Ho, Ho Green Package

Okay. so maybe I’m a bit early – after all we are supposed to think about the holidays after Remembrance Day. I really dislike all the wasted packaging, tags, ribbon and gift wrap that end up in the garbage on Christmas Day.

For kid’s gifts I like to use items that are easy to open and still can be reused.

Last year I carefully wrapped a Pringle’s can in leftover holiday gift wrap with a traditional bow on top with a fair trade toque inside.

Could I improve on the idea and make it something that could be a pay it forward container for other celebrations?

My first thought was to eliminate the shiny paper and go with something more biodegradable. Make it more upscale recycling. Something a teenage girl or a pre-teen girl would like and use for a gift container for one of their friends.

My idea came from our costumes for Halloween. In a very small town you can’t always find what you want. No fun fur up here on the Coast so I used eyelash yarn to make wagging dog tails.

Hmm – tactile, pretty this may have possibilities.

Colours really don’t have to be holiday-ish think a bright prism of colours for young children. Add a bright yarn pom pom for the top or reuse a bow from last year. Or even better make a newspaper or brown bag curly bow with glitter. Use a coffee can, a soup can – just make sure the gift will fit before you wrap the yarn.

Votive Lantern

I love votives and the warm flicker of light diffused through a tea light holder. However, tea lights, floating or any candle for that matter can be a fire hazard if knocked over.

I have come up with some safer alternatives. Placing tea lights on crushed ice in a high ball glass and making a vellum collar with an image printed on an inkjet printer to diffuse the light.

The safest alternative is the new led tea lights that are available at most retailers from Halloween thru the Christmas season.

By using three glasses that vary in height the centerpiece can be a candlescape. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Votive Lantern Instructions

I lifted the candle sleeve idea from Martha Stewart (her site is full of good things) but adapted it to make tealight votives safer for events about 4 years ago. It's become my signature item for events I have created.

You take a tall glass (smooth cylinder) fill it halfway with crushed ice and place the tealight and votive inside. I have a template in Publisher I made to fit around the standard highball glass. Then all I do is print the artwork template on vellum. Wrap the vellum around the glass. Secret weapon (use a hole punch and two duotang fasteners)

Voila you have a votive lantern that if someone moves - it is not hot to the touch and less likely to be knocked over.

Story Board and Design

Creating a narrative for an event is about understanding the client’s own story and applying their taste to the overall look and feel of the venue. Since Hart House is a restored heritage house the room reflects elegance and old world charm.

My Mum’s brunch took inspiration from the Greta Garbo movie “Grand Hotel”. Garbo was an icon of the 30’s and 40’s and was my Mum’s favourite actress in her teens.

Garbo’s famous line from “Grand Hotel” was “I want to be alone” but because of her Swedish accent the line is quoted as “I vant to be alone.”

Making a play on those words with a picture of Garbo the invitation was simple but reflected the era. I used art deco martini glasses as bud vases and chocolate ribbon as a serpentine accent for the table. The votive lantern vellum collar was an image of a gardenia which was a reference to Mum’s favourite Garbo movie “Camille”.

Rather than using table number cards - each table was named after a Garbo movie.

The prominent flowers were dahlias and each table had a slightly different arrangement in a complimentary colour range based on Mum’s favourite colour mauve. All the flowers reflected the fall season.

Guest List & Catering Menu

In the case of Mum’s Birthday brunch, I was given a hand written list of names. It is so important to build a list that you can track and sort as you create and update your database of guests.

Since 80% of the world uses Microsoft software build your list in Excel. If you’re planning a complicated event like a wedding this tool is essential. Usually the client builds the list based on a template I provide. In Mum’s case I created and maintained the guest list.

Suggest to your client that only one person be the point of contact for responses. If they only have a business email account suggest they setup a separate email account for the event and if Net savvy a website or blog.

The menu and execution of the caterer is one of the most essential elements of a successful event. Always have a face to face meeting with the caterer to discuss menu options and price points for buffet or plated service before you sign the contract. Don’t be afraid to ask for recent referrals as quality control can change with a back of the house management change. Room rental charges often can be negotiated in shoulder season.

As a rule of thumb, breakfast or brunch buffets are the least costly whereas dinner service or a dinner buffet are the most expensive.

Colour & Season

The client’s vision, in this case my Mum was an elegant day event. She imagined a black and white theme with white roses and white hydrangeas and lavender accents. Not only are these flowers out of season and hugely expensive the formal vision is far more suitable for an evening event.

What to do?  Ask the client what colours they see in the morning, at noon and the evening given the season? The time of the event and the season really help the client to see the tablescape you are designing for them.

And don’t forget to ask what their favourite colour is and their least favourite colour.

Her colours: mauve and orange.

Incorporate a theme if desired but start with subtle touches.

For Mum’s 90th birthday brunch we found the ideal venue - Hart House in Burnaby. Our theme came from the venue and the invitation I designed.

Family Affair

Planning. designing and executing an event for a family member breaks the first rule of the consulting business - never work with friends or family. But when it came to my Mum and her 90^th birthday – I had to break the rules and had five weeks to build a guest list, find a venue and stick to a strict budget maintaining the concept.

To complicate things my dear Mum lives in a different city and wanted lots of input.

How did I do it?

Research, a storyboard and planning...

No matter what kind of event: a fund raiser, an open house or a milestone birthday - you need to understand the vision of the client.  The hardest part of event planning is the budget and guiding the client to make some compromises and on the day be wowed by the outcome.

But first things first, once you establish a guest count finding the venue comes next.