EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Party at 511!

I was recently contacted by Angela from Newsong Church to participate in a party that she's putting together with her friend Grace. This celebration will be a benefit party - where the arts, culture and social justice come together. It will also be to celebrate Angela's 29th birthday and Grace's going away. How cool is that? They are turning a celebration which could've been only for exclusive and self-involved reasons, but instead, they chose this to be a public event benefitting some great organizations!

See below for the event announcement:

Bye-Bye Grace… Hello 29! – August 15 (4pm-10pm)

A benefit party: where the arts, culture and social justice come together. Come for food, live artists, great music and fun community!

Proceeds will go towards organizations that Grace Yi and Angela Park love:
PATH (http://epath.org/) and 5Eleven (http://511.urbanartsoutreach.org/)

Date:
Saturday, August 15, 2009

Time:
4pm - 10pm

Location:
5Eleven – Santa Ana’s Creative Space
511 E. Santa Ana Blvd.
Santa Ana, CA 92701

This event is open to the public. Bring your friends and family!
For updates and details: http://partyat511.blogspot.com/ (schedule of events to be posted soon)

I will be onsite to coordinate. Please come support these organizations and enjoy yourselves with some good food and entertainment!

Umbrella - ella - ella!

One of my clients is having an outdoor ceremony in October with 350 guests. It's an open, grassy field so we can pretty much do whatever we'd like with the space. One caveat is that there's almost NO trees for shade - and as the SoCal folks know, the afternoon sun can get hot! But the wedding is in the middle of Fall, so I'm not too worried.

The bride is concerned about the lack of shade because her side of the family and friends do not like being out in the direct sun. I quickly called around for some estimates on a large canopy, which will fit 350 guests underneath (Ceremony rows only, no tables - reception will be indoors).

Canopies do not come cheap, especially for a 40' x 80' one! Average price quoted was around $1200. Yikes!

So I got to thinking...how about sun umbrellas (aka parasols) instead? They would become part of the ceremony decor - and add color to an otherwise empty grassy field. I would imagine that it would look pretty nice in photos. As guests come in, ushers can hand out the parasols to the female guests or those who wish to use them. There can even be a pretty basket to hold the parasols.





This site has an excellent selection of parasols in various colors, styles, and sizes: http://www.lunabazaar.com/

If one buys in bulk, each parasol is $5.50. In my clients' case, let's say half will use parasols. I'm thinking the men will be fine without one. That would be $962.50. They will be saving close to $300 and guests can take the parasols home as wedding mementos. One vendor even suggested that if we were to rent a canopy of that size, to rent portable fans as well, since it may be stuffy with so many people. There you have it, with this idea, no fans are needed either!

Alright, now I'm going to pitch this idea to my client. Wish me luck!

Friends and DSLR Cameras

Have you noticed that everyone nowadays has a DSLR camera? Well, I can't blame them - the quality of the cameras are definitely better than the point and shoot ones and at the prices nowadays, the DSLR's are great investments! I'd get one too if I wasn't so forgetful about taking photos. I rely on my friends to remember. (There's usually at least 5 different cameras in a large party.)

I understand people like taking photos, and clear, high definition photos at that, but one gripe I have is when an Average Joe has a DSLR and is confident that they can break into the professional photography business.

When I first launched EWEP, I had many friends try to refer me to various photographer friends. Some whom I met were the actual professional ones, who've took classes and trained in the art of photography. But then some were simply a friend of a friend who owns a DSLR and wants to do wedding/event photography for fun or for low fees.

Photography is a HUGE priority on my list for wedding MUST HAVES. So I don't take photography lightly. Photos serve as memories, and if you don't have quality photos, how are you going to recollect every detail of your special day?

Anyways, Mrs. Avocado said it best in her post on Weddingbee here: http://www.weddingbee.com/2009/07/29/my-friend-has-a-camera-he-can-do-my-photos-right/

"My Friend Has a Camera, He Can Do My Photos. Right?"

WRONG!

Professional photographers are professionals - they have spent years and money on education, equipment, and experience. They will get the best shots and have the creative juices as opposed to your Average Joe.

If your budget is your main concern, there are professional photographers out there that vary in price ranges and sometimes even do complimentary shots or discounted packages. Professional photography does NOT have to be sacrificed due to budget! I promise you that!

Here is a small list of some of my fave professional photographers!

http://www.table4photography.com/
http://www.vinceandcarla.com/
http://www.harrisonlongphotography.com/

Inspired!

I've been following various event/wedding blogs as of late and have decided that some revamping is in order for my EWEP blog.

I've really only been using this blog as a document of events I've coordinated, but I don't think that's enough. And by the time I come around to updating this thing, months have passed since the event occurred! That's just not acceptable for a self proclaimed perfectionist!

With that said, I am now striving to use this blog as a journal of thoughts, ideas, happenings, links to other relevant blog articles, etc in my event planning world.

First topic - friends and DSLR cameras.

Recap: 4th Annual Talent 1 Media Film Festival

As I stated in my previous post, the last 3 months I've been assisting Talent 1 Media in putting together their annual film festival in Little Tokyo. This is their 4th year putting this festival on and it just gets bigger and better each year.

A little bit about Talent 1 Media...

Talent 1 Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping emerging filmmakers and artists use their creative talents for the purpose of causing change through raising awareness of social injustices. They offer wonderful and entertaining films, seminars and workshops, and live entertainment throughout their annual film festival, and best of all, the event is FREE! You can find out more information on their website at http://www.talent1media.org.

I had the pleasure of working closely with Sun Kim, Founder of T1M; Johnny Lee, Director of T1M; and an awesome planning team all made up of volunteers. As this is a completely free event for the general public, we had to rely on donations and pro bono work from volunteers. Thanks goes out to generous donors like Whole Foods, Platt Designs, Blossom Hill Florists, Wet Ink Printing, and many many individual donors who contributed cash and in-kind donations for the festival. Because of their kind donations and all the hard working people behind the scenes, we were able to provide food and entertainment for over 900 people, as well as spread awareness on human trafficking to the residents of Southern California and beyond.

My role was the Reception Coordinator, so I was in charge of coordinating all aspects of the evening reception. This included getting the red carpet and step & repeat set up, arranging DJ and music, coordinating catering, and laying out the decor. It was a lot of running around on the day of, but well worth the turn out! I definitely felt blessed to be a part of this amazing event and experience.

Pictures speak thousands of words so I'll just let these pictures do the talking...

























Photos courtesy of Ed D. Chu and Frederick Chung

Sneak Peeks: Jisun & Dan's Wedding and T1M Film Festival

I am the WORST blogger EVER. I am so sorry for the incredibly long lagtime between posts. EWEP has been quite busy these last few months!

I've been working with one of the most amazing couples the last couple of months - Jisun & Dan. They were mucho organized and detail oriented, which made my job so much easier! Their wedding was at the end of May at the Grand Events Center in Long Beach. It turned out fabulous! I will post up a event summary and photos soon.

Another event I've been working on was the 4th Annual Talent 1 Media Film Festival that took place just this past weekend at the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo. Being the Reception and Marketing Coordinator, there were a lot of moving parts involved. But with the help of an awesome planning team and 40 volunteers, the event pulled off effortlessly! Photos and summary to come shortly!

Ta-ta for now!

EWEP Website!

YAY! It is up! After 3 months of prepwork, the EWEP website is officially LIVE! Please do check it out at www.eastwesteventproductions.com and use the contact form for any questions, comments, or feedback. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Special thanks to Heather Feather Design who worked efficiently and expertly in creating a beautiful site, as well as to Steven Nguyen and Table 4 Photography for providing amazing photos. The website could not have been possible without your help!