New York Youth Symphony Benefit Concert - Carnegie Hall + NY Althetic Club

This past Fall we had the pleasure of helping the New York Youth Symphony with their annual Benefit Concert. Unfortunately the decor budget was seriously limited but with help from our friends from Hatch Creative Studio and Paratore Audio-Visual we were able to maximize the budget and really convert the ballroom into a very warm, inviting reception.

The concert was a dual performance of Tchaikovsky and Duke Ellington's versions of the Nutcracker Suite. I love-love-loved hearing the jazz interpretation side-by-side to the classic holiday favorite. I had to download the sheet music for "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" right when I got home!

Our program shout out!

These kids were so talented. If you didn't look too closely to see how young they were you'd swear it was the New York Symphony.

Sigourney Weaver was the guest presenter at the concert. At the reception she introduced herself to me, "Hi, I'm Sigourney." In my head I said, "I know!" but I politely responded back, "Hi, I'm Annie" instead. She's incredibly elegant and gracious.

Thanks to Hatch who loaned us some of their amazing mercury glass vases and candleholders. It MADE the look. Also much thanks for helping us order the flowers wholesale. That saved us big time!

We kept the cost of flowers down by only adding a few buds to each cluster of candles.

HELPFUL TIP: Just so you know though, candles aren't always the cost saver; they can cost just as much as flowers. The only reason this worked for us was because we were able to borrow all the containers.

We filled all the window sills with candles and small clusters of flowers. As the sky dimmed the view was enchanting. We also added matching amber uplights between the windows to reinforce the glow of the candles and to fill up the room with a warm feeling.

We kept costs down by using inexpensive flowers like roses and lisianthus. The glass containers were $2.99 each from IKEA.

My BFF, Sigourney's table :).

All in all, it was a total success. The NY Athletic Club event manager said that in the several years they've held this event, this year's was the nicest he's ever seen it. What a huge compliment :) Everyone from the Board of the NYYS were incredibly happy as well but I wish we had more of a budget to work with... so everyone, please support and donate to the New York Youth Symphony so next year I can really go wild with the decor :)!