Laurel Mountain Cupboard

I'm often asked where I get all of the wonderful products we use in our gift baskets. Although we design gift baskets for all occasions and themes, we are known through out the US for our New England style gift baskets. I believe one of the reasons they are so popular is that we work with a number of small local vendors. Having access to so many sources means that we always have a wide variety of items to choose from. I am always looking for new vendors from our local area or from around New England to add to our list.

I found my local honey supplier when a man approached me in the parking lot of a grocery store. (I have signs with the Laurel Mountain Basket Company logo and contact information on the front doors and tailgate). He is involved with a local apiary association and recommended a really fine apiary not two miles from my home. It is a small operation so I wasn't surprised I had not heard of them but their honey is fantastic!

I was recently asked by a client to custom design a breakfast gift basket . He had seen the one on our site but he needed one for a group of 20 to 30 people and he wanted us to use products from all six New England states. The challenge was to find product that was ready to eat since the gift basket would be presented at a morning breakfast meeting of corporate executives. We contacted a local bakery (one of my personal favorites) to provide fresh breads and muffins then set out to find several different jams, jellies and honeys, as well as fresh roasted coffee, blended tea (check out our friends at www.teaguys.com if you want some really excellent tea!)and other items like cheeses and salsas. It goes without saying that all of the products we use at Laurel Mountain Basket Company have to be delicious, but we require that they have a nice presentation too. Our gift baskets are a reflection on our clients and our job is to help our clients make a great impression.

I found so many wonderful new products while designing that gift basket that I decided to add an new element to Laurel Mountain Basket Company . We will be stocking our Studio with many of the locally made products that we use in our gift baskets and make them available to our clients. A couple of jars of jelly or a small jar of honey and a canister of tea make a great little gift. So, stop by and check out the cupboard!

Happy New Year,
Marie

Ready, Set,Shop!

Shopping during the Holiday Season can be quite stressful. Crowded stores, limited time, and limited money, are all factors contributing to a stressful shopping experience. Here are a couple of tips to make Holiday shopping more enjoyable.

Plan ahead. Planning ahead is one way to limit the amount of stress brought on by shopping during the Holidays. Start by making lists. Make a list of people who you want to buy gifts for and determine how much money you are going to spend on each gift. Next, write down one or two gift ideas that fall within the pre determined price range next to each name.
Start your Holiday shopping early and plan to shop on more than one occasion if at all possible. By starting early and knowing you don't have to buy everything on your list that day, you will have a better chance of finding the gift you want at the price you can afford. If you wait until the last minute, you may find yourself spending more for a particular item or spending money on a gift simply to have "something" to give because you have run out of time. Spending more than your budget allows will certainly add stress to the Holiday Season and beyond.

Finding the "perfect" gift for that "hard to buy for" individual can create a lot of stress. The way to avoid this type of stress is to realize that you can't please everyone. Simply select a "nice" gift that is within your budget and be done with it.

Gift baskets are wonderful gifts for "hard to shop for" people. At Laurel Mountain Basket Company, we have a large selection of gift baskets designed for every occasion and we work with our clients to help them select ones that are appropriate to their needs.

A Little Taste of New England

I love New England. To me it's not a place so much as a state of mind. So when I started Laurel Mountain Gift Basket Company almost 10 years ago, I created gift baskets that reflected the tastes and the people of New England. I sought out local artisans, farmers, chocolatiers, herb growers and sugar house operators, and developed a line of gift baskets made up almost entirely of locally produced goods.

Our line of New England Gift Baskets has been very successful, and as we discovered new products, we were able to increase the number of designs we could offer. So I was really excited when I discovered Appalachian Naturals a producer of all natural, certified organic foods made from ingredients grown on small New England farms. Now we will be able to add a line of all natural and organic products like their Veracruz Salsas and Cape Cod Caviar to our own New England gift baskets!

From Cape Cod to the Berkshires, from Maine to Rhode Island, we bring the taste of New England to where ever you are!

Food For Thought

The month of October is Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. Laurel Mountain Basket Company is dog friendly and we donate a portion from the sale of all of our pet gifts to several local animal rescue services. I also donate items I know the shelters need to continue to operate. Items like gently used toys, office supplies and laundry supplies. This year I decided to send an e-mail to our clients and let them know, that during the month of October, I was collecting items for the local shelter. I know that our clients are great people but I was amazed at the response we got.

We collected several cases of canned dog and cat food, a big box of office supplies, another box of paper products and laundry supplies. Blankets, towels, pet dishes, collars, and leashes, Hundreds, yes hundreds, of dog and cat toys, all of them in perfect condition, many of them new. Dog beds and three cat condos!

Well, it's November and Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. To me, Thanksgiving means food and lots of it. We celebrate Thanksgiving with my sister and her family in Connecticut and every year she serves up a wonderfully traditional Thanksgiving meal. Everything from turkey to pumpkin pie with plenty left over for sandwiches for the next day. It was touch and go with the stuffing the first couple of years after she got married since she and her husband wanted to use their family recipe. They've been married now for over 25 years, so I guess it worked out okay.

We are very fortunate but we know there are many who are not. That's why I've decided, since collecting for the shelters was such a success, we are going to collect food for our local food pantry. From now until Thanksgiving day, Laurel Mountain Basket Company will be collecting non perishable food for the Easthampton Food Pantry.

Help share our good fortune, bring your food contributions to the Laurel Mountain Basket Company studio at the Eastworks building at 116 Pleasant Street in Easthampton any time. We filled our Toyota 4 Runner with supplies for the animals, I' m hoping to do the same for the people of Easthampton.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Breast Cancer Awareness

Those of you who follow my blog know that I was going to participate in the Terry Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation Walk Across Southeastern Connecticut. Well, I am here to tell you I made it!!! My niece, Kate, a student at the University of New Hampshire, and I took part in the event on October 4th.

When Kate called me and invited me to walk with her, I immediately agreed, but one of my caveats was that I would donate my time and my feet but I would not raise any money, that would be totally up to her. She agreed. This may seem harsh to you but Kate is 20 years old and an idealist. Been there, done that, got lots of tee shirts. I have raised a lot of money for "causes" , as a business owner I am contacted daily by individuals and organizations wanting money. I have learned that as much as 60% to 80% of money goes to "administrative costs". I will not give my hard earned money nor ask anyone I know to give hard earned money to "causes" when the money does not get to the people it is supposed to help.

After committing to Kate, but before committing to the Terry Brodeur Foundation, I did some checking. Happily I found out that administrative costs of which there are many, are taken care of by soliciting area businesses for fund. These costs are not taken out of the money donated by participants or donors.

Having organized several fund raising events and having volunteered and/or participated in many more, I know that the costs associated with planning and executing one can be substantial. There are printing and mailing costs, for an event such as this, providing water, power drinks, granola bars and fruit for the walkers, transportation, advertising, tee shirts, signage, equipment rental, etc., etc, etc.

My company, Laurel Mountain Basket Company, occasionally will participate as a sponsor for a local event. Most recently we were one of the sponsors for the Whately Triathlon, a fund raiser for the Whately, MA Police Department. In most cases, such a the TBBCF Walk, I prefer to participate.

It was a great experience. Kate has raised most of the $500 pledge herself (she's still working on the last few dollars) and we're already talking about doing it again next year. When I said I would donate my feet, I didn't know how true a statement that was. My feet are KILLING me! I'm glad I plan ahead and scheduled a chiropractic appointment for this morning. I should have scheduled a massage as well.

If you have the opportunity to participate in an event such as this, I encourage you to do so. The experience will be well worth it but I caution you, make sure you are in good shape and that you train hard before hand.

Sincerely

Marie

The Best Dogs In The Universe

I tell my dogs daily that I am very lucky because when I went looking to adopt a dog, I got the best dogs in the Universe. Okay, so I tell little white lies occasionally but you have to understand that their "universe" is rather small.
When we lost our Boarder Collie mix Cassie, my husband was lobbying for two dogs. We work all day and he felt that they could keep each other company. Great in theory but you've heard the expression "two can live as cheaply as one" well, "raising two dogs is as easy as raising one" is just as true. Also, I knew that I would be the one who would be doing 90% of the work, taking them to obedience classes, buying the food, visiting the vet, etc., etc., etc.
I have had a dog companion since I was in college. I've been lucky in that they have all been healthy and had long lives. Each of those four dogs has come from a shelter. So, we called F.A.C.E.S., Inc. in West Springfield, Ma. and arranged to see a litter of puppies they had. The home where the puppies were being cared for (F.A.C.E.S., Inc. is an all volunteer rescue and adoption service so the animals are kept in private homes) was about an hours drive from our house.

As soon as we entered the yard, a little black puppy came up to us. She was so beautiful and so cute, we both knew immediately that she was the dog for us. As I started making arrangements to sign the paperwork and write the check, my husband said, "Look over there. You have to see this other dog. The shy little guy in the corner." Somehow I just knew that if I looked, we would be signing paperwork for two dogs. Now I ask you, could you resist that face? I couldn't.

Two dogs rode home in the cabin of a pick up truck with us that day. Ten years later we are still one big happy family. Our cute little puppies have grown into two beautiful dogs and I've never regretted looking at the shy little guy in the corner and agreeing that we really did need two dogs.

Because we adopted our "best dogs in the Universe" from F.A.C.E.S., Inc. our company, Laurel Mountain Basket Company, donates a portion from the sale of every dog gift basket and dog gift to that organization. Please visit our site, and know that if you purchase one of our beautiful gift baskets, you will not only be giving a favorite pet or pet owner a great gift, you will be helping a wonderful organization.

What Was I Thinking?!

Okay, I know it's for a good cause, the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation's 2008 Walk Across Southeastern Connecticut, but when I agreed to do the walk, I didn't stop to think just how far 12 to 15 MILES really is. What was I thinking?

It started so innocently. My niece called and told me she wanted to do a benefit walk. I figured she was going to ask me for a pledge. She's in college now and I don't get to see her very often so when she asked if I would walk with her, I was thrilled. What a great experience it would be.

For the record, I thought I was in good shape. After all, I work out 3 or 4 mornings a week at the gym where I take a step & sculpt class twice a week, work with weights and work out on the machines as well. I take the dogs for a mile fast walk almost every day after work. A simple walk shouldn't be that difficult.

I did realize I would need to do some training. My friend Sue is a personal trainer and enters marathons and triathlons for fun so I asked her to work up a schedule for me. She was very encouraging, telling me I was already in good shape and would be fine. I got my schedule and was ready to rock and roll.

The first time I walked the treadmill for five miles at a steady 4.0 mph, I thought I was going to die! My energy level was still okay. My heart rate and breathing were fine. I just could not move. Every muscle from the waist down simply seized up! I didn't know how I was going to get across the entire gym to the locker room without a stretcher.

It took a very long sauna and hot shower to get me moving again. As long as I didn't make any sudden moves, I was fine. The next day wasn't too bad once I got both feet moving. Stairs were still a big challenge and bending over was totally out of the questions. Well, I'm pretty sure I'm past that now. I'm able to do 5 miles on the treadmill and feel great.

I hope on October 5th I'll be able to report that all went well, I finished the walk and am not in intensive care somewhere. One thing I am sure of, the next time someone asks me to do something like this, I'm going to donate a gift basket instead.

Laughing Out Loud

The other day I received the funniest e-mail I have ever seen. Well, maybe not THE funniest but it sure was close. It made my day!

You don't have to work from home like the character Adam in the comic strip "Adam" to feel isolated in the work place. I work in a studio outside of my home but most of my business is done over the phone or via my website http://www.laurelmtbasket.com/ . Don't get me wrong. I love to work alone in an environment without distractions when I'm designing a new gift basket and especially at this time of year when I am designing a full line of gifts and gift baskets for the up coming holiday season.

But eight or ten hours is a long time so I'm really glad I have my on line friends who fill my inbox with the most insane e-mails. There are so many fun things out there that I'd never have time to find on my own. I don't spend time on You Tube but I'm sure glad someone does, because I really enjoy some of the amazing videos found there.

Many of my friends are artists, writers, crafters, designers of one sort or another or other professionals who also work solo. Swapping silly e-mails with them is a great way to take a break and spread some cheer.

There are days when you will catch me LOL for real. I especially enjoy photos and videos of cats and dogs (or any animal really) doing something silly. I love the Cats on a Treadmill and the Moose with the Sprinkler type videos. They are too cute and hysterically funny.

Be a good friend and share a laugh today!

Where Does The Time Go?

I like to get to the Studio early. The uninterrupted quiet time before my fellow shop keepers and the pubic arrive is great for getting lots of work done. The other day I arrived at the Studio at 6:00 a.m. and worked until 3:00 p.m. On my way home, I was reviewing my day and felt that I hadn't done much in all that time. I realized that a huge chunk of my time was taken up with one simple project, getting my monthly e-mail ready to send to my clients. I couldn't believe that one simple e-mail could take hours to prepare.

I love using e-mail to communicate with my clients and the technology allows me to do so many things. I can link to other sites or link to specific pages on my own site including the pages containing the gift baskets we are featuring that month and our on line newsletter. I can add photos of our gift baskets and other graphics.

In the olden days (eight or ten years ago) this part of my marketing campaign consisted of sending out a monthly newsletter. Done in a simple format, the newsletter was a single page and the graphics consisted of a piece of clip art or two. The cost of sending a newsletter with photos of our actual gift baskets was far too expensive for our young company so we settled for black and white clip art of something related to whatever we were talking about in the newsletter.

Once the newsletter was completed I would take it to the copy center, have it copied on colored paper and folded. We handled the mailing list ourselves until the client list got too large to easily manage in house, then we hired a mailing service.

You would think that using a computer and e-mail would be much easier and more efficient than hand mailing a couple of thousand newsletter. Not so. It all has to do with choices. When we were using black and white clip art, our choices were limited. With e-mail we have full color options and can use photo images. We can now use actual photos of our gift baskets and the web is full of beautiful images that we use to illustrate and add to the topic of the newsletter. I love www.iStockphoto.com but there are several good sites where you can purchase great images very reasonably and not have to deal with copyright issues. The problem is that there are so many great images you can spend hours searching for the "perfect" one.

I fact check as much as possible and depending on the content of the message, this can take some time. I also include a quote that pertains to the message so I need to do a search for an appropriate one. Reading quotes can be fun so this part of the project can take even more time.

Before you know it, hours have flown by but I think it is well worth it.

If you'd like to be added to our e-mail list and receive our fun and informative monthly e-mail including discounts and other web only offers, just go to our website at www.laurelmtbasket.com and sign up right on the home page. It's getting late, got to get back to work. Hey, thanks for your time!

When Do You Get Your Great Ideas?

Having a difficult time finding a solution to a problem or making a decision? Try following the age old advice and "sleep on it". Okay, so there's no scientific evidence to prove that "sleeping on it" will help solve a problem or make the right decision, but it works for me.

Anyone who owns their own business will tell you they never stop looking for solutions to problems or making decisions about something or other. I've spent many sleepless nights trying to solve some problem that had come up during the day. On other nights, especially just before a holiday when I need to come up with several new gift basket designs for Valentines Day or Easter or Christmas, I would fall asleep thinking about creating these custom designs. Often on those nights, I'd wake up and a design idea would be crystal clear. I'd get all excited about starting the project the next day and fall back to sleep. The problem was that when I woke up the next morning, I'd remember that I'd had a great idea, but couldn't remember what it was.

Now, I keep a note pad and pen on my night stand and jot down a word or two to trigger my memory. This method works great although, because I write my messages in the dark, trying to read them the next morning can be a challenge.

I also get ideas for new gift basket designs while I'm vacuuming. I think the repetitive motion and the monotonous sound of the vacuum helps dull my conscious mind and allows my creative subconscious to work. I can achieve this same kind of zoning out during my step aerobic class or while walking the dogs. More than once I've left my aerobic class, written a cryptic note on a piece of paper towel, tucked it into my sock and jumped right back into the routine. I've been working out with Sue for about 14 years now, so she's gotten used to this behavior. My dogs love walking in the woods near our home, so they're happy to help me walk and think.

So, I'll continue taking step aerobic classes, walking the dogs, and "sleeping on it", in order to keep my creative mind open for new gift basket design ideas. Check out some of my best ideas at http://www.laurelmtbasket.com/.

Back To School

It's back to school time. We live in an area where there are dozens of colleges and universities, including Smith College, one of the oldest and most prestigious women's colleges in the country.

I grew up in the town where Sophia Smith, the founder, lived and I attended another school she founded, Smith Academy (photo is of the original Smith Academy building). Although I had the opportunity to attend Smith College, I didn't want to go to college close to home so I went all the way up to New Hampshire and attended Franklin Pierce College instead.

Sophia Smith was the daughter of a farmer. She was the last of her immediately family, and upon her death at age 65, her inheritance was close to $400,000, a huge sum for 1870. She took the responsibility of her position very seriously and consulted with her pastor and advisers.

Sophia was very interested in education and education for women in particular. By the time she was 40, she was deaf and considered establishing a deaf-mute institution in Hatfield. However, when the Clarke School for the Deaf opened in Northampton in 1868 she put all of her energy into planning for a college for women.

She died in 1870 and Smith College admitted its first students, fourteen women, in 1875. Today, Smith has an endowment of approximately $800 million and the student body has grown to approximately 2,500 students per year.

Quite an accomplishment for the daughter of a farmer.

If you have a student attending Smith College, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire or any of the other fine area schools, let me know. My company, Laurel Mountain Basket Company, has a line of gifts especially designed for students.

Marie

Storm Warning

Only last week a woman came into my studio to ask if I had a gift basket with an emergency kit theme. I showed her one I had designed for one of my realtor clients that contains, among other things, a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit. She was thinking more along the lines of a gift basket with items a person would need if they were in a bad storm or flood. That may seem like an odd request, but it happens. Ask anyone from New Orleans or Florida.

Or Whately, MA, my home town. On Saturday evening, Whately was hit by a Microburst. I'm sure there is a difference between a Tornado and a Microburst, but I don't think my neighbors with the crushed cars or houses really care.

I was getting ready to go to a friends' house for a Girls' Night Out party. It was raining, hard, and there was lots of thunder and lightening and one point, the power went out. The storm only lasted about 20 minutes then the sky cleared, and the sun was shining brightly, so I left to drive to my friend's house. Twice, within a half mile from my house, I had to drive around large branches that had fallen and were blocking part of the road. I didn't think much about the situation until I came upon a tree that had fallen across the entire road. More importantly, it had taken the power lines down with it. I guessed I had found the cause of our power outage.

But again, I didn't put any real significance to what I was seeing. I turned the car around and headed for one of the other roads that would take me out of town. I didn't get far. As soon as I turned onto the second road. I saw another large tree had fallen across the road, and farther up the road, three or four more very large trees had either been uprooted or had split.

There went Girls' Night Out! I returned home and told my husband about what I had seen. He went out to see if he could help with clearing some of the roads. One thing about small New England towns, almost everyone has a chain saw. Within a couple of hours, most of the roads were passable.

The next day, I decided to take the dogs and spend some time at the studio where we would have air conditioning, a microwave, and computer access. When I got home that afternoon, we took a drive to see the damage and take photos. The damage from the storm was amazing! Houses, cars, boats, garages, barns, fences, were crushed and there had to be hundreds of beautiful old trees down. Incredibly, no one was injured. Among all the devastation, the atmosphere was actually kind of festive. It seemed that everybody was outside. Probably because there was no power for the tv or computer! When I'd stop to take photos, I'd get into conversations with the home owners or other people from the area who came to take photos and share their stories of the storm. Even the police officer stationed at a dangerous intersection told me how the road had been burned when the power lines fell. The horizontal line in the lower right corner of the photo above is burned asphalt.

This storm taught me a few things. My dogs hate storms, they shake and hide under the bed. I call them my "early warning system". Well, from now on, I am going to take their "warnings" a little more seriously. I am also going to continue to make sure we are prepared. Lots of batteries, gallons of drinking water, a non-electric can opener and I'm going to buy a camp lamp that runs on a 9 volt battery. Reading by flashlight is not as fun as it once was.

The Many Colors of Green

If you found this blog posting because you are interest in the growing trend towards environmental responsibility, sorry. It's not that I don't believe in conserving energy and working with natural materials. I do.

When we built our house over twenty years ago, we incorporated many of what now is being called "green" concepts into the construction.
At work as well as at home we recycle everything, paper, glass, plastic, and we compost. We use recycled and biodegradable office and cleaning supplies.

At Laurel Mountain Gift Baskets we purchase many of the items we use in our gift baskets from local vendors which means we use less fuel in transport, as well as support our local community. We use paper rather than floral foam or Styrofoam as a base in our gift baskets because paper is biodegradable and we use raffia or paper ribbon in many of our bows for the same reason.

But no, when I refer to the many colors of green in this blog, I really am talking about the color. Color is so important to good gift basket design. A beautifully crafted gift basket just isn't finished until it is topped with a fanciful bow using several contrasting colors or several shades from the same color family. For Spring and Summer the greens come in soft sea foam, apple and hot lime, for Fall and Winter there's new moss, hunter, and emerald and celadon is a perfect year round green. Even the names are beautiful!

When blue and green are used together, they echo nature and the effect is very calming. When I want to be wild and make a bold statement, deep purple and hot lime green still works for me!

Green is the color of life and renewal. It signifies growth and health as well as balance and harmony. In Feng Shui, it is important to use several different shades of green in order to maximize the energy effort.

Gardeners get it when they plant lots of natural greens among the colorful flowers to keep everything in balance. So the next time you hear someone talking about going green, shut your eyes and imagine a burst of energizing color! But don't forget to shut off your computer and the lights when you leave the room. That's important too.

Home Town 4th of July

I live in a small New England town. Our current police station consists of a couple of rooms in the basement of what used to be a school house. Luckily, we have a great group of officers, little serious crime and the State Police barracks only a few miles up the road. Still, the town needed a new facility and one was appropriated. Unfortunately, there was little money left over to furnish and supply the space.
The problem was solved in true small town fashion... have a bake sale... well, actually the bake sale was a small part of the event that took place in Whately, MA on the Sunday after the 4th of July. A small group of town folk conceived an idea for a fund raiser. A triathlon. The First Annual Whately Police Triathlon. My company Laurel Mountain Gift Basket Company was proud to be a sponsor and my husband and I volunteered to help work the event. It was a blast!
I try to stay in shape. I work out three of four times a week, but I could never do what these 120 plus individuals did. Start out by swimming 1/2 mile, then run or walk the bike to the starting point to ride for 14 miles, up and down several hills, then run or walk the bike from the end of the bike course to the starting point to change shoes and run for three miles! I got tired just watching!
The participants were amazing but what was really amazing was that a group of people came together to accomplish so much. Two women, got an idea and rallied hundreds to their cause. The participants who registered and paid an entry fee. The volunteers who woke at dawn in order to be at the town beach at 5:45 a.m. to help get the courses and participants ready. I overheard more than one volunteer laugh about how little they slept the night before, afraid they would sleep thru the alarm. Most of the volunteers had never even seen a triathlon before that Sunday, never mind participate in one, yet the event went without a hitch.
As in any USAT sanctioned event, safety is the number one priority. Which made another group of individuals that needed to be recruited. The town ambulance with emergency personnel was standing by, the regional dive team was on site, and those police officers not competing were stationed along the route to insure the safety of the bikers and runners. Again, it was the efforts of the organizers and volunteers that brought this all together.
I am so proud of the people in my small town. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the 4th of July than working with my neighbors to make my little corner of the world a better place to live. See you all again next 4th of July for the Second Annual Whately Police Triathlon.
Marie

Super Heros

Become a Super Hero!

A headline in the local paper caught my attention, it said " At Area Shelters, Discarded Pets a Sign of the Times". At Laurel Mountain Basket Company, we are pet friendly. Proceeds from our Cat Napping cat nip pillows and Spoiled Rotten Dog Gift Baskets benefit local rescue services. I've decided that until the end of this year, we will donate 10% from the sale of any of our pet products to area shelters. Check out our selection gifts for pets and the people who love and become a Super Hero!

From This Day Forward

Planning a wedding? It may be only a single wedding, but there are basically three separate events to plan for. The ceremony, the reception and the honeymoon.

Today, I want to talk about the reception. This is probably the most overwhelming of the three because there are so many details involved. Where to have it, who to invite, and how much you are willing to spend are at the top of the list.

Where to have it is really contingent on who will attend and how much your are willing to spend. You will want a venue that is large enough to accommodate your guests comfortably, but not so large that it feels empty. The type of wedding (outdoors and casual or up town and chic) and what a particular venue includes in the price will also be considered in your choice. A venue that caters to events may include items like the cake and other amenities in the cost where as another venue choice may mean you will need to provide everything from decorations to linens to hiring a clean up crew. Once you have decided on where you will have your reception, you will want to reserve your date and time. This is especially important if the venue is very popular and/or it is a very busy season.

When considering who to invite, remember that, although it is the bride's day, the comfort and conveniences of the guests should be a major consideration. Some guest may be coming from out of town and they may need overnight accommodations. If the reception is being held in the banquet facility of a hotel, often times rooms can be reserved right on the premises. Otherwise, a block of rooms can be reserved at a nearby hotel. A really nice touch is to have a gift basket of treats placed in each room for your guest to enjoy.

How much will it cost? Know exactly what you are willing to spend before starting to plan the wedding. Make a budget and stick to it! Start by making a list of what you need and affix a price to each item. By having an idea of what you want and how much you are willing to spend, the planning process will go much more smoothly.

The New View

The economy is impacting every business in some way or another. Many of my clients have had to cut back on gift giving even though they know that recognizing others is an important part of doing business. We have been looking for ways to allow them to continue giving high quality gifts while keeping within their newly revised budgets. Laurel Mountain Basket Company is proud to announce that we have found the solution!

We have partnered with one of our favorite suppliers and are now able to offer our clients a line of private label, locally produced, gourmet food items. Our clients can choose from a wonderful variety of New England style treats, like Cranberry, White Chocolate Brownie Mix, which is sooooo yummy, Clambake Spices, a down east seasoning for chowders and sea food that also makes a kickin' dip and other radically fun foods. Beautifully packaged and labelled with the company logo or special greeting, these unique gifts make great favors for corporate events, conferences or special promotion!

We can combine a package of cranberry flapjack or maple scone mix with a mini jug of pure Massachusetts maple syrup, add the company logo and create a one of a kind gift that makes a great impression.

Marie