Be Inspired...Be Creative With Your Budget!

"Low budgets force you to be more creative.  Sometimes, with too much money, time and equipment, you can over-think.  My way, you can use your gut instinct." robert Rodriguez


Hi My Friends,

When planning any event be it a wedding, a non-profit fundraiser, a social event or a corporate event everyone has a budget!  Yes, some are larger than others but we all have a limit to what can and should be spent on our events.  By starting out from the start with a defined budget you will alleviate many problems and stresses that can pop up during the planning process.

During the planning process at Boutique Events creating a working budget is a priority.  Projecting costs and then adding the actual costs as we go along keeps us on budget and lets us know if we need to make adjustments.  We start with the "must haves', these are different for each client that walks through the door.  For some it is the venue, for some it is the entertainment or the dress or...each of us has that something special that we don't want to give up, that is the "must have" for our event.  So, we start with that and work our way through the budget inputting projected figures.  A lot of times this is when the client realizes they can't have it "all".  As difficult as this process is if you do, doing it from the beginning can save you a lot of drama on the journey.



Getting creative is the best way to keep as many special elements as you can in your event.  It's also compromising, giving a little to get something.  When planning an event working with a professional planner who has experience can save you time and money.  We know what corners can be cut, we know how to create something out of nothing, we know which vendors are more affordable or are willing to work within your budget.  Keeping you within your budget, keeping you updated on what has been spent and what still needs to be spent is our job.  By hiring a planner and giving them this as well as many other of the responsibilities you relieve yourself and others of this stress and allow you to enjoy the process.

So, first things first...Hire a professional event planner when planning any kind of an event.  Then sit with them and create a realistic budget before you make any commitments to any vendors.  These two simple steps will make a world of difference in your experience planning any event.  If you or a friend are in need a fabulous event / wedding planner please get in touch with us: 
www.boutique-events.net, 561-252-0963 
or valerie@boutique-events.net.

Cheers! xo,

Valerie

Valerie Mosher 

Owner of Boutique Events

Wedding and Event Planning 

Jupiter / Stuart / The Palm Beaches

Be Inspired...Food Glorious Food

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.” 
― Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

Hi My Friends,

Recently I discussed the different options of beverage service for an event, today I thought we would talk about food for an event.  Having been a catering director for many years I'ld like to think I'm pretty well versed on this subject :).  

When catering for guests, whether at home or at a venue, it is of the utmost importance that you remember that they are all exactly that, your guests.  I know that being a "foodie" is cool right now but this is not the time or place to serve ultra gourmet selections unless of course it is with a group of other "foodies".  When entertaining it is always about your guests and what they will enjoy, this is called being gracious.  Although this sushi might look fabulous you have to realize that many of your guests won't eat raw fish no matter how pretty it is.  I'm not saying not to serve this or other unique items, I'm saying make sure to add these to a menu which also  has tried and true favorites.  



When planning a menu for an event it is good to walk through the event in your mind. When will your guests arrive, will you start with hors d'oeuvres, just cocktails or buffet or a plated dinner or even just desserts, there are so many options to consider. When thinking all of these options over please remember that you must serve the proper amount of food for the time your guests will be there. I can't tell you how many clients thought they could save money by serving just hors d' oeuvres during the dinner hour. I of course always counciled against this and we would find a way of serving delicious but less expensive items for a meal. Serving delicious satisfying food does not mean it has to be expensive. This pasta dish is very inexpensive and a great way to add an additional entree to the menu. Other entrees that are less pricey are pork and chicken, don't feel as though you have to have beef or seafood on the menu if it is not within your budget.

What's important is that the food is well prepared, fresh, looks beautiful and tastes delicious.  Another way to save some money is to keep most of the budget for the main meal, forgo the expensive hors d'oeuvres and have a great cheese table instead.  Most of the first hour guests are mingling and getting a beverage and before you know it dinner will be served.  Also brides, let your cake be the dessert if you are on a budget.  

Speaking of dessert, if you are not on a tight budget one of the most popular food trends today is a beautifully displayed dessert table ~  Incorporating one or two colors from the event decor into these tables creates a wonderful effect.  These tables are great for birthday parties as well!

Mixing candies and baked goods all within the color scheme is very dramatic and a great "wow" to end the evening.  

Another fun way to end the evening is to have  warm cookies and coffee in "to go" cups ready for the guests to take for the ride home.  That last impression of the evening is as important as the first!   Again, it's all about being a gracious host, from the moment your guests arrive until the moment they are pulling away they are your invited guests, so please treat them well!

Boutique Events staff are experts in catering and are here anytime you have questions regarding your upcoming wedding or event.  Please email valerie@boutique-events.net with any questions.    

It's the new year, are you newly engaged?  We will help you plan your customized one of a kind wedding celebration.  Boutique Events is your personal wedding consultant serving Jupiter, Stuart and The Palm Beaches.  Please contact us to help take all of the stress out of planning your big day, we will make it enjoyable and fun!  www.boutique-events.net, valerie@boutique-events.net

It's a new year ~ wishing you all love, happiness and new adventures in 2013!!
Cheers!
XO, Valerie                                                  

                  

Be Inspired...It's a New Year...A New Beginning! Live the Life You Want

"Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect." ~ Alan Cohen

Hi My Friends,

Well the New Year is quickly approaching and as I'm sure many of you do I tend to look back at the past year and reflect on my life.  This past year for me was filled with wonderful new beginnings.  A lot of them were scary at the time, leaps of faith and believing in myself and those closest to me.  What I discovered is that in order to make big and wonderful things happen you have to be willing to take big risks, and know that if some things don't work out just as you planned they will work out as they are meant to.

So many of us spend our lives waiting for what we think is the "perfect" moment... to have a baby, allow love into our lives, leave a job or to follow your passions but what I've learned is there is never a "perfect" time.  Just taking that first scary step towards your goal is as perfect as it is going to get.  Now, of course there is a lot to be said for preparing your life the best you can before taking the leap.  Maybe start with baby steps leading up to that big leap!

But for all of you who have had a dream or thought over and over I want this to change or this is the life I want someday...I say This is Your Year...start the planning and make 2013 the year you decide to LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT.  If you believe in yourself and you work hard and put thought and care and love into your life, then it can and will happen.  But here's the trick...only YOU can make it happen.  You can't wait for anyone else to make you happy, it's your life and so you need to do what is best for you.

I decided to write and publish this blog a couple of days before the new year hoping that you will all stop and really think about your life this past year and think about how you would like the rest of your life to be and then on Tuesday January 1, 2013 I hope that you will start the process of LIVING THE LIFE YOU WANT, each day take a step towards you passions, your love...your new life filled with happiness because it will be the life you've chosen.  With each baby step you take I guarantee you will feel such a sense of happiness knowing that you've decided on your life's path instead of letting life just happen to you. When we have or make a choice on our path we feel more empowered and more appreciative of the little things, each little goal we accomplish is a little victory in our own little world.  This past year, as I said, I've made some life changing decisions and I've had so many little victories that I celebrate each day because they are all part of my dreams and my passions coming together and I'm living my life as I've always dreamed it should be.  It's hard and it's scary and I worry...but it's wonderful because it's for me.

Living the life you want doesn't mean that everyone needs to make life altering decisions it's just having less I should have's in your life and more I did's.  It's setting goals that are always in the back of your mind pecking at you and actually accomplishing them.  For some in might be getting in shape (setting realistic goals for diet and exercise instead of going out there and killing yourself for a few days and then giving up), others in might be starting the new hobby you've always wanted to try but never made time for ( signing up for classes and just making the time for something you've always wanted to do),

for some it may be looking at the relationship they are in and saying I want more in my life while others may decide they want to commit for a lifetime, for some it may be time to take a risk and go looking a new love (there are so many options now to meet new and interesting people) , for others it may be looking at their job and realizing that everyday getting up is something they dread and it's time to make a plan to wake up in the morning and look forward to life again (this may mean taking a few steps backward in order to go forward, but sometimes quality of life is worth way more than the amount of money in your check each week), for others it's just planning on a special vacation they've always dreamed of taking (start that special savings account just for the trip and each time you deposit into the account you'll be excited knowing your finally going to take that special trip).  The possibilities are endless!!  

I hope that you will all reflect on where you have been and where you would like to go on life's path and take those first few steps towards your new beginning...

 I wish for each and everyone of you a year full of new adventures and happiness!
 I wish for you... The Life You Want To Live!

Cheers to 2013 and New Beginnings...
XO, Valerie

Valerie Mosher
Owner, Boutique Events
www.boutique-events.net

Be Inspired...Have a stress free wedding by hiring a wedding planner!


Hi All,
As I write this there are many newly engaged couples and there will be many more over the next few weeks and months.  Congratulations to all of you!!

!

 The holidays, the New Year and Valentines Day are the most popular time of the year for men to propose to their lady loves and this is also the time of year that wedding planners start getting phone calls asking....what now?   What do I do? Help!!

The best advice I can give any newly engaged couple is: Hire a professional  wedding planner / event planner - this should be your first step when planning any wedding or event.

Whether it is a destination wedding, a small elegant wedding,  a luxury wedding or a tented wedding, all weddings need the help of a professional wedding consultant to help guide you through the process.  Even though all of these weddings are very different they all have many many pieces to be arranged from the very first decisions like the date and location to the overall atmosphere, budgets, vendors....and the lists are just endless.  Gathering all of this information so that you can make the best decisions for your special day is what a wedding planner does.  They deal with the stress, the contracts, the timelines and all of the drudgery so that you can deal with the fun stuff like the food tastings, the floral selections, linens and of course the dress... selecting the right wedding planner can make this whole experience memorable and stress free.

How do you know which is the right planner for you?  Every bride is different as is every wedding planner, I suggest you meet with the prospective planner in their office.  You can tell a lot about someone by how they surround themselves in the private spaces.  The initial consultation is a time to see if you and the planner get along and understand each other, does the planner understand your vision, you will be spending a lot of time over the next year with this person, you need to select the planner you feel will guide you with your best interests at heart. 

Valerie Mosher
Owner / Principle Planner of Boutique Events
www.boutique-events.net / 561-252-0963

At Boutique Events, we believe we are your personal wedding consultants, we are there to assist you in every aspect of your wedding planning and we gather as much information as possible and then work with you to make the best decisions for "your" specific event. No two events are the same, your wedding will reflect your personal style, your personality and your aesthetic. We invite our clients to visit us at our Jupiter offices for a complimentary consultation to get to know us and then we prepare a preliminary quote based on that meeting.

Our goal is for our couples to leave their wedding saying "WOW" that was the most amazing time of my life, it was exactly what I've always envisioned for my wedding and I will never forget it! Then and only then do we know that we did our jobs...

Cheers to all of you newly engaged couples ~ we wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!!

XO, 

Valerie

http://www.boutique-events.net/#!about-valerie/c186s

Be Inspired....Cheers! Open Bar?  A Champagne Toast? Signature Cocktail?

Hi All,

Today Karra ( you saw her trying on dresses in an earlier blog ) and I were talking about all of the many many little pieces that come together to create not only a fabulous event but also create your signature event.  From the venue to cuisine, to the entertainment and even the bar service if all are done well, all of these elements work together to create an atmosphere that reflects your taste and style.  Over the next few days and weeks I'll talk about specific elements of your event that need your attention just as much as your "dress" does. :)  Boutique Events wedding planning offers all of the services you need to create your atmosphere - we make it easy and fun!!

Since we were talking about Karra's beverage service options today I thought that is where we would start.  There is no right or wrong in anything I'll be talking about but...there is what is appropriate for your event and what may be expected.

If you decide to have no liquor, no wine, no beer ... no alcohol of any kind at your event, that is your right and your prerogative.  One would assume that anyone coming to your celebration will know you well enough to not expect spirits of any kind.  Creating a beautiful beverage display and a signature nonalcoholic beverage is key to making this part of your day.

Serving minimal alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine can be done a few ways as well.  There are kegs, which if using a keg I like to dress this up a bit by using chilled mugs instead of red solo cups :)  And as all us ladies can attest drinking wine out of a plastic cup is just...a no no... a lovely wine glass can make even the less the great wine taste special.

So much of everything about any event is in the presentation!  This little tid bit will come up over and over again in my future blogs...presentation is everything!

Okay so now we've come to the full bar option.  One piece of advice, if you are going to have a full bar, it should be an open bar, if you can not afford an open bar then scale back and offer your guests what you can afford.  These are your guests and you have invited them to come and celebrate your special day. (I'm also so against tip jars, please pay your server well enough that they don't feel compelled to need tips to make a decent wage).  A full bar is probably the standard and has been for many years but you can upgrade here by having a mixologist concocting fabulous made to order drinks, right there in front of your guests.  This adds that little something extra.  And no...I'm not talking Tom Cruise in "Cocktail"(although that wouldn't be so bad :) )

Toasting is something that is not done as much with champagne as it has been in the past.  I believe it is fine to have your guests toast with what they are drinking - there are those like myself who love champagne and enjoy toasting with it, so I think you should have it offered but not pre poured.  I've seen so much of it wasted that it is just wise for so many reasons to let up a little on this tradition and just go with the flow!

I hope these tips helped a little!  Cheers...
xo, Valerie


PS...There is always the option of saving money and providing your own alcohol and hiring staff to serve it such as www.butlersandbartenders.com - they allow you to enjoy your party!

Happy Halloween Friends,

I've been so busy setting up the new office there has been little time to sit down and say Hi!  to all of my friends here on my blog.  I'll be writing again soon but didn't want to miss saying... have a spooky and safe Halloween!  xo, Valerie

Be Inspired...Live each day as if it was your birthday!

Good Morning,

" God gave us the gift of life: it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living
well" Voltaire 




 I've always felt that birthdays give each of us a chance to start anew.  It's a time to reflect on your past, enjoy the present and prepare for the future.

It's exciting to decide that the world is there for the taking if you are willing to try new adventures, open your heart, learn to forgive both others and yourself.  It's kind of like New Years Day except this is your special day!

There are those who look at the calendar and lament about what they could have or should have done and there are those who think that the best has gone by and that all there is left in their lives is to grow old.

 There are even those people who look to calendars to see how much time we all have left to live!

I believe that if we all lived each day as a new beginning and celebrated each day as if were our birthday and then the world would be a much happier place.  It's a choice...it's actually quite simple.

I guess this why I love my job so much.  At Boutique Events we are always celebrating those special moments in a persons life.  Whether we are busy planning a wedding or an event we know we are planning a day full of love and happiness for our clients, their friends and families.  We are very lucky to do what we are passionate about and to be able to share in so many other peoples happiness.

Let's face it, none of us knows "when" will be our last day, so why not enjoy each and everyday.  Be Inspired...Be Happy and Live Well!  xo, Valerie

ps...Happy Birthday to my Pat ~ Wishing you a year full of happiness and new adventures xo