FTB Announces New Planner Program

In today's market, the corporate planner probably has a different title.  Whether they are in Human Resources, Administration, or just happened to 'volunteer' to coordinate the next company event, I can guarantee you it's not the only thing on their "To Do" list.  


Feel the Beat knows that our planners have busy schedules and a lot on their plate, leaving little time to battle with the details of upcoming events. With this in mind, we have created a Corporate Planner Program to assist our clients in planning great events quickly!  Sign up for our monthly Ezine to get tips on event planning like the newest event trends, local venue reviews, vendor spotlights, and advice on how to plan a great event on a budget.


We can also offer more detailed assistance in planning a timeline for events, finding the best vendor for your needs, negotiating contracts, and reaching company goals through creative entertainment options.  The difference between a good event and a great event is professional coordination and detailed planning.  With Feel the Beat's Planner Program, you can plan the event that you have always wanted without investing hours of your day and pushing other priorities to the side.   Plus, you can contact our Corporate Event Consultant, Lindsey Mason, for any questions or additional assistance.  We are here to help and would like to be of assistance to you in any way that we can.

Follow Lindsey on Twitter:  @FTBEvents

Post-Wedding Advice from a Birmingham Bride

As a bride you get a lot of advice from a lot of people.  I appreciate all the information that people are willing to share with me about tips for planning a great wedding but I don't think there's much that can compare to the advice from a bride that has just gone through all of it herself!

I am friends with a former coworker, Lauren, on Facebook, who just married the love of her life on September 25th.  After sufficiently stalking her page throughout her planning and flipping through all of her gorgeous wedding photos, I decided to give her a call and find out firsthand what she had learned from planning a wedding.  Lauren is super-easy to talk to and was happy to answer my barrage of questions about what happened throughout the planning of her Big Day.

First I started with the basics.  Which vendors did she use and in what order did she book them? 


Her first decision started with the venue.  She chose the historic Tutwiler Hotel for the ceremony and reception.  She fell in love with their beautiful veranda out front and decided that she would have the ceremony outside with the reception in the ballroom.  Food and beverage would be handled by the Tutwiler so there was no need for coordination between the venue and the caterer, which let her focus on other things.

Next she decided on her photographer, His Hands Photography, then the entertainment, the band Nationwide Coverage out of Huntsville, and also her florist, Tracy Sloan out of Warrior, AL.  These vendors were referred to her by friends and family and they ended up all being good choices.  Word of mouth referral is a great way to find good, reputable vendors.  Your wedding day is not a day you want to be disappointed with one of your choices.


After much debate and research, Lauren ended up finding her gown at Bella Couture in Mt. Laurel.  She had fallen in love with a Jim Helm design but the price just didn't fit with her budget.  Lauren, however, was not deterred by this small obstacle, she searched and scoured gowns until she found a similar dress by designer, Allure Couture, that was a better price but still stunningly gorgeous.

The next decision would be the cakes, except that neither Lauren or her fiancee were big fans of cake.  However, they are big cupcake fans, and Olexa's Cakes just happens to be a fan of BIG cupcakes!  Olexa designed a specialty, oversized cupcake for them to share for the cake-cutting and then provided a variety of flavors of normal-sized cupcakes for guests to choose their favorite.  I loved that the couple weren't afraid to veer a little from tradition, to provide an option that better fit their personality.  Weddings have lots of tradition, but it's the special touches and detail that really make it personal.


Last but not least they booked a vintage car through Coats Classic Cars and got assistance from wedding planner, Ouida Jones-Johnson, for the day-of coordination.

Lauren ended up having great luck with all of her vendors but the band, photographer, and the cupcake really stood out to her.  The giant cupcake was so original and too delicious not to love! The guitarist from the band was able to provide music for the ceremony as well, at a better deal since they were already booked for the reception.  And her photographer went above and beyond throughout the day which is so important because they are with you from the morning until that night!

So, after asking her about all of the things that went well, I asked if she had any regrets.  Without hesitation, she said that she wished she had been more prepared for Plan B.  It was not that she didn't have a plan set in place, but just that she had her heart set on the outdoor veranda for the ceremony and when rain started moving in, so did the stress.  I have certainly encountered this dilemma with other weddings before, and it even affected my own wedding planning when choosing a venue.  If you are planning an outdoor wedding, there is always a risk of having to move indoors.  And when it really comes down to it, you have to love the Rain Plan and be prepared for a last-minute change.

His Hands Photography stated that "Just as the outdoor wedding was starting, the rain started to fall. You would think that would be a bad thing but the most beautiful part of the day was how all the friends and family came together, doing whatever they could to make the ceremony absolutely perfect. The rabbi made a chuppah, people volunteered to hold it, friends carried everything inside... and made one of the sweetest most thoughtful ceremonies I have ever been witness to...THIS is why I love my job!

Handling last minute changes is really easier said than done but Lauren handled it in stride.  She knew that her nerves were building and wanted to do what she could to make sure that stress didn't rule the day.  She called in a Zumba instructor and she and her bridesmaids spent the morning having fun and burning off nervous energy.  I think this such a great idea and I plan to steal it for myself!  Stress relief will vary for each bride, but whatever you choose, make sure to add things to the day's schedule to make sure that you are relaxed and smiling for whatever may come your way!  This will be one of the most documented days of your life and any 'issues' that occur can all wait to be addressed the following week.  Her final advice - Enjoy your day!

Planning a Wedding: First Lesson Learned

Okay,  so you may have noticed that it's been a while since my last post.  It's not that I haven't had interesting things to tell you about in my planning,  it's just that I was too embarrassed to put it all in writing!  Already, I have had a major reality check in my planning process.  Yes, I have experience in the event industry, but maybe all that was doing was giving me a false sense of security.

When Mark & I got engaged at the end of July and set our date for next fall, I immediately was comforted that I had over a year to plan everything.  Well, instead of taking advantage of the additional time,  I gathered a little bit of information and researched different venues - but it was not enough.  We set a date for our big event, checked some availability of places, and then went to the drawing board on what would work for our needs:
-Is there enough space?
-Is it convenient for guests to locate and get to?
-Do they allow candles, alcohol, outside catering, and any of the other details that are 'make or break' in the decision-making process?

So, we gathered this information, made our decision and called the venue of our choice back with the exciting news!  Well guess what...it had been two months since I had originally checked their availability and now - the date was booked.  This was pretty tough news, since we had already told all of our friends and family that the date was set and now we would need to either go back to the drawing board to choose another venue, or move the date.  Neither was an easy option!

We ended up needing to be armed with more information than I had researched yet.  If we use outside catering, will they provide linens and glassware? How much will it add to rent these items?  Will the rental price of the venue really be a deal if I have to rent to supplement a lot of items?  Who provides what and at what price?  I realized that to start planning anything, I needed to know a lot more about everything.

Suddenly I felt like I knew nothing about the wedding industry.  Where was all my knowledge of budgets and why was everything in Birmingham booking up when we were still 12 months out?!?  Panic started to set in and I knew I needed to move a little faster if I wanted to get the vendors that I liked at the right price for my budget.

So my advice to you is - talk to every vendor that you like - and start early.  Don't be afraid to call and chat with vendors about what you are looking for and be sure to get pricing from all of them!  Knowing as much as possible is going to give you the power and confidence to make better decisions.  Start collecting as much information at the beginning as you possibly can, so that you can make an educated decision - and make it quickly if you are under a deadline.  And of course, set your budget, and try to make room for a professional planner to help you.  Even though I feel comfortable planning events, it's all changed now that it's my wedding and I'm the bride.  Why didn't I believe this when everyone has said it?  It's so much easier to help someone else plan an event! So be sure to enlist help early and don't procrastinate!

The Dress Search

I finally won something!!!  I entered to win free tickets to the Brides Against Cancer gown sale through the Green Bride Guide.com and I actually won!

The Green Bride Guide is a resource I found while looking for ideas on how to make weddings more environmentally friendly.  With an average of 2.2 million weddings a year in the United States alone, the impact of these events is huge!  As a member of the wedding industry, I wanted to stay knowledgeable in the best ways to reduce that impact.  So when my mom found the information on the Brides Against Cancer event, I was definitely intrigued!

Brides Against Cancer provides brides-to-be with an opportunity to find their dream gown while making wishes and dreams come true for women and men who are battling breast cancer.  The money that they raise from the gown sales is donated to Making Memories who then grant wishes for people battling Stage 4 cancer.   

The cause is something very close to my heart since my fiancee, Mark, has a sister that has fought and won her battle against breast cancer.  We have run in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on her Miracle Michelle team for the past two years and will be running again this year in October! 

Finding a dress that is not only eco-friendly but also raises money and awareness for a great cause was really an amazing opportunity in my eyes.  And to win free tickets to the VIP night just made it all too good to be true!  So last Friday, my mother & I made the trek up to the Embassy Suites in Huntsville to check out the selection.  We were greeted with some information from local wedding vendors, a selection of hors d'oeuvres, and a beautiful and moving slideshow of some of the breast cancer survivors that the organization has worked with over the years.

We really had no idea what to expect, even though the website had said there would be hundreds of dresses.  I was not disappointed!  We looked through several racks, organized by size, of designer gowns, many of which had been donated new or after model shows from the designers themselves - even some Vera Wang!  Although it was only my second week of bridal gown shopping, I had a pretty clear idea of the styles that I liked and found several to try on.  The ladies at the event were all volunteers from the local wedding community and they were so sweet and helpful!  They did a great job of helping me and made the experience really fun.

There certainly was one dress that I stayed in much longer than the others.  It just so happened to fit me like a glove right off the hanger!  I debated it quite a bit, changed into other dresses, then put it back on.  The dress was silky taffeta with rhinestone accents highlighting an empire waistline.  The stones had an antique look to them and I fell in love with the way that they coordinated with my antique engagement ring!  The thought of finding this beautiful dress and getting to take it home - no waiting! - was very exciting.  But to be able to find such a gorgeous dress that reduces my impact on the environment while also supporting such a wonderful cause really made this the dream dress!  I decided that it was definitely 'THE ONE'!

First Things First - Getting Started on Planning for a Wedding

Even though I work with a variety of events on a daily basis, knowing where to start with my own wedding planning was still a bit overwhelming.  The real 'start' were conversations that Mark & I have had in the past about how we would like our wedding to feel.  What do we want our guests to see and experience?  What do we really want to focus on and what themes are important to us?  We started with those preferences which included - incorporating our love for the outdoors and respect for the environment, an intimate and personal feel, nice weather in Alabama, and conveniences like having the ceremony & reception in the same location - and started from there to build our "wedding vision".  I feel like it was really important to discuss these basics before we got into the nitty-gritty of the who, what, when, where, and of course, how, so we could come back to them if things started to get off-track.

Next, we started exploring the insane amount of resources available to brides.  There is a lot of information available online but I would also suggest visiting or calling any vendor that interests you to get more comprehensive and personalized information based on your specific needs.  I'll be honest - I'm an avid internet researcher and I know a lot of brides do their legwork online but websites don't always do the best job of getting the right information across to the bride.  I'm also a big fan of perusing the aisles of the bookstore or library for anything that catches my eye!

Want to make it easy from the get-go?  Talk to a professional event planner!  These people are unbelievable resources of information! There are different levels of planning assistance, so don't feel like a planner has to have control over the entire weekend.  These event experts can save you a lot of time and money by letting you know what will work and what doesn't and who is the best vendor to make it happen!  (I'll do another post soon on planners in the Birmingham area.)

Let's note here that a wedding can be as simple or as detailed as your prefer it to be.  If you start to get overwhelmed with all of the options, then the process is no longer fun, and it may be time to go back to the basics.  Enjoy this experience as much as possible - hopefully this is the only time you'll be planning a wedding!  But if nothing seems to be working out, just breathe - at the end of the day you will still be wed to the one you love!

Resources for Brides and Grooms: 

I really love the idea behind the Engaged! Library by Perfect Wedding Guide.  This is an actual location in Homewood where they have samples and idea books from hundreds of different vendors for you to look through.  Green Bonus: Less driving around town and wasting gas!  Just keep in mind, that while there is plenty to look through, not every vendor in town is showcased at the Engaged! Library.

**PRO Tip: Not everyone who picks up a camera, or a flower, or a microphone is a wedding professional but there are plenty of people who will say they are!  Do your research and get referrals before signing a contract with a vendor, especially if their pricing is much lower than others.  Your wedding day is NOT the day you want to get what you pay for!!

Professional organizations are a great way to find reputable vendors.  Each wedding industry - florists, photographers, bakers - all have their own certifications and organizations that will help you know who has the real credentials. Also, for a local source, check out www.ALWEP.com - this is a group of event professionals in Alabama that have plenty of experience making wedding dreams come true!

Print: 
Birmingham Bridal Directory, Tuscaloosa Bridal Directory, North Alabama Bridal Directory, etc.
Perfect Wedding Guide 

Local Magazines: 

Alabama Weddings

Birmingham Magazine - Bi-annual Bridal Edition

Books: 

Hmm... I need to do more research on this one!

Online: 
FindAlabamaWeddingVendors
Alabama Bridal.com
Green Bride Guide

Wedding Wire

Martha Stewart Weddings - I <3 their daily inspiration emails!

The Knot
Blogs (like this one!) and endless online resources

Bridal Shows: 
Southern Bridal Show, Perfect Wedding Guide, or just search for one in your area

Podcasts:
Get Real! with Alabama Wedding Vendors - interviews about wedding planning with local wedding vendors

Once you find a vendor that you like and trust, ask for their recommendations of other vendors based on your needs.  These professionals work together every weekend and they see how events come together (or not) firsthand.

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!! 

Benefits of Corporate Sponsorships

In the event industry, we are always looking for ways to get the most bang for our buck and one of the best ways to accomplish this is by partnering with other businesses to accomplish goals for both sides - the Win-Win scenario.  Teaming up with one or more businesses to host an event is known as event marketing or sponsorship marketing.  Sponsorships allow a company to reach a very specific target audience with a very well defined message, thus establishing meaningful communication links with that audience.  Other benefits include larger attendance, invested funding, higher satisfaction ratings, and more enthusiasm for the event by leveraging the relationships that both companies or brands already have with their audience.  The decision to utilize corporate sponsorships is logical and easy to make. The process of making it happen requires agreement within the organization, teamwork, and coordination.

At Feel the Beat Entertainment, all of our entertainment options have easy ways to build in corporate sponsorships.  Whether it is a photo strip promoting brand awareness, a game show category based on the sponsor, or a gobo projecting the company's logo - guests walk away from the event with a positive experience and the connection that the experience happened because of that company's efforts.

Basically, a successful sponsorship finds a way to connect with their target and share an experience.  Of course, not all sponsorships are the same.  The sponsor needs to have a clear and logical link to the event, such as Michelin sponsoring a race car or Yoplait sponsoring the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  The clearer the connection is between event and sponsor, the greater the outcome.  When hosting an event, your goals may include increasing brand awareness, increasing sales & market share, and building brand preference.  A sponsor should have a strong existing reputation in the community that aligns with the image of your own brand.  Be sure that your sponsor will represent the event well and be of value to the audience that you want to attract.  Conversely, you need to be sure that your event will represent the sponsor and their brand with the utmost integrity.

After you have chosen and secured your sponsor,  be sure to stay in contact with them throughout the planning process to not only keep them informed, but also to utilize their input and resources.  The sponsorship should be a mutually-benefiting partnership and the best way for both parties to feel successful is for them both to be involved in the planning.  You may want to include your sponsor's name in the title of the event, use them in advertising and marketing materials, and draw on their support to attract a larger audience.  Be sure that both sides have clearly defined goals of what they hope to achieve, so that you can measure the success of the event after it's over.  If the partnership is successful, it may be a relationship that can be beneficial for future events as well.

To learn more about securing a corporate sponsor and Feel the Beat's sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lindsey Mason at 205-451-2305 or lindsey@feelthebeatentertainment.com