February Fixes and St Valentine's myths

It would be a terrible thing to write a blog about February without mentioning it's best day - St. Valentine's Day. The sole reason we let this mean little month cast dark clouds on us daily, combined with its baltic winds and stupid rain that always manages to circumnavigate its way under our trusty umbrella and generally play havoc with our barnets, is because you have St. Valentines Day. For that we applaud you February (we would applaud you more if you could find a way to loan the sunshine). As one would expect Valentine's Day is engagement central, and Event Wishes HQ has been very excited by the influx of love into our office following it and the impact on our ever expanding calender! Here is a smidge of V-Day trivia to keep your little hearts beating through March!

1) People who receive the most Valentine's cards - teachers- yep teachers, followed by children aged 6-10. So if you didn't receive one, change your career!

2) If you were amongst the card-less crowd, spare a thought for the lone caged pet parrot - in the wild they are said to experience love at first sight, but take up to three months of courting before they settle down for life, spending every second with their chosen one. Never fear though, for a somewhat 'cuckoo' lady (paha we amuse ourselves if no one else) has set up a dating agency for pet parrots this Valentine's day. Cute but strange.

3) Broken hearted? Get on a plane to Germany. Dr Birgit Delisle has opened a hospital specializing specifically on the broken hearted - including a dedicated emergency rapid response team to cope with those who have experienced a 'love failure or have been dumped'. Wow.

4) Finally if you want to find love, a recent study has discovered the most successful chat up line of all time and we are going to tell you it.... nope, it's not even vaguely complimentary or funny ( not really even sure how it qualifies as a chat up line) - it's ' What's your favourite pizza topping?'. Baffling, but true.

February has not been all about Valentine's day though, for we also took great pleasure in organizing a beautiful 21st Birthday Celebration in the stunning home of our birthday girl. With a lead time of just two weeks, our office was an excitable flurry of pink and perspex. As always, our favourite suppliers were on hand to help create the look, with a special thanks to Only Roses for their incredibly flawless Ecuadorian roses, and the immense skills of our favourite lighting technicians from Luminaire Extraordinaire . If you don't believe us ( and boo hiss to you if you don't), have a gander at these images. Send your fan mail to our London office. Although we must warn you, I think the postman has been holding all our post for himself as an attempt to sabotage our smiles as we are yet to receive the mountains of Valentines Day cards we had been expecting...odd.

We also took a day out to peruse the National Wedding Fair, and wowee did we have a good (smug) day. Turns out, we were ahead of trend. Mwah ha ha, Event Wishes -1 , Industry -0. Things that we loved included the presence of Magenta ( we were harping on about this in AUGUST),and the stunning array of bridal gowns. Things that we didn't - same old same old. See Abolish for a more in depth rant on organza and more. You know you want to. Other things in our Feb diary have included brainstorming with our chic addition the Event Wishes family of venues that have us on the supplier list - The Mayfair. We are in the process of putting together a strictly invitation only event in one of the elite suites, did I mention it is at The Mayfair? Enough said.



Now for our list of things that have made us smile or frown this month...




Adore




Valentine's day!! No it's NOT a commercial money-spinner, it's a fabulous day for love. Not just couples -it's for family and friends alike. Whether you were snuggled up in front of the fire with the one you love, or out in your highest heels in a gaggle of the girls with cocktails flowing freely, we really hope you had a lovely day. It's not about spending the money, it's about spending the time. Ah we are a sentimental bunch. Weep.




Personalised place settings. Seeing as you have a fabulous planner (ahem) to take care of everything else, how about you both spend an evening with the phone off the hook, a bottle of vino, a photo album and lots of paper, and write a sentence of two about each guest attending. Then simply have us slip it inside the napkins. Perhaps write your favourite memory with that person, or why you invited them, or just what they mean to you. Each guest will really appreciate the personal touch and knowing that you really want them there to be part of your day. Oh and if your handwriting is terrible, you can always draft in Paul Antonio - http://www.paulantonioscribe.com/ - he can make a shopping list look romantic. Sorted.

Personalised M&Ms. Yep. Great for sweetie jars on the day, or even as a way of thanking guests for their attendance. You simply decide on what to write on them (no essays allowed) and pick your colours. Voila. Tasty and oh so cute. Of course, if it's a hot day you may receive them and decide it's too risky to post them out again. The peril of chocolate may win... would be a shame to waste them right? Maybe you can send out the second batch - it's surely your duty to test them first anyway... http://www.mymms.co.uk/

Abolish





Shoo you horrid little organza tie-backs. Shoo. The damn things are breeding and trying to masquerade as 'traditional wedding chic'. We are onto you and your fraying ways. It's not traditional, it's just so last year darlings. Instead, opt for a crisp white chair cover (if they must be covered), and then simply ask you florist to create little palm-sized arrangements and attach them with REAL ribbon. Organza may be the saving grace of venue coordinators everywhere for the ease and cost, but not for a planner. You could even attach black and white pictures of the happy couple. Remember not to be afraid to have mismatched chairs, it's intimate and it shows character. Now for an organza-burning festival... I am sure we could think of some other things to burn from wedding history too....silk roses, your number is up.




Flower girls in miniature versions of the bridesmaid's dresses. Would you encourage the 5 year olds to mimic the style of a 20-something normally? No, you wouldn't. Don't do it now - the flower girls are young and innocent, let them stay that way and dress them appropriately. I don't want to see a figure hugging fishtail gown on a child, this isn't a beauty pageant. As for make up on their fresh cherub faces, don't. get. me. started.




Yards of hair extensions. Now, don't get us wrong, we are realists over here at Event Wishes and are certainly no strangers to the salon to have our hair-do snipped, dyed, conditioned and teased to an inch of it's life. A help with volume is welcomed, but alas, if he proposed to a bobbed brunette beauty, don't rock up with platinum extensions to your kneecaps. Now is not the time for an image overhaul. He's already asked you to spend the rest of your lives together, it's pretty safe to assume he likes the look of you- YOU, not Cousin IT.



OK you greedy bunch, you've had your fix! Now, be gone with you, flee, back to work with you! Now where are those M & M's.....



As always, we send our love to all our followers and clients,





Love Jennifer & everyone from the Event Wishes Team. xx