Entertaining Ideas: Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas

Here’s a fun way to keep eco-friendly for the holidays, and add a special touch to a gift!

As we approach the holidays consider mother earth in buying your wrapping supplies. World Market sells adorable recycled wrapping paper. Additionally, recycled aluminum foil is a great alternative to the shiny silver paper that sits in landfills for years. You can also make the wrapping part of the gift…Scarves are a huge hit right now and double as great gift-wrap, just tie with a eco-friendly ribbon! Or consider purchasing a reusable cloth bag as the wrapping and fill with goodies!

Jo goes East for Ginger Donnan Events

Once again JNB president Jo Beyersdorfer headed East to run one of the three 'Light the Night' Walks for the Luekemia Lymphoma Society and Ginger Donnan Events.  Rock star event planner and JNB friend Ginger Donnan planned all of the New Jersey Chapter walks and asked Jo to step in and run the Camden, NJ walk on Oct. 22nd at the Camden Riversharks Stadium for the second year in a row.  The stadium overlooks the river, bridge, and downtown Philadelphia - a gorgeous setting!  An estimated 2,500 walkers and fundraisers showed up to participate the event was a really really fun event for the whole family.  We can't wait for next year!

2nd Annual Dirty Dancing Festival at Lake Lure (NC), Sept. 16-18, 2011

The 2nd Annual Dirty Dancing Festival (an event founded by JNB) blew the first annual event out of the water!  JNB produced the weekend-long festival on September 16-18, 2011.  Here's a recap in photos:

The weekend opened with a Lakeside Screening of Dirty Dancing next to the  famous Lake Lure!

 

Followed by the Daytime Family Dance Festival on Saturday, including live music all day, professional dance performances by The Asheville Ballet, food and craft vendors, beer and wine garden, kids games, a dance lessons tent, and even a 'Lake Lift' competition!

The weekend closed Saturday night with the Dirty Dancing Festival Lakeside Concert at Rumbling Bald Resort - another amazing lakeside event featuring Billy Scott & the Party Prophets who opened for The Clovers (of Love Potion #9 fame, with performances by the Asheville Ballet including a re-creation of the final scene of Dirty Dancing - the 'Time of My Life' dance, complete with audience participation!

Wohlstadter Wedding, July 3rd 2011, Sherman Oaks CA

On July 3rd we produced a wedding for Tom and Hang Wohlstadter.  We were so excited about this wedding because we've been on board with the planning from the very beginning!

   The sweet bride and groom wed in an intimate and lovely backyard ceremony at the home of the Groom's brother, where a delicious dinner was also served courtesy of Contemporary Catering. The Summer menu included herb de provence crusted chicken, chilled poached salmon with a dill cream sauce, grilled vegetables with balsamic reduction, and much more.  Beautiful flowers in all shades of white, ivory, and yellow brought somewhat of a theme color to the already very colorful and beautifully landscaped backyard.  Draping on the existing pergola created a chuppah for the Jewish ceremony, and created shade for guests on another nearby pergola.  

    Guests were treated to some dancing after dinner and live music throughout the night by the Sam Graham Trio - a WONDERFUL jazz trio that fit the audience, the vibe of the backyard affair, and appropriate volume to be considerate to the neighbors.  It was a beautiful and fun wedding!

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals 

Photography: Embrace Life Photography 

Music: Sam Graham Trio 

Flowers: Floral Fields 

Catering & Bar: Contemporary Catering 

Hair & Makeup: Julie Quintanilla 

Design, Planning, Coordination: JNB Marketing & Events 

Electronic Invitations...for a Wedding?

Well they are eco-friendly, quick, efficient, easy to track, and tech saavy, but what are the benefits and downfalls of using an electronic invitation for a large or classy event such as a wedding?  Can you really get away with going fully-electronic for your wedding day?   It is common nowadays for newlyweds-to-be to send out a paper invitation and have a 'wedding website' where guests can submit their RSVPs, get directions, see pictures and more.  However if you decide to go the fully-electronic route, a few things to consider:

Yes an electronic invite is instant but remember your audience.  If they're older they may not check their email too often, or they may frown upon the 'electronic' version of what is traditionally embossed and tangible.  But then again it's your big day so if you want to save some time, money, and trees - go for it!

We recommend Pingg for fancy invitations, thank you cards, and more, but first, here are some pros and cons of electronic invitations to consider....

Some Pros:

1)  You know when someone opens the invitation, reads it, and whether or not they respond.

2)  People can easily access the schedule, directions, etc. on the invitation website any time they like, rather than potentially losing the tangible invite.

3)  It's cheap!  Well it's free but for an ad-free invite it's only $10, total!

4)  You can easily send reminders and updates to guests regarding registry, or reminders to RSVP

Some Cons:

1)  People can CHANGE their RSVP from No to Yes - which can be bad for your budget and timeline

2)  Guests have the option of saying 'maybe' which makes it very hard to get a head count in a reasonable amount of time because people often forget

3)  Some people don't check their email as often as others.  People can't avoid tangible mail!

So even though we have one more pro than con on this list, we think the decision will depend on your audience.  For a weekend bbq or a family potluck yes - do it!  For a wedding, we suggest sticking to the old fashioned sensibility and reliability of printed invitations.  It seems that in trying to make it easier for people to RSVP, they are given so many options that it creates more work for you the bride, planner, etc!

A Casual Manhattan Beach Wedding Reception

On June 18, 2011 JNB produced a 100-person wedding reception party for a couple local to Manhattan Beach, CA  who had recently wed in another state. They wanted to have a big, casual party for 100 of nearest and dearest friends at a private residence and JNB was happy to oblige! The event included a DJ, full service taco bar, dancing and a margarita and mojito bar.  The full-service taco bar, by Contemporary Catering, included every topping option known to man! The group danced the night away to Lady Gaga and Ke$ha,courtesy of DJ Tyler Dempsey, and it was a fun time had by all!

Wedding Planning - JNB's Golden Rule

We are in Florida this week and it's official, JNB has got wedding fever!  We are opening our services to wedding planning and are excited about the June wedding we are a part of here in Venice, Florida.

A few words of advice brides....well, one main rule.  JNB's Golden Rule for weddings, picked up from a friend at her own wedding years ago:  On the day of their wedding, neither the bride, nor the groom, should be asked ANY QUESTIONS.  For example...

"We're out of asparagus and switching to broccoli is that okay?" - Don't ask the bride or groom!

"We had a little accident and could only put out half the candles as we originally planned would you like tea lights instead?" - Leave them alone!

"Should we start packing up cake for guests to take home or wait 10 more minutes?" - My goodness find someone else to answer this question!

Do you see how if it were your wedding, even if you really DID care about WHEN they start packing up cake for people, these are things for which there should be a designated person your vendors and venue can turn to rather than interrupting your fun on your big day?

See the logic?  It is his and her big day, and that should be their focus.  Not broccoli covering for the lack of asparagus, or a timing decision that will likely go unnoticed if dealt with by a cool calm professional in a timely manner.  This day is about the bride and groom and their friends and family.  So keep the vendors away from them!

THUS - if you don't have a wedding planner, get an onsite coordinator!  Get someone that is not in the wedding or a guest at the wedding (preferably a professional) to make sure all of these questions can be answered, handled, and God forbid something goes wrong, which 9 times out of 10 is NOT a big deal, there is someone there to make a decision without causing the bride a coronary on their wedding day.

And on that note, here's our most recent favorite place cards for a vineyard wedding....inexpensive or very easy to make yourself....especially the drinking of the wine part!  Simply shave off one edge to create a bottom that will sit flat on the table, then carefully cut a slit in the top for the place card!  Then write the place cards yourself, insert, and you have an affordable, adorable set of place cards for your wedding!  Now get to drinkin' that wine :)