Everyone's High-End!

Villa Montalvo

By Adrian Cavlan

Everyone's High End.

Well, not everyone, right?

WRONG.

EVERYONE!

In at least ONE area.

See? You knew there would be a qualifier, and there it is. But isn’t that a wonderful thing? That each of us gets to have a thing (or maybe even a few things) that we are passionate about or connoisseurs of and therefore must have the very best available? I certainly think it is.

Story Time:

I can remember the time many years ago that I was booked to do a wedding by a couple for whom I was that thing, that indulgence. The wedding was being held at a mobile home park rec room. The food was pot luck, the flowers were bought at the local grower’s farm and arranged by the moms and aunts, and the cake was home-baked. But the DJ? They went what they thought was “top shelf” (their words) because “the DJ makes or breaks the party and we want the very best” (again, their words).So how did it go? Well, people came, saw the venue and decor, and then quickly became delighted in seeing long-lost relatives and old friends. People had the dinner and loved the wide variety of lovingly-cooked home-made foods. And the cake too - they loved it and ate it with big smiles on their faces.

And when it came time for the party, their investment paid off as I considered it my sacred duty to completely blow the roof off of that little rec room with those gracious folks, and I think it would be safe to say they are still putting the little pieces of that room back together to this very day ; )

Or how about the wedding I did about ten years ago now at the bride’s family’s residence in the hills overlooking the ocean, where Dad had his vintage Ferrari collection housed in what looked like at least a 10 car garage? That was truly incredible. They had probably 300 guests and had literally carpeted the entirety of the backyard ceremony and reception space with flower petals. CARPETED. Like you couldn’t see the grass. With additional rising columns of florals coming up from the ground every few yards throughout the area. It was like a dreamscape. They even flew in their favorite Elvis impersonator from Vegas to add to the fun. I DJ’d a TEN HOUR dance set straight through, and the gratuity I got was larger than the whole amount I had charged for the wedding. Crazy, right?

Well here’s one for you: photography just wasn’t that big of a deal to these folks, so they hired an affordable local for his minimum package, had him shoot the ceremony and a couple of formals and then sent him off before the party even got started! Hard to believe, right? But a true story.

SO…The Moral Of The Stories:

Sorry for the crazy reminiscing, but I think it makes for some fun and illustrative perspective.

The point is that when it comes time to plan your event, you should feel totally comfortable in choosing the things that you think are important and just don’t sweat the rest too much. I mean, there is another edge to that sword: you don’t want to torpedo a $35,000 wedding with a cake so bad that that’s what people will leave talking about.

In the end, you should generally feel good about everything you choose, but go for feeling GREAT about at least one thing, ok? Maybe it’s your dress, maybe it’s your honeymoon, maybe it’s that 10 piece Mariachi band instead of the trio.

GO FOR IT! Have fun! And don’t doubt yourself. Memories are priceless. Make the best ones you can!