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.