Catering is like a perfect haircut… April 28, 2008

 

I walked into a tile shop today and tried to explain what I was looking for : I wanted them to take a frosted glass shower door, smash it into pieces and then sand the rough edges so I can put  cucumber cups with spicy Ahi tuna, mango , crisp apple on each of the 100 pieces to create a mosaic food station And I got that puzzled look from the lady, why ?

Chef puts so much effort to what his food looks like when it is in the kitchen and I think it is upon us to make sure it is presented in a unique way that is eye catching and that blends with the theme of the event. It is about the senses.. First the eye and then the palate.

For example, our shrimp “on the lawn” which is a favorite of UVA clients. Thanks to our team for coming up with the name, because anything else would not do justice to the presentation of this dish.  When it is a ‘mowing day’ in the office, which typically happens a day before the event with the “shrimp on the lawn” canapé on the menu, it does get pretty intense. It has to be perfectly even just a great hair cut! It is almost a surgical procedure. :) You just have to love what you are doing…I do…

Defne, the event company Catering Manager

 

 

Golden Anniversary April 25, 2008

Today we’ve received photos from the 50th Anniversary party we helped host with our close friend Alison Dickie for her wonderful parents, Bill and Doreen. King Family Vineyard was the setting for a lovely Spring evening filled with family, friends, dinner and country music by the Duke Merrick Band. We thank Jack Looney for the great shots of the evening, and Alison for including us in this very special family celebration!

 

 

2008 Bad Pants Bash April 21, 2008

The Event Company is pleased to announce their recent work with the Bad Pants committee to create a wonderful event and successful 2008 Bash! On Thursday April 17th, 200 guests enjoyed an evening of silent auction, dinner and live auction to support the UVA Children’s Hospital. 

Now, a word about the dress code!

We communicate with our team through email about events. Email for Bad Pants Ball read” don’t worry about wearing black pants this time, as pants will be provided by the event company for this function”

 

Little did they know.. It was such a fun function – not that all our functions are not fun – but this one was actually hilarious each time that you looked in the room. You saw courteous servers engaging in a conversation with guests or pouring wine at it is best, but then your eyes stared down to their pants.. I mean a bartender making you a  mean martini with corduroy overalls  with Rhine stones on the bottom!

 

The Bermuda Mavericks provided the entertaining backdrop for the live auction which offered guests everything from a trip to Mauna Lani on the Kohala Coast to a Tiger Woods signed Master’s Flag. KMS Photography was on site to take shots of guests throughout the night and DJ Jay Lopez provided late night tunes for the after party. We thank all of the Bad Pants committee for bringing us in to work with them on this event for a wonderful cause!

 

 

 

Ashley & Ashton 4.5.08 April 18, 2008

Congratulations to Ashley & Ashton on their 4.5.08 wedding! I had a great time working with them to create a beautiful ceremony at The University of Virginia Chapel followed by a Spring inspired reception at Farmington Country Club.

Fun pink & green striped linens & passed mojitos at the cocktail reception set the stage for a fun evening for all. As guests entered the Farmington ballroom they were greeted by sheer white draping and a curly willow tree displaying a token of thanks to their guests, handpainted monogramed bookmarks made by a friend of the family. In order to keep everyone dancing, a basket of colorful (and much more comfortable!) flip flops were available for the ladies.

Thank you to Joey, Randy & Paul at Floral Images for a fantastic job on the flowers! My favorite were the super fragrant rosemary boutonnieres. Ashley introduced us to her favorite photographer, Jamie Hayes, and he was so much fun to work with as well. More importantly, we received the pictures today and they are wonderful! As you can see, their adorable flower girl, Bella, stole the show!

Planning a Planner’s Wedding April 18, 2008

Hopefully you have all been keeping up with the planning blogs from the event company’s own Sheila Motley.  It’s funny, being in the business we find ourselves explaining to the client the importance of having a planner involved in your big day but I don’t think any of us have ever anticipated needing one ourselves.  However….after the excitement of the engagement, a beautiful engagement party at The Clifton Inn hosted by Sheila’s ‘maids of honor’ and a white inspired party in Wellington, Florida it was time to get serious!  Sheila began by putting together many ideas & pictures of unique ideas for her great day thinking that she would be able to accomplish it by herself…and within a week at the most J  As it turned out she realized that for her own day it was important to be able to enjoy creating the ideas with family and friends but that maybe, just this once, she wanted to hand the details & logistics & timelines over to someone else.  When she called to ask when she could officially hand the wedding binder over to me I was honored and very excited.  No pressure, right? J

 

The wedding will be held at Highground, her parent’s farm, in Keswick, Virginia.  We had the luxury of taking the whole event company team there on September, 13, 2007 (exactly a year before the wedding date!) to determine ceremony & tent locations and most importantly exactly what the lighting and views would be like on the big day a year later.  Since then we have had a great time creating a unique timeline & design concept along with several very fun elements including a doughnut cart…yum!  More to come as the planning continues…

 

The Boys and Girls Club BIG GIG April 18, 2008

The Event Company would like to thank the Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville/Albemarle for selecting us to provide catering for their 3rd Annual BIG GIG.  The Roman themed event for 400 guests was held at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday, March 15th. 

The mission of The Boys & Girls Club is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need them the most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.  The Club provides a safe place to learn & grown, ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals, life-enhancing programs and character development experiences, hope and opportunity.

The local club operates three facilities in town for 6-18 year olds and has over 1,000 members.

The Event Company pairs with the Pink Ribbon Polo Cup April 11, 2008

 

The Event Company is excited to announce that they will be working with the team putting on the 2008 Pink Ribbon Polo Cup to offer catering services for the event. The Fourth Annual Pink Ribbon Polo Cup will be held at King Family Vineyards, in Crozet, VA on June 14th.  The proceeds from this exciting event will benefit breast cancer programs, research and services locally. The funds will be equally divided between Martha Jefferson Hospital and the University of Virginia Health System’s Cancer Center for breast cancer care and research through the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

 

Every three minutes a woman in the United States learns she has breast cancer.  Thanks to the hard work of our local hospitals and continued community support, more women are surviving through education, early detection and state of the art technology and treatment.  In the past year, the Commonwealth of Virginia has received more than four million dollars in research grants as well as support and advocacy programs for our hospitals and communities.

 

The Pink Ribbon Polo Cup hopes to make a significant impact in the fight against breast cancer and the ultimate goal, finding a cure. This years title sponsors are Embarq and Eagle Corporation. Be a part of this exciting fundraising event. Come hear the thunder of hooves, the roars of the crowd and experience polo, the sport of kings.

 

General admission advance tickets $20.00 pp. Umbrella tables $250.00 pp.  Field side tailgate spaces are $500.00 per vehicle pp. Children under 10, free. ORDER ON LINE www.pinkribbonpolo.com -Tickets are limited, so don’t wait! (General admission $25 at the gate if available.) Gates open at 10:00 am, pre-match activities at 11:00 am: Stage Junction Clydesdales and Duke Merrick Band, match begins at 1:00 pm, rain or shine. Absolutely No Pets.

 

For further information and directions visit www.kingfamilyvineyards.com, www.pinkribbonpolo.com or call 434.817-2010 ext 123.

 

 

A planner’s wedding: Bridesmaids dresses…..check! April 9, 2008

So, I’ve just sent my bridesmaids to their nearby bridal store to hunt for the dresses. Originally I had offered to have all the ladies choose something they would love with the suggestion that the color be a chocolate brown, but the girls decided they would all enjoy being traditionalists and wearing the same dress. I think we can all admit it is a big challenge to find one dress that a group of women will all adore! But alas,  I’ve just received a text message with photo! It seems the search was a success, and the dress has been selected, tried on, measured and ordered! 

 

 

 

The Event Company heads North March 9, 2008

The Event Company is pleased to be traveling North this June with clients to take part in the planning, production and decor services of their wedding on Martha’s Vineyard. Having been our first trip to the Vineyard,  we were immediately taken in by the beauty of the setting- even in the dead of winter! Our team has met a wonderful group of local vendors and purveyors and we are looking forward to working with them all to create a very special weekend for our clients. The island offers numerous gorgeous and unique settings; let us share a few!

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A Planner plans her Wedding, with help from a few friends. March 8, 2008

Since July of last year, I’ve begun to get a new view on the whole wedding planning process….that of a bride.  After almost 6 years of working with our wonderful clients to create magical wedding weekends,  I now have the chance to take it all in from another perspective, mine! 

After saying yes to a romantic proposal last July,  I quickly began thinking about every detail I would want to incorporate into my own wedding- what wedding planner hasn’t made mental notes along the way of things they’ve loved and things they would rather not do! I must admit I took on the whole process solo early on- thinking my experience with the subject would make planning a breeze- and I still admit I think I could have wrapped it up in a week…..maybe.  But I quickly saw that what my experiece would teach me was that it was time to bring in the expertise of a few friends. 

Beginning with the great Jessica Lucy Sheffield who also works as a planner in our office and has the heavy task of keeping me on track & encouraging me to take time to be a bride and not my own planner! And so the planning and details have begun!  We will all be blogging in to give you the latest on whats going on- but to date I wanted to share the save the dates which have just gone out. Photos courtesy of the wonderful and very talented Jen Fariello www.jenfariello.com who spent a very windy fall day last year photographing myself and my fiance, Dan Boyle. A million thanks to Jen, and we can’t wait to have her document our big day!