Empowering women and home-based businesses in our neighbourhood!

What a great idea and concept - last night I participated in the Stonebridge Ladies Night Out event that showcased a variety of home-based businesses. The event was held at the Stonebridge Golf and Country Club and the turn out was fantastic - over 200 came to show their support. I met lots of very interesting women - both as attendees and as exhibitors in various stages of their business.

The exhibitors in the room ranged from Esthetics from Peacock Esthetics and Make Up Artists to to creative design ideas from Uppercase Living. Right beside me was Jennifer Bailey, a very talented photographer with beautiful images to showcase. We were able to chit chat over the course of the night and although she does mostly family and newborn portraits, I truly hope that we are able to work together on an event. On the other side of me was Amy from Stampin Up who started her business 6 months ago and she's only in her 20's. It's always great to see women entrepreneurship thrive at any age.

Between the laughs, drinks and food, I did end up making a deal with one woman who visited my table - her proposal...if I can find her a potential husband, she'd hire me as her Wedding Planner in a heartbeat - potential for a new service ;)

Thanks to all the ladies for a great night...looking forward to the next one!

AS A FOLLOW ON TO THIS EVENT...MY PICTURE IS IN THE BARRHAVEN INDEPENDENT - WOW THANKS!!!

Unique touch...seasonal and sustainable

I had the pleasure of attending a great event tonight that featured menu samples from the Whalesbone Catering Company. On this rainy night, I ventured out to find myself at the corner of Kent and Arlington joining over 80 others to check out first hand what the Whalesbone Catering offers its clients. We were treated to sample delicious seasonal food, local wines and Kichesippi beer. There was the opportunity to try an oyster while they were shucking.

What I thought was interesting was that I found out they are "Ocean Wise" Certified -this means that "when sourcing suppliers for oysters and finfish, they are conscious of the status of the stocks, and also the method of harvest or catch." This is truly unique for a full service catering company. It is apparent that they care that much more in the food they serve! Not only was the food a delight, I also had the pleasure of meeting Kate, Chief of Catering & Event Coordinator. Not only was she fun to talk to but her style and grace in speaking about the Company's uniqueness and service sold me. Definately looking forward to working with her and her staff on an event very soon!

And some bragging rights for this them is that their very own Charlotte Langley will be competing in the Gold Medal Plates competition on Tuesday November 16th National Arts Centre.

If you have a chance, you should visit their Oyster House at 430 Bank Street - maybe I'll see you there one night for dinner.

Picture perfect...

Often I recommend to my clients that they choose a photographer carefully. It is very important that they need to feel comfortable with this person - not only will they be spending a lot of intimate time with them, they are expected to capture the couple's most beautiful and memorable moments. If my clients are not comfortable with the photographer they've chosen, the pictures won't lie - what a huge disappointment it can turn out to be.

This advice is easy enough to provide to my clients but this last Sunday I realized how hard it was if you're like me. I avoid (at all cost) having my photos taken but recently I gave in. My thoughts, "How hard could this be?". Low and behold, even my dear friend Nat of NDS Photography was not ready for the challenge - poor lady she didn't know what she was up for.

I thought it would be even better if I invited our newest addition to Beyond Events, Allison, to join us that afternoon. Unlike me, Allison adores having her pictures taken so she was enjoying every minute - what a gorgeous lady ;)

Although the first 15 mins were a slow start (for me), the rest of the afteroon was filled with Allison cracking jokes and Nat making funny faces (yes like a child having their photo taken...I too needed distractions to make me smile naturally). We ended up having a great time, walked around the Byward Market area, and took some fantastic shots while the weather was gorgeous!

Expert photographers are worth the money spent...they are able to position and direct you, figure out the best lighting (use it to their advantage) and best of all make someone like me smile and forget that photos were ever taken!

THANKS Nat and Allison for a great time!