Last night my husband brought home “Julie and Julia” to watch. What a treat! The movie depicted the life of Julia Child from 1949 in Paris with her quest to do something relevant with her life and mirroring the struggle of Julie a modern day woman turning 30 stuck in a job trying to find a way to follow her passion and purpose as a writer. Julia found a way to follow her heart, the love of food through learning to cook french food, and later writing the first french cookbook for Americans. She became a beloved culinary icon in the eyes of the American public.  Julie decided to write a blog about cooking through all of Julia’s recipes within 365 days. On her way to completing her goal, she found out a lot about herself and created an avenue to writing professionally which was her dream. Each of their journey’s brought incredible life lessons about determination through setbacks both personally and professionally.  I think their stories are a good lesson for all of us in showing what it takes in purpose and passion to achieve an important goal in life.

With the currant economic climate, many of us are being tested everyday to continue our paths in life with purpose and passion, if we are to succeed. It’s easy to get discouraged by the price wars that seem to be going on with many service businesses. The wedding industry can’t escape this fact of life either. The common denominator  of value seems to be price; not experience, knowledge, or reputation. The current economic tides are troubling and challenging for sure. From the truck drivers to the titans of industry, we are tied together to figure a way to move forward and toward greater economic prosperity and stability.

Often I see my part in all of this economic turmoil as a wedding referee; calling the shots as I see them. Are the service charges fair or foul? How much is reasonable to charge for 10 hours of video coverage on an event? Is it better to take a package price for the open bar or by consumption? Who is really being hurt if someone is paid in cash and doesn’t pay tax to the city or the state? Let’s face it, we all want the best deal possible.  My clients are trying to stretch their wedding dollars as far and as well as they can. I was once told by a prospective bride that my “day of ” service package  was the same price of a good wedding cake. I smiled and said,”Well at least I won’t cost you any empty calories”. We both laughed, but that one sentence said so much to me. Sometimes, all your experience, knowledge, ethics, and reputation comes down to dollars and cents. I’m banking on that eventually, we will all come to our senses and value the best of the best, even if we have to have a smaller piece of the cake to pay for it.

Hopeful,

Tobey

Couple: Natasha & Raffie from Platinum Weddings

The famed television show “Platinum Weddings” has been touting the exuberance, exclusivity, and extravagance of brides for several seasons to rave reviews. Just one thing, is it possible to get the same “over the top” look for less. How can a bride or her glue gun toting troop of friends pull off a Platinum look alike wedding for less?

Well, anything is possible, right? In reality, you can get pretty close to a platinum wedding when you take into consideration a few important visual design principles and team it up with generous amounts of time, labor, and creativity.