At the event, founder of My Hope Chest Alisa Savoretti shed light on breast cancer and the ways in which we can help. For more information on this great cause, visit  http://www.myhopechest.org. “Losing a Breast changes your life… having it back is life changing…”

Planner/Coordinator: Us!  Elan Event Studio

Charity: My Hope Chest

Venue:  Tampa Improv

Entertainment: John Heffron

A few months ago we had the pleasure of helping our friends over at CSE Photography with the design and planning of  their Studio Grand Opening Party.  We have known CSE Photography for a while now and are so happy to see them grow.  It went fabulous and over 70 people got to check out their amazing new space.

Check out all the extra special touches they had: between the personalized cookies, signature drinks & menus, and goodie bags.

How great is their space!

Thanks to everyone who helped contribute:

Photos & Venue: CSE Photography
Event Planner and Design: Us!
Catering: Orange Blossom Catering
DJ: Grant Hemond & Associates
Linens: Linens By The Sea
Cupcakes and Desserts: It’s Icing On The Cake

This idea of including your pet has really started to take off.  Some couples love to have their pets there with them to share in their big day.  They have them walk down the aisle, whether as a bridesmaid/groomsman or as a ring bearer.  Or they have them there just to take photos afterwards (or before)!  Although very cute it can not be planned ahead how a pet will react.  So take caution, and make someone is solely there to watch them and make sure they behave.

<Couple with dogs> <Cat bridal portrait> <bulldog> <ringbearer>

xoxo

We have been really busy around here lately and we apologize for the lack of blog posts.  We are especially sorry since we left off with the opening night of the film festival and never posted about the amazing closing night soiree that we had which was PUBLISHED in Event Solutions Magazine, the national magazine for event professionals.

We originally planned (and designed) the party to be themed “Under The Sky With Diamonds” with a roof-top party on the top floor of the parking garage in Hyde Park.  However, Mother Nature had other plans.  So “Plan B” it was (which you MUST ALWAYS HAVE- it even happens to us!) which was inside an empty store front and it turned out better then imagined.

MMD events did an amazing job with the décor. We still had the sparkle and diamonds (which coincidently was our vodka sponsor for the night), but it was accented with a more modern feel.  We had a special VIP lounge draped all in white, with chandeliers and a glowing private bar where guests such as Stephen Baldwin, Rep. Kevin Ambler, Arielle Kebbel (the Rising Star recipient) and Governor Charlie Crist could enjoy themselves.  We had go-go dancers, a crystal ball juggler, underwear models behind the bar and male models handing out Barefoot Champagne to everyone as they arrived.

All of our hard work paid off in the end. See for yourselves!

Read the article HERE

Planner: Us! (Élan Event Studio) www.ElanEventStudio.com
Flowers, draping, furniture, lighting: MMD Events www.mmdevents.com
Linens: Linens by the Sea www.linensbythesea.com
Chiavari chairs, cocktail tables: Signature Event Rentals www.signatureeventstampa.com
Bartenders: U Dream Events www.udreamevents.com
Catering Main Food: Good Food Catering www.goodfoodtampa.com
Atmosphere entertainment: Jumpin Bumpin www.jumpinbumpin.com
Coffee: JavaWorks
Catering desserts: Events by Amore www.Eventsbyamore.com
Vodka: Diamond Vodka
Beverages: RedBull
DJ: DJ Fresh www.djfreshevents.com
Wine & Bubbly: Barefoot
Beer: Stella Artios
Video: Tampa Wonderworks www.TampaWonderworks.com
Detail photographer: Limelight Photography www.stepintothelimelight.com
Official GIFF photographer: CSE Photography www.csephotography.com

This year, the festival was March 18-21.   We had stars and directors that walked the red carpet, great movies and tons of parties.  So of course, this means tons of photos to share!

Opening night was March 18 and held at The Tampa Theatre.  We had a VIP Party to kick off the night.  Thank you to all the wonderful sponsors who came together to make the event a success! We had food from local restaurants and, of course, the Stella Artois and Barefoot Wine was flowing!

After the VIP Party, everyone was ushered into the theater to see Raymond J. Barry get presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.  His speech was so heartfelt and amazing!

And what is a film festival without movies?! The kick-off film was the 2010 audience winner at Sundance, happythankyoumoreplease.

All of this was followed by a live performance by the Baroque Boyz and an after party at Rawbar Sushi.

Thank you to:

Event Planner: Us!

Photo: CSE Photography (see more photos by Limelight below)

Video: Tampa WonderWorks

Venue: Tampa Theatre

Decor at RawBar: MMD Events

Additional Photos: Limelight

Music: The Baroque Boyz

Wine:  Barefoot Wine & Bubbly

Beer:  Stella Artois

As guests entered the pink ballroom, they were greeted by pink light ribbons everywhere.  We had a giant pink ribbon on one wall, tiny ribbons lit up all over the floor, and a “SAVE THE TATAS” logo on the acrylic bar.  The Go-Go dancer was grooving to the beat in her hot pink wig, she was a huge hit!  Our guest speaker, Chris Hubbard, a breast cancer survivor and awareness advocate, was the real hit of the evening.

The décor featured three different floral centerpieces ranging from pale pink to hot pink on pink linens.  The room had draped seating areas all around.  There was a lounge area set up for the guests to relax as well as a private VIP area.

The signature pink drinks were flowing.  For food,we offered  sushi, Italian, and passed hors d’oeuvres.  For dessert: pink cotton candy and a four-layered cake.  We even had pink strawberry milk shooters that were served with the cake!

It was such an honor to work with the great event professionals who donated their services to help make the event a success.  We couldn’t have done it without them.  Please check them out:

Planner/Coordinator: Us!

Decor: MMD Events

Venue: The Quorum Hotel

Photography: Life Long Studios

Video: Voila Cinematic

Chivaris: Signature Event Rentals

DJ: Inspire Entertainment

PR/Event Detail Help: RSBP Events

Linens: BBJ Linens

Cake: Cakes by Nomeda

Brochures: Not From A Box

Sushi: The Venue

Italian: Rigatoni’s

Vodka: Zyr Russian Vodka

Furniture: Cort Furniture

Dancers: Jumpin Bumpin Productions

**And special acknowledgement to Travel By Horizon for donating a free trip for the raffle!**

xoxo

 I’d take a main dish from Indianapolis:  Breaded Pork Tenderloins (It seems every local restaurant has their own version of this) with of course, a side dish of sweet corn!  

Top that off with a big giant bowl of Orville Redenbacher Popcorn (he did start his company in Indiana after all)

 Now some New Orleans flair: GUMBO… made with shrimp, crabs, crawfish, or a mix of meat and sausage. 

With some nice little square Creole pastries (called beignets) on the side please!

<gumbo> <corn> <popcorn> <beignets>

Just make sure you have plenty to wash this all down with!

xoxo

So what a better way to welcome the warmer weather back in Florida then to do a bright and sunny inspiration board.

 <bridesmaid dress> <Louboutins> <oyster shots> <yellow signature martinis>

<candy buffet bar> <flip flop basket> <placecards> <cake>

I picked a color scheme of orange and yellow with subtle hints of lime green.  One of my favorite things about beach weddings is all the little touches you can add to them to make them special for your guests: like the flip flops so their shoes don’t get sandy or the passed oyster shots!

Well I hope this excited you! I can’t wait to do my first beach destination wedding of 2010!

xoxo

One of the events we have going on is “Wedding & Event Professionals For A Cure” which will be on January 27, 2010. We will have all the event professionals from the Tampa Bay Area and surrounding (that includes Sarasota, Orlando, Lakeland, etc..) together to raise money for breast cancer research and bring awareness to a great charity: Pink Initiative. 

Pink Initiative is a collection of wedding industry professionals and private donors dedicated to funding awareness, outreach, education and research for breast cancer.  We are a vendor sponsor!

There are so many fabulous wedding professionals who are coming together to make this event a success!  MMD Events, RSBP Events and The Quorum Hotel have been amazing!  Also, LifeLong Studios, Inspire Entertainment, Cakes by Nomeda, Travel by Horizon and Not From A Box are all providing their services as well!

I can’t wait to tell you how the event goes and show you some pictures!

xoxo

The first cake was Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann’s seven-foot-tall, six-tiered, chocolate and vanilla wedding cake topped with swarovski crystal initials. One of LA’s best confectioners “Very Different Cakes” was the artist.

The five-tiered red velvet cake is courtesy of Tony Parker and Eva Longoria’s wedding.  It was  estimated to have cost $40,000! It was created by Sam Godfrey of Perfect Endings.

I had to throw in Ellen De Generes and Portia de Rossi’s cake.  It wasn’t grand by any measure, but it was the prefect fit for their at home wedding.  It was a red velvet vegan cake created by Sweet Lady Jane.  Not all celebrities go grand!

Of course, no celebrity wedding collage is complete without mentioning Donald Trump and Melania Knauss’.  Their cake was designed by Mar-a-Lago pastry chef Cedric Barbaret.   It was a seven tier orange Grand Mariner cake decorated with 3,000 white icing roses. The cake stood five feet tall and weighed an estimated 50 pounds.  It is rumored to have cost between $100,000- $200,000.

For the non-traditionalists, Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz’s Alice in Wonderland themed cake is perfect!  It was created by Sam Godfrey of Perfect Endings and matched the couples’ quirky personalities to a tee!

Obviously, I had to choose a cake by the world-renowned Sylvia Weinstock. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones had a 10-tier, six-foot-tall vanilla and butter cream wedding cake that was covered with thousands of Weinstock’s famous edible sugar flowers.

Tom cruise and Katie Holmes had a simple yet elegant five-tiered masterpiece in white chocolate that was covered in marzipan roses, and accented with white chocolate chips.

Lastly, Marcia Cross & Tom Mahoney had a five-tiered cake by Layers Cake Design Studio in Sherman Oaks, California that was taller then her!

I think we can all get inspiration from their cakes, but I wouldn’t recommend paying six-figures for one!   Was their any I missed that you all like?

xoxo

Erica