weddings and special events and private estates: Things to Know When You are Newly Engaged.

Having produced weddings for the last ten years, I love hearing our clients describe how they envision their wedding day.

Whether they want to arrive in a 1963 vintage white Rolls Royce or a baby blue Cadillac convertible - I love the creative process. XO

Any wedding, whether it big or small has hundreds of details, and as an event planner, it is our goal to help make your wedding day run smoothly.

From time saving tricks to money saving ideas, this is what we do - help our clients navigate through the endless 'to do' lists and help them enjoy the planning process.

This week's planning tips -

First thing out the gate, establish your budget and guest count.

Determine the location of your wedding - city, view, etc.

Start collecting inspiration photos from your favorite magazines and/or the Internet.

What type of wedding do you want - casual or formal?

Buy a binder with tabs that separate the following:

Agreements - cake, flowers, officiate, event planner, entertainment, venue, etc.

Budget breakdown

Business card holders

Inspiration photos - this will help your service provider meetings go quicker.

How to Make Your Event a Success -

Making Sure Your Service Providers are Fed a Good Meal.

When it comes to dinner, I can't emphasize how important it is to make sure that your band or DJ, photographer, event planner (yes, us) and video professionals have a decent meal. Your professionals can't leave the venue and many of them are working long hours without a break. If the vendor meal is bad, they have two choices - eat the meal or don't eat. Not feeding them is not a good idea, since it will make it difficult for them to perform their job.

Clients are being charged by the venues $35.00 and up for a vendor meal. One time, we had an event at a well known hotel in Beverly Hills and all of the service providers were served sandwiches. Sandwiches would have been fine, except no one could not bite into the bread - it was too stale. As the event planner, I had to bring it to the captain's attention and he was kind enough to give everyone a different dinner. Another time, the caterer was running behind and the band was not fed until 11 pm. This is a big no no, since their contracts state times for meals. However, all 14 of them stuck in there for me and to this day, I don't know how I pulled that off:)

Estate Picks of the Week

Malibu Estates

Estate 9096

Beautiful ocean views. This property can handle up to 250 guests. If your count is smaller, we can make it work. Beautiful stairway entrance for the bridal party. xo