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!

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!

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 so 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 is good for you… it makes you better”

Gordon Ramsey
Hell’s Kitchen

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.

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!!

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

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!

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.

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.