Tis the Season: Top Winter Treats for Your Event

Let's just take a second to be honest here.

While the Holidays are first and foremost about family and tradition and being thankful for all that you have, no Holiday soiree is complete without some adorably-tasty Holiday treats.

While some families or events have their traditional meals/treats/etc.etc. that they make every single year, others are on the hunt for new, fun, and delicious ideas. Well, do not fret. We have you covered.

We took it upon ourselves to scour the Internet for the most precious and delectable Holiday treats we could find. We tried to limit the treasures we located to things that looked like they were actually make-able and not something that you would have to custom order from your local bakery. It was a tough and tedious job to find all of these goodies, but someone had to sacrifice...and we were that someone.


1. Strawberry Santas (recipe)

Photo: Coupon Cousins.

2.  Reindeer Noses

Photo: Pinterest Most Wanted

3. Snowman Cookies (recipe)

Photo: My Pretty Purse

4. Strawberry Tree (recipe)

Photo: Taste

One last note: this will be our last blog post of 2012. We look forward to continuing the blog with Event tips, our personal event recaps, local vendors, randomisity, and introducing a fabulous new intern in 2013. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful holiday season!

Questions to Ask Before Signing a Venue Contract

We love managing the venue rentals for our clients -- We also realize how important it is to thoroughly check off some important questions when looking to book a venue for your wedding or event. As the rental managers, we are asked a lot of questions, so we would like to provide you with a list of what we consider to be some of the most important questions to ask before booking your venue.

1. What do I have to work with decor-wise?
Take note of what is already hanging on the walls, what the carpets look like, wall color, etc. Observe your surroundings as you do your venue walk-through. Ask the venue rental manager what can be removed Vs. what has to stay. Make sure that your wedding colors won't contrast with anything that cannot be removed!

2. What is near-by my venue?
This can either work in your favor or against you. Make sure to check out community calendars before booking your event so you can be sure that there will not be anything that conflicts with parking or that there will not be disruptive noise. Also, check to see where the nearest hotel is in proximity to your venue. If your wedding or event is at a fantastic venue, but the nearest hotel is 45 minutes away, you may want to reconsider.

3. What is included in the rental fee? Tables and chairs? Linens?
Make sure you know exactly what you're getting for the fee you're paying. Some venues may include tables and chairs, while others tack on extra rental costs for them. Likewise with linens- if your venue does not offer linens with the rental fee, make sure you know the exact type and how many you'll need so that you can order them yourself.

4. Does my venue come with a coordinator?
Some venues provide a day-of event coordinator for you. Others do not. Make sure you check to see if your venue provides this added bonus...and also see exactly what duties the day-of coordinator takes care of while on site!

5. What hours do I have access to the venue?
Some venues may not allow you to start setting up until a few hours before your event...and also require you to tear down in the few hours after your event. Making sure to find out when you are able to get into your venue as well as when your event needs to end/you need to clean up is a key factor in securing the right venue!

6. Does your venue allow you to bring your own food and beverages or do you have to work with what is available on-site?
Some venues require you to use their own caterer and bar service, which can add up in the long run. Before you book your venue, ask what their policy is on food and alcohol. Some venues let you work with the caterer of your choice/ bring in your own alcohol.

7. Having your event during "off-season" or on a week night?
Ask the Venue Rental manager if there is a reduced rate if you are holding your event in the off season or on a week night. Most venues will want to book as many events as possible, so their rates may be flexible in times when they are not as busy.

8. Check the reviews.
Do your homework and check outside sites for venue reviews. Venues are likely to only post their most stunning reviews on their personal website, so make sure to check outside sources for reviews so you can be sure to get the full scoop.


There are plenty of other questions that you can ask your potential venue, but these will definitely help you to get a great start. Happy venue-hunting!

Just When You Thought You Knew All About Facebook

If you're like me, you've attended countless Social Media presentations that teach you the ins and outs of Facebook and utilizing it to promote your company and event.

While I'm sure at this point you could probably give a "Facebook-How-To" presentation in your sleep, we recently stumbled upon a few articles that provide some interesting insight into when you should be utilizing Facebook to do said promotions and so-called "Facebook Blasts."

Just when you thought you knew everything there is to know...here are a few tips we wanted to "share" that you may "like" (Facebook jokes...they never get old).

1. In general, Wednesday is the worst day to post: interactions on Wednesdays are 7.4% lower than average.

2. Off-hours are the best time to post. Posts between 8pm and 7am received a 14% higher interaction than those published between 8am and 7pm.

3. Less is more when it comes to posts. Posting one to two times a day instead of going with the overkill route of five to...fifteen shows a 19% higher interaction rate.

4. A self-imposed 80 character wall for Facebook posts receives a 23% higher interaction than longer posts (but 75% of posts are beyond that limit currently!)

5. Use recognizable URLs (IE www.shopping.com/Raincoats instead of www.shopping.com/723582345/html/rain.coats.8213.post=213549fYl...we have no idea what that link means either. Nor do I think it actually leads you anywhere, so don't waste your time attempting to click it.)

6. Have your fans caption a picture or to "fill in the blank" -- both of those give you 4x more interaction.

7. You can schedule your posts! To schedule a post, switch to your page's admin view and look for a clock under the status window. Click that clock, and add the year, month, date and time you want your post to publish. Once you do this, a window will pop up to confirm that you have scheduled the post. Who knew!?

8. Highlight important posts -- highlighting fan posts is a great way to show that you care about your client's and site visitor's opinions. You can do this by clicking the "X" on the right corner of a post and selecting "highlighted on page."

9. Keep track of your "likes" so that you can return the favor. By making sure to "like" another company's page when they "like" yours, you show that you appreciate their acknowledgement of your Facebook page.


Sources:
Ragin
Mashable

We hope that these tips and tricks are helpful and that you haven't already heard them multiple times. I found them interesting and fresh, so I hope you do as well! Good luck Facebooking!