Blog

On August 28th, 2009 my husband Gene turned 30 years old. Of course, as a wedding planner, I had to do something special for him on such a landmark birthday! About a year ahead of time, I started planning his surprise party. Why so early? Well, that’s about when the best wedding and event professionals start booking up! It started with the invitations, created by the amazing Tifany of Gourmet Invitations.

The amazing cakes were provided by Cakes by Stephanie - one was HoHo flavored (Gene’s favorite), the other was Strawberry. They were devoured by the end of the night, much like they were 3 years ago when we got married!

Decor was provided by two of my favorites, MPE Events and Fabulous Events (linens, lanterns and centerpieces). We were planning on having everything outside, but of course, that happened to be the day last year when it not only rained, but it POURED ALL DAY - starting first thing in the morning and ending late in the night.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful working relationship with Colonial Events, whose amazing staff was out first thing in the morning to put up an emergency tent over the deck! They also hung some uplighting in the tent, which looked great later on at night!

When Gene got home from work, I went to the front of the house to bring him around back for his surprise! Dionne and her husband were there from The Shooting Gallery to catch it all on their cameras - I love all the amazing pictures they took!

The food was all done by family - my mom and Gene’s parents helped out so that there was enough to go around for all 50+ guests that came to celebrate!

Gene got some hilarious gifts from his friends, including a t-shirt with tons of quotes and one-liners that had him cracking up for a good half hour.

Another huge hit of the evening was the Shutterbooth - always a great way to entertain guests!

Our dog Phoebe had a great time as well!