The Main Event by Memory Makers Event Planning, LLC

Last month we talked about the hidden costs associated with planning an event. In addition to costs, there are also hidden safety risks that may affect your guests' well being. Safety risks take many forms, from location issues to food and drink problems and more. The following are some of the most common. Location risks: Locations, particularly outdoor ones, may contain several safety risks.   The water feature that initially attracted you to the venue may prove to be an attractive hazard. Be very careful when a large group gathers near a pond, river, lake, pool or even a large fountain, particularly when children or alcohol is involved. Before allowing guests to operate canoes, row boats, jet skis and other water craft, be sure they wear life jackets and have had instruction, if necessary. If you are planning a pool party, ask a friend to serve as life guard.

For seven years Memory Makers Event Planning has sponsored a child in Honduras with Compassion International . I recently had the opportunity to make my second trip to spend time with the adorable Nelson. Twenty-two of us first flew into San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras where we spent time at two projects, including one with a Child Survival Center, where pregnant women and those with children up to age three can receive prenatal care, medical care for the delivery, nutrition and child rearing counseling and support. (Nearly 50 percent of children under 5 in Honduras die, most from birth-related complications. Pneumonia is the second leading cause of death.) We then drove to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to visit another project and spend a day with sponsored children at a jump park filled with large inflatable jumps. (My elbow still hurts from a burn received on the big slide.) Nelson came with his mother and his new baby sister, 40 days old. What a delight it was to see how Nelson h...

You contacted the caterer, the florist, the photographer; the invitations are ordered. You are proud of yourself for staying within your budget, but are you sure you are within budget?  Most events include numerous "hidden" costs that can add another 20% to 25% to the budget if you aren't careful. Here are some of the most common costs you may encounter. Catering: Though the per-person cost may seem reasonable, you will also pay a service fee (this offsets labor costs), gratuity, and sales tax if your state collects it. In Idaho, plan to add 24% to the per-person cost (this assumes 6% sales tax and 18% service fee/gratuity). Be certain to check your invoice to find out if a gratuity was included (usually) or if you need to add it in addition to the service charge and sales tax. Cake cutting fee: Many caterers charge a cake cutting fee for the use of their plates and their servers' time to cut and serve your cake if the caterer did not provide it. This can sometime...

This is the season for trade shows - business expos, health fairs, wedding shows, technology expos, home and remodeling shows, home and garden shows and more. Some shows occur only one day while others occur several days, often over a weekend. Business owners pay big bucks for a booth space, hoping to attract new customers and raise awareness of their products or services. The strategy can backfire, however, if the people working in the booth do not represent the business well.

Each shelf contains over 1,300 roses I have just returned from Pasadena, California where I had the opportunity to help decorate floats for the 125th annual Rose Parade and attend the parade. Seventeen of us worked with Petal Pushers, an organization that recruits over 5,000 volunteers each year to work on nearly a dozen floats. My job was helping prep several thousand roses that were used on eight floats. We stripped leaves, cut stems, and placed the roses in vials of water that were then inserted on the floats. Some in our group cut the individual blossoms from dried flowers then processed the blossoms in a blender to create "paint" to be glued to large "flowers" and used for stained glass windows. Others glued rice crushed in a blender to signs, pillars, columns and any surface needing to look as if it had a smooth white finish. Yet others worked on their stomachs on scaffolding over 10 feet in the air to finish attaching coconut bark to a football. Vol...

Since their introduction in 1924 by Chicago department store Marshall Field's, gift registries have become an accepted part of weddings and baby events. They have also become a major source of controversy and etiquette faux pas. When is a registry acceptable and when is it not? Will it be used? When do you register? For what should you register? How do you notify guests of a registry without coming across as greedy? Creating a registry is acceptable when an event at which gifts are usually given will occur, such as a wedding, a bridal or baby shower or a birth. Today, with the internet and access to national retail registries, most anyone living anywhere can register for gifts. That doesn't mean, however, that the registry will be used. People living in small rural communities where retail outlets are scarce and internet access is not readily available may need to drive a great distance to reach a major retailer with a registry and they don...

Planning a wedding involves lists and more lists, checking them twice, three times and more. Flowers ordered - check. Menu chosen - check. Dress altered - check. Physical scheduled - what? Why? Many brides tend to forget about scheduling medical and dental appointments until the last minute, if at all. However, you shouldn't wait, particularly if you are planning to start birth control. Today, a bride or groom can be covered by a parent's insurance until age 26 or you may have coverage through your work. At 26, you need to either purchase your own insurance, be added to a spouse's policy, or add your spouse to your policy, all of which may incur a waiting period before becoming effective. Therefore, take advantage of existing insurance while you can. If you plan to start birth control, you need to visit a doctor for a physical and a prescription at least three months before the wedding. Doing so allows time for the medication to become fully effective. It also allows ti...

What happens when your business or association holds a conference or training meeting? Is it the same old, same old? Do you gather together, sit at tables and listen to speakers or view a satellite presentation for hours on end? Are people bored, jet lagged, or simply uninterested in the topic at hand and attending only because they must? If so, think creatively, liven up your meetings and give your attendees a reason to be there. One way to gain momentum is to begin the day with a special activity such as a golf lesson or time at a driving range or another interactive activity. Follow the activity with lunch and a work session. Depending on the nature of your business, attendees might start the day by participating in a volunteer activity followed by lunch and the meeting. Such activities increase networking, build team spirit and creativity, making the following work session more productive.

With literally thousands of color and style combinations to choose from, a bride-to-be can easily become overwhelmed when deciding what her bridesmaids should wear. One of the best ways to begin narrowing down the choices is to consider the wedding plans already made. The time of day of the wedding, the time of year, the location and the figures of the bridesmaids all play into the final decision, as does cost. Time of day - If a formal evening ceremony is planned, the bridesmaids might wear either long dresses or shorter ones falling just below the knee to mid-calf (tea length). If the wedding will be held in the afternoon, then only shorter dresses are worn by both the bridesmaids and the mothers. (Mothers tend to make more mistakes than bridesmaids when choosing their dresses, often overdressing rather than considering the formality of the wedding.) Time of year - Unless the wedding will occur in...

Are you planning to get the extended family together for a reunion? Want to plan a family camp or retreat for your church or organization? If so, one of Idaho's many state parks may be just the place. Several offer cabins, RV hook-ups and camp sites for multi-day events in summer. Others are available for day use only or offer overnight accommodations in summer and early fall. Each state park provides opportunites for differing activities and accommodations. If you are planning a summer event and boating, water skiing, fishing or hiking are in the plans, you might choose Dworshak State Park near Orofino or Priest Lake State Park, both in north Idaho. If you prefer a winter outing with snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing, several parks will fit your needs, including Harriman State Park in eastern Idaho near Yellowstone. Want to camp in yurts rather than tents? Several state parks offer that option. Should you or a family member decide to have a...

You chose a hotel for your reception and they have an event coordinator on staff, so why do I need to pay to hire someone? We hear that question frequently. Many larger venues and churches have on-site event coordinators, sometimes called event sales managers. People planning a special event are frequently confused about the duties of the on-site coordinator and the difference between that person and a personal event or wedding coordinator or planner. The differences are many.

Are you thinking of making your significant other a permanent part of your life by getting on one knee and popping the question? If so, you will need a ring - or maybe not. And if you need one, what kind, style, and price is right for your lady and for your budget? Not all women want an engagement ring (they do want the proposal, however). Some women feel an engagement ring is ostentatious or it may interfere with an active profession or lifestyle. (You won't see many firefighters or landscapers wearing a large diamond ring.) Your lady love may prefer only a simple wedding band or no ring at all. (Some women consider a wedding ring to be a sign of "ownership.") If she wants a ring, she might prefer a ruby, sapphire, emerald, or her birthstone rather than a diamond. And do you know her preference for the setting? Does she prefer yellow gold, platinum, silver or something else? Once you have decided to purchase a ring and you know what type, it is off to the jewelr...

If you have seen the movie Wedding Crashers , you are familiar with young adults acting like spoiled, self-centered juveniles out to ruin your wedding or special event. The latest scam, however, doesn't require the crashers to attend your event to ruin it. Rather, they look for websites that are not password protected, such as those created on popular sites like TheKnot.com or WeddingChannel.com.

If you or someone you know is a fan of the A&E television program Duck Dynasty , you may want to plan a Duck Dynasty  birthday party, family reunion, business team building activity or another special event. Duck Dynasty parties are particularly popular with boys and teens. With the proliferation of camouflage items available - everything from clothing to invitations to paper plates and napkins - planning the party is fairly easy. Ask guests to wear camo clothing and either a bandana or a cap, or you can supply the bandanas. You can provide the fake facial hair for everyone from three to ninety-three who doesn't sport their own. You might also provide a few wigs or hair extensions found at thrift stores or from an on-line source. The nattier, the better.

If you think children are unpredictable at an event, try adding animals. I have had dog ringbearers, horses, doves (really white pigeons) and even an errant cow or two wander through an event. However, a couple in England took things to a new level when they included a barn owl in their wedding. Yes, an owl.

Today it seems everyone has a smartphone and/or a tablet. We use them for everything, from making and receiving phone calls to surfing the web to ordering flowers for your wedding or a gift for a conference speaker. Some of my clients have created personal apps to share wedding or reunion photos. Business clients create apps for their conferences through which attendees can track activities and speakers, connect with one another and more. Last year I worked at a technology conference in Sun Valley. Attendees were instructed not to bring business cards, but to create a QR code with their contact information. They then scanned each other's smartphones to download contact information directly into their databases. The technology applications are limitless. However, not all consumers have had good experiences. In May, Skava, a provider of e-commerce solutions for retailers, surveyed over 2,000 on-line shoppers, 744 of whom reported using their smartphone or tablet for shopping. N...

Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept in which businesses raise small amounts of money from many contributors to fund the launch of a new product, musical score, movie, book, art project and more. Kickstarter is one such site. Contributors receive a special gift in exchange for their contribution.

Unfortunately, not every engagement ends with a marriage. I answer viewer questions on websites and one question we see several times each year concerns broken engagements and how to pick up the pieces. The first reaction of many brides, who are often caught up in the emotional distress of the moment, is a desire to distance herself from the whole situation - forget about the guy, the wedding, and anything associated with it. However, unless she has someone who is thinking clearly to help her through the process, she may inadvertently make the situation worse, lose money, and prolong the agony. So what is a girl (and guy) to do? It depends on how close to the wedding day the event was cancelled. If the engagement is broken months before the wedding, it may be fairly easy for the wedding planner to contact merchants and cancel services. If the wedding day is right around the corner, the bride may have arranged special services, such as manicures for her bridesmaids, that she hasn...

Looking for a unique location for your next sales or training meeting, company retreat or family reunion? Look no further than a nearby summer camp. Boy Scout, Girl Scout, 4-H and church camps are busy in summer, but are often available at a reasonable rate in the spring before school is out or after school resumes in the late summer and early fall. Holding your event at a camp invites greater interaction among attendees, something that may not happen at a hotel or conference center.  It also reduces the dependency on technology, getting people away from their phones and laptops and back to nature. Your employees can also engage in a variety of team building activities that wouldn't be possible at more urban locations. Should your event last more than one day, camps have overnight accommodations, usually in cabins or dormitories, which again promotes interaction and develops relationships.  Many camps have cooks who will...

Traditionally,   near the end of a wedding reception the bride tosses a bouquet and the groom tosses a garter which he first removes from the bride's leg.   Today, however, many couples are choosing to forgo the tossing of one or both items for several reasons.   Often, when the bouquet or garter toss is announced, young children rush to the front, crowding out the “eligible” ladies and men.    The bride may want to keep her bouquet and she didn't order a separate toss bouquet, or she may be embarrassed by the manner in which the garter is removed (no teeth, gentlemen, please).   Not all couples have single friends to catch the bouquet or garter. And some venues are simply not built for tossing anything if the room is small or the ceiling too low.   If you do choose to toss the bouquet or garter, the following tips can make the occasion more fun and less chaotic and embarrassing.   If a number of children w...