The Knot magazine industry party

On Tuesday evening Kyo and I went to The Knot’s Fall industry party at Dolce Basking Ridge, a contemporary event space and retreat near the quaint town of Basking Ridge. It was organized by The Knot’s New Jersey sales managers Josette Reilly and her colleague Mara (I hope I have her name correct — unfortunately I didn’t get her business card). I know Josette was hoping the event would be a success, and it certainly was. Perhaps she should consider wedding planning as her next career. 😉

We met a number of friendly, experienced wedding vendors there, and it was fun to share stories. For me, it was particularly exciting to meet Maria Lynn of Catering by Maria — since I’m such a food junkie!

I asked Maria a lot of questions about how she got started in professional cooking, her specialties in Peruvian cuisine (mmm… ceviche!), and her plans to start culinary tours in Peru.

We also met Maria’s friend and colleague Corrine Statia, who runs Absolute Events by Corrine.

She’s a wedding and event planner with literally years and years of experience in the field. She’s a big fan of destination weddings (who isn’t?), so we swapped stories about trips to the Caribbean and Costa Rica.

I definitely have to mention the entertainment at the event. Josette and Mara had invited Tony Santana of Rolling Events to roll cigars for the guests.

He’s the owner of a cigar shop in Perth Amboy and a cigar factory in the Dominican Republic, who recently launched a business rolling cigars at weddings. He said the wedding business has really taken off, and it’s easy to understand why — it’s got to be his personality. He’s got such a warm, relaxed, engaging style. I do not smoke cigars and probably never will, but even I was attracted to his table.

The event boasted another interactive entertainment we enjoyed: Shutterbooth, a photo booth company based out of Philadelphia.

The cheerful co-owner with whom we spoke, Roxanne, said they travel all over the mid-Atlantic area.

And finally, I can’t end this post without props to the very talented pastry chefs who provided desserts for the event. I love to bake and so, I admit, I have high standards when it comes to cakes and cookies. The bakers who provided cakes, cookies, and cupcakes for this event, Eat Cake 24-7 and Visions of Sugar Crumbs, were truly outstanding. I loved the key lime cupcake which had a delicate lime flavor, and the strawberry French macaroons tasted as delightful as they looked.

Yum!

[Posted by Janna]