What Was The Coolest Thing I Did In 2020?
Updated: Mar 28, 2022
First, thank you so much for asking!
2020, as we all are fully aware, was a shit show; but I do want to acknowledge the unique things that happened, new opportunities, and even new ways of working that the pandemic brought to our attention.
For one, Zoom calls have been clutch to still see clients, plan, and even network!
Secondly, getting to stretch my creative muscles and help my clients plan beautiful and intimate elopements was magical.
And third, the cancellation of all large scale events, from festivals to concerts, opened up some cool opportunities that were seriously,, once in a lifetime!
And now...the coolest thing I got to do in 2020 was...plan a private dinner on the stage of Red Rocks for New Belgium and Red Rock VIPs!!! Yes, you read that correctly. We ate dinner, listened to some tunes under the stars, ON stage at Red Rocks!
Due to COVID, Red Rocks' summer concert schedule got completely wiped out which provided a unique opportunity to host a private dinner. Had it been a regular concert-filled summer, this dinner would have never been possible.
Wanna know how long we had to plan?
...14 days!
I got a call from Zach Housand of House + Howell and he told me he had this crazy idea to host a dinner on the stage at Red Rocks. He said he had some calls coming up and he hoped to confirm it was a 'go' very soon! Sure enough, a few days later he tells me that we got the green light and the dinner was going to be in two weeks.
Ok! Let's do it.
So I called on my fave, and stupid talented friendors (friends and fellow vendors), to drop everything and help bring this event to life! Here's who made it possible:
- Cara Jo of Knapp Design Co. hand etched the red rocks onto New Belgium glasses for each of the guests and wrote name cards as tags for each glass so they knew which one was theirs.
- Zimmie + Rex of Reverie Floral created the most amazing flying red bike display (nod to NB's logo) and designed incredible tabletop floral looks.
- Michele + Michael'Ann of Hazel Grove Rentals created individual dining spaces for our 40 guests. Each table was different, all the chairs were unique, and so many cute rugs!
- Tony + Aubrey of The Get Down killed it, per usual, with some rad tunes and kept the vibe super chill.
- And Nina and the Moonlighters graced us with their talents and live music after dinner!
We activated all COVID protocols including temperature checks of all guests and vendors upon arrival, guest sign in for symptom tracking, tables that sat groups no larger than 6 from the same pod, all tables were spaced 6 ft apart, the band and DJ were 25 ft from the nearest guest, and masks were worn whenever our guests were not sitting at their tables.
It was a magical night, with back stage tours, delicious food and drinks, and the rare opportunity to SEE people and be around all that amazing energy again after being apart for so long. This event was definitely one for the books and I think Zach made the best observation, "You know we are one of the three groups that got to headline Read Rocks in 2020. It has been Megan Thee Stallion, Nathaniel Rateliff, and now us!"
Please enjoy this video by Fortem Media and images taken by Decker Rush!
