Office before the party set-up
Office after party set-up
This past weekend was my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary. As I began thinking about their anniversary in the months leading up to this special occasion, I wondered what I could do to create a special celebration for them. I live in California and they moved to Indiana 10 years ago to help my grandfather after my grandmother passed away. I was thinking I’d have to find someone locally there to help me plan a celebration. But as luck would have it, my daughter graduated from college a semester early, and her graduation ceremony was the weekend before their anniversary. I told them to plan on staying another week so we could have a party and invite friends they are still in contact with to have the opportunity to celebrate together.
One day a few months before the date of the party, a client of mine who is an event planner came to my office to discuss some things related to her bookkeeping. Afterward, I told her I wanted to host a celebration for my parents and asked her where a good place would be for a small gathering of about 25 people. She immediately said I should have it in my office as they could make it work and turn it into a festive place with some curtains and lights. I thought my office was too small, but she convinced me that on the weekend we’d also have hallway space to spill into if necessary, and that it would work well. I trusted her instincts and decided to take her up on her offer to handle the set-up.
I reached out to another client who makes amazing invitations, note cards, and stationery and gave her a basic concept of what I’d like and asked her to create something. I’m not very creative for these types of things, and she’s always done great things for me in the past. This time was no different. I had a fantastic invitation and was excited as responses started to arrive in the mail.
The day of the event arrived and I was impressed. My office space was converted from work stations to a festive location for a party. Although I only had appetizers/desserts, the food was amazing! I had tons of compliments and everyone enjoyed themselves. My parents saw friends they hadn’t seen in a very long time, and it was fun to see them catching up on old times. Stories told of events they experienced together, people they knew, and updates on family. My parents felt truly special and enjoyed their celebration.
I am thankful to my clients for helping me to make this such a memorable event for them. I love serving my clients, but I also love giving my clients the opportunity to serve me. I’ve seen events my clients have done in the past as I’ve been invited a few times as a guest. But now I’ve experienced first hand the services they offer and can recommend them highly! It’s one thing to attend an event and see the final presentation, but to work with someone and see how much effort they put into making your day special is amazing!
If you need an event planner or graphic artist to design special invitations or cards, I highly recommend Industry Events and Social Butterfly Designs. Their websites are http://www.ie-corporation.com/ (ask for Jon or Brittani) and http://www.socialbutterflydesigns.com/ (Jill). Let them know you read about them in this blog when you contact them as I’m sure they’d like to know how you heard about them. I’m so happy I used their services to make my parents’ anniversary celebration so special!
Candy
