First of all, I would like to thank pinterest for the majority of my inspiration photos for this post!  One of the biggest trends in weddings/ event decor is burlap.

I don’t think there is a better way to incorporate Southern Charm or to evoke that charming rustic feel than the use of burlap. Plus, it is also very inexpensive while at the same time adds elegance to your soiree. We’ve put together a list of our favorite ways to decorate with this lovely fabric.

1. Linens

2. Monogrammed Decor

3. Centerpieces and Table Numbers

4. Cake – This was one that we did for a wedding at one of our favorite venues, Cj’s off the Square

5. Bouquet/Boutineer

6. Utensil Decor

7. Party Favors – coffee beans, sweets, or sachets of seeds for the Bride and Groom farewell

8. Pennants

9. Ceremony ambiance

10. Card Box/ Ring Pillows

For more ideas on how to incorporate burlap into you wedding or event; or to find the perfect charmingly vintage  venue, contact us via phone 615-321-2394 or email us at Kellie@maineventpro.com

It seems that everyone is going green these days. The 20-somethings are definitely talking about it, the 30-somethings want this option for their weddings, and the 40-somethings want this for their parties and family gatherings. When selecting a caterer for your next event, ask what they do to be green.

Many caterers use an extensive network of organic local farmers which give you the highest quality of products. Utilizing local foods not only supports the local economy, they travel a shorter distance from farm to plate. This means that their carbon footprint has been reduced since less fuel was used for the delivery. These food items will be fresher and more flavorful while supporting our local farmers.  Choosing local farmers, dairies, and wine makers is a very green and tasty plan for your celebration.

Be sure to ask your caterer about the food containers they use for events. Requesting that your caterer use reusable platters, tableware and serving dishes will reduce waste.  If there is no way around using disposables, consider biodegradable tableware made with renewable materials like bamboo, wheat, and corn.

Be creative about being green. If you are having a sit down meal for 200 guests and the caterer pours a glass of water for each guest; that is over 15 gallons of water just in the glasses. How much of that water will be poured out at the end of the night? Those glasses will use more water because now each has to be washed. Ask your caterer to have the servers offer water instead of pre-pouring. This will take a little extra time but the larger the group the more water that is being conserved.

Want to know how A Catered Affair can help you achieve your sustainable event goals? Give us a call at 615.321.2394 or contact Kellie Bryson at kellie@maineventpro.com to schedule a consultation.

If you eat out at all you can tell the difference between fresh food and prepackaged/frozen food.  There is even more of an appeal when I know that the restaurant is using fresh ingredients, and when I say fresh, i mean like “they grew it themselves” fresh!

Main Event Productions and A Catered Affair excel and pride ourselves in doing all things well and giving our clients the very best and freshest of foods.  In our process to accomplish this, we have jumped on the green wagon and will be growing our own spices and herbs.  From basil, mint, to rosemary and thyme, we are growing up a storm right here on the rooftop of Events @1418!

Here’s why we are doing this…

1. Adding an extra dimension to dinners.   Cooking becomes far more interesting and you can get more adventurous with the meals.

2. Herbs are good for you – they are a great way to increase your vitamin intake.

3. Readily available -  It’s always convenient  to have fresh herbs right at your fingertips just when you want them.

4. Money saving – After making the initial investment in the herb garden there is much to have saved on.

So, book A Catered Affair for your next event.  After all, fresher is better!

Call 615-321-2394 or email cater@acateredaffair.net for more information!

Ever wondered how to…

• make buttercream icing as smooth and straight like fondant?
• make a 3D titans football helmet out of cake?
• make award-winning strawberry cake?
• estimate how much food to prepare for an event?
• make an ordinary space into extraordinary?
• make a flipbook flip?
• cook beef bourguignon?
• create a cost effective event?

…just to name a few!  If you have questions, we have answers!  Here’s what’s going to happen; email us a question you have about The Bake Shoppe, A Catered Affair, Fantastic Flipbooks, and/or Events @1418 and we will answer them for you via blog post!

So, put on your thinking caps and shoot us an email at dawn@thebakeshoppe.com

It is no secret that Main Events Productions and Events @ 1418 has an incredible rooftop deck for hosting events and parties!

However, this year, we started taking advantage of the sun and space and started growing our own herbs, spices, and vegetables!  We have been the host of some remarkable basil, thyme, rosemary, tomatoes, and peppers!  Not only does it add some color to the rooftop, but it’s adding a fresher taste on A Catered Affair’s fabulous dishes!

We are excited to add to our collection!

For more information in how you can have your event catered with our fresh herbs, then please contact us at…

615-321-2394 or kellie@acateredaffair.net

Everyone at A Catered Affair is questioned about left over food with almost each event we produce.  Our policy is consistent with our standards on food safety.

We donate all food that is leftover – and maintained at proper temperatures to our local food banks and charities — currently Nashville’s Table has guided us to Nashville Cares for all of our donations.

Our goal is not to have lots of leftovers — we work closely with all of our clients to help them have an accurate guest count before the event.  But sometimes with all of the appropriate planning, leftovers do occur.

We have many samples of available china patterns — we have found that by partnering with our friendly rental vendors, our client can save time. The vendors allow us to keep samples at our showroom – Events@1418 – located at 1418 Church Street, Nashville.  When our clients come in to talk about their event, they can see how the tables will look, what their options are for tablesettings – all in 1 location and not have to travel all over town.  We LOVE our partner vendors!!

Silver plate chargers make an elegant table setting

Square plates come in many different sizes - Nashville has many options!

We are happy to introduce you to to Andy – he is the owner of a body shop near our location.  Andy makes his own biodiesel fuel and we contribute with our old and used vegetable oil.  When we are finished frying and it is time to clean the fryer, we empty into buckets and Andy comes to retrive his “free” fuel.  I am sure that people driving nehind him must enjoy the smell of his exhaust, with the aroma of crab cakes or fried green tomatoes in the air!

As i mentioned before, there are many things we can do to help the planet — the hospitlaity industry is the most wasteful of industries so we are improving what we can do to lessen our impact on the world.

We are fortunate that during the remodeling of Events@1418 that we were able to plan for so many improvements from how we were doing business previously.

We have installed front loading washer and dryers for all laundry and purchased Energy Star appliances.

Events@1418

We are now limiting bottled water to client requests only instead of all events and staff drinks.  We purchased a filter system and some 3 gallon igloos to take water onsite for our team members to drink during events.  That saved many cases each week!

The majority of our events now include china instead of disposables.

We also recycle our frying oil – I will introduce you soon to the fellow who is making biodesel from our old oil.

Once we started thinking about what we are doing instead of only focusing on what we are not doing, that has helped to understand that it is about all of the little things too!

We catered a great party recently for the USGBC – United States Green Building Council – the Nashville Chapter   held their annual fundraiser at Riverwood Mansion and we learned about several new vendors.  Now we have some new resources to help with our education purpose.

Updates later on progress.

We visted one of our food distributors today – Robert Orr Sysco – toured the warehouse and learned about some new products.

A Catered Affair goes to Sysco

It is amazing the lengths Sysco goes to that ensures the food items we get are top quality.  in each truck that delivers food to the warehouse – a thermometer is placed in the truck and has to show that it worked the entire time.  When the truck arrives, they take temperatures of the product coming out of the truck – using laser thermometers – they measure the temp of the first boxes, the middles boxes and the last boxes coming off the truck.

Then we visited the produce section to learn of some seasonal and new things they are stocking now.  It makes more sense to choose an item that is in stock – and not have to special order something to come in.  So if we know what is the normal stocked items, we can create new menus with that savings in mind.  We are working on ways to monitor our purchases – so that they make more sense ecologically — if we are not causing special shipping and extra trucks, there are less fuels being used.

Lots of Stuff at Sysco!

It is amazing how may “green” things that we are doing actually save dollars as well – making sense for the environment and for the business!

Chef Gary -A Catered Affair and Chef Nicole -The Bake Shoppe  with our Marketing Associate John!

Chef Gary, Chef Nicole and our Marketing Associate, John