AE Events: 2013 Year in Review

What a year 2013 has been for us!  We count our many blessings as we say goodbye to one fab year and HELLO to a new one. 

January rang in the New Year with Dan and Alicia's fantastic New Year's Eve celebration. Oh how we loved this evening!  A&D and their family remain dear friends.

Image courtesy Red Gallery Photography 

Check out more prettiness courtesy of the talented Red Gallery Photo.   And Studio Z Films.  

February brought us back to one of our favorite events of the year and one with an amazing and touching cause: The Black Tie Blue Jackets Style Show.  It's such an honor to be involved. 

Image courtesy of Capital Style

See footage from the 2013 event.  We can't wait for 2014! 

May kicked off a busy summer for us with three events...

Heather and Willy's charmingly perfect Downtown wedding...

Image courtesy Rouxby Photography

...which was also recently featured on Style Me Pretty! 

Ashley and Tom's swanky soiree at the Ivory Room...

Image courtesy of Red Gallery Photo

...we just ADORED these two!  

And, another one of our favorite recurring events...The Nicklaus Museum Dinner for Nationwide Financial/The Memorial Tournament.   

Photo Courtesy of Andy Mahr

See more here!  Gosh, we sure were proud of this event. 

June brought us Maggie and Quinn's uber special wedding in Knox County...these high school sweethearts and their families are about as lovely as they come. 

Photo courtesy of Lauryn Byrdy photography

 See more here! And one of the most touching wedding vids ever. 

July brought us a trip to our favorite part of the country - WINE COUNTRY, for our best friend's wedding.  It was such a special experience to be in the wedding and to play a large part in the planning process.  Cheers to G&B.   Love you!

Image courtesy of Mike Arick 

See more love, pretty, and happy here...

July also brought the wedding of Emily and Nick.  Super sweet affair at the Columbus Museum of Art for a super sweet couple.

Image courtesy of January Newbanks

August brought the first of two big bits of news for AE Events.  Brittany Sitz, our long-time intern, starting with us as our first full-time employee.  Brittany has been an important part of AE and it's been great to have her official.  

Image courtesy of Ink and Ivory Design Studio

September came with another of our favorite yearly events - the always fabulous Rowe Fashion Show celebrating it's 5th year (and 5 years with us, too)!  This event is near and dear to us for several reasons:  Maren Roth (owner) was our first friend in Columbus and the Rowe Show was one of the first events we booked when we launched AE.  We cannot thank Maren and Rowe enough for the constant support, friendship, and fashion advice.  xx

October was also filled with fun.  It was Adrianne and Sherman's birthdays, as well as, we had Lauren and Ed's amazing affair at the Columbus Museum of Art. This event and our beautiful bride were grace and elegance through and through. 

And here is a little teaser video - their day was just so special!

October also brought to Leah and Tom's wedding.  Brittany did an amazing job planning and executing while Adrianne had the honor of being in the wedding.  Leah and Tom are so in love and truly epitomized what it means to be a bride and a groom.  

We also embarked on a site inspection to the British Virgin Islands for our special client and friends, Lacey and Blake.  Man, this sure is a tough job! 

November and December have been filled with friends, food, fun, new clients, and the holidays. 

January begins with yours truly speaking at the 2014 Columbus Bride Show and then we zip off to Ft. Worth, TX for the Nationwide Financial Sales Summit.

We have also been keeping very busy the past couple of months with our second peice of exciting news.  We have moved into our very own darling cottage.  We can't wait to share it with you!

It's been a fabulous year.  We love our job, we love our clients (past, present, AND future), and we love life.   Cheers, my dears.  xx, AE 

Happy Hour with AE: Glühwein - a cup of cheer!

This week we bring you a little cup of cheer!  

Glühwein (pronounced glue-vine) is a traditional German mulled wine.  This little cup of cheer is a yummy, crowd-pleasing, warm beverage that is PERFECT this time of year.  

It's easy to make and leaves your house smelling of cinnamon and spice for hours.  Our dear friend, Steven G., shared this special recipe with us (he is the master at it)!  

In honor of Village Lights in our German Village neighborhood this weekend, we will be making it all by ourselves on Sunday.   Come on by and try it!

photo courtesy of Winemonger

From Darling Steven:

Here is my recipe! It's definitely not a strict recipe, it can be changed to the drinker's preference. The key is to balance the sugar and the wine. If you are using a dry red wine, then for every bottle,  I use 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water. If you use a sweeter red wine, then I use 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water.

What you'll need:

3 bottles of red wine (I use merlot)

2 1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 cup water

12-15 whole cloves

4 or 5 cinnamon sticks

One lemon (peeled and juiced)

One orange (peeled and juiced)

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, cloves, cinnamon sticks, lemon and orange peels, and juices (I strain the juices into the mix in order to avoid seeds and pulp). Bring that to a boil so all the sugar dissolves and then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for fifteen minutes.

In a large pot, pour in the red wine. Strain the flavored sugar mixture into the pot of red wine. Make sure to not let any of the solids fall into the pot. Stir the wine and sugar mixture together and heat until scalding. Don't let it boil! If you do, then all the alcohol (and fun) will evaporate! Serve the glühwein in warmed mugs and garnish with a cinnamon stick!

Glühwein- a cup of cheer!

ENJOY!!  xo, AE

Happy Hour with AE: Sparkling Lemonady

SPARKLING LEMONADY

Today, we are bringing you our favorite lemonade recipe!  This lemonade is always a crowd pleaser, looks beautiful, tastes delicious and for the busy "hostess with the mostess", it's very easy to make!


Ingredients*:

1 large bottle of store bought pink lemonade (we love Santa Cruz organic)

2 cans of San Pellegrino Limonata 

20-30 fresh raspberries pureed

15-20 fresh whole raspberries as garnish

Vodka to taste (and desired potency)  We have been loving Buckeye Vodka lately - great smooth taste.  Note: We don't recommend using raspberry vodka, however, cucumber vodka does taste delicious.  For a sweeter version, strawberry vodka works well, too.

If you have it, the addition of St. Germain liqueur (again to taste and potency) adds a lovely flavor.

Optional: muddled mint or basil (use a speck of sugar and water when muddling).  Note: It's best to use mint/basil when using a container with a spout to serve.  Serving from a punch bowl or pitcher doesn't filter the leaves, thus your guest(s) may find something unsightly in her pretty smile.    

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients** EXCEPT whole raspberries 2-4 hours before serving and chill.  When you are ready to serve, add the raspberries, stir, and VOILA!   Looks darling in a pretty glass pitcher, punch bowl, champagne flutes, mason jars, juice glasses, anything really!

* we have played around with this recipe A LOT and so many variations of are DELICIOUS.  Play around and have fun!  As any girlie girl knows, you can't go wrong with pink, sparkles and vodka!  xo

** for extra fizz, add another 1/2 can of Limonata

We will be serving this tomorrow at the 2nd Annual Tea For 2, 200 for Tea hosted by the lovely Darci Congrove and German Village Guest House.  This event is so much fun!  Hats, gardens, pretty dresses, yummy drinks and nibbles!  We hear a few tickets may still be available!

Cheers!

-AE

2012 Haus und Garten Tour

We are happy to recap one of our FAVORITE yearly events:  The 2012 German Village Haus und Garten Tour.   We were thrilled to plan, for the 3rd year, this super fun event.  This event holds a special place for us because we get to work where we live, and marry professional with personal - all around - a very special experience.   

For your viewing pleasure, here is a great TOUR recap video created by Tour Co-Chair, John Clark. 

And a little eye-candy...best-looking and hardest working volunteers around!    

 

Also, we are thrilled to share photos from the talented Todd Garland who covered our largest PreTour dinner:  Capital Style's Party on the Platz, held at the German Village Meeting Haus.  PreTour is the premiere gala event in German Village and treats 600+ guests to a PRE tour of the homes open to the public the next day, followed by a cocktail party on a German Village side street, and also to a  privately hosted dinner in one of 18 properties throughout the Village.  

"Welcome to Paradise" was the theme and it truly was paradise with amazing nibbles by Barcelona, chic cocktails by our friends at Buckeye Vodka, delightful sweets by Pistacia Vera and goodies and fun galore!   If you have never attended either Tour or PreTour, we HIGHLY recommend.  Truly one of the best events in the city and we aren't just saying that because we are partial!  xx, AE

Almost Paradise....

PARADIIIIISE....

This was a parking lot just 24 hours prior...

The fabulous and handsome right-hand-man:  Mr. Bradley Cabus

Charming little Fiat's - thanks to our major sponsor:  Bob Boyd Fiat.  BEEP BEEP!  

AE Loves Capital Style!  

Ahhhhh...relaxing....

Barcelona is TOO GOOD!  

Go Jimmy Go!

Amazing what lighting does to transform a space! 

Dandy Brad with Darling intern, Brittany, finding a few minutes for fun!  

Look at all of those FAB FOLKS!  

Let's get this party started!! 

And then there's Adrianne....taking a peak at her guests enjoying the party....wearing a frock from her fave boutique:  Rowe.