Simple and pretty, the decorations livened up the room
I got a call last March from a woman who wanted to do something different. She was planning for her 40th birthday and wanted to have a big party. She had gotten married a number of years ago in a small town downstate where there were few choices in vendors. You used the caterer and the baker who were local because that’s what there was. And they weren’t going to import a band, so they did without. So, she decided to make it up to herself with a big birthday party this year. Only she didn’t quite know where to start. The advantage of small town event planning is that you don’t have to go searching for anything, because there are so few choices. Here in Chicagoland, there are way too many choices.
Last spring, we got to work narrowing down her choices. She wanted a nice location on the North Shore where she could have appetizers, drinks, and a band. Fortunately, there is any number of nice locations in her area. There is a Women’s Club and/or a Community House in just about every town, and I gave her information on about a dozen of them. The Winnetka Community House has a new addition with a very pleasant party room. They have only one in-house caterer, and my client liked their food when she went for a tasting. Suddenly, the two biggest decisions were made. She said I saved her hours by narrowing down the number of venues available and steering her toward the ones I thought would be suitable.
After that came decisions about the menu, decorations, and invitations. I advised her on anything she had questions about, including invitation wording and suitability of decor. For decorations, she decided to keep things very simple and inexpensive, and it worked beautifully. She found some small artificial flower arrangements online and ordered a dozen and a half of them, and then got about six dozen votive candles and holders. The flowers were in bright pinks and oranges, and they looked very nice. The room is all in neutral colors, so the bright flowers really stood out on the white table cloths. Everyone commented on how nice it looked with the candles twinkling near the bright floral arrangements. I was impressed at how much she was able to do without spending a fortune on decor.
The party was last night, and I think it was everything she had been hoping. Family members came from all over, and friends converged. There were around 75 people there, eating, drinking, and having a good time. The band was just kicking things into high gear when my work was done. It seemed as if it was the celebration it was intended to be and a very happy birthday.
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