The scene was set in the colors of the season, using rich purples and magentas to decorate the penthouse. It was a chic holiday party with Celebrations.com experts lined up and ready to show us all of the tricks of the trade. It was especially great talking to these experts. Not only did they give me some great holiday decorating and cooking ideas, but they also enlightened me on how they got involved in party planning!

From Business to Mixology
LeAnne Shear and Tracey Toomey greeted me as I walked into the penthouse. They were excited to show me their latest drink concoctions, which included a yummy spicy margarita – perfect for the Fall holidays.

I spoke to Shear who told me that she didn’t actually begin in event planning. In fact, she started out in business, decided that she hated it, quit her job, and went on to tend bar full-time. Her parents, she says, of course freaked out. But Shear says it was worth it because she was able to find her true passion this way – not to mention a business partner in Toomey. The two met “behind the bar” and went on to write two books, with the latest being Cocktail Therapy where they advise a different cocktail for every life’s event. These are Celebrations.com’s cocktail therapists.

A Different Kind of Help
Julie Mulligan had a multitude of suggestions to use throughout the house in the holidays. And like Shear, she didn’t exactly start out on the event planning route either. Mulligan completed her undergraduate studies in social work, but after a while realized that she was much more suited for a creative career in flowers and decorating. It seems this gene was in the family, as her brother started 1-800-Flowers. She now works alongside her brother and serves as the floral lifestyle expert on Celebrations.com.

While at the party, she showed me how to make a beautiful arrangement with asparagus and used an actual apple as a candle holder for tealights. Her ideas were so creative and lots of fun for the holidays! Who knew that a social worker would turn her passion and creativity into a great career?!

Catering Creativity
Who else can say they have such a fun job like event planning for the stars as Andrea Correale? She started her full-service catering company, Elegant Affairs, as a teenager more than 15 years ago and has never looked back. Correale says that she always knew that she wanted to do this kind of work and was able to work very hard to achieve her goals. She has worked with celebrities and her work has appeared on television and in newspapers and magazines. I loved her star-shaped beets with goat cheese and balsamic glaze, as well as her pear-shaped mashed potatoes. They were so adorable!

All these ladies are certainly experts in their fields and have demonstrated great drive and determination to get where they are today. The lessons I could take away were not only great event planning strategies, which can definitely be found on their website, but also that it’s OK to be a career switcher or to really go after what you want. And when you do you can sit back, relax, and maybe even become an event planner!

-Amanda Fornecker