August 26, 2010- The White Hot Event
Please indulge me a moment to express my personal gratitude. I know it’s tough financial times out there and I’m really moved at the generosity of the members of our industry who opened their wallets anyway to donate to Arizona Helping Hands. WEN is matching all of those donations. Thank you all.
WEN wouldn’t happen without people donating goods and services to our meetings. It was a pleasure to meet at the new Noah’s in Chandler- we wish you success here in Arizona! Brian Chartrand provided the great music for the evening. I met him at a wedding last spring at which I was the DJ. He was hired to come in and do just the bride and groom first dance song- live and he knocked it out of the park. Brad and staff at Special Moments Catering makes the best bananas foster in the history of the world. I was too busy talking to attendees and I never got to the rest of the food- other than popping a couple of cherry tomatoes in my mouth. I heard that the soup was fantastic.
AZ Wedding Decor did the great ceiling. A feature of Noah’s is that the ceiling lowers on cables for such decorations- no ladders or scaffolding required- cool huh? Dave Forman from Pourmasters privided the bar service. Bartender “Shay” has been to a few WEN meetings and she’s charming and personable and professional- as are all of the bartenders from Pourmasters.
BBJ Linens whited out the room properly for the occasion with great linens as usual. Tri-Rentals provided the ultra-hip white hot lounge furniture to decorate the Groom’s lounge room where Mike and co from Snap Booth provided a crazy awesome photo booth. Casey Graham from I Do Photography was behind the camera that night. Her work and the photobooth photos are linked here under “photos and video”
Special thanks to Erika Vitaris and staff at White Hot Events for bringing it all together and giving it the electric flavor that it IS the annual White Hot Event.
July 22, 2010
We stepped outside of the box for our meeting location this month and into the air conditioned Biasch and Skinner flower wholesaler showroom. There couldn’t have been a more perfect place for the for time of year. The cool air was fine but the flowers made it seem even cooler. Thanks to Tri-Rentals for the tables, chairs and linens. Pourmasters is always quick to send a qualified bartender and serve up drinks. Ann from Strut Bridal had a couple of dresses on display. Stephanie Bond from J Bond Jewelry had a great display of custsom jewelry that doesn’t require an extra hand to put it on your wrist or neck- see the video from the event to see what I’m talking about. Noelle, head chef at Fresh From the Kitchen, took care of some fantastic bean salsa and some green chile pork with tortillas. David from Bamboo Bakery had about 20 flavors of wedding cake to sample that night. Count my vote for the banana-vanilla one and the red velvet. Mmmm, Mmmm, MMM! Angela Simpson from Angelina Rose Photography was behind the camera and her work that night can be found under “photos and video”. She’s been a WEN member for some time now and the more I get to know her, the more I like her. She’s as talented with her craft as she is beautiful and charming.
You’ll be impressed with the video from Yvonne and Aaron Hudson at Rainstorm Video. Aaron disappeared into the woodwork and captured lots of candid video along with some other footage that was a bit more posed. You can see it under “photos and video” here on wenaz.com. Well done!
June 24, 2010
The June WEN meeting was the grand opening of sorts for the new Regale! at DC Ranch. It’s a charming new venue operated by Tony Laub and his amenable staff. Harley Bonham was behind the camera that night. Couture Candy Company had a fantastic candy table for desert. Amy and staff from Flipbook Memories- well, it was too crazy awesome to explain here, pay a visit to thier website. Mark Sanchez, president of the American DJ Association and owner of PME DJ service took care of the music for us. Pourmasters served up the drinks. Tri-Rentals took care of tables and chairs and linens- we couldn’t do it without you guys. Put a Fork in it provided the food for the night so we didn’t whither away. It was Deee-LISH!
Special thanks to JoAnn Grant from Apropos Creations. I was terribly busy with DJ work in May and just couldn’t get out to Regale with JoAnn to start planning the event. She didn’t wait around until I was available, she just took care of the planning of the event. Thanks JoAnn. You ROCK!
MAY 27, 2010
Ahhh… the prom. There were several other things to do on May 27th with graduations and the big Suns game but we had a great meeting and I think it will have to become an annual event- The WEN prom! I had a few members tell me (a bit emotionally) that they had missed thier high school prom for some reason and this night kinda put that behind them. That’s nice.
Damita Curry from Proms Made Simple suggested the idea nearly a year ago and she really deserves all the credit for such a great meeting. Living Energy provided the music and video projection. Encore! Creative was our host venue and Stephanie Lerner couldn’t have been more accomodating. Whatever we needed, she took care of it. As usual, Dave and staff from Pourmasters kept us liquified and served up the drinks. Chris and Tammie from Largo Photography got a “WEN Class of 2010″ photograph that will be posted here soon. We had lots of fun with the Self Portrat Station as well. The thing that was cool about that was that you get to hold a little remote control button to take your own picture when you are ready. Nice feature.
The best element of the night had to be the food from Mi Catering. Maria and her son Manuel may have provided the best food we have ever had at a WEN meeting. I commented about 8 months ago that another caterer had done it- (best food ever) I don’t know if time has passed and I’ve forgotten how good that really was or if THIS was the best. Hmmmm… I think THIS was the best food we’ve ever had! I overheard that there were 80 ingredients in one of the delectible dishes!
Thanks again to Leah Janes (Looking very ‘Audry Hepburn’ in her prom dress by the way…) from A Silver Lining, she provided a custom designed tiara for our Prom Queen!
MAY 6, 2010
It was a great night out on the west end of town. Our host, Molina Bridal has some new believers among the WEN membership. Heather and Sondra were so sweet to open the doors after hours for us right in the middle of prom season. VeeRonna Ragone and Sherry Finzer with their band, Dulce Vas provided the beautiful background music which even surpassed thier physical beauty if you could even imagine such a thing. Chef Julia Aldana from All About Catering provided some tasty treats. Lanette Romero, the Cake Contessa, had some chocolate covered strawberries and cupcakes and some other various and sundy pastries. Michelle and Lael from Planet Beach spa on McDowell provided a way cool $200 giveaway- a WEN newbie won the drawing on that. Tracy from Arizona Bartenders took care of drinks for us. Jacque Dearing and Kathy Bagget from Thee Wedding Warehouse, home of Endearing Floral Design provided candles and flowers and really knocked the decor out of the park. Steve Bader is a great addition to thier team out there. Kathy also took care of some behind-the-scenes promotional stuff for the meeting. It’s a Celebration party rentals is a new neighbor of Molina Bridal and they provided tables and chairs and linens.
A vendor of note on this meeting was Cyndi Hardy Photography. She stepped in late in the game and became the hall of fame record holder for most WEN meetings photographed. You must pay a visit to her website and consider her professional abilities when you are in need of a photographer for a wedding or other event. Thanks Cyndi! Her work from this meeting will be linked on this website under “photos and video”.
APR 22, 2010
Our host venue for this meeting, The Views at Superstition, has been a member of WEN for some time and wanted to host a meeting, but I resisted because Gold Canyon is rather distant from the city center and I was concerned that the value of hosting a meeting would be diminished because of lighter attendance. Tracy just asked me to come and have lunch and see the venue. I knew when I walked in the door that the WEN group needed to see that place. I even pushed the date off for several more months so that the sun would be setting on Superstition mountain as our members arrived. The venue is on a second floor with giant windows the just FRAME the mountain brilliantly. What a great venue!
Chef Brad, not to be confused with Sales Brad, from Special Moments Catering took care of the food for us that night- they are a real treasure to have as part of this industry. Leah Janes from A Silver Lining had some of her custom bridal veils on display AND the tiara for our WEN prom coming up. Debbie Sweet from ArtZengraving had a crazy awesome table of promotional and novelty custom engraved crystal and such. We couldn’t do it without Pourmasters keeping the thirst at bay. Amanda Stephan photographed the event and you can see some of the pictures on this website under photos and video. Long-time members Bobbe and Donnie Hayes from MediaCreated4U brought video cameras and will be editing a nice WEN video that I’ll get up here soon. I’m a DJ professionally and I’m going to say something very controversial… we may have had the perfect music at this event… Thanks to DJ Rob from Got You Covered DJ service, it couldn’t have been better.
MAR 25, 2010
It’s amazing that such a great and seemingly well-known venue as the Boojum Tree was still undiscovered by several shocked, stunned and otherwise amazed attendees! We can’t thank Tasha Miller and staff enough for hosting the meeting. Anita from Special Events Linens took care of the linens that complimented the tropical landscaping perfectly. Cherie from Set ‘em Up bartending service was most pleasant and helpful and kept the drinks flowing. Lois Koenig from Girls Luv Pearls donated a lovely necklace to be given away- she was overcome by the exhuberance of the evening and also donated a bracelet. Lauren and staff from Santa Barbara Catering were brilliant the food was incredibly tasty. A2Z Photobooths were showing off some new technology with one of thier photobooths. Chris and Jill Smith from A2Z are a long time members and friends of the Wedding and Event Network.
The piece de resistance was the brilliant work (as always) from Karin of God’s Garden Treasures. The floral centerpieces were perfect. Who knew thistles could be so stunning? Andy Delisle from Deloeil Photography took pictures of the event and you can see his work under “photos and video” I don’t know the Boojum Tree’s cat’s name but he seemed happy to have us around that night.
FEB 25, 2010
The members of WEN met at the exquisxitely beautiful Le Soiree Banquet Hall in Phoenix. Our host and venu owner, Deepika, did a loveley job turning a storefront into a Tuscan palace… a truly wonderful place to have a wedding or other event. We thank her for opening the doors and hosting the meeting.
Barb and Burton Shapiro of Greenscreen Entertainment brought their camera and a wardrobe of props to take funny pictures with exotic backgrounds. Several members had a really great time with the feather boas and funny hats but we won’t say who.
We also wish to thank Dana of Candy’s Apples who brough his delightful and delicious apples dipped in carmel, chocolate, nuts, marshmallows etc., etc., etc. Dana is welcome to be a featured vendor any time he wants. A special thank you to Denise Palma from Arizona Bartenders for providing drinks. Thanks Denise, we’re glad you’re a member of WEN. Angela Hetherington of ImagesbyAngela photographed the event and you can see a few pics on her blog- the link is on our site under “sphotos and video.” WEN owner Curtis Whipple brought a little bit of his DJ equipment to provide some nice background music.
JAN 28, 2010
Eighty laughing, enthusiastic members of WEN gathered for the first meeting of 2010 in the beautiful ballroom of Seville Golf and Country Club. Our host, Melissa Sprinkle did an admirable job of showing off her facility and making everyone welcome. The signature drink of the evening was great! Thank you Melissa.
We also thank, Still Life Studios for the photography- you made us all look beautiful/handsome and very intersting. Special thanks also goes to Laurie Southwick for the linens and Eric Burkhard of Be in Love Designs for the centerpieces. AZ Celebrity DJ took care of the music, the uplights and a fun photobooth.
DEC 29, 2009
Alas, poor 2009, we hardly knew ye! What a great way to end a year- with our WEN friends. We moved our meeting to the Tuesday between Christmas and New Years and could clearly feel a sigh of relief in the air. It was kindof a mid-season breather. MonOrchid was a great host venue- it’s just a crazy awesome space. Ever After Florals provided some ZEN garden greenery and floral arrangements- Jen, you ROCK! Ms. Noelle Salinas from Fresh from the Kitchen knocked it out of the park with the Asian menu. Tim and Shauna from Visionyard Studios photographed the event. Couldn’t do it without Pourmasters and Tri Rentals. Tyson Barry from Amphion Entertainment took care of our music that night. Here’s to a great 2010!
NOV 19, 2009
Well, that was pretty cool! What a great place to hold a WEN meeting. Thanks to Lilly Norman- the shop owner at Anastasia’s Bath Body Boudoir. Her husband took care of the event lighting and drapes. Alan Pongetti for the classical guitar music, Karen Wheeler of Cookie Couture Company for the deserts. Those high-heeled shoe cookies were strangely erotic.
Our meetings wouldn’t happen without Tri-rentals taking care of the tables and linens. Dave Foreman of Pourmasters always takes care of our drinks and sends a qualified and personable bar tender. Thank you.
OCT 22, 2009
This month, the members of the Wedding and Event Network met in the At Ease Fitness Center. in the north part of Scottsdale. We extend our thanks to Becky Spangler and her staff for their enthusiastic hospitality and gracious forbearance as we moved their equipment around to accomodate tables and chairs, a band and a bunch of people not dressed for a work out.
We also thank Party People for the great set up and beautiful linens. Creations in Cuisine provided the best food we have had in a long time… thank you, Tony and Frank. Cindy Kemp of Flower Trends brought in great flower arrangements. GoodyTwos send toffee candy for those who love sweets… the toffee was wonderful. Sarah Hagerty snapped photos of all of the attendees having a great time. As ever, our gratitude is sent to Dave Foreman of Pourmasters who never fails us! Patrick Andrew of Our Story is a Song provided lovely music in a new format. Last, but not least, thanks to Heather Sloane of Eventfully Yours, Heather who coordinated the event.
If you missed the meeting, we’ll look forward to seeing you on November 19th at Anastasias Boudior in Scottsdale.
Links below
Our Story is a Song- Music for the evening. Flower Trends provided Centerpieces. Party People Rentals provided tables, chairs and linens. Creations in Cuisine provided the fabulous food. Couldn’t do it without Pourmasters. Sarah Hagerty photographed the event- see her work under “photos and video” Eventfully Yours, Heather planned the event and At Ease Fitness was our host venue.
OCT 8, 2009
Thanks to everybody who participated in the West Valley WEN meeting on Oct 8th at Estrella Vista Reception Center. It was a blast!
Estrella Vista Reception Center - Host venue Kokopelli Winery - Wine tasting and hors d ovours Cyndi Hardi Photography - Photographed the event- See her work under “Slideshows” on this site. Makara - Belly dancing Thee Wedding Warehouse - Event coordination The Cake Contessa - Caramel apples and cupcakes Custom Cakes by Elizabeth - Cake DJ Smooth - Music It’s a Celebration - Cotton candy machine, Popcorn machine