I’m so happy to report that the Boston Hip Hostess Event was a success! Everyone we met on our trip to Boston was so incredibly nice, the venue – KO Prime at Nine Zero Hotel – was wonderful to work with, and we had a fantastic turnout!  Here are some photos to give you a sense of what the evening was like – and there are more photos up in the complete galleries on the HWTM Facebook page.

Also – as a side note – our next Hip Hostess event is coming up QUICK! It’s Thursday, February 5th (2 weeks from tomorrow) at the new SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills in Los Angeles – and registration just opened up! Space is limited, so please click here to reserve your spot soon! (The theme this time around is “Hollywood Glam/Oscar Party” in honor of the upcoming Academy Awards – more details to come!)

And now, back to the Boston recap…starting at the top with the 3 of the signature drinks that guests enjoyed throughout the night: Chambord & Champagne, the French Martini, and the Chambord CranBerry Crush. (With dessert we also served Chambord Hot Cocoa topped with whipped cream – a nice way to end the night before guests headed back out into the freezing cold weather!)

The theme of the night was “Entertaining on a Budget” – which basically meant that we demonstrated lots of ways to dress up your table and party decor using inexpensive elements like decorative papers, scrapbooking supplies and items that you already own (such as the square wall shelves pictured in the centerpiece design above, which were given a scrapbook paper trim to coordinate with the tablescape.)

In the “dinner party” table pictured above, scrapbook paper was used in place of linen placemats and also to create the “napkin rings”, stemware charms, and to cover die-cut chipboard shapes (butterflies and birds), which were used in the centerpiece and on the place settings.

The same concepts were used in the 2nd sample table, which was a little more fun/whimsical and would be ideal for something like a bridal shower or girlie birthday party…

In this table, acrylic silver charger plates (only $10/set of 4 at Macy’s) – were used to dress up the table. Circles of scrapbook paper peeked through beneath the clear glass plates ($1.95 each at Crate & Barrel), and the same papers were used to create coordinating drink coasters, napkin rings, & place cards – and to dress up wooden block letters from Michaels. The table “runner” was created from a roll of red gift wrap from Target.

The centerpiece featured a large cylinder vase filled with sand and spray-painted Japanese mitsumata branches, which make a very big impact for minimal cost, and the other 2 vases (red and blue) – are accessories from my home (once again playing on the idea of re-purposing things you already own.)

Here’s a pic of the same table once the lights were dimmed (and there are several more shots of the rest of it in the facebook gallery).

This next image shows part of the “Party Decor Inspiration” table.  So many topics to cover here, so I’ll save them for the next post to avoid turning this one into a short novel!

Here’s me with Tim Laird – Chambord’s “Chief Entertaining Officer” (a.k.a. “fantastic mixologist”) – who always gives a fun presentation on how to mix up a few tasty cocktails right after I give some party decor tips.

This is what I especially love to see… lots of happy guests enjoying themselves and having fun…

Each guest took home mini bottles of Chambord and a few other goodies… all wrapped up in gift bags adorned with faux butterflies that matched the rest of the decor: (Many thanks to Brittany, who had the lovely task of glueing hundreds of butterflies!)

Hope you enjoyed this first recap… more to come soon. And for those of you in the LA area – hope to see you in February! :)