Vendors...From and event planners viewpoint!

As a wedding, events, and meeting planner I am so blessed to meet and talk with many people. Some are honest. Some are not.

My favorite vendors to work with are those, that like I are thoughtful of the bride and grooms budget. Yes, we can all jack up our prices, yes we can 2x, 3x, the value, however in the average bride, with their families helping them it is about budget. Many people do not like going over budget. I am one of those. I enjoy making money, however I don't like making my clients feel like nothing cause they can't afford my services. For me it is about making people feel blessed with the portion God has provided for them. I enjoy, coming up with creative solutions to get the bride something she wants and yes that means sometimes doing it herself.  "To each their portion." Event planners love being extravagant, but sometimes blessings are greater when we are not!  Decor heavy events, weddings cost money.  Brides can save money by asking their wedding planner to help them come up with creative solutions to any type of decor. It depends on you, the client and your beliefs.

 MK Pure Diamond Events is considered a problem solver.  We are creative.  Enjoy working with our clients and love working with brides on a budget.  We know how to work with both family members of the bride and groom.  Sometimes we meet with all of them to come up with a solution that works with the whole family.  Most of the time we work with the bride and groom.  We attend, dress fittings, cake testing,  meeting with photography and videographer. We assist you with contracts and make sure that all of us are working as a team to make everything work for your wedding.

My goal as a wedding planner is to add the knowledge to help a bride and groom, be successful on their wedding day.  Both families working together to be happy for a moment in time is what I call "A Diamond Occurrence" success for all is success for the future.

How to Find, Choose, and Hire a Wedding Photographer

Hiring a wedding photographer is usually near the top of the list for brides, grooms, and their families as they begin to plan their wedding. And for good reason: Many years from now, the photographs will be among the most important and concrete reminders of your wedding day. On the other hand, you don't want to unduly stress the first year of marriage with depleted financial resources, resulting in part from a bloated wedding budget. How exactly to find, choose, and hire a wedding photographer is critical to managing this budget, and the best answer may not be the same as your first impulse. Whether you're ready to go all out or need to look for alternatives to make your wedding ends meet, here's what you need to know and what need to consider to make the best choice for your wedding:


Pros and Cons for Hiring an Amateur Wedding Photographer
It's not hard to decipher the pros and cons of hiring an amateur photographer. You've probably heard horror stories of the entire photo collection getting lost or destroyed. Yet, in reality, these stories are few and far between and are by no means exclusive to the amateurs. Just because someone doesn't earn a living as a wedding photographer doesn't mean he or she is incompetent. Plus, the possible savings are impossible to ignore, especially in today's economy and the still rising costs of wedding ceremonies. Of course, you may not have a candidate with the prerequisite skills and availability to do your wedding.


More than the photographs themselves, you may lose precious time for the evening's festivities by hiring the amateur photographer. Even friends of the family with impeccable photography skills may carry at least one inherent downside: For events like weddings, the photographer needs to have the authority to command people in various arrangements and conduct them off- and on-stage as needed. Friends of the family, especially ones with gentler personalities, may have more trouble with this than you first realize. Professional photographers know the score, have seen it all from members of hundreds of different families, and, most importantly, won't have to spend the holidays with members of the wedding party for decades to come..


Hiring a Professional Wedding Photographer
The single, biggest con of hiring a professional wedding photographer is the cost. Knowing that you'll have dozens, hundreds of professional-quality photographs from the father-of-the-bride giving away the bride to the quintessentially adorable flower girl is an immense relief in the chaotic stress of the wedding day. You make the memories, and the professional wedding photographer will capture them. But just how confident do you need to be in your photographer? Do you need dozens and dozens of pictures or hundreds and hundreds? Do you need the same quality of photographs for the reception that you do for the ceremony? And do you need photographs that could grace the cover of a magazine or simply your everyday wedding album? Depending on the answers to these questions, you could end up talking to a wedding photographer who submits an estimate of $1,500 or $15,000.


WeddingPhotography Options
Whether you're talking to the most exclusive photographer in town or your college roommate who's always had a passion for photography, you need to know which photography services you want to solicit a reasonably accurate estimate or to determine how much your college buddy deserves for the job. You probably already know that event photography, especially wedding photography, involves a lot more than pointing and clicking the camera. But have you considered the level of service you need for all of the following options:
How many hours do you need the photographer for? A couple hours or all day? How many preliminary meetings and how much pre-planning are needed to put your nerves at ease?
How many guests and members of the wedding party will there be? You may also want to break the wedding party and families down into sub-groups to help estimate the total number of photographs and allotted time for post-ritual posing.
Do you want professional prints and touch-ups or will a raw CD suffice? Do you want a storybook DVD of the best pictures?
Does the venue lend itself to composition or will extensive planning be needed? A terrace overlooking a beautiful landscape or city skyline will make things a lot easier than a church located on a crowded city street.


Article written by: Marcus Picket