valverde eco hotel

COVID19 and your wedding
Joaquin Valverde
, , , , , , , , ,
3

COVID19 Pandemic Came and we must postpone our wedding, now what?

As a wedding venue we have been hit by this COVID19 pandemic quite hard and so have our wedding couples, whose months of wedding planning have been shattered by the restrictions imposed by government.

At first it was a limitation on the number of guests you were allowed to invite (100 guests), then the limitation in terms of alcohol was imposed (no alcohol to be served if the number of guests was over 50, including staff working at the function) and then finally, the dreaded LOCKDOWN due to the COVID19 Pandemic worldwide.

As a venue, we only managed to do a wedding before the lockdown came into place, and it wasn’t great because people were upset with the restrictions and very emotional about it.

Now, 9 days into the lock down and all the weddings that were planned for end of march and April had to postpone their big day to dates later in the year.

This has several implications:

  1. Finding a new suitable date with the venue
  2. Agreeing with the venue and other service providers that you won’t be charged a cancellation fee.
  3. Make sure you can move your flights or any other traveling arrangements you might have made like flying for your honeymoon, accommodation, etc.
  4. Knowing when the restrictions will be lifted so that the wedding can go as planned (number of guests and alcohol limitations)
  5. Getting all the relevant suppliers to agree to the new date, provided they have the availability
  6. Organize new traveling arrangements for guests coming out of town.
  7. Deal with potential extra costs like higher venue hires, price increases on some of the services, etc.
  8. Will I have a job when the pandemic crisis is over?
  9. Should I cancel the wedding all together?
  10. Will this postponement affect our relationship?

Based on my experience for 16 years and what we had to deal with over the last 4 weeks with the COVID19 Pandemic, I would like to comment on each of those points to try and shed some light and help you make the right decision for your wedding.

  1. Finding a new suitable date with the venue. This should be relatively easy as Venues will be very accommodating in these testing times. The challenge would be:
      1. To find a Saturday if you are changing your dates from early winter to beginning of summer.
      2. The higher venue hires one normally pays in summer
      3. Some venues might try to force you to choose off peak dates
  2. Cancellation fees for postponement. This is a tricky one but after speaking to several service providers I have worked with for over 12 years, most of them understand that the pandemic is no one’s fault and they will waive any extra costs, cancellation costs, etc.
  1. Flight and other traveling arrangements. This has been quite a controversial one and at first it wasn’t clear if people would be able to cancel flights or even postpone them. In the end most airlines came to the party and decided to allow people to postpone if available or to get a voucher to book future new flights.The challenge here is to find availability on your new wedding dates and the fact that some of the airlines limit the time you can use the refund voucher for. I booked a flight to Port Elizabeth for Ironman on the 28th of March with Flysafair and they did allow me to cancel the flight but the voucher I received is only valid for 6 months and the new dates for Ironman fall outside that 6 months period (15th November are the new dates).As far as accommodation is concerned, things are a little trickier, sometimes those businesses are small and have suffered incredible loses due to the COVID19 Lockdown and they might not be in a position to refund you but most will be happy to postpone your dates to later in the year with no cancellation fees.  I firmly believe that trying to get refunds from these small businesses will cause huge irreparable financial damage to them and out of solidarity it would be best to ask them for postponement in these difficult times. You will say that it is your money and not your fault, but it isn’t their fault either. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
  2. When would restrictions fall away? This is the biggest question mark of them all. I firmly believe the COVID19 virus will create a new set of social rules moving forward. The world will never be the same as we know it.
    1. When will the lockdown finish for real? 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 9 weeks, no one knows and if anything goes by what’s happening in Europe, they keep on moving the goal post.
    2. If the lockdown is over, what will happen with the restrictions in terms of amount of guest you can have in your party
    3. Will you be allowed to serve alcohol or not?
  1. Getting all suppliers to agree to a new date. This will also be one of your biggest challenges as some of the suppliers like photographers, Make-up artist and the likes can only do 1 wedding at a time and their availability is much more limited. Also asking them for a refund, when they will have zero income for several weeks or even months, wouldn’t be a good idea. Again, we are talking about solidarity, this is a world crisis, and these are small businesses that rely on their income for survival. The advice here is to try to find a suitable date with them so as not to make them go bust.

“Again, we are talking about solidarity,
this is a world crisis”

  1. Out of town guests. Some of your guest come from out of town and they might have other commitments on the new dates or maybe their airline (as above) only allowed them to postpone for a certain period. This one is unfortunately a difficult one and linked to the restrictions imposed by Government. We don know at this stage if people will be allowed to travel for quite some time after the lockdown period. As I said earlier, the COVID19 will mark a before and an after in how things are done so time will tell.
  1. Higher costs. Potentially some of the costs will go up and you didn’t budget for this. This is a very controversial point as Venue Hire, prices, etc. do change depending on the time of the year. I think considering the world crisis we find ourselves. You have quite a bit of room for negotiation. We encourage you to have solidarity with vendors and the vendors should reciprocate in the same manner. An honest conversation with them will go a long way.
  1. Will I have a job when all of this is over. This is something that has come up a few times with couples getting married at Valverde that had to postpone. We have been saying that after the crisis is over, we can sit down with them (after social distancing rules have been relaxed again) and discuss all those scenarios. Government and the private sector are making huge donations and contributions to the Relief Fund, UIF Fund, etc. (to date, some of the most wealthy businessmen in SA have contributed a total of R3Billion, the Rupert Family, the Oppenheim Family and the Motsepe Foundation) to assist businesses like in the hospitality industry that have been hit hard due to the COVID19. We all trust this will help all companies stay afloat amid such difficult and tough conditions.
  2. Should you cancel your wedding all together. I have mentioned the word solidarity a few times in this article and I think that’s the key when considering cancelling or not. If all functions, conferences, wedding and hotel room bookings where to be cancelled, thousands of businesses would go under and millions of South Africans would lose their jobs. It is everybody’s responsibility to try and avoid this no matter what. We are all in this together and if us wedding suppliers and you the customer are honest with each other, we can find common ground and still make your dream wedding come true.

    “It is everybody’s responsibility to
    try and avoid this no matter what”

  3. Will the postponement affect our relationship? Sometimes organizing a wedding can take months and even years of planning, hundreds of phone calls, hours of browsing the web, countless emails and lots and lots of stress. A postponement can be a huge blow and some people can go into depression after all the hard work they had to put in. The key is for couples and families to be kind with each other and supportive. Ultimately this wasn’t your decision or your fault

The fact is it’s the celebration of your marriage that’s getting postponed, Other people are dealing with losing jobs and income and the world is facing a pandemic.

Ultimately your love for each other is very much intact and eternal and because the human spirit can overcome anything we will get through this together.

As a business owner I have hope that we will together overcome this world crisis and we will come out stronger on the other side of this.

I write this from the bottom of my heart, and I wish everyone a safe lockdown and don’t forget that in the end, humanity shall overcome.

Joaquin Valverde
Owner Valverde Eco Hotel

Share
Hero_Business_Capabilities Overview desktop_0
Valverde Eco Hotel
, , ,
0

Power packed presentations can make your conference click

As a conference venue proprietor I take great pride in what our venue Valverde Eco hotel  offers and know that we have all the key elements to ensure that your business conference is seamless from from an operational point of view and a pleasurable experience.

What I, as a conference venue host, can’t guarantee is that it’s going to be a memorable experience for your delegates from a presentation point of view! Will it be another boring conference with presentations that just echo last year’s stats and the coming year’s projections, delivered badly utilising dull power point formats, by less than average presenters? …or will they be treated to power packed presentations that make your conference click?

Well, I can’t make it happen, but having had some presentation experience and written the E-book ‘Ten tips for effective presentations’, perhaps I can offer an abbreviated version to help you to make sure your presentations are the highlight of the event! Here are just 3 pillars of creating a power packed offering…

Do something different – Before you even start on creating a standard power point presentation – think about 2 ‘D’s – Deliberate on doing something Different! Power packed does not necessarily mean ‘power point’. If you can bring other elements into your presentation – music, visual aids …even dancers if you like – whatever is different and makes impact, can immediately alleviate he boredom of a normal power point presentation. In my E-book I refer to this as ‘getting off the grid.’ Think about it – try to come up with something creative – what will have those delegates on the edge of their seats and on their feet? Having considered that – if you are still using power point, then as I said in my E-book remember the elements of Design – Leonardo Da Vinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. You do not need to be a designer to make good power point slides – just think simply. Secondly, use more images and less words – we are by nature visual creatures and we remember images long after words. Words should be just ‘Keywords.’ Thirdly, relating to simplicity – keep fonts clearly legible and easy to read. Give any necessary lengthy information to delegates in handouts. Finally use powerful, effective imagery – A picture should paint a thousand words – ensure the ones you choose do!

Plan and practice – However different and dynamic your presentation may be, you will be restricted to a certain time span to deliver it. Work out all its elements IE. Beginning, body and possible ending – is there question or discussion time? – Get the stop watch out and plan it to perfection. If the last 5 minutes of your presentation has delegates checking their watches because they want to go to lunch, you have failed to plan it well …and to keep their attention! Secondly practice, practice and practice some more. A power packed presentation should run like a well oiled machine. This is show business – you are entertaining as well as educating. The late Michael Jackson and Steve jobs had one thing in common; they practiced their respective shows meticulously and for hours on end. If possible, perform it to a few people using all your material …like having a dress rehearsal for a show …and ultimately this will lead to…
A slick presentation – Because your material is well chosen, dynamic, well designed and well practiced, you now just need to present it well for it to be a great presentation. Let’s face it, we’re not all showmen, but we can follow a few rules that make us look good. Firstly, don’t read anything – especially not off the board …this is the ultimate insult to your audience, it suggests that you have not had the time to learn your own presentation and makes for a very boring experience. Secondly as I say in my E-book, use black slides – the essence of this is to just ensure the material around and behind you place you firmly in the spotlight …and finally engage with your audience. Have eye contact and wherever possible interact with them. For any audience, their participation makes a presentation far more interesting and fun!

I hope this has been of some use to you and will help you to create power packed presentations that make your conference click. To ensure that everything else about your conference is as well planned, rehearsed, interesting and pleasurable, I invite you to book Valverde Eco hotel for a perfect conference experience. Engage with me here or contact us to talk about every aspect of this vital part of your business calendar.

Share
158496 2
Valverde Eco Hotel
, , , , ,
0

Have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank – Part 4

We are experiencing something close to a recession in South Africa at the moment and as much as a big wedding is every girl’s dream, the reality is that even her ‘big day’ may be reduced according to what the bridal couple can really afford. In this, the fourth and final part of our mini-series on cost cutting tips for those who want to have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank, we look at three more of the possibly high cost items which, with some thought and ingenuity, can become three of the lower cost items! They are the Photographer, the cake and the spiritual aspect.

The Photographer – With the advent of digital cameras you can go and buy a brand new camera, if needs be, for a couple of hundred Rands and not pay a Photographer several thousands of Rands to do what you potentially can do for yourself! Almost every family has a good Photographer in their midst – at a friend of mine’s wedding there were 2 – one took still pictures with his digital camera and another took video with his rather in-expensive video camera too. A word of caution though – These memories are vital – so your savings can be massive, but you don’t want to take a chance on failure. Make sure your family photographers are reliable, have had some experience and back up their pictures! By the way, Valverde Eco Hotel is not only a great wedding venue, but offers a free photography re-shoot if it rains!

The Cake – Massive three tiered cakes that form a focal point in the reception area are a ‘nice to have’ but can also be a massive cost and are really not that necessary. My experience is that the most wastage of all the catering at every wedding is with the cake! You can get a custom cake from a grocery store at a really reasonable price – or better still turn to the family again – almost every family has a closet Baker, just dying to show their skill – at your wedding hopefully!

The Spiritual aspect– For many …and I totally agree, the spiritual aspect of the wedding is of utmost importance and should not be compromised. A donation to whoever marries you according to your own religious persuasion is usual, but need not be massive. However, do remember that, to cut transport and extra possible venue costs, most good wedding venues have beautiful chapels at the venue in close proximity to the reception area. Many people who don’t have a full time spiritual leader to marry them, when asking around, find out that a member of the family is qualified to do so …and there again is a cost saving.

We hope this mini-series has been of some help and will possibly enable you to have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank! Should you require any additional help, ideas, a great online wedding planner and a superb wedding venue, contact us to ensure that your wedding, whatever your budget, is still a special, magical, memorable occasion.

Share
158496 2
Valverde Eco Hotel
, , , ,
0

Have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank – Part 3

This is the third part of our mini-series on how to have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank. In this article, in an effort to give you some great tips on how to possibly save on your big day, we take a look at the dress, the Bridal party and a dress theme, as these are all, in a way, linked. Remember the key word is ‘beautiful’ – There are many ways to save on a wedding, but you still want this to be a beautiful wedding, so our advice all points in that direction. We advised you, for example, to still look into a beautiful venue instead of just having the wedding at home, because certain venues do offer really good deals and free items that can also save you money!

The dress – Similar to the ring, we suggest that to save money here, you need to do some extensive shopping around, especially online, as some real bargains can be had there. Before you even do that though, as we suggested with the ring, look into what may be in the family. Once again Grandma’s dress with exquisitely fine lace may be ideal for your current ‘vintage’ wedding theme! I knew a woman marrying for the second time in her fifties who modified the wedding dress of her daughter who had married a couple of years before. It was beautiful!

The Bridesmaids and Groomsmen – This is another area where savings can be made. Skip the engagement party altogether and make sure you are not involved in costs for any ‘lead up’ events – save it all for the big day! Although it is traditional to assist with the bridesmaid’s dresses and Groomsmen outfits and to give gifts, remember these are usually your closest friends and will understand if you forgo those areas of tradition. Keep the number of people in these parties down too and ask if they won’t mind paying for their own outfits … or if they are as broke as you are, maybe go with the next idea…

A low cost dress theme – I know of a few couples who cut costs and saved everyone else money too, by deciding to have a ‘dress theme’ wedding that involved very low cost outfits. One I attended was at a great venue in the city, but the theme was ‘beach bum’ and everyone was in their swim gear and Bermuda shorts! The decor was also just sea shells and seaweed …all cost savers and because the venue assisted to create the atmosphere nobody had to travel all the way to the coast for a real beach wedding. Another theme was a Roman ‘toga’ theme and it didn’t take much more than a few sheets and broaches to gear out the whole bridal party!

Contact us to assist with many aspects of helping you to have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank. We also have a brilliant online wedding planner e-book just to ensure you cover all the bases and the price is the best part of all …it’s absolutely free!

Share
pesto-2500-58a477d45f9b58819c90cb28
Valverde Eco Hotel
, , ,
0

Pesto Sauce Recipe

Our next recipe for the month of March is the famous Pesto Sauce. Salsa Verde restaurant means green sauce Restaurant and we love our Pesto on pretty much anything from Pasta, Fish, Meat and as a lovely salad dressing.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts or any other nut you can find if pine nuts are too expensive. I like to use walnuts or almonds
  • 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino or parmesan cheese

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

Share