My Incredible 25th Birthday!!!

I'm back!! I can't believe it's September already! In any case, let's get to it. I LOVED my 25th birthday party!! The whole 3 weeks leading up to it I was going to fabric shops looking for tablecloth material (Chinatown/ Canal Street), I was looking up where to get cheap flowers (The Flower District here in NYC), where to get cheap vases without having to buy in bulk (the Dollar Tree), I bought my birthday outfit (Canal Street - thanks for schelpping with me Erika!!), finding shoes to go with my outfit in my size (thanks Nine West for carrying my size!), buying ingredients for all the food I wanted to make, and still working my 9-5. On the day of I was making jello shots (let's just say they were a bit too strong...but they were gone before the end of the night none the less!). Only issue I had was that the tables and chairs were delivered a 3 hours later than anticipated which of course pushed alot of things back. The party started at 9pm; however because we were still setting up the tables I didn't get a chance to leave until 8:30pm! I sped home, showered, did my hair (yes, I did my own weave), then rushed back. I definitely want to give a special thanks to my BFF's Sara and Terry Ann for helping me bake my cupcake favors, setting up the yard, whipping up my Vanilla Bean frosting, and boxing and labeling the cupcakes. I also want to thank DJ FAME for, as always, keeping the music flowing! My delicious and beautifully executed cakes were created by Ariel Segan. They were gorgeous and delicious! And of course, this blog would be useless without pictures...so here they are!

(Sara handling the bar)

(Shots of the table/ chair set ups)

(Only shot that I have of the tables unfortunately. Thanks for taking the pic Simone!)

My Upcoming 25th Birthday!!

So in 3 weeks I will be 25 years old! For some reason I feel like I should be much more accomplished by now! David Tutera started his business at 19 years old. Here I am at 25 and I'm still struggling to get my business of the ground. I actually can't complain too much because so far this year has been good to me. I mentioned below that I am definitley working on one wedding and may potentially be working on another destination one (we'll know for sure in August).

In the mean time I am also planning my 25th birthday party! My boyfriend of 6.5 years and I are only 4 days apart and so we usually have joint parties. Our 21st birthday was a HIT and everyone still compliments us on it. This year I'm hoping to take it one step ahead. It's an outdoor/ yard party. The space is compeletly cemented so that makes for a nice flat surface. The color scheme is vivid purple and green. I'm thinking votive candles and small floral center pieces on the tables with string lighting along the perimeter of the yard. I want to rent all white chairs to make it continue the vibe of classy yet funky - we'll see if that's in my budget though. The food will be provided by me and some family members along with some catering from my boyfriend's dad's restaurant (hopefully for free...) I'm still figuring out what I want for the cake. I have an idea, but for now I'll keep it to myself. :) .

Until next time!

E. Joseph

Upcoming Events

Hi Everyone,

It's been just over a month since the last time I was here and I wanted to catch up with you! The great news is I am currently working on an upcoming Labor Day wedding and I may possibly end up working a destination wedding (Chicago) as well!

This past weekend we held the wedding shower for the Labor Day wedding. For the most part the bride already knew what she wanted and had many of the vendors in place - which is great because I was only told about the shower 2 weeks ago! For the shower my role involved building the timeline and assisting with the cupcake favors. I was able to locate an great online vendor who had cheap prices and quick shipping on cupcakes boxes (www.brpboxshop.com). We also made a trip to Michaels where we purchased ribbon to go around the finished product.

Regarding the timeline - this was a bit funny. I'm from the Carribbean as well as the bride (although different islands). People from the islands are known for ALWAYS being late to events! The wedding shower was supposed to start at 4:00pm. It was 4:45pm when the first guest arrived and 4:50pm when the DJ arrived! Most guests trickled in sometime between 5:30 - 6:00pm. As a planner, there is not much that you can do since you can't control what time people show up. I just made sure that guests knew where to put their gifts and told them that the bar and the buffet were open and they could help themselves. The games started at 7:00pm even though people were still trickling in (it was being held outdoors and I needed to beat the sunset). Since I know people get restless (especially since it was co-ed) I wanted to have 3 quick games so we could all get back to the festivities. Our first game was the fill in the blank version of "The Famous Couples Game", followed by "Wedding Shower Word Scramble", and then closing with "How Well Do You Know The Bride". Prizes included Yankee Candles (www.yankeecandle.com) and picture frames. One of the funnier moments at the shower was when we ended up with 8 winners for the "Wedding Shower Word Scramble". On the spot the bride's brother and I had to think of time breaker question. Since the past few weeks were consumed by TV coverage of the World Cup games, we though that that would be a good tie breaker. The question was "Who came in 3rd place?". The answer is Germany. True - it wasn't a wedding related question, but when you have 8 winners standing in front of you and only 2 prizes for this particular game (thank goodness we had bought an extra picture frame just in case) you have to think outside the box!

I also realized that most of my evening consisted of tracking down the bride who would not sit still! LOL! My biggest fear was that she would lose one of her gift envelopes. I was constantly looking for her and putting the envelopes in her bag. I would have hated if she lost one!

All in all it was a great event. In the coming weeks the bride and I will be meeting up to continue going over logistics for the wedding. We have a solid idea of what it's going to look like and now I need to do my job and make sure it happens as planned.

Next month I'll be meeting with Bride #2 for the first time. I actually already know her through a good friend of mine. She attended a Father's Day party that I threw for my dad a few years back and now she is interested in seeing how I can help her with her big day! What's interesting about this bride is that she lives in Boston, I live in New York, but the wedding is in Chicago! I'm not nervous about the wedding being in Chicago (as I did a destination wedding in Rhode Island last year - see past posts), but I'm more nervous that I won't have immediate contact/ access to the bride if needed since she's in Boston. When I did the destination wedding last year, I was able to meet up with the bride and have our "Pow Wow Sessions" as she called it on a regular basis. Oh well, I'm sure we'll manage! Until next!

Love Always,
E.Joseph

I'm Back!

Hi Everyone!


I know - I fell off the radar! My apologies! In case you've been wondering, things have been a bit exciting for me in the past 7 months! First, I landed an interview with David Tutera - well... not really. I had sent in my resume to them back in January and literally 2 weeks later I was called in for an interview. The thing is - I sent in my resume for an Event Coordinator/ Event Planning position. When I got the call to come in, I jumped at it and assumed it was for that role. It wasn't until I got there that I was told it was for the position of being his Executive Assistant. I was interested in that position as well, especially since there was room for growth - however I think the look of slight shock on my face was confused with my not being "prepared". (I was prepared - just for a different role). In any case, I met with Nora, the Director of Events and continued to tell her about my experience, but in the end it didn't work out so that was that. However, I DID get to meet David eventually (although very briefly - see the photo below). I met him at a bridal show that was held at the Roosevelt Hotel here in NYC. It was VERY glamorous and the room that he designed was TO DIE FOR! (I'll update those photos soon). In any case, he was there taking pictures with whomever wanted one and I was literally the last person that was accepted to take picture with him. It was GREAT! In February I also went to Florida with one of my best friends and guess who we met at the airport coming back home - Tim Gunn from Project Runway! He was on our same exact flight coming back to JFK. He was SOO nice! We each got a picture with him. (See below). My next big adventure was when I was called in for an interview with celebrity wedding planner Michelle Rago. I met with both her and one of her planners, Courtney. The interview I feel could not have gone better! I was able to show them my work, what I was looking for in the future, and why I wanted to be in this crazy business anyway. The unfortunate thing is that they can't take on any more people at the moment, but the lines of communicatrion between us are still open. Over the past few months I have touched base with them, so we'll see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for me!


XOXO
Liz Joseph

Me and David Tutera (Celebrity Event Planner, Host of My Fair Wedding on WE)





















Me and Tim Gunn (Advisor on "Project Runway" on Bravo)

Surprise 50th Birthday Party - 10/17/09

Hi Everyone!

Last Saturday's Surprise 50th Birthday Party was a success! The event was held at a Knights of Columbus Hall in Brooklyn and we were definitely able to bring the overall look of the place up a notch. We started setting up at 11:00am and finished the bulk of it at 1:00pm. We then went back at about 6:00pm to finish the centerpieces and set the food on the warmers. Surprisingly everything fell into place and for the most part I was able to stick to my timeline (the guests as well as the Guest of Honor arrived later than expected, but I adjusted my timeline accordingly). We were done preparing on time and the party exactly when it was supposed to. That's how I like to see things done!

As for the actual event - the birthday girl was SHOCKED! The tears that flowed almost made me cry and I had to look away for a bit. The food was delicious, the multiple toasts that were made all had meaning, and the photo slide show of her life that her sons made was touching. She is truly a loved and lucky woman.

So what was my critique of the event? I think that everyone that showed up had a good time. Note that I said "everyone that showed up". One thing that annoyed me and that I felt was extremely rude were the number of people who RSVP'd, yet did not show up. The hall was paid for 85 adults and only about 60 were there. I don't understand why someone would take the time out of their day to confirm that they were coming and then just not come? In any case, the fact that some people didn't helped solve the "I hope we have enough food" dilemma. Due to the budget we were only able to order but so much so that was a concern, but we were able to leave with left overs which was great. The birthday girl may not have to cook for a few days!

One other thing that I was concerned about was the color scheme (black, white, and silver) as it doesn't really scream "50th birthday party". Originally I wanted to go with an ivory and gold theme, but due to the budget and the red chairs that would need to get covered, we couldn't do it. We decided that the red chairs would look fine with black, and added the white and silver as accents. With the dim lighting and votive candles, no one even noticed that it wasn't a "traditional color scheme". It looked a bit more modern/ chic if anything.

I definitely put a lot into this event since I knew that the budget was tight and so many things were DIY, such as the chocolate chip cookie favors that my friend Sara and I were baking until 2:00am the night before. It was tiring (baking, waiting to cool, and bagging to look like candy wrappers for 3 hours), but it was worth it in the end when all 100 favors were done. In addition to that, her sons made a dedication CD (which I unfortunately do not have a picture of.)

As usual DJ Fame (who is one of her sons!) did his thing and had people on the dance floor.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to all my friends that helped bring this entire event together: Sara, Terry Ann, Calena, and my cousin Sancia. Thank you so much ladies! I really could not have done it without you!

BEFORE

AFTER

Club Birthday Party - 10-10-09

Hi Everyone!

Saturday (October 10th ) I coordinated a birthday party for my friend Calena (the one who wanted me to start this blog in the first place!) at a club in Brooklyn and might I say we had a FABULOUS time! I was given the owner's contact information through my favorite DJ (DJ Fame) and was able to ensure that she was taken care of that night. Our group had about 15 people and since I knew the DJ we were able to receive a free bottle of champagne and a sheet cake! We were able to score seats in the VIP section and only had to ensure that we spent $150 for the night. The funny thing is that even with size group that we had, it was so hard to hit that total! (The prices were that good!). There was good amount of people that showed up at the club that night, but it wasn't to the point where you couldn't move of breathe. The club was called "Brooklyn Crossroads Supper Club" and is located in the Park Slope area. Most of the group got there at about 11:00pm and we didn't leave until after 3:00am! It was that much fun! She was even sweet enough to leave this message on my facebook for me:

"Calena : Elizabeth, thank you, thank you, thank you for planning my b-day party. It was great, all thanks to you! "

Pictures will be posted soon!

Talk to you soon!
XOXO
Elizabeth Joseph

ejosephevents@gmail.com

Caitlin's Wedding Pics - Finally!

Hi All,

I know that I really need to get pictures posted quicker! Unfortunately for this wedding I was also a bridesmaid so I couldn't really walk down the aisle with my bouquet and a Canon snapshot at the same time, LOL! Anyway, I was able to get copies of the pictures from a friend who was also in attendance. Just a recap of the many things that were going on that day, I was running around from about 11:00am until midnight. It all started when I was on my way to meet the bride at the hotel where she was getting ready and got a call from her midway there to go straight to the house where the wedding was being held instead. The groom was freaking out and worried that no one knew what needed to be done and he was already running late getting ready. Once I got there he was able to shower, get dressed and leave the worrying up to me. As for setting up the tent, that was all the catering staff. Caitlin told us what she wanted the space to look like and we made sure that it happened. A hour after I arrived at the house, I received a call from Caitlin's mom. What happened? In her effort to make sure that Caitlin had all the things that she needed to get dressed, the mom forgot her own dress at the house! It was not a problem at all since the house and the hotel were only about a 5 minute drive apart. Once there, mom was able to get ready, Caitlin got into her gown, and we all (bridesmaids, mother of the groom, Caitlin's mom, and Caitlin) were able to make our way to the house for the wedding to begin.

The ceremony itself was short and sweet and Caitlin looked AMAZING! Once the ceremony was over I was back in "event planner" mode and working with the catering staff & DJ to make sure everything ran smoothly (finding the missing cocktail plates, coordinating the first dance, toast, and cake cutting, and making sure that the photographer got all the shots that were requested.) As the evening came to an end, I made sure the bus driver received his tip (the wedding was in Little Compton, RI but guests stayed in Providence Providence which is an hour away; so a bus was provided for transportation) and that important items were packed. I was also in charge of making sure the bride and groom were able sample slices from each cake tier,LOL! (They had a coconut w/ lemon curd layer, lemon poppyseed layer, and white cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate moose.) I think the most important thing to come out of all of this is that the groom now understands that weddings don't "just happen" (which is kind of what he thought when Caitlin first introduced him to me), they actually take WORK!

I also want to thank DJ Fame as he drove all the way from NYC to provide music for this party. Thanks Fame!