Wedding Planning and Where to Start: 5 Things to Do Right Away

Spring is just around the corner and so are the fundraising galas and community events.  These are highlight events for many non-profits in our community, to help raise awareness and support for their cause.  Below you will find a list of some upcoming events that Blessed Magnolia is proud to handle the coordination.

2nd Annual Farm to Table – This event supports the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation. The event will be held on February 8th at Castle Gate Farm. For sponsorship opportunities and tickets purchases click here.

Trinity Catholic Winter Carnival – Enjoy a fun family day riding rides and playing games on the midway. This year you will be able to purchase an armband every day. Pre-sale armbands are on sale now for $25. For more information about this year’s event click here.

CF Night at the Farm – Come out for an evening of great food and craft beer tastings at the College of Central Florida Vintage Farm Campus. For more information about ticket sales click here.

For more great fundraisers to support in our community, visit the Community Foundation of Marion County calendar. There are so many wonderful non-profits that do a tremendous amount of good in our community. Find your passion and support a great cause.

With every new year comes a time of celebration and reflection on what was and what could be. We do this in both our personal and business lives. As a business owner, I take the time to celebrate the successes that I had over the past year and look forward to the new year with much anticipation. Celebrating my customers is easy to do during the holiday season, but how many of us take the time to celebrate them throughout the year?

What type of customer appreciation events are you hosting during the year? Do you save those celebrations for the holiday season? How do our customers know that we appreciate them all year long? These are questions that we should all be asking ourselves when planning for the upcoming year. I came up with a list of seven things to do to show your clients or employees how they can feel appreciated throughout the year.

1. If you sell something or are service driven, offer a customer incentive for those that have supported you time and time again. This could be done by giving a special discount to your client or offering a referral reward for sending new clients.

2. Say “thank you” in an unexpected way. Think outside the box! For example, the company Sweetwater Music always sends a bag of candy with your order, no matter the purchase. This is their unexpected way of saying “thank you” to their customers for ordering. These small gestures make a significant difference, so sit down with your team and think of your own way to thank your customers.

3. Keep your employees excited to come to work every day. Find ways to surprise your employees by leaving notes of encouragement or thanks on their desks or work boxes. Host monthly or quarterly luncheons. This does not have to be a large meal, something as small as sandwiches and chips goes a long way when trying to show your appreciation.

4. Host appreciation celebrations with your employees and customers. Maybe you reached that sales goal you wanted to obtain, or maybe this month is the anniversary of opening your business. Have a cake, cupcakes, cookies or something fun to celebrate your success!

5. Celebrate the family! Don’t forget to celebrate your employees’ families or your clients’ families and friends. Host a friends and family day sale for your clients, or a picnic with games and other activities. The family members of your employee are just as important to their happiness at work as their work environment is. This will help you connect to your employees and their families while showing your appreciation for their support.

6. Let them have input. Both your clients and your employees want to feel like their opinions hold some value. Although you are the boss and you will ultimately make the decisions on what is best for your company, you may be missing out on some great ideas. Host a quarterly idea meeting or town hall forum.

7. Write personal thank you notes. While email marketing is great and gives you the opportunity to reach many people with one written note and the click of a button, it cannot replace a handwritten note. Take time every day to write at least one thank you note to an employee or customer. Read the newspaper every day and write a note of encouragement, gratitude or congratulations for something that you read about for someone you may or may not know.

Finding ways to make your clients and employees feel appreciated helps you continue to foster your relationships with them. When your relationships grow, referrals grow and employee loyalty grows. Did you know that when a donor gives money to a non-profit you should thank them seven times in seven different ways? This is so that they feel appreciated for their gift, no matter the size, and to show that it is truly making a difference. By incorporating the seven items listed above in your planning of this upcoming year, you will be celebrating your successes all year.

We all know how the saying goes: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue. As a bride these are the words that we live by. Finding the right items to represent these words is an important search for many. Each represents something special to every bride. Ask any bride and they can tell you exactly what each item was and their meaning.

When my daughter was married, together we thought about the items and carefully selected each one. There were two items that were so special to me and they both represented the something old. The first item was my grandmother’s crystals that I actually wore at my wedding and the other item was my grandmother’s veil, both from her wedding in 1926. After my mother’s passing in 1999, I had not seen the red box that held my grandmother’s wedding garments. These garments included her dress, shoes and veil. After talking with my brother, he indicated that he had the box and brought the veil to me. Upon inspection, it was in need of restoration. While it was not in terrible shape, it had some oxidation spots and really had yellowed over the years.

I was on a mission to determine how I could restore this antique. Of course I researched this and finally found a company all the way across the country to make it look brand new. I remember putting the veil in the box and shipped it across the country. My nerves got the best of me and I could not wait until I got the signed receipt that it was received. I had placed the greatest something old from our family in a box and shipped it all the way across the country. The company stayed in contact with me during the whole process and showed me pictures along the way. Then the veil was on its journey back to me. Once I opened the box, my grandmother’s veil was packaged so beautifully and in a cotton garment bag to store until the big day arrived. I could not believe how beautiful it was, back to its original state.

On my daughter’s wedding day she was stunning. To have such a beautiful family heirloom as part of her wedding attire was truly an honor and something I will always cherish. After the wedding, I was able to determine that the veil had a long history of wear in our family. My grandmother was the first to wear it, followed by her oldest daughter, my Aunt Palma, then by Palma’s daughter, my cousin Jean, then by my sister-in-law Tina and then again by my very own daughter. I am now the official keeper of the veil in the family and could not be more proud that I have been tasked with this responsibility. In eight short years, the veil will be 100 years old. I hope you enjoy the photos of the veil.

So on your wedding day, when you are thinking about the something old, find something that truly means a lot to your family. The memories and joy that you will give to your family on that special day are more than you could every imagine.

The ceremony is over, you made it down the aisle without tripping, the groom did not pass out and Aunt Betsy did not stand up and give every reason why this marriage should not happen. Thank goodness. You get to the reception and everyone is there waiting on you. Family that lives in town, lives out-of-town, friends you see all the time and friends you have not seen in forever. You are moved from one side of the room to the other, greeting and speaking to everyone you can. All along all you can think about is eating and dancing.

These days brides and grooms are enjoying their ceremony and their reception and just when you think the night is over, they are moving to the after party, party! It is the biggest thing happening now. Brides and Grooms are hiring transportation to take their closest friends from the reception to the after party to finally let their hair down and celebrate their wedding into the wee hours of the night. Please note, it is not because they did not enjoy the reception, there are just a lot of guests there that the bride and groom just do not know and need a place to just be with their closest friends.

Brides and Grooms are truly getting creative and very intimate with their weddings and the experience they are giving to their guests. The thoughtfulness they give to everyone attending is truly exceptional, from a more traditional wedding for those that would enjoy that experience to the new after party, party.

Enjoy every moment of your big day and make it the experience that you both want. It is a memory that will last a lifetime.