Event Planning

In February I planned/helped plan two fairly large events (on top of two smaller ones).  For both events I was in charge of (or co-in charge of, Rachel you definitely deserve most of the credit for the ZaCSA event!) decorations.  It was extremely difficult to do this without access to Walmart/Hobby Lobby/Michael's but somehow we made it work.  As stressful as it was, I really enjoyed the creativity involved.  I think if I had access to my favorite stores in the US, I could definitely do this for a living!

The first was a Valentine's banquet for the chapel.  The chaplain in charge had some requests/guidelines that I had to stay with in/use and the total number of attendees doubled between the time I asked my mom to purchase a few supplies for me and the day of the event so I was in a bit of a panic trying to make things stretch.  This was far from my original vision but it all worked out!

These decorations were completed about 5 minutes before I left for Tama Hills so I didn't bother getting out the good camera, I just snapped a few on my iPhone.

The second event was the Tri-Service Luncheon.  Somehow I didn't blog about this luncheon the last two years (and I no longer have the photos, sad face) so I'll fill you all in.  Every year the Officer Spouses Club from each base (ours is all inclusive, officer/enlisted/civilian because we don't have enough spouses to support multiple) in the area get together for a luncheon.  The host base rotates every year.  2 years ago, it was held at Yokosuka and it was awesome!  They had a taiko drum performance and I got a change to play for the first time (which is why I am astonished that I never blogged about it!).  Last year it was at Yokota and they did a fashion show.  This year it was Camp Zama's turn!  We had a guest speaker and did a "Basic Black Dress" skit which was the story of the journey of a military spouse.  Because I was the only one with "easy" access to my wedding dress, I got to play the part of the bride.  Because I was in the skit, I only have this one crappy photo from "back stage".

(shout out to my SIL, that's the bouquet from her wedding that I carried!)

Anywho, my friend Rachel and I were in charge of programs and decorations.

The theme was black & white but we had these gorgeous scarves from Thailand that we were giving to all the attendees as gifts and we just knew they had to be used in the centerpieces to add a little splash of color.

We (ok, this one was all Rachel) had some serious issues with the florist that was recommended to us.  At the very last minute (like 5 days before the event) we decided to jump ship and go with a lady who sells flowers at our PX and we couldn't have been happier.  She gave us exactly what we asked for!

We were thrilled with the overall look of everything.

Neither Rachel nor I are graphic designers so these programs were the result of many hours of hard work.  We were pretty happy with our results.  We received the ultimate compliment when the General's wife walked in, immediately picked one up and said, "these are fabulous, I'm taking this home with me!",  not knowing that we were the ones who had designed them.  You know that woman has been to her share of events and seen umpteen programs in her life so it felt good to hear that from her.

We had a wonderful group of ladies (and gentleman) come out for the event.

photo courtesy of Louise Clutter/ZaCSA FB page