Aloha!!

We recently had two clients come to us for their honeymoon. They decided on Hawaii and were so excited to start planning a vacation they will never forget. After all the work we did and after presenting the final product to the soon-to-be husband & wife, it reminded me that Hawaii is a wondering location to celebrate a honeymoon, a family get away, & even a rest & relaxation trip.

Hawaii has so many great things to do, places to see, and resorts to relax or have fun at!

Hotels

One of the must see hotels when visiting Hawaii is the Royal Hawaiian in Oahu. It is a historic hotel built in 1927, it is known as the "Pink Palace of the Pacific," ushered in a new era of luxurious resort travel to Hawaii. Located on breathtaking Waikiki beachfront, the Royal Hawaiian is an exclusive enclave for luxury and romance. With its two pools, magnificent restaurants, hotel entertainment, and private beach this resort will make you want to stay forever!

Another wonderful hotel is the Hilton Waikoloa Village located on the Kohala side of the Big Island. This resort is perfect for all ages! Experience award-winning dining, world-class shopping, and an array of activities ranging from golf, tennis and the only interactive dolphin program on the island, I promise there is something for everyone! The Hilton also does an impressive Fourth of July celebration has guests booking a YEAR in advance!!!

Activities & Attractions

The Dole Pineapple Plantation is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Hawaii. You can go through the World's Largest Maze, take a tour of the plantation, learn how to grow your own pineapple, how to cut a pineapple and some new recipes! They even allow you to purchase pineapples and ship them home which is much better than a postcard to friends and family.

The Pearl Harbor Memorial is also a popular tourist attraction. The USS Arizona is a 184-foot-long Memorial structure spanning the mid-portion of the sunken battleship consists of three main sections: the entry and assembly rooms; a central area designed for ceremonies and general observation; and the shrine room, where the names of those killed on the Arizona are engraved on the marble wall. You will hear stories, visit the new visitor's center and much more when visiting Pearl Harbor.

One of the most magnificent experiences in Hawaii are the volcanoes. Hawaii still has a few active volcanoes. There are many ways to experience them such as helicopter rides, ATV Tours, and by visiting the Volcano National Park.

I want to hear from you! Have you visited Hawaii? Where did you stay? What did you see or do while you were there?

Are you Irish?

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today, everybody is Irish! A holiday that originated to honor patron saints is now a day for festivities for one and all!

It is believed that St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland earlier than the 1600's. This day is name after the Catholic St. Patrick who at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest. In 432, it is said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish. He was successful and focused on converting royalty, aristocracy and the poor. After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's Word he died. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Wearing the color green is a tradition on St. Patrick's day but, originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years it has changed to the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. It is said that St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. Wearing and displaying the shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ever-present feature of the day. Then in the 1798 rebellion in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick.

So as I said, it doesn't matter what your nationality is. Enjoy the Day! If you see a rainbow...make sure to find the end of it...there might be a Pot of Gold at the bottom!

Good Luck!

New Spin on Baby Showers!

The new trend in Baby Showers...Open House Style! With everyone's busy schedules, family events, kid's sports & activities, the weekend are far from relaxing. Open House events, such as Baby Showers makes it very convenient for your guests who have those jam-packed weekends.


Yesterday, I attended my first one and it was wonderful! You go at your leisure and leave when you feel fit. The Mom-to-Be opens her gifts when you arrive. This idea I feel it is much more personable because instead of your gift being one out of the mound, you actually get to hand it to her when she is not being overwhelmed! It is also nicer for the visitors because they do not have to spend an hour watching the guest of honor open one after the other. It is just a more relaxed down to earth event where your attendees can mingle and enjoy some appetizers.

For favors they gave a very practical yet personal gift. They made Paper Clip Bookmarks! Each one had the first initial of the guest on it which was a nice touch.

I think that an Open House Shower is one that Mom's-to-Be should consider. It will not be for everyone, but it will fit for some!

Save Green!!!

Trying to save money at your office or business? It seems like "Going Green" costs more "Green" if you know what I mean. It doesn't have to cost you money to save money!


Stop with Snail Mail

Not only does the cost of postage keep raising, it takes like a week! Look into sites like , you can send out mass emails to potential clients instead of large postal mailings. This also will save printing cost, because they can print what they want and it gets to them INSTANTLY!!

Stop the Useless Faxes from Printing

Look into programs that will stop those tele-faxes (Junk Faxes) from printing. These programs go to your computer and then you print them out as you need them. It is also great because you can save them as PDF's on your computer!

Stop Using Un-Needed Energy

Have employees turn there computers off at night and program them to hibernate after 15 minutes. This could cut on energy costs for large offices. Next, invest in Energy Efficient Light Bulbs. They are more expensive upfront, but they last a lot longer and will save on energy usage. Also, turn the temperature of the Heat/AC down after a certain time. This is save on running Heating/AC units all night.

Think Green...Your Wallet will Appreciate it!

Did You Recently Get ENGAGED?!?!

Did your significant other recently POP the Question over the holidays or even Valentine's Day??? Let me guess...you want to tell the world, celebrate, and now get your families acquainted with one another. So pretty much...an ENGAGEMENT PARTY is in order!!

Keep a few of these ideas while planning this party.

1. It isn't your wedding. NO need to go over the top. Keep in low key and simple. You can go all out for your wedding.

2. Keep it fun. Remember that this is a way to celebrate your love for each other and your lives come together as one. Make sure that the stress of introducing families doesn't take away from that.

3. Again, it is about you and your love, make it fun! Do something that the two of you enjoy, theme it around how you met or a hobby that you share.

A few great ideas for an Engagement party are...

College Themed Party




If you and your future spouse met in college, what would be more perfect than to have a college themed engagement party! Have everyone dress in your universities colors and have easy appetizers and possibly a game...Who knows the most about the Bride/Groom?


Activity Based Event



A few more ideas would depend on the interest of the Bride and Groom as well as the family. Laser Tag, Bowling, & a Wine Vineyard Tour & Tasting are few ideas that would work for some families, but not all. Follow up the Bowling and Laser Tag with a dinner before or after and that could be a fun way to get to know the other family. A visit to a locate Winery would be a great way to taste a few wines for the wedding as well announcing your recent nuptial!

And please do not forget to enjoy! Congratulations!

Ten Reasons to say YES to a Planner...

Number 10 - Save Time - Planning a wedding takes an enormous amount of time.  In fact, the average couple spends well over 200 hours planning their special day.  A good Wedding Planner will save you time and energy by researching vendors, taking care of the many details and coming up with various creative ideas to make your wedding dreams come true.

Number 9 - Save Money - With the ever increasing cost of a wedding, couples are of course looking for a way to stay within a budget and still fulfill their dreams.  Hiring a Wedding Planner can save a great deal of money because of the relationships they have with vendors.  Planners provide these companies with so much business they are often able to negotiate discounts that their clients would not receive it they booked themselves.  In addition, a great planner is well versed at setting budgets and sticking to them.

Number 8 - Save Relationships - Weddings are very stressful, and this stress often results in arguments both between the couple as well as the with family members and friends.  With the planner as a mediator, disagreements can be quickly settled or avoided entirely.  Wedding Planners have been there time and time again.  They know how to avoid conflicts and problems before they begin an can act as a buffer when conflicts do arise.  They often takes on responsibilities that would be assigned to family members or loved ones - so that everyone can enjoy the wedding.

Number 7 - Make Every Dream a Reality - Most brides have been dreaming of thier wedding day for their entire life. Wedding planners work for the couple to ensure that all desires are met (and often surpassed)!

Number 6 - Offer Advice - Wedding Planners have planned countless weddings, they know exactly what works and what doesn't and why.  They are also knowledgeable on wedding etiquette, and can help the couple through situations they don't know how to handle.  Furthermore, wedding planners are able to recommend competent vendors, based on personal experience.

Number 5 - Act as the "go to person" - The average wedding has at least Twenty different vendors.  Combine that with the wedding party, parents of the Bride and Groom as well as all of the guests and it equals a lot of people with questions and concerns!  By hiring a wedding planner, couples can simply tell others “talk to the wedding planner!”


Number 4 - Create Schedules - There are so many events leading up to the big day!  Add that to what needs to happen during the wedding and who can keep track?  The wedding planner can!  Wedding planners are well-versed at making detailed itineraries for all involved (including other vendors). It will be their job to make sure that everything happens on time!


Number 3 - Handle a Crisis - Whether we like it or not, most big events involve some sort of crisis.  No Bride or Groom really wants to deal with the bakery not delivering the cake on time or the flower girl throwing a tantrum on their wedding day?  Wedding planners know how to handle all unforeseen circumstances and have a wealth of resources at their fingertips to fix the issues. 


Number 2 - Orchestrate - From rehearsal through the end of reception – the wedding planner will ensure that everyone is lines up properly, and that the guest who had a little too much to drink departs safely?  Start to finish, Wedding Planners ensure everything goes off without a hitch!


Number 1 - Minimize Stress, Maximize Fun! - Hiring a wedding planner ensures that you will have a worry-free and stress-free day, it is your Dream after all, why should you enjoy the day just as much as your Guests? 
 

So Your Engaged, Now What?

Congratulations - you've gotten engaged! You have gotten the ring and had the fun of showing it off to all your friends, and then all of a sudden like a big slap in the face you realize and maybe even say out loud, “oh my, now I have to plan the wedding and I have no idea where to begin”
As if the engagement isn’t overwhelming enough now you have to pick a date, find a church and a reception location. There are the invitations, the flowers and THE DRESS. You have suddenly come to the conclusion that getting engaged means planning a wedding and weddings are work.

Before you start to pull your hair out, keep reading and take some hints from the experts.

Set a Date:

First things first, you have to set a date. Everything else in the wedding planning world depends on this. Many brides have a though in their minds about when they want to get married, but lets suppose you have no idea. Start with the basics, What season do you prefer to get married in? Are you picturing a beach wedding, or a winter wonderland?? Do you want a large wedding, or something small and simple. Remember in the process of picking a date – the larger the scale the longer the wait time.

Location, Location, Location:

Once you have a date the next step is location. You need to find the church and reception hall that will work with that date. Sometimes brides do this step first. If you are flexable with the date you are getting married- a good option is to go to the church and the hall and work around their calendars. A wedding without a church or venue is not much of a wedding. Sometimes you may have to go back and forth between the reception venue and the church to get a perfect day / time combination.
Make sure that you find out if your church requires any “marriage training”, Some churches require special classes and you need to make sure you will be available to spend some time with your clergy prior to the wedding day.

Phew, that wasn’t all that hard was it?

Unfortunately, That's just the tip of the iceburg! Now you must set about finding a dress, bridesmaid gowns, invitations, cake, photographer, planning the meals, choosing the guest list and assigning seating.

Working With Parents and In-laws:


Some Couples decide to do this on their own, and then of course there are those who will work very closely with their parents and future in-laws. This is where the real headaches can begin.
If parents are paying for the wedding, they may feel like they are entitled to have some control over the event. What you want and what they want may be totally different things.

Remember this is your big day and you should have everything you want, however if your gigantic wedding is only possible due to funding by your parents than you may need to strike up a compromise. Take parents aside at the beginning and discuss in detail what you want - let them know what is important to you. Listen to what they think is important and work out a happy medium. If you do this up front you will be able to avoid any conflicts during the planning process.

Every Detail Counts:

Keep detailed records of the planning process – log the phone call you make and the people that you talk to – in the end this will help you to avoid any mis-communications. Read contracts thoroughly to make sure you know exactly what the fees are and what you will get in return for those charges.
Almost every bride (and Groom) gets frustrated at times with the wedding planning, you want your day to be perfect and every little thing can seem a lot more important and stressful than it actually is.

When you feel things start to get out of control, remember what is really important – You. The meaning behind the day is to share you happiness, health and love with the important people in your life. With that in mind your day is bound to be perfect no matter what planning you do!