Silicon Valley NACE at the Capital Club in San Jose, CA

If you've never been to the Capital Club in downtown San Jose here are two tips for you:

1. It is located on the top floor in the Knight Ridder building pictured above, on the same block as the San Jose Museum of Art.

2. The elevator is the 17th floor with the "CC" for Capital Club.

Here Chris Citti of "Citti's Florist" greets guests attending "Over the Top" a special evening designed for Corporate Event Planners and hosted by NACE's Silicon Valley Chapter.

Party Theme Productions decked out the entrance in grand style!

I loved the zebra!

It was a sold out event so the space was at capacity for the dinner and presentation later that evening. The theme was "Fire and Ice" beautifully represented by the florals provided by Citti's Florist, the chair covers and linens by Exquisite Party Rentals and the lighting and ceiling draping were provided by North American Theatre Technology.

Citti's Florist created tall centerpieces that I love because they allow guests to see each other all the way around the table. Tall centerpieces with wide bases become obstructions so the slender clear vase was perfect to allow guests to meet each other once seated and for conversations to flow.

The "Ice" side was my favorite. I love this snow cone blue lighting with shades of purple and lavender. NATTI also provided the lit bases for the centerpieces adding an extra touch of drama to the entire room.

A small private dining nook at the far end of the room was beautifully lit and particularly stunning.

This photo shows the length of the event space. I am standing at the far end of the "Ice" side and you can see all the way down to the far wall on the "Fire" side.

This is Natti Pearce-Thomson, President and Senior Lighting Director of North American Theatre Technology, setting up a customizable LED chandelier before the event began.

There were many companies set up at open table booths showcasing their services and products to dozens of the Bay Area's top Corproate Event Coordinators. Rich Amooi from Hey Mr. DJ and Robbie Schlosser from the Magnolia Jazz Band were both participating in the showcase that evening.

I LOVE this. Rich's branding is superb. See how his business card and flyer compliment perfectly? If you visit his website you'll see that it does as well. Rich said he designed his flyers himself. I think he did a fantastic job!

And here is Robbie Schlosser, Communications Chair on the Board of Directors for the local NACE chapter,with photographer Richard Mayer. Later that evening Robbie and his trio performed after dinner but unfortunately I was unable to stay to take a picture. ETA: I just spotted this video clip of Robbie and the trip performing that night over on Rich Amooi's blog. Enjoy!

If you ever want to hear the Magnolia Jazz Band perform you can visit the schedule on their website for their Bay Area performance schedule.

Wedding Photographer Claudia Akers was there with a super sharp display. Her photography is beautiful. If you're considering who to hire for your wedding be sure to take a peek at her website or Flirty Guide Profile. She's easy to talk to, low key and very talented.

Both guests and professionals alike had a great time!

And the food! Wow there was a lot of food and chocolate there that night. I spotted this appetizer at Cosmopolitan Catering's booth. That's owner Cheryl Martinez in the red blouse in the photo above this one.

Events of Excellence created this beautiful "Poached Salmon Timbale Stack" with Portabella Relish and Baby Greens. And to go with it a beautiful view of Downtown San Jose courtesy of the Capital Club.

The Hotel Montgomery offered this shrimp dish and to think there were even more caterers offering even more food and dinner was still to come!

I have to say I was surprised to learn that Schurra's Fine Confections has been making confections in San Jose since 1912... And this was the first time I've ever heard of them! What's up with that? I mean seriously, you know how much I love chocolate. I just don't understand how I never knew about them. I'll be making a trip to their shop down on the Alameda some time soon.

Vintagio was also there with their bottles of wine dressed in customized labels. A very fun idea for special events or gift giving.

And how cool are these photo cookies by Freedom Bakery? I loved the golfball cookie in particular because the shading of the dimples looked so lifelike you would have sworn the cookie itself was dimpled. Behind it were more samples of logos and images that they have put on cookies in the past. Currently they are offering a special price through the end of November on their photo cookies and chocolates. Pricing on full color cookies begins at $1.20 per cookie and $2.20 for per chocolate.

A beautiful dessert buffet was in store for guests later that evening.

Chocolates á la carte was there with trays of gorgeous truffles. Yum!

Chocolats á la carte also displayed these unusual chocolate puzzles!

Ah, it's always nice to see a friendly face! I ran into photographer Micahel Soo shortly after I arrived. It was a pleasure to chat with him and catch up a bit. I've mentioned Michael on the blog before because he was the photographer at the Proposal in Paradise Video shoot that I participated in a year ago. His pictures were stunning! I loved that the photo that happened to appear on his onscreen slideshow when I took this photo was a dessert photo of what I'm assuming was frozen yogurt and fresh strawberries. How appropriate for me. I love frozen yogurt :P

Another friendly face was Susan Sheinkopf of "The Party Staff Inc." TPS Inc. provides professional food servers, bartenders, captains, event managers and cooks for every kind of social function and special event imaginable from corporate events and weddings to backyard BBQ's.

And Screenbooth, a modern alternative to the traditional guest book, was there with new and improved services then when I first met them last year. Soon they will be launching printed "photo booth" styled pictures to their list of services provided along with their video guest books.