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Holiday News For Savvy Spenders And Stylish Shoppers

Posted: 1/7/2012

Savvy holiday shoppers can download “The Club” mobile app to connect, shop and save at 150-plus GGP malls.

(NAPSI)—Whether you’re the “fashionista” among your friends or aspiring to be one, advice from Steve Kemble can help.

To help make this year’s holiday shopping experience the most fun yet, Kemble, America’s sassiest lifestyle guru and General Growth Properties’ (GGP) gift-giving expert, outlines his holiday shopping secrets and the hottest items of the season.

• Don’t Strip Your Wardrobe of Color: Choose your favorite color to wear—just tone down the hue. Think lavender and rose.

• Add Prints for a Splash of Excitement: Prints add a pop of excitement to your holiday getup. Try pairing a printed sweater with a monotone and neutral-colored outfit. If you have the confidence, wear multiple patterns in one look.

• “Buy Two, Get the Third Free” Deal: Keep an eye out for “Buy Two, Get the Third Free” or “Buy One, Get the Second Half Off” sales and make your move. Just be sure to have a list of everyone you plan to buy for and how much you plan to spend on each person. Don’t forget co-workers, teachers, neighbors and friends. By having your list handy, you’ll be time efficient and money conscious.

• Personalize Your Gift: No matter what you’re giving, add your own touch to make it even more special. You can personalize almost anything. For example, for Mom, choose an apron with a picture of the both of you on it or a hanging calendar filled with cherished family photos. For Dad, personalize a sweatshirt with his favorite college team or upload family memories to a digital photo frame for his desk.

• Plan Your Day to Save Time and Money: Make a list of all the stores you need to hit and plan your day so there’s no need to backtrack. Android and iPhone users can download GGP’s free mobile app “The Club,” which offers today’s on-the-go shopper real-time retail sales and mall event updates, Google® Maps navigation, live Facebook® feeds, Shop Etc. gift card balance updates, play-a-day games and more. Download the free application through the App Store or Android Market by searching The Club Shopping Mall Guide.

• Give the Gift of Choice: Consider giving GGP Shop Etc. mall gift cards. It lets your special gift recipients decide what they really want most. They can buy that hot new iPad they’ve been eyeing or treat themselves to a nice dinner. Become a fan of your local GGP mall on Facebook. Join The Club. Membership is free. Visit at www.GGP.com, choose your mall and sign up for event activities, special offers and retailer savings.

Budgeting for Sacramento Wedding Receptions

Posted: 1/25/2012

There are many details and fees that can affect the final tally at Sacramento wedding locations. Here are some basic, but important things to know about budgeting for the food and drink portion of your reception.

Many locations that provide food and beverage, like a hotel or restaurant, won’t charge a fee to use the space; instead they charge a food and beverage minimum (before adding service charges and tax). These types of Sacramento wedding locations typically don’t let you bring in outside food and beverages.

Be aware that sometimes even if there is a fee for the space, there still may be a food and beverage minimum, especially if your reception is on a Saturday. And some Sacramento wedding venues that have a food and beverage minimum also have a minimum per person charge. For example, if their wedding menus start at $100 per person and the food and beverage minimum is $15,000, you could host 150 people at $100 each. You could not host 300 people at $50 each.

Wedding reception bar fees can be tabulated a couple of ways. The first is a hosted hourly bar. You would pay a fee per person per hour, no matter how much your guests drink. The pro of doing it this way is that you will know exactly how much your bar will cost no matter how much your guests drink. The con obviously is that you may end up paying more than you needed to if your guests don’t drink that much.

The other way bar fees are tabulated is on actual consumption. This means you pay for exactly what your guests drink. The pro of doing this is that you pay only for what is actually consumed. The con is that if your guests drink a lot, your bar bill can be extremely high. Many Sacramento wedding reception sites will allow you to combine hourly and consumption fees. If you do the first two hours of the reception by the hour and finish up the evening by consumption, you may save yourself some money.

A newer trend that saves money on the bar tab as well as creates a fun, personalized feeling, is to serve a “signature cocktail” rather than offering a full bar. You can give your signature cocktail a cute name, and possibly have the color of the drink and/or the garnish match your color scheme. For some great ideas on signature cocktails for your reception, you can download a free e-book all about creating signature cocktails at the Perfect Wedding Guide web site.

And if you are fortunate enough to book a venue for Sacramento weddings that allows you to bring in your own liquor, you will save the most money out of any bar option available.