The Main Event by Memory Makers Event Planning, LLC

It is tradition to serve cake or another special dessert at weddings, anniversary parties, birthday parties, and similar events. The cake or special dessert appears in numerous photos, both by itself and when the bride and groom or guest of honor cuts it. Therefore, it is important to carefully choose an experienced baker to provide your special dessert. Unfortunately, that didn't happen at a wedding last week. The bride allowed a friend's mother to make her cake. Apparently, the mother makes nice sheet cakes and figural cakes, but a multi-tiered wedding cake was another issue. The cake was delivered in separate layers, which is usual. When it was assembled, it was immediately obvious there was a problem. The cake looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and was in imminent danger of totally collapsing. The icing was beginning to melt and bare places could be seen. It had to be disassembled, then placed in a refrigerator until time to be served. Refrigeration helped a little.

This week a group of business owners from Arizona are enjoying a challenging and rigorous team-building retreat in the mountains near Garden Valley. Each year the group travels to a different state to experience team building combined with different outdoor activities. Last year it was Hawaii. We have worked on this retreat for the last 11 months to create a unique and totally "Idaho" experience. Today the goup is enjoying ZipIdaho, the zip line at Horseshoe Bend. Tomorrow they will go whitewater rafting on the north fork of the Payette River. In addition to paddling their rafts, they will have to portage them in some areas. After they return to the starting point thoroughly exhausted, the rafting company will host a riverside barbeque. The highlight activity occurs the day after tomorrow when the group, divided into teams and equipped with GPS instruments and riding ATVs, will have to find five geocaches hidden in the forest surrounding Garden Valley. Lunch will be the

I received a unique card from a bride thanking me for being her wedding planner. The card was personalized and drawn with cartoon-style characters. The bride ordered it from http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/ . This site contains a wealth of specialized cards for many different occasions, including a variety of styles designed for inviting friends to be a bridesmaid, maid of honor, groomsman, flower girl; even a card to ask someone to walk you down the aisle. In addition to the wedding coordinator, there are thank you cards for the DJ, photographer, and other vendors. In addition to weddings, special cards are available for business events, birthdays, graduations, announcing a pregnancy, and much more. Best of all, the prices are very reasonable, in most cases less than the cost of a generic card from a store. The site employs artists from around the world to design cards to the purchaser's specifications. Another unique item I recently discovered is a book for your flower girl.

Saturday I coordinated a wedding for a radiologist from San Francisco. I met her 2 1/2 years ago when she was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding. I didn't see her again until the rehearsal the day before the wedding. The bride's mother and I planned the wedding with in-put from the bride via phone and e-mail. The groom is finishing a post-doctoral program in astrophysics on the east coast, so they will have a bi-coastal marriage for awhile. The bride's tastes are traditional except for her gown. She wanted something she can wear again, so she chose a black Vera Wang retro-style cocktail dress. The wedding was held at her parent's home with guests standing for the brief ceremony. The couple had no attendants. The reception was cocktail-party style with heavy hors d'oeuvres provided by the Basque Market , which were wonderful. The flowers, from Boise at its Best, were beautiful. The bride carried a bouquet of white hydrangeas and all other flowers were