Luminaire Images Blog • by Molly Ann

Tuesday with the Pros is an ongoing blog series featuring experts in the wedding and event industry. Today’s authority is Brad Levine, event producer and owner of B. Levine Productions.

LI: What is the difference between an event producer and an event planner?
Brad: I believe many of the tasks are actually the same, however I think the title “producer” is more often assigned to someone who is in charge of a lot of the production aspects of an event and less of the design.  For example, most event planners are seen as figureheads who oversee the management of timelines and local independent suppliers and designers, like photographers, stationary, flowers, etc.  A producer is more involved in the logistics of the overall production, so flowers, linens, entertainment etc is brought in under the production company instead of independently hired by the client, and there is a better handle on audio, video, and other production levels so the event comes together more “as one” instead of piecing it together bit by bit.

LI: How would you describe your business?
Brad: B. Levine Productions is production design and logistics for corporate, entertainment, and social events.

LI: What sets your company apart from other production businesses in the industry?
Brad: I like to take a “boutique company” approach and stay on the smaller side of things so I can keep the focus on my clients and their details instead of taking on huge jobs and ignoring other, more intimate jobs.  I work within my limits and take special care not to drop the ball on anything.

LI: How did you get your start as an event producer?
Brad: I got my start in restaurants, working my way up from bussing tables to restaurant management to special event catering management in New York City. In fact, at one point I was offered a job as a catering manager at the Ritz Carlton in Battery Park City.  Unfortunately, the job was offered to me on 9/10/01, and by the following day—obviously—the job no longer existed for the time being.  So I went back to school and worked in banquet halls until a professor of mine introduced me to event design and I moved out to Los Angeles with his company.  After about six years with An Original Occasion, I launched my own production company and here I am today!

LI: What are some of your favorite things about what you do?
Brad: I truly enjoy the service industry.  Even back when I was waiting tables, I always had a blast.  I also really love the production element—the technical aspects, the pressure, the unity when you bring everyone together…all of it, an event to me can be like a living thing!

For more about Brad and B. Levine Productions, check out:
The B. Levine Productions official site

My friend Ana from Berry Beautiful Creations made me this amazing candy apple with my logo on it!  It was shimmering white chocolate with sweet gold sparkles layered over caramel on a granny smith apple and it tasted INCREDIBLE.  If you’re looking for some delicious party favors (or you just have a sweet tooth like me) look her up!

When I ran into Doyle Borden last night at an industry event I was so flattered to see that he’d utilized the image I’d taken of him for his Tuesday with the Pros interview on his new business card! I may be biased, but it is an awesome photograph of a pretty cute design stylist!  I would put him on my business card too, but I think it might confuse people (LOL)!

Tuesday with the Pros is an ongoing blog series featuring experts in the wedding and event industry.  Today’s authority is Jodi, disc jockey and “CEO of Fun” at Sight & Sound Events in Las Vegas, NV.

LI: How would you describe what you do?
Jodi: I see myself as a director.  I know I’m the event DJ and primarily considered responsible for the music, but I’m also responsible for the flow of the party, and moving people along, and setting them up for photography.  Nowadays everyone has an iPhone or a Walkman and can put 200 of the hottest hits on speakers for a raging bash, but an iPhone doesn’t have the same charisma and personality that a professional party director does.  Imagine “American Idol” without Ryan Seacrest to keep things moving!  What I like to do is tell the couple that we’re putting on a movie titled “Your Wedding Reception,” and they’re Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and I’m Academy-award winning director Kathryn Bigelow, telling them where to stand, where to look, and what to do next…it may sound easy, but unless they’ve been to 100 weddings themselves, most couples don’t know what happens after they’ve finished cutting the cake or throwing the garter!  It’s all up to the DJ!

LI: What is Sight & Sound Events?
Jodi: It’s a full-service event planning company with award-winning in-house DJ, photography, videography, event planning, live entertainment, etc.  A client can come to us just for one service, like DJ, or multiple services like live entertainment, photography, and videography.

LI: How is Sight & Sound unique from other event planning companies?
Jodi: We are very hands-on; we offer ALL our clients personal design consultations with me, a head of the company, to ensure they are satisfied and confident with the service they’ll be receiving.  We are all about organization and communication, and not so arrogant to think that even after 18 years we know it all.  Every year we invest in attending national conferences and joining organizations to expand our knowledge of the changing technology and methodology for both videography and party services.  80% of a party’s success is dependent upon us, as entertainers…so we don’t take our job lightly!

LI: What started Sight & Sound?
Jodi: Well, back in the day I was living in New York and working in broadcast television at ABC with Regis and Kathy Lee.  I met my husband Pat (now award-winning videographer and co-owner of Sight & Sound), during a trip to Los Angeles, where I also decided I liked the weather a bit more, and decided to move.  At that time Pat was a DJ entertainer, and he brought me along as an assistant for a few jobs….little by little my duties began accumulating until I knew what he wanted to play before he even asked for it!  So I caught on pretty quick and eventually we became a husband and wife DJ team.  When Pat got the video bug, I started DJing exclusively so he could focus on event videography.  So in a way, we flip-flopped: me from TV and video to DJ, and him from DJ to TV and video!  Although to this day, Pat is still very involved with training our DJ staff!

LI: So what’s the best thing about DJing an event?
Jodi: Helping people to have a great time—really, I have the best job in the world.  I get paid to help people have fun!  And it’s not all about me, either; if my client wants the chicken dance, I’ll play the chicken dance, because it’s all about their good time.  It makes the testimonials very rewarding.

LI: Who are most of your clientele?
Jodi: We do about half corporate events and half weddings.  I will say that about 97% of our wedding clientele come from out of state, however.  This is Las Vegas, after all!  We are usually acknowledged as the preferred DJ service by the catering departments of many of the hotels around here.

LI: What would be a dream event to DJ?
Jodi: I think it would be so cool to DJ a corporate party with a “Dancing with the Stars” theme.  Because then I could play some really different dance music, like salsa…and people would be there to dance, anyway!  Honestly, I’m still a TV person at heart, and I would leap at the chance to DJ an after-party for something like “American Idol” or “SYTYCD.”  Plus then I’d get a chance to dance with Max!  I’m there!

LI: Do you have any tips for the many clients out there looking to save some money on their event entertainment?
Jodi: My number one tip is: DO NOT INVITE THE ENTIRE WORLD to your event!  We can have a rockin’ party even if it’s just a few close friends and family members, and because the guest count is under control you won’t have to break the bank to get there—with fewer guests, you can better afford quality entertainment, and photography, and videography, and other event services.

LI: Do you have any exciting events coming up soon?
Jodi: I am looking forward to the NACE conference in Austin, TX.  I get to network with planners and other high-end professionals and meet fun people and sample some good foods!

LI: What do YOU do (or where do you go) when you yourself want to party?
Jodi: You’d expect me to refer you to a local club or something, but honestly I enjoy traveling in my free time.  Pat and I go to Southern California and hang out with friends there when we want to unwind and have a good time!

LI: What’s the best piece of advice you could impart to party-goers everywhere?
Jodi: Communicate!  If you’re planning a party, it’s all about communication, so make sure you’re in close contact with your photographer, DJ, videographer, planner, florist…ALL your vendors.  The more in the know everyone is, the more they’ll be working together for one singular goal—an awesome event!

For more on Jodi, Pat, and Sight & Sound, visit:
The Sight & Sound Events website
The Sight & Sound Events blog
Sight & Sound on Twitter
Jodi’s Twitter
Sight & Sound on Facebook

Tuesday with the Pros is an ongoing blog series featuring experts in the wedding and event industry.  Today’s authority is Betty, event planner and owner of Type A Planning.

LI: So what is your job?
Betty: I do event and wedding planning, and my role is anything from planning birthday parties to helping a wedding couple find the venue, to just day-of wedding coordination.  Destination clients are primarily full planning, which is recommended—the wedding can still be hands-on for the couple, but destination planning is a lot more work, so it’s easier to hand it off to someone else who knows what they’re doing and has done it before.

LI: What sort of destinations do you normally work with?
Betty: I frequently help plan a lot of wine country weddings, up in Santa Barbara and Napa Valley.  Napa is where I myself was married!

LI: How is Type A Planning unique from other planning services?
Betty: My demeanor is very laid-back and flexible, and my style revolves around simple elegance. Brides tend to appreciate my low-key approach to designing events for them that have classy looks but a casual air.  I think it helps absorb some of their stress.

LI: What inspired you to start planning events?
Betty: When I was in high school back in Massachusetts, my younger middle-school-aged siblings had a lot of friends who were having bar and bat mitzvahs and hosting special parties when they turned thirteen.  Even though we aren’t Jewish, my parents decided to try the same thing, sort of like a “Sweet-Thirteen” party, so my brother and sister wouldn’t feel left out.  We rented a room at a local country club, hired a DJ, entertainment, et cetera, and helping put those together really turned me on to large-scale event planning.  You can imagine by the time I planned my own wedding, it was like a second nature to me!

LI: What are some of your favorite things about event planning?
Betty: I really love helping people, and I just get a really good feeling from seeing the final product. It’s so fun to put together this vision that the client has in their head, and use my expertise to flesh it out. I like coming up with little ideas that I can tweak to fit the bride and make the event they dreamed of really happen for them—it’s great when we have chemistry and the concepts just “click!”

LI: What kind of profile do most of your clients fall under?
Betty: Obviously I can work with anybody, but it seems like I meet a lot of young professionals who need a planner to help them handle details that they don’t have a lot of time to deal with, particularly for destination events.

LI: What would be a dream event to plan?
Betty: Something off-the-wall, like recreating a miniature city inside the reception venue, or a putting together a full set for the event.  And of course a client with the budget to pull it off!  I also really love wine-centric events, which is maybe why I’m so drawn to wine country weddings.  Wine is like my second passion, so it would be amazing to do a wedding in a legendary wine location like Bordeaux, France.

LI: Do you have any advice for people out there who are looking to save money on their event?
Betty: I know it sounds self-serving and maybe event a little counter-intuitive because it costs money, but in fact a good event planner can save you money; they have resources not available to the general public, as well as a network of vendors who will work for lesser rates for them. It’s sometimes hard to grasp in an era where so much self-service is possible that hiring someone to do something that you can do yourself will decrease the overall cost of the event, but it’s true.  Especially when your time is worth more than what you pay your planner, because planning can eat up weeks of time!

I also recommend prioritizing what’s important to you. Hire and pay for the aspects of the event that you value the highest FIRST, so that way if the budget starts getting tight near the end of the process you’re not stuck compromising on things that are of the utmost importance to you.

LI: Do you have any exciting events coming up?
Betty: My parents’ 40th Anniversary party, because it’s going to be a fun, special, personal project for me.  They had a very modest wedding when they got married 40 years ago, and I want to give them the fancy event they didn’t have due to their means back then.  As a planner, I have resources and expertise that my family can use for this event, so it’s going to be a big deal…because 40 years of marriage is a big deal!

LI: How do you help your clients select vendors?
Betty: I try to get a good sense of the clients’ style and recommend to them vendors who I think would be a good artistic and personality match.  It’s not about me and who my buddies are…it’s about the client and who in my network of professionals would work best with them and their style.  This kind of customized, objective recommendation based on really knowing the client is something you can’t get by searching online for vendors.

LI: What would be your professional suggestion(s) for a festive, stress-free event?
Betty: Keep it simple, keep it light.  If you’re obsessed with the font on the dance floor gobo or the exact, perfect color roses, then you’re not really going to have much fun, especially if something falls short of your high expectations.  If your vendors are professionals and you trust them to deliver something you like, then understand that they’re going to try their best to please you, and really that’s all anyone could ask for from their wedding plans!

FOR MORE ON BETTY…
Type A Planning website
Betty’s Blog
Type A Planning Facebook
Betty’s Twitter

On Thursday several of the event industry’s up-and-comings threw an event designed to inspire today’s bride and planners looking for unique creations and delightful concepts.  It was held at Party Rental King and attracted over 200 visitors.

The tent setting. Tables and furniture courtesy of the fine folks at AFR Event Furnishings.

Fantastical tunnel constructed by Party Rental King, ending at the wondrous chocolate fountain from Chocolate Delights with some cool curtains a lá West Coast Drape

A pretty gnarly room designed and decorated by Patricia (right) of Charm Events

INSANE cakes by Cake Fusions!

The ever-cheerful Wenda from More Than Just Weddings

Delectable candy table by Charm Events

I may or may not have pilfered a lolly…

An amazing, inspired design by J’Adore Florist and Flowers on Mars (and influenced in part by the movie Avatar!)

Joan, the visionary behind J’Adore Florist

A crystal detail from White Feathers Events

Stunning makeup by Jesse Sillas, and delightful candied apples by Berry Beautiful Creations

Magical butterflies from Flowers on Mars and J’Adore Florist, as well as scrumptious cupcakes by Miss Priss Cupcakes & Such

With Mars & Nancy from Flowers on Mars.  Mars is a pro DJ and mixed up some serious tunes that night, too.

I seriously don’t know how everyone else isn’t squinting against the bright lights like I am. I also don’t know how I managed to dress like Han Solo and not notice until after I took a picture of myself…but there you go.  A little Star Wars for your evening with Sweetest Perfection.

Thanks for a great event, everyone!