Staff Appreciation Party | May 2

About twice a year, I like to plan an outing for my staff to show them all how much I appreciate their hard work and dedication to me and my business. We have done everything from pedicure parties and brunch to cocktails and facials. I have been truly blessed with the employees I have had through the years, and couldn't ask for a better group to have working for my company! These girls work very long hours on wedding and event days, and take care of a lot of things behind the scenes. They are a crucial part of running a successful event.

I value these ladies more than I can even say in words, so for our party this season, I took ten of them, plus my mother and grandmother to the local horse race track. We had reserved tables in the turf club, and even had a race named after us. We toasted to our team with some champagne, I handed the girls a personal note from me with some fun money, and we were off and betting! There were many laughs throughout the day, including when we got to watch "our" race from the winner's circle and meet the winning jockey. Let's just say he took a liking to one our our lovely ladies!

We also were accompanied by Adi Nevo who took all the great photos. Enjoy a look into our day of celebration!

Happy Planning!

Real Parties | Oscar Night!

Every year I throw an Oscar party, as it is one of my favorite nights on television. It isn't too lavish, it is actually rather casual, but it is always a lot of fun, and I really have fun putting it together. I am preparing for the party this weekend and thought I would share some of my ideas.

One thing we always do is have an Oscar pool. Everyone brings $5 to put in the pot, and we all fill out our ballots before the show starts. Quick note, always put your start time an hour before the show to allow for everyone to get there, say their hello's and get their food and drink. This way they also have time to fill out the ballot. Once the show starts, pass the ballots out to everyone to grade, and let the battle begin!

Another thing I am incorporating this year is I will be having prizes awarded throughout the broadcast. The way I am doing it is on their ballot, I will have a space for them to guess the time that these firsts will happen: first crying acceptance speech, first cut off acceptance speech, etc. It will keep the interest up through the three hour show even for those that aren't as into it.

When guests first arrive, they are greeted outside by my mock "search lights." It is basically a bunch of flashlights attached in different directions to the trees outside my home, and it makes me laugh, but it works. Then I have a "red carpet" for the guests to walk on as they enter. They are always greeted with champagne, and I have the bar fully stocked and loaded so I can enjoy the show while guests help themselves throughout the evening.

On the dining room table, I create a buffet. When they first arrive there will be individual boxes of popcorn, red vines and cracker jacks on the coffee table. There will also be fancy appetizers that they can make a plate of, grab their seat and get ready to enjoy the show. I am planning to mimic the design that has been approved for the Governor's Ball, I'm loving the color combination.

At one point, I take out the tri tip and all the fixings for guests to make gourmet steak sandwiches, with a few side dishes. Nothing too fancy, guests are eating on their lap, so you always need to consider that. I also have dark chocolate, Oscar trophy red velvet cupcakes and red wine for the tail end of the show when guests need a little pick me up.

As you can see, it is super easy to throw a party like this. Get your Oscar Party Kit from the Oscar website and download all you need and get some great recipe's as well. There are a few keys to remember though when planning your Oscar Party:

1) Always make sure you have enough seats. This isn't a standard party where guests can stand and mingle.
2) Make sure the food is easy to eat, you don't want to serve something that needs a knife.
3) Create a bar that is a self serve type. Have enough glassware, open wine and a carafe of water. Always serve your guests as they enter the party, and explain that they can help themselves to the bar after that.
4) Don't invite too many people. Some are very into the Oscar's and want to hear the speeches. You don't want it to be too crowded or too loud.
5) Go light with the decor. The theme at the Governor's Ball this year is "1930's Streamline Moderne." Design your table that way instead of with the tacky party store items.
6) Some go with a full sit down Oscar inspired dinner, which can also be fun. Take the movies nominated, and play with that. Or, you can always try and serve what Wolfgang Puck will be serving that night, yum!

Do you have any fun ideas to add? If so, please share!

Happy Planning!

ISES Northern California Gala | Fort Mason | July 21

One of the events that my boyfriend looks forward to every year is the ISES Gala. I really do too, but he absolutely loves it. It is a night where all the best local vendors come together and put on the party of the year. Think of all the top caterers serving up delicious nibbles and meals, full bars stocked with great wines, the best decor and furnishings, and a silent auction with amazing deals (someone got the Julia Morgan Ballroom rental for $500!). That's just the cocktail hour. You are then taken into an area for a three course meal before dessert and dancing. This year's party trumped all the previous gala's I had been to by far.

The theme was the Roaring 20's, and everyone was decked out in their pearls, fidoras and feather boas. They carried this simple theme completely through the entire event from the time you walked in up until the late night casino. We had a blast with some great industry friends; Andrew from Andrew Weeks Photography, Janae from Janae Shields Photography, Gabby from Cake Coquette and Kathy from Well Rehearsed. I took some pictures, (obviously need to get a better camera), but here are some that came out somewhat decent:

Happy Planning!

Anniversary Party | Bin 38 | July 15

We just celebrated our five year anniversary of business last week at a local restaurant here in San Francisco called Bin 38. This is a cool, casual wine bar and restaurant, with an outdoor patio and fire pit (a rarity here!). I wanted to keep it intimate with just family, staff and vendor friends, and it was just perfect! We had a great time, and just got the photos back taken by my amazing office mate, Andrew Weeks of Weeks Photography.

We also gave out delicious cream puffs from Pacific Puffs as a favor, and my friend Jay Alvarez provided the ambiant Spanish guitar sounds.

Looking forward to celebrating many more years of business!

Happy Planning,

It's Planning Time!

We have so much exciting stuff going on right now, I'm trying to keep up with the blog while getting all these new things together. We are currently planning all the 2009 weddings and events. It's the time of year that while there may only be a few events we are producing, but we are planning the events that are coming up, and that means tons of meetings! I am just so excited for the weddings we have coming up this year, and being able to share the photos and tips here on my blog.

While most of our clients are wedding clients, we just produced a wonderful event last week at the Julia Morgan Ballroom for one of our corporate clients, and it turned out just perfect. I had my right hand girl, Brittani, with me, and our spring intern, Erika, to help set-up and run this large event. It went great, and while I don't have any professional photos from the event, I thought I would share just a few.

Here are some of the vendors that helped make this event happen:

Caterer: Thomas John Events

Florist: Natalie Bowen Designs

Band: Pride & Joy

Lighting and A/V: Enhanced Lighting and Sound

Happy Planning!

kathryn

Holiday Party Ideas & Holiday Cocktail Recipe

Last night we had our Holiday Open House at our 2001 Fillmore Studio, and it was so much fun! My office mates, Andrew Weeks of Weeks Photography and Nessa Sander of Cardgirl, as well as Kathy Goodman from Well Rehearsed all put on a wonderful soiree to celebrate the end of the wedding season with other vendors and past clients. It was a packed house, but the little details stood out to the guests and I wanted to share a few things that we did to help you if you are planning any events over this holiday season. A special thakns as well to Natalie Bowen Designs for providing the festive floral decor.

1) We had appetizers delivered from Delfina Pizza, which just opened a new little sister restaurant from their Mission location about a block away from our office on California and Fillmore. Don't stress over making everything yourself. Call your favorite restaurant, gourmet grocery store, etc., and have them whip up something easy and that can be served at room temperature. It takes a lot of work off the host!

2) In the winter, have a coat rack/check. I have a rolling one (very cheap from Target) that I keep in my storage unit, and bought nice wooden hangers from IKEA, and there is my coat check. Your guests really appreciate not having to walk around with their coat, or putting it on the floor.

3) Have a bar set-up and ready to go when your guests arrive. I had great glassware rented from Classic Party Rentals, tubs of ice with champagne and white wine, a second tub of ice for our house cocktail, couple bottles of red wine and sparkling water and you're done. We had a bartender, my wonderful boyfriend, but this could also be a self serve bar. Don't have tons of different glassware either. I had champagne flutes and large red wine glasses that we used for the wine, water and cocktail.

4) Have a house cocktail! This is the best cost and space saving tip when setting up a bar. Serve one drink and you will cut your costs by a lot; think of all the mixers, liquor and garnishes you excluded! We served a really cool drink that I was able to whip up that morning (we don't have a kitchen at the office), put into a large plastic jug, and as we had guests arriving, we put it over ice in the pitcher, and it was ready to be served. There was never a line at the bar, as this drink is a simple fill glass with ice, pour and serve. I have added the recipe for this cocktail below, and it's a must try (don't let the last ingredient scare you).

5) Put a personal touch on your event. Some of my staff and I all like to bake, so we each made one of our favorite cookies. We put all the cookies in large glass jars with tongs, and had little to-go containers with a thank you sticker on them for guests to fill up and take with them. The bonus touch to this is to have a little book of the recipes from each of the cookies as a take home item as well. Our guests were thrilled to be able to make these recipes at home!

Enjoy this holiday season, and if you are throwing a party and have any questions, please feel free to send them my way, I'm happy to help out! Here is the recipe for the cocktail we served last night, and since it was such a hit, I thought I would share it with everyone.

Cranberry Chill-ade - Makes about 6 servings (you can double, triple or quadruple the recipe as needed)

1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cup ice
1 cup vodka
1 red jalapeno pepper (we did half red and half green, for the holiday colors)

1) In a large bowl combine the lemon juice, sugar and cranberry juice
2) Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved
3) Add the water
4) In a pitcher, fill the bottom with the ice
5) Pour the vodka in first, then mixture over it
6) Add the peppers, stir and serve

Happy Holidays!
kathryn

Taryn + Greg | Engagement Party | Oct 19

One of my friends, and day of wedding assistants, Taryn, is getting married next August, and I was so thrilled to be asked to be her wedding planner. It's so much fun planning with her, and to start the festivities, I threw them an engagement party last month at Pres a Vi restaurant in the Presidio. It was a great time, and the restaurant is perfect for rehearsal dinners and private parties, as it has different areas to rent out throughout the restaurant. Plus, the food is really good and can be paired up nicely with their extensive wine list. We had Doug Shannon there to do caricature drawings for the guests, signature drinks aptly named after the bride and groom to be and take home wine favors. I had a lot of fun planning this event; I ordered the labels for the wine bottles from My Own Wedding Labels and did the floral and candle decor myself. I rented lounge furniture from Hartmann Studios and brought in some of my own equipment to make the night comfortable and fun for all the guests. Here are some photos courtesy of Amy James:

The happy couple - Taryn & Greg

The flower girl, London, wanting to see her portrait

Greg & Taryn having their portrait drawnTaryn and me

The take home wine favors with custom labels

Happy planning!

kathryn