Boston Hip Hostess – Event Recap
categories: decorating ideas, events, get inspired
I’m so happy to report that the Boston Hip Hostess Event was a success! Everyone we met on our trip to Boston was so incredibly nice, the venue – KO Prime at Nine Zero Hotel – was wonderful to work with, and we had a fantastic turnout! Here are some photos to give you a sense of what the evening was like – and there are more photos up in the complete galleries on the HWTM Facebook page.
Also – as a side note – our next Hip Hostess event is coming up QUICK! It’s Thursday, February 5th (2 weeks from tomorrow) at the new SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills in Los Angeles – and registration just opened up! Space is limited, so please click here to reserve your spot soon! (The theme this time around is “Hollywood Glam/Oscar Party” in honor of the upcoming Academy Awards – more details to come!)
And now, back to the Boston recap…starting at the top with the 3 of the signature drinks that guests enjoyed throughout the night: Chambord & Champagne, the French Martini, and the Chambord CranBerry Crush. (With dessert we also served Chambord Hot Cocoa topped with whipped cream – a nice way to end the night before guests headed back out into the freezing cold weather!)
The theme of the night was “Entertaining on a Budget” – which basically meant that we demonstrated lots of ways to dress up your table and party decor using inexpensive elements like decorative papers, scrapbooking supplies and items that you already own (such as the square wall shelves pictured in the centerpiece design above, which were given a scrapbook paper trim to coordinate with the tablescape.)
In the “dinner party” table pictured above, scrapbook paper was used in place of linen placemats and also to create the “napkin rings”, stemware charms, and to cover die-cut chipboard shapes (butterflies and birds), which were used in the centerpiece and on the place settings.
The same concepts were used in the 2nd sample table, which was a little more fun/whimsical and would be ideal for something like a bridal shower or girlie birthday party…
In this table, acrylic silver charger plates (only $10/set of 4 at Macy’s) – were used to dress up the table. Circles of scrapbook paper peeked through beneath the clear glass plates ($1.95 each at Crate & Barrel), and the same papers were used to create coordinating drink coasters, napkin rings, & place cards – and to dress up wooden block letters from Michaels. The table “runner” was created from a roll of red gift wrap from Target.
The centerpiece featured a large cylinder vase filled with sand and spray-painted Japanese mitsumata branches, which make a very big impact for minimal cost, and the other 2 vases (red and blue) – are accessories from my home (once again playing on the idea of re-purposing things you already own.)
Here’s a pic of the same table once the lights were dimmed (and there are several more shots of the rest of it in the facebook gallery).
This next image shows part of the “Party Decor Inspiration” table. So many topics to cover here, so I’ll save them for the next post to avoid turning this one into a short novel!
Here’s me with Tim Laird – Chambord’s “Chief Entertaining Officer” (a.k.a. “fantastic mixologist”) – who always gives a fun presentation on how to mix up a few tasty cocktails right after I give some party decor tips.
This is what I especially love to see… lots of happy guests enjoying themselves and having fun…
Each guest took home mini bottles of Chambord and a few other goodies… all wrapped up in gift bags adorned with faux butterflies that matched the rest of the decor: (Many thanks to Brittany, who had the lovely task of glueing hundreds of butterflies!)
Hope you enjoyed this first recap… more to come soon. And for those of you in the LA area – hope to see you in February! 
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It was such a gorgeous event! I had a blast! Congrats, Jenn… Looking forward to Los Angeles in 2 weeks.
Jan 21, 2009 at 11:38 am -
any chance of a philadelphia hip hostess event? i want to come to one of these so badly!
Jan 21, 2009 at 11:47 am -
I can’t believe I’m going to miss the event in LA because I’ll be in San Francisco. How disappointing!
Jan 21, 2009 at 12:07 pm -
I am so excited you are coming back to LA! Can’t wait to finally come to an event.
Jan 21, 2009 at 12:35 pm -
Everything you do looks fresh and new! (Honestly, I was not trying to make a rhyme). You are an endless vessel of ideas!!
http://www.celebrationsathome.blogspot.com
Jan 21, 2009 at 1:53 pm -
Hoping there might be an Atlanta event down the line sometime, I am always jealous seeing these events held elsewhere in the US
Jan 21, 2009 at 2:11 pm -
Wow – thanks for the wonderful compliment Chris! You’ve made my day
Jen & Katherine – right now we only have LA and Miami on the calendar…I wish we could go to many many more places, but that whole “budget” thing comes into play….sigh :0 But you never know what the future may bring, right?
Diana – I’m sad you’ll miss it too!
But S.F. is a lovely place to visit at least!Erin – see you on the 5th!
Jan 21, 2009 at 5:23 pm -
I really want to travel up but live in the LB area, anyone down to carpool?
Jan 21, 2009 at 5:38 pm -
I’ve been following your blog and ideas for a long time now. I’m so excited that I’ll finally have the opportunity to come to one of these events! Thank you for your creativity and inspiration, and for coordinating these fabulous evenings!
Jan 21, 2009 at 11:19 pm I hope I get to meet you in LA! -
I agree with Katherine, PLEASE come to Atlanta! The Silhouette would be a great place to host the event.
Jan 22, 2009 at 5:43 am -
such a beautiful party. i love seeing all the scrapbook paper we designed being used in fun and different way. love american crafts!
Jan 22, 2009 at 8:39 am -
I love the ideas and set up! Great stuff.
Jan 22, 2009 at 9:38 am -
I love the saturated red in these tablescapes! The butterflies are also a great touch. When will the Hip Hostess event come to D.C.??
Jan 22, 2009 at 10:12 am -
Jenn,
Jan 22, 2009 at 11:04 am
Where can I learn more about the L.A event? I would love to attend it.
Best,
Shoa -
Hi Shoa –
Jan 22, 2009 at 11:15 am
I’m going to post more details about it later today! -
Everything looks amazing.
Jan 22, 2009 at 12:13 pm -
Breathlessly, we wait for more details, love all the touches, and that I can run out to Michael’s and recreate the whole thing. http://www.dawnypoo.blogspot.com
Jan 22, 2009 at 3:23 pm -
Jen! This looks great! WOW!
Jan 22, 2009 at 3:30 pm -
I love those butterfly prints – so cool!
Jan 22, 2009 at 8:18 pm -
Hi Shoa –
Jan 23, 2009 at 10:56 am
I haven’t had a chance to do a post about the LA event yet :0 – so that will probably go up Monday now. But in the meantime you can register for one of the 2 sessions at http://www.chambordonline/hostess – and I can tell you that the theme of this event is Old Hollywood Glamour in honor of the upcoming Academy Awards -
Your events always look amazing!..I love what you did with the twigs and flowers coming out of the vases…they look great in that dim lighting…
Jan 23, 2009 at 3:20 pm -
Fianlly! I cant wait until the LA event, it looks you guys had a blast in Boston. See you on the 5th!
Jan 25, 2009 at 4:08 pm -
When are you coming to NYC this year?
Jan 28, 2009 at 8:11 pm -
I love your website! I am so upset I missed your Boston Event. Will you be back to host another event? I would love to go!!
Feb 3, 2009 at 9:40 am -
Thanks, everyone! Chrissy & Emily – we only had 7 events total slated for the Hip Hostess Series and since the Boston & NY events already happened (NY was in September 2008) we don’t have any return trips on the calendar right now. Of course we’d love to come back, but it all depends on what’s feasible with the budget. As soon as anything new comes up, blog readers will be the first to know!
Feb 10, 2009 at 10:01 am -
this is an awesome site! ok, this may be a stupid question, but when you did the roll of wrapping paper from target down the middle of the tablecloth for a red runner, how far does it extend? does it run the same length as the tablecloth? just over the edge of the table? only the length of the surface? thanks!
Aug 20, 2009 at 11:48 pm
