The News
By Steve Schlesinger
Do you need Weding Insurance?-July 09- The economy is effecting everybody. The one place that I would watch very carefully is your reception site.. There are a number of reasons why I am concerned about receptions sties.. If you look at their big three costs, food, labor and energy, all three have had significant increases in the past year. Labor costs are the easiest to track. As you may imagine, a significant portion of their labor is made up of minumum wage employees. For five years the minimum wage didn't increase. From January 2002 to 2007 the minum wage held still at $6.75 an hour. On January 1, 2007 the rate went up over 11 percent to $7.50 an hour. Then another 6.7 percent increase in 2008 to the current rate of $8.00 an hour. Add it all up it's an 18.5% increase over the past couple of years. When one of your major costs has a nearly 20% increase, as a business owner you will feel it. Howver weddings are profitable events and thus they reception sites can absorb the costs fairly well. If labor becomes a bit too expensive they could cut corners by using less employees and being more efficent with the employees they have. The other big cost, food, is going up. Due to the recent flooding in the midwest the cost of grain will go up. This will in turn have an effect on things that use grain such as beef and poultry. The cost of energy is also going up. It will have it's effect on many different things from the cost of food, to the cost of delivieries of such thigns as linens.
Put ths all together, it's not a happy picture for the reception venues. What makes things worse is that receptoin venues are seeing smaller wedding receptions with less guests, smaller packages, dates that aren't booked, and cancelled events. They may also have to wheel and deal to land business. This means lower profit for buniess that they can land. Though this isn't true with every reception site (some stay in high demand good times and bad) it's hard to find a site that isn't at least mildly impacted by the recession.
From my experience with dealing with reception sites some are better than others. Some are poorly run but making enough money to get by despite their management problems. I think for a long time wedding receptions were a cash cow for the venues. They could always count on big , fat, and profitalbe wedding receptions to help ease the cash flow. Now, as the profitability shrinks, and they end up without booked dates there could be a major cash flow problem with some of these businesses. Over the past ten years we've seen some rather well known venues go under, often taking deposits and sometimes not even notifying their clients that their wedding receptions are off. I've seen stories on the news where bridal couples have lost deposits to the tune of $15,000.
The thing to watch out for are smaller venues that are privately held. Especially ones associated with things such as restaurants . . . restaurants go out of business all the time. Even some large hotels are often privatly held franchises. I see so much danger in handing over tens of thousands of dollars to a facility that can go under before your wedding. Their is one thing that can protect you, wedding insurance. Currently the most famous company to offer this insurance is www.wedsafe.com I've never looked into their policies, never saw a need. However, now more so than ever before I am thinking it's a good idea.
At the very least, I think in's a good idea to be mindful of payments made to your reception venues. I'd be weary of ones that want large payments far in edvance of the wedding date. It's customary for venues to ask for something like 20% down to book the venue and then a much larger payment a month or two before the event (payment in full usually). Most terms and conditions for wedding venues spell out their payment policy. Be sure to read it over carefully. Occasionally you can negotiate a different arrangement prior to signing the cotract if the terms call for large amounts of money far in advance of the date. Another thing you should be very aware of is that sometimes weddngs do get canceled, for reasons you cannot predict. Be very aware of the cancellation policy. One of our brides cancelled her wedding six months in adavance and was floored to learn that she owed every dime to the reception site. Of course this is very heavy handed of the site and probably won't hold up in small claims court if she goes that route.
What happens if your receptoin site does go out of business? Wen a business files for bankruptcy protection it's like all the people the business owe money to get in line. The ones who are owed the most go to the front of the line and somewhere along the line is you. Don't be suprised if they run out of money before they get to you. The money is gone, gone, gone. This is where wedding inusance would help you. I've also heard of DJ's and photographers taking deposits and running, they can help cover the lost deposits in case of such an event.
New Packages. -July 5- Despite the tough economic times we've managed to keep ourselves busy. When it comes to weddings one thing that I've noticed is that the scope of weddings does get effected by the economy. In good economic times the average size of a wedding is around 150 people, and in bad economic times it drops to under 100 people. In the past we had a series of packages that were really set up for weddings of good economic times. As times change I look at the packages and I don't think they are over priced, but we simply don't have enough entry level packages. We came up with a new series of packages know as La Costa and also introduced more options for day of coverage. These are all lower priced alternatives, which should help a lot of people out as we make our way through the recession. Until we are out of the economic bad times in our country our motto will be to work both smarter and harder!
Happy Forth of July!- Happy Birthday Ameica, I love ya! Strange little fact about the Forth of July, John Adams and Thomas Jeffereson, tow men who worked together to make the declaration of Independance, two men who both became president, and bitter rivals, and buddies again before they died both died on the same day. That in and of itself was irconic, but the date happened to be July 4, 1826, or exactly 50 years to the day after they penned this document. Freaky! Another thing to keep in mind the document was more or less a death sentance for all who signed it. If Washington hadn't defeted the British, England's King George would have made good on his threat to hang everybody signed the document. Worst of all, we wouldn't have the Forth of July off!
I've been thinking of the tough economic times we've been having and it almost seems like we have a constitution right for prosperity. I chcked the constitution, it doesn't say anything about good times all the time. If you check the history of our country, we've had a lot of bad times, considerably worse times. No matter what, we survive, always have, always will. I know it's over simplistic but if you look at the summary of econic struggles our country has had to endure, things always improved. I know it's hard to think this way with unemployment, high energy costs, and inflation, but this too shall pass.
Tax Season is Over, back to the good stuff!- April 15- Yeah, well it's finally over. Tax season is never much fun, but at least our books our up to date. But, while I was busy working on taxes, or should I say what I did instead of working on taxes was to write new new reviews for two exceptional golf courses.
Westridge Golf Club-La Habra, CA - This place is actually really a fantastic wedding venue. The people who work here are very, very nice. The food is good, the grounds are gorgeous. Check it out!
Western Hills Golf & Country Club-Chino Hills, CA - This place has got a very unique story going for it. The coordinator is out of the office more than she is in the office during the week, and when she's there she keeps bankers hours. The place is lovely, and they rent it out inexpensively. It's a great deal, but you have to track down Annette, the coordinator if you want to see this place. You should check it out! Be aggressive.
Sorry, our site was down-April 07- There was an error in the code that was uploaded yesterday afternoon that took down the LifetimeImage.com website for about 1 day. As you can see it's all systems go right now. We are sorry for the problems and welcome you back! www.lifetimeimages.com is going to be upgraded to a new platform before the end of May. There is no exact transition date. It will be a surprise to both of us! When the transition is complete our e-mail may go down for a little while and our website will go back in time two months. It should be less than a day to straighten out these potential problems and believe it or not, the new platform will be a lot better in the end.
5 New Wedding Locations Added- Temecula & North County San Diego!- 03/28- Okay, it's time for the big uns! Here's five very lovely venues. I'll break them down one at a time.
Ponte Winery- Temecula, CA- I've been here a couple of times. It's off the charts lovely! You really have to see this page.
Grand Tradition-Fallbrook, CA (North County San Diego)- It's very nice, and it hosts a very nice wedding. It does have a look to it that reminds me of Disney prosperities for some reason. It's a fairly popular place and I've done a few weddings here.
Orfila Winery- Escondido, CA (North County San Diego) I have to say I liked this place. But my wife really loved the pictures from this place. I don't get out to Escondido much, so it was fun to see this place.
Pala Resort-Fallbrook, CA (North County San Diego)- This is a golf resort. So, aside from the course it has a hotel. I kinda liked the place though the description on their website is a bit over the top.
Los Willows-Fallbrook, CA (North County San Diego)- This was from a wedding last weekend! I was so impressed by this place I had to put it up quickly, and the other four came along for the ride because they are all fairly close to each other. This place and Ponte were my definite favorites.
Well, it's tax season, so I need to get to that over the next week. Please forgive me if I don't post new venues for a little bit. But with 30 of them up right now, there's a lot of good reading material!
3 Historical Wedding Venues Added- March 24- Victorian homes from the turn of the last century are somewhat popular wedding venue locations. As part of the wedding Venue Review I have just added reviews on three properties that fit this description. Each one has it's own unique characteristics. One in particular features an indoor reception venue which is very, very rare. Check out the reviews!
Lindly Scott-Azusa, CA
The Jones Victorian Estate-Orange, CA
The Muckenthaler-Fullerton, CA
Raves- March 20- And the raves just keep coming in. Lovely Jaclyn picked up her album last night. She was telling us about how she left creative control to her florist, and well, it didn't work out so well. So, when it came to letting us design her album, she was a bit reluctant. But, after picking a few must haves she left it to our capable hands. "I want people to be able to call me and talk to me, and hear the excitement and conviction in my voice when I tell them about how happy I am." Wow, I guess that worked out well.
Expect to see Jaclyn in the RAVES section. Currently there are three brides telling their stories. But, more are on the way. It's hard for us to blow our own horn. Anybody can tell you how great they are. So, we figure it's best to give you a second opinion. In the big picture we aren't in this to stroke our own ego, or to be the wedding photographer movie stars call. Our goals are much more basic. We want to do a complete job, a thorough job, a job to the best of our abilities. We feel that weddings are one of the most significant days of a person's life. Instead of making an album that you hide in the closet, we love it when our albums get shown around. We love it when our clients can relieve the wedding day and their album is a perfect showcase for telling their wedding story. Thanks to the clients who said so many wonderful things about us!
California Dreamin- March 20-Okay, I'm feeling in a beach mode today. That's why I added two venues to the list. If you are looking for a venue with an ocean view, check these places out!
Occasions at Laguna Village-Laguna Beach
Harborside Pavilion- Balboa Island
Well, hello there! March 14th- I've been hearing back from couple of brides that they check out this website all the time. Some of these gals have had their album a couple of years ago! To all my previous clients, thanks for checking in! I've certainly appreciated working with all of you in the past and I also appreciate the kind words and referrals to new brides. It means a lot when you are so happy with everything that you tell your friends and family about us.
The one thing I can tell you is that I had very large ambitions with this website. I really didn't want it to be like everybody else's website. On the one hand I've a lot of great ideas, on the other hand I also realize that working on this website could be a fulltime job. I can easily spend 60 hours a week working on it. The site is constantly being updated, and it's going to take a long time before it reaches the vision I had for it. In the meantime, it's a lot of work, but a lot of fun!
Three new golf course reviews-March 5- Oh yeah, just when you thought that we wouldn't be adding to the next six months or so, up comes another three golf courses. One is Diamond Bar Golf Coursewhich as a wedding venue is under-rated. The food is good, the service is great, and people should have a fairly easy time finding the golf course. The bridal couple in most of the images is Michele & Andrew. I adore this couple! They just came last week to get their magazine album. It's kinda funny, Michele's parents are from Central America. Her mother was so funny because she is really smart and speaks her mind. She sat in my office with Michelle and looked through the albums. They then set up more appointments to see other photographers and as I understand it, Michelle's mom was quite vocal about how unimpressed she was with their photography and albums. So to see th process on the other end was fabulous. Michelle is this really super sweet and she was just so very impressed and happy with her album.
If the couple from the Hacienda Golf Club- looks familiar its because they were bridesmaids and groomsmen two more weddings. Kim and Kevin, another great couple. You can see them in the group shots in the gallery as well. The couple from Los Verdes Golf Course golf course was really great. The groom played for UNLV. His wife photographed so well that she is all over this website.
Hacienda Golf Club-La Habra Heights, CA
Los Verdes Golf Course-Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
More Venue Reviews- February 29- Oh yeah, where have I been this entire month? Did I sneak off to England again like I did for 12 days last month? Nope. I've been sitting here writing venue reviews day in and day out. By the time we are done there should be around 50 reviews. Most of these are written already. Going in and finding the right images, coding the pages, and linking takes a while. It's a big project, but as the site gets larger there will be a lot of great information. There are some fun reviews to follow, stay tuned!
Gallery Updated- February 3- Wow, it's amazing to see how much work you can get done on a rainy day. The Gallery now has year 2007 wedding images and the best of 2006 wedding images. I do have a big favor to ask. It turns out that a couple of the links in the gallery section (the old one) were broken. If you run across anything doesn't work, or if images are not showing, please drop me a note. I would certainly appreciate it!
New Deals in the Deal section- February 3- This website was rebuilt starting around the week before Christmas and really hasn't stopped since then. Certain pages were placed into the site with the intention of getting back to to it later. In January I was gone for 12 days so work on the site suffered. Now that I have been back for almost a week I've tackled the slide shows (which took days to find the right images). With this done I can start filling in places that are light on content. The deals section now says something more than "Check back here for the current deals." There is a limited time package called the Essex Package and a mention of the monthly special. Be sure to check it out!
New Slide Shows!!!- February 2- Okay, we fell way behind on our slide shows. Until now, the most current one we had dated back to 2005. After working on the 2007 slide show, we did a 2006 slide show. So, in other words we have slide shows going back to 2004. So, why no 2008 slide show? Simple, the year just started. This year's weddings will have a theme, more to follow on this. . .
Year 2007 Slide Show Year 2006 Slide Show These are the newest!
Year 2005 Slide Show Year 2004 Slide Show (Last Half) Year 2004 Slide Show (First Half) Engagement Portrait Slide Show
The slide shows are fun. Music from Haircut 100, the Hoodo Gurus and even one of our brides. Please take a moment to check it out!
January 15h-Mark Daily, One year later. . . One of our grooms from 2005 died in Iraq one year ago to the day. This is an article that is well deserved tribute to the man who was so very loved and so very missed. It's in the blog section.
January 14th-Are Steve and Adam Levine related?
Adam Levine is the lead singer of the band Maroon Five. Known for his good looks, and dating famous celebrities such as Paris Hilton it turns out that Steve's grandmother had a last name of Levine also. Adam grew up in Los Angeles and had a similar background to a lot of Steve's family. Also the unmistakable dashing features of both Steve and Adam were unmistakable. Adam makes millions of dollars to sing his hits, while Steve sings them for free in the shower. Even though he's a few years younger than Steve you can almost see the similarities between Steve and Adam (if you were drunk and blindfolded). Steve's dad did some checking on the Levine side of the family. He made it very simple to understand. He said "If they are attractive, rich, famous or any of the above, you're not related."
January 9th, 2008- Venues are active!- The venue portion of the website is now active. There is a long explanation that I don't care to get into, but suffice it to say that there is a heck of a lot more venues that will be posted. There is stuff that you won't believe in that we uncovered, and I am very excited to get it up. It's just that each of these pages takes on average an hour to put up. So we're working on it!
Christmas Day 2007- Website is up! If you can read this, we've done something right! Thank you for visiting and hopefully you will find this website a lot more interesting, and well, easier to get around than the last website we had. The priorities were to get a clean, well laid out website with easy navigation. There's a lot more link pages which required some time to write the content. Then I wanted to make certain that you could at least find two things, pictures and our price list. Over the last ten years the price list has been published and not published. Now, it's published once again However, this time it's in PDF format. This is a first. There are pictures included and better explanation of how the packages work.
There are some interesting things that will be happening over the next few days. This website will switch servers, and may go offline for a short time. There are a few sections that need to be fixed, and when this is done here's what will come next.
Venues, Real Weddings and Gallery- I want to have more venue reviews added, and of course I have promised 10 weddings a year. I will go back to 2006 and add ten weddings from that year and ten weddings from 2007. If you know me you know I can sit down and write 20 wedding reviews and a lot of venue reviews over a course of about two days with about four hours of sleep in between. This isn't healthy, also I don't want it to be a chore, I actually do like writing these things So, in the meantime, the plan is that you are going to find that by Wednesday of every week I will put up one new wedding post from 2006, one new wedding post from 2007, and two new site reviews. This process will go on for ten weeks. So, by mid March, this site will be up to date with all that fun stuff. So, please, every week, come back and check out the site. See what has gone up over the past week. Also, feel free to leave comments at Steve@LifetimeImages.com Thanks so much!