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.