Hello Ian, welcome to the forums. The feature you describe, being able to define defaults for new events, is not provided in the Lite version. However, the Pro version can do this. Each calendar can be independently configured with its own set of event defaults, including default reminder settings. You can read more about this in the help documentation, under the "Event Defaults" section:
http://www.vueminder.com/products/vueminder/help/calendarpropertieseditor.htmlHowever, the Lite version does allow all-day events to be created without needing to check the "All day event" box in the Event Editor. From the File menu or calendar right-click menu, select the "New All Day Event" command. If this is a feature you use often, you can right-click the toolbar and select "Customize" to add the command to the toolbar or define a keyboard shortcut.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.