Derby -- 139 years of traditions (parades, parties, firework shows, concerts, festivals... you get it) all centered around a single horse race. If you've never experienced the Kentucky Derby, then you should. Even if you aren't from Kentucky, the energy surrounding Louisville is engulfing, you can't NOT be excited at least once during Derby week.
For this year's Churchill Downs Media Party... Linds and I wanted to do something big, unique, out-of-the-box. We wanted to really WOW everyone, and I'm pretty sure we succeeded!
Several trips to Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Target, and who knows where else later, it was the night before and we were ready to stage everything. We had a menu of four stations: The Antipasti Station, Slider Bar, Shrimp Station, and a Dessert Bar. We knew we wanted height and color, but also we wanted it to be FULL, not dinky or sparse looking. So we came up with a plan, had a few glasses of wine, and called it a night...
At 11 am, Brittany was making another carnation ball, Lindsay was drilling holes into white trays, and I was climbing a ladder hanging said trays. Everything came together so smoothly -- the shrimp station (while crazy heavy, and awful to move -- sorry guys!) looked fantastic with the carnation ball on the top and the red light shining through the glass blocks (thanks Rich for letting us borrow these for the night!); the antipasti station we put on an outdoor table with lanterns, foliage hanging from The Ice House's garage door leading to the Terrace, and filled it with cheeses, breads, meats and olives; the slider bar didn't need much with it's large carnation ball and trees in the center; and last but certainly not least, we hung the dessert bar from under the Mezzanine using fishing line and white trays.... and VOILA! We had one of the coolest events I've been able to be a part of! The finished product was overwhelmingly wonderful and we couldn't have been happier with it.
After we stepped back to admire our work (hey... you have to do that every once in a while!), we were ready for the guests to arrive after post positions had been announced at the track. Everyone looked great in their Derby week attire and seemed to have the best of times. When the Derby trophy was presented, it was like a stillness crept over the room... pride, anxiety, excitement... all of it rolled into ten minutes!
The rest of the night went on fabulously... and thanks to Tim Valentino and my trusty iPhone, we have tons of awesome pictures!
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
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| Courtesy of Tim Valentino |
Stay tuned for more Derby week posts!
"eat, drink & be merry"
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