The Main Event by Memory Makers Event Planning, LLC

The U.S. State Department issued new travel requirements that will affect anyone planning a trip outside the U.S. Effective 12/31/05, anyone planning a trip to or returning from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico, and Canada will need to have a passport or another approved secure document. Effective 12/31/06, travelers to and from Mexico and Canada will need a passport. After 12/31/07, a passport will be required to travel anywhere outside the borders of the U.S. The new requirements, which are aimed at fighting terrorism, will have a major impact on business and leisure travel, including travel for honeymoons and destination weddings and anniversary celebrations. Those who are taking a cruise to any ports in the Caribbean are affected as well. If you are considering such a trip, you won't want to wait to apply for a passport. Otherwise, you may be caught in the logjam of applicants that are expected near the end of the year.

If you were recently married, would you be willing to test your commitment to one another on national TV? A local couple did when they agreed to participate in a newlywed version of Fear Factor. One of the tasks involved eating a wedding cake made of live grubs, bugs, and crocodile eyes (yes, you read correctly). They had to chew the "cake" then spit the juice into a toasting flute. When the flute was filled to a certain level, they had to drink it. Ugh!!! They also participated in other challenging, and much less gross, activities. The couple feels their experience brought them closer together as they learned to rely on each other and work together. Personally, I can think of other ways to learn to work with and rely on my spouse, but to each their own.

Every couple of years the issue of kickbacks surfaces in our local event planning community. A kickback is a fee paid by a vendor to another vendor or facility for the "privilege" of doing business with them. This is not yet a problem in the Boise area, but it is becoming increasingly common in other areas of the country and is beginning to rear its ugly head here. The Better Business Bureau considers the practice unethical and we agree. Here is how it works. A facility might offer an event planner or a caterer a kickback on the amount that you, the client, pays for the rental of a facility. This kickback is paid to encourage the planner or caterer to persuade you to choose one facility over another because the planner or caterer will personally benefit from your choice (without your knowledge, of course). Therefore, you might be encouraged to choose a facility that charges $2,000 over a facility that charges $1,500 because a portion of the $2,000 fee will be returned to y...

If you enjoy a good mystery, you will enjoy the Wedding Planner mystery novels written by Boise author Deborah Donnelly. Deborah's newest book, the 4th in the series and set in Sun Valley, was released last week. Deborah will be signing copies of her book during First Thursday on May 5th at Book and Game on Main Street and on Saturday at Barnes and Noble.