LOVE LUNCH
At The Stephen Decatur House

Members of DC ISES stole my heart at the Valentine’s Day luncheon at the Stephen Decatur House on February 14th. The snow and ice didn’t keep over 125 guests from attending the soiree where they were treated to fine food catered by Windows Catering Company under a custom tent provided by Sugarplum Tent Company. During the networking reception, guests were serenaded in love songs preformed by an entertainer from Bialek’s Music. Guests then moved into the red lined tent to see the adorable red and white polka dot linens provided by Party Rentals, LTD. Thank you to Party Rentals for donating all of the rental items for the event.

Guests were then treated to a visit from Richard Aaron President of BiZBash who inspired us all to “steal” ideas and taught us how to brand our names. Richard also discussed the arrival of BiZBash in DC. The company plans to launch in April and looks forward to a “loving relationship” between the two groups.

A few very special thank yous are in order. Thank you to Janet Flowers Weddings and Events for braving the ice and traveling from West Virginia to create our beautiful centerpieces. You truly completed the look of our room. Thank you to Chris Walters, associate of Robert T. Williams, for stepping in and photographing our event in Robert’s absence. Robert was stuck out of town following an event. Thank you to Bill Bowen of On Line Suburban Video. Thanks to Bill we will have our first ever web stream video of the event posted to the DC ISES website. Thank you to Dave Ballenger of RCI Sound Systems for providing AV in the tent. Due to the amazing number of attendees, there was not enough room to accommodate everyone in the main building with the in house AV.

I know how much love was put into the beautiful menu cards provided by Rave Reviews. Hand punched hearts graced the top of all 125+ menus that guests found tucked into their napkins. Thank you ladies for making them so special. An additional card was placed at each guest’s place setting. Teddie Barnhart of Barnstorming Designs created the stunning Cake Designer Cards recognizing all the pastry chefs who planned on participating in the first annual DC ISES cake decorating contest. Teddie’s design was incredibly creative and so personal, thank you!

Due to hazardous conditions and the holiday status, all but one of our cake designers had to remain at their shops to cover the half staff issue they dealt with while trying to fill Valentine’s orders. Megen Ferry of Ridgewells Catering designed a beautiful mint chocolate chip cake before everyone’s eyes. Her attention to detail and excitement of being at the event wowed our guests and got everyone psyched for the main event. The contest has been rescheduled for our May meeting to take place the evening of the 2nd at the Park Hyatt. Please register early. We will sell out again! Thank you Megen, we look forward to seeing you again in May! Megen and Richard were both presented with gifts put together by Aleysha Proctor of Warm Spirit. Thank you Aleysha for thanking these two special people with your creations.

A final thank you goes out to everyone who attended. As always, we had great fun and great food. And we all had a little valentine.