Unforgettable Events by Ringlit

I have been working on putting up a website for my services and other information, but in the meantime, wanted to use the blog to get some of the info you may be looking for out there!
I specialize in ethnic events of all sorts. Not just weddings and all of the functions that can go along with them

• Wedding Ceremony
• Wedding Reception
• Sangeet
• Mehndi
• Bridal Shower

I also do parties - birthdays, engagements, and theme parties! My services can be altered to meet whatever your needs and budgets are, including some of these options:

• Full Planning (For a wedding, this means helping with everything from venue selection, to menus, decor, contract negotiations, invitations, favors, finding and comparing vendors, putting together a timeline and schedule, and being on-site with assistants during your events.)
• Customized or Hourly Planning (Again, using a wedding as an example, if you need advice and someone to get you going, and pick colors, bounce ideas off of, and use my contacts for vendors and past experiences - this is a great option. We can spend some time together to get things going and you can take it from there, or we can put together a customized package for certain items you need help with!)
• Day-Of Planning (Consultations in advance, and confirmation with vendors prior to events, on-site with assistants during the event(s) to coordinate and help things go smoothly!)

Something that I really enjoy is coming up with unique and exciting decor, favors, entertainment and making sure the music really suits the mood you are trying to set. These special touches are what sets an Event Planner apart from the rest. If you have the time and some kind of vision then really, you can plan your own wedding, you know you have to book certain vendors and can find loads of information in books and online regarding what you need to get done. The difficulty is the creative aspect, the things that will make your events UNFORGETTABLE!!

In addition, someone who can help you budget and set a timeline for the planning and also for the event itinerary is really a priceless skill I offer to stay organized and make sure everything goes smoothly and isn't rushed or last minute. All of this means you, the bride get to keep your cool and enjoy some of the most wonderful moments and memories of your life.

Please do contact me at: ringlitevents@gmail.com if you'd like more information, a quote or to chat about your event!!
Good Luck and I hope to hear from you :)

Cabo San Lucas Indian Brides

Villa Del Arco Resort & Spa

Last year, there were at least 5 Indian weddings that took place in Cabo San Lucas, Mx. Not just brides from the west coast, but from all over the US! I had the pleasure of finding some of those girls and we shared and gathered information together as we planned our weddings.

Two got married at the San Jose Del Cabo Hilton
One at the Sheraton Hacienda Del Mar
and myself at the Villa Del Arco Resort
I am not sure where the 5th girl had her wedding.

All of us banded together because we were basically pioneering this new trend and needed to find resources for making the weddings Indian and traditional while also fusing in the Mexican/Baja culture. Although I believe a lot could be done on one's own, do not underestimate the power of information sharing and the give and take between people in your same boat. I plan on contacting these other brides to ask them to send me a blurb that I can add to this blog on their advice and experiences with Indian Destination Wedding: Cabo San Lucas! So...stay tuned!

DIY - Do It Yourself Table Placecards and Names

Get creative with your event! Do somethings yourself to add a personal touch. If you have always wanted to do this but don't feel creative or are having a brain fart, I recommend going to Micheal's and wandering around. Micheal's has ton's of supplies for arts, crafts, bridal invitations, shower invitations, scrapbooks, candles, vases and centerpeices, as well as artificial flowers. If you head there with an idea in mind for colors or even no idea in mind, but want to visualize some colors, I promise you won't come out emptyhanded.
When I am selecting colors for an event of my own, or to help someone else, I either go to Micheals, or I go to the paint section in Home Depot and look at the swatches and how they look together. You can even take these home with you to check with your family or fiance.
Other than color selection, you can find fun ways to make unique invitations, table place cards, table numbers, favors and just add a personal touch to almost anything.
Since the last wedding I planned was only 110 people, we had 11 tables and a sweetheart table for the bride and groom. I prompted all my friends for ideas for creative table names, instead of the typical numbered tables. Here are some suggestions I got:

1. Places the bride and groom have been together in the world (i.e. Hawaii, India, London)
2. Names of Drinks
3. Words meaning "Love" in all different languages
4. Words of endearment in different languages
5. Star Signs
6. Theme for each table
7. Names of songs or artists

Needless to say there are many ideas I got back and the one I liked the best was number 4. I chose to use words in different Indian languages that mean something sweet. Here are the names of the tables I had: Dulhan(Bride), Saajan (Groom), Pyar (Love), Mohobbat (Love), Ishq (Love), Dil (Heart), Pranaya (Love) , Piya (Lover), Jaanum (Life) , Mithri (Love)

At Micheals, I went to the section where there are all different colors and prints of paper and found ones that matched my colors (Purple and Gold) and I downloaded an Indian looking font (it is called Samarkan if you want to search for it). Here is what they looked like:
For the actual placecard table, I bought placecards from Micheals (Brand called "Brides") and instead of folding them in half, I kept them straight, I bought thin purple and gold ribbon and a tape pen. I cut ribbon and taped it along the line in the center of the placecard (to split the top and bottom and add some color), then I played around with the bindi's that we have all over the house and ended up with little tear dropped shaped ones which I used to accent the placecard. Then still using the Samarkan font in the plum color you see in the pix, I put a person's name (Alphabetical order) and below the ribbon line, I printed their table name on clear labels and stuck them on, here is how they looked:
I then attached them to the little pouches that held wedding favors. This way, when you pick up your placecard you also pick up your favor! Inside the pouch (ordered from India), I put a pretty jeweled and mirrored pill box and a packet of Supari (minty breath freshener). I know it all seems like a lot of work, but even getting friends or family together to work on these things is part of the fun. Plus, you don't have to have an idea up front, let it come to you organically and figure it out as you go!!

It's all about the FOOD!

Food is a big deal...probably the biggest deal of any event. No matter how nice everything else is, if the food isn't good, that is what people tend to talk about and remember. It's always the "but" at the end of the review of all the positives!

So much of the time, we just accept what we are presented with - I say ask for MORE! If you go to check out a venue for an event, they will likely give you their pre-set and pre-printed catering menu, with restrictions on outside catering as well as the items on the menu and some minimums and all that...but times are tough and its a buyers market - NEGOTIATE!

I would start with an idea of what food you WANT at your event. Is it Indian, Greek, Middle Eastern, is it from a particular restaurant or a particular dish? Then, try the following:

1. Do you allow outside catering?
   
2. Throw out there that you have people with "dietary restrictions" maybe they only eat Halal meat, or maybe they are vegetarian etc...
3. Mention that this might be a deal-breaker and you'd like to find out if an exception can be made, or if you can speak to the chef regarding dishes that are NOT on this catering menu!
4. Make sure if they are playing hard-ball that you find out if they have ever done outside catering or special recipe's in the past
5. Try and get another hotel to agree to it and use that as leverage - well, the Costa Mesa Westin is willing to make an exception for us...why can't you?

Once you get access to the chef, its allllllllllll good! Chef's love to COOK its their passion! They are SICK of the items on the catering menu and are excited for a challenge! When I got married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico...I knew I had to have at least one event with Indian/Fusion food. Now, I know that a lot of ingredients that go into Mexican dishes also go into Indian (i.e. cilantro, onions, green chillis etc...) so I got creative...Hmmmm can we stuff this empenada with potatos, peas and masala?
After convincing the wedding coordinator at the hotel to allow me to set the menu, I had access to the chef. He and I got really creative and I spent the next few months sending recipes, and he worked on figuring out what ingredients I needed to bring him. I arrived 5 days early with an entire bag of Indian and Indonesian spices and sauces and herbs. Then, I insisted on a tasting...and I brought the major critiquer's of our family!!! We had so much feedback that the chef had to take notes....but, noone could stop talking about the food that night........sigh, it was all worth it!!
Here was our fusion menu:

Hord d’ Oeuvres:

• Turkey Kabobs
• Samosa (empanada with potatoes, spices, peas inside) Hot (served at cocktail)
• Chicken Satay with ginger peanut sauce
• Coconut Shrimp
• Peanut Masala: Salted peanuts, with lime juice, diced onions, cilantro y green chilli diced-cold
  
• Guacamole with chips

Menu: DINNER BUFFET MENU

• Grilled Eggplant Rounds With Ginger Curry Dressing
• Tandoori Tofu Cubes
• Grilled Lamb Chops With Mint Dressing
• Sautéed Shrimp With Bubu Bali Sauce
• Seasonal Fish Filet With Coconut Curry Sauce (Sea Bass)
• Steamed Rice
• Assorted Grilled Vegetables With Garlic Ginger And Shredded Coconut
• Sautéed Bell Peppers And Tofu With Yellow Curry
• Vindaloo Chicken

Sides:

• Wheat And Flour Tortillas
• Papadom (Provided Upon Arrival Nov 25^th)
• Baby Greens/Dressing
• Raita: Tomato Cucumber And Red Onion With Cumin Scented Yogurt Dressing

Destination Weddings

It has become more and more of a trend in the past few years to have a "Destination Wedding". It is not only trendy, but can also be very practical. It is an amazing way to get just a small intimate group together to celebrate your special moment with. Not only that, but you can do it without offending the masses you HAVE TO invite. Whoever is closest to you and wouldn't miss it for the world, will be there.....Isn't that ideal? Now, it is no silver bullet, it takes a lot of work and planning, and it can also be expensive. Not to mention, the expense that you put on your guests. So, what I recommend if you are thinking about a destination wedding, is to take the following steps for narrowing down locations:

• Make sure you have been to the place before - first hand experience is priceless.
• Try and find other brides who have been married there in the past, or are further along in the process than you are, to get reviews from: www.bestdestinationwedding.com is excellent for this!!
• Look into weather/best time of year for travel

• Check airfare, peak timings, how many airlines fly non-stop from the cities that most your guests are from
• Try and calculate total cost per guest that attends that THEY will incur, and rule out locations based upon this
• Choose a place that people would WANT to go to and visit and see things
• If travel time is long, try and plan it on a long weekend
• Last but not least....make sure the immediate families are ok with this, or can be convinced that it is what will make you and your fiance happy. Though you are the star of your wedding, your family has a lot vested in it as well, and can make it easier or harder for you depending if they are on-board with the plan or not!

The Basics: Article 2

So...once you have a vague idea of where, what, when and who for your event, you need to consider getting an event coordinator. This mainly relieves you of the stress on the day-of. Many Wedding Planners offer packages for:

• Full-service (they help you with everything, go everywhere with you, contract all of your vendors, set up meetings and viewings and tastings etc)

• Partial-service (this is something less than full service, but more than day-of

• Day-of (self explanatory)

Think about just how much help you will need, and how many events you need help with. Most wedding planners (including myself) are willing to be flexible to suit your needs and price-range.

Also, make sure you get a notebook or use a laptop, so that you can stay organized. No matter what the event is, there are always a lot of details, contracts and prices to make a note of. It is smart to get multiple quotes for all your needs from different vendors and put them in a spreadsheet for easy comparison.
***I highly recommend Google Doc's for this. It is free, web-based, and all you need is a Google account. It is specially useful when you have multiple people to collaborate with and share documents with.***

I had a full-service coordinator for my Indian Destination Wedding in Cabo San Lucas, MX. Because she didn't have much experience with Indian/Hindu weddings, I ended up doing a lot of the leg-work, but could not avoid having just a day-of coordinator, because I needed her help speaking in Spanish to vendors, and wanted her to be in the loop when it came time to have the event.
When you have a destination wedding, a coordinator is a necessary expense, because you are not physically located in the place where you are having the event, and cannot swing by anytime to look at the place, taste a cake, or have a hair trial!!
I found that when I finally did get to Cabo and put things completely in her hands to handle, she was amazing! She and her assistants all communicated over walkie-talkies, decorated my mandap (Indian term for altar), and everything flowed well because of them.

I will write a seperate post about this point, but I have noticed that more and more Indians are going for Destination Weddings. I think it is because it allows you to have a smaller wedding without offending anyone because they were all invited, but only your closest people will attend! We invited about 400 to our wedding and the turnout in Cabo was 110 people. It was perfect!

The Basics: Article 1

Something I have noticed with planning events is that, no matter what the event there are certain basic things that need to be decided upon regardless. It's sort of like a checklist that is generic and applies to any event, whether it be a birthday party, a wedding, a shower or a tea party!
You gotta start by thinking about the following first...

- When is the event?
Most are driven by some kind of date - especially birthdays or pre-wedding events. Even though this seems to be easy, it isn't always that straightforward. Look at a calendar and determine if you want it to fall on a weekend, or a 3-day weekend. Also think about weather, is this a summer event or an indoor event so it doesn't matter? Do you want to base the date on people's availability? Especially the core people who HAVE to attend? Or, do you want to set the date and change it if you have to?

- Where is the event?
Again, not as straightforward as you may think. A dinner party may be held in a home or in a restaurant, or even in an empty hall where you have everything catered. Sometimes this is dependent upon who is coming and when it is, so sometimes all these decisions have to go together. If it is a wedding, there is a lot of research to be done...is it destination, or local? Is it indoors or out? What does the capacity of the room need to be? Basically the question is, what are your deciding factors for each of these questions...as much as you can list out, the better, so you can begin ruling out possible venues/locations.

- Who is invited?
It is hard to draw a line sometimes, but guestlist and a column with "Probability of attending" is great so you can get an idea of numbers...again this feeds into your answers for the other questions and will help eliminate some venues :)