Groove Walk 2009

Come join us this Saturday, October 17th, for the Holland GrooveWalk. 11 Locations- 11 Bands!
GrooveWalk is becoming known as the biggest, coolest night in Downtown Holland! Just purchase a wristband in advance or at the door to experience the greatest night of live music Downtown has ever seen! Your wristband gets you into all ten locations. Take a “groove walk” or ride the GrooveXpress…with on board entertainment. Enjoy drink specials at each venue. And have lots of fun from 9 pm to 1 am! You won’t want to miss it! (Trust us…)
Wristbands are on sale now at New Holland! Wristbands will also be available for $10.00 each at every venue beginning at 8:30 pm the night of the event.
Stop by the Holland Armory and get your picture taken with your friends in MiPhotoBooth's "GrooveBooth"!

MiPhotoBooth and Her Lakeshore

If you have been in the downtown Holland area lately, you may have noticed that the new "Her Lakeshore" Publication is out. What's on the cover? ...MiPhotoBooth Photo Strips!

We were mentioned in the "Her Photography" Section as a "hip and different addition to your next event".
Almost more important than creating an intimate atmosphere at a reception is ensuring that your guests have a good time. It is a celebration, after all! We guarantee your guests will have a good time if you include our photo booth in your wedding celebration- and we'll even print you the proof!

We haven't been to an event, yet, where the guests didn't go bananas for the photo booth, and in terms of value, renting a photo booth is hard to beat. Here's why:

1. 1. A photo booth makes for Great Entertainment- our external monitor makes sure of that! We ought to install a giggle-ometer to put the fun and laughter in perspective.

2. A photo booth produces the most animated pictures- guests loosen up in the photo booth more than they would otherwise. Photo Booths aren't about taking "nice" pictures, they're about taking FUN pictures!

3. A photo booth produces wedding favors your guests will actually keep- candies are safe and nice, but the photo strip a guest takes home to put on the fridge or on their desk will remind them of your FUN celebration long after the m&m's have been eaten.

So pick up a copy of "Her Lakeshore" (Or pick up a copy of Urban St. and flip it over) and read about what makes a photo booth a fun accessory to any wedding or event.

Wendy's Wedding

There are few happier days for a girl than when one of her best friends ties the knot. We want nothing more than for our girlfriends to be happy, and most of us become so overwhelmed with happiness for them that we cry tears of joy on their big day. Well, I think they're tears of JOY. They are either tears of joy or they're tears of RELEIF knowing all your hard work is done and has paid off!

If you had to ask me which my tears were this past weekend for my dear friend, Wendy, I don't know that I would tell you. No, of course, of course they were tears of happiness. Wendy's (now) husband, Jason, makes her happier than I've ever seen her, and I am thrilled they have decided to spend the rest of their lives together.

As excited as I was for Wendy, however, I am definitely glad the event is over. Don't get me wrong- her wedding was a BLAST! (As evidenced by the picture of my "olive manicure") But, it was a lot of work, too.

The ceremony and the reception took place at Wendy's aunt's house who lives in the Detroit area. Almost everyone came from out of town for the wedding, arriving just one and a half days before the wedding day. There were all kinds of details that needed finishing last minute, so up until picture time- well, even INTO picture time, everyone was scrambling, finishing this and that. One of these "details" was the wedding cake.

That's right, the WEDDING CAKE. Not just decorating it, but baking the entire thing. And we're not talking about a Pilsbury cake mix. Wendy's sister, Emily, flew in from New York with intentions of baking the wedding cake for her big sister. Unfortunately, the cake didn't get started until around 11pm the night before the wedding. I stayed up to assist Emily with the cake that we ended up covering with the crumb layer and calling it a night at 6am, planning to come back to it the following day at 9am to assemble and decorate.

While we didn't get much rest, the cake did get finished (Bet you want to see a picture, right? Well, you will have to be patient- I will have to dig one up from someone who was smart enough to take one). Everything else got finished to. I'm not sure how, but with the help of Wendy's two fabulous sisters, all of the tiny details were taken care of.

The moral of the story here is: Don't let your sister make your wedding cake the night before your wedding. Well, maybe that's not the moral since the cake did get done in the end and was really delicious! I guess the moral would be: Take pictures of the cake you stayed up so late working on the night before your friend's wedding, so you can add them to your blogpost about what a chaotic event the day leading up to the wedding was :)

Congratulations, Wendy!

Pearls Events Collaboration

Hello Friends!

I would like to introduce you to one of West Michigan's hardest working Event Coordinators, Aletha VanderMaas, the founder of Pearls Events. Aletha has had many years of retail, corporate, creative, and marketing experience. In 2007, she saw a need for a modern approach to event planning in the Grand Rapids area. During her first summer, she excelled in the industry, working with over twenty brides! After a successful first summer, she knew Pearls Events could help many more brides-to-be, so she started her search for another professional, creative, individual who had prior event experience, similar personal and professional values and of course, STYLE! I had just the right girl for the job...

I knew Kate Nguyen as a fellow member of the Holland Young Professional group and was instantly drawn to her positive attitude and impeccable taste. My husband and I have attended several events coordinated by Kate for the Holland Area Arts Council and have been "wow'd" by every one. When I heard Aletha was looking for a "right-hand man" (so to speak), I knew Kate would be the perfect fit for the Pearls Events team!

Aletha runs the day-to-day operations out of their Grand Rapids office as well as planning events with her clients in Grand Rapids or Northern Michigan. Kate is based out of their Holland office, and is a huge asset for their Lakeshore clientele.

Since their collaboration, Aletha and Kate, along with the rest of the Pearls Events crew, have been hitting major home runs with unique ideas, attention to detail, and most important... enthusiasm and fun! For fun ideas and eye candy, check out the Pearls Events Blog, which is updated almost every day (seriously, Aletha is known as a blogging Queen!)

Rothbury 2009

Last weekend we had the pleasure of setting up a photo booth in the "Artist Hospitality" area at the Rothbury Music Festival. Our photo booth was frequented by musicians and media folk throughout the entire 4 day event.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Rothbury Festival, this was the 2nd Annual Festival held at the JJ Ranch Grounds in Rothbury, MI. Attendees will camp out throughout the weekend and are able to roam to and from 4 different stages. Among the perfomers for the weekend were legends Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and "The Dead".

In addition to the performances, Rothbury showcased the art work of many local artists. The boot shown in the picture above was constructed completely out of metal. Trust me when I say this picture doesn't do the boot enough justice.

Overall, the festival was pretty fun, and if you like people-watching, you simply HAVE to go! Crazy costumes, crazy dancing, and more... (The festival is also a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in a time of indoor plumbing!)

Thank you to the Rothbury Festival for having us. We were thrilled to have our "groove booth" photo booth as a part of the festival this year.

Dusty Brown!

Being part of the wedding industry in West Michigan is FABULOUS! There are so many talented artists that I need to start introducing them one by one. The first one I will introduce for today's blog is Dusty Brown of Dusty Brown Photography.

Of all the Photographers I have met so far, I feel like Dusty most closely captures my personal favorite photography style. As you can see by the picture on the left, his photographs have a warm, intimate feeling to them that tell an entire story in one moment.

Selecting a picture for this blog post was really, REALLY tough. So many great ones to choose from, that I had to add the one below it from an engagement session. I think it really captures the intimacy between two people in love- oblivious to the hectic world around them.

Dusty Brown is a prime example of what seperates "people who take pictures" with artists. A photographer is an artist when their personal style transforms a photograph. Anyone can pick up a camera and snap a photo- it takes an artist to bring that moment to life. "A picture speaks 1,000 words", and a great picture, like any piece of art, makes people feel an emotion.

Okay, you get it. I'm a fan. Go check out Dusty's website, already, to see if you're a fan, too! www.dustybrown.org !

Save-The-Date...

This cute save the date card was inspired by the pictures taken in our photobooth. What many people don't realize is that they can use the photos from the booth in other fun ways. This couple took their pictures to James O'Briant, a graphic designer, who re-invented the boring old save-the-date card. You can bet that this save-the-date is one that will be treasured, not trashed!