Congratulations, Lindsay & Brad!

Some things you know are just meant to be together: peanut butter and jelly, moonlight and magnolias, Lindsay and Brad. Their relationship seems to be effortless, and their love and respect for each other is clear to everyone who sees them (in fact, Lindsay told a story at her bridal shower about a girl who stopped them on the street one night after a concert and gushed about how cute they are together). It was an absolute pleasure to coordinate their wedding day and help them start their life together.

I was busily setting up the venue before the event, so thank goodness Travis and Laura of Fuse Photographic were there to capture my favorite wedding day moment: the bride and groom's first glimpse of each other. Lindsay couldn't help but tear up when she saw Brad, who I'd like to imagine was probably a bit overcome himself (although I'll never tell his manly groomsmen that).

Photos courtesy of Fuse Photographic

Speaking of manly groomsmen, Brad seemed to have them in abundance, which was good because Lindsay's bridesmaids were too gorgeous to go unappreciated (granted, they're almost all married or about to be, so we know someone out there has their priorities straight!). 

Lindsay's best friend and man of honor was also by her side, rounding out this incredibly good looking bunch. 

Once everyone arrived at the venue (my favorite again, Mile High Station!) after the pictures, the party really got underway. Lindsay had the fabulous idea to have their first dance on the main floor while all their guests looked down from the mezzanine above - it gave them a little bit of privacy while still giving all their friends and family a chance to be a part of their moment.

Every element of this wedding just got better and better: there was amazing food by Catering By Design, prepared and served by the best catering crew I've ever worked with. There was delicious cake thanks to Jen of Cakes By Request (who outdid herself even with a broken ankle!). There was music and dancing until the very last possible second. And despite temporarily misplacing the marriage license, everything ended as well as could be: Lindsay and Brad happily tied the knot and their lives together.

Congratulations, you two!

Happy birthday to you!

Although I love coordinating weddings, benefits, and other major events, sometimes smaller parties are the most fun. Luckily for me, springtime seems to also be birthdaytime in these parts, and I've had several clients who wanted to celebrate in hilarious style.

Amber wanted to throw a surprise 40th birthday party for her fiancé, Stefan, and her best friend Kari (who is not quite 40). Amber figured there was no better way to ring in Stefan's new decade than by bringing out his inner kid, so she brought me in to create a carnival-style ruckus in her sunny backyard. We had old school games (what is that one called where you throw beanbags at stuffed cats and knock them down?), awesome new electronic games like Rock Band, county fair food like mini corn dogs and caramel apples ... and a bouncy castle. You heard me. I've never seen so many doctors, lawyers, accountants, and mothers jump till they quite literally dropped.

Mica (Kari's boyfriend), Kari, Stefan, Amber

After the bouncy castle extravaganza, it was time to get physical à la Olivia Newton-John for Susan's 40-something birthday. Everyone came dressed in their '80s best, ready to play Twister and sing along to Belinda Carlisle. We set up a projector and played some favorites like "Dirty Dancing," "Bill and Ted's 

Excellent Adventure," and that Olivia Newton-John classic, "Xanadu," on Susan's 20' walls. Susan's guests brought some seriously amazing dance moves and some even more amazing costumes, reminding me how very very happy I am that there are so few pictures of me from that fashion-disaster decade. 

So, I guess the lesson here is that you're never too old to have a fun, fantastic, bouncy, or totally tubular birthday. Happy birthday, Stefan, Kari, and Susan!

Susan (center) with her sister Janet and brother Jeff

Congratulations, Tami & Greg!

 

Photos Courtesy of David Lynn Photography

You remember reading here about Hitched in the Highlands don't you? The event organized by Happy Cakes in which some fantastic local vendors donated products and services worth over $25,000 for one lucky winning couple? Well, although the winners ran off with the prize a short 8 weeks ago, we just had the wedding last weekend ... and if I do say so myself (and on behalf of the other vendors), it was AWESOME.

The wedding was at my new favorite venue, Mile High Station, which boasts an incredible mix of industrial chic and contemporary elegance. The giant (I mean seriously GIANT) chandeliers make for great ambiance and fantastic pictures, such as those that the incredible photographers, Dave and Lynn of David Lynn Photography, captured again and again. Tami had rich flowers designed by Erin at Plum Sage, and looked old-Hollywood stunning in a Monique Lhullier gown generously donated by the glamorous ladies at Anna Bé and fit to perfection by DeeDee at The Wedding Seamstress. Greg is one seriously lucky dude.

Biscuits & Berries provided a bountiful buffet of some of Tami and Greg's favorite dishes, and they even helped Tami surprise Greg with a pre-wedding gift of his favorite meal: a Philly cheesesteak and a Stella Artois (so cute!) And what wedding would be complete without ending on a sweet note: Happy Cakes cupcakes, of course! 

Although all the vendors were fantastic and the wedding was perfect and went off without a hitch (no pun intended), the most important part, of course, is that Tami and Greg are now married!! They were so happy and in love all day, and we all send them our best wishes that those feelings continue every day of their new lives together. Congratulations, you two!

Annie Oakley's got nuthin' on me

I like to think of myself as fairly party savvy. I've done some great classic events, and also some unique and modern ones. Clients and guests often tell me that they never would have thought of something I designed or created for their party, and thank me for thinking outside of the box. I appreciate and try to learn from each piece of feedback I receive, but it turns out the joke's on me because never, not once, did I think to recommend to a client that s/he have (drum roll) ... a Machine Gun Tour and Test party. I feel like I'm saying this a lot lately but: yes, you heard me.

I heard from a gentleman this week who owns a company that teaches military and law enforcement units how to safely use the weapons they're assigned, and sometimes does similar exhibitions for members of the public. He was looking for an event planner to help him put together a big marketing event, and also wanted to let businesses like mine know that we can offer these tours as an option to clients for their parties. So if paintballing or lasertag or renting out the movie theatre to watch "Robocop" just don't satisfy your adrenaline, I'm here to tell you that now you can take 40 of your closest friends and learn to shoot machine guns instead.

I know I sound a little tongue-in-cheek here, and that's mostly because I'm still kind of in shock, but the more I'm thinking about this the more I think it might work (under totally safe, controlled, and conscientious circumstances). This business owner doesn't allow his clients to drink alcohol before taking the tour, he does a full safety demonstration on each weapon, and every test is heavily supervised. Can you imagine a more dead on (no pun intended) bachelor party? I'm not saying I'm ready to advertise this as one of my services quite yet ("Weddings, baby showers, anniversary parties, and gun shows!"), but at the very least I see the lesson here: even when you think you know it all, there's always something new to learn.

Home Sweet Home

There are few things that make you more grownup than buying your own home: it costs a lot of money (which one usually has to be a grownup to have), takes a lot of patience and dedication (VERY grownup traits), and you can't call your dad anymore to come fix the plumbing (unless you're very lucky like me and your dad lives a mile and a half away). When one really has their grownup life together like Anne, one of my best friends, one buys a condo in Brooklyn and asks lots of cool people to come over and break it in. If that awesome person also happens to have a best friend who is an event planner, one flies that person (that's ME, if you're getting confused by my lack of pronouns) out to visit for a fun-filled weekend and help make sure the party is a success. Since I'm an event planner and Anne gets paid to organize things for a living, you will not be surprised to hear that the party WAS, in fact, a success. So rather than tell you about how to throw a good cocktail party in general, I'm going to list a few specific tips that made this party great and can be applied to any type of party you have.

TIP: If you are making (or opening bags of) the food for the party yourself, you'll save yourself a big headache if you organize your shopping list by grocery store departments (dairy, grocery, produce, bakery, etc.) rather than by the recipes (ie., spinach dip, quiche, chocolate cake). This way you can make a controlled circuit in the store rather than running back and forth, and you should be able to pick up everything you need each time you stop. Additional TIP: If you're in a big or unfamiliar store, make friends with someone who works there, because s/he will be able to take you right to what you need. If you're lucky enough to be shopping in the Brooklyn Fairway, make sure that person is the incomparable Yvonne. Amazing.

TIP: When you're planning your party menu, add the total time each recipe takes to figure out how far in advance you need to start preparing the food, and then add a little more. There is no such thing as having too much time, but there is such a thing as not having anything ready for your first guests to eat.

TIP: If there is a red wine spill, and there almost certainly will be, pour white wine on it. You heard me. I can't even pretend to understand what the chemistry is behind this genius trick, but it works. I have had it take red wine out of wedding gowns (and therefore save a panicked bride from committing an act that might require her new husband to post her bail), although it did not work 100% on Anne's new beautiful blue wool carpet. Anne swears by salt for the same purpose, but I haven't tried it so I can't vouch for the efficacy of this one. Additional TIP: If you are the person who spilled the wine, apologize immediately, help with the cleanup, and offer to pay for cleaning or replacement of the item you spilled on (all of which this classy spiller did).

Okay, I lied: here come two generic tips. TIP: Be flexible. A party (and the prep) is never going to go 100% the way you want it to, so be willing to change your plan a little bit if necessary. For example, Anne planned her menu weeks in advance, but on the day of the party we ended up having to handle a bunch of other stuff that cut our prep time short and meant we couldn't make all the food she wanted. Although she was sad to do it, Anne took her sharpie to the menu and cut a few items, and just like that ... Poof! Enough time to prep everything else!

TIP: Remember to enjoy your party (the prep time tip helps with this too, since you'll be done well in advance). You're asking people to come celebrate with YOU, and if you're too busy running around and freaking out about making the party perfect, no one is going to get to do that. By all means be an attentive host: offer to refill drinks if you see that someone's is low, make a circuit by the food every so often to make sure there's enough, and toss plates and cups that you're sure aren't being used any more, but don't let these tasks keep you from having a good time.

Follow these tips and your party will be just as fabulous as Anne's. Party on, dudes!

Those three little words

I can't believe I actually have to write a post about this, but it has come to my (horrified) attention that there are still some people out there who don't behave in culturally- and civically-approved ways. People litter. People don't open doors for each other (regardless of gender). And apparently there are people who don't use the three most important words in any kind of relationship: please and thank you. I find this to be distinctly un-awesome.

Granted, I am an over-thanker. When I was a prosecutor, a judge once asked me to come into her chambers, whereupon she requested that I not say "thank you" when witnesses answered my question because it made it sound like I'd inappropriately coached them. Oops. So, okay, that's ONE situation where it is not appropriate to say thank you. ONE. If you can think of another one, please let me know and I will do something that duly expresses my chagrin, à la eating my hat.

So other than criminal witnesses, PLEASE remember to thank people. This is especially important when someone is offering you their time, service, or personalized product such as, for example, oh ... making your wedding cake. Yes, you are paying this person. Yes, you are the customer and the customer is (almost) always right. That doesn't mean you get to be rude. If you went to a spa and paid $65 for an hour massage, you'd thank your masseuse when it was over, right? You'd thank your waiter for bringing you your dinner, right (I hope)? Same goes for people in the event industry, especially in difficult economic times when they may be offering their services at a discount. Saying "thank you" takes less than a second of your time (and moving your mouth even maybe burns a calorie), and it goes a loooooooooong way towards making sure you maintain positive relationships with people you work with. They may even throw in a little something extra.

If you're really looking to go the extra mile (which I always recommend, except at the gym), write a thank you note. No one gets paper mail any more, and it's pretty exciting when you do and it's not a bill. (A special thanks to bride-to-be Lindsay who sent me a beautiful card after her bridal shower last weekend). It takes only a minute, and the fact that you spent that minute and the 44 cents on a stamp will really impress the recipient.

In closing, here's a TIP: Please, say thank you. Duh.

The flowers and the trees (and, I guess, the birds and the bees)

It seems safe to assume that when there's a bridal shower, a wedding is not far behind, followed by the wedding night (hence the birds and the bees part, which I'll spare you in this post - you'll need to find some teenage mother's blog for more info on that). One of the most important elements of a wedding and the events leading up to it is the flower arrangements, which, let's face it, you have to be pretty visually adept to create. As a Type A organizer kind of person, my visual skills are basically less than zero ... and that, thank goodness, is where fantastic event designers and florists come in.

If you're a fan of Events Laureate on Facebook (and if you're not, you should be! www.facebook.com/eventslaureate), you probably saw that I have an amazing new floral designer who will be our go-to gal for in-house arrangements: the lovely and talented Jenni Hohensee. Jenni's first gig with Events Laureate was Lindsay's bridal shower last Saturday, and boy did she start out with a bang! For her wedding in late May, Lindsay wants big, full flowers in champagne, pink, and bronze, so Jenni did some genius shopping and found beautiful early spring versions: stargazer lilies, gerber daisies, sweetheart roses, and ranunculus. We were also lucky enough to have a generous friend whose budding maple tree broke in a snowstorm last week, and who gave us an incredible bunch of the maple branches for the arrangements! TIP: Champagne + maple sprig + ranunculus = hilarious Harry Potter impressions. 

Being a non-visually creative person, I have absolutely no idea what Jenni actually did to make beautiful arrangements; I only know that it involved tape, wire cutters, pruning shears, and a crowbar. Okay, maybe not that last item.

Suffice to say that I looked at cookbooks for a few hours to create a menu for another upcoming event (stay tuned, readers ...), and when I looked back up there were 6 incredible flower arrangements waiting to amaze Lindsay's bridal shower guests. Everyone at the shower commented on the beautiful flowers the next morning, including the happy bride-to-be. Keep your eye on the blog to see more pics of Jenni's beautiful work!

 

A picture from this guy is worth more like a million

I recently had the very great fortune to meet (and enjoy a thoroughly fabulous long lunch with) the internationally-adored photographer Andrew Clark. I was able to meet most of his team (whose incredible work is not even remotely undermined by the fact that they are all too cute for words), and learn more than I ever expected to about Andrew's photography career and the high-end event market. Andrew has shot weddings and events for some seriously big names, but his photographs will make you look like ten million bucks even if no one other than your neighbors know you.

Check out examples of his beautiful work at andrewclarkphotography.com, and also see his incredible detail photographs I got to use to update the Events Laureate website (!!!) gallery and homepage slideshow. Thanks, Andrew! I'm excited to work with Andrew on some upcoming events, so stay tuned for more incredible pictures!

Everything you ever wanted to know about cake but were afraid to ask

Cake is pretty much everyone's favorite part of a wedding (or frankly, of life), so it's important that you have a good one. Unfortunately, many bakeries know how important it is and charge you accordingly. One reader needs help navigating the wilds of deliciousness vs. priciness, so listen in!

Dear Party People,
Do you have any suggestions for a cake shop in Denver that is good quality, but affordable? We want to have a very simple cake, but still elegant and tasty!! We don't have a huge budget for it so any help would be great!
Sincerely hoping to melt in frosting,
Eagerly Excited Fiancée


Dear Eagerly Excited,
Don't worry, it's possible! The primary thing to keep in mind is that most of your guests won't remember what your cake looks like, and they'll also probably forget what it tasted like the morning after the wedding - it's only important that YOU love how it looks in your pictures, and that you think it's tasty enough to eat another piece on your first anniversary. Cakes can get expensive quickly, especially if you want lots of intricate decoration, but it sounds like you're already on the right track by wanting a simple but elegant design.

My biggest money-saving TIP: (it gets its own paragraph because it's such a big one): get just one or two tiers of the decorated cake that you want to display during the wedding and cut for pictures, and then serve your guests equally-as-delicious but undecorated and much less expensive sheet cake that the caterer will keep in the back. No one will ever know.

Now for the cake itself. Most bakeries price bridal cakes by the serving, and the more cake you get the more the per serving price goes down (although, of course, the total cost will go up). In the Denver area it's possible to find prices anywhere from $3.50 per serving to $9.50 or more per serving. Usually the less expensive servings will cover a tier that has a basic buttercream or chocolate frosting, one filling, and little or no design. Once the design starts getting complicated or includes fondant, the price goes up fast. A few delicious and reasonably-priced Denver recommendations:

Mermaids (mermaidsbakery.com): $3.50 for vanilla/chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and filling. Their website has a great, clear explanation of how the prices go up for fillings and decoration. Their half sheet cakes feed 35-40 people and are $69.

Cake Crumbs (cake-crumbs.com): $3.50 for cake with filling, frosting, and basic decoration. This is one of the few bakeries that includes fondant dots on the cakes for no extra charge (per Greg). Their half sheet cakes serve approximately 30 people and are $60.

Mulberries (mulberriescakeshop.com): $4.25 for cake with filling, frosting, and decoration including some piping. The extra-awesome news about this bakery is that their full sheet cake serves 100 and is $69.95!

One last thing to remember: some bakeries will include delivery and set-up within a certain mileage from their shop, but some charge for it. TIP: Don't forget to ask about this when calling bakeries, because a delivery fee will add to your overall total. Hopefully this helps give you a few ideas. Congratulations on your wedding and best of luck finding a delicious, elegant, and affordable cake. Now go out and do the fun part ... tastings!

Happy partying,
Party People

We gave away a wedding!!!

If you are an avid reader of this blog (and even if you're not, this is only my 8th post so scroll down a little bit and catch up), you'll remember hearing about the incredibly cool Hitched in the Highlands event I was a part of: several Denver vendors donated wedding services and goods, and a fantastic bakery (Happy Cakes) organized a scavenger hunt for 10 couples competing to win the wedding ... which was worth over $20,000! Well, the race was on Sunday, and we not only had a fabulous time, but we have winners: the fabulous and well-deserving Tami and Greg!

The ladies at Happy Cakes did a great job of keeping the race course and challenges a secret until the very last second, so I still don't even know everything that went on during the race, but I DO know that these 20 intrepid challengers had to begin their Sunday morning at 9am by eating a jumbo (and I seriously mean L-A-R-G-E) Happy Cakes cupcake (http://www.happycakesdenver.com/menu.html) with no hands ... and then running 5 miles! I'm quite sure I couldn't ambulate myself 5 miles if I was wearing roller skates and holding onto the back of a truck.

Photos courtesy of www.davidlynnphoto.com

They also had to do field day-style challenges like wheelbarrow and piggy back races in a park covered in goose droppings (which I'm pretty sure was not actually part of the challenge), play Name that Tune, make and toss a bouquet, and do a blindfolded obstacle course while holding an avocado on a spoon among other challenges. These ladies and gents worked seriously hard for the money (or rather, the donated stuff). After almost three hours of racing, Tami and Greg completed all 9 challenges and made it back to race headquarters at Happy Cakes first ...

... and ran off with a $20,000 wedding!!

As the wedding coordinator, my job is both easier and harder for this wedding because most of the services have already been donated ... and, oh yeah, because the wedding is in less than 8 weeks. I met with Tami and Greg last night to go over their incredible prize and start planning, and Greg (you know it's true, sir) is a little freaked out about the timeline! I tried to reassure him that I've done weddings in less time than this and that we'll actually save a lot of time because they don't have to select many of their vendors, and hopefully he and Tami will feel like they're in good hands as we start meeting (soon!) with the generous companies and business owners who donated the pieces of the wedding (Anna Bé, Wordshop, Biscuits & Berries, and Mile High Station, we'll see you this week!).

So what else? A bit about Tami and Greg, of course! They met the way most professional people meet in the 21st century: at the circus. Greg is the strongman and Tami is the lion tamer, and they are excited to get married soon and start having kids to make a tumbling troupe. Okay ... that's not really true, but they DID submit a picture of themselves with their application dressed as the strong man and the lion tamer, so that's close enough, right? In real life Tami is in construction management and Greg does some smart guy computer thing that involves designing databases and which I can't hope to understand. They have a beloved weimaraner, Keiser, whom you will likely see featured in the wedding and whom Greg adoringly calls "the guy." As you might guess just from these few tidbits, these are people with serious personality. They are obviously very much in love without being sappy about it, and they are so sincerely grateful for this opportunity from Hitched in the Highlands. We had a great and productive meeting last night, although the poor kids were so exhausted and sore from the race the morning before that they were practically falling asleep at the table.

Stay tuned for updates here (and hopefully from local news stations, who covered the race: http://cbs4denver.com/entertainment/wedding.scavanger.hunt.2.1526948.html) as we race Tami and Greg to the altar! Congrats, you two!

T-Shirt update

Because the first round of discussions is almost never enough, I talked to the t-shirt people again and they brought the price down! Now you can get Events Laureate t-shirts for only $18 AND you can buy them online and have them shipped directly to you. Check it out at eventslaureate.spreadshirt.com and get your shirts a-comin'. Hooray!

T-Shirts are here!

I don't have a marketing or advertising background, but I like to think that I'm no fool when it comes to promoting businesses. I know that if you're going to a meeting you take a shower first. I know that if you're giving an interview you pronounce the name of the company right. And I know that EVERYONE loves cute t-shirts. So here are the Events Laureate t-shirts for your wearing pleasure!!

We have shirts for guys and gals, and baby shirts may be on the way soon. Shirts are in both green and brown with the logo on the front and the tagline on the back (see below for an example of each), and the women's shirts are a fabulous soft jersey-type material.  Sizes S-XXL in both genders. The shirts are cute and cozy, and will entertain you for a mere $21. Email us at info@eventslaureate.com to order your own (and one for your mom and one for a friend and one as a housewarming gift and one for your sister's new baby ...). We love them and you will too!

                                                                

Dinner time!

So, several weeks ago I was asked to audition (granted, after sending a bunch of information about myself to the casting director) for a new reality show on Fox about people with no formal cooking training who just happen to be really good cooks. My audition went really well, but I wasn't called back ... until I several days ago when I received a message from the casting director saying that they'd LOST MY APPLICATION and they really liked me but now it was too late and would I please consider auditioning next year and she was so sorry and oh wasn't this embarrassing etcetera. Wak wak. So although I won't be on the show, you guys get to reap the benefits of my (incredibly long) application process: applicants were asked to invent two dishes based on challenges, and I made and tested mine out on my family. Although I don't think this is the best or most interesting of the dishes I made, this is the one that everyone keeps asking for:

Bacon and Sage Macaroni & Cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1/2 pound orecchiette or other bowl-like pasta
8 oz sharp cheddar, grated
8 oz buffalo mozzarella, grated
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp mustard powder
4 oz beer of your choice, preferably an amber
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon
8-10 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup panko or breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 425º. Fry bacon over high heat until crispy. Reserve bacon drippings, and fry sage leaves in the grease. Set bacon and sage aside on paper towels to drain. Break into bite-sized pieces when cool. Melt the butter over medium-low heat and stir in the flour to make a roux in a medium saucepan. When the roux is golden brown pour in 2 ounces of beer and begin putting in grated cheese mixture one handful at a time, stirring continuously. Continue adding beer, cheese, and spices until cheese mixture is blended and smooth (do not let it boil). Add bacon and fried sage. Meanwhile, cook pasta and drain when ready. Add 1/3 of pasta to a large casserole dish, cover with 1/3 of cheese sauce, and repeat until all the pasta and sauce are in the dish. Mix the pasta and sauce together with two large spoons, and sprinkle panko crumbs on top. Note: You can also make and serve this in several individual ramekins or smaller dishes, but don't bother with the layering in that case. Bake the casserole dish for about 25 minutes, or until cheese and crumbs are browned and bubbling. Decorate with fresh sage leaves and serve hot. Makes approximately 4 entrée servings.

The good news about this dish is that it's incredibly forgiving to substitution and error. Don't like spicy food? Leave out the cayenne! Prefer a sharper taste? Add a few drops of Worchestire sauce! Short on cash? Leave out the expensive buffalo mozzarella! It's pretty hard to mess this up, with a few exceptions: do NOT let the cheese get plasticky (this is why you start with a roux and add the cheese in small batches and cook over medium-low heat), and do not overcook it and let it burn in the oven (I warn from personal experience). Otherwise, mix and match it up and make it your own ... and let me know if you find a particularly delicious alteration! Enjoy!

Party People to the rescue!

It seems that people out there were listening, and have started sending some event questions to us for expert help! Hooray!


Dear Party People!
I'm going to be hosting a house-warming party in a few months, and I would love for it to be fabulous but inexpensive.  I'm quite a good cook (if I do say so myself), and would love to cater it, myself.  Also, I'm not much for decorations... and shouldn't the apartment speak for itself? It IS a housewarming, after all!  How do you suggest I proceed?
=Thanks for the help!
Sincerely,
Welcome to my Home

Dear Welcome to my Home,
Congratulations on moving in to a new apartment! People love any excuse to attend a party, so a housewarming is a great way to show off your new digs and visit with friends whom you may not get a chance to see very often. It's best to host an open house (no pun intended) for this kind of event, so people can come and go as they please and your apartment is less likely to be filled to the brim with guests for the whole time.

In terms of decorating, you're absolutely right - your home should speak for itself since that's what people are there to see! If you want to have a theme (luau, toga, whatever) by all means go ahead, but don't feel like you have to do anything extra to dress your home up. Decorate your apartment as you want to live in it, and let people get a feel for your personal style and taste. If you have the budget, it's nice to place a few bouquets of fresh flowers around the party area (and especially the bathroom) to make it extra-homey. TIP: buying flowers wholesale and creating arrangements yourself will save a bundle.

Fabulousness comes from the warmth of the host, and making sure that your guests don't go hungry or thirsty, so catering is extremely important. Doing it yourself will save you the most money but cost you the most time. If you're short on time, a good and relatively inexpensive option is to order catering trays from your local grocery store or deli. If you're up for doing the work yourself, we recommend creating lots of finger foods so you don't have to provide utensils (which will end up all over your new floor). Some classic options are a crudité platter (veggies and dip), a cheese plate with fruit and crackers, deviled eggs, and shrimp cocktail. Some slightly more unusual choices are marinated chicken or beef skewers, soup shots in dixie cups (or shot glasses if you have enough), stuffed mushrooms, and caramelized bacon bites. You can dress this kind of food up (foie gras bites) or down (bowls of chips) to fit with your hosting style. TIP: Websites like epicurious.com, marthastewart.com, and foodnetwork.com have great search functions to find recipes that will let you show off your cooking skills. We like to try to provide at least one meat, chicken, and veggie option to cover most dietary restrictions. TIP: Calculate 5 appetizers per person per hour. So if you are hosting an open house from 5-9pm and inviting 20 people, 20 people x 4 party hours x 5 appetizers = 400 pieces. Also, be sure to save some trays of food for guests who may come at the later end of the party.

And don't forget the drinks! Have a few bottles of non-alcoholic sodas or juices on hand for pregnant ladies and teetotalers, but otherwise plan to serve wine and beer. If you want to serve something harder, we recommend making a special cocktail for the event (the Homewrecker?) and offering just that one option to save on expensive alcohol costs. TIP: Assume that your guests will drink two drinks per hour for the first two hours they are at the party, and one drink per hour thereafter. And don't forget the cocktail napkins!

A last word on gifts: Housewarming parties came about because new homeowners didn't have have many of the items they might need or want for their new pad, so it was common for guests to bring mixing bowl sets, candleholders, and other items you now more commonly see as wedding gifts. If you are hosting the party with the intention of receiving these items we certainly hope you get them, but you are much more likely to receive candles and bottles of wine. If you already have everything you need, just add a line at the bottom of your invitation (Evite or email is perfectly acceptable for this kind of event) that says: "No gifts, please."

We wish you happiness and prosperity in your new home!

Happy partying,
Party People

Hitched in the Highlands

Exciting news! Events Laureate was just invited to participate in an awesome event taking place in Denver at the end of February. One of my favorite cupcake shops, Happy Cakes, has organized an incredible opportunity for local engaged couples: a fun race through the Highlands neighborhood solving clues and completing challenges, and the first couple to reach the end wins a wedding package worth over $25,000!! An awesome group of vendors donated products and services for this, including one of my favorite wine shops, Mondo Vino (mondovino.net), one of the most unique and fabulous wedding dress boutiques I've ever been in, Anna Bé (anna-be.com), ... and now us! That's right, Events Laureate is now the wedding coordinator for this incredible event! We're donating our Posh Party wedding package, so the lucky winning couple is going to get A LOT of time with us ;)

If you are engaged or know someone who is, here's all the pertinent info:
Applications are due February 12th
Race will be Sunday, February 28th
Wedding date is April 25th
Download the application and get all the info at http://www.happycakesdenver.com/HITH.htm

Woo HOO!

Dear Party People

Only one of the many great things about being me is that I have fantastic friends and clients, many of whom answered my call for help for a direction for this blog since my first post just a few days ago! One of my favorite ideas came from the marvelous mom-to-be, Rachel Anderson-Rabern (see her sweet and hilarious testimonial on the website): Rachel suggested a "Dear Abby" format in which people with questions about events can write in and ask them of those of us who fancy ourselves pretty good at them. So if you have a question about etiquette, invitation wording, theme ideas, scheduling, color palettes, vendors, or anything else about events or parties of any kind, email us at partypeople@eventslaureate.com and we'll answer your question on the blog (or in person if it's, well, personal). We look forward to hearing your questions and living up to our name!

Party Time, Take 1

It is apparently at long, long last time for me to enter the blogosphere. What should I do to celebrate the fact that I finally made it to the first hopscotch square where all the rest of you were already well at home in the last year/decade/century/millennium? Throw a party, of course! After all, we at Events Laureate are the ultimate party people. So please consider yourselves cordially invited to this, my Welcome to the World Wide Web party (I'm registered at Manolo Blahnik in case anyone is interested).

While I don't really have a concrete plan for this blog yet (I hope you will be pleased to hear that there will be no Julie/Julia Project rendition anywhere in this blog's future), I think we'll probably talk about all manner of things related to event and wedding planning: trends, flowers, locations, party favors, food, and what to do when you kind of hate the person you're marrying. Well ... maybe we won't cover that last one. At least until I start my fifth career as a therapist. At any rate (I almost typed "at any event" - ha! party punning!), since the topics are open, if there's something you want to hear about, learn about, complain about, or crow about please let me know either here or at sarah@eventslaureate.com so I can make sure that the best party news is getting out there.

As this blog gets up and rolling you can do your part by becoming our fan on Facebook, joining our network on LinkedIn, becoming a follower of the blog, reviewing us on Yelp! (links for all of these on the left), and helping us market by sending any and everyone you know to our website. And if you happen to have a bunch of extra Events Laureate business cards on hand, you can follow one reader's suggestion and start stashing them in every book in the wedding aisle. You know, just sayin'.