Center City Wedding

I had the great pleasure of attending a good friend and colleague's wedding on April 16, 2011 in Center City Philadelphia.  The ceremony was held in the atrium of the Curtis Center.  The four-star event was extremely elegant and unforgettable.

It was very apparent that the couple chose a theme and carried it throughout the ceremony and reception.  This made it very hard to select one Society Pages Spotlight, so it has to be shared with a few of my favorite decorations from the night.  The couple decided to decorate the space with simple black and white.  The colorless palette created a timeless look and allowed the one vibrant accent color to pop out (as seen in the hydrangea in front of the altar below).

To create a warm feeling, the couple used lots of draping along the walls of the atrium.  It completely transformed the space from an everyday office building into a ceremony room.  Those who know how to  decorate will always opt for draping when given a large space and attempting to close it in.

The wedding cake was truly a piece of art.  It was so simple, yet ornate.  It tied seamlessly into the classic theme of the wedding, looked great and was delicious (its often hard to do all three).  Notice how the hydrangea even made its way into the cake space.  I've said it before: love is in the details...

Esquire1911 tip:  Especially when hosting a wedding, one should remember to accommodate guests when the event lasts several hours.  If you keep your guests comfortable, they'll stay longer.  Add some lounge furniture along the reception space.  It takes up lots of room so the space doesn't feel empty and allows guests to kick back and rest their feet from all of the dancing.  Lounge furniture (as seen below) can be rented from any event design company.  Trust me, its worth it.

Easter Egg Hunt

On April 23, 2011, the day before Easter, I volunteered to host an Easter egg hunt for children in Camden, New Jersey.  The event was sponsored by the Rutgers Law Alumni Association with support from the Rutgers Black Law Students Association.  This was our first year doing the egg hunt and it was a tremendous success.  Each kid received an Easter basket, snacks and a fun-filled afternoon.

If you know anything about about Camden, NJ, then you know how important it was to host this event for the local children.  The city has been named one of the most dangerous cities for several years and the children there are often discounted and presumed to fail because of their circumstances.  This volunteer effort gave the children a positive and memorable experience and let them know that people do care about them.

The Society Pages Spotlight has to go to the Easter Bunny.  When he showed up, the kids went wild and it truly made the event memorable.  Below is a pic of the kids doing the hokie pokie with the Easter Bunny.  You'll never guess who's in the bunny costume.  :)

A Few Good Men

On April 9, 2011, the Burlington-Camden Kappa Foundation hosted its third beautillion titled, "A Few Good Men."  The beautillion program consists of four months of workshops, enrichment activities, community service and individual mentoring designed to prepare high school juniors and seniors for college and subsequent life.  The culminating event, the beautillion ball, is a black-tie affair where the "beaux" and perform talents, dance a waltz with their "belles" and receive a scholarship.  The Society Pages Spotlight goes to "Mr. Beautillion 2011" (below), who was given the title as a result of his extraordinary performance throughout the program.

The event was held at Lucien's Manor in Berlin, New Jersey.  This venue offered a magnificent ballroom (which you can see in the bottom photo) and picturesque landscaping.  The photo below captures all 23 of the beaux and belles before the night's event began.

Although the beaux are young, each of them realized that the beautillion was a formal affair and required strict adherence to the rules of black-tie attire.  Each young man wore a black tux, white shirt and black bow tie.  This created a timeless and mature look for the beaux.  Their belles wore black evening gowns with black opera gloves.  They can all look forward to prom as an opportunity to spice up their black-tie looks.



Esquire1911 tip:  Oprah once commented that "love is in the details."  I strongly believe in this as well.  In decorating the ballroom, we selected red uplighting to line the room's ceiling.  It was a subtle addition, but a perfect touch to include the fraternity's colors.  I'd recommend uplighting/pinspot lighting at any formal affair.  It adds so much and is a true expression of love.