Josh's Vintage Baseball Bar Mitzvah: Part Two

Tappan Hill in Tarrytown, New York was the site of this beautiful celebration. The venue is the most perfect example of the value of my Design Consulting services (if I may say so!) for two reasons: First and foremost, Tappan Hill has an exclusive list of florists with whom their clients must work. This is somewhat common with venues that do high volume or that have historic status as they tend to be more protective of their environment and want to reduce the risk of having different florists coming in every day who may not be respectful of their house rules and limitations. Therefore, I am not permitted to produce my designs in this space. I can design parties (brainpower), but I can't produce them (manpower). [For more info on the difference, click here].

Second: Tappan Hill, an Abigail Kirsch property, has amongst the most stellar event managers in the business. I have worked primarily with Kathy Policastro over the years and she manages the intricate details of every event with unparalleled precision. It is a most unusual situation in which the venue contact is as good as a great event planner, but Kathy is that good, so I feel 100% confident that the event will be as fabulous as the decor I designed and I can rest easy even if my planning team is not on-site. It may surprise you that someone who has a company which plans events would highlight an instance in which our services are not required, but, as always, I call it like I see it, and there are a few locations lurking out there at which, when there is a client who is doing a very straightforward or repeat event (second Bar Mitzvah, for example), our planning services are not required. Gasp!

So, in short, it was my job to come up with all of the creative ideas for this event and then to put them in a format that I could hand over to another florist to bring to life. That format is what I call the Style File. The Style File has every detail that is required (down to the inch) to produce the design including the floor plan, materials, flowers, art and lighting. It is my goal to make the Style File so comprehensive and specific that truly any professional can produce every part of the design just as I would if I were the producer on the job. This particular event was relatively close to home for me, so I knew the vendors and could come to the venue to oversee the production, but, the Style File is strong enough that a bride planning a destination wedding or a client based thousands of miles away could take this "book" to their local producers and make a design just as fabulous come to life!

The previous post detailed a few of the thematic elements of this party, but I also wanted to share with you the elegant, beautiful dinner tables and lounge environment we designed for Josh and his guests. Because this party was for equal parts children and adults, one of our goals was to create an environment that was equally appropriate for both. Thus, with my intention to leave the theme-y elements to the bar, the escort table and the sign-in area, I used the color, conceptual and textural elements to convey the Vintage Baseball feel.

One of the many documents from the Style File that I gave to the required production team was this illustration of my complete vision for the tablescape.



Dark wooden farm tables, walnut chairs and amber tinted glasses from Classic Party Rentals were a perfect fit for this event style. Chargers from Party Rental, Ltd. and runners from my personal collection finished off the tabletop. My flower and candle designs were produced with precision by House of Flowers, one of Tappan Hill's required vendors, and those killer wooden table numbers, like the escort cards, were designed and produced by ModernPress.





For the kids' area, I added club-style lounge pieces from Designer8 (part of Classic Party Rentals), and those cutey red ottomans are from the perennial favorite, Target. The distressed baseball lamps? eBay, of course! Oh, internet, how I love thee...


Photos by Gustavo Campos

My mission to abolish all glittered foam core from every Bar/Bat Mitzvah in America continues on... one party at a time. If you looked at these photos and thought to yourself, "this doesn't look like a Bar Mitzvah," well, then, my work here is done.

As always, I welcome your thoughts, feedback and questions, so bring it on!

Happy summer!