Thinking about planning your own wedding?

Recently I had a fantastic opportunity to conduct a post-wedding interview with a former potential client about her wedding experience. After an initial consultation they both chose to go with a banquet hall's services due to several personal factors. (Including 70% of the guests were in the area - More on this later)

This is for those brides to be, who wish to gather intel on what their upcoming big day may be like without a planner, Sharon and Dave had this to share about their experience...

What it’s like working without an event planner:

• - "We thought we could do it on our own instead of hiring a planner, however it was very stressful to do it all on our own. Planning our wedding was one of the biggest challenges for us, especially since neither of us has ever planned such a huge event before. We weren’t sure what to expect or how we’d feel on or before the day."

• - "We’ve had 1 year and 8 months to plan it, yet we were still scrambling to coordinate with vendors up until the day of the wedding. Even though we’ve tried to keep everything simple with not too many extra frills – we’ve had just the basics such as church, reverend, organist, photographer, reception venue, food/beverage and music – was still a lot of work."

• - "In the end we’ve survived and our wedding turned out perfectly, but it would’ve been much nicer to get some help from experienced event professionals. It would’ve saved us so much time and headache from dealing with vendors and thinking of all of the little details right up to the very last minute before we say “I dos”."

A Recommendation from a Parent of Alpha II

Hello all,

Below is a letter of recommendation from a really great parent from one of the graduates of Alpha II Alternative School. She and I worked together with the Student Graduation Committee to bring about the 2009 Alpha II Graduating Class Party at Lula Lounge.

(Honestly, THANK YOU VANNINA, I can barely read snippets of it because it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside! - It is feedback like this that continues to remind me how much of an impact we can be to others)

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October 21, 2009

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter to say that I highly recommend Simplicity Event Catering if you are planning to host any type of social event.

I had the pleasure of working collaboratively with Simplicity Event Catering’s, Rolando Tecson, who volunteered to help organize the end-of-year/graduation party at my son’s school (Alpha 2 Alternative School) this past June. I cannot emphasize enough how much I, and the rest of the Alpha 2 community, appreciated Simplicity’s contribution. I was particularly impressed by Rolando’s professionalism. Although he was volunteering his time, he treated the event like any other paid catering gig, really paying attention to the clients’ (students and parents) diverging demands and coming up with creative ways to bridge them. Despite a very low budget, Simplicity helped us to pull off an event that was fun, delicious, and memorable.

Let me explain some details about this event. Alpha 2 is not an ordinary school. It is a free, student-led school, where students decide what and how they will study. This philosophy extended to the planning of the end-of-year party. This meant that all aspects of the event were planned by a committee composed of six students, one of the teachers, Rolando, and a parent (myself). In addition, all students had some input into the kind of food, location, and décor that they would like to see at their party. Trying to satisfy the diverse likes and dislikes of over twenty grade 7s and 8s and their parents is no easy task, but we managed to pull it off, in large part thanks to Rolando’s congeniality, great organizational skills, his broad knowledge of resources, and his mouth-watering food.

Rolando was fun to work with and was able to translate the students’ graduation fantasies into an achievable form. For instance, he came up with very simple yet elegant decoration ideas that appealed to all tastes. The menu, composed of a buffet of appetizer-style foods, satisfied meat-eaters and vegetarians and had substance, as well as style. It was all topped off by a delicious cake that looked beautiful but demanded to be eaten.

Every social event runs into obstacles at some point and this is where Rolando’s input was crucial. In planning, as on the day of the event, it was Rolando’s mix of good organization and conviviality that kept us on track. He never stressed out (visibly) and even when things got tough, he lightened the mood with his humour and graciousness.

I want to end by reiterating that I highly recommend Simplicity Event Catering if you are planning a social event.

Sincerely,

Vannina, Ph.D. (Parent of Alpha II Student & Graduate)

Sociology and Equity Studies in Education

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

University of Toronto