Beyond Planning Events

Need Family Holiday Cards? You've Come to the Right Place!

2009-11-28T14:13:00.007-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year again and we all know what that means...time to send out HOLIDAY cards! I have 4 different templates below that are ready and available for you and your family! All I need is a high resolution photo to insert and any additional details you would like added!

If you are interested please email me at beyondplanning@hotmail.com. Once I have the photo from you I will insert it and the details you want (ie-your family name), and then send you a proof via email. From there I will send to my preferred professional printer and will mail them to you within one week from the approval of the final proof. You can decide if you would like me to ship via UPS, standard mail or Fed Ex as you pay for the shipping. I will send you your holiday cards WITH an invoice, so you PAY NOTHING until you receive your cards! Invoice will be due in full 30 days from the date you receive your cards! Pricing and Details are below each card template!

Happy Looking! I hope to make your season even more special with a Beyond Planning Events Custom Designed Holiday Card!

Merry and Bright Card:

$.95 a card for (+shipping)

Size: 5 x 7

110lb matte cardstock

*Price Includes white envelopes

Pretty Present Card:

$.85 a card (+ shipping)

Size: 7"x5"

110lb matte cardstock

*Price includes white envelopes

Peace, Joy, Love Card:

$1.00 a card (+ shipping)

Size: 7"x5"

110lb matte cardstock

*Price includes envelopes

Very Merry Christmas Card:

**BEST DEAL** card only available to the FIRST FIVE PEOPLE WHO RESPOND!

$.75 a card for 20-30 (+ shipping)

Size: 7"x5"

110lb matte cardstock

*Price includes white envelopes

Memories...

2009-10-20T15:26:00.006-04:00

I have something new I am offering clients and wanted to share some of my latest work with you!

I have always loved the art of putting old photo's to music, and have to dabbled in this a bit here and there but have never been able to put together any sort of masterpiece until now! Thank you modern technology!

Whether you are trying to commemorate the life of a lost loved one, or celebrate your baby's first year, it can be done!

I hope you enjoy watching these as much as I did making them! Please contact me (beyondplanning@hotmail.com) if you are interested in a video for you and your family!

Wedding Video: Shown at Rehearsal Dinner and celebrates childhood, college years, and the couple...

Children's Video: Shown at Birthday Party, celebrates childs second year of life...

Save The Date!

2009-06-08T12:27:00.005-04:00

Save the Date's are a rather new way to announce your wedding, and ask guests to mark your date in their calendars! By new I mean, in the last 10 years. They can range from plain card stock with your names and date to magnets with your photo's on them to remind guests daily (while holding up children's drawings from school).

According to theknot.com Save the Date's should be sent six months prior to your event (eight months if you are doing a destination wedding) and should spell out your names and date. Any additional information would be up to you to include, such as a personalized wedding website that guests can go to for updates, etc.

My professional opinion is that this is the first piece your guests will receive for your wedding so it should be whatever you consider beautiful. Each wedding is unique in its own way, including yours so even if you aren't doing a monogram theme, or a specific color scheme, there is something special you can include on this first piece of information going to guests.

One of my personal passions is to design cards, announcements, Save the Dates, what have you. Below are two examples of some recent work I have done for Save the Date's! Both of these are custom designed and were one of three presented to the bride and groom. All three are very different will have a variety to choose from. They can also pick and choose their favorite parts of each and "customize" what I have done.

The first was sent during the holiday's and this couple decided to send them out as their Christmas Cards! This was a great way to share in the holiday spirit with their family and friends and spread the word about their upcoming nuptials.

The second is a more traditional Save the Date. It was designed with their wedding colors and includes an engagement picture.

If you are interested in Beyond Planning designing your Save the Date, please feel free to contact me!

My typical package includes:

Design Work of 3 different Save the Date's
2 Edit's of the Save the Date chosen
Proof of Save the Date
Printing
110lb matte cardstock with matching envelopes
*I will also address and send per customer request

Pink Party for a 1st Birthday!

2009-02-09T12:49:00.004-05:00

Recently, a blog friend asked me to create her daughter's first birthday invitations and I was delighted to do so! Pink with polkadots was the overall theme so we planned accordingly! We started with three so mom and dad could pick and choose and ended up with the below! The client was happy so I was happy!

Again, I used Microsoft Publisher to create the invitation and utilized my wonderful local (and cheap) printer! Very easy and lots less than purchasing these in a store or online! I do not want to come across to my readers that I have formal design training, as I don't. I do however LOVE to create invitations and am always happy to design an invitation, flyer or anything for anyone who will ask! I am obviously much less expensive than a trained designer and so far my clients have all been very pleased with my work!

The invitations debut:

Also I thought it would be fun to mention what my blog friend did for a pink theme. Its always great to learn from others and their party ideas! Everything was pink from the tablecloths to the cupcake icing! Also, everyone was encouraged to wear pink (and I think most did). For the favors she and her husband utilized a family resource (a florist) and had everyone leave with a pink rose in a cute vase.

I think colored themes for parties are really in right now. Rather than a golf or a mickey mouse theme, you can go with something like pink. The possibilities are endless and its very easy to stay within the theme!

If you are thinking of having your own party and need a color or theme suggestion...feel free to email me at beyondplanning@hotmail.com and I would be happy to help! If you have recently had a colored themed party for a child or an adult email me pictures and you may just be featured on this blog!

1st Birthday Party...For the Parents or the Child?

2008-11-01T20:03:00.008-04:00

This was the question my husband and I asked ourselves as we were thinking of plans for our son's first birthday. J will never remember this party but the adults will so we went with a theme to please all! We are HUGE Colts fans so the party was themed accordingly!

Invitations are really important to me and here is why...they are the first impression of your party, get together, or event. And as we all know, first impressions can make or break a deal. I made a contact with my old job that has remained priceless for invitations. It's really easy to create invites in Microsoft Publisher. I am by no means a design guru but this is a user friendly program which makes it fun and easy! If you are local I would highly reccomend PIP Printing in Castleton. I speak with Shawn Snodgrass. They are fast and inexpensive (*contact information at the bottom of this post).

We planned the party for a Sunday day game and served a variety of heavy appetizers, my husbands famous italian beef sandwhiches, and cupcakes for all to enjoy! Note: Its good to implement yourself in your party (especially if it is in your home). You can do this with theme, food, ambience, etc. With this particular party we implemented both theme and food for a touch of our family!

I enjoy baking and have really been into the cupcake fad going on! I used Wilton's fondant colored icing (found at Walmart in the fabric/craft section) for the "decoration" part of the cupcakes. It doesn't taste like much but it makes for easy decorating! All you have to do is roll out the icing with a rolling pin and then design how you would like!

For half of the cupcakes I used a horseshoe cookie cutter to make the Colts emblem. I iced the cupcakes with yummy icing and then added this as the decor. For the other half of the cupcakes I used a circular cookie cutter (one that will make a cut out large enough to cover the top of the cupcake) and iced the cupcake with yummy icing, then placed the green fondant on top (Note: the yummy icing acts like a glue to the fondant and adds great taste!), then took a piping bag with the smallest tip and drew a "football field." I found these cute toothpicks in the **SEE.SPOT.SAVE section at Target and they worked out perfectly!

Two other items that I am passionate about when it comes to party planning are favors and personalized Thank-you's. I am a big believer in carrying out a theme from start to finish. Meaning, if your initial invitation has a Colts theme, then the party should have Colts elements throughout. Also your guests should leave with a small token to remember your party with. This can serve two different purposes:

1. To remind them of the great time they had
2. To give them an idea for their next party or get together

Our baby guests received a goody bag filled with Colts Blue pom pom's, footballs, gummy snacks, and Colts Football trading cards. The adults left with Colts pens (the poms, footballs and pens were found at the SEE.SPOT.SAVE section in Target).

Finally your guests should receive a personalized Thank-you if gifts were involved (and sometimes just because!). In our case I again home-made the Thank-you's with a photo from J at the party (in his Colts gear) and then a big "THANK YOU" at the top. We wrote each guest a personal note at the bottom. For these I just printed them on our home color printer. You can 5x7 card stock and envelopes at your local Office Max. Below is the photo that was used for the Thank-you's.

All in all this party was a family success! I think J will look back at his pictures fondly! One thing to take away from this post: you don't have to go to your local party store to get supplies. If you think outside the box and keep your eyes open while shopping you can find wonderful items at a better price!

Remember, for a party like this just be true to yourself, your creativity and your limits and everything will turn out wonderful!

*PIP Castleon's contact information is:
Shawn Snograss
317-842-6338
pipcastleton@att.net

**SEE.SPOT.SAVE section in Target is normally the area right inside their doors on the non-grocery side. It normally contains a mixture of junk and treasures!

25 Years Together...

2008-06-30T08:16:00.005-04:00

...and one heck of a party on a budget!

Jamie and Carrie (my clients) came to me with just a few specific details. They wanted to throw their parents a surprise 25th Wedding Anniversary Party at Jamie's home, it needed to have green/yellow (the couple's favorite color scheme because they are huge Green Bay Packer fans!), she wanted a few personal touches, and it needed to be on a budget! I think we accomplished all of that and more and still managed to stay under budget by the LARGE amount of $.85!

The best way to stay on or under a budget is to shop in discount stores for great finds! We found the green/yellow napkins, plates, and table cloths at Big Lots! To put that personal touch Jamie asked for, we purchased some ribbon and made vases into silverware holders/centerpieces for the tables. It was easy and fun and really worked out well! We also made frames with pictures of Rande and Ginnie (our couple) to hang on the fence that surrounds Jamie's courtyard.

We had the event catered (we just picked it up and brought it to the home) by GT South, a famous BBQ place in the Indianapolis area (and the couple's favorite!).

The family: Jamie, Ginnie, Rande and Carrie

They really wanted their parents to have a great time so they also had a limosine pick them up and take them home! This was something that everyone at the party contributed to as we put on the invitation that we did not want gifts but if the guests wanted to contribute to the limosine they could. Group gifts are very "in" right now and everyone responded very well to this! The limo was a success!

In the end Rande and Ginnie celebrated 25 years together with family and friends which is exactly what Jamie and Carrie wanted! Ginne was very surprised and (I think) Rande just went along as he saw the cars of their friends and family as the limo pulled up! He was a great sport and these two are still a very cute couple!!

Services Provided:
· Created and Implemented Budget
· Reserved and Managed Catering
· Purchased and Created Decorations
· Created and Sent Invitations
· Managed Event

Happy 25th Anniversary Rande And Ginnie! Here is to many more years together!

Going Environmental

2008-03-17T17:08:00.008-04:00

Event: “Our House” Cleaning Products Party

This isn't your average "tupperware" party, although it may appear to be and yes resembles the characteristics of one. No, this party was held to get our households cleaned up, literally, but this time with no harsh chemicals.

I hosted this event and as much as I would love to give myself "props" for throwing a lovely get together I am really posting this because I think its important to get the word out about these products.

"Our House" cleaning products are totally environmentally friendly and the only actual household cleaners that are 100% so. This company is near and dear to my heart because it started and is being run in my hometown of Danville, Illinois. The company, Envirox has been cleaning businesses for years with their industrial environmentally friendly cleaners and have recently decided to go into households.

I had my girlfriends over for some food, cocktails and fun and I am pretty confident in saying that everyone who purchased these products are satisfied!

I will give you a wonderful appetizer recipe that is easy and a crowd pleaser! This was one of the items I served and the ladies loved every bite! :)

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients
·1 container of small/medium mushroom caps
·1 brick of cream cheese
·¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
·¼ cup “real” bacon bits (I use the Oscar Meyer brand. You can find it in your grocery store in the salad dressing aisle).
·3 tablespoons of chopped green onion

Baking Instructions:
·Preheat oven to Broil setting
·Spray large baking tray with Pam
·Clean the mushrooms and lay them out on the sprayed baking tray
·Blend together the cheeses, bacon and chives until creamy
·Spoon fill the mushroom caps with cheese mixture
·Bake 5-10 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and cheese is melted.

They are fabulous! I hope you enjoy!

If you would like more information about the Our House cleaning products visit http://www.ourhouseworks.com/

Casey/Glover Wedding

2008-02-13T08:14:00.010-05:00

Event: Full Service Wedding

Services Included:
· Bound Planning book for bride and groom
· Created and implemented monthly to-do list
· Itemized Budget
· Initiated and attended all vendor appointments
· Reviewed all vendor contracts
· Created and implemented Wedding weekend itinerary
· Designed menu and program
· Facilitated Rehearsal
· Managed Wedding day
· Post Wedding review

Vendors:
Venue: Indiana Historical Society
Caterer: Thomas Catering
Florist: Petals and Pots
Photographer: Rich Miller Photography
Band: The Wendy Reed Band

I began planning this event in July of 2006 and the wedding commenced on April 28, 2007. It was all about the details, and in the end we accomplished that and so much more!

Both the wedding and the reception were held at the Indiana Historical Society in downtown Indianapolis. This made their event unique because guests arrived to Lilly Hall seeing a beautifully set up wedding. Cocktail hour was spent on the famous Indianapolis canal, which is attached to the Historical Society. We then transformed the room into a glamourous reception so as guests were escorted back to the Lilly Hall they saw something even more beautiful than they had before.

Flowers and food were two of the top priorities for the bride and groom. We met with several local florists before Megan decided on Petals and Pots. They were the most creative and the best price for the flowers Megan and Tristan decided upon. The flowers used throughout the event were: Ranunculus, Peony's, and Spray Roses.

Megan and Tristan really wanted to serve something unique for their meal. After doing several taste testings with both fish and beef, they decided on a traditional chicken sit down menu served with the caterers special, carrot soufle and new potatoes. Their pizazz of the meal came with dessert as they served Banana's Foster Flambe to their guests. The caterer actually came out and flambe'd for all of the guests as a bit of a post dinner show!

There were touches throughout the evening that really set their nuptials off . From the Sweetheart table set on the steps where Megan and Tristan had just been pronounced husband and wife to the sparkler exit into an old classic car, everything set the stage for guests to feel like they were in their own little Megan and Tristan world for one night!

That is what a wedding should feel like and is what we strive for in every event we plan throughout our clients life!

"We had very specific details we wanted carried out and Michelle planned everything amazing," said Megan (the bride). "Her ability to work with all of the vendors with authority and poise was wonderful," said Tristan (the groom). " She was so professional in everything she did, yet made every step of the way fun," said Megan.

**All photography shown done by Rich Miller Photography.

Baby Boy on Board!

2008-02-15T19:50:00.006-05:00

Event: Baby Shower

Services Provided:
· Chose desired theme
· Created Invitation
· Handled Responses
· Chose menu

The mother-to-be was a dessert lover so after meeting with the hostesses we decided to go with a dessert bar themed baby shower. After discovering all of the favorites we narrowed the menu down to an ice cream bar served in martini glasses, chocolate cupcakes, and apple pie. Guests were also given a choice of the mother-to be's favorite drink of choice (Arnold Palmer's), coffee or water.

This was going to be her first baby and so we thought it was important to "stock the nursery." Included in the guests invitation was a request to bring along their favorite nursery items to share with the mother-to-be. We also mentioned a few items just in case guests couldn't think of something on their own. She recieved everything from diapers to baby detergent, all items important to a first time mother.

"This was a small shower for close friends and Michelle put everything together just perfect," said Aimee one of the hostesses. "The dessert bar was the best idea, we had so much fun with it and all of the guests enjoyed the tasty sweets," said Kristina another hostess.

Twin Girls Are On Their Way!

2008-02-15T17:38:00.008-05:00

Event: Baby Shower

Services Provided:
· Chose desired theme
· Created Invitation Layout
· Handled Responses
· Planned menu
· Organized Game

The hostesses came to me with very specific details that they wanted carried out for their dear friend. She was having "spontaneous twins," in other words they hadn't planned on having twins so her friends knew she would need to get some of the larger baby items at this shower.

We included in the invitation to all guests a contribution form and envelope to go towards the car seats she had registered for. The response was overwhelming and they not only got enough to cover the car seats, but had so much over that amount they also got to give her a gift card!

The mother-to-be was not into shower themed games so instead of something cheesy we had each guest bring a wrapped but unmarked onesie and childrens book. Since we were already asking guests to contribute money towards the car seats we thought this would be a fun and affordable way for her to also open gifts. We had her open each wrapped onesie and/or book and guess who had given that specific item to her. It was a nice way to fill some time for the event and not do a traditional baby shower game.

The hostesses also wanted to make sure that there was plenty of food for this event because it was a mid-afternoon shower. The mother-to-be LOVES Chick-Fil-A so we had it catered with her favorite items from there. The cake was from a gourmet bakery in the area that she loves as well. It was a traditional white cake with buttercream icing, the mother-to-be's favorite!

"We had so much fun meeting with Michelle, letting her know the important items we wanted implemented, and then letting her run with them," said Becky Drummy, one of the hostesses. "Michelle made this shower so special for our friend, and that was very important to us," said Becky.

Women I Come From

2008-02-12T18:37:00.007-05:00

Event: Women Family Reunion

Services Provided:
· Created and implemented “Save the Date” postcard
· Created and Implemented Formal Invitation
· Facilitated Responses
· Reserved Venue
· Budgeted
· Weekend Itinerary

These women wanted a comfortable place where all could come and enjoy each other's company. We found a lovely place in northern Indiana that rented beachhouses out around Lake Michigan. It had capacity for the perfect amount of people which pleased the clients. They wanted to be able to all stay together, and finding something to accomodate that was not as easy as one could imagine.

These women were coming from all over the country. California, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, you name it. It was important for them to find somewhere convenient to airports with an easy drive. Most flew into Indianapolis for the 2 1/2 hour drive a head, and others to Chicago for the same commute. We provided itineraries that included driving directions from either location.

The women in this family enjoyed cooking and eating together, staying up late telling family stories of the past and the embiance of the beautiful surroundings of Lake Michigan.

"It was the easiest vacation I have taken in years because everything was planned out so well for us," said Rebecca Suchomel one of the family members in attendence. "Michelle was so fun and easy to work with and she listened to all of our wants and needs, we couldn't have asked for more," said Kathy Stitt another family member in attendence.

We have to give a plug to Beach Walk Resorts in Michigan City Indiana for providing the amazing and affordable facility! www.beachwalkresort.com