~Finding the Perfect Wedding Photographer~

As you all know I am a RHOA (Real Housewife of Atlanta) fan and tonight is the season premiere of season 2 of RHOA. I am so excited! I am looking forward to seeing what Nene, Lisa, Kim, Sheree and newcomer Kandi are up to and what drama they will bring us this season. You adn check them out at 10 pm EST on BRAVO.

Sooooooooo......

In honor of my favorite reality show, tonight's signature cocktail is champagne!

{{CHEERS!!!}}

Tonight we had a very special guest with us in the studio, our good friend and one of Detroit's premiere photographers, Robyn Robinson owner of Robyn Robinson Photography (check out her website here). Robyn has enjoyed the art of photography for most of her life and began taking photographs professionally over the past 3 years. With a keen eye and photojournalistic flair, Robyn seeks to bring out that which is seldom seen and often overlooked.


Robyn offered our listeners some great tips to remember when looking for a photographer for your next event:

• Make sure that they have a professional apprearance. If they come to the initial meeting in jeans and gym shoes it may give the impression that they don't take their business seriously.
• Look out for anyone who wants all the money up front (this is a major red flag). Most professional photographers will require a deposit to secure the date of your event, with staggered payments until the final products is delivered.
• A good photographer will be able to show you samples of his/her work. If they have no samples to show you then walk away.
• Also a look for certifications and memberships in professional organizations - this is a sign that they take their profession seriously. To professional organizations that they may belong to are Professional Professional Photographers of America (PPA), and Wedding & Portriat Photographers International (WPPI).

If you are in the Detroit area feel free to contact Robyn @ (248) 794-7010 or you can email her here.

Robyn thank you again for chatting with us tonight and we invite you to come back anytime to chat with us.

Location, Location, Location

Week 3 of our wedding planning series and we’re moving along with the planning process. But as always before I begin, let me provide you with the drink for the evening – this one comes courtesy of the Detroit Style Diva (my stylish co-host Robin)

Summertime Cosmo

1 ounce vodka; (omit for mocktail)
1 ounce Cointreau or orange juice concentrate
2 ounces cranberry juice

Suggested Garnish: sugar rimmed glass and curled orange zest

Directions: Place ingredients in shaker with ice; shake well. Pour into sugar rimmed martini glass.

{{CHEERS!}}

Tonight on the show we discussed selecting the perfect location for wedding and reception. There are many things to consider when selecting a wedding venue. Are you looking for a traditional space (i.e. church, hotel, banquet facility) or are you looking for something that is a bit more non-traditional (i.e. beach, museum, park)? The thing to keep in mind is that the more traditional venues offer couples the experience, security and convenience of having hosted hundreds of weddings. By going with a more non-traditional venue, additional work may be required to transform the space to achieve your vision.

Some things to consider when deciding between a traditional and non-traditional venue;

Advantage of Non-Traditional Venue

• May be easier to get your desired date – less competition with other couples on your wedding date
• Lower price to rent – venues that only host a few weddings a year may be more willing to negotiate on the price
• A unique venue will enhance the guest experience – makes a more memorable experience
  

Disadvantages of Non-Traditional Venue

• Less experience in hosting weddings thus may provide less support during the planning
• May require additional costs for rentals (i.e. tables, chairs, lighting, sound systems, dance floor, security, etc)

If you’re one of those couples that like to think “out of the box” then consider the following venues for your wedding:

Museums
Historic Sites
Farms, Ranches, Barns
Bars/Restaurants
Theaters
Parks
Beach
Art Gallery
Library
Zoo
Mansion and private homes
Yachts
Public Gardens

The thing to remember that when selecting any venue, whether traditional or non-traditional, couples need to consider not only what represents their style, but that they can also afford it. (yes, check that budget!)

With a little imagination almost anywhere has the potential to be a unique wedding venue.

The Wedding Budget

Tonight was segment #2 of our “Congratulations You’re Engaged…Now What?” wedding planning series and it was all about setting priorities and creating the wedding budget.

Our signature drink for this evening is Oprah’s “Legends Lemon Drop Martini” – this is the same drink that Oprah served at her Legends Ball and it’s also one of her favorites.

Oprah's "Lemon Drop Martini"

http://www.oprah.com/

Ingredients:

Juice of 6 lemons
4 tablespoons of sugar
6 fresh mint leaves
4 shots of vodka
Ice in shaker
Sugar-rimmed martini glass

**this recipe serves 2**

Directions: mix the lemon juice, vodka, and sugar in an ice filled martini shaker. Shake well, strain and pour into your sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with mint and enjoy!

{{CHEERS!}}

So now that you’ve determined your wedding style it’s now time to move on to the next step which is creating the wedding BUDGET. But before we do that…the first thing I suggest to brides that I’m working with is to start prioritizing the elements of their wedding. Identifying what’s most important first will help you determine how much money you are willing to spend within each category. So first let’s identify the most common elements of a wedding:

Priorities List

You have the:

Ceremony
# of guest
Location (destination weddings)
Season
Time of day
Food and drinks
Ceremony music
Reception music
Flowers
Tabletop décor and linens
Lighting and mood
Invitations and printing
Fashion (attire)
Photography/Videography

You can also add some additional elements that we may have forgotten or that are unique to your wedding.

So now that you have created you list with the elements of your wedding the next step is to start prioritizing that list. Look at your priorities list - next to those items that are “most important” place the letter “A”. After you’ve marked all of your A’s now it time to move on to the items that are of medium importance – and put the letter “B” next to it. Then identify all of the other items that are of least importance with the letter “C”

After you've marked all of the A’s B’s and C’s next go through and prioritize each group. So looking at the A’s which one is the most important to you and put #1 next to it...then a 2 next to the second most important item in that group and so on. You will follow the process for the B’s and finally the C’s.

Now that you have prioritized the elements its time to move on to creating your budget.

I think the first mistake couples make when planning their wedding is that they don’t create a budget or their budget isn’t a realistic one.

The thing to remember when creating your budget is this….

Just like every wedding is unique, every wedding budget is unique. The truth is - it’s possible to create a beautiful wedding on any budget. Keep in mind that there is no direct correlation between the amount of money you spend and the beauty of the day. That means you can plan a beautiful wedding on any budget.

The percentages that we have provided below should be considered loose guidelines – remember every wedding is different, so just make sure that your overall costs and your priorities are in line when determining how much you will spend in a certain area.

Note: the average cost for a 150 person wedding is about $25,000 – in some areas this number can be lower or higher.

Here is a basic breakdown of what you can expect to pay:

Ceremony: 2-3%
Reception: 48-50%
Attire: 8-10%
Flowers: 8-10%
Entertainment/Music: 8-10%
Photography/Videography: 10-12%
Stationery: 2-3%
Parking/Transportation: 2-3%
Wedding Consultant: 10-15%
Gifts: 2-3%
Miscellaneous: 8%

Some things to keep in mind when creating your budget:

• Establishing a budget is the most important step in the planning process.


• Assign a budget amount to your most important priorities first (go back and revisit your priority list – assign a dollar amount to all of your “A’s” items first, then your “B’s” and finally “C’s”.


• To avoid stress allot 5% of your budget for a “just in case” fund – you know just in case!


• When talking to vendors give them your budget parameters and request estimates in writing.


• Keep track of your estimated and actual costs throughout the planning process.


• Refer back to your priorities list when making decisions.


• Consider creating a joint wedding account at a central bank to fund your wedding expenses.

~Congratulations You're Engaged...Now What?~

Tonight show was another good one. Robin and I kicked off our 12 week segment series, “Congratulations You’re Engaged…Now What?” where each week you we will step you through the wedding planning process. Tonight’s show we focused on determining your wedding style and creating your inspiration board.

Our signature cocktail for the evening is the…

French Martini

To make this cocktail you will need:
1 ½ oz Vodka (the vodka of your choice)
¼ oz Chambord® raspberry liqueur
¼ oz fresh pineapple juice
1 twist lemon peel

Glass to use: Cocktail Glass

Mixing Instructions: Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Now toast to your fabulousness!

Cheers!

{{clink clink!}}

Starting the wedding planning process….

First determine your wedding style. To get some insight on your particular style try answering the following questions:

1. When envisioning your wedding, do you see a celebration that is modern/contemporary or classic/traditional?

2. Do you imaging a part of your wedding (ceremony or reception) taking place outside?

3. You envision your wedding taking place in the spring, summer, fall or winter?

4. What would be your ideal number of guest at your wedding?

5. Your wedding colors should be:

• deep and passionate
• soft and subtle
• natural and organic
• contemporary and chic
• romantic and bridal
• unusual and fresh

6. Your ideal wedding meal would be:
• buffet dinner
• seated formal dinner
• seated family-style
• cocktail party
• brunch
• lunch
• other

7. At your wedding you want your guests to feel - (fill in the blank)

8. If you had to describe your wedding in a sentence or two, it would be -

9. You don't want your wedding to be - (fill in the blank)

10. Other words that you might use to describe your wedding would be:


The Diva’s suggest…..

This exercise works best if you and your fiancé answer the questions independently and then come together and share your answers with each other. This starts the dialogue on how you both envision your wedding which should aid you when talking to potential vendors and making decisions on the types of products and services you will need in order to make your “dream” wedding a reality.

Taking it to the next level….

To take this exercise one step further, I recommend that you also create an idea/inspiration board. So grab all of bridal magazines that you’ve collected, grab a pair of scissors and start cutting! Cut out dresses you like, cars that you think it would be cool to ride in and centerpieces that inspire you…cut out everything. After you have gathered all of your clippings, start adhering them to a poster board/foam core board. If you’re not into the cutting and gluing thing, then turn to technology. Scour the internet for images that match your wedding style. There are some great tools available to help you create your idea/inspiration board on your computer.

Some of our fav’s are:

Polyvore – http://www.polyvore.com/
Picas – http://picasa.google.com/
MS Word
MS Power Point

You can also check out one of my favorite sites to visit to get “inspired” is Style Me Pretty. Abby has created some amazing inspiration boards that I know will help get your creative energy flowing.

http://www.stylemepretty.com/

Tonight was another great show! Again, I want to welcome Robin AKA “The Detroit Style Diva” aboard. I know we are going to have a BLAST together and can’t wait to see what kind of trouble we are going to get into. {{big smile}}

For some strange reason I have been watching old “Sex in the City” episodes. I just can’t get enough of that show. So in honor of my girls, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte tonight’s featured drink was the Cosmopolitan.

Cosmopolitan

To make this cocktail you will need:

¼ oz Cointrequ
1 ½ oz Lemon Vodka
1 ½ oz Cranberry Juice
1 splash Lime Juice
1 orange twist

Glass to use: Cocktail Glass

Mixing Instructions: Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Now toast to your fabulousness!

Cheers!

{{clink clink!}}

As many of you know June marks the beginning of the “wedding season” and 2009 must be the year that many of my friends are either getting married – part 2 (their second marriage) or they are renewing their marriage vows {{awwwww!}}. So what is a girl to do in regards to a gift?

Tonight, Robin invited Kymm from Travelution Bridal Registry to the studio to talk about her bridal registry service.

If you missed the show, you can listen here:



Next week, we are kicking off our 12 week segment series “Congratulations You’re Engaged…Now What?” Each week we will step you through the planning process to help you create the wedding of your dreams. We will also have some special guests dropping in to keep you up on the latest trends, from cakes to linen and everything in between. So you’re planning your wedding or if you’re helping someone plan their wedding you won’t want to miss this series.

Our 1st Show for 2009!

Well tonight was our first show for 2009 and boy did we have a blast. First lets welcome Robin Peppers-Hunt aka "Detroit Style Diva" as my new co-host! I am sooooo happy to have Robin as the newest member of the Cocktails and Conversations Team! I have known Robin for well over 20 years and I know you're going to love her just as much as I do! With all that Detroit flava'...tell me how could you NOT love her! :-)


To kick off tonight's show we started with our signature cocktail for the evening...

Mixed Berry Bellini

Place 8 champagne glasses in freezer for 20 minutes. Combine 6 oz. frozen mixed berries (thawed), 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 Tbsp. sugar in blender; blend until mixture is pureed, about 20 seconds. Strain berry mixture and discard seeds. Add 1 Tbsp. berry puree to each glass and pour enough chilled sparkling wine to almost fill glass. Garnish with fresh mint. Serves 8.

To make this drink "kid friendly" or for folks who don't drink, you can easily substitute the sparkling wine with Sprite. Which is what I did and boy was that a good drink! Cheers!

Well it’s been a while since our last live broadcast and so much has been going on. My wonderful co-host Jonetta AKA “The Paper Diva” has left the show to go off and do bigger and better things with her company. We are sad to see her go and we wish her much success with her new business venture. Maybe we can get her to drop by the studio one day to tell us how things are going and fill us in on what she’s working on. Now we have Robin "Detroit Style Diva" with us and she will be adding her Detroit flava to the show. Oooh wee! We are all in for a treat.

As you know March 20th marked the first official day of spring and for those of you who know me, I absolutely LOVE the spring time. Georgia's springs are absolutely beautiful...lots of sunshine and warm weather! So in celebration of spring we decided to share some fun springtime entertaining ideas you can use.

While surfing the internet, I stumbled across this great website The Nest which is the sister site to The Knot. On the site they had some great ideas for parties that I decided to share. As we all know the economy sucks right now. Unemployment is at an all time high and GM is looking at possible bankruptcy. Needless to say many folks you know may not be in the partying mood. However on the site there were two party ideas that caught my eye.

Pink Slip Soiree - Economist say that we are in a depression...so why not party like it's 1929! The goal of this party is to encourage your laid-off friends to bring a "personal" calling card (i.e. their name, number and email address) so they can network with the other guests. Remember the saying, "it's not what you know but WHO you know". Invitations to the party can be actual "pink slips" giving them they who, what, when, where, and why about the event. For food, why not create your own "stimulus package" by using Chinese take-out boxes filled with yummy goodies. And ofcourse a party would be a party without a signature drink. In keeping with the theme why not serve "Pink Slip Slammers" made with vodka , pink grapefruit juice, and a splash of simple syrup.

Rolodex Bash - With everyone no on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, its time to actually friend/follow people up close and in person! The fun part of this party is that each guest has bring one of their favorite people to the party with them. The goal is to build a larger network. Invitations for this bash can actually be printed on a Rolodex Card...or you can do a simple Evite. For food, think bulk...remember the goal is to increase your network so there will be lots of people there. Serve items like chips, nuts, and popcorn. For drinks, think about beer and shots.

For more information on these parties and for additional ideas, check out The Nest at http://www.thenest.com/.

If you missed the live broadcast of the show don't worry...you can check it our here!






Happy Planning!

It's been a long time but I'm happy to say....

WE'RE BACK!!!!!

On Thursday, May 28, 2009 @ 9:00 PM EST, we will be hitting the airwaves once again with our first live broadcast of "Cocktails and Conversations" for 2009. You can check us out at www.blogtalkradio.com/cocktailsandconversations.

I've got a new co-host that I can't wait for you to meet...you're just going to LOVE her!!!!

Each Thursday, you will find us serving up a fabulous signature cocktail for the evening and catch us discussing the art and science of social entertaining. From cocktail parties to weddings and everything in between - you can best believe we'll talk about it!

Got a question for the Event Diva (that's me)? Well you can call your question in during our live broadcast at (347) 838-9795 and we'll try our best to answer it. You can also subscribe to our pod casts via iTunes our you can listen to any of our archived shows by visiting our website - www.blogtalkradio.com/cocktailsandconversations.

So mark your calendars for Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 9:00 PM EST.

See you then!