Columbus Zoo Lighting Event

So I know my blog is about Cleveland events, but I went to this event a couple years ago and will never forget it so I thought I would share it with all of you.  The Columbus Zoo does a fabulous light display every year and its only 2 1/2 hours away from Cleveland.  There is so much to do in Columbus if you want to spend a weekend there.  The Easton Mall and Polaris are both in the center of Columbus and are both great for holiday shopping.  Make sure to bundle up though because the Easton mall is an outside mall and the Zoo lighting is also outside.  The Columbus Zoo is sponsored by American Electric power so you know the lights will be great.  Spend some time with your family, friends, or significant other and go for a walk in the Zoo and see some animals too!  Below are some more detail about this event.  

Wildlights is set to begin November 21 and will be running nightly through January 3. Hours are Sundays through Thursdays 5 pm until 9 pm (10 pm Fridays and Saturdays) and admission is free with your paid Zoo admission. A special member’s only preview is scheduled for November 20. For more information visit http://www.uptake.com/blog/family_vacations/wildlights-columbus-zoo-family-holiday_1256.html

Holiday Lights

Since in my last post I talked about Stan Hywets lights, I thought I would continue to talk about all the Christmas lighting events in Cleveland.  This week the Lolly the Trolley with begin their Tinsel, Tales, and Trees tour around Cleveland Ohio.  This tour will include a history of Cleveland, a stop at Progressive field to view their new event "Snow Days" and the last stop will be at Clevelands Playhouse to view their tree displays. Lolly the Trolley is a classic way to tour Cleveland and I loved it when I was little!  So I definitely encourage you to take your friends and family along for the ride :)  Below is a little more information about this even. Enjoy!
   

Tinsel, Tales, and Trees!

The best of Trolley Tours and the Holiday Season merge as you experience our nationally known narrated One Hour City Sightseeing Tour featuring the past, present and future of Cleveland while viewing the available lights. You will see and learn about North Coast Harbor, Public Square, Downtown, the Warehouse District, Gateway and the Playhouse Square Theater District. Then it’s off to the Cleveland Play House Festival of Trees to stroll indoors among the delightful decorator-designed “themed trees” and to gather ideas for your holiday house! The public tour is approximately 2 hours long. Your tour will also include a stop at Progressive Field to take a quick peek at Indians Snow Days - the newest holiday event in Downtown Cleveland! NOTE: You will not go into the event, but you will see it from the special viewing windows by the entrance gate. (No tours or charters Dec. 24, 25 or 31.)

• Available: Dec. 3-4-5, 10-11-12, 17-18-19 and Dec. 26th
• Departure Time: 7:00 PM (2 hours long) from the Powerhouse @ Nautica
• Adults: $18.50 (Ages 18+) includes tax
• Children: $12.00 (Ages 6-17) includes tax

There are no rides or tours Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. All fares are now subject to a 7.75% State Sales Tax.

Reservations required for all tours.
Call 216-771-4484 or 1-800-848-0173
Press "0" for a friendly voice!

Stan Hywet Halls and Gardens

Thanksgiving is over and I can finally start posting about Christmas events.  One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is driving around and seeing all the Christmas lights.  One of the best displays of Christmas lights is at the old Stan Hywet Mansion located in Cuyahoga Falls.  When I was younger we took a field trip to the mansion to learn about the people who lived their and to observe the architecture, but every year I love to visit and see their fabulous light display.  At the bottom is a little description of the event and which days it will be open.  Don't miss out!  There are so many great holiday events going on, one should never be bored during the Christmas season.


   




Deck the Hall, 5-8 p.m., Nov. 26-28 and Dec. 2-5, 9-12, 16-19, 21-23, 26-30. Theme is "A Dickens of a Christmas," with rooms in the Manor House, 714 N. Portage Path, decorated to portray Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Christmas-tree lighting at 5:30 p.m. every evening in the Carriage House Courtyard. Tickets are available at 330-315-3287 or at Stan Hywet. Prices; $16, house and grounds tour; $10, gardens and grounds only; $5, youth and college students with I.D. for the house and grounds tour; $4, youth and students for the gardens and grounds only; free, children 5 and younger with an adult. Member prices are available. For more information please visit http://www.stanhywet.org/dynamic/default.aspx 

How Was Your Thanksgiving?

Since Thanksgiving is such a big event, I wanted to ask all of you how your Thanksgiving went.  How was the food? the company? and atmosphere?  Everything and anything you would like to share about your Thanksgiving.  Any tips for a better Thanksgiving or do you think if something was different you would have had a better Thanksgiving.  Its your turn to give me some tips on planning a great event, so go right ahead :)

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy's Parade is probably one of the biggest events held on Thanksgiving.  This year Macys will be celebrating their 84th Parade and it will be held like always in New York City starting on 77th street near Central Park.  You cannot purchase tickets for the parade and visitors are advised to get to the parade by 7am to get a good seat.  Also make sure to make reservations at any of the restaurants to ensure you have somewhere to ear because the restaurants will be packed after the parade.  The parade will start at 9:00am and will be aired on NBC.  Here is some history to give you a bit of background if you dont know much about the parade. Be sure to tune in an watch while you are preparing Thanksgiving dinner :)  Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!!!

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States, tied with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than the 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. In the 1920s many of Macy's department store employees were first-generation immigrants. Proud of their new American heritage, they wanted to celebrate the United States holiday of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe.

In 1924, the inaugural parade (originally known as the Macy's Christmas Parade and later the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Christmas Parade) was staged by the store. Employees and professional entertainers marched from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's flagship store on 34th Street dressed in vibrant costumes.There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. At the end of that first parade, as has been the case with every parade since, Santa Claus was welcomed into Herald Square. At this first parade, however, the Jolly Old Elf was enthroned on the Macy's balcony at the 34th Street store entrance, where he was then "crowned" "King of the Kiddies. With an audience of over a quarter of a million people the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event.

For more information visit their official website at http://social.macys.com/parade2010/#/home

      

How to Build a Disney Thanksgiving Center Piece

Thanksgiving will be here in 2 days and I cannot believe it! Events are all winding down and Christmas will be here before we know it.  So I just wanted to write about Thanksgiving for a couple more day before Christmas throws up everywhere.  I have mentioned more than a few times that I love Disney and I was wondering what Disney is doing on Thanksgiving. If you did not know Disney World is open 365 days a year and they always celebrate holidays in unique ways.  So I looked up special events in Disney World and was shocked that there are no special events for Thanksgiving.  I did however find the official Disney blog and they posted a video about how to decorate for Thanksgiving.  Its a great video about how to build a centerpiece.  Visit http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/author/jvolante/ to watch the video and learn how to make a Disney centerpiece!!! Enjoy :)

Turkey Trot

Just wanted to remind everyone about the 29th annual Turkey trot in Cleveland on Nov 25.

Registration begins at 7:30AM

1-Mile fun walk begins at 8:45AM

5-Mile chip-timed run begins at 9:30 AM

The 2010 Turkey Trot will begin and end at the Galleria at Erieview, located at 1301 East 9th Street. 

Dress to impress because their are a ton of different prizes you can win for best dressed!

Get more information at http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadracing/turkeytrot/index.php

Register ASAP so you can join in on the fun :)

Christmas is Everywhere!

So I know I just wrote about Thanksgiving yesterday and yes I believe Christmas should not be mentioned until after Thanksgiving, but everyone/everything is screaming Christmas around me.  Anyways, I have an interview tomorrow at the Cleveland Playhouse, (wish me luck!!) and I saw that they have an annual tree lighting event.  So I had to tell everyone about it :)  Their annual  tree lighting event is called "Light the Night" which is held on  Monday Nov 22 from 630-830.  This event jumps starts the tree lighting week to kick off the holidays. Below is a little more information about the tree lighting.  So If you are one of those people thats ready to skip Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas, this is the perfect event for you!!

Cleveland, OH (November 4, 2010) – Cleveland Play House invites the Northeast Ohio community to enjoy the 14th annual Festival of Trees from November 22 through December 30, 2010. Over 65 uniquely decorated trees and holiday displays line the promenade, rotunda and lobbies of CPH and provide a great backdrop for holiday family photos (cameras are welcome). This festive display welcomes young and old, and is free and open to the public. The tree-lined halls are also sure to enhance the experience for those attending our unique holiday comedy, This Wonderful Life (the family-friendly, heartwarming one-man adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life runs from November 26 through December 19, 2010).

The Perfect Thanksgiving

Now I know that Thanksgiving is still a little more than a week away, but to plan the perfect Thanksgiving dinner you should start planning a week in advance.  If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house it can become very stressful, but as long as you have a plan for your event your stress will quickly dissolve.  First lets handle the atmosphere.  There are not many decorations for Thanksgiving unless you want to start decorating for Christmas, but in my opinion anything that has to do with Christmas should not be used until AFTER Thanksgiving, at least that's what I think. Anyways great centerpieces are baby pumpkins, small cornstalks, or fake fall leaves.  There should not be many decorations on the table because Thanksgiving meal should be the focus on the table.  Having fall bouquets of flowers are always a great way to decorate, just remember to order them a week ahead so the florist has them in stock.  Next is the guest list.  Of course everyone in your family will be attending, just make sure you clearly state what time dinner will be served and what time everyone may arrive.  Also if you are doing a potluck Thanksgiving, make sure everyone knows what they are suppose to bring.  Now to the menu.  So just like any other event food is always the main focus, especially on Thanksgiving, so pay special attention to the menu.  Make sure to shop ahead, so you are not running around the day before to get the proper ingredients.  Like any other event the more prepared you are the better your event will run.  Focus on what your family enjoys at Thanksgiving and plan out appetizers and side dishes.  Make sure you allow enough preparation time the day of  your event so you are not rushing and dinner starts on time.  The key to a great event is to make sure everyone is on the same page and you are well prepared.  If you follow some of the basic steps above, there will be nothing to worry about. So start planning your perfect Thanksgiving now and you will have nothing to worry about next week!

Fabulous Food Show

So what is everyone doing this weekend?  Well if you have no plans, I would highly encourage you to attend The Fabulous Food Show this weekend Friday Nov 12 to Sunday Nov 14.  THe Food Show will be held at the Cleveland I-X Center Friday and Saturday 10am-8pm and Sunday 10am- 6pm.  Admission tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door and an extra $10 for wine tastings.  This is a great event where you can walk around visit different booths.  You may even meet a celebrity chef!!  Below are a list of activities that will be going on during this event.

Celebrity Chefs:The 2010 Celebrity chef line-up for the show includes the Food Network's Anne Burrell, Guy Fieri, Alton Brown, and Giada de Laurentis as well as Cleveland's own Iron Chef Michael Symon. Audience members will be able to watch these chefs perform live in the 1500-seat Main Kitchen Theater. Each guest will be able to attend at least one of the six or seven daily celebrity events.

Cooking Demonstrations by Local Chefs:In addition to the celebrity chefs, a number of prominent local chefs will hosts cooking demonstration. Past participants have included Ohio City's Flying Fig and Heck's Cafe, Tremont's Grumpy's Cafe, and West Park Station.

The Grand Tasting Pavilion:The Grand Tasting Pavilion will be hosted by the American Wine School. This area features more than 250 wines as well as spirits and beers from around the world. The pavilion includes a Wine Shop where visitors can buy wine and beer, an International Wine Bar for tastings, and a Wine Theater. A $10 passport entitles visitors to a crystal souvenir tasting glass, six one-ounce tastings, and a tasting booklet for notes. Additional sampling tickets will be available for purchase.

Meet and Greet and Book Signings:The event also includes a section where you can meet and greet your favorite celebrity -- or have him or her sign a book for you at the Book Signing Pavilion. The table is open throughout the day and stocked books by all of the participating celebrities. Guest chefs and celebrities will take turns manning the pavilion. Autographs are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Chocolate Bar:The Dessert Pavilion features cakes, cookies, a chocolate fountain, and chocolate martinis, among other treats. There will also be live demonstrations by candymakers, chocolatiers, and cake designers.

Fabulous Food Marketplace:The culinary marketplace features more than 200 exhibitors. What a great place to start your holiday shopping.

For more information please visit http://www.fabulousfoodshow.com/

Public Relations Career Match Event

As the PR Club's Vice PresidentI would just like to thank everyone who came out for the PR Club's first event of the year.  PR Club's  Career Match event was held tonight in the Student Activities Center from 6-8.  Seven professionals attended and the event was set up as a speed dating networking event.  Students spent 10-15 minutes in groups with professionals and asked questions about their careers.  This turned out to be a great event!  Last year PR Club held a similar event with many more professionals, which was great, but this year we wanted a smaller group so students could spend more time with professionals.  I think our small  group atmosphere made a big difference this year, so I was excited our idea worked!  Another great tip to any event planners, when putting on an event always try and get a gift for anyone who volunteered to participate in the event.  PR Club bought Baldwin-Wallace coffee mugs and notepads to give as gifts to the professionals and they loved it.  It just added a special touch and let them know how thankful we were that they could attend out event.  I will keep you updated on any other PR Club events in the future.  Check out the picture below of the event.

Baldwin-Wallace vs Mount Union Football Game

So tomorrow is the BIG game.  The Baldwin-Wallace football team will play against their rival Mount Union! The game starts at 2:00 pm at the George Finnie Stadium in Berea, Ohio.  The football team has only lost one previous game this year and they have held their best record yet.  So make sure you go and cheer on the yellow jackets and show your brown and yellow spirit!  Make sure to dress warm though because the weather forecast is saying maybe snow.

Fall Wedding Tips and Ideas

So since Fall is the most popular time for weddings, I thought I would give some tips to any brides who are  debating which season is best for their wedding.  My vote is definitely the Fall.  Even before Fall weddings became so popular, I have always wanted to get married in the Fall.  The weather is usually cool and the sun is mostly shining.  Plus you get a perfect back drop to all your pictures because all the trees are changing such beautiful colors. Here are some ideas to sway or help you plan your Fall wedding.

Fall Wedding Color Palette

When we think of fall, we think of harvest time and all the rich yellows, oranges, golds, copper, maroon and browns.   I worked on a wedding during an internship and their colors were champagne and a dark maroon.  Simple and classic always looks the best. Plus it is easier to get away with a dark color palette in the Fall because Fall reminds everyone of warm, comforting colors.  Added bonus, dark colors are much for flattering, so your bridesmaids will be pleased with their dresses.

Fall Wedding Flower Options

Popular fall flowers include roses, orchids, gardenias, mums and dahlias. Consider using berries in rich shades to fill in your bouquet.  Cranberries make a great centerpiece while floating in water.  In addition to flowers, you can carry the theme of Fall harvest into your wedding by using pumpkins, bails of hay, maple leaves and cornstalks as well. Sunflowers are also a great flower to use because some sunflowers have  great dark yellow leaves.

Fall Wedding Decor

In keeping with the rich colors and harvest theme, consider using heavier fabrics like velvet for linens. Candles are great accents to autumn weddings as well; think along the lines of large hurricane lanterns as centerpieces wrapped in a base wreath of berries, foliage or miniature pumpkins. For stationery, metallic colors are a good choice for lettering.

Fall Wedding Fashion

Since you never know if its gonna be a hot end of September day or a brisk October day,  Fall brides can choose what ever style they want for their gowns.  Popular colors for bridesmaids are usually brown, dark gold, or dark orange, but adding a sash to the gowns always gives it that perfect touch.

Fall Menu Choices

Rich flavors and comfort food remind everyone of Fall.  Try to include seasonal vegetables such as squash and pumpkins to go along with the Fall theme, they may also be cheaper because they are in season :) For your entree chicken or turkey are great choices, think of a thanksgiving dinner.  Also for dessert consider serving gingerbread  or pumpkin cookies.  You may even want to skip the traditional cake and serve fresh apple, blackberry, pumpkin, or cherry pie.

Fall Wedding Favors

Wedding favors are always my favorite part of each wedding.  I love to see each bride and grooms creative side come out in their favors.  Usually they speak really well to the personalities of the bride and groom and are also themed with the wedding.  Tiny pumpkins are always great as a favor or a ceramic one filled with Fall scents is great too.  My favorite, which might have to be my wedding favor is carmel apples.  Nothing says Fall like a carmel apple and they look adorable sitting at each place setting.

Career Expo

So what kind of person would I be if I didn't highlight big events here at Baldwin-Wallace College?  I want to inform everyone about the Career Expo this Thursday Nov 4 from 530 to 8 in the Student Union.  I know everyone has probably gotten a ton of emails from Career Services, but lets me honest how many of you actually read those?  So if you do not know anything about the Career Expo its basically a number of companies from Cleveland come to Baldwin-Wallace to promote their company to graduating students.  Professionals line the entrance of the Union and all the downstairs rooms with tables containing all of their promotional material.  Usually professionals are looking for potential interns and sometimes even applicants for full time jobs.  Even if you are not a Junior or Senior, I would strongly advise you to attend.  I have gone to the Expo for the last two years and I have only benefited from it.  Its a great way to network, grab business cards, and start building relationships with professionals.  Who knows you may even get an internship from it.  Be sure to check register in the Qaurry room downstairs in the Union when you get there.   You will sign up, grab a name tag, and receive a program listing all the companies that are at the Expo.  I strongly recommend you visit the career services website to research which companies will be there, so you will be extra prepared.  It is always good to bring your updated resume, so you can pass them off to professionals.  If you need some help with updating or creating a resume, Career Services is offering a ton of classes this week to go over resumes.  This Expo is only once a year, so do not miss it. I know it can be awkward meeting professionals, I still get nervous! Just be yourself and try not to be nervous.  Just remember they are there because they want to meet students, so show them what you've got.  Visit Career Services if you have any other questions about this event.  Career.bw.edu
Good luck everyone!!

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween!  Please let me know of any events you attend :)

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween

Last week I covered the best Halloween events in Cleveland, so this week I wanted to highlight an event I wish I could go to.  As I mentioned earlier, I LOVE anything Disney! So I must advertise  their Halloween event.  Every season, Disney comes up with creative ways to celebrate the holidays.



This Halloween their Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween event is going to be held in the Magic Kingdom.  This special event is being held September- November from 7pm to 12am.  Children are encouraged to wear costumes and walk around the park and trick or treat.  Mickey throws a Boo to You Parade featuring all the villains and haunted mansion characters and finishes the night off with a firework show.  This event is Not-So-Scary and is appropriate for all ages.  I know many of you live in Cleveland, but go to the website and check out the fun events.  One of my best friends is at Disney right now and she will be attending this event this weekend, she will have to fill all of us in on how it goes :)

Visit this link for more information.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/special-events/mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party/

Rotaract Safe Trick or Treating Event

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I spent mine mostly at work, but it was much needed.
So to my surprise my roommate held a Halloween event this weekend and used a couple of my tips. Yay!!  Emily Cermak is the President of the Rotaract Club here on campus and every year they do a Halloween event for the children of Berea.  This year they held there event on Sunday October 24, 2010 on the Union lawn from 2-4.  They were scheduled to hold this event in the SAC, but there were scheduling issues and since the weather was so beautiful today, they decided to hold the event outside :)  So a lesson there, be prepared to have things go wrong at your event and always have a back up plan.  When the weather corporates that makes everything a lot easier.  Anyways, to promote her event she made flyers and contacted Berea schools to have them promote this event, a great way to create invites and promote an event.  The admission for this event was one canned food, which will be donated to the Berea Food Bank.  This event was a huge success, over 50 children showed up in their costumes and enjoyed the many activities at this event.  Children got their faces painted, got to brew potions, stick their hands in the nasty bowls, and pin a nose on a pumpkin.  Emily was excited about the turn out  of children and cannot wait to  donate all the canned foods to the food bank.  This event will continue next year, so if you missed it look for it next year :)

Tips for Halloween Parties

Continuing with the Halloween themes of my blogs this week, I thought I would pass on some tips for throwing a Halloween party.

1.  Make creative invitations. Make homemade invitations and include candy or something clever to get your guests excited! Make sure you include some activities at will be at the party.  Always make sure you clearly state if costumes are mandatory.

2.  Decorate.  Depending on how you want the atmosphere to be at your party, scary or fun, decorate with ghosts, pumpkins, and dark lighting. Go to this website for some ideas http://www.halloweenexpress.com/decorations-props-c-5.html

3.  Make sure to have the right music.  Usually for Halloween parties, scary music of ghosts and screams is perfect!

4.  Plan activities.  Your party will be more entertaining if you have a activities such as a costume contest, a scavenger hunt, a scary movie playing, or guessing what is in the bowls blindfolded.

5.  Theme your food.  Make sure all the food you serve is Halloween themed.  For great ideas visit this website  http://www.foodnetwork.com/halloween/package/index.html

6.  Serve themed drinks.  Make up you own martinis and mixed drinks for adults and different juices for children.  This website will help you with some great ideas! 

http://www.drinkoftheweek.com/drinks-by-occasion/halloween/

7.  Send your guests home with a gift.  Whether it be a old fashion treat bag or Halloween bakery, be creative because everyone loves going home with a present.

I hope all of these tips help you plan a great Halloween party. Let me know if you have any other great tips for me to share with everyone.  Also, let me know how your party goes!!  

Halloween Events

Haunted houses, scary movies, and haunted hayrides are a few things that come to mind when most people think about the month of October.  Me, I think of carving pumpkins, apple cider, and watching classic non-scary  Disney Halloween movies.  But I will go with the majority vote and assume most people like to attend scary Halloween events, so below I have provided a number of great Halloween events for you and your friends to enjoy.  Since I will not be attending any of the following events (because I'm scared), let me know how the events go :)

Halloweekends at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio-  This is probably one of the only events I would think about attending, because I have heard you can avoid the haunted houses and enjoy the rides.  But be aware there are many monsters roaming the parks at night, ready to get a good scare out of you!

Halloweekends are open every weekend in October.
Friday 6pm- 12am
Saturday 12pm- 12am
Sunday 10am- 10pm  
For more information visit their website . . .      http://www.halloweekends.com/



   




7 Floors of Hell in Berea, Ohio- Voted best and biggest haunted house in Cleveland.  This event is just right down the road from Baldwin-Wallace at the Berea Fairgrounds, some students can hear the screaming in their dorm rooms ahh!!  Basically this is a series of 7 haunted houses, and depending on how many you want to go into depends on how much your ticket is.  Beware of this haunted house it is SCARY!  This haunted house is open every weekend in October Thursday and Sunday 7pm-10pm and Friday and Saturday 7pm-12am.
For more information visit  their website  . . . .  http://www.7floorsofhell.com/index.html


  






Boo at the Zoo at Cleveland Metro Park Zoo-


  This event is more family friendly and targeted towards those with little children.  There are 






tons of Halloween decorations around the Zoo and crafts set up for the little ones.  Children 




also receive a trick or treat bag to take home!  Boo at the Zoo is open the last two weekends of




October from 6-9.  Hurry and grab your tickets, some days are already sold out!




Visit their website for more information . . . 






 http://www.clemetzoo.com/events/event.asp?event_id=7












     










Enjoy your last couple weekends of Halloween festivities.  Let me know of any events I did not mention, or your 



experience at any other Halloween activities.

Boston for the Weekend

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope everyone had a great fall break, I know I did.  I spent the last five days in Boston, Maine, and New Hampshire with my family. We had a blast and I wanted to share my event experience with all of you.  We arrived in Boston around 5 pm Thursday night, exhausted and excited for the next couple days.  On Friday and Saturday we had scheduled 10 hr bus tours.  Friday was the Fall Foliage tour and Saturday was the New England Coast tour.  Both tours were planned through the same company and I wanted to applaud the company for a great job well done!  When planning events for a large group there are so many factors of things that can go wrong and everything needs to be organized. Both tours were educational, organized, and enjoyable.  The bus picked us up at our hotel and dropped us off where we needed to purchase our tickets.  We then were organized on to the correct bus for our tour and we took off. The bus made stops and allowed 15-45 mins at each stop depending on how long everyone wanted to stay, which was nice to have the freedom to stay and go when we wanted.  Around 1:00 the tour had scheduled lunch at a cute little country restaurant that highlighted the food of that state.  Everyone had a great meal and good service in a timely manner.  Once the tour was over, we were all dropped back off at our hotels.  The convenience of both of the tours was spectacular.  They basically did everything for their guests and made the bus trip as enjoyable as possible.  So if you are ever in the Boston area look up Viator ( www.viator.com ) bus tours.  Here are some pictures below of the places we saw :)

While I was in Boston, some great events were going on here in Cleveland.  Saturday was the Cogswell Hall Event " A Moment In Time" and Sunday was the Today's Bride Bridal show.  Let me know if you attended and have any feedback about either one of these events :)

Today's Bride Bridal Show

I am leaving for Boston in about 2 hours and  before I leave  I wanted to let everyone know about an event this weekend.  Since my last post was about weddings, I thought it would only make sense to advertise a wedding event for this weekend. Today's Bride Magazine is hosting one of the biggest bridal shows in northeast Ohio this Sunday at the Sheraton Hotel in Akron, OH.  Basically for those who do not know, a bridal show is like a trade show for brides.  Salons, dress boutiques, photographers, florists, wedding planners, restaurants, hotels, etc, anything you can think of while planning a wedding, they are all there and ready to answer any questions.  Bridal shows are a great way to see the different vendors all in one day.  It helps new brides open their eyes to what the trends are for the year and who they need to be talking to about their wedding.  

I work for a restaurant in Twinsburg, OH and we hold many rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions in our private rooms.  We attend bridals shows every year, which helps boost our reservations.  So if you plan on attending this bridal show look for the Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern booth and stop by!

Sunday, October 17, 2010
Embassy Suites5800 Rockside Woods Blvd
Independence, Ohio
10:00am - 4:00pm 80 exhibitors    $10 admission
Fashion Show at 11:30, 1:00, 2:30

Hope everyone has a great long Fall break! Get out and attend some events and let me know about them :)

P.S Do not forget about the Moment in Time event for Cogswell Hall this Saturday Oct 16 from 530-1030.  Learn more about it in earlier posts.

Wedding Planner Visit

Last Tuesday  a professional wedding planner came into my class to talk to us about event planning.  She gave great advice and had great stories to tell, so I thought I would share with all of you! Here is some interesting tips and advice she gave . . .

           If you book your wedding on a Friday or Sunday chances are you can save almost 50%.
          Always pick flowers that are in season, they will be less expensive.
          Always add extra security for larger weddings.
          Food, Food, Food!!! Always make this one of your top priority.
          Have a WOW factor.
          Do not settle for a location, make sure it is perfect!

A couple new wedding trends she talked about were . . .
          Fall weddings
          Photo booths at the reception
          Candy bar of bride and groom's favorite candy
          Late night snacks served at 10, usually sliders, pigs in a blanket, nachos, warm pretzels, or pastries.
          Destination weddings
          Cupcake displays, instead of a wedding cake.

A couple stories she shared were. . .
          She once had to put a centerpiece together that contained live goldfish.
          She had to call the cops on the groom, who was later arrested at the reception site.
          One wedding the guest were throwing chairs across the dance floor at each other because of an argument.
          One bride and groom wanted to be flown in by helicopter.

She was a great speaker who I learned a lot from, hopefully you did too!
If you are a bride to be, a great website she recommended was www.theknot.com 

If you are just interested in event planning and weddings, check out this website!  I have had a knot account since I was 16.  It is a great resource for the latest trends in weddings. Go check it out!!

        

Baldwin-Wallace College Homecoming

Every Sunday I am going to try to review an event over the weekend that I attended and say what went wrong and what went right.  This weekend was Baldwin-Wallace's Homecoming, which means tons of events! The morning started with visitation day for all the perspective high school students.  BW students gave tours, answered questions, gave free lunches, and escorted the students and their families to the football game.  On the other side of campus the parade started, which included all fraternities, sororities, campus organizations and of course homecoming king and queen nominees.  The parade ended at the Finnie Stadium where people lined up to tailgate before the big game.  The football game started at 2:00, announcing the results of the king and queen at halftime.  Ending with a win, everyone went home happy and tired from the exciting day at BW!  So all in all this event was great!  There were many different aspects for tons of different people.  Whether you were a prospective student, current student, parent, alumni, coach, or athlete everyone had a great time!  The weather was perfect, which made the turnout of the event even better.  When analyzing an event food is always a factor, but with a gorgeous day and a football game, you cant go wrong with hamburgers and hot dogs.  Baldwin-Wallace's Homecoming was defiantly a success!

A Moment in Time

Here is my first blog about an upcoming event.  I'm really passionate about non-profits so expect a lot  of posts on non-profit events!  Most non-profits only receive money from their annual fundraisers, so I would encourage as many people to attend these events and support Cogswell Hall's mission :) A lot of BW students will be helping out at this event, so go support them too!

October 16, 2010

Saturday 5:30pm - 10:30pm
Detail: Cogswell Hall, an affordable housing solution for adults with low income facing critical life challenges in Cleveland, Ohio, is hosting their annual benefit “Moment in Time” on Saturday, October 16, 2010. The event will be held at Stages Restaurant at the Cleveland Playhouse from 5:30 – 10:30 pm. The benefit focus is to raise essential funds to help to meet the additional needs of residents, as well as raise awareness about the Cogswell Hall programs & services in the Detroit Shoreway community. Moment in Time is an evening of amazing live music, delicious gourmet dining, and a unique silent & not so silent auction. The band “400 pieces” and jazz students from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music will keep the crowd on the dance floor. 400 Pieces is an upbeat party band that specializes in high-energy music from the 80’s, 90’s, and present.