Wedding Dash® 2: Rings Around the World

Ok, so I'm not really a gamer, but I married a man who is. So when I saw this game, I thought cool a game about my profession!!! You run around the world planning weddings for a reality TV show. Along the way are various obstacles and in the end your prize is to plan the wedding for a billionaires daughter. It is down loadable for PC's & Mac's.

I need to stop playing & get back to work!!!

Wedding Planner Scam

Yes, I too, was sent an e-mail that was intended to cheat me out of my hard-earned money!!! It was from a couple in Australia who wanted me to plan their wedding in just six weeks. It sounded a little fishy but, I figured I would e-mail them back and we will go from there. She seemed nice enough, except her spelling and grammar were atrocious. We sent a few e-mails back and forth. I started calling vendor's and making appointments, but I wanted to make sure they would pay me first before I actually booked anyone. I e-mailed them my letter of agreement and a Pay Pal invoice. A day letter they were a little weirded out about Pay Pal. Which of course is a red flag!!! I didn't hear from them for a few days . She sent me an e-mail saying her 'cousin' was going to send me a cashier's check for more than double my full fee. Many bells & whistles started going off!!!

I did look up her 'fiance'. He seemed legit and was actually located in Australia. When I finally found her, using her e-mail address she was listed on 'Christian' dating sites in the United States. She is supposed to be from Dublin.

I then looked up Wedding Scams and the letter that was sent to me was almost verbatim to what other Consultants received. Just names, dates and the country were different. Thankfully, I was able to nip this in the bud before it went any farther.

To see what the bogus letters look like & what others have done click on these links. http://perfectmemoriesevents.blogspot.com/2008/02/psa-for-wedding-planners-scam-alert.html
http://thebridalpartyllc.blogspot.com/2007/11/scam-skm-fraudulent-business-scheme.html

Lesson Learned

Please don't let this happen to you!!!

Dressed up Evian®

Evian has been my water choice for years. Plus, it's from the French Alps. So, when I saw this beautiful bottle on Brenda's Wedding Blog, I just had to share. It is a special edition by Christian Lacroix for Evian®. It's all dressed up to party!!! The bottles are decorated with crystals & a lace pattern. What a special something to add to your wedding or collection.

Disney Fairytale Weddings

I was WOW'ed. We had our May Coordinators luncheon at the Disneyland Hotel on Tuesday. They pulled out all the stops for us.

We started in the Rose Garden Gazebo. The only area on property that they do outdoor weddings. We were greeted with French Champagne & beautifully tray passed nibbles. We were also serenaded by harp music. Disney songs, of course.

We then went to the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion which had a "castle theme" at the door. When we went thru the doorway we were greeted by none other than Mickey & Minnie. We had our photos taken with them in front of a Magic Kingdom Stand up. It can be used for larger weddings behind the head table.

The pavilion is just lovely. It seats about 100 for a wedding reception.

• Isn't the Charger Great?
• I loved our centerpiece. The Flowers were done by Lavender Hill.
• All Couples have their cakes done by Disney Pastry Chef's.

This day wasn't just about looking at the magic of Disney, they wanted to WOW us with their food & wine!!! Which they most certainly did. We had a four course lunch, 2 wines & a fantastic Champagne. This fantastic Sparkling Wine is only available at Disneyland & was unveiled just for us at the luncheon. Master sommelier Michael Jordan, General Manager of Napa Rose talked to us about the wines we were tasting with each course.

If you look closely you can see Mickey's head embossed on the plates.

• The Appetizer was a Mushroom Cannelloni. FANTASTIC!!
• The Salad was made with green & purple baby romaine. They even had a person spritzing the salad's with a lemon mist.
• They were served with New Harbor Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlbough, New Zealand.
• The entree was Braised Short Rib Osso Buco with Fingerling Potato Mash. They surprised us with an 1/8 of a roasted artichoke.
• This was served with BV Century Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, California. Fabulous!!!
• For dessert we had Personal Chocolate Fondue. How innovative is this?
• The Italian Sparkling that was served with this, Magicale! And indeed it was!!

After such a fantastic lunch we then went on a tour of all 3 properties & their ballrooms. The are all unique in what they have to offer. You can have as much of as little "Disney"as you want. All I can say is I want a Disney Bride & Groom.

I apologize about the pictures. All I had was my camera phone. One day I will learn to bring my digital camera to industry events.

Happy Mother's Day

I've been a busy girl. During the last month I've been working on the business, renovating our bathroom and putting together my little boy's 4th birthday party. On top of that we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. Tomorrow is the 1st Mother's Day that I don't have to work since Connor was born. I am so glad I'm doing what I'm doing. My poor Hubby has to work 14 hour's today and about 16 tomorrow. Ahh the perils of being a boss in the hospitality business.On Tuesday, I'm going to my 1st Coordinators only luncheon, with ABC OC at the Grand Californian. We will participate in a wine pairing and go on a tour of the property. We last visited there on Christmas Day when we went there for Dinner. I'll try & take pictures!!

French Country Cake Display

I love anything in Black & White & add 'French' to it I'm even more ga-ga. Isn't this a cute display for them. You could do the same for a bridal shower in smaller versions.

This is from Modern Bride.

From left: Red velvet cake filled with cream cheese, covered with fondant and decorated with chocolate paisley piping, serves 75, $900; vanilla-coconut sponge cake filled with lemon crème and raspberries, covered with fondant and decorated with chocolate polka dots and bow, serves 50, $600; devil’s food cake filled with chocolate truffle, covered with fondant and decorated with chocolate paisley piping, serves 75, $900, all by Buddy Valastro for Carlo’s Bakery, carlosbakery.com. Vintage cake stands. Chest, $1,299, from Maison by Ethan Allen, ethanallen.com.

ABC OC Vendor Fair

How fun this was last night. I went to my first vendor fair for ABC. It was like a regular Bridal Fair except it was marketed towards the Bridal consultant. I recieved lots of goodies and I'm having fun looking through all of it. I also met lots of wonderful people. I look forward to working with all of them. Of course, I didn't take out my camera last night to get any shots. Oh well maybe next time.