Party of the Year!

I have been so fortunate to have attended many swanky soirees in my day.  I routinely find myself in roles that require planning showers, weddings, sorority functions, church functions, reunions and, of course all of my high school dances and balls! Even if I wasn't coordinating it, I still made myself available to go to every prom in Danville and greater east bay area since my freshman year of high school.  I pretty much have an eye for this sort of thing.  If I do say so myself. :-P

Recently, I had an e-mail in my mailbox from a spouse that I don't hear from very regularly.  She was asking for my help to secure a babysitter and a romantic restaurant for she and her soldier's third wedding anniversary.  She told me how excited she was that he is taking her out for a night on the town, and that she's never been on a date that required dressing up.  With the help of my trusty babysitter, a few great restaurant recommendations, and her husband's pocket book, she had a night that she will never forget.  She told me so.

With that in mind, I knew that it was imperative that the rest of our ladies are reciprocated the same boost that they've been providing to our soldiers throughout this deployment.  They need to ditch the kids and their "Lancer" t-shirts and sweat pants to spend an evening being made to feel as special as they are.  With our soldiers being wiped out from, oh, being deployed for a year; I knew that I had a big party to plan.

Six weeks, three dates, five venue changes, and three last minute fundraisers later, we have a party plan in motion!

I will say this has been my most complicated party planning experience yet, since my only accomplice, my Nick, is not an easy one to pin down! :-P (Nor does party planning top his list of priorities right now as it does on my own! Go figure. ;))

The Lancers are going to blow off some steam at the Hilton Downtown Nashville just half a block from the main music strip!  We will start off with a cocktail reception with heavy hors d'oeuvres and a bar in the lobby.  Then we'll move the party to a secondary location within the hotel for dessert and dancing (and another bar and "prom" pictures with a funky twist!)  Something about the word "cocktail" makes a party sound so much more...posh!  As if that weren't already great enough, the Hilton is offering us an extreme discount on rooms for the night!  Like, 1/3 of the price these rooms usually cost...Unbelievable!

Nothing says "charity case" like a girl coming into your establishment, with signs of early frostbite, with her ragamuffin child strapped to her chest, asking for help to plan a welcome home party on a meager budget.  Kind of a "Pretty Woman" moment, but with an entirely different response!  The Hilton has absolutely risen to the occasion, I have been amazed by their generosity!

The word is out and people are RSVP-ing!  I can hardly wait!!!!

This is where the cocktail reception will take place, obviously it will look different when it's set up for the party & with the night time lighting (there are enormous windows in the hotel and in the atrium lobby.)  We lucked out and get to take advantage of the jazz musician that will already be entertaining in the lobby during cocktails!  

 This is a wacky picture (I blame Emmy being on my chest in the ergo).  But, this is the Ryman Tea Room and hallway.  We will have the DJ set up at the end.  There are small "break out" meeting rooms coming off the hallway.  In one of them, we will have the photographer set up with her back drop and plenty of ridiculous costumes and props for hilarious prom photos.  This space will be set-up with soft seating to resemble a "lounge" feel, with a bar and dessert display in the center area.

 There are windows along the side of the whole hallway that look out to the Bridgestone arena and onto the music strip.  There are huge glass doors that open out to an outdoor terrace that will be available for our use as well!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is warmer so that we can enjoy this awesome perk!