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Creating Unforgettable Memories For Over 35 Years

Archives for November 2016

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Marriage Advise from America’s Longest Married Couple

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Photo courtesy of Betar Family

While the average length of a marriage today is 8 years, there are just some couples who have great longevity. Many ask how they did it? Since engagement season is upon us, we thought we’d share some secrets of love and long-lasting marriage from a couple with a lot experience.

Introducing John and Ann Betar, named America’s longest-married couple. It all began in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “We were friends. He’d drive me to school,” Ann said. John’s story, “She’s the girl I had loved. Always. And I had wanted to marry her.”

Married in 1932, 21 year old John and his 17 year old bride eloped after her father wanted her to marry an older man. Fast forward 83 years of marriage later, both John and Ann have lived to be past 100, are great-grandparents and all these years later still hold hands.

John and Ann shared their thoughts to long-lasting marriage this past year. When asked what the secret was this is what they said. “It’s a lifelong thing. How do you define love? Through actions, understanding, little things…,” said Ann. “I wish I knew! It’s natural. An understanding,” said John.

They were asked, what are some things you do to keep things fresh, new, and entertaining?” Ann emphasized the importance of touch. “We hang onto one another! Just a few little hugs and we’re fine.”

Probably the biggest question anyone would ask marriage veterans would be, what do you do after you have an argument? Do you make up on the same day? Their reply is quite humorous and endearing. Ann said, “I say, ‘Oh go do what you want.’ Nine out of ten times he doesn’t!” John responded, “We never hold grudges. Most arguments are about food.” Ann added, “Yeah, like ‘You bought the wrong kind of cucumber!'”

In the end, their secret to a long-lasting union is simple. “We struggled in the beginning, but, luckily, we were content with what we had. It’s just important to be content with what you have,” John said. 

Dunavin, Davis (2016) WSHU
Yagana Shah, (2016) “America’s ‘Longest-Married Couple’ Wants To Give You Love Advice”, Huffington Post

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Seven Best Event Planning Tips

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Whether you’re planning a wedding, sweet sixteen, communion, corporate event or a myriad of other events, there are some important things to know. These are the kind of tips you think, “I’m sure glad someone told me that!” While you may have planned events before, here are seven best event planning tips you may have missed that are secrets to a successful event.

1. Be Our Guest
It’s always important to consider your approximate guest count before settling on a venue. This will ensure there’s enough space for everyone. Remember, you need space not only for your guests but a DJ/band, dance floor, tables, and busy servers. If you need to cut the guest list consider prioritizing by tiers. Begin with the immediate family, persons of honor, and best friends at the top of the list. Follow this with extended family; aunts, uncles, cousins and close friends. These are people you can’t imagine celebrating without. Next, list additional friends, neighbors, coworkers and so on. If you need to pare down, begin at the bottom until you reach your ideal number and budget.

2. Securing The Date
Choosing a date can be tricky. While there are several things to consider, here’s just one. Discover if your special event date falls on a holiday, convention, or large local event that would cause conflicts with traffic and hotel availability. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating on a holiday but consider your important guests may have other obligations.

3. Capitalize On The Bonuses
Want some bonuses for spending all that money on your event? Secure a credit card with a rewards program. From airline miles to shopping deals, putting all your spending on one card will help you accumulate thousands of rewards points.

4. Get Referrals
When looking for trusted vendors ask the catering hall and vendors for referrals. They’ve worked in this business a long time and know who can be trusted for the best experience. Your photographer knows which florists flowers last longer and stay freshest. The catering hall can tell you which transportation is always on time.

5. Get Organized
There is a lot to plan and keep track of. Get organized using a digital format, if that works for you, or go traditional with a three-ring binder. Compile everything; correspondences, notes, photos, ideas, things from magazines, etc all in one place. This will save you time and stress. Set up an email address dedicated to the event. Keep a contact list of important people and vendor numbers in a hard copy and on your phone. Break things down into a schedule from start to finish and follow a logical order to get things done. This will relieve a lot of stress, keep you from getting worn down and help you enjoy the event when the day comes.

6. The Signature Drink
Signature drinks are still a great way to celebrate any event. Since signature drinks are custom made, make sure you have enough servers to attend to your guests. You don’t want your guests waiting in a long line to enjoy the celebration.

7. Help Them Arrive At The Event
With all the planning you’ve done, you want to make sure your guests get to the event on time. Providing an accurate directions card, map and address will help them accomplish this. Your catering hall can help you print our driving directions. Having the address allows your guests to use their GPS to find the least congested traffic route. As a safety measure, you can create a private event page on Facebook and post the address and directions there. The Facebook site never goes down and your guests know how to easily access it.

Whether you’re planning a wedding, sweet sixteen, communion, corporate event or a myriad of other events, there are some important things to know. Using these seven best event planning tips will help you have a more successful celebration.

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Three Secrets To Securing Your Event Date

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Choosing an event date can be tricky. There are so many things to consider; holidays, guest availability, family conflicts and more. Here are three secrets to securing your event date that could save you time, stress and money.

1. Discover if your special event date falls on a holiday, convention, or large local event that would cause conflicts with traffic and hotel availability. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating on a holiday but consider your important guests may have other obligations.

2. Last minute bookings can save you money. Most people book their events six months or more in advance. Calling catering halls for open dates two months before your desired date can give you some bargaining power. You can save you up to 25 percent. That’s quite a bit of savings.

3. If you’re having your event on a weekend, consider any day but Saturday. While Saturday may seem most convenient, Friday night and Sunday are general less expensive by quite a bit over a Saturday event. And, if you’re booking last minute, it’s likely that Saturday is already gone. Save yourself some money and book a Friday or Sunday event time.

There are so many things to consider when choosing an event date. Using these three secrets to securing your event date will certainly help you get ahead, save your time, relieve some stress and save you money.

The El Caribe offers savings on last minute event bookings. We understand that somethings just can’t wait to be celebrated. Let us help you celebrate. Give us a call today. We can help you with your last minute event plans and leave you with unforgettable memories.