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How to Hire a Caterer

Posted by Patti on April 9, 2010 · 1 Comment 

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Getting the best wedding food for your budget
By Patti Herioux
Event Planner, With Love
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Up to 50% of your wedding budget will be spent on food and beverage. That makes the decision of who to hire for your catering needs something not be taken lightly. Unless you are on a limitless budget–which, face it, you aren’t–you need to put a lot of thought into how you allocate these funds. The goal is to provide delicious food that leaves your guests full, satisfied and licking their lips… not making a run for the nearest drive-thru! Read more

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We’re So Hungry!

Posted by Patti on March 25, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

WE’RE SO HUNGRY
YOUR WEDDING MENU
By Patti Herioux
Event Planner, With Love
By the time you sit down for dinner at your wedding
reception you (and all of your guests) will be ravenous!  As you venture into the major decision
of what company to hire for your catering needs for food and beverage start by
thinking about what you would like the meal to say to your guests.  Consider the style you would like the
meal served in, the type of foods you would like to serve, the courses that
will be involved and any special details you would like to include (ethnic,
kosher, regional, etc.).  Certain
caterers may be better suited for your needs than others based off of what your
master plan is.
It holds true that your guests are likely to remember the
extremes… if your wedding food is ordinary, it won’t leave a huge impression
either way.  If it is bad your
guests will always remember yours as ‘that wedding where the food was
terrible!’  And if it’s exceptional,
they will likely remember your wedding as ‘the best food they’ve ever had at a
wedding.’   Make this decision wisely!
SERVICE STYLE
First, think of how you’d like the food you select served to
your guests.  You have two basic
options:
Buffet
Buffet style service is self-service and casual.  You will typically find buffets served
in one of two ways, an all-inclusive buffet with your courses served on one
long buffet table (your guests will fill their plates from beginning to end) or
food stations.  Food stations could
be as simple as having separate buffets for your salad, soup and entrée course
or as elaborate as serving distinctly different foods at each station (think
pasta stations, fajita station, mashed potato bar, sushi bar).  Your guests can circulate through the
stations filling their plates with whatever is appealing to them!
Plated
A plated dinner is more common and formal in the wedding
world.  Plated meals are served
individually as courses to each guest.
You may start with soup, go to salad, and end with your entrée.  The servers give each guest a prepared
plate delivered to their table.
COURSES
Second to how you will serve your guests, is what you
will serve your guests.  Cultural considerations
or personal preference may dictate the courses you opt to serve.  There are a variety of courses to
consider:
Hors d’oeuvre
Appetizer
Antipasto
Soup
Salad
Pasta
Intermezzo
Entrée
Dessert
EXTRAS
Your caterer will walk you through options outside of the
norm when it comes to what you can offer your guests.  Other than regular courses, there are other things you will
want to consider serving, such as a sweets buffet or late night snack.  Chicago themed late night snack buffets
are very popular and a delicious send off to your guests after a night of
drinking and dancing.  Chicago
style pizza, hot dogs, mini hamburgers… your options are many and scrumptious!
DRINKS
Your caterer will also serve as your bartending staff.  There are “courses” of alcohol to
consider that will go with your food selections.  Cocktail hour traditionally has a full service bar.  The bar may or may not stay open during
dinner.  Red and white wine would
typically be served during dinner, and is a nice touch if the bar will be
closed at that time.  You will also
want to consider champagne to go with the toasts your parents and honor
attendants will be giving.
If closed for dinner, the bar will reopen at the conclusion
of meal service and for the duration of the reception.  You will want to keep in mind all of your guests when selecting your alcohols and beverages.  An assortment of sodas, beers, hard alcohols, mixers and wines is a sure way to please the palate of all your
guests, young to old.
A tasting will be arranged as you get closer to your wedding
date for you to sample the foods your caterer will be serving.  From the tasting you will make your
final selections.  When you make
those selections think about what you like best and what is reflective of you
as couple, or go the crowd pleasing route and think about what will best serve
the masses.
You will be serving a myriad of people with different tastes
and preferences on your wedding day.
Take time and a little extra consideration to give them a meal that’s
something special.  Nobody will
walk away hungry on your big day!

g-button1757 (2)Your Wedding Menu
By Patti Herioux
Event Planner, With Love
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By the time you sit down for dinner at your wedding reception you (and all of your guests) will be ravenous!  As you venture into the major decision of what company to hire for your catering needs for food and beverage start by thinking about what you would like the meal to say to your guests. Read more

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Top 10 Chicago Wedding Ceremony Locations to Consider

Posted by Patti on February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment 


By Patti Herioux
With Love, Event Planner


1. Church – The obvious choice would be the church you attend. If you are not an active member of a congregation, your parents’ church could potentially be an alternative. Chicagoland provides many options, from grand cathedrals to bible chapels.

Read more

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10 Reasons to Hire A Chicago Wedding Planner

Posted by admin on February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

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By Cynthia Rensink
Everlasting Elegant Wedding

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10. We save you time! Your time is valuable. On average a wedding takes at least 1200 hours to plan start to finish. How many hours do you and your fiancé have left in your day after working your full-time job? With a planner, your wedding becomes their full-time job, dedicated to making your day special.

9. We offer advice and guidance! There are many vendors who offer many different options with their packages. Since this is the planner’s job, we will look at the whole picture of your “wedding day” to make sure that the right vendor and the right package are selected.

8. We save you money! We have established relationships with many different vendors who will “work with us” to ensure you stay on budget. Some will even offer you a discount because of our referral.

7. We organize your entire event! From choosing your save-the-date cards and invitations to the bridal gown, church and reception (venue). We are with you every step of the way.

6. We take your dream and make it a reality! With countless options available for your decorations and style, your planner can help you narrow down an option that will be cost-effective and fit within your budget while still giving you your dream wedding.

5. We bond your puzzle pieces (vendors) together! With the countless hours and money that is spent in planning a wedding, we will make sure that every puzzle piece will fit together smoothly. We make sure there are no missing pieces. On your wedding day, we make sure that all of your puzzle pieces (vendors) will stay on track and in place to make you your beautiful wedding day picture.

4. We manage the manners! There are many ways to plan a wedding, but one thing that is a factor in every wedding is etiquette. Wedding planners have experience and knowledge necessary to advise bride and their family on how to invite guests, on how to deal with difficult family issues, on how to create a processional order at the ceremony, to assign seats at the reception, and when to send thank-you notes, and so on.

3. We provide you with security! Hiring a wedding planner means less risk of something to go wrong or be forgotten. We will make sure that all your bases are covered.

2. We remove the stress! When you have a planner, it is like having a life insurance policy. You can sit back and enjoy the planning of your wedding day knowing that every detail will be covered without disturbing your joy.

1. We provide you with peace-of-mind! We become your wedding day investment broker. Your wedding day is a huge investment in you. There is nothing better than knowing that the investment you made in your wedding day was well worth every hour and dollar spent. We will make sure that your investment will give you many years of joy and happiness so that when you look back at your memories, you will remember that you were not stressed and enjoyed your wedding day to the fullest.

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Oh Where, Oh Where Should The Ceremony Be?

Posted by admin on January 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment 


By Cynthia Rensink
Everlasting Elegant Wedding
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Which type of style are you looking for?

There are three types of wedding ceremonies: formal, semi-formal and an informal wedding. There is also the style of the wedding to consider: traditional or non-traditional ceremony. How you decide which one is best for you? The best way to decide is by the location of the ceremony, the number of guests you want to have and the time of the day you want to have it. Read more

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To Planner or Not To Planner

Posted by admin on January 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

TO PLANNER OR NOT TO PLANNER
How to Hire a Wedding Planner
By Patti Herioux
With Love, Event Planner
That shiny new ring on your finger is just the start of your wedding planning process. Maybe you are the bride who already has a binder of magazine cut-outs -we’ve all seen that episode of ‘Friends” – or perhaps you have never given much thought to the details of what will be your wedding day. Either way, a wedding planner can be your biggest advocate in this entire process.
A good wedding planner will take your hand and guide you through the planning and execution of your day, making it as much fun and as painless as it can possibly be. She can save you time, money, anxiety and, from time to time, a bit of your sanity. As you set out to find the right planner for you, consider what it is a wedding planner does.
A full service wedding planner will be with you every step of the way. She will start by helping you select your ceremony and reception venues and be able to make recommendations for all of the vendors you need to hire. She will attend your meetings with you, help you procure contracts, brainstorm ideas, work with you to design the décor and ambiance of the day and find all the pieces you need to make your visions come to life.
Your wedding planner will serve as your roadmap to the who, what, when, where and how’s of your day. As you get into the actual celebration she will be with you at rehearsal and will oversee every detail of the wedding day. From establishing timelines and floorplans to being the point of contact for your vendors, to letting you know what comes next as the day unfolds, she will be there.
Think of her as the CEO of your event. She will make sure all the ‘departments’
have the information and items they need to enact the plan at all the right moments. She will also be able to deal with anything that may not go according to plan (something will go wrong, be ready for that) but with a good planner you will likely never even know!
As with all your vendors, but especially with you planner because of how much she will be with you, pay close attention to your personal connection and gut feeling. Do you like her personality? Does she seem to understand YOUR vision of your day? Does she seem excited about your event? Do you
feel comfortable with her? Take a few minutes to get to know each other, if you like her, assess her knowledge and background and then discuss her fees and duties.
You’ve probably seen the movie “The Wedding Planner.” That movie and the surge in bridal shows on women’s television stations created huge interest in this field. You probably have a friend (or many even you) who’s dream job is to be a wedding planner. But a true wedding planning professional comes with
background in the industry, a knowledge base of more than planning her own
wedding, and is focused on this as her career.
Ask your planner about her experience in the industry and the past events she has done. Does she demonstrate a working knowledge about weddings? Get a feel for how she has handled emotions, interpersonal conflicts, and crisis situations in the past. Does she have a comprehensive list of recommended
vendors? Ask her to explain her planning process and how you will work together. Look at pictures of her past events and ask if you can speak to former clients.
If you like her, she has the knowledge and experience level you are comfortable with, and you are thinking you would like to hire her, it’s time to talk price. Pricing for planners can vary greatly. Things such as the size and scope of your wedding, location (is travel involved), your potential planners level of experience and what extra perks are offered can affect the price. Full service wedding planning is usually charged as a percentage of the total cost of the wedding. 10
– 15% is a standard range. However, most planners do have a minimum fee for small budget weddings.
Consider the value received versus the dollar spent. I have seen planners that have paid for themselves fully with what they were able to save the client. Many times planners can get you discounts with vendors they work with often or are aware of how to get price breaks on items you have to purchase. Some planners have things in their own inventory, such as candles holders, card boxes, vases, etc. that you are free to use as a client, and therefore you don’t have that extra expense yourself.
Get a contract with your chosen wedding planner. The contract should state the specifics of your wedding date and location, the services and fees agreed upon, the date the services start, an outline of any potential additional fees and list any
tangible goods included. Review the contact specifications together and make sure you both have a signed copy. After you have a signed contract you
and your planner will start down the road to happy planning!

How to Hire a Wedding Planner
By Patti Herioux
With Love, Event Planner
-

That shiny new ring on your finger is just the start of your wedding planning process. Maybe you are the bride who already has a binder of magazine cut-outs -we’ve all seen that episode of ‘Friends” – or perhaps you have never given much thought to the details of what will be your wedding day. Either way, a wedding planner can be your biggest advocate in this entire process. Read more

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