Trash the Dress with Regeti’s Photography
Direct your attention to this dynamic promotional film featuring the creative photographers at the Regeti Studio: Amy, Srinu, Ryan and Ben. Filming took place at Regeti Studios, the local Warrenton airport, a train crossing, and a local stream. Read more
Gallery – I : ISES Eventworld 2009
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Event World Gala Dinner & Dancing
Event World Gala Awards on Stage
Event World Gala Awards on Stage
Courtesy: Doorstep Photography
More Creativity Than Ever Before !
Cara Weiss, President/Event Coordinator
SAVE THE DATE, LLC Party planning your way
Website: http://www.savethedatemd.com
A music themed Bar Mitzvah seems fairly typical, however, for the 250 invited guests it was anything but. What set this event apart from the rest of the Bar Mitzvah scene was the use of six sub-themes, and meticulous attention to detail. Cara Weiss and staff, of Save The Date in Potomac, spent well over a year working with the Trone family to make sure Rob’s Bar Mitzvah was everything he could imagine and more. With the help over twenty companies and over 120 vendors, the three day event became an unforgettable party that none of the guests will ever forget.
Although there was an over-arching theme, each mini theme had its own style consisting of custom décor and a personalized menu. For cocktail hour, the individual party areas ranged from a hand graffittied ultra-lux hip/hop lounge with a local radio DJ scratching records to a sixteen piece big band in a concert-style saddle-span tent. This event was designed with a wow factor in mind that would impress family and friends (and even the vendors) alike.
Much more planning and creativity than is typically involved was needed in tackling the large-scale event issues. Although the Trone property was ample for the number of guests, to give the music festival-like feel to the event, neighbors’ yards were borrowed and an entire fence was temporarily taken down to increase space and comfort.
The expansive driveway set the stage for the cocktail hour tents, where guests began at the bottom where they were greeted by a Cher impersonator and a red carpet. Guests entered the festivities and were continually entertained as they worked their way up through cocktail time until the main reception began. Hors d’ oeuvres in the tents ranged from tapas and sushi to Kobe beef sliders with fries, and libations came in all forms befitting the themes. Guests enjoyed a variety of entertainment from a New Orleans jam band to a video game tent decked out with 5 large plasma screens and a 24 ft. foot blow up screen rigged with several giant Rock Band interactive setups.
The elaborate hip/hop tent became the main attraction for the younger guests. Designed of faux brick and metal accenting, the hand graffittied tent housed a multitude of entertainment options. Guests watched hip/hop dancers battle it out on the dance floor, while shadow dancers kept the vibe of the room alive. Teens enjoyed bottle service of chilled sparkling cider as they socialized in plush VIP vignettes. Interactive favors were abundant as guests “blinged” pimp cups and iPod speakers, and had airbrush artists decorate their own pair of Converse sneakers.
The main destination for the partygoers was the big band tent, the most opulently decorated of all the cocktail hour tents. “Rob’s Rainbow Room” consisted of a large saddle span tent on the top of the driveway, adorned in yards of black and white damask fabric. The custom designed white deco-style bar was surrounded by guests enjoying music from a 24 piece orchestra playing old time memories. Roger Rabbit style caricaturists and roving lookalikes entertained the crowd throughout the tent. Guests sipped on sidecars, martinis and manhattans, a lineup created to match the flashback feel of the tent.
A little spice was added to the night in the Latin tent as guests danced to Gloria Estefan tribute singer. A candy artist designed colorful hard candy in front of their eyes and a balloon artist built colorful floral balloon designs for guests to add to their favor bag. The rattan furniture, brought in from a national rental company, created the South Beach feel with day beds, couch seating and interactive bars. Bright throw pillows in pink and orange and gauzy white drapes tool guests on a little trip to the Miami scene.
As cocktail hour ended, guests entered the reception tent first through a lighted vortex tunnel turning and highlighting the spectacular experience. Guests then made their way through a thick wall of fog proudly displaying a gobo with the Bar Mitzvah boy’s logo. The 60ft. x 120ft. anchor span tent housed distressed metal bar-height tables with acrylic stools for the children’s area along with unique handmade skateboard chandeliers. Edgy black holographic fabric draped the adult tables each designed with bright, solid color bouquets of varying sizes. The matching black iridescent napkins and faux-crocodile menu cards connected the table accessories wonderfully with the original invitation sent out weeks beforehand. Alongside the floral centerpieces lay a mirrored guitar pick displaying a different classic 70’s rock band album cover, acted as the table numbers. Guests’ table numbers were on an interactive card that instructed guests to press a button to hear what table they were sitting at. Inside the main reception tent, guests were entertained by a national cover band and DJ, while two amateur skateboarders ripped up a caged in half pipe during the entire reception.
Celebrations like this one typically center around the honoree, but a few moments were taken to honor some very special individuals. As his mitzvah project, Rob decided to “twin” his bar mitzvah with 10 children in an orphanage in Israel. A donation was made in the honoree’s name which covered the entire expense for the orphanage children’s community B’not Mitzvah celebration in Israel. The announcement of this incredible project was incorporated into the party in lieu of a candle lighting ceremony. Rob engaged family and friends by having them bring up puzzle pieces, which ultimately pictured the mitzvah children in front of their orphanage in Israel with recognition in both English and Hebrew on the photo.
Photos by MBK Photography
The rest of Rob’s celebration was spent in this rock n’ roll tent dining on a five course meal with sommeliers visiting tables, an ice cream sundae bar and chocolate desserts made to look like each tent within our party. The introduction of the honoree was timed specifically with the fog wall changing photos to the popular rap song “Stronger” by Kanye West. Guests danced the night away atop a custom assembled holographic photo floor which included photos depicting each tent’s logo and pictures of the family’s beloved pets.
The closing of the evening was filled with even more excitement. Despite a sudden heavy downpour of rain, guests finished the night walking under tented walkways back to the big band tent which, had been transformed into a farewell tent. Guests were sent off with photo cookies, memory photos grafittied and “blinged” to match the theme, and personalized coffee to go mugs that they filled up for their drive home. Other favors included themed mini basketballs and logoed sports bags filled with logoed sweatshirts and sweatpants. Guests were picked up by a crew of golf carts that drove them directly to their cars. On their way out guests passed a large LED screen that displayed farewell montage thanking guests for coming. Guests left with great memories, full stomachs and plenty to talk about on the ride home.
ISES DC Gala A Huge Success in April!
| WE |  |
OUR SPONSORS |
By Kelly B. Jenkins, Gala Co-Chair & Capital Decor & Events
I don’t usually put bumper stickers on my car, but if I did, this is the one I would have! When Wendy Raab and I accepted the challenge of chairing this year’s Capital Awards Gala, we knew it would involve a lot of hard work and a lot of begging of our local ISES members! Then the economic meltdown hit and we really freaked out! “Who can afford to donate their time, money and services in this current recession?” I thought maybe our Big Glamorous Evening of Celebrating may turn into a mere Ladies Luncheon.
But once we recruited (in some cases, pleaded) our various committee members to join us in our quest for support, we were shocked by the generosity of our sponsors and how many companies that wanted to join our team. Pink was our theme and the mood was set in motion by Creative Parties who produced an imaginative invitation to get our PINK BALL rolling.
After an exhausting search of trying to find just the right venue, I jokingly asked our dear friend, Rose Rabin, if Party Rental Ltd. would be willing to loan us a section of their new warehouse space in Laurel Maryland….. And to my surprise, not only did they say “Yes,” but they opened their loading dock doors and gave us full access to anything and everything we wanted from their inventory. A designers dream comes true!
The first arm to twist would be that of a tent company to create additional space needed for the awards ceremony (the new warehouse was filling up fast). And not only did we twist the arm of Davis Richardson of Sugar Plum Tent Co., but we practically ripped it off. I can say this now, but I would have been thrilled to have nothing more than a steel frame with canvas thrown over it….but instead, we got a multi roomed, carpeted new tent with lush fabric lining! Once in the tent and after registration, guests passed by large blocks of frozen ice with jutting columns of fire (provided by Denis O’Regan and Fireworks Concepts), setting the tone for a real, SURPRISE OF A NIGHT for our guests!
One of the most constant comments I’ve heard is how seamless and quickly the awards ceremony seem to flow, thanks in part to Jeffrey Fox, Terri Bergman and Howard Teger and beautiful lit by Atmosphere Lighting. Long time Washington journalist, Paul Berry emceed on the multi leveled stage provided by All Stage and Sound (who also did sound) accompanied by CPR MultiMedia Solutions and Blue Sky Films. Click here to see all the winners.
One arm certainly not so hard to twist was that of Joshua Friedman of Elan Artists. Eager to showcase the incredible talent that he represents, he was immediately on board with not just a band, but one of the HOTTEST BANDS in the country, The Source. To create a real, OSCAR evening, he also provide the musical genius of Nation who played sexy Bosa nova style music during the ceremony as well as the electric violinist, La Femme Classique, who played from atop a hydraulic lift during the cocktail hour. But the best from Josh was the 20 person gospel choir who gave us an inspirational show at the end of the ceremony and led guests thru the warehouse to the dinner reception….THEN…. joined The Source for a gospel rendition of George Michaels, “FREEDOM”…WOW! Of all the ISES events I have been to, I have never seen the dance floor so packed with non-stop dancing. Thank you Josh!
The always clever, Mitch Rotker, of Smoothie Time provided a self serve buffet of gourmet popcorn for guests as they entered the awards ceremony. “Who doesn’t like a little nosh during the show?”
The pre-show cocktail hour was held in the new Party Rental showroom and offices, where tall damask fabric boards displayed all the work of the nights’ nominees, thanks to Clay and Co. Well Dunn Catering passed by with rolling hot dog carts filled with shots of micro brew with mini pigs in a blanket and passed trays of mini margaritas with skewers of chilly rubbed grilled shrimp.
Once it was time to party, guests followed the gospel choir down an LED lit path of damasked walls and towering palm trees (Thank you, Dale at Plants Alive) to a circus of stimulation and a haze of hip-ness. To create the feeling of a “Warehouse Rave” Capital Decor and Events provided elements such as an open tent frame filled with a plethora of beaded chandeliers, curved steel tables for food and seating, drapes of zebra and pink ribbon taffeta, hanging spirals of pink feathers and large suspended pink glowing orbs.Room Service provided South Beach style white leather furniture on glowing pink bases and acrylic bar stools for our steel service counters. And long sharing tables were draped in various linens with a continuous centerpiece created from a variety of rental items pulled off the shelves of the warehouse. Some tables and stations were finished with contemporary arrangements of twisted steel wire and orchids encased in glass, provided by Phillipa Tarrant.
To showcase the gourmet works of Well Dunn, we created “open kitchens” by using steel tables with hanging heat lamps, convection ovens, restaurant stoves and hot boxes filled with candles. The menu include (among other things) Asian noodle station, American Fare and Stuffed pasta station. Did I mention the chocolate????? Chocolate milkshakes, liquid chocolate shots, chocolate cakes and chocolate brownies (just to mention a few) and accompanied by funky tiered tables filled with miniature cupcakes form Breads Unlimited. We used the signature Party Rental pink glass racks to build a see through bar and create intimate alcoves for seating…or lounging……….!
On each end of the cluster of round center stages were 4ft tall performance platforms which were used by pink spandex clad muscle men frozen in artistic pose, thanks to Cast of Thousands. The stages were also used by our flying angels, Arachne Aerial Arts, who performed graceful acts of aerial magic floating far above the evening’s attendees. These tall stages were turned into bars and sharing tables with glowing plexiglass counters form Party Rental and attended by Professional Bartending Services. Also entertaining guests wasDick Steiner who magically mystified with sleight of hand.
While guests were busy on the checkered floor in rhythmic dance, a gang of pink cloned women sporting pink bobs, booty shorts, pink lashes and pink skates swirled around the space serving up pink Hippotinis with attitude! (a collaboration of mine and NYX). Just in case dancing wasn’t your thing….. warehouse equipment aisles became mini casinos with glowing tables of Black Jack, Poker and Craps provided by Fantasy World Entertainment. Guests could also have their pictures taken on a digitally themed backdrop to commemorate the evening thanks to Howard Lansat photography. The space came to life through the magic of Eric Hertsch and the entire crew of Frost Lighting, creatively blacking out the things we wanted to hide and accenting those worth showcasing.
To finish the night of pink celebration, the hidden doors of the loading dock flew up to reveal one of the most elaborate displays of fireworks Prince George’s County has ever had! Synchronized to dramatic music was a 5 minute light show, courtesy of Denis at Fireworks Concepts, which was a perfect finale to a surprisingly successful evening. That success was greatly due to the incredibly generous donations of a spectacular group of giving sponsors, dedicated volunteers (fed by InStyle Caterers) and a hard working and devoted Gala committee.
As guests carried their Pink Hippo Hand Bags filled with departing goodies and retrieved their cars from the tender care of Atlantic Valet, they were “kissed” goodnight by CPR’s large jumbotron perched on the hill with the logos of the night’s generous contributors.
