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So you got engaged over the winter?! Congratulations! You have updated your status, called all your friends, and posted a million photos, but now what? First things first, you need to decide if you want to get married as soon as possible, or line a few ducks up in a row before the big day.

1. Budget

This is a big one! This could determine if you are going to be getting married next year, or waiting awhile to save up. While everyone’s situation is different, it is important to be realistic about how your Wedding expectations fit in with your budget. The average city wedding will run well over $50,000. The average rural wedding is typically around $30,000.  If you are blessed enough to have family members that want to contribute to the budget this would be a good time to talk about it. You cannot start shopping for vendors, talking to your planner, or even deciding on your style of wedding before your budget it established.

2. Guest List

After you decide on the budget, you need to decide on how many people are going to be attending. It is important to be realistic about this as well. If you have a network of over 200 friends/family/coworkers, you probably won’t be having a 75 person wedding. If you have a smaller budget you may not be able to let everyone have a plus one, but it is important to keep in mind who may be expecting to come. Having a 200 person wedding on a $20,000 budget will be much more difficult that having a 50 person wedding on a $50000 budget.

3. Plan, Dream, Repeat

Now for the fun part! Once you are over all of the drama and stress of deciphering budgets and guest lists you are free to make your Pinterest boards come to life. This is also the best time to decide if you want to work with a Full Service planner. If you are in communication with your planner from the beginning things will go very smoothly.

and Enjoy the rush of Wedding planning!

Photo by OlliStudio

I am thrilled to announce that we have won the Wedding Wire Couples Choice Award! Thank you to all of our amazing clients throughout 2015 and 2016. 2016 was a huge growth year for us. An additional thank you to my amazing team! I could not have done it without you! We look forward to meeting and serving more couples throughout 2017.

Campbell Events  Honored For Excellence With 2017 WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award®
Brooklyn, NY – January 10th, 2017 – WeddingWire, the leading global online marketplace for the wedding and event industry, announced Campbell Events as a winner of the esteemed 2017 WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® for  Wedding Planning in the TriState Area!

The Couples’ Choice Awards recognize the top five percent of wedding professionals on WeddingWire who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism. The prestigious awards are given to the top local wedding professionals across more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their professional achievements from the previous year.

The WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with Campbell Events. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients.

“The Couples’ Choice Awards’ ninth year features one of the most impressive groups of dedicated and acclaimed wedding professionals yet,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “It is our honor to work with high-caliber merchants, such as Campbell Events, who not only make a couple’s big day possible, but also contribute to the more than 2.5 million U.S. reviews represented on WeddingWire. We congratulate all of this year’s winners on their achievements.”

As a Couples’ Choice Awards® winner, Campbell Events is highlighted on WeddingWire, which is comprised of more than 200,000 wedding professionals in the U.S.

Campbell Events is thrilled to be one of the top Wedding Planners in New York on WeddingWire. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. We truly value all of our clients and appreciate the positive feedback that helped us earn a 2017 WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award.

For more information about Campbell Events, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/campbell-events-brooklyn

To learn more about the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards®, please visit http://www.weddingwire.com/couples-choice-awards.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire, Inc. is the leading global online marketplace connecting consumers with event and creative professionals. Operating within a $200 billion industry, WeddingWire, Inc. hosts 10 million monthly unique users across its mobile and web platforms. Consumers around the world are able to read over 3 million vendor reviews and search, compare and book from a database of over 400,000 businesses globally. It provides these businesses the technology they need to serve their clients through advertising, marketing and business management tools such as websites, payment processing, invoicing and contracts. Founded in 2007, the WeddingWire portfolio of sites serves couples and businesses across 15 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, making it the worldwide leader in weddings with brands including Bodas.net, Casamentos.com.br, Matrimonio.com and more. The company employs more than 800 and maintains global headquarters in Washington, DC and international headquarters in Barcelona, Spain.

Thank you so much to all of our clients, photographers, caterers, venues, and other Friend-ors. 2017 holds some big adventures for our team, but in the meantime here’s a few of our favorites from 2016!

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Happy Holidays, Peace on Earth, Merry Christmas… or whatever we’re supposed to say these days. Typically within the December month we are working on Corporate Holiday Parties or Staff Appreciation Luncheons, but for those of you that just want to grab a few friends and host a party, here are a few of my favorite low-key Holiday get togethers.
1. The Cookie Swap

Seriously, this is one of my favorite Holiday Traditions. To host a good Cookie Swap you really just need a bunch of friends that love cookies, some bottles of wine, and some good cheese. For an evening affair, host after dinner and provide light appetizers, such as dips or a cheese board, throw on some holiday music, pop open a few bottles of wine (or ten… you know your friends better than I do), and enjoy! Most of the time you end up just talking until the end when you remember you were supposed to be cookie swapping! The best part about this is, that you then end up with an assortment of up to 12-15 different cookies and a ton of new recipes to try.

2. The Ugly Sweater Party 

This is always a fun one. Grab a few friends and break out those ugly christmas sweaters. Have some fun games and competitions, and don’t forget to have a competition for best sweater at the end of the night. A white Elephant swap typically goes well with this type of an event. I usually host around dinner time with heavy appetizers such as dips, crudite, canapés, and a few crock pot dishes. Start the evening with a cocktail for each guest as they enter the room, and have a wine and beer station set up throughout the night. Be sure to take lots of pictures! The sillier this gets the better.

3. A Gingerbread Party

This is a great one to do with several families. I typically host in the late morning so that any young children can participate as well. The idea of this one is for each guest to bring a component of the Gingerbread house. One family would provide the cookie pieces, others would bring the candy, the frosting, the boards, etc… Start the party by breaking into teams and setting your structure first thing. After your structures are complete, break for a Brunch and let your structure set. After Brunch, break into your teams and let the decorating contest begin! After the decorating has commenced, have some books and kids games to keep everyone occupied while the votes are places and tallied. Line them up and announce a winner! I mentioned that typically I like to do a brunch for this type of an event. Some brunch ideas are eggs benedict, a mimosa station, a waffle bar, fruit platters, and smoked salmon. The best part of this is that you have a beautiful (hopefully beautiful) cookie centerpiece to take home for your Christmas Table.

4. Dressed up to get Messed Up

This is definitely an Adults only party. I always ask my guests to Dress Black Tie. I start the night off with Cocktails and Appetizers. Continue on the evening with a full DIY Bar stocked for your guests. I always do a coursed meal for this type of event. Salad to Start, a Roast or Duck as the Main course, and tarts or Creme Brûlée for Dessert. Be sure to have your table dressed to the nines as well (it makes for better photos). I also include a Yankee Swap at the end of this one. The Rowdier the Yankee Swap gets the better.

5. Festivus!

A Festivus for the rest of us! Seriously, this is a great party to throw. Throwing it on the 23rd is tricky because so many people are using that day to prepare for family plans, but talk with your friends to see what would be the most feasible. I do it up complete with a Festivus Pole! Be sure to have Seinfeld playing in the background!

6. A Feast of Seven Fishes

A Christmas Eve tradition! If your family doesn’t have a Christmas Eve tradition this is a fun one to adopt. I usually set the table with “the night before christmas” poem and new Christmas Socks for each guest. We course out each of the Seven Fish Dishes. We always begin with Oysters and always End with Baccala. We fill the evening with more wine than we know what to do with and typically will not do a formal dessert. I usually get a plate of tarts or Italian cookies to finish off the meal. Afterwards we all give hugs and look forward to Christmas morning!

7. A Twelfth Night Party

I will be honest. I know next to nothing about this Holiday. This made the list because a good friend of mine threw an amazing Twelfth Night Party a few years back and all I have wanted to do was relive it. This is said to be the day where the Wise Men brought their gifts to the baby Jesus (because they weren’t actually at the stable guys… duh!). This holiday is mainly European. America seems to still be on a Christmas Hangover this time of year and can’t seem to stomach another Party. After ample Research about the 12th Night party I have come across a couple traditions. To start everyone must bring a gift wrapped in gold. This is like a grab bag type of drawing. No names are assigned. For the dinner make twelve healthy appetizers, since everyone is still trying to burn off those holiday calories. The dessert is the main attraction. Each guest is given a small piece of cake and whoever gets the dried bean becomes the King and Queen of Twelfth Night. Also, it is apparently mandatory to sing 12 Days of Christmas (of course)! Learn More Here.

With the passing of Thanksgiving and the stress of Black Friday still lingering in the air, I wanted to point you in the direction of a very worthy cause. Although for many New Yorkers the holiday season is full of decorations, the tree, the Rockettes, Luxury Windows, ice skating, and family gatherings, many New Yorkers do not even have a place to call home.

Our Rising Tide friends, Lace and Scone, have started a movement called New York Hearts You. Which will be reaching out to the cold, hungry, and homeless New Yorkers this Christmas to bring them some holiday spirit. Please visit them here to learn more.

While all of you were out shopping on Black Friday, my family and I were setting up a Gilmore Smorgasbord at 3 in the morning! That’s right, the premiere that we have been waiting a decade for came out last night and we were all over that. While I won’t reveal any spoilers, I’ll reminisce by going through some of the amazing, junk food and stunt filled parties premiered on the originals and how to host your own epic Gilmore Inspired Party.

1. Don’t use the Letter E

In season 5 of Gilmore Girls, Rory gets swooped away, blind folded, and brought to a secret soiree in the woods. She initially learned of the group by following a woman in a Gorilla Mask screaming the phrase ‘In Omnia Paratus’… from there the rest is History. Watch Season 5, Episode 7 to see the elaborate set ups, stunning stunt, and plan your Life and Death Party.

2. Raid the Cosmetics Store

We can all agree that the addition of April was pretty much the biggest buzz kill of season 6 right? But Lorelai goes beyond above and beyond by whipping together an amazing pre-teen party in season 6, Episode 20. After Luke bombs the birthday party, Lorelai gets the girls in order and has the raid the near by cosmetic store. After that, they get to bring the attendants back to the Diner with them to continue make overs. How cool is that?! So find some lip smackers and you can be a super cool party person too.

3. Play 21 when you are turning 21

The Gilmore Girls had a pretty genius plan for Rory’s 21st. As we all know now, this had to be done on a do over and Rory ended up with a sushi filled pink drink 21st Birthday party. Hey, at least they had chocolate boxes, which bring me to my next point…

4. Find some amazing chocolate boxes

These chocolate Boxes get brought up on several occasions, the Christmas party from season 1, Rory’s Birthday Party, and the Vow Renewal. These Boxes are a staple to Emily Gilmore’s party plans, and talk of them always leaves me always wanting a morsel.

5. Pick a Random Year and go for it… 

J Lo, Nelly, Usher, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Kim Possible… Yup thats right, it’s 2002! Now even though the whole Marty/Lucy/Olivia Drama was wack, this party idea was an awesome idea that came from that trio. In Season 7, Episode 9 the girls crew turns up “Hot In Here” and rocks a year that may not have gotten as much attention, because “Why not?!”

6. Dance the Night Away

…Literally, the town hosts an annual Dance Marathon (it’s “annual” but how come we never see it again?) in Season 3, Episode 7. The event is to raise money for the town, and it apparently happens every year. The girls know exactly when people will get into a fight, who will drop out when, what stories taylor will tell, and what Kirk will do when he wins. This episode definitely goes down in the books as one of the greatest episodes ever, and is a game changer because of Dean finally having enough of Rory and Jess.

7. Learn To Roll Sushi

When Rory can’t go to Asia with Logan, Lorelai throws a picker upper party and transforms their living room into an asian wonderland. This includes Jackie Chan movies, a giant dragon, kimonos, the works… Sookie even teaches Lorelai to make wacky sushi rolls. Unfortunately, they get into a pretty crazy fight mid way through, but hey at least now she knows how to roll sushi?

8. The Bracebridge Dinner

I wish I had the opportunity to transform my workplace into an amazing party for all of my friends. Because the regular Bracebridge Dinner Folk get snowed in, Lorelai invites the whole town in for an Era Specific dinner, complete with actors and amazing food by chef sookie. Paris, of course, notices the period inconsistencies, but if she didn’t she wouldn’t be our Paris.

This list could go on and on. There are so many amazing parties in this series. Who could forget the Felon Party, the Knit-A-Thon, the London Extravaganza, the Deviled Egg Filled green balloon baby Shower, the Lord of the Rings Party, The twin wedding, Logan’s million parties with-in a party, the bed rest baby shower, the fan dance at the coming out party, the Renaissance Wedding, Emily’s forced Bachelorette Party, The Quentin Tarantino Bash, The Epic House Party, The Giant Pizza party, Rory’s 2 Sweet Sixteens, the Vow Renewal, Zack and Lane’s Double wedding, the Bachelorette Party, and of course Luke’s final Bon Voyage. Now, we all would have loved to see Lorelai’s June 3rd Carousel Themed wedding, but who knows, maybe we will see it in the revival? So grab your Martini’s, Candy, Twinkies, Pop Tarts, Al’s Pancake Chineese Food, Pizza Poppers (and of Course Coffee) and enjoy Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.