10 Tips for Celebratory Success: Advice from The Grand Summit Hotel & Marcello for Your Wedding or Special Event

It was a pleasure meeting all of the beautiful and savvy brides, Bar Mitzvah moms and corporate meeting planners at the 2012 Grand Summit Gala Tasting.   The Grand Summit Hotel pulled out all the stops to show off their exceptional cuisine, service and hospitality.  The Grand Summit team, lead by Michael Marino, Jim Thornton and Teresa Garcia, along with the hotel’s discerning roster of preferred professionals, introduced the VIP guest list to exclusive event planning resources throughout the lavish brunch to ensure that they have the best special event possible.

After speaking with some of the Grand Summit Gala Pros earlier in the week, I compiled a top 10 list of planning tips that might come in handy for your upcoming wedding or special event...

1) All In One!  Consider a venue that offers your guests the convenience of attending your ceremony, reception, after party, over-nite accommodations and even the next-day brunch without having to worry about traffic, parking or being able to party like rock stars.   -Teresa @ The Grand Summit Hotel

2) Save It!  If you have any material left over from you wedding dress or bridesmaid’s alterations, don’t throw it out! The florist can use these swatches to wrap your bouquets.    -Matt @ Crest Florist

3) Think Big!  If your venue can accommodate larger tables, seat 12 guests together instead of ten and eliminate the expense of a few centerpieces.     -Matt @ Crest Florist 

4) Forever Young!  If you’d like to keep your bouquet for posterity, it’s recommended that you drop it off to your florist the day after the reception for ideal preservation conditions.   -Matt @ Crest Florist

5) Picture This!  You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when you walk into the bakery looking for your special cake.  Show the staff a photo of something you saw and liked to ensure that they can help you get exactly what you were looking for.  -Ralph @ Bovella’s Bakery

6) You’re Worth It!  Make sure that the make-up artist you choose only uses the highest quality make-up products on the market; there is a noticeable difference.  Your skin and photographer will thank you.   -Diane @ Bella Faccia

7) Don’t Worry, Be Happy!   Try not to micromanage your own wedding reception or special event.  Let the professionals you hired do what you paid them to do.   If you put the right team in place, you’ll be treated like a celebrity and be able to enjoy the celebration as much as your guests.   -Marianne @ Cupa Cabana

8 ) Money Talks!  If you are working with a planner, be candid and let them know your approximate budget right from the start so they can help you prioritize your investments and save you a lot of time throughout the planning process.   -Cindy @ Events To Perfection

9) Keep It Real!  Even though you and your fiancé think that Dub Step and 80’s New Wave music are totally rad, try to remember that your guests might also enjoy a great mix of some classic favorites and the current hits to dance to during the reception.  -Benny @ Karisma Music Productions

10) The Secret!   Regardless of your budget and your definition of the perfect day, the success of your wedding reception comes down to one thing- The Guest List.  If you invite the people you care about and the people that care about you, the rest will take care of itself.   -Michael @ Magical Nights

I’m proud to say that along with Benny and his fabulous band, Karisma, MMP is also considered a preferred source of entertainment at the Grand Summit.   We always make a great team when we have the opportunity to collaborate.   I had a great time serving as the Master of Ceremonies for the Gala tasting and look forward to the next celebration!

 

P.s    For more event planning tips, advice and resources, check out our last article called “7 Ways to Bring the Wow and Have The Best Wedding Reception Ever!”

MMP Entertainment Teams Up with The Bethwood & Chef Poon for Pomptonian’s Annual Manager’s Meeting

Is it possible to make a manager’s meeting fun? If you ask Mark and Candy Vidovich, the President and Vice President of Pomptonian Food Service, the answer is a definitive, “YES!” …even if they do have to cover content like government regulations, business policies and accounting laws.

How? It’s pretty simple actually.  Just call up professional event facilitators like us who specialize in interactive corporate entertainment. And, if your budget permits, bring in a celebrity chef to present an informative and passionate cooking demonstration to stimulate your team.

Mark and Candy knew that throughout the daylong meeting, they’d have to present some mandatory topics that were admittedly a bit “dry and boring,” so the goal was treat their team to a well-paced itinerary that included a delicious breakfast buffet, some unique audience interaction, an inspiring state of the company address from the President, an impressive lunch spread, an enthusiastic recognition of veteran team members called The Platinum Club, and an interactive grand finale that featured some awesome prizes and genuine team camaraderie.

I’ve had the pleasure of serving Pomptonian for 15 years.  I thought that amount of time was pretty noteworthy until they announced all of the of the recipients in the 2011 Platinum Club- especially the top three!..  Kathleen Mosdar has been with Pomptonian for 25 years, Bridie Carty for 35 years, and Bobby Greene for…… 51 years!!! Each of the Platinum members  got a well deserved standing ovation and special gift from Mark and Candy.

Pomptonian serves 180,000 students, (100,000 for lunch) in 80 New Jersey school districts everyday.  And Pomptonian is the recipient of the 2011 Above and Beyond Award. The highest recognition for any company serving New Jersey schools.

Special thanks to Dominic Leone, the Bethwood’s Banquet Manager, for his hospitality and professionalism.   Dominic and the Bethwood team made sure that MMP had everything we needed to produce a smooth event.   They were quick to reply to phone calls, very accommodating at the pre-event site survey and totally on-point the day of the meeting.  Awesome teamwork!

If you are the CEO of a successful firm and want the room warmed-up and ready for inspiration when you take the stage at your next important meeting, we can help.

If you are a meeting planner and want the room to be energized and focused before your keynote presenter delivers their awesome-ness, we can help.

And, if you are a publicist who wants to give your client or brand’s next promotional tour stop a healthy dose of positive energy, we can help.   From event production to event facilitation, we’ve got the talent and resources to make it happen. -mp

 

**Candy and Mark’s son, Nick Vidovich, took some candid photos throughout the meeting and shared them with us.  We promised to feature a few here on the MMP Blog and to post the rest of the pictures on the MMP Entertainment Facebook page.

 

Encore Gallery:

A Day to Remember

In case you haven’t heard, Sunday, May 1, 2011 was an unforgettable day. People were cheering, smiling, sharing a few emotional exchanges and uniting together to celebrate  extraordinary efforts.   Why?

The Glenpointe Marriott’s Grand Ballroom was packed for the MS Center’s 14th Annual Spring Fashion Fling.   The event raised money for patients and families living with Multiple Sclerosis with a fabulous luncheon, raffle and fashion show.

And of course, if you’re like most folks here on the east coast, the day became even more memorable later in the evening for much different reasons.

On top of it being one of the nicest days of the year weather-wise, it was great to see the whole MS  Center team in action and all the volunteers gathered again for such a worthy cause; like Susan Zurndorfer, from the MS Center, as the event Chairperson, Chris Cimino, from WNBC-TV as the Honorary Chairperson and Saks 5 Avenue providing  the fashions.

It was also nice to spend the afternoon with my good friend from high school, Gabe Savarese. He works for Biogen Idec, a fortune 500 company that provides research and development in the fight against neurological diseases like MS.    Biogen was a generous contributor at the event and Gabe volunteered his time to assist the patients from the MS Center who were modeling onto and off  the runway during the show.

MMP Entertainment provided the audio support for the production as well as the annual half-time performance.

Click here, if you’d like to support the MS Center and the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.  Onwards and upwards.  See you next year!   -mp

Sophisticated, Affluent and In the Know- Marcello Recommends: NJ Savvy Living Magazine and the Contributions of Judi Rothenberg

Sometimes it’s a little tough to consistently come up with articles, quotes and posts for the Celebrate Life movement. We have a very discerning readership that has a low tolerance for the status quo.  MMP’s clients are the same way. Truth be told, I wouldn’t change these high standards for anything… for it’s this constant state of the desire to deliver happiness that keeps us on our toes.

Every now and then, however, an early Christmas gift (or Chanukah present for my Jewish friends) comes right to my door wrapped in a nice little red bow.  (like this week)

Through  a serendipitous LinkedIn exchange, I reconnected with Judi Rothenberg , the Lifestyle editor for NJ Savvy Living Magazine. The title of this article, Sophisticated, Affluent, In the Know is actually the magazine’s official branding on the masthead! … I know!!! Perfect.. right?

Rothenberg’s envious responsibility is to cover the places to go, the people to know, what to buy , where to eat and what to do in the garden state and beyond. As she puts it so eloquently on her brand new facebook page, “I’m on the prowl for what’s unique, wonderful and fun.” Not a bad gig right?  Sound familiar?

Judi has a gift for observational writing with an entertaining dash of wit thrown in for good measure. Judi’s creative and artistic side (evident from the private collection that adorns her magnificent home) also gives  the savvy savant a huge advantage when it comes to appreciating beauty in all shapes, colors and sizes.

And NJSL fans are like us… they want things filtered.   They see right through disingenuous marketing fluff and don’t like it when their precious time is wasted.  Therefore, Rothenberg’s selection process has to be on point when she decides what to cover and report.

As a result of our comparable demographic, and a fair amount of research of her previous articles, I’m inviting Savvy Sara, Judi’s pseudonym, to share some of her articles with the MMP blog, fan page and twitter.

This link will take you to a few recent “savvy sightings” to wet your appetite. Enjoy!  -mp

Topics include:

*Eco-friendly jewelry & services

*Dinner ideas for the modern family

*Add a little sophistication to date night

*A google site for parents by kids

*Give your daughter & her friends the Rock Star treatment

*The NJ food and wine festival

*And since we had such a huge response to our “dog lovers” campaign last year, check out Around the Collar, a site that Savvy Sara found for those who think their best friends deserve the best in fashionable accessories.

*One more…  If you want to switch things up for a day and trade in your daily cup o’ joe for a nice cup of tea, (friends will tell you that I’m a huge fan of tea & dessert after a delicious meal!) Savvy Sara found a location that will add a little sprinkle of class and elegance to your next outing.

Better, Faster, & Stronger in the New Economy: Samsung Electronics Soars and Treats their Team to Another Exceptional Holiday Event with MMP Entertainment

Chances are if you turned on the news or listened to the radio over the past two years, an over-whelming barrage of doom and gloom was being relentlessly shoved in your cautiously-optimistic face and into your ‘everything’s gonna be alright” ears.

By no means was it all rainbows and butterflies, but there were definitely some success stories that went under-reported or got conveniently left out of the conversation because they didn’t jive with a political agenda or enable another greedy speculator to manipulate a particular investment.

Case in point, Samsung Electronics.  We have had the pleasure of entertaining the Samsung team and their families since 2005.  Throughout the decade, they have become one of the dominant global companies for consumer electronics and technology.  If you’ve picked up anything other than an iPhone or iPad that was really cool in the new milleniem or watched something on a flat-screen television latley, you’ve probably seen the Samsung name on it.

 

In 2009 and the first three quarters of 2010, Samsung Electronics did the seemingly impossible by pessimists everywhere...  “The manufacturer of the 7000 Series 3D flat panel TV estimated that consolidated revenue during 2010 came to $137.31 billion, which would be an increase of 13 percent from the previous year’s record performance.  (source: Kelly Olsen,  AP Business Writer)

And check out this quote from Robert Yi, Vice President and Head of Samsung Electronics’ Investor Relations Team, from almost a year ago to the day… “Despite the uncertain business environment in 2009, Samsung was able to achieve record revenues and strong profitability based on our technological and marketplace leadership.  We see this positive growth and performance flowing on into 2010 as the global economy continues to stabilize.”    Like I said, unfortunately, these weren’t the stories earning prime-time sound bytes for the general public to sink their teeth into when a little positive reinforcement could have had significant positive impact on morale.

Anywho, when we provided the entertainment and event production for their Holiday Gala at The Venetian in 2009, I was admittedly a tad curious as to how everyone could be so festive when most people you ran into kept saying that the sky was literally falling.  Now  I know. 

This year, at their new corporate headquarters, when we produced their annual Holiday Family Fun extravaganza, you could also sense the joy and optimism in the air.  Granted, who wouldn’t be smiling when they’re playing Minute To Win It interactives and dancing with their kids to Bar Mitzvah classics and current hits, but you could tell there was more to it.  It was more than just a fun and enjoyable vibe- which is fine by us, it was a refreshing and invigorating sense of  … “oh yeah, life is good!… we earned this celebration!”

As I continue to follow, study, and learn from our impressive portfolio of corporate clients, one distinctive factor for achieving success is glaringly obvious;  a stellar CEO is what will ultimately take a company from good to great. The stellar CEO’s that are also humble will usually defer much of the credit to his or her team.  This, in most cases, is the right thing to do and is certainly a valid truism.

Beyond that being an established fact, if you ever get the opportunity to meet a fortune 500 CEO, a note-worthy entrepreneur, or even a super-cool actor, you will encounter some uber-impressive men and women.  They usually have just the right combination of natural instinct, intelligence, people skills, vision, perseverance and leadership skills to make for a formidable force to be reckoned with.

I’ve always been told that you are who you surround yourself with.…  Now MMP didn’t quite make 137 billion last year and Jim Kramer wasn’t interviewing me to learn more about my company, but just enough of the Samsung aura of hard work, team work, resourcefulness, and foresight rubbed off on me to keep my glass half-full of positivity and prosperity.

Special thanks and sincere gratitude to Kristen and the entire Samsung team for having us back again.  We’re looking forward to the 2011 event schedule.  -mp

p.s Just in case you need another reason to feel good about Samsung or life in general, check out the strategic partnership they made with Best Buy and Matthew McConaughey‘s j.k livin Foundation

Next Page »