What. A. Weekend! We have had one of the busier weekends lately with 3 events in two days. We kicked off the weekend of events with a private dinner for Prevention Works Inc. on Friday, September 21st at CJ’s Lubritorium right by the Kalamazoo Airport. The winner of MasterChef Season 4, Luca Manfe, prepared an exquisite menu for the guests and served the most amazing food right in the room for them. It was so mesmerizing to watch Luca prepare each course for the guests, he made everything look so easy. That man certainly knows his way around a kitchen. Aside from the amazing food, the venue could not have been cooler. Guests were amazed at the props and decorations throughout the building and paired with Luca’s cooking, it made for one great night. We finished off Friday night pretty late, especially since we had to be in Caledonia, MI for a wedding the next morning!
Saturday morning came very fast, and before our brains were even fully awake we were on our way to Stonewater Country Club in Caledonia, Michigan. We arrived at the venue hardly bright eyed and bushy tailed, and in desperate need of some strong coffee to get us through the next 16 hours. We spent the morning setting up and prepping for this wedding with 180 guests, and soon found ourselves halfway through set up at Starbucks to refuel – which was extremely necessary. Once back at the venue after a quick lunch break it was crunch time before the 4pm ceremony. By 3pm we were doing finishing touches for the outdoor ceremony and finalizing everything inside for when the guests came in for dinner. It truly could not have been a more perfect day; 71 degrees out and not a cloud in the sky. By the time the ceremony was over around 4:20pm, it was all hands-on deck to bring the ceremony chairs inside to the venue for guests to use for the night. 180 chairs doesn’t look like that much until the chair rental company only leaves 1 dolly to transport chairs… then it was like the chairs were never ending. We had all the banquet staff moving chairs inside, some stacking nearly 6 chairs high and carrying them by hand! Once the chairs were in, Maddie and I grabbed a few more decorations from outside that had to go inside, and I was on my way back to Kalamazoo for the second private dinner with Chef Luca.
The second dinner was amazing, just like the first. This time it was for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kalamazoo. The menu stayed the same and Luca amazed the guests just like the night before. For this dinner we brought in two culinary students from Kalamazoo Valley Community College to assist Luca with the meals and they were a great help and learned so much throughout the entire night. Just like the night before, Luca sat and talked with the guests about his experience on FOX’s MasterChef and his life now 5 years later. He shared interesting stories not only about being on the show, but about his personal life and what made him so passionate about cooking. It was an awesome experience that the guests at both dinners absolutely loved. By the time the second dinner was over and the wedding was over, Madison and I Facetimed all about the two events that were huge successes. She said how perfectly the wedding went and how beautiful everything looked for the night and that the guests and bridal party had a fabulous time.
Overall this past weekend was nothing short of exhausting, but it was beyond worth it. There is nothing better than a perfect outcome for events, especially after tons and tons of preparation! The two private dinners went fabulously, and the wedding was perfect, and we made it to Sunday. It can be very stressful planning events, especially when there comes a time where they can overlap like they did this weekend. We spent months preparing for both events, some things we procrastinated on that we probably shouldn’t have, but it is all part of the experience and every event we plan we learn more for the future ones.
Stay up to date with our blogs! Next we will be sharing all the things we learned from this weekend of events, and tips/tricks for future events.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Marketing and Promotions Coordinator
Marisa Moro