Beautiful and Versatile Centerpieces

While visiting Pennsylvania over the holidays, I was asked to help create a centerpiece for a large dining room table that seats 12.

The table was to be set up a few days prior to the big meal, with visitors coming and going.  This meant that the table should look nice with or without place settings and food.  The challenge here is making a centerpiece or table scape that allows for the place settings and food, but doesn't look small when the table is missing those items.

My solution: have a flexible centerpiece.  This means using multiple parts to create one big design, that can in turn be removed to create the much needed space on the table.  We removed all of the larger elements just prior to dinner, leaving only a few sprays of greens, a few candles, and the small vases with roses.

You'll see in the photos, I used large mercury glass urns, vases, and chess pieces, along with various types of live evergreens, red and white roses, candles, and red glass ornaments.  We wanted a whimsical, airy feeling.  The best part is, once Christmas is over, the mercury glass urns can be used in another capacity all year long.

Cancer Vixen! Raising Money for a GREAT cause!

This summer, I was honored that Marisa Acocella Marchetto asked me to be part of her Cancer Vixen Board (www.cancervixenfund.org).

The CANCER VIXEN FUNd is dedicated to help women who are uninsured receive the best breast care. It is crucial that everyone, whether they have insurance or not, receive the proper screening to catch breast cancer early so they have a greater chance of successfully kicking cancer. As Evelyn Lauder says, “Early detection saves lives.”


I have known Marisa now for a couple of years, and her story is amazing.  Check out her website for more information. www.marisamarchetto.com


As a board member, my main focus was to help with the annual fund raising event.  As with all non-profits, we needed to raise a lot of money, and didn't have a lot to spend on the event.  It's all about prioritizing and seeing where you can get discounts and cut costs.  Held at The Little Red School House in Greenwich Village in NYC, the event was an explosion of PINK-obviously!  We wanted a sophisticated Sex and the City feel.  We kept referring to it as Carrie Bradshaw's prom.


With simple lanterns, carefully placed lighting, and pink tablecloths, we were able to pull it all off for surprisingly little money.  With DaSilvano serving the food (www.dasilvano.com), and DJ Sky (www.skynellor.com) spinning the tunes, the guests had a fabulous time!


Check out these photos by Rob Rich.

        

Patrick Clayton, Marisa Acocella, Silvano Marchetto, Estelle Leads, Tom Lampson

The Wedding Planning Starts for Katie and Scott!

When I think of all of my friends, and who I've known the longest, there is one name that wins by leaps and bounds!  Katie and I have been friends for all of our lives.  Literally.  Our mothers were best friends before we were born, and the rest is history.

This summer, while visiting my mother in Kansas City, Katie and her mom, Jenny came to visit from Nebraska as well.  I had learned of Katie's engagement, and was so excited to see her and hear all about it. I was truly honored that one of the main goals of this trip was to talk about the wedding planning with me! Although more than a year out, we were able to make lists, prioritize budgets, and figure out what Katie and Scott really wanted.

This is the first of several blogs I will write about Katie's wedding, so I wanted to get some background information laid out.  More wedding planning tips to come!

I asked Katie to answer some questions about her and Scott.  Here they are:

When did you get engaged and how did he propose?

We got engaged July 24, 2009! We had been talking about marriage and looking at rings for months; it was just a matter of when! He's full of surprises so I knew I'd be completely caught off guard...and I was!

We were preparing for a trip to Cabo to meet with my family. This is an annual trip, however, I had never taken a boyfriend before. It was the day before we were supposed to fly out; I was running around town picking up a few last minute items and I still had to pack! I was a little stressed to say the least. This was also the first trip Scott and I would be taking together. We met for dinner, talked about the trip and what a great time we would have. I was just a little on-edge. I like to call it "pre-trip jitters." 

When we got back to our apartment he said, "just sit down for a minute, I have a surprise for you." The next thing I knew he came out with the infamous pink bag from Victoria's Secret. Oh boy....what do we have here? Knowing Scott it could have been anything! I opened the gift to find this perfect black and white polka dot bikini! He knew that I had been looking for another swimsuit for the trip and hadn't had any luck. I immediately tried it on; it fit perfectly and I felt great! Then he says, "O.K, well I have one more thing that I think will go really well with the swimsuit." Hmmm, I'm thinking a cover-up or a wrap of some sort, right? I close my eyes and I can hear him moving around a bit. He tells me to open my eyes....and there he is on one knee holding the most beautiful ring I could ever imagine. 

He designed it himself and it was the perfect combination of everything he knew I would love.

When and where is the wedding?

The big day is August 7, 2010 at Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island, Nebraska. We're having the ceremony outdoors followed with dinner and the reception.

What are you inspired by for your wedding decor?

Honestly, I was never the girl who had it all planned out with a vision of what her wedding would look like, which is weird because I'm a total planner and organized freak! I love stylish simplicity and a very classic look. I want formal yet warm and inviting, lots of white lights and candles. I really want to transform the space into something beautiful and memorable.

What are your wedding colors?

I love chocolate brown!!! And I'm a complete girlie girl so I knew pink would be involved and I'll bring in some shades of green with our centerpieces.

What can you tell me about your dress?

It's the perfect dress for me! I really didn't know what I was looking for, but it's the first and only dress I tried on. There's no sparkle or beading, yet it's full of detail, form-fitting and strapless yet not predictable and very red-carpet glam! (note from Patrick--I am one of 4 people who have seen the dress, and I was so excited to be there with Katie when she found it.  She INSTANTLY knew it was the one!)

Katie and Scott

Godiva Legacy Event at Rockefeller Center

The Godiva Legacy Event in mid-June was a modern celebration of the history of Godiva Chocolates.  From the first truffle created for Godiva to the newest collections, this editor event was a sophisticated museum-like experience that tasted great, too!

Held at Rockefeller Center, we wanted to keep the "look" of the event very simple.  I kept thinking to myself, "How would a museum be set up?" and  "How would this be featured at a gallery?" By featuring the many "firsts" from the historic collection as individual vignettes, the editors were able to explore, learn, and taste.  Each truffle had something special and unique, and I featured these details in each display.  Large vintage images were hung around the space, as if they were in a gallery.

Solerno Event in New York City

On April 23rd, I designed an event for Solerno, a new Blood Orange Liqueur.  The event was on the 25th floor terrace of 20 Pine in Manhattan (www.20pine.com), a gorgeous outdoor space with amazing views!  Capturing a quintessentially Tuscan feel with a modern Italian twist was the inspiration.  And blood oranges, lots of blood oranges!  Beautiful orange/red french tulips in large glass urns, and playful paper lanterns adorned the already hip terrace.  With modern rattan furniture and an illuminated 18' long bar by Taylor Creative (www.taylorcreativeinc.com) along with the hot sounds of DJ Sky Nellor, the event was an Italian retreat just 25 floors up from the hustle and bustle of New York City.

Laugh OUT Loud! An Evening of Comedy

On February 24th, 2009 I planned a fund raising event for Big Apple Performing Arts, along with another member of the organization, Chris Manna.  The event was typically an event with musical guests, both well known, and up and coming.  This year, Chris and I wanted to take it in another direction, and try to attract a different audience. 

We chose a theme of comedy, asking well known comedians to participate in the event by donating a 10 minute set of their performance.  We titled the event LOL, An Evening of Comedy Benefitting the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.

We worked with many corporate sponsors to help underwrite the costs of this event.  They include Piper Heidsieck, Coca-Cola, Miller Coors, 2xist, Van Wagner, Sweet Riot Chocolate, Anthony for Men, HX, Svedka, Fuel Outdoor, The New York Blade, and Taylor Creative.

With a theme of pink, we pulled out all of the stops.  We were lucky that our venue, Loft Eleven in NYC (www.lofteleven.com) consisted of two large spaces.  We used one for the food and entertainment area, including the stage, and we used the other for the silent auction, with more than 75 items for guests to bid on.  There was an additional small room that we used for the VIP reception area, and talent waiting room.

With a record number of guests for this event, we raised over $40,000 in just a couple of hours.  For more information on Big Apple Performing Arts and The New York City Gay Men's Chorus, visit www.nycgmc.org

Patrick Clayton and Chris Manna with our Outdoor Advertising

Performance Area

Performance Area

Comedians of the Night with Patrick

Outdoor Advertising

The Piper Heidsieck Champagne Bar

      

Setting the room up!  Fantastic furniture donated by Taylor Creative, Inc

Altar Boyz!

Neil Haskell (Luke), Mauricio Perez (Juan), Michael Kadin Craig (Matthew), Travis Nesbit (Mark), and Ravi Roth (Abraham)

I have been working with the Off-Broadway hit show Altar Boyz since last fall, (www.altarboyz.com) in the role of wardrobe maintenance.

While I can't take credit for the costume design, it has been a really great experience to work on an ongoing project like this.  Each week, I work at the theater laundering, ironing, and mending the costumes for the show.  There is a new and different challenge every week.  Sometimes cast members go on vacation, sometimes they leave and a new cast member comes in, and sometimes they're just ill for one show.  This means that whomever replaces them for that show, that week, or on a more permanent level needs properly fitting costumes.  We have many sets of the costumes, and it's my job to make sure they're all ready to go for each show, no matter who is in the cast.

The cast consists of five "altar boyz" and two swings.  The swings are able to go on into any of the five main roles, so each swing has a entire set of costumes (one for each character).  

Here is a fantastic description of the show from their website:

Altar Boyz, the acclaimed musical comedy now in its fourth year at New World Stages and winner of the coveted Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Off-Broadway, is the longest running new musical comedy to open in New York in years!

 

Full of sharp parody, sinfully spectacular dancing, and irreverent humor, this spoof about a heavenly guy-group is adored by audiences and critics alike. With an extraordinary mix of side-splitting songs convincing enough to be played on MTV, uncontrollable laughs and lighthearted fun, this award-winning and totally original new musical is 90 minutes of pure delight that's suitable for all ages and will have the whole family laughing and singing along.

 

Hailed as "high-octane entertainment" (Talkin' Broadway), Altar Boyz tells the holy inspiring story of 5 small-town boys - Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham - trying to save the world one screaming fan at a time. Their pious pop act, including lyrics like "Girl You Make Me Wanna Wait" and "Jesus Called Me On My Cell Phone," worked wonders on the Ohio bingo-hall-and-pancake-breakfast circuit. But when fate brings them to New York, will the boyz take a bite out of the forbidden apple? With angelic voices, sinfully spectacular dancing and a touching story, Altar Boyz is destined to rock the masses of all denominations!

I highly recommend seeing this show if you are in the New York City area---it's great for all ages, it's hilarious, and it just makes you smile.  I was a big fan even before I started working for the show.  I often watch it, not only to make sure the costumes are still "performing," but because it's just so entertaining!