Detailed Engagements is known for weddings, events and more weddings but if you were to follow me around for a day you would realize it is so much more. There is a whole other side of it that I rarely talk about on my business page but seeing as though today is Giving Tuesday I really think it is time to share with you my other passion.

Building a business takes a tremendous amount of hard work, long hours and passion. I am incredibly blessed to have grown a wedding & event planning business I am very proud of here in the city I call home- Newburyport,MA. Every day I am reminded of how lucky I am and how far I have come. In 2014 I  founded the Newburyport Young People with a Purpose group here in Newburyport. YPP, as it is called, has held a very special place in my heart since its inception and it is something I am very proud of. I do not speak of it often in my business life but today on Giving  Tuesday I thought it would be the perfect time to share this with you. Newburyport YPP, Young People with a Purpose, is a group geared towards the young, working professionals who want to give back and simply may not know how. We host events with our partner venues, restaurants and other locations in the Newburyport, MA area to grow awareness of various local charities and to create a networking opportunity for young professionals. 

Our first event was in January of 2015 and featured the local charity Pennies for Poverty. I think back on that early event- not knowing how this group would grow and what we would do but thinking we may just be on to something. Our first event was at the Ipswich Country Club during a big snow storm and over 100 of our area's best and brightest Young Professionals arrived. They came with pockets full of spare change and bags full of groceries to donate. The need was there, we made the connections and they showed up ready to help. We have since helped a total of numerous local charities with the most recent being Christmas Tree Santas, an organization who donates a Christmas tree, the lights and all of the decorations to a family who would otherwise not be able to have one for financial reasons.


One of the most touching charities and one that is near and dear to my heart was our January 2016 charity- Lucy's Love Bus. Amesbury, MA native Lucy Grogan was 8-years-old when she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Throughout Lucy's long illness, concerned individuals raised money to help support Lucy. Lucy learned about the benefits of integrative therapies such as massage, acupuncture, art therapy, and therapeutic horseback riding during her treatment.When Lucy was 11 she told her mother that when she was "done with cancer" she wanted to start a program that would provide free integrative therapies to all children with cancer to help manage the side effects and late effects of traditional cancer treatment. Since 2006, generous supporters have helped deliver love and comfort to over 750 children with cancer all over the United States. We had the pleasure of Lucy's mother Beecher attending this YPP event at Ceia in downtown Newburyport, MA. We packed the house with over 125 area YPPs and raised more money than any of us expected. While Beecher was speaking the room was silent and there were not many dry eyes around. I watched as people hung on Beecher's every word as she talked about what it meant to be Lucy's mom. Even as I type this my eyes are filling up with tears, some sad and some happy. Sad because I never had the pleasure of meeting Lucy but happy as I recall that night and think of my friendship with Beecher Grogan- all because of YPP. 

Newburyport YPP was started because we saw a need. A need to give other young professional a networking opportunity. A need to showcase and raise awareness of our local charities many of which are in great need. A need to bring events to local restaurants and venues which may be slow in a certain time of year. But what I didn't see in the beginning which I see so clearly now is that I needed Newburyport YPP as much as YPP needed me. YPP has given me the ability to give back in a way that I could have only imagined. I do not have the big bank account to write a check to these great local charities. I can not give as many hours to volunteer as I would love. This is how I can give back. This is how I can help. Something which seems so little but in the long run I have seen make a huge difference. I turn 35 this coming Thursday December 1st and I often joke that I will soon age out of my own group but it couldn't be farther from the truth. I will always be young because I have defined Young as "not yet old". As long as I am young I will be giving back as much as I can. It will never be enough but it is something. And something is always better than nothing. 

If you are interested in how you can help or when our next event is please email me at Tiffany@DetailedEngagements.com or Hello@NewburyportYPP.com. Would love to help connect you with a local charity who could use your love and support or tell just tell you more about Newburyport YPP. I am far from perfect and by no means am I any better than any one else for doing this but I certainly encourage all of you reading this to think about helping as well. It can be just attending one of our events, it can be donating unused clothing or food, it can be donating you time. It can and will all make a difference. Please give back. Trust me when I say it will be worth it. 

Thank you for reading. 

xo 

~Tiffany


PS- enjoy some of my favorite pictures from YPP events over the last 2 years. 

When done right a First Look is absolutely amazing. Are you thinking about  doing a first look? 

What is a first look you ask? Some of us in the industry forget that most people are not even sure what a first look is. So let me begin by explaining it:

The First Look: simply put this is when the couple sees each other before the wedding ceremony in a carefully choreographed private moment. This is done in lieu of seeing each other for the first time at the wedding ceremony 

A first look is typically arranged well in advance of the wedding day with the photographer and wedding planner  for the couple to see each other in private and capture those moments before the ceremony. This is worked into the timeline of the wedding day to make sure there is plenty of time  allowed. The pictures captured are always amazing and will be cherished forever but not everyone is a huge fan of this concept. It was often thought that seeing each other before the wedding ceremony was bad luck.  That is not the case for all couples any more. It is often one of the favorites parts of their wedding day. That being said-  a first look is not something that is right or wrong in terms of etiquette. It is something that you as a couple just need to decide is right for you or now. 

There are obvious pluses and minus to this part of a wedding so I thought  a blog about this idea might come in useful for those of you who are trying to make up your mind about wether this will work for you or not. 

Before you make up your mind up on whether a first look is right for you take a look at E & M's first look on Plum Island this past September. Photographer extraordinaire Zac Wolf of Zac Wolf Photography and I worked together to create this perfect, happy tears and laughter filled first look.... see for your self...