After what seemed like forever, I returned in the office for the 2nd day. Unlike on Monday's, when I work on Friday it's a full day. My day started off a little rocky with some car issues and by the time I arrived at work I was hoping things would turn around. Luckily for me, they did.

Elissa gave me the task of working on the website for Perfect Productions' newest department, The Perfect Benefit. This department, as one can guess, is going to be dedicated to benefits. I started making the different pages for information on the bachelor and bachelorette auction along with the the kickball tournament. I've never created a website before but I was very excited to use my creative skills to create a website I felt reflected what Perfect Productions is about. After it is done, visitors will be able to get information about the different charity events. They can download the various forms for the events as well as learn more information about the programs. One thing I hope to do is create a page dedicated to the bachelors and bachelorettes so people can scout out who will be auctioned off before the actual event.

Around lunch time, I went with Elissa and Amanda to my first vendor meeting. We went to Powerstation Events in Cheshire to pick out a DJ for a wedding. While we were waiting, we were looking through some pictures from other weddings. While going through them, Elissa and Amanda would make a comment here and there about details most people would overlook. I was extremely impressed and did my best to remember what they were pointing out because I feel it's the little details that make things perfect and have the events stand out from the rest. It was interesting to see all the different things that go into picking a DJ. Most would think it would be quite simple but there are really things you need to think about when picking one. The budget, time length, music type, and DJ personality are all things needed to be taken into consideration.

On Monday, the other intern will start working. I'm excited to meet her and start plannging things for the auction, and especially looking forward to having someone to bounce ideas off of and to provide a different perspective. Check back soon for a new update on how things are going!

Today was the last, first day of classes for me. To put even more pressure on such a bitter sweet realization, my professor felt the need to inform the class that there were only 117 days until the seniors would be part of the 'real world.' Immediately, a plague of fear and anxiety swept across the class. Students murmured from one to another about how they had no clue what they wanted to do or if they even had the means to accomplish their goals. I'll admit I was a little jolted by my quickly approaching graduation but I was also excited for what was in store within the next 117 days.

I have been fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the newest interns with Perfect Productions. Located in Farmington, CT, Perfect Productions is an event planning company that I'm am extremely excited to be a part of and learn from.

Now, to introduce myself, my name is Jackie and I'm currently a senior, Public Relations major at at Quinnipiac University. My journey to the event planning industry has been just that, a journey. When I originally enrolled at QU, I was a PR major and was very curious to look into the event planning industry. I've always been someone who loves to plan get togethers among friends and loved the idea of working with people and making their special days perfect. After my first semester, I decided to leave the PR world to become a teacher (I have always enjoyed working with children). Well, after being a math major, psychology major, and getting accepted to QU's Master's program for teaching, I found myself feeling like leaving the PR world was a mistake and switched back to a PR major (amazingly with my parents support!) Well long story short, I continued in the PR program and was thrilled when I received an email that Perfect Productions was looking for a spring intern.

When I finished my interview, I could not stop gushing to friends and family about how badly I wanted this internship. The company is made up of extremely talented people and their events show just that. This semester I've been given the assignment of working on the 2nd annual Bachelor and Bachelorette auction. It is for the Petit Family Foundation and I am so honored to be given the privileged to give back to the foundation and contribute to their great cause. Over the next few weeks I will continue posting blogs about my experience at Perfect Productions, so please check back for updates!

One More Day to Go!

Yikes! The past three weeks have gone by so fast for me; I do not even know where January went it seems. Tomorrow is my last day and I cannot believe all the progress I have made since day one. Today just seemed to fly by because I was so busy. I had to come up with a plan for the rehearsal dinner in the morning. After that Amanda taught me how to write up a final script for an event. A final script is a step by step, minute by minute write up of all the parts of an event. A script allows the planner and the people working to have a schedule for the event. Its good to know exactly what is happening at all time. It not only saves time and confusion but keeps things running smoothly and if a problem does arise they are easier to fix with an agenda of more ideas. I spend the whole day working on my final script. As I prepare to leave the office I am still not done with it. Its a lot of work to make sure that every little detail is planned out to a tee. Tomorrow I have to keep working all day long to finish everything up. I will have to hand in all my work from my internship binder. I'll also will have finalized all my wedding plans. I'll also have one last meeting with Elissa to go over my evaluation of my internship. I cannot wait to finally have everything completed for tomorrow. I cannot believe that I have only one day left!

Getting Closer and Closer

So we came back today from another a day off, since the ice storm from last night left us all stranded at home. Today, I was busy from start to finish. Since I lost a day of work yesterday I had to do double up on the work to try and catch up. Also, because my wedding plans are coming to an end I have to really start to wrap up the lose ends. I finalized the menu with Elissa today. I also researched and picked out a photographer and videographer. I received a quote from a local DJ to get prices on how much it would cost to do a ceremony and reception. It was interesting to see how prices, service, and the styles of work vary from each company. Every place has their own professionals with their own work styles which make the products all come out so different.
I also worked on my redoing my resume. I met with Elissa on Monday to talk about how I can update it so that it looks more professional and unique. I also had a incident report due for today. I was given a scenario and had to write up and incident report on it. Incident reports are exactly what they are called; It is a report that should be done a soon as possible after an incident documenting what happened. They are very important to keep not only on file to show as evidence when going over the cause and reason for the problem.
As the day comes to a close once again I go through my wedding packet filling in some more of the blanks. Since I did make so many final decisions today I had a lot of sections to fill up. With only 2 days left its down to the wire and time to finish up my wedding plans. Can't wait !!!

The Final Week

Today was another busy day at the office. Everyone was busy with meetings all day while I worked on my wedding project. I had a my own meeting with Elissa today to go over some of my questions. I was able to get my bigger questions out of the way so I can start to wrap up the plans. I also worked on and completed my honeymoon plans. I am sending my wonderful couple to Bora Bora for a week to enjoy the sun and sand. I also worked on the wedding packet to fill in some more of the blanks. This is my last week so everything really has to be completed and ready to be handed in by Friday. Tomorrow is another busy day because I have a meeting with Amanda about some of my wedding budget questions. I will be working on the entertainment for the wedding as well tomorrow. Its going to be a very busy week for me because there are so many things that need to get finished before my wedding is complete. I just hope impending snow storm does not mess things up!!!

2 Weeks Down One to Go!

It is Friday so the week has come to an end. Today was different than most days because we spent most of the day at the Connenticut Expo Center in Hartford. Perfect Productions put up a design for one of thier vendors. There is a bridal expo coming up so the place was packed with wedding gowns, tuxedos, limos, and flowers. It was quite a sight to see expescally because I have never been to one before. Besides the trip to the Expo it was a reagualar day of just working on my wedding. I completed as much as I could for this week and cannot wait to have it all finished for next week. I also did my evaluation and goals for the week along with re-doing my resume. Another fun project I got to do for today was a themed menu project. I had to pick a theme and make a menu ecouperationig it. I picked the 1950s theme for my menu. I love that kind of simple good tasting food from back in the day. Milkshakes and fries are some of my favorite foods so I really had a great time designing then menu with my mouth watering at the thought of all that food.
As the week comes to a close I am realizing the I only have 5 days left here. It seems like I have done so much in the past 10 days but so much more is needed to be completed. I look forward to finally putting the finished touches on my mock wedding for next week. Enjoy the weekend!!

Recovering from the Storm

Connecticut had a huge snow storm Tuesday night. The snow reached a state record high of over 2 feet and prevented many people including us from going into work. Its Thursday and after a day off its time to get back to work. Losing a day in the week did not really put me behind in work. Elissa was snowed in all day so it was just me and Amanda in the office. I worked on my wedding as usual. Today I really wanted to start and fill in the blanks with some budget questions. On top of that I had to design an invitation and a save the date. I followed the same design that is used in the decorations in the wedding for both. Tomorrow I want to finish up both my engagement and wedding announcements. In attention to that I have to do my goals for next week and my evaluation for this week. But my main project for tomorrow is a themed menu. Sounds like a fun project and I'm looking forward to keeping my imagination running wild on the last day of the week. With only a week left the final touches in my mock wedding are finally starting to come together.

Preparing for the Snow

Today was a another busy day at the office. Due to the huge snow strom coming tonight into Wednesday I tried to not only to complete my work for today but also for tomorrow. Once again I spent my day trying to make progress on my mock wedding. I designed a center piece for my table today. I ended up coming up with a different design then the one I had orgianally put on my insperation board. This one has more a beachy feel to it but still has the theme of the wedding colors. It is a glass bowl filled with a layer of sand an pebbles. A candle is placed in the center with water and floating flowers that match the other flower arraingments. I spent the rest of the day just trying to organize my ideas. I plan on taking some of my work home tonight so I can work on somethings tomorrow if we end up not coming in due to the snow. I have yet to have a meeting with Elissa because her and James were at a photo shoot for the day but I keep emailing her with any question I have. I hope to have a meeting with her on Thrusday to get some of my biggger questions answered. I wrapped up the day with just cleaning up my desk and preparing myself for the work to take home. They say a huge storm is coming our way so looks like we will not be in the office tomorrow, hope to be back on Thursday. Until then we will all enjoy the day off and I will try and keep up with my tasks so I do not fall behind.

Back to Work

Its another Monday and the week begins all over again. I came in today ready to work. I thought about my wedding plans quite a bit over the weekend, so I was anxious to come in and get started. All day I worked on my mock wedding. I began working on my table design for the wedding. I researched different wedding table layouts to try and find a design that I thought would work best for my wedding.
Besides drawing up the design I found a game to play for my FISH Philosophy presentation. The FISH Philosophy game has to deal with ways of improving a workplace through playing, making each other's day, choosing your attitude, and being here now. All these ideas go into making the workplace enjoyable and productive. I had to come up with a game to help demonstrate a way for us all in the office to improve team work. It has to do with M&Ms but that's all I'm saying for today. You'll have to find out more when the game is finally played!
To wrap up the day I worked on my Intern Evaluation Sheet. It is a really good way for me to reflect on how I think I am doing here at Perfect Productions. I tell about the tasks I completeled in the past week and how I managed to do that. Doing this allows me to see how much I really am doing over the week. I can see if I am meeting my weekly goals and if not how I can improve so that I can do better the next week. The evaluation also gives me the chance to ask my supervisor any questions I may have. Even though I do ask questions when ever I am confused its a nice chance for me to write down questions might have for the future or are not needed to be answer at that exact moment.
Tomorrow I continue to work on my wedding plans. I hope to have a meeting with Elissa and James (my mock bride and groom) to get some of my questions answered in order to continue on with my projects. I also have to work on a center piece design for the tables as well. Looks like its going to be another busy day!

Wrapping Up the Week

Today I had a whole checklist of things I needed to have done before the end of the day. Even though we were supposed to have a snowy weather the lack of snowflakes outside all afternoon made it so we could stay at the office all day to get work done. I finished my inspiration board first thing this morning so I could get that project completed. After that I prepared myself for my meeting with Elissa to go over some questions I had about the wedding venues I looked at. I never was able to get to my meeting because Elissa left for the early for the weekend. So, I spent the rest of my day alone in the office with Amanda. I worked on goals for next week; which really are just to keep up with the timeline of work due. I have more projects due for next week so I planned out everything I have to do for each day so I can stay on task. Come Monday morning I will start off with my meeting with Elissa and then get straight to work on my project due for that day.
My first week of interning comes to an end and I honestly do not know where the time went. Everyday I was full of stuff to do in the handbook, for my supervisors, and the mock wedding assignment. The days have flown by and I can not believe the one week is done. I hope to finish my wedding on time along with my other tasks. Everyone here has just been so welcoming that I know if i have any problems they have no problem with lending a hand or words of advice. As the week comes to a close its time to relax and enjoy the snowy weather before its time to start over again on Monday.

Busy, Busy

Well today was one busy day! I came into the office ready to work all day on my introduction board. All morning I spent my cutting out the perfect pictures, matching colors, and trying to make sure all of the ideas blended well together. I hope that Elissa likes it. Trying to put it all together is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It seems like every two minutes I come up with new ideas for the board but I have to just pick one layout and glue it down. I was unable to actually finish the board because we all left the office early today to meet with a bride, her family, and the caterer. Before we went to see the caterer though I experienced my first cake tasting with Elissa, James, and Amanda. All I could say about that is, YUM, YUM, YUM! All the cakes were delicious and unique in their own special ways. I never tasted wedding cake before and its defiantly beats any box cake.

After testing the cake we all packed up and headed to the reception hall for the client's wedding. Sitting in on the meeting gave me the chance to see, hear, and learn about planning the food aspects of the reception. There are so many different things to go over. Questions about the size of the chairs, numbers of waitstaff, menu options, and reception times were asked in the meeting. My head was spinning with all the information coming in all at once, but at the end of the meeting I was able to understand more of the wedding and grasp how the planning process of it works. It was a long busy day and tomorrow I have so much to do before the weekend begins!!

Piecing Together the Right Look

So today I just sat at my desk letting my imagination run wild about the mock wedding. I looked through bridal magazines on ideas for a venue, dresses, cakes, and flower arraignments. I browsed the Internet all day trying to find flowers that would match perfect for my inspiration board due tomorrow. I looked at what seemed like millions of wedding cakes trying to decide which one would give off the look I am trying to create for the wedding. Tomorrow I plan on just working on my inspiration board to be presented. I think I have the right feel on what the bride wants for here big day I just hope all the ideas I have in my head I can have put down on paper. So the wedding planning took up all of my day but I still feel like I need more time to work. The thing I have learned the most out of my first three days is that not only weddings but any event has so many details beyond what meets the eye. There are so many steps that have to happen in order for everything to work out just right. Also, if one step or aspect of an event were to be over looked a domino effect of things being forgotten can occur. The planning process can not continue if step one is not completed in order to move onto step too. In planning you have to make sure you cover all of your bases. When you are planning a memory for someone else you have to ensure that it will nothing short of a great one.

Let the Wedding Planning Begin!!

Day two of my internship and I am already realizing the amount of work and effort it takes to plan an event. I am officially starting off with planning my mock wedding. I met with Elissa today who is my mock "bride-to-be" on what her thoughts are about her wedding. Even though I felt as though I asked a bunch of questions there was still things that I completely looked over. I started looking in some of the many wedding books and magazines in the office right after the meeting to start my planning process. After reading some articles and looking at the checklist of things that need to be done I quickly came to terms with the fact that there is more to a wedding then just a venue, guests, floors, dresses, cake, and food. Even though it is a big task to do in such a short amount of time I am super excited to learn all the details that go into planning a wedding. Ever since my meeting ended with my mock bride, Elissa, ideas and thoughts just keep popping into my head.
In the beginning of the day I completed my tool box assignment. I had to imagine if I was on a deserted island and had only a toolbox to fill of things I would need for events that would take place on the island. I filled it will emergency use items like first aid kit, flashlight, medicine, and an inhaler. I also included a walkie talkie and cell phone to insure ways of communication. Some of the most important items were a planner and a watch. A party planner has to be organized, on time, and prepared for whatever comes her way. Having a planner and watch can help with making sure that things are not only organized but are running on time and according to schedule. Some of the last things I picked were makeup, bobby pins, a comb, safety pins, and a sewing kit because you never know what might go wrong or has to be fixed last minute in an outfit. The activity was fun and creative. It really had me think about what things that might not big so big in a production but can come in handy.
One of the last things I had to do today was to stuff envelopes with "Save the Date" cards for an upcoming wedding. I also finished the case study for the week so I can really focus on my mock wedding plans for the rest of the week. As I close with my second day my mind is going crazy with thoughts on my project and I cannot wait to start working on my inspiration board tomorrow. So let the wedding planning begin!

Day One of Interning

Hello, I am Paige Borda and I am a freshman at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. Today was my first day of interning here at Perfect Productions. I have been anticipating this day for quite some time now. Especially only being three days into the new year I really cannot think of any better way to begin then to start off with an exciting new learning opportunity. Walking into the building today I did not know what to really expect but the warm welcoming from Amanda quickly put my nerves at ease. She presented me with my internship binder. The internship binder may look like it is a lot of reading but the information inside is nothing short of being useful and interesting.
Since everyone was coming back from the holiday there was a lot of catching up going on between Amanda, Elissa, and James. Just hearing them share their stories showed me that they are more than just co-workers but friends.
After our short little meeting on introducing me to Perfect Productions and what I can expect over the next few weeks, I got straight to work. I am only here for three weeks so I have little time to cram in A LOT of information. I am super excited though because I will be planning my own mock wedding! One of the first steps for me to do is to interview Elissa as a soon-to-be bride and ask here all different questions about her wedding. So, today I have came up with what I think are some pretty important topics to touch upon and first thing tomorrow will be the mock interview. After I completed my questions I filled out my weekly goal sheet and glanced through the internship binder. To end my first day I stapled on postcards to the Southern New England Wedding magazine. Perfect Production has 2 full pages in the magazine!! The spread looks amazing so as to help with promotion I stapled on the cards pointing out the article and details about what Perfect Productions has to offer clients.
So, all in all my day went by quite fast. Tomorrow is a new day and I cannot wait to see what is next for me to do in the process of planning my mock wedding. My next assignments look to be the toolbox training and an inspiration board. I cannot wait to see what I have in store for me!