Will your vendor be in business on the wedding day?

With major businesses closing their doors each week it is no surprise that wedding and mitzvah photographers, videographers and disc jockeys are dropping like flies. It is a scary time to be planning an event in South Florida so how do you protect yourself from a company going out of business and taking all your money with them?

Most important is to make sure you are dealing with a stable wedding service provider. Take the extra time to research their company.

1. How long have they been in business and are they incorporated? Check at http://www.sunbiz.org/corinam.html.
2. Are they licensed and insured? Ask for copies of their documents.
3. Are they behind on their taxes? Find out at https://www.broward.county-taxes.com/tcb/app/ol/licenses.
4. How often have they been sued? Check at http://www.browardclerk.org/clerkwebsite/bccoc2/OdysseyPA/casesearch.aspx?SelectCourt=true&DisplayCitation=no&DisplayType=Civil (make sure you click to do a partial name search to get ALL of the company's DBAs).
5. How is their standing with the Better Business Bureau? http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/search.

It may take awhile to do your leg work on a potential company but it will potentially save you hundreds to thousands of dollars and the stress of trying to find another vendor at the last minute.

Also if you are planning an event for more that 60 days away leave a very small deposit so if you do misjudge them you will lose less money! 10% should be fine with most reputable service providers. Remember, the more pressure they put you under to book and put down a large deposit, the more pressure they are under to pay their bills.

Thank you from Meghan & Dan Arsenault Key West Wedding Feedback.

From: Meghan Bartlett
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 8:24 PM
To: info@eoep.com
Subject: Happy Bride!


Just wanted to drop a quick note to thank the wonderful people who helped make my wedding photos everything I had imagined them to be. Elliot was fantastic with the arrangements and I appreciated the quick return phone calls and e-mails to my never-ending inquiries. Wayne was absolutely perfect the day of the wedding, from agreeing to start a few hours earlier to following my husband and I down the streets of Key West for the photo shoot of a lifetime - I was so lucky to find someone flexible with plans and excited to find the unexpected shots.

And also a big thank you to Kiya for answering all my production questions! The reprints and album are fantastic and I appreciated being told the expected dates and where in the process everything was. My parents were skeptical when I told them I found my photographer from theKnot.com and that it was the company based out of Miami - they thought I wouldn't get the personalized attention they wanted me to have. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Thank you everyone!

Meghan Arsenault

DJ/uplighting

WOW!! our newly designed DJ front boards are AMAZING!!! In combination with the uplighting, our new front boards allow the same color theme to be revealed. Let what normally can be an eyesore at your event, become something that adds to de'cor. This past Sunday @ Signature Grand in Fort Lauderdale, FL, we had provided photography, videography, and DJ & MC services. Another successful event...

Summer 2010 Events

Well we are heading back in to summer and for anyone planning an event, be it a wedding, graduation, sweet 16, quinceanos, or just a summer party, Florida is a great place to get a great summer deal. Elegant Occasions and its divisions are your source for all types of event needs. Forte Entertainment can help you with all things entertaining. From a professional DJ or Live music to up lights and specialty entertainment. EO Studios will capture and document your event beautifully with artistic photography and high end videography. E Productions is a perfect choice for anyone that needs help with audio visual services, sound reinforcement, grand opening events, movie premier events, red carpet events or concerts or event lighting and sound.

We are dedicated to helping you with your event and staying within your budget. Call to ask about any summer specials or general avaialability. We will be happy to hear from you.

Congratulations to Kristin & Matt Brown!

We had a great time this weekend with Kristin Barr & Matt Brown as they tied the knot on Hollywood beach and held a beautiful reception at the Marriott on Hollywood Beach in Hollywood Florida. Some of the highlights for the event were definately when the crowd gathered on the boardwalk and beach to watch the ceremony, they had a great photo booth station set up for everyone to enjoy, an awesome wedding cake/ cupcake arrangement and of course a great looking bridal party and a gorgeous bride. The day was handled flawlessly by Brooke Craig at Ultimate Event Planners, the entertainment by none other than Forte Entertianment with Elliot Valentin as the MC, Photo and Video done by the very best in business, EO studios (Bryan Hemmedinger- Photographer; Tony McLelland- Photo assistant and Walter Fransois- Videographer). Thanks to the Marriott and Barbara Lunny for all of the cooperation and Hospitality.

Another great event by the team at Elegant Occasions Event Professionals and we all want to say Congratulations to Kristin & Matt!

Elliot Valentin

EOEP

www.FullEventSupport.com

Another satisfied client!!!

The following came to me in an email today. I can't express how it warms my heart everytime I get one of these emails...

Wayne and Bill, Karla and I wanted to thank you and everyone at your company for such an amazing event. I know we had our ups and downs on pricing and what we could afford. My mother who helped pay off the remainder of the balance and was a little shocked at the price was your biggest fan by the end of the event. The event took place back on February 6th 2010. This was a very special day which you guys made outstanding. We can’t thank you enough for working with us on everything. We are still hearing about how amazing the party was. Thank you so much for such an outstanding day!!!

Karla and Luke Southam

Thank you guys for making my day!!!

On Novemebr 27, 2009 I got to see what it is like from other side...

On Novemebr 27, 2009 I got to see what it is like from other side...

Well, of the sweetheart table that is! I (Elliot Valentin) married my best friend, Elisa Delgado (ok that sounds sappy, but it is true). It was beautiful. It met all the standards of a Fall wedding in South Florida. The temperature was perfect, everyone was in town and the bride was an hour late! You see, as an Event Professional for Elegant Occasions, I get to help brides and grooms plan their events. I go over the minor details and do my best to share my experience from other peoples weddings to make everything go smoothly, and it always does. Here's the thing, when it came to my wedding, I thought for sure we had it in the bag. We didn't worry about things too much. We planned to see each other before the ceremony to take first look pictures and take care of the formal family photos before so we can enjoy our cocktail hour with friends. However, some of the girls were late and the hairstylist started falling behind. In retrospect, all we needed was an executive decision to get the bride done on time and leave the others for last (its usually the other way around) everything would have still worked out.

So here is the moral of the story. Plan ahead; schedule the time to get together, make sure everyone knows when hair, make-up should be done and what time to be dressed. If one or two people are late, DON'T WAIT! Listen to tthe photographer when he says "It's time to get going" and don't sweat the small stuff.

After all was said and done everything was great. All of our guests had a blast and we have some really great memories. EO Studios took care of my photography and videography. E Productions handled the lighting with some subtle up lights and gobos for the ceremony and cocktail hour. In the main reception area E Productions provided programmable LED up lighting and six intelligent moving heads with lighted monograms. The Lighting Designer was able to control the lights for spot lights during speaches and change room color throughout the event (awsome effect!). Forte Entertainemnt provided a guitarist for the wedding ceremony that played our personal selections, the DJ and MC that my whole family still talks about; and the highlight of the reception was the percussionist that kept the party rockin'.

Thank you everyone at Elegant Occasions. All of you helped make my wedding a wonderful memory. And it's not because you write my paychecks. Thank you...

Elliot & Elisa Valentin