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DIYs

A Victoria’s Secret Inspired Bridal Shower

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I knew the atmosphere I wanted to create for my sister’s bridal shower, but I was stuck for inspiration until one morning when I realized it was literally staring me in the face: Victoria’s Secret! Fun, playful, and flirty, VS epitomizes femininity, and their signature classic pink and black color scheme made it the ideal starting point for what turned out to be a fantastic event.

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Inspiration 😉

As well as guests, there are several key elements to every fabulous party, not least the food. You can see from the buffet table that this was definitely a party for females. Having a dessert buffet gave everyone the opportunity to taste as many different desserts as they wanted, while keeping them canapé sized gave the event a relaxed, yet sophisticated feel. Save the formal dining for the wedding – this party was all about chatting, dancing, and catching up with friends.

Decor is another important criteria for a successful party. Guests have to know exactly what to expect from the moment they arrive, so we put a lot of effort into replicating the ambiance we liked at VS so much. A key part of this was the wall we decorated as a backdrop for our photos. It took two days, meters of ribbon, and more rhinestones than I care to remember, but it was worth the effort (even if it did ruin the wall – sorry Mom!)

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My sister and I were so happy with how it turned out and, when we decorated a cardboard frame to match, guests loved having their photos taken there. VS bags filled with tissue paper and balloons added to the effect.

 

Guests were given goodie bags filled with treats like homemade lip scrub, along with cute bags of popcorn and candy. Making the most of our photowall, we had a mini-digital printer to print out photos of everyone to take home with them as a memento of the party. These were especially popular.

You can’t have a bridal shower without games, but rather than make a mess handing out paper and pencils that would only add to the cleaning up, my clever brother had them added to an app the girls could download to their phones. As well as being fun and environmentally friendly, it was an easy way for me to keep track of the scores (and make sure there was no cheating!)

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How old what the bride? <3

It was almost as much fun organizing this bridal shower as it was attending it! It may have taken several days to pull it all together but it was worth it to see the excitement on our guests’ faces as they walked through the door. Our top tips for creating your party decor are:

  • Have a clear starting point. Ours was the inside of a Victoria’s Secret store.
  • Be consistent with your theme. We carried the pink and black color scheme through to everything, including food, drinks, and favors.
  • Get creative. We wanted our party to be unique and had a great time creating decorations, labels, and favors.

 

Above all, have fun. Parties are for celebrating!

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How do foreign exchange rates really play into your financial stability?

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Understand how currency trading benefits marketers and perhaps you

Foreign markets have long understood the value in catering their services and products to another country which pays better. Labor has been outsourced to countries which have lower rates for manufacturing goods (Such as China or Indian manufacturers), and then selling them to countries which have the highest yield on the dollar. Understand that the money is all a game of trading. It is shifting one asset to another assets, one location to another location, in order to make the most out of it. The most common way of gaining quick capital is to do it with foreign commerce.

What does it mean when someone says the Exchange Rate?

Exchange rates are the rates which are established between countries as to the worth of currency. For example: 1 USD is 3.67 AED. 1 Euro is equal to 4.07 AED. However, 1 AED is equal to 33.85 Yen or 17.82 rupees. Keep in mind that these markets do fluctuate and that as stocks either increase or decrease in a particular country, that the exchange rate will either go up or down dependent upon that.

What does this mean for my finances?

There are many ways in which foreign investments, trade, commerce, exchange rates, and such play into your finances. This blog cannot explain it all in one post. However, there are two areas which should be of interest to you. The first is in production costs and the second is in the buyer’s costs. Here is how each benefits works:

Production Costs as it relates to Foreign exchange rates – Marketers and pretty much everyone that manufactures a product on a large scale does so in countries where the exchange rate is low. For example: If it cost 45 AED a day in labor to produce a product that can be produced for 200 YEN, then the company will use the YEN based country as it will only cost them about 7 AED to do so. Of course, each country has its own labor laws and minimum wages, but this is the basic principal of outsourcing or production cost management.

Buyer Exchange Rates as it relates to my finances – When selling a product or service, marketers look for the highest yield on their investment. This means that they will not only use the lower production costs but then they will take that product and sell it to the country with the highest rate of exchange. For example: If a product costs 20 AED and a market wants to get more profit, they offer it to those that pay in Euros for the “same price” of 20 Euros. In reality, the product has seen a 400% markup as 1 AED = 4 EURO. The marketer makes 60 AED on their item.

How can this system work for you?

As stated, there are several ways in which the exchange rate of currency can be used. However, you should keep in mind that you cannot launder money through foreign countries to get a higher yield. Neither can you hide your assets in another country to keep from paying taxes on them. But you can offer your services/products in a country or in a country’s currency and reap the financial benefits. The most common ways in which to do this are:

  • Have a freelance site which targets markets (clients) in high yield countries such as America and the UK.
  • Have an ecommerce site that does NOT convert the asked price to the exchange rate price but offers only fixed rate prices for products.

What you should know

Many countries have stipulations as to the amount of money you can legally earn in that country before having to pay taxes to both that country and your country.

Products which are made in certain countries should be examined for quality. Check the labels of your products to see if the product is made in that country or just distributed and sold in that country. You may be surprised on what is being outsourced and marked up.

To save on your financial spending and savings, shop from people locally. You will get a better product, support the local economy, and ensure that you do not pay a tremendous markup on the product. For example: Most produce is marked up at minimum 70% when it is transported. This is to accommodate for the bruised and unsellable product. However, if you buy locally you get it from a farmer and the markup is generally less than 40%.

Exchange rates are a part of the financial marketing system. It is unavoidable. Understanding how the market works and areas in which you can utilize the exchange rates to your advantage will build your finances and make money work for you not you for money.

~ Sondos Shapsogh