, the foyer and the first landing - I convinced Tony that no one is interested in the 2nd landing. We started early on Saturday morning and we were finally done by 4:30. Not too bad is what you're thinking... yeah, whatever, you weren't the one edging!! I never want to see that God-forsaken edger ever again. We emptied my office and put it in the kitchen and dining room and it sure seemed like everything grew 2x it's size! The stuff just kept pouring out of my office and I can't believe that I crammed it all in there. Here's what was done...

Am I happy with the results?... sure. I'd never do it again. Believe that one. I'm not even in the pictures to prove that I even was a part of the fiasco. How unfair. Next time there's even a thought of edging, I'm going to do what Anthony did, fall on my back with Strep Throat. Take that one to the bank!

Who says you can't have a Butler?

Good ol' Oprey had Jen Groover in her magazine with her Butler bag... what you ask is a Butler Bag... I'm so very happy you asked. A Butler Bag is what got Tony and me in a heated discussion (operative word there) because when I saw it I had to have it. I don't do this normally... not very materialistic... I just like nice things. Well the Butler is a very nice thing. Jen Groover had an AHA moment when she stuck her dishwasher utensil rack into her purse. That would be something I'd do but I didn't think of it first! Don't you just HATE that?? But how honkin' ingenious is that??? Anyway, she realized that life couldn't be any better with this organizer in her bag. I gotta tell you... I have to agree. The thing is making me crazy with joy. I don't know how I've gotten along without it before. Think I'm exaggerating? (I sometimes do) Buy one yourself. Seriously. I have never shown so many people the inside of my bag before. I tell total strangers at the grocery store "want to see the inside of my bag?" then I give them one of Karen's cards. Karen owns the Village Boutique and she's the only one in the county that has these bags - you could buy them on line but who wants to wait? (side note, Karen doesn't have a web site; her number is: 717.560.4477) She said she's having a hard time keeping them in stock - which is true because I really wanted a black or brown bag but settled on a Mustard colored one. I'm in heaven, people! Brown, black, mustard, green, orange or red... you are going to love it! Trust me on this one. LOVE IT!!!