Confetti Event Awards

by Lisa Buscietta

Celebrating the talented event industry professionals in Colorado

The ICON gala that we have all known and loved for 20 years returned in 2019 as the Confetti Event Awards. This beloved annual event was redesigned with a new concept while continuing to celebrate Colorado’s best events and the talented professionals in the event planning industry all while raising money for numerous Colorado nonprofits.

Event chair Elizabeth Hamilton gathered an amazing team and began planning the redesigned event last fall. John Tobey and Shannon McLaughlin with John Tobey Events lead the team along with Brittany Dosdall of By Design Collective. Other members of the team included Ashley Summers, Kelli Kindel and Brynn Swanson.

The event started in March with a kick-off party at the beautiful JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek Hotel organized by Leorah Young, senior catering sales manager. Guests enjoyed appetizers, a pasta bar and libations provided by Blanchard Family Wines along with music by Mannequin the Band. Perfect Petal designed stunning floral displays. Woody Creek Distillers created a signature cocktail dubbed the Confettitini, a coral drink in keeping with the theme colors.

For the main event, gone would be the ballroom setting and the sit-down dinner. In its place would be an interactive event with small guest lounges and food stations strategically placed throughout the venue. The showroom at BMW of Denver Downtown provided the perfect location for this event. Veteran event planner John Tobey, celebrating his 20th year in the business, specializes in the layout, design and flow of an event. He and the other talented event planners took the open showroom and transformed this space into an incredible event venue.

The theme of the event was Colorado Contemporary with a nod to the Southwest. Colors included slate blue, blush, gold and living coral. The vendors could not have done a better job collaborating and bringing the theme to life with a playful bright vibe.

Perfect Petal provided amazing florals on the bar and food stations as well as in the guest lounges and up the staircase. Woody Creek Distillers, a long-time contributor to the awards gala, along with Mondo Vino, provided liquor and beverages and Rob Schenk of ShowTek 2.0 handled lighting and production for the event. Yours Truly Cupcake treated lounge guests to mini-cupcakes in delicious flavors including Key lime, graham cracker cake with Key lime frosting and Sprinkle Cake with cream cheese frosting.

Catering by Design presented an array of scrumptious food for the evening featuring innovative displays and the newest trends in the market. Their selections were based on recent culinary adventures. Custom uniforms were designed specifically for the event featuring chambray aprons and bandanas for a pop of color. Decor by Design created the interactive food stations throughout the venue and set the tone with sleek wood designs and bold colors.

Inventive and cutting-edge is the only way to describe both the food and the presentation of the culinary selections. The “Over the Top” pour-over station featured large urns filled with fresh herbs. Guests chose their lamb or cheese ravioli and then watched as the chefs poured a piping hot broth through fresh herbs over the ravioli to complete this delicious sampling.  Later in the evening this station transformed from savory to sweet and featured burnt honey ice cream with ginger-flavored cotton candy and gold flake “confetti”. This decadent dessert was finished with a pour-over of chai.

Guests were in awe of the “Best Fishes to You” raw bar table featuring scallop, hamachi and watermelon crudo served in globes. After selecting their crudo, guests moved to a spinning display of tasting vinegar pipettes containing Thai basil, pomegranate and honey ginger vinegars to complement the dish.

Eclectic Hive took charge of the decor and collaborated with Catering by Design and By Design Collective to pull the theme together throughout the event space. They styled the guest lounges and did a wonderful job of using the existing BMW furniture and bringing in pieces that seamlessly came together to create the perfect ambiance. Guests entered through two 9-foot iron rings decorated with LED lights and salmon-colored balloons by Deann Espinosa of Denver Balloon Animals. The balloons were tone-on-tone using different textures, from shiny to luster, and various sizes. Coral baby’s breath that had been hand- dipped added a final touch to the arches. The Sentologist, Tiffany Goodyear, scented the entrance with a fragrance of Pom Pom Llama with notes of cantaloupe and black pepper.

One of the many highlights of the evening was the awards presentation. The event space lent itself perfectly to holding the awards in the upstairs showroom. A beautifully decorated stage and seating for all guests provided for a captive audience as awards were given to the winners in each of the 12 categories by emcee Ed Greene. A long-standing tradition of the event has been the drawing of the name of one lucky nonprofit to be awarded $25 from each ticket purchased. This year’s recipient was the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.

After the awards were presented it was time to get the party started. Guests danced the night away to the fabulous Jordan Kahn Orchestra who flew in from Dallas. Social Light Photo Booth provided fun photos in front of a beautiful backdrop designed by Ashley Summers. Brynn Swanson worked with Rachael Teufel of Intricate Icings to design and implement a custom cake especially for the awards with a mini confetti cannon erupting from inside the cake. As the evening came to a close, guests were surprised by a final sweet treat from Yours Truly Cupcake. A cotton candy cart was set up so that guests could gather a sugary sampling as they waited for the valet to deliver their cars.

The new style of this event received praise from both attendees and vendors. Guests mingled amongst friends and peers and commented that it was a refreshing change that allowed them to mix and mingle while enjoying libations and delicious food. None of this would have been possible without the event chairs, who brought their expertise, vision and resources forward to create this special evening.

There are no words to express our gratitude to the vendor partners who came together and went above and beyond to provide everything needed for this special evening. Please see the sidebar to this story for a complete listing of our vendors. We encourage our readers to use these Individuals and companies for your next private event or gala. They are simply the best.

The inaugural year of the Confetti Event Awards was a great success. We congratulate the finalists and winners and again thank everyone who contributed to this re-designed and re-imagined awards gala. See you next year!

 

Congratulations to the 2019 Confetti Event Award Winners

 

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY

Zorn Photography for Tiffany and Eric at the Denver Country Club

 

BEST INVITATION

Table 6 Productions for Mary and Austin’s Wedding

 

BEST ENTERTAINMENT CONCEPT AND EXECUTION

Imprint Events Group for Beaux Arts Bollywood Ball

 

BEST SOCIAL EVENT PRODUCED FOR A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

DesignWorks for Beaux Arts Bollywood Ball

 

BEST EVENT PRODUCED FOR A CORPORATION

E5 Events for The Neighborhood @ Fiddler’s Green Launch

 

BEST FOOD PRESENTATION AT AN EVENT

Footers Catering for Thank You Celebration

 

BEST FLORAL DESIGN

DesignWorks for Hauck–Juma Wedding

 

BEST DECORATING DESIGN

DesignWorks for Beaux Arts Bollywood Ball

 

BEST WEDDING (UNDER $1,000 PER GUEST)

Total Imagination Events for Tamra & Dustin’s NYE Old Hollywood Speakeasy Celebration

 

BEST WEDDING (OVER $1,000 PER GUEST)

Affair with Flair for Nat and Tmo’s Wedding

AND

Epicurean Group for DiPasquale–Wolfert Wedding

 

BEST SOCIAL EVENT PRODUCED FOR AN INDIVIDUAL

TGE Events for Union Station Rehearsal Dinner

AND

Ashley Nicole Events for Ladies Luncheon Bridal Shower

 

BEST OVERALL EVENT (UNDER $1,000 PER GUEST)

Total Imagination Events for Tamra & Dustin’s NYE Old Hollywood Speakeasy Celebration

 

 

A Special Thanks to the Event Sponsors

 

BEVERAGES

Goodhart Coffee

Marble Distillery

Mondo Vino

Woody Creek Distillers

 

CATERING

Catering by Design

Intricate Icings

Yours Truly Cupcake

 

DECOR

Decor by Design

Denver Balloon Animals

Eclectic Hive

Event Rents

Perfect Petal

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Jordan Kahn Orchestra

Social Light Photo

 

EVENT SCENTS

The Sentologist

 

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Hannah Lee Creative

Signed & Sealed by Steph

Sunset Designs

 

HOTEL

JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek

 

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

Ed Greene

 

PRODUCTION

ShowTek Events 2.0

 

VALET

Jay’s Valet

 

VENUE

BMW of Denver Downtown

 

Lisa Buscietta is the operations director at New West Publishing and plays an integral part of the awards.