Design by Knight

Creative Event Planning

A beautiful setting when you walk through the doors is the outcome of successful creative event planning

While packing up to move to Atlanta I came across an old portfolio of photographs from a business I owned in the 1980′s called Party Girls of Tampa.   Although we did get the occasional call at three o’clock in the morning, we were a group of artists and designers that specialized in creative event planning which included weddings, corporate events, parties, Galas, Fundraiser, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, props, window display, merchandising and design.

Besides the creativity, what I loved about the business is the flexibility that it provided my business partner Denise and I so we could work, paint and create all day and still be home in the afternoons when our children got home from school.

The weekends however, were another matter.  There are a zillion details that go into putting on such grand events and everything has to be ready and complete before the clients and their guests come walking through the doors. Denise and I always did a party “walk through” before each event  where we would pretend that we were the clients walking through the doors, at first amazing ourselves at what we created and then begin to scrutinize the details for anything we missed.  There were many a time that we would still be fluffing our way towards the back door as the guests were coming in the front door.  I think there is no greater acknowledgment of a job well done then hearing the ooohs and ahhhs from clients and their guests when they first entered the room and experienced the ambiance of what we had created. Continue Reading…

An Outdoor Wedding Extravaganza

Hooks – Salgado:  A lakeside wedding followed by a sit down dinner for 80 people

My husband and I have a small lake house on Lake Island Ford, a beautiful ski size lake in Odessa, Florida.  It is a rather old Florida style property with a wild yard that looks green with little watering as our weeds are greener and more prolific than our grass.  Our little house and yard clean up quite nice and with low lights and candles anything can be magical.

My husband has been friends with the Hooks family for years and when their daughter Monica and her fiance Michael asked to have their wedding in our backyard no was not even an option.  Planning any kind of event outdoors can be a risky venture.  You learn to have back up plans that can range all the way from plan A to plans E and F and then some.  Having been in the event planning industry for years, I have learned that the months October and November are relatively safe planning months for outdoor events in the Tampa Bay area.  Monica and Michael were on a limited budget and she had done her research diligently and knew exactly the look and feel she wanted for her wedding.  Like most brides, she wanted Continue Reading…

Sit Down Dinner for 40

This is a picture from a sit down sixtieth birthday dinner party for 40 people at a mountain house up in Sylva, North Carolina. We had a Tuscan theme on a summer evening in July. It was spectacular and everyone was delighted.

I placed tables end to end with 20 people seated on each side. We had regular white tablecloths with table toppers on top. We found small rocks from the creek and painted everyone’s name on them to show them where to sit.