- by Erica
This post originated on our sister blog "Beautiful Brown Babies." But as we wind up a truly exciting and inspiring week, it occured to me that everyone could use a little Jack Johnson (singer/guitarist from Hawaii, like our new President) in their lives. Leave it to my 2-year-old to pick out the perfect tune and video to sum up the events of this week. It's Jack Johnson's "Upside Down" from the Curious George soundtrack. Just try to watch and listen without cracking a smile.
Who´s to say what´s impossible?
Well, they forgot this world keeps spinning
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread it's wings
There´s no stopping curiosity
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I´ll find the things they say just can´t be found
I´ll share this love I find with everyone
We´ll sing and dance to mother nature´s songs
I don´t want this feeling to go away
Who´s to say I can´t do everything?
Well, I can try, and as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren´t always just what they seem
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I´ll find the things they say just can´t be found
I´ll share this love I find with everyone
We´ll sing and dance to mother nature´s songs
This world keeps spinning
And there's no time to waste
Well it all keeps spinning spinning
Round and round and upside down
Who´s to say what´s impossible and can´t be found?
I don´t want this feeling to go away
Please don´t go away
Please don´t go away
Please don´t go away
Is this how it´s supposed to be?
Is this how it´s supposed to be?
Upside Down: Friday Inspiration
The Skinny on Wedding Planner Prices
- Lisa Nelson of Elegant Event Design
You will find that many of my entries are inspired by people that I have met with or talked to. I have a good one this week!
I had a couple who was interested in hiring a planner with 4+ years experience, was certified, had at least 5 vendor and bride references and had a knack for style. They were interested in partial planning, and gave an unrealistic budget for all the planning they required. They then asked for a quote via email and choose a planner based solely on the quote.
My first bit of advice - don’t do this.
Yes, the Bride and Groom must be comfortable with what you are paying. I understand the importance, especially in these difficult economic times. I also understand that time is extremely valuable. But, planning a wedding is so personal and intimate. It is absolutely imperative that you are comfortable with the planner you choose and your styles are very similar, especially if he/she is going to be making design recommendations. I would never recommend that you visit 10, but interview your top 2 or 3.
So, with this in mind, I thought would review the different ways in which planners price their services, and how this pricing might not make sense for you. We will discuss “the flat rate”, “the percentage package” and “the hourly charge”
1. Flat rate packages – A planner will tell you that he/she will plan your wedding for a certain dollar figure. Often times, wedding day coordination services will be billed on a flat rate. Brides are often intrigued by flat rates because they seem all inclusive. There is no possibility of the price going up. Be careful. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting for that rate and that all your needs are met under that price umbrella.
The problem with one size fits all pricing, is that there is not a one size fits all Bride. Different Brides have different needs. Also, every Bride has a different definition of a full service planning. For example, some Brides say that they need full service planning, but they want to attend all the meetings themselves and do not need the planner to attend. They want to go dress shopping by themselves or with their Bridesmaids without the planner. In other words, they want to do some of the planning themselves. Then, there are other Brides who want the planner to do everything with them and always want the planner to be with them. Under a flat rate package, both Brides would pay the same price. My question for you is – why should the Bride who is doing some legwork herself pay the same price as the Bride who has a planner by her side every step of the way?
It’s definitely easier for budgeting purposes….but be careful. The planner has to charge a rate, assuming that the Bride will be using her a lot. Often times, the rate is higher for these packages.
2. The percentage package – The planner will charge a certain percentage of everything she helps you to book. Typically, the commission will be 10-15%. For example, the planner helps you to find a site and the site fee ends up being $1,000.00, she would take her commission based on the site fee. If she charges 10%, she would charge the Bride $100.00 for her effort in helping her find a site. For budget purposes, take your estimated budget, multiply by the percentage, and that will be the final fee.
You must be careful here. In this day and age of the ever expanding wedding budget, you might end up paying more than you would like.
This package is definitely better for the Bride stated above who does her own legwork. Since the planner only charges commissions on the things that she helps the Bride book, the Bride wouldn’t pay a commission on her dress since the planner didn’t have a hand in helping her choose the dress – for example.
Make sure you are very clear on what constitutes a commission owed to the planner. Does making a phone call entitle her to a commission? Make sure it’s clearly stated in the contract.
3. The hourly package – This package is pretty straight forward. The Bride pays hourly for all the planning that is required. After the consultation, the planner will be able to give the Bride an idea on how many hours it’s going to take to plan the wedding.
I think most Brides hate this pricing the most because it always has the potential of going up. Like the percentage package, the more you ask the planner to do, the more it’s going to cost. I don’t know - it makes total sense to me.
This package is excellent for the Bride who wants to do some of the planning herself. It’s also great for the Bride who wants a more customized approach. This package is extremely bad for the Bride who wants the planner to attend every vendor meeting, each dress fitting, etc.
Also, because of its potential for going up, it’s more difficult to budget. A knowledgeable planner will give the Bride an idea of what the final costs will be based on the needs.
This is not an all or nothing situation. Many planners use a combination of all of these packages. For instance, planners might bill on a flat rate for the wedding day services, bill on a flat rate for a certain amount of partial planning, and then go hourly. Then, they might bill on a percentage for the full planning. Or, they might bill on a flat rate for most full planning and a percentage for their largest weddings. Or, they might charge a flat rate for day of services and bill a percentage for all the planning.
You have to think about what your needs are, and then decide what pricing is best for you. If you like a planner that doesn’t offer the package you like, negotiate with him/her.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
The famous I Have A Dream speech:
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Fivescore years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.
So we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check ; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
And so we've come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time to make justice a reality for all God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the movement. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
Nineteen sixty-three is not and end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content, will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.
There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.
Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. This offense we share mounted to storm the battlements of injustice must be carried forth by a biracial army. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?: We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of excessive trials and tribulation. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi; go back to Alabama; go back to Louisiana; go back to the slums and ghettos of the northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can, and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hear out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to go to jail together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning-"my country 'tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride; from every mountain side, let freedom ring"-and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that.
Let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants - will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
