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by Sonia Nordenson photography by Cheryl Mac, pureimagephoto.com
On May 24, the YWD team hosted a San Francisco cocktail reception exclusively for professionals in the wedding industry. The event took place at Hotel Vitale, a modern new boutique hotel so well designed that it’s already a local landmark. Thrown to celebrate the publication of YWD’s summer issue, the party kicked off a series of 2007 release parties for the magazine.
The gathering was held on the Hotel Vitale’s waterfront rooftop, overlooking San Francisco Bay and the Bay Bridge. Visually, it was absolutely stunning. We watched the beautiful, sunny day mellow into evening as we listened to the sophisticated sounds of the versatile Ever Music Group.
The design sponsors, who decided (appropriately enough) to designate themselves as the event architects, were f. duncan reyes events by design, MB Wedding Design and Events, Allure Wedding Consulting, and Dream a Little Dream Events. These organizations created a striking showcase of four uniquely designed tabletops within a meeting space on the resort’s first floor.
Arriving guests were greeted in the lobby by hotel personnel bearing trays of Domaine Carneros “Le Rêve” champagne, and were then escorted to the showcase. When they had regarded the tabletops to their full satisfaction, they were invited to the fifth floor Plaza Terrace to view a ceremony setting. They were then directed to the seventh floor Penthouse Suite, where the partying and networking ultimately took place on two terraces. From the suite, the guests stepped through French doors to the Penthouse Suite Terrace and then a few more steps led them down to the Waterfront Terrace, where Grey Goose martinis and hand-crafted hors d’oeuvres awaited them.
Many of the industry’s “best of the best” from the Bay Area and Northern California attended—the full guest capacity for this event was 100, and as people proffered their RSVPs this maximum capacity was soon reached, creating a waiting list of dozens more.
Besides the exceptional venue and breathtaking views, a number of individuals made the event extraordinary: Candace Palec, Special Events & Executive Meetings Manager for Hotel Vitale, served as the consummate coordinator for all the participating sponsors…the hotel staff members were amazing, treating us all like royalty…the event architects put together an awesome showcase that created a major buzz, with guests having to actually be urged to continue up to the main event…Executive Chef Paul Arenstam of the hotel’s Americano Restaurant produced a delectable spread of organic fare…the flowers from Hunt Littlefield, Spiral Hand, and Natalie Bowen Designs were entrancing…Enhanced Lighting produced some alluring illumination effects…Justin Fone Productions provided videography…Pinnacle Communications did our audiovisual work…we obtained all the needed furniture, linens, and other equipment from Neil Adams Event Resources, Classic Party Rentals, and Blueprint Studios…and we all enjoyed pretty paper luxuries from the Cardgirl company. Photographer, Michelle Walker, was also on hand to assist in documenting this beautiful affair.
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