Hosting parties is something that I have loved doing since I was a kid. In fact, I hosted a Christmas party almost every year when I was a very young adult. I have always been the guy that hosts family gatherings, friend dinner parties, game nights, etc. Something about gathering diverse groups of people together for a common cause or purpose and having everyone mingle together, brings a sense of joy to me.

I have always been the type of person that has many friends from so many different walks of life and that is the same in everything that I am a part of. I have never been one to only be part of one group, or type of group. A sense of community and/or family vibe within my parties is the most important aspect to me.

For the wedding & event industry, I came up with this concept back in November 2018, when I decided I wanted to throw a Mateo & Company hosted New Orleans wedding industry holiday party for the industry. I thought to myself, ‘I do not want a party that is stuffy and where people are too scared to let their hair down.’ I wanted to host something that truly brought people we work with in the industry together to have fun and celebrate a successful wedding season. Partying was the goal, not networking. By bringing that vibe, it ended up helping others in the industry create true relationships and/or foster relationships with one another. Authentic relationships are key.

Pool Party

Party Hosts: Mateo & Company and Amanda Price Events

This pool party was most definitely the summer bash of the year. I came up with the idea in the Spring of 2019 to have a Mateo & Company hosted New Orleans wedding industry pool party . Before planning anything, all I knew was that I wanted to host a pool party. Of course, I ended up telling people about it before it was even planned just to create some buzz, so I had to throw it one way or another at this point. Well, as HOT as New Orleans is, you would think there’s no shortage of pools. Let’s just say…there’s not a ton of locations that have a pool that can (and are willing to) host hundreds of people. Luckily, one of the people I told about my upcoming (unplanned) party was Jamie, from Maison Dupuy, who mentioned she may be interested in having it at her venue.

She had the absolute perfect venue and set up for a party like this one. Then I spoke with Amanda from Amanda Price Events, to see if she was interested in sponsoring as the planner and she mentioned she would love to be a co-host for that event, if possible. Of course, I thought, ‘why not.’ Thankfully I did, because I really needed more than just a sponsored planner, I needed someone with the same amount of personal interest in the event because this was certainly a huge undertaking. We even had to reschedule the event because of the hurricane that never came (Hurricane Barry).

All in all, the event was an absolute hit. It was a huge collaboration between all the vendors on the design and set up and it could not have been any more amazing. Even with the small amount of rain and need for a tent, it really worked out for the best and was incredible. I would say it was a total transformation from a beautiful hotel pool courtyard to a very chic, Miami/LA meets New Orleans pool party. Pops of color everywhere was key! We had tropical trees brought in to set the vibe, balloon & floral installations all over, beach balls, giant pool floats, special pillows, custom draping on the cabanas, added umbrellas to tie the colors together, amazing food, custom cocktails, a unique vehicle with taps to pour the beer, rose, champs, and so much more. Our amazing DJ flew in from NYC and really got the crowd going!

The same way I believe in providing an experience to my clients is the same way I believe in providing to my party guests. The experience is everything. We had sexy servers and a mermaid drag queen serving cocktails, water, and rose (this way people did not have to wait in lines or get out the pool), a beautiful mermaid in the pool, and a fashion show of custom New Orleans costumes being shown.

With all the décor, set-up, entertainment, cocktails, food, it was definitely one of the best parties yet and our guests are still raving about their experience. The fact that our industry was able to come together and experience the type of parties that we put on for a living and actually have fun with one another, means that my goal was accomplished and that makes me so happy!

Stay tuned, more to come. We are working on some really cool things…..