Mateo & Co. Holiday Party at New Orleans Board of Trade

There’s a lot of photos, so be sure to scroll all the way until the end ;)! Our team did such a great job capturing the essence of the design and all the FUN!

First off, let me just start with saying how much I love throwing parties and how I have been throwing them since I was 15 years old! This ‘Mateo & Co. Holiday Party at New Orleans Board of Trade Benefitting Toys for Tots‘ is by far, the best one yet :)! Words cannot even begin to describe how epic this event was! We had about 350 people in attendance.

For all of my industry parties since last year, the ultimate goal has been that they are something that brings everyone together and really allows everyone to let their hair down!

Toys for Tots

For this event, I decided to bridge more of the local influencer and business community along with our wedding and event community for a good cause. This year I thought it would be good to benefit Toys for Tots. Especially with Christmas coming up and all the children that will not come close to experiencing the kind of Christmas that most of us at this event have today and have had as kids. I chose Toys for Tots as the charity to benefit because it just felt right to really have tangible items for everyone to be able to bring and feel like they were actually giving to a great cause.

In lieu of admission, our guests were required to bring a toy for the organization. Toys for Tots had about 4+ of their marines there as representatives for the organization and we were able to raise well over 200 toys and money as well.

Fashion-Inspired Black Tie Holiday Party

Now, let’s get to some of the fun part of it! We made this event a black tie, ‘fashion-inspired’, holiday party! The energy that that brought into the party was invigorating! For weeks, that is all people could talk about leading up to the party, “what are you going to wear?”, “is it okay if I wear..?”, etc. We really encouraged people to have fun with their fashion and let loose! In New Orleans, there are just not enough chances to wear tuxedos and long gowns. Or in some people’s case, angel wings (which was incredible!).

Fabulous & Flow

For the design, I really wanted it to be something chic (obviously). I also wanted to incorporate a fashion-inspired vibe. Thankfully, we brought on Everly Event Planning & Design as one of our sponsor partners! Krystle was able to take my vision, pieces of ideas, and completely run with it. Not only did she run with it, but she contributed many amazing ideas of her own and brought to fruition a fabulous design and flow! For me, fabulous and flow is everything! She had some incredible ideas and the background to help me pull off (what many kept saying- ‘the industry event of the year’). I will not give away all the secrets to my events, but let’s just say the event needs to not only be crazy fabulous but it also needs to have a flow that allows guests to enjoy themselves the whole time. A lot of time and strategy goes into these events that I put together.

High-end, Lounge, Chic Vibe

As with all of my events, this one was a total collaboration with all of our sponsor partners. Krystle had the idea of a heavy lounge feel, but with a very chic & high-end vibe. Which was so amazing! Luminous Events did an incredible job with the lounge pieces, a custom black bar ,and beautiful decor all over the inside and outside. Part of the original fashion-inspired theme came from the idea of me putting together a pop-up fashion show at the event. However, the logistics that go with that were going to be too intense so we nixed that idea.

Fashion-Inspired Floral

Thankfully, we kept the vibe the same though. I was concerned as we got closer that we were missing something, to tie the fashion in a little more. Then, Herbivore Floral Designs totally surprised me with these amazing fashion-inspired headpieces, along with incredible floral centerpieces.

Invitations/Stationery

Invitations totally set the tone for events. We partnered with the amazing Alaina Polander Designs . She was also able to sit down with Krystle and myself and help us come up with ways we can incorporate a black tie, fashion-inspired vibe into some stunning stationery! She sketched these pieces that were so creative and we ended up using those pieces throughout the design and flow! It all started with the Save the Dates and Invitations! The wow factor that the invitations provided, really set the tone for an epic event like this one!

Also, check out these badass boutonnières that Herbivore made for me and Cody to wear :)! Of course, my outfit had to match the color theme 😉

Check out how the design flowed all throughout! Everly Event Planning & Design really brought it for this event!! Epic Production Lighting by Calfee Productions/ On Fire Entertainment

For the colors, we chose black, white, and dusty pink (a few other colors we mixed as well-golds). We thought it would be good to add some holiday cheer in the courtyard area and switch the colors up a bit. There were white snowflakes that were lit all the way across the whole outside building. The entrance and arcade area were adorned in black & white draping by Element to set the tone of the indoor theme. A black & white step and repeat, with a pink runner and black ropes really helped add that fashion-inspired vibe. It also allowed our guests to shine in their high-fashion outfits.

When you walked inside, not only were you blown away by the design, but the lighting from Calfee Productions took it to another level. Krystle sent him the sketches that Alaina used for the save the dates and invitations and had them placed on the ceilings and the stage front- incredible!

Summary

In summary, I could literally talk forever about this Mateo & Co. Holiday Party at New Orleans Board of Trade! Actually, all of my events :)! This event will be one that will not be forgotten, that is for sure! Another key aspect to the success of my events is the entertainment! We brought in one of our favorite local bands- D-Play! They literally had everyone dancing ALL night! We also had two entertainment organizations that helped bring the right vibe! Trixie Minx Productions & Mande Milkshakers really helped set that fun tone of the event! We like to describe the Mande Milkshakers as the ‘female version of the 610 Stompers.’ Social ‘krewes‘ are a huge part of the New Orleans culture. They had a couple of performances, but overall they interacted with the guests and brought out the energy and fun in everyone. Trixie Minx Productions had a ballerina in the courtyard, a performer on a lollipop stand, and a group dance performance inside. They really helped bring that joy and fun to the event. Their elegance and sexy outfits also help elevate your event in an incredible way.

Below are all of our sponsor partners. Please reach out to them for all of your events. They do an amazing job. Do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about any of the contributors of the event. You can email me at [email protected] .