Blog is now "An Event-Full Life"

Hello All,   Just wanted to leave a short explanation on the recent face-lift for the blog.  The blog will now encompass more of my personal life as well as my work life and hopefully also an occasional rant or insight on life in general.  I have some exciting things to share with my blog fans - all 3 of you ;-)  about some new developments in my world.  But not yet.... More to come soon!  Until then, please be sure to update your blog feed for our new address - http://event-full-life.blogspot.com

My big surprise birthday party!!

Well, it’s finally happened and I’m so excited!!  I’m engaged!!  Now, finally the planner gets to be...well, the planner!!  I have had so much fun helping clients plan events and weddings over the last several years and I’m looking forward to really enjoying the process of putting together all of the little details for Mark & my's big day!  I am so excited to be able to use the talents of Birmingham's super-creative event industry professionals!

I plan to use my blog as an outlet for the research that I do around the Birmingham area, so that you can share in my planning.  If you have any topics or questions that you’d like me to check out, please feel free to offer suggestions in the comments.  

So, back to the engagement!  For my birthday, Mark had asked to plan a party for me since it was going to be the big 3-0!  Now, I will confess that I was a little nervous to relinquish ALL responsibility -I am a planner at heart- but Mark insisted and I thought it was really sweet for him to offer, so I accepted.  

As we got closer to the event date some of my friends started emailing and asking what I wanted to do for my birthday.  Panic ensued!  Terrible thoughts whirled through my head - Had Mark not even started planning? No one knows the plan, no one is going to be able to make it!  What are we to do?!? I knew I should have been involved in the planning! 

Mark reassured me that everything was under control.  Yes, he said, I remembered to invite all of the girls. They have the invites, Lindsey, calm down, there will be a party for your birthday.  His reassurance was then required on a daily basis that everything was going as planned.  Hmm...without my help? Surely, they would need my professional assistance before it was all said and done!

Finally the week of my birthday came!  It was on a Wednesday this year, inconveniently smack dab in the middle of the work week.  I took the day off and spent the whole day relaxing and shopping with my mom (except that I had pulled my back first thing that morning....hello 30!).  Then Mark met us down in Tuscaloosa, my hometown, for dinner with my family.  It was a fabulous day but Mark said that I wouldn’t get my gift from him until Saturday. 

On Friday night, my suspicions grew about what in the world was planned for my birthday.  Mark had continued to assure me that just he and I would be going to dinner and then we would meet all of our friends out for drinks after.  But on Friday, he let me know that we would need to get up early.  Early? For dinner? What was really going on?  I have to say, people, I have now realized that I’m probably the easiest person to surprise...ever!   Why in the world had I thought that he would tell me exactly what we would be doing when it was supposed to be a surprise?  Well, it worked!  Sneaky, sneaky!

The next morning we got up and he told me to dress for a walk outside.  By the time he had packed water bottles, I was pretty sure I knew what was up - a trip to our favorite nearby trails at Moss Rock Preserve.  We drive out to the Preserve and I am still completely unaware that any of this is strange. Until....he tells me that I have to go find my present out on the trail.  This comment brought a hundred questions reeling through my head.  Had one of his friends really gone out earlier that morning and hidden a present?  It was all starting to get a little fishy, but I still didn’t want to have false hopes!  

At the end of the trail, there is a gorgeous waterfall that pools at the bottom. Since we were both hot from the ridiculously high heat lately, we dipped our feet into the pool to cool off.  Mark decided this would be a great time for a photo op and I tried to argue - I mean, I’m a little sweaty over here!  But I stood up and smiled for the camera as Mark set the timer.  When the flash never went off, I looked at him confused, just as he was going down on one knee.  Excitement rushed over me as Mark pulled out a little black box and opened it to reveal the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen!  He asked me to marry him and I happily said “Yes!!”  Maybe everyone feels like they have a one-of-a-kind love but I really do feel that Mark and I have something special :)  I can not wait to share the rest of my life with my best friend!  

Oh - so the rest of my birthday was incredible!  We spent it sharing our news with our parents, enjoying champagne, 

reliving our first date of putt-putt and go-karts out at the new Treetop Adventure, and then a HUGE surprise party at Cantina! (the 'just us' dinner had always been a ploy!) where we gave our friends a surprise as well with the engagement news,

and then drinks out at the funky new Parkside Cafe!  It was a magical day and it was all thanks to Mark!  I guess he can plan a pretty good party, but next time - I get to help!! 

Join us for Girl's Night Out

Feel The Beat Entertainment along with the Cool Shots Photo Lounge will be participating in Girl's Night Out at the new Alfred Angelo Bridal Salon off of Highway 280 on April 15th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.!  Click on the attached link to receive $20 off of each of your bridesmaid's dresses.  Also, the first 50 guests will receive free gift bags.  Come indulge in complimentary consultations, beauty services, and tasty treats while meeting with professional stylists and wedding experts!

Alfred Angelo Bridal

Date: April 15, 2010

Address: 3000 Cahaba Village Plaza

Birmingham, AL

Phone: (205) 970-6923

Cool Shots PhotoLounge heads to a Bar Mitzvah

Well, 2009 was a very cool year for the Cool Shots PhotoLounge and it's off to a great start in 2010 as well!  One of the first events of the year was a Bar Mitzvah for a really cool guy named Charlie.  Charlie and his family worked very hard on all the details and it showed!  The theme of the event was karate, since Charlie is a black belt, and the colors were black, red, & white.  They had a DJ for entertainment, the PhotoLounge, an airbrush artist, a sorbet & ice cart, yummy food including a candy rollup that looked like sushi, and then a "take-out" candy counter where the guests chose their favorite candies to take home and enjoy!  So many cute details are sure to make an event feel special and really show the time and effort that was put into the planning.  It was this attention to detail that inspired the next 'upgrade' for the Cool Shots PhotoLounge.

Now,  if you're not familiar with the "PhotoLounge" concept yet - I'll catch you up :)  We take the Photo Booth and create a lounge by surrounding it in drape and then add in a bench and lamp for a swanky effect.  Add in some silly props plus the happy party-goers and you have hours of entertainment!  Typically with an event with a guest of honor, like a birthday, bar/bat mitzvah, or a wedding, we also put together a scrapbook for them to keep.  The Photo Booth prints out two identical prints - one goes home with the guest as a keepsake and the other goes into the scrapbook.  Well, for this event, we had the help of a professional scrapbooker, Dina Glass with Close to My Heart Scrapbooks, and boy did she make a difference!  Her cool scrapbook pages were just another element of planning that really added some "Wow" factor to the final product!  Here is a picture of a couple of the finished pages (the kids got to add on the photostrips & stickers themselves).

The next week, I grabbed up some colored paper and a few scrapbooking supplies and tried to recreate the look myself!  It was much more challenging than I had expected but also a lot of fun.  It inspired me to pay more attention to this aspect of the PhotoLounge. Putting together the scrapbook at an event is just another cool activity to engage your guests.  It lets them be spontaneous and creative, while also giving them a chance to leave special messages to the guest(s) of honor.   I get chill bumps thinking about how twenty years from now, Charlie will find that scrapbook and look back through it, and have such a great record of everyone that was there and all of the fun they had.  To be able to be a part of someone's biggest life events like that is truly one of the greatest rewards of my job.  Thanks to Charlie & his family for having us out, and special thanks for letting me make a few choices from the candy counter :)  Also, here are a few of the scrapbook pages that I did -

Get with the Program!

If you are looking for an easy way to add some creativity into your wedding ceremony, there are tons of ways to play up your program!   The program is a great guide for guests to know what to expect during the ceremony, but it can also convey theme, formality, and a little bit of personality!

I loved these 'ribbon' folded programs pictured to the left!  How clever to just use the way the program is folded to make a statement!  The color is gorgeous and I can imagine it makes a stunning presentation to have them all stacked at the entrance to your venue.

Are you serving a delicious dish at the reception?  Include the recipe in the program, and your guests leave with more than just a favor.  If it's a family recipe be sure to give credit!  Personalize it even more by including a short explanation of why you and your fiancee love the dish or how it came to be a family favorite!