At the recent National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) meeting held at the Claremont Resort and Spa we not only learned about linens and chair covers, but were called upon to actually participate in the designing of a table top. Part of the reason I attended the event was because our own Karen Hsu from Grandiflora had sponsored the flowers for the evening and I wanted to see them in person.
I wish the lighting had been a bit better. Turns out I should have used my flash :o( Still you can see how gorgeous the flowers were.
We could only wish we had been given one of the larger more dramatic pieces for the competition but no...
We had Robin Brockelsby, Owner of Creative Coverings a Nationwide Linen Rentals and Sales company to thank for the fab presentation and for bringing all of the sample linens and chair covers for the big competition. It really was great fun!.
The Challenge: each team was given a theme, a centerpiece (ours was two simple vases of roses) and a budget. We then had to select everything we needed for the table top within the budget. My table? Oh my gosh. We were given the table that was for a non-profit fund raiser so our budget to outfit the entire table was like $65.
Some items were free, like the basic items that come with the package when you rent a venue with no upgrades. Other things we did were more creative... For instance we used chair sashes to create a woven lattice element to the table top itself. That was Karen Hsu's brilliant idea.
We also stole, ummm I mean borrowed, desserts from the evenings dessert buffet and combined our flowers into one group then inverted the second empty vase and placed the other on top of it to create a taller more striking focal point. The scattered rose petals also came from the centerpiece. Karen taught me a nifty trick of how to remove them all at once instead of peeling them back one at a time. In the end we had a great time, learned a lot and were pretty darn proud of our table! Plus we even came in slightly under budget!
We also stole, ummm I mean borrowed, desserts from the evenings dessert buffet and combined our flowers into one group then inverted the second empty vase and placed the other on top of it to create a taller more striking focal point. The scattered rose petals also came from the centerpiece. Karen taught me a nifty trick of how to remove them all at once instead of peeling them back one at a time. In the end we had a great time, learned a lot and were pretty darn proud of our table! Plus we even came in slightly under budget!I wish the lighting had been a bit better. Turns out I should have used my flash :o( Still you can see how gorgeous the flowers were.
Karen created all of these striking centerpieces.
From Classic...
To Ikebana styles...
They were so beautiful...
This amazing vase was made of peanut shells of all things...
We could only wish we had been given one of the larger more dramatic pieces for the competition but no...
We were given two of these simple containers of roses...
And here is what our competitors came up with...
Elegant...
Clean...
Glitzy...
And this was the winning, safari themed table!
We had Robin Brockelsby, Owner of Creative Coverings a Nationwide Linen Rentals and Sales company to thank for the fab presentation and for bringing all of the sample linens and chair covers for the big competition. It really was great fun!.
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