Here are the photos followed by the stylish details..... (as told by Wilmara herself)
First, I'll share her stylish photos!
Here are the details, as told by Wilmara...
"A Message of Hope Cancer fund provides financial assistance to families who are facing cancer. I got involved with this organization through a fellow Dreamers into Doers member. They had already selected the theme of the gala was "Savor Life with Sweet Memories" before I was brought on. The idea was to use this theme for the corporate tables at the gala. As such, we decided on creating mini dessert table for each corporate table and they were appropriately named...Creme Brulee, Red Velvet, White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Bellini, Bordeaux, andTruffles. I styled those tables, a cupcake table, as well as a candy bar that we used to thank our guest for coming.
I worked with some amazing vendors who donated their time and talents to make this happen. I was truly grateful and blown away my the magnitude of their generosity. Let's start with he cupcake tree and table. Angelita of Flowers by Angels was up to the challenge when I asked her to create a cupcake tree. I used various shades of purple and ribbon on the tree as well as lots of crystal beads that we hung from the tree. The cupcakes were donated by Georgetown Cupcakes of the TLC Show DC Cupcakes. They donated 250 cupcakes and with the purple ribbon and hearts to fit in with our color palette. They also donated the little pink boxes we provided for guest tot take a cupcake home if they did not want one right away. Let's just say I had lots of pink boxes left over!
Flower by Angels also created these beautiful floral arrangement using the hydrangea, tulips, and purple roses donated by Whole Foods Rockville. They were stunning!
The Creme Brulee table was an assortment of 10 mini creme brulee cakes donated by Tiffany Boerner Cakes. I sent her what I had in mind and she executed it beautifully. The Red Velvet table had red velvet cake pops donated by Chrissy of We Take The Cake. The Bordeaux and Table were designed with cookies by Cookie Bouquet. A local shop here in Bethesda,MD but they ship all over. The Truffle table, of my! SPAGnVOLA donated the truffles and bonbons. This chocolatier shop believes in sustainable and eco-friendly farming. They grow their chocolate in the Dominican Republic and make all their sweets in-house. Amazing!
Whole Foods Rockville also donated mini pies. Allyson Jane Couture Cookies donated custom designed cookies specific for the gala and Sweeties by Kim gave us her fabulous custom designed chocolate dipped Oreos. She drove them down from PA that morning for me. How amazing is that! This is the generosity that I am talking about. Dipped and Delicious is a local shop that donated lots of chocolate covered pretzels for our Chocolate tables.
The dessert menus that went on the corporate tables and tent cards for the cupcake and cotton candy tables were designed and donated by the super talented Icing Designs. The fab duo of Anders Ruff Custom Designs created the candy labels, banner, and backdrop, favor labels and signage that you see at the candy bar. Candy World in Bethesda, MD donated the candy at a discount. All the guest got to fill up a little bag with their choice of candy. It was a huge hit. I think there were three little lonely jelly beans left at the end of the evening!
One of the elements I loved most about this event is the number of volunteers who cane to help us set-up. These volunteers had either benefitted from A Message of Hope's generosity or were there just to support such a worthy cause. There were two high school students who worked with me and I gave them creative license at the White Chocolate and Dark Chocolate tables. They were so excited and I think they did a great job!
I was thrilled to be able to be a part of this event and work with A Message of Hope. Tracey Dondero, their gala coordinator, was such a joy to work with. The picture of me is with Tracey. They've already asked me to come back and help them next year. I couldn't possibly say no!"
Welcome to Grace's 1st "Birday" Party
Feathers "around" her cap
Happy Birthday Grace
The nest (filled with yummy treats)
Bird feeder
The watering hole (Molly, kudos for providing adult beverages!)
Baby Grace and her cupcake. So cute!!
The fabulous favor table
Congratulations Crystal * Class of 2011
