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If you are not planning on hiring a professional party planner for your Quinceanera celebration you need to know the secrets professional party-event planners have learned through trial and error.
Dealing with venues, musicians, caterers, printers and limo companies can be overwhelming. However if you do a little planning and research up front, your work will save you money and you will avoid of having a last minute horror stories of mistakes that occur at both Quinceaneras and weddings.
Secret # 1: Start your search by listing vendors you plan on checking out. Write down names, phone numbers and any information you can get about the company. List them by category such as: reception hall, photographer, florist, music, caterer, transportation, clothing, invitations, etc.
- When checking with friends and reliable contacts make sure you ask the right questions so you can collect the information you will need
- When you put together your list of possible vendors to set up appointment with. Use the following questions as a guide and write down the answers.
- Ask friends who have already celebrated their Quince as the names of the vendors they used for each category, and did they do a great job?
- Ask if they had it to do over would they hire them again?
- Ask what they did not like about them?
- Ask how would they rate them on a 1 to 5 scale, five being the highest rating?
- Ask them if they would please share with you how much they paid for the vendor services?
Secret #2: Check your local Chamber of Commerce and or Better Business Bureau for complaints about vendors. They are both listed in your local telephone book, or check the listings using Google or a Yahoo search.
Secret #3: When contracting with a vendor make sure there is an emergency back up plan for the vendor services.
Patricia and her family had everything arranged with the photographer. They had a signed contract, paid the deposit, but never confirmed with the photographer in case the photographer was ill, who would cover for him. The photographer was a one-person company. When the photographer did not show at the event they received the information he was in the hospital. That was a sad for the photographer, but also sad for Patricia and her family. They had no photographer and no back up.
Secret # 4: Read the contact carefully. Do not sign a contract without the approval of an attorney. Avoid being a victim of a last minute surprise.
- Linda and her family thought they had signed a contract with the caterer. The day of the event when they had to pay the balance due, the caterer said the family owed them extra money for the insurance. Linda and her family was shocked. The caterer said you signed the contract and it says you are responsible for all extra charges such as insurance.
Secret # 5: Do not leave anything to the last minute to pick up an order. Carlos was in the Corte de Honor. He was smaller than the rest of the boys, but was told his tuxedo would be ready when everyone else picked up their clothes. Poor Carlos, the store lost his special order and he had nothing to wear for the Corte. So he could not be in the Corte de honor and the entire dance could not be performed as planned
Secret # 6: Check up on vendors on a regular schedule before your event. Many times a hotel changes ownership or the manager is fired. And, some contracts might get misplaced. You might have seen the story on TV. A reception hall went into bankruptcy and closed their doors. The Quinceaneras and weddings planned not only had to look for another reception hall they lost their deposit.
Secret # 7: Keep all your information in one safe place for your Quinceanera celebration. Use a planner. You and your family need to have easy access to information when you need it. This will be a good practice for everything else you will do in life. It will help eliminate stress; mistakes from happening and you will be able to have your dream Quinceanera celebration on any budget with beautiful memories.
Priscilla Mills the author of the book: Quinceanera Connection: Your Dream Celebration On Any Budget. Priscilla Mills tells her audience that the beautiful Quinceanera tradition should be the major focus of the rite-of-passage ceremony. Mills is concerned MTV and Hollywood has sent the wrong message to Latino families about what is important regarding a Quinceanera celebration. Because of this many families are spending more money on their daughters Quinceanera then they can comfortably afford. Go to: Mills site http://www.Quinceanerawish.com, and enjoy her blog; Ask Priscilla. It is filled with good advice and hints on how to have it all and still have money left over for the Quinceaneras education fund. Mills offers a free 17 page Quince eplanner when you sign up for a free website membership. She also offers a free bonus of a 82 page eplanner with the purchase her book: Quinceanera Connection:Your Dream Celebration On Any Budget http://tinyurl.com/llsrsa Mills has been a guest on three recent Telemundo- Con Chile y Lemon television shows, offering advise for the Quinceanera. Mills is also a life coach and a graduate of the Harvard Business School, O.P.M. entrepreneurial program.