The Money Dance
Published February 4, 2012 | 
One of the most misunderstood traditional event’s commonly seen at wedding receptions is “the Money Dance”. Some couples absolutely love the idea of the money dance and others absolutely hate it thinking it to be tacky.
I would like to remove a little of the mystery from the money dance. Originally the money dance was intended to help young couples begin their life together by raising enough money to help them buy a few chickens and goats.
However, at modern weddings the amount of money raised during the dollar dance is not even a fraction of what it costs to finance a wedding. So raising money is no longer the priority for that ancient traditional event.
At modern weddings creating fun, exciting and memorable wedding receptions is all about guest interaction with the bride and groom. Each wedding traditional has its own unique opportunity for interaction. However, the money dance is the only traditional that allows for the bride and groom to at least briefly interact one on one with each and every guest… making the money dance a traditional event that should not be overlooked.
If the concept of the money dance is unattractive to you because of the term “money dance”, then you might consider simply changing the approach. For example, here are a few ideas for maintaining the interactivity of the money dance while altering the approach.
If collecting the money seems tacky as though you are begging, have your DJ make the announcement that all money collected will go to your favorite charity.
Instead of using cash, provide a small card at each place setting and ask each guest to write down their wish for you and have them give you that card in place of money. Their wish will make an excellent addition to your collection of wedding day memories.
Instead of having the dollar bills pinned on by guests, have the best man and maid of honor collect the money in bride and groom piggy banks. You can find cute bride and groom piggy banks online.
As for the rest of you who have no issues with the money dance… Take the money and run!
Networking Success Stories
Published October 14, 2011 | Please share your networking success stories here. Your stories encourage others to improve their networking skills…
LISTING ON THE TWN WEBSITE
Published September 1, 2011 | Ultimately the TWN website will only be beneficial if its visible. In order for the TWN to grow and thrive it will take take effort and cooperation of all its active members. Your business listing on the TWN is FREE, however, we do request a link exchange.
In order for the TWN website to serve its members effectively, it will be necessary to increase the Search Engine Position of the TWN website. So in order to better serve you we request that you place a small amount of code at the bottom of the home page of your business website.
The code contains two links:
Tucson Wedding – will link to the TWN blog.
Network – will link to the Tucson Wedding Network home page.
This will help to build “relevance” or “weight” as seen by Google in the Tucson Wedding Market. The higher TWN ranks, the more power your TWN business link will have for your business.
The link as it will appear on your page is listed below, please contact Michael at michael@weddingsofdistinction.com to have the code sent to you. (it is important that the code be on your homepage as “relevance” drops significantly after the homepage. The text can be any size you like, however, we recommend that you make it BOLD and display it proudly).
Proud Member of the Tucson Wedding Network
Once the above code has been placed on your website, contact Marc Summersett or Michael McCune so that the links functionality can be verified, and then your business listing will be added to the front page of the TWN website under the Active Members list.
Let the networking begin…
When the wife says fix it… You better fix it!
Published August 11, 2011 | 
One day while a wife was working in her kitchen, a
cupboard door came loose and when her husband got
home, she asked him to fix it. He told her, "Do you see
the word ‘carpenter’ written anywhere on this shirt?" She
said "no," and he went on his way.
The next day while cleaning in the basement, she found
the light didn’t work. She changed the light bulb and did
everything that she could to try to fix it, but it still wouldn’t
work. When her husband got home, she asked him, "Honey, do you think you could fix the light in the
basement for me?" He simply said, "Do you see the word
‘electrician’ written anywhere on this shirt!" She said "No,"
and he went into the living room to relax.
The next day, a pipe in the kitchen began leaking. When
her husband got home, she asked him to fix it for her, to
which he replied, "No, do you see the word ‘plumber’
written anywhere on my shirt?" "No," she said, again.
The next day, the husband returned from work and saw
that everything was fixed – the pipe, the light, and even
the cupboard! He asked her, "Who fixed all of this?" To
which she replied, "I asked the neighbor to come over and
help, and he gladly agreed."
"Well, how did you repay him for his services?" he asked. "Well," she replied, "he only asked for sex, or cookies."
The husband thought a moment then said "So what kind
of cookies did you bake him?" The wife quickly snapped
back, "do you see ‘Betty Crocker’ written anywhere on this
shirt!"
Hello Tucson Wedding Network… Our Mission Is Clear
Published August 10, 2011 | Tucson Wedding Network is a group of local wedding professionals who have connected for the common purpose of increasing the professionalism of the local wedding market while continuing to build and grow our own businesses through sharing and learning…
Hello TWN… our mission is clear, and as we continue to grow as a network it is vital that we keep our mission statement in mind and stay on track.
It is important to understand and remember that for a networking group to be effective the group must be comprised of active members and participants. So ultimately the TWN will be broken down into two parts… Active members and non-active members.
For those who desire to gain the most benefits from the group it is essential to be an active member. Active members will have a membership card, certificate of membership, access to all network meetings, and will have a business listing under membership on the Tucson Wedding Network website.
Requirements for participation as an active member are relatively simple and straightforward. Since you cannot network effectively if you’re not there… all members will be required to make at least 50% of the network meetings within a year and cannot miss more than two meetings in a row.
As an active member you must be in the business of working directly with brides and grooms. If your business serves wedding vendors rather than brides and grooms you will not be eligible as an active member, however, you may be eligible to participate as a sponsor.
Proof of eligibility is also simple and straightforward requiring only a business website and a professional business card.
As space may be limited within the various venues hosting our meetings, we want to limit the group to dedicated wedding professionals. We do not want this to be a general business networking group. If your business doesn’t primarily deal with Brides and Grooms, we humbly ask you not to join as a member but consider perhaps a sponsorship. (More to come on this.) There are exceptions of course and we will take them on a case by case basis as we are open to new and innovative ideas.
We want to share this with everyone before the meeting so we don’t waste time of those that don’t meet the basic requirements. At the meeting we will go into detail on the two types of membership. Active and Non-Active among other things. Thanks and if you have any questions please contact Marc (Marc@CEentertainment.com) or Michael (Michael@WeddingsofDistinction.com)
Best Wedding Video Ever
Published August 10, 2011 | Have you seen this really cool wedding video yet?
I love to see how creative wedding professionals can be, and raising the standards for cool wedding videos is exactly what David Robins did in this video.
The wedding couple, Joya and Emre, really wanted something unique that that would be fun to watch for a lifetime. They also wanted something that would showcase more than just the two of them but would include their wedding guests and friends as well.
They really accomplished that with this video, which has already been viewed more than 693,000 times as of this writing.
It is a really fun parody on the Black Eyed Peas – “The Time (Dirty Bit)”. Hopefully it will inspire all of our Tucson Wedding Professionals to let their imaginations run amok and help their brides and grooms reach new heights at their Tucson wedding event.
Not to mention, raising the bar can create a lot of referral business. David Robbin’s phone has been ringing off the hook with new business since this video was released only a few months ago.
Keep it fresh, keep it exciting, build your business.
You’re Married Now… Fight Like A Man
Published August 3, 2011 | Three men were at a bar. Two of the men were discussing the control they had over their wives, while the third remained uninterested.
After a short while, the two men turned to the third and asked, "What about you? What kind of control do you have over your wife?"
The third man turned to the first two
and said, "Well, just the other day I had her on her knees!"
The two men were dumbfounded. "Wow that’s incredible! What happened next?" they asked.
The third man took a healthy swig of his beer, sighed and grumbled, "Then she started screaming at me to get out from under the bed and fight like a man!"
Introducing the Tucson Wedding Network
Published August 3, 2011 | 
Michael McCune with Weddings of Distinction and Marc Summersett with CE Entertainment are pleased to announce that they have collaborated to form the Tucson Wedding Network.
Tucson Arizona is a fantastic city for hosting a wedding. With its year around climate, clear skies, beautiful sunsets and gorgeous mountain views it’s no wonder that Tucson is one of the country’s top spots for destination weddings.
Tucson is also home to a variety of businesses that specialize in helping brides and grooms get the most out of their wedding and make their wedding day visions a reality.
The Tucson Wedding Network is open to all wedding professionals who cater to Tucson’s brides and grooms, and the purpose of the group is to share, learn and grow and ultimately serve and provide the best service possible for those planning their wedding in Tucson Arizona.
Until now vendors catering to the local Tucson wedding market have had very few opportunities to share their experience and learn from the experience of others, but we are hoping that the Tucson Wedding Network will change all that and offer an outlet of exchange that will not only benefit the local wedding vendors, but ultimately benefit brides and grooms planning their weddings here in the Tucson area.
We are very excited by the overwhelming response that we have received and within just a few short months the Tucson Wedding Network Facebook group has already grown to more than 100 members, and our very first meeting slated for August 15 already has more than 40 RSVPs.
We invite any and all wedding professionals serving the local Tucson market to join our group. Our goal is to make it fun as well as educational and it is an excellent opportunity to meet and network with people who are of like mind or at least of like business.
The Tucson Wedding Network should also prove to be an excellent resource for brides and grooms to conveniently find and locate any and all of the services they will need for their wedding.
Please stay tuned for updates as new information about The Tucson Wedding Network becomes available.
To Sunset or Not to Sunset… That is the Question?
Published July 28, 2011 | 
Arizona is known for its beautiful and inspiring sunsets, and capturing the essence of these sunsets as part of their wedding ceremony is often a big priority with couples planning their wedding in the Tucson area. And although a sunset wedding can add some wonderful ambiance to an outdoor setting, is it best for your wedding?
If you are planning a ceremony and do not anticipate having a reception following, then a sunset wedding may be for you and I see few reasons for not taking advantage of the awesome lighting that a sunset wedding will shed on your wedding.
However, if you are planning a reception following your ceremony there are some potential disadvantages to having a sunset wedding that you may wish to consider before committing to your wedding day timeline a sunset ceremony.
If your ultimate goal is to create a dynamic and crowd pleasing wedding reception
that you and your guests will never forget, then timing is exceptionally important. People are creatures of habit, and the habits that I am referring to are often unconscious… yet powerful.
They go to work at the same time each day, and for the most part, probably go to bed at relatively the same time each night. So creating a fun and interactive reception may require working within your guests normal timelines and body clocks.
As a general rule it is a good idea to plan your reception in a block of time from 4 to 6 hours. My experience has shown that receptions slated for about a 5 hour time period affords the perfect combination of including all of the events and activities, yet without dragging on.
So for example, if your average guest normally goes to bed at 10:00 PM, and they know that they will have to drive from your reception to their home, it is very likely that many of your guest will begin to look at their watches and create an exit strategy around 9:00 PM.
In which case, if you would like for most of your guests to be a participant for most of your traditional wedding activities, then it would be a good idea to plan for your reception to end around 9:00 PM, or at the very least, schedule the majority of events to be completed by that time.
How will this affect your sunset wedding? Well… based upon the above scenario, with a reception scheduled for 5 hours, this would mean that your reception would have to begin at 4:00 PM, with a ceremony likely to be around 3:00 PM. At least here in the Tucson area, at no time during the year do we have sunsets at 3:00 PM.
If you are planning your wedding in the Tucson vicinity it might behove you to check well in advance the estimated sunset times for your prospective wedding date. And ultimately, you may have to make a choice between what is most important… capturing the beautiful Tucson, Arizona sunset as part of your ceremony, or creating a reception that will involve the majority of you invited guests.
Neither choice is right or wrong, but merely reflects your priorities, which is how it should be. After all… it’s your wedding! Have fun with it!
Who Really Wears The Pants In The Family
Published July 25, 2011 | 
A newlywed couple had just arrived in their honeymoon suite. After unpacking, the husband took off his pants. "Put these on," he said to his wife. She did and they were obviously much too large. "There’s no way I can wear these – they’re way too big," she said. "Good! Now you know who wears the pants in this family," replied the husband.
Flustered, the wife removed her panties, and handing them to her husband said, "Put these on." The husband looked at the tiny panties and said, "There’s no way I can get into these." To which the wife replied, "You’re darn right! At least not until you change your attitude!"
(Whew… lesson learned!)
