Annual Awards Dinner at the Millennium Biltmore on a Budget and Gorgeous!

On June 7th our team transformed the Crystal Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel for the Asia Society's Annual Awards Dinner. Even on an extreme budget we were able to create a gorgeous event. Many non-profit organizations across the nation are facing the same question - how do we create the same quality event on a smaller budget. Catering costs haven't come down and clients still want more... As a planner it is our job to be creative and help the client pull a fabulous event! Below we showcase a few items of the elements we focused on to create a gorgeous event on an extreme budget. The ballroom was decked out in yellows and oranges, the colors associated with the non-profit organization, and the beautiful Asian inspired centerpieces were created by Doyle at My Flower Guy. We knew we had little in the budget for "fancy" linens so we paid close attention to lighting and threw patterns across the tables to create warmth and texture. It is also important to leverage your relationships with your vendor partners to pull rabbits out of a hat! To close the reception, guests were alerted to the ballroom doors opening with a Dhol drummer leading the way... What other way than to have drums announce a change in pace - in celebrating the organization - Asia Society - we used two different types of drums - an Indian Dhol Drummer and Japanese Taiko Drummers. For those stragglers that wanted to linger in the reception and not find their way into the main event space, we "politely" moved them along when the Japanese Taiko drummers began. It was actually great because as people started to find their seats we could hear the drummers, but it was not overpowering. They also set the stage for the rest of the program which included a panel presentation on the Economic Outlook of Asia.
We branded the event using their "Leo" as an accent through out the event from the chocolate chips on everyone's dessert to almost all event signage and gobos! It was an easy way to tie all of the elements together. A lot of bang for the buck!We were thrilled to see Billy Zane supporting the event and it's cause. Joella and Jennifer got a quick moment to take a shot with him!Thanks to Jorge of J & M Entertainment Event Production (pictured above), Chivari Chair Rentals, Luminaire images, and all of our team members who collaborated to make this such a successful event!