As the special events industry cautiously inches forward into the future, a close eye is being kept on people in the industry who are moving ahead with events in the city. Event design pro David Tutera started planning the party for the launch of his book A Passion for Parties: Your Guide to Elegant Entertaining six months ago, and after careful consideration in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks, decided to go forward with the event at Cipriani 42nd Street.
Tutera told us part of his plan to go ahead with the event included making a few small changes. At check-in, guests were given small red, white and blue ribbons to wear as small patriotic symbols. Singer Beverly Warren was added to the roster of performers to sing patriotic songs, and part of the proceeds of book sales at the event were donated to the Widows & Children's Fund of the New York police and fire departments.
For the decor, Tutera's candlelit tables and table displays called for muted room lights, so Bentley Meeker shone simple, subdued spotlights on Cipriani's grand marble wall arches to give the cavernous room a warm feeling. Cocktail tables were covered with crimson raw silk tablecloths, and small clusters of miniature red roses sat inside gold compotes surrounded by tealights. The main decor piece was a long banquet table that ran almost the entire length of Cipriani's seating area. Tables were covered with satiny, deep red tablecloths with gold scrolling, and a textured, shimmering gold fabric was strewn across the top. (Both were by Cloth Connection.) Arrangements of pink, red and peach-colored roses and red dahlias ran down the center of the table, accompanied by more gold compotes and footed bowls provided by Ruth Fischl.
A neat twist to the book launch party was printed cocktail napkins, each printed with a "Tutera Tip"-- little tidbits of advice from the party maven himself. The crowd of more than 450 of Tutera's clients, publishing execs from Simon & Schuster (who published the book), event industry types, friends and family were also treated to some entertainment, which included a fun, lip-synched number led by a drag queen and a performance by Broadway darling Daphne Rubin-Vega.
--Suzanne Ito
Read our Impresario profile of David Tutera...
Tutera told us part of his plan to go ahead with the event included making a few small changes. At check-in, guests were given small red, white and blue ribbons to wear as small patriotic symbols. Singer Beverly Warren was added to the roster of performers to sing patriotic songs, and part of the proceeds of book sales at the event were donated to the Widows & Children's Fund of the New York police and fire departments.
For the decor, Tutera's candlelit tables and table displays called for muted room lights, so Bentley Meeker shone simple, subdued spotlights on Cipriani's grand marble wall arches to give the cavernous room a warm feeling. Cocktail tables were covered with crimson raw silk tablecloths, and small clusters of miniature red roses sat inside gold compotes surrounded by tealights. The main decor piece was a long banquet table that ran almost the entire length of Cipriani's seating area. Tables were covered with satiny, deep red tablecloths with gold scrolling, and a textured, shimmering gold fabric was strewn across the top. (Both were by Cloth Connection.) Arrangements of pink, red and peach-colored roses and red dahlias ran down the center of the table, accompanied by more gold compotes and footed bowls provided by Ruth Fischl.
A neat twist to the book launch party was printed cocktail napkins, each printed with a "Tutera Tip"-- little tidbits of advice from the party maven himself. The crowd of more than 450 of Tutera's clients, publishing execs from Simon & Schuster (who published the book), event industry types, friends and family were also treated to some entertainment, which included a fun, lip-synched number led by a drag queen and a performance by Broadway darling Daphne Rubin-Vega.
--Suzanne Ito
Read our Impresario profile of David Tutera...
David Tutera signed books at the launch party for his new book, A Passion for Parties, at Cipriani 42nd Street.
The main decor piece at the event was a long banquet table elaborately decorated with gold textured tablecloths from Cloth Connection and beautiful flowers set down the center of the tables. Ruth Fischl provided the gold table props.
The banquet table flowers included a beautiful abundance of roses and dahlias surrounded by greens.
Some bars were decorated with blowups of the cover of Tutera's new book, A Passion for Parties: Your Guide to Elegant Entertaining.
