Ne-Yo's Big Night

Since we spend most of our time producing fabulous weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and social parties, it is no surprise that many of you may not know that we have a long history of producing highly successful fundraising galas and events as well. And while many of these events are great fun, I'm not shy to admit that one of the highlights of the year is producing this amazing gala for music superstar Ne-Yo and his important charitable initiative, The Compound Foundation.

This past August was our second time working on this star-studded event at a to-die-for private home in East Hampton. The homeowners are unendingly gracious and let us come in and take over their entire property for a week... 'cuz that is how long it takes to set up an event of this scale!

This event is a little bit of everything - a beautiful dinner by Chef Roble and Great Performances, a raucous live auction, performances by Estelle, Mario, and, of course, Ne-Yo - with Kevin Hart as the hilarious host to boot. So, with all that glamour, the stakes are high for me and my team as we work to coordinate every one of those nerve-wracking details. Nonetheless, you'll know why it is all worth it when you peek at the gorgeous setting - not to mention when almost $500k is raised to help kids in foster care.

6000 square foot tent with decking floor from Starr Tent filled with lounge style furnishings from Luxe Event Rentals and New York Lounge Decor.

Branding is crucial at any charitable event so we made our mark on the pool around which guests enjoyed cocktails.

Chic centerpieces in mirrored vases carried through the black, white, cobalt blue and mirror palette. 

VIP tables got their own bottle-service mini-bars featuring Ne-Yo's own Malibu Red liquor.

The tent after sunset featuring a real starry night effect!

Porsche is a title sponsor of this event... what could make a beautiful tent for a beautiful cause on a beautiful night look even more... beautiful? A brand new red Porsche at the entrance, of course!

A huge thanks to the talented Allan Zepeda for these stunning photos. 

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season!

Ines' Funky and Fun Birthday Surprise

This gig was just plain fun. When a great client calls and tells me that I can pick a cool place for a cool party and it just needs to look and feel cool, well.... that's just cool. It was a special birthday for long time client Ines, and her husband Augusto wanted to surprise her with a birthday bash (check out their wedding here). The only requirement is that it needed to be a venue with a view. With that in mind, there was only one choice for me - SoHi at the new Trump SoHo Hotel has the sickest view of New York that I have ever seen, so it was a shoo-in.



We put together a station-style menu for this relaxed party which means that tables would not be fully set with china, silver and glassware. This makes for a very important decor challenge: how to still make the table look interesting and full when, indeed, it is not full. The answer? A patterned tablecloth! A plain, solid cloth can look empty when there is not a charger plate, silverware, etc. so bringing in a cloth with pattern or texture provides visual interest in lieu of the other elements.



Since Ines and Augusto have small children (see one of their birthday celebrations here), they wanted to include their own kids as well as the children of their guests. To give them a little something to do while the adults were eating, we created a kids' craft table with stickers, crayons, pipe cleaners, wax sticks and other fun goodies. I also used a lower table and kids' chairs so that they would feel extra comfortable.



SoHi has very cool little nooks in the walls opposite the windows so we carried the floral concept through to add more color around the room. One of the greatest features of this space, though, is the honeycomb ceiling with color changing LED's which provides both color and texture.





You know it is not a party without a cake - and this cake rocked! My buds Leslie and Mark at Mark Joseph Cakes worked with me to translate the style of this party into this modern, square cake that was one of the biggest "wows" of the night.



All photos by Sharon Schuster

How do you feel about all the pink? It was definitely the color of the season at LLE, so stay tuned for more!