AllSeated’s Kick Off The Season Luncheon

Together with Arthur Backal and Harriette Rose Katz, we kicked off the season on Monday by hosting a wonderful luncheon at Rock and Reilly’s in Manhattan. In attendance at our luncheon were over 100 of New York’s top event professionals including our special guest from the West Coast, Mindy Weiss! Chatter throughout the event was how did AllSeated do this – how did they manage to get the crème de la crème of the industry all in one room?!

In addition to mingling and eating, Harriett Rose Katz, Arthur Backal and Mindy Weiss shared their event planning wisdom with the crowd in regards to current wedding trends and how they differ between the East Coast and West Coast.

Harriette Rose Katz, Founder and President of Gourmet Advisory Services, is one of the country’s leading wedding and event planners for 35 years. Harriette gave her take on East Coast trends, pointing out that weddings are as formal as ever with some subtle differences. One of the trends right now is fun foods! Everyone wants the fun foods at their affair, both sweet and savory. They want hamburgers and mini foods such as cookie shots as well as mini bottles of liquor served on the dance floor. Brides are now changes their dresses, no longer sticking to one wedding dress on their wedding day. Gone are the sweetheart tables from seating plans and many events are looking to bring the outside indoors with garden themed parties in ballrooms.

Mindy Weiss Party Consultants opened in 1992. Mindy has since planned celebrations all over the world, written 3 best selling books – Mindy and her amazing team are innovators and trendsetters best known for their creative ideas, unexpected décor accents and exquisite attention to every last detail.

Mindy told the luncheon crowd just how different West Coast weddings can be from the East Coast! West Coast events are much more casual. Even if there are black tie affairs, they are more rustic than formal. The bars at West Coast events are outrageous! Bars can be seen rolling around the room so guests can grab a drink from wherever they are throughout the party. Fun foods are also a big trend on the West Coast and the use of food trucks at events is huge. Not only are food trucks the hottest trend but so are activity trucks which allow event guests to play a variety of activities. Wedding cakes are much smaller than they used to be and brides today want the DJ playing today’s music, not the band.

Arthur Backal has enjoyed a reputation as one of New York’s most talented food and beverage professionals, as well as an unparalleled artist in the arena of special events. Arthur was really focused on convincing the luncheon crowd to make changes in their business as to not get stale. He strongly believes we must grasp technology and stay up to date with the trends to best serve our clients which includes the millennials!

We cannot thank everyone enough for taking the time out of their busy schedules to attend our luncheon. It is always so nice to experience the energy of our industry, coming together to hear about the latest trends as we continue to move forward in the digital age.

To view more photos from our luncheon, click here!

All photos are used with permission and courtesy of Natural Expressions NY.