The big day finally arrived and I have been crazy busy working around the clock for Joe the past couple of weeks. This past week was insane and the day before the event was filled with a lot of work. Thursday during the day I was running around the valley picking up collateral from all the sponsors and then putting together the gift bags. I have a small car so I needed to drop off a car full of gifts at the Valley Ho and then go on another run!
Then I went home and worked on the will call tickets, VIP tables and cabanas and the sponsors tickets. I had a list from the ticket site we used called myeasytix.com. I had the list of those who had bought tickets or tables online and then I had to write the name of the person and how many tickets they bought on an envelope. We had sold about 200 tickets online and then 17 tables and 8 cabanas so I had my work cut out for me. I had picked up envelopes from the Valley Ho so their name was on the envelopes which was good for branding their name. This project took me a couple hours. Once I finished with the names I had to go back to the Valley Ho to help with setting up.
Once I got to the Valley Ho we had to stuff the gift bags. Joe’s other intern Raquel was there to help out and together her and I put together the bags. Printed on the bags was Fleurt boutiques name and then we stapled on the back a flyer for Isaac Jewelers. We had 300 bags and it was up to Raquel and I to do them all. A few hours later we finished the bags and in them we had multiple things from coupons, mini bottles of vodka, energy drinks and so on and so forth. My favorite item in the bags was a small flowering plant. It had a small for sale sign in it and a flyer on the back for shortsign.com. I thought it was unique and great since mother’s day was coming up. After we stuffed the gift bags we finished with the will call tickets by putting the tickets in the envelopes. We double-checked everything to make sure it was correct and organized them alphabetically and in 3 sections. We had general admission will call tickets, a section that was tables and cabanas and another that was for media passes. We had a lot of media attend which was great for our sponsors and the event!
Once that was finished we had to reorganize the furniture around the pool to make 17 tables. The Valley Ho has great furniture and we arranged the furniture into sections that go around the pool. The pool at the Valley Ho is a circle shape so setting up tables around and having the runway over the water in the center is a great setup for a fashion show. Joe, Raquel and I spent a few hours setting this up. We had to take furniture from the pool area as well as the courtyard area and since they have different pieces of furniture we did not want two set ups that were the same next to each other. Moving furniture was hard and some of the couches were very heavy so at times it was a struggle. During this time a lot was going on. Pacific Events, the production company we use to set up the lighting, sound, and the stage were there setting up as well. There were a lot of people in the pool area and we checked the lighting, the placing of the gobos on a wall at the Valley Ho, the stage was being set up over the water, and Mercedes was driving over their cars. We were trying to figure out the pool lighting. We wanted to try and cover the pool lights with a color gel but we could not get it figured out. The gels were not staying over the Valley Ho’s pool lights so we had to drop that idea and leave the pool lights how they were.
We were at the Valley Ho until 3:45 am setting up as much as we could so it was a very long day of work and tomorrow was going to be even more work! I had to be back the next morning because a lot still needed to be done. When I got the Valley Ho Friday morning Joe and I went to run a few errands and to get coffee! When we got back we placed the Mercedes Benz cars in the front lawn at the Valley Ho and began to set up the will call tables and where you could buy tickets. After that was finished we went to add more to the will call tickets. The models arrived at 3 to get their hair and makeup done and Joe put me in charge of getting the waivers signed by all of them. Once I collected all the waivers we had to draw out a map of the pool and we labeled each table and cabana. With Joe we placed where each person was going to be placed and at what table. The largest table was for one of our top clients and a sponsor of the event Isaac Jewelers. Frank, the owner, had a huge party with him so he got the largest table and one of the best locations. After that was finished I went to Jesse’s office at the Valley Ho to get the table and cabanas reserve signs printed out with the name of the person and the number of the table. This made it easier for the hostess to seat the table.
The pool closed at 5 pm so that was when we really got to set up for the show. We had to rearrange the furniture because people had moved some of them during the day and we wiped down all the tables. Then we did a run through of the show with the DJ, the models and the synchronized swimmers. For the DJ stand we were going to put him on top of the roof of this building in the pool area but it was too complicated with getting all the equipment and getting electricity on the roof so they built him a small stage near the pool so he could see the models for getting the timing of the music to fit with the models and swimmers.
Around 5:45 Raquel and I went to get all the gift bags and placed them on the tables and cabanas. Once that was done we had 30 minutes to get ready and change into hour dresses and heels. We then got our radios and headed to will call because people were showing up an hour before the gates were open! Will call was insane from 7:30-8:45. I was supervising Raquel and answering as much questions I could at the will call table but my main job at this time was to seat the VIP tables. When a table came I escorted them to their location and welcomed them to the event. It was very complicated because at times I was calling Joe to see if he was allowing someone in or if I should give them a ticket when they were not on the will call list, walking a group to their table, and answering Joe or Raquel when being called. It was very hard talking to the VIP tables and hearing someone else talking in your ear! Thankfully we had radios because I would get called when seating a table to come back for another group. I then would call Raquel to tell them that I was on my way. Around 8:30 the hotel told us that we could not sell any more tickets because we had already gone over capacity. We were allowed to give people their tickets if they bought them prior. Things calmed down at the will call table once the show started. I missed the beginning of the show but I made it to see most of it. At the beginning I heard in the radio that the lighting was not bright enough but it got fixed very quickly! The fashion show was great and the synchronized swimmers were amazing! Overall I learned a lot, worked really hard that last week and the last 2 days and had a lot of fun at this event!
If you want to check out a video of the show it is on Cashak tv. Here is the link; http://cashak.tv/fashion-shows/spring-into-summer-2009/
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