Well if our resume wasn’t full enough…we just embarked on a whole new venture…TEACHING!!! We had the opportunity to co-teach a University of South Florida elective credit course: ‘Professional Wedding Planning’, with a good friend, Judy, from www.thedroom.com. This course was an elective courses you can take in addition to the required core courses in order to receive The Meeting and Event Planning Certificate issued by USF. This was an experience of a lifetime for us and to see 24 eager students in tuned to every word we spoke was one of the most rewarding feelings we have had. After hours and hours of preparation, we created an power point presentation to guide us through this self-written course, following a shorter power point presentation talking about the changing trends, then we ended with a slide show of a few of my favorite fabulous weddings. Now if any of you girls attending are reading this blog, I apologize for not sharing more of our fabulous weddings including themes, details, and decor. Next year we promise to show you more pictures ~ before and after, share more organization tools, and offer more knowledge about this ever so changing industry. For more information about this certification from USF, please check out their site www.outreach.usf.edu/conted/meeting

Who says your reception has to end at the end?  Why dont you keep the night going with an after party serving late night martinis, carb-filled delectable, and a starbucks coffee station?  We are always sad to see the night end but more, it’s the bride and groom – who are doing away with grand exits and dancing until we have to turn the lights on.  So we got to thinking, wouldn’t it be cool to convert a separate room in the venue to a late night after party or if space is limited convert your cocktail hour spot into this loungy night club?  Just think, white dance floor, white leather couches, colored mood lighting around the room, an awesome dj to spin your favorite club mixes, and let’s not forget the food and cocktails!!!  Serve some cocktails with “energy”, such as espresso martini’s, red bull martini’s, and mountain dew martini’s and renting an approval starbucks coffee station…then you can hand pass or station your favorite late night foods that sobered you up in old days like miniature cheese burgers, french fries in a cone, mini tacos / burritos, or if we are talking wee hours in the morning you could do more breakfast type confections like mini bagels with cream cheese, miniature cinnamon buns, or park a krispy kreme doughnut truck right outside of the party!  With 3 different events(cocktail hour, reception, and after party) in 1 night that reflects different colors, style, and moods, your guests will feel they have experienced a night they just cant forget.