The Backup Plan 2014

Should You Write Your Own Wedding Vows?

For many people saying your wedding vows to the one you plan to spend the rest of your life with is the most sacred part of your wedding day.  These are the few moments where you look into your loved ones eyes, in front of his family and yours, and you really open up your heart to him.  Many couples choose to go with the standard and the traditional, saying the words that have been said for centuries, after all who wants to say something stupid or shallow during one of the most intimate and exposing moments of your life.  If you are bold or romantic and you wish to speak truly from the heart you may opt for writing your own vows, if you do here are several tips to help keep it classic and beautiful.

1-Make promises, it sounds better to preface a statement with “I promise” as opposed to “I will”.

2-Keep it relevant, make notes about your relationship.  Talk about when you first fell in love, why you decided to get married, or where you first met.

3-Agree on a format and a style, decide if you want it to be funny and romantic or poetic and serious.

4- Decide if you are going to write them together or separately, and will you be saying the same things or making completely different promises.

5-Stay away from lengthy and over involved vows.  Don’t tell too many inside jokes or anything that will embarrass you or your loved one.  Keep things short and sweet, remember your not there to tell a story, you’re there to make a promise in front of those closest to you.

6-Practice, practice, practice, unless you are planning on keeping them a secret practice saying your vows to him out loud.  If you want them to be a surprise then have your maid of honor or best man listen to you and help fine-tune them.  This is supposed to be a conversation, not just a reading aloud of written words.

Writing your own vows is a beautiful and wonderful thing but it’s not for everyone and it’s certainly not easy.  There’s a reason most couples stick to the traditional vows, mostly because it’s easy to embarrass yourself or become stressed when trying to come up with your own.  If you do decide to write your own vows take the advice above and hopefully it will make things easier.

All Star Limousine is a Long Island, New York based company with an extensive global reach; we provide expert Wedding, Special Event and Executive Travel services throughout the Tri-State area and the world. We have over 30 years of experience in the travel industry; our attention to detail, 2014 top-of-the-line vehicles and professional trained Chauffeurs set us apart from the rest! 

Has Uber Gone Too Far?

We have posted several articles about the black car service Uber, due to recent circumstances it may be the last.  Uber appears to have finally crossed the line this time by threatening the personal life of a journalist.  It may be that this is just the hair that broke the camels back, or this my have been just a very poor move, regardless the internet has been on fire the last few days with users posting in rage about the car service and its toxic culture.

It was a bad idea for Uber senior VP Emil Michael to threaten a member of the press while speaking to another member of the press.  Specifically he suggested that the company could spend $1 million on digging up dirt on opposing reporters by hiring a team of eight, four journalists and four investigators, and using the companies “God View” software in an attempt to blackmail members of the press to portray Uber in a positive light.  Or if not black mail launch a mud smearing campaign in response to bad publicity printed about the black car service. 

His public apology is as follows “The remarks attributed to me at a private dinner-borne out of frustration during an informal debate over what I feel is sensationalistic media coverage of the company I am proud to work for-do not reflect my actual views and have no relation to the company’s views or approach.  They were wrong no matter the circumstance and I regret them.” 

Many feel this is too little too late.  This is only the most recent black eye for the tech giant, numerous allegations have been slung at the company.   Uber has been accused of everything from ruthless and unscrupulous business practices, to price gouging, to attempting to operate outside state and federal regulations, to putting its customers in danger.  Finally users and potential clients are beginning to question the win-at-all-cost culture of the ruthless company and many are deleting their Uber apps from the iPhones.

Will this be the last of the massive car service?  It may just be.  It may be about time as well, this company is great in theory but horrible in execution, it is a company that could have done so much right but in reality did so much wrong.  

All Star Limousine is a Long Island, New York based company with an extensive global reach; we provide expert Wedding, Special Event and Executive Travel services throughout the Tri-State area and the world. We have over 30 years of experience in the travel industry; our attention to detail, 2014 top-of-the-line vehicles and professional trained Chauffeurs set us apart from the rest! 

Dress For Success

In a perfect would we would all be judged on skill and merit alone, unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world.  At the risk of sounding horribly superficial the truth is what you look like matters when it comes to business.  If you’re reading this and shaking your head saying “That’s so untrue” or “That’s not fair” I would say that you’re not being totally honest with yourself.  Weather its sales, service or administration your appearance is important.

Let me present this scenario; you walk into a restaurant and you are sat at a table when your server approaches.  In the first hypothetical situation she has her hair up in neat little bun, she smells nice, is clean well groomed and well kept.  In the second scenario the waitress is haggard and sweaty, her make up is smeared and she has dirt or some other substance caked under her nails.  Which one of these waitresses would you prefer?  This person is handling your food, I would imagine that you would prefer it to be as clean and germ free as possible.

So now your saying well of course that’s the food service industry that’s different, and of course she should be clean, but that’s more about hygiene and infection then an actual ascetic.  I will tell you that it’s a combination of both but ill give you a second situation.  You are in charge of the marketing department for a large corporation and you have a meeting with sales person who is attempting to sell you  ad space.  The first rep comes in and he’s dressed neatly, full suit, tie done right, shoes polished, shaved and smiling, he is neat and organized and his appearance reflects that.  The second sales rep comes in tie loosened, no jacket, uncut fingernails and he looks like he has left-over lunch stuck in his beard.  Now of course there are other things that would impact your decision when choosing where to place your ad but all other things created equal (price, exposure exc.), whom would you choose?  Even on a subconscious level the first guy is going to stand out because the way he keeps himself is a reflection of how he will conduct business.

So again we are all judged and we all judge (weather you want to admit it or not) by appearance.  In business, and in truth in all facets of your life, it is important to dress your best.  At the very least look at it as a reflection of your professionalism, people will subconsciously associate your neatness with competence.  It may sound superficial but its important to dress for success. 

All Star Limousine is a Long Island, New York based company with an extensive global reach; we provide expert Wedding, Special Event and Executive Travel services throughout the Tri-State area and the world. We have over 30 years of experience in the travel industry; our attention to detail, 2014 top-of-the-line vehicles and professional trained Chauffeurs set us apart from the rest! 

The Top Three Worst Ways to Propose

Proposing to your true love can be stressful and scary.   I would like to think that most people understand the one they’re with enough to know if its time to pop the question, but not everyone is completely honest and some people are just oblivious.  There exist several common ways to propose that are absolutely horrific and should be avoided at all costs.  In an effort to reduce the mostly unavoidable stress of a proposal below are three ways you should never propose.

1)   Hiding the wedding ring in her food.  This is an absolute no no, it may seem clever or cute but there are so many problems with this approach that it should not even be a consideration.  In case you have the imagination of a doorknob let me illustrate; first of all if she manages to extract the ring the stone and band will be a mess.  She could swallow the wedding ring, or she could just bite into it damaging her teeth or the ring itself or more likely both.

2)   Proposing in public or on TV.  A wedding proposal should be a private and romantic thing not some big public event.  If you want to shout her name from the mountaintops wait till after she says yes.  The additional pressure of an audience or a crowd is not what you need during these delicate moments.

3)   Avoid those “extreme” proposals.  Do not propose on a hot air balloon, a roller-coaster, a skydive or anywhere where you could potentially drop or lose the ring.  Nothing is dumber then whipping out that 5k rock and then letting your sweaty butterfingers let said rock fly into the wild blue never.   Even if you think you have nerves of steel when you go to slip the ring on her finger, or hand it to her and then she drops it, she will never forgive herself, or you. 

All Star Limousine is a Long Island, New York based company with an extensive global reach; we provide expert Wedding, Special Event and Executive Travel services throughout the Tri-State area and the world. We have over 30 years of experience in the travel industry; our attention to detail, 2014 top-of-the-line vehicles and professional trained Chauffeurs set us apart from the rest! 

Getting The Word Out

So many brands and businesses struggle with marketing and sales, the most common question asked during a sales meeting is “How can we generate more business, how can we make more money?”  It comes down to one thing ultimately, getting the word out.  Building brand awareness and expanding your customer base is never an easy thing and it often takes time, money and a lot of creative thinking.  Below are three proven ways to get the word out about your business.

1)   Be versatile and flexible with your advertising.  Research different methods of inexpensive advertising, for most brands creating pages on different social media platforms is a great and cost effective way to start letting people know about your business.  Once you have a bit of marketing capital try different paid advertising options on these platforms.  The important thing when advertising using new methods is to keep a very close eye on the results and be willing and able to immediately end any new endeavors or to radically change them if they are not seen to be working.

2)   Think outside the box.  Today’s market is dynamic and fast paced; the traditional methods of marketing will work for some but not for everyone.  Putting a commercial on TV or the radio was a great way to generate customers thirty years ago but it was primarily because that was the only way you could advertise.  Now we have a multitude of marketing options, the Internet alone is filled with different ways to bring your product to the people.  Again the best way to make use of it is to do research and try different things, what works for some will not work for everyone.

3)   Build a dedicated and capable sales and marketing team.  Your product or business will only be as good as the people who represent it.  If you have able individuals driving sales and properly advocating your brand it can make all the difference between failure and success.

All Star Limousine is a Long Island, New York based company with an extensive global reach; we provide expert Wedding, Special Event and Executive Travel services throughout the Tri-State area and the world. We have over 30 years of experience in the travel industry; our attention to detail, 2014 top-of-the-line vehicles and professional trained Chauffeurs set us apart from the rest!