What a better way to show off your creative side than to have excellent lighting at your event. The question is how do you do this? What do you need to ask for? There are event production companies in about every area that can provide services to you but doing a little research can help you ask the right questions and get the right answers.

First find out your venue’s lighting capacity. Some venues do not have enough power to pull in beautiful theatrical lighting so you may have to rent a generator.

Second figure out your budget with all of the options today LED is sometimes the way to go in costs.

Third decide if you are going for color (led or gels) or if you want a design incorporated (gobo’s can produce designs but can be a little more expensive)

See the links below that give you some great detail on lighting & the options that are out there. And when in a bind call your local event production company, like Live Technologies (http://www.livetechnologiesinc.com) they can be very informative.

Lighting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighting_gel

Gobo’s – showing patterns
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobo_%28lighting%29

Multi Ideas

So the ideas must be flowing for this week because we have a whopping three that are great for decor and your honeymoon.

1. Use Feathers - if you are a fan of color feathers can really bring a lot of color into your event. See our image for all different types of aviary ideas. You can utilize them from your napkins, on your cake, in your bouquet, for your centerpiece or even on your invites.

2. Use Potted Plants - Potted plants can come in handy when placing as a centerpiece. They can be inexpensive and you do not have to worry about mucky water after it has been sitting for too long. They also make a great take home gift for you guests so you are killing two birds with one stone you have your party favor & your centerpiece and only paid once!

3. Once the event is over you should always have a GREAT wind down by taking a trip so check out: http://www.gouniglobe.honeymoonwishes.com/ This is hnt's new favorite travel center!

Take care & happy planning

hnt Events & Design

Focus on Fit - Part Three

So it is obviously so hard to continue an exercise/health regiment that we have even slacked on blogging about it. So back to part three of our FOCUS ON FIT. We recommend that you utilize The Daily Plate - this is part of www.livestrong.com . It is a program that lets you set weight/caloric goals and then enter your food as you eat it by date, time, portion size. The good thing about this site is that they actually verify the vendor and their nutritional information on certain items. This allows you to be aware of what you are ingesting. They even have the average calories counts for different activities. See the sample of the info you can enter above and remember you are what you eat so the better you eat the better you are.

Something .....

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

Finding all of these can become hard. So to help you out we have listed their meaning as well as some great ideas.

"Something Old" - symbolizes that the bride will continue on and be part of a family so this should come from either the Bride or the Grooms family.

Options:
Jewelry
Charm (for the shoe, bouquet)
Handkerchief
Hair Accessory

"Something New" - symbolizes optimism and hope for the new life ahead

Options:
This can be close to anything as long as it can be easily carried with the bride
Jewelry (the wedding ring counts in our mind)
Handkerchief
Shoes
Undies
Hair Accessory

"Something borrowed" - this should be an item from something whose good fortune is supposed to be carried over to the new bride:

Options
Jewelry (this can be more sentimental as you are giving it back)
Handkerchief

"Something Blue" - Brides used to wear blue to symbolize love, modesty & fidelity, and since the Virgin Mary was always in blue it has been associated with purity. In the late 19th century blue was used for wedding gowns and there was a proverb that said: "Marry in blue, lover be true."

Options:
Charm
Nail Polish
Undies
Garter
Shoes
Jewelry
Blue flower in bouquet
Hair accessory

And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings.

Here is a site where you can purchase a sixpence:
http://www.silversixpence.com/

Remember to save on some of the insanity of your wedding you can combine many of these - you can borrow a blue accessory, or buy a new blue piece of jewelry however we do not suggest borrowing blue underwear - ewe!

hnt Events & Design

Creating that beautiful spring centerpiece with a beautiful cost

Fresh flowers are a beautiful thing but how do you go about getting them & not spending a fortune. Well first start with the container. You can get inexpensive containers about anywhere from garage sales, thrift stores, local craft stores but my favorite is the website for The Dollar Tree. See the image above & the link below to find vases to fit your event.

http://www.dollartree.com/floral-decor/vases-bowls-containers/202c203c203/index.cat


You can fill these beautiful (ONLY $1) vases with numerous flowers but sticking with keeping your budget low, your best bet is to pick flowers that are in season. We have shown a few above however see the link below for a year round list of what flowers are in season when.

weddings.about.com/od/weddingflowers/a/Season.htm

There are numerous other ways you can become creative, such as add a drop of food coloring to your water to coordinate with your event, get rocks, fruit or other glass stones to help decorate your vases. But remember these are only for one night so try not to spend all of your money on these flowers. Carnations are always in season & inexpensive so here is a link to another great idea if you feel like being crafty.

http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/diy-carnation-centerpiece

Focus on Fitness - Part Two

Week two of fitness info we want to bring you into a new realm of being healthy. So for years there have been athletic clubs where you get gym memberships but now there are health clubs, they are different in that they allow for you to discuss with individuals what foods would fit your needs and what to stay away from. This allows for a personalized touch to weight management and nutrition as your body make up is different from the next. These nutrition clubs have other bonuses like classes to teach you different healthy lifestyle changes, to find out more visit our new favorite location:

Revolution Nutrition – 100 S. State Street (Lower Level) – 7-4 Mon-Fri & 9-1 Saturday
614-891-LIFE (5433) - nutrition4life@att.net

You can also check out different products that they promote by visiting
http://www.revolution-nutrition.com/ Have a healthy spring!

hnt Events & Design

Focus on Fitness

As we move into spring what better time to be in shape and as many of our clients are brides we know you want to look your best for the big day. So we have decided to focus on fitness. Each week bringing you another way that you can enhance your healthy lifestyle. This week we are focused on finding the right personal trainer. Many gym's and smaller workout facilities have in house trainers who are not only qualified but are there to help you to excellent physical fitness. Our spotlight this week is on Adam Atkison. See his profile below he can be contacted on facebook & is willing to help you reach your goals.

Adam Atkinson

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=510924151&ref=ts

All Systems Go Personal Training

Position:

Founder

Time Period: March 2010 - Present

Location: Columbus, OH

Description:

Personal Training! Helping people! Working with natural bodybuilders and people that want to be physically fit. Designing workout programs and diets that focus on complete nutrition and complete implementation of all the systems of the body, keeping you forever young. Lets get all systems going!

Good luck, stay healthy & be fit!