Wednesday, February 24, 2016

2016 Scholarship Gala

Another Scholarship Gala has come and gone for another year!  This time, our gala was on a Saturday which was good and bad.  It made for a long week and short weekend, but we were able to start and finish earlier.  Since this is our 125th year as a college, we went super fancy for our gala.
At first I wanted to do something vintage for the centerpieces but nothing was coming to mind.  So I went elegant instead and the results were perfect!  We had our campus carpenter build us 50 boxes that were 8x8x5.  We then painted them gold.  A very generous grocery store chain donated 50 dozen roses and statice for filler.  On Saturday morning I showed my boss and co-worker how to arrange the flowers and we were off making all the centerpieces in no time. 
Gold ting-ting was randomly placed in the arrangement and I bent purple wire into numbers for the table numbers.  The best part of all, we sprayed all the flowers with the nicest smelling glitter spray.  Everyone was raving about the centerpieces and I have to say, they are some of my best yet!
We had about 430 people this year and made around $180,000 for student scholarships.  By the end of the night my feet were dead and I just wanted to go home and go to bed. 
Here is my amazing team.  We worked our hiney's off for the last few weeks and we still haven't gotten much rest.  As they say, there is no rest for the wicked! 
{Me, Kelly, De}
Just 2 days before our gala, we had to plan a groundbreaking ceremony for a new library that is being built on our campus.  And 3 days later, we had to plan a dinner for 150 for our Staff & Faculty Appreciation.  We've been busy! 
I was able to recycle my gala centerpieces for our dinner centerpieces because the roses held up so well. 
I just took them apart, cut the oasis down and put it in small candy dishes.  I cut the roses down and arranged them in the bowls and stuck some statice in them.  They were the perfect centerpiece for this dinner and I love that I didn't have to spend any money. 
Here is one more picture of my team in our messy glitter room/craft closet.  We are exhausted but we still look good!  Spring is our busiest time of year so the rest we need might not happen for awhile.  It's a good thing that I LOVE my job!!

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6 comments:

Donna said...

Wow, what an amazing event that must have been, Trisha! The tables and all of the decor look great! And the roses, so pretty! You are beautiful, and I do think purple is a very good color for you! Bet you are beat, you deserve a break for sure:)

ornate splendor said...

Wow, Trisha! What a busy lady you have been! The gala was beautiful! Lucky you to have all those roses donated! And even better - to be able to reuse them for the next event! Very well done, indeed!
Catherine (newest follower of your blogging adventures!) :)

Christine @ Rustic-Refined said...

Stunning centerpieces! I can really see the detail and hard work you put into each one. No wonder you are one busy lady!

Have a great week!

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Wow! That is an impressive amount raised for scholarships! Congrats on a job well done! Everything looks fabulous and one can tell you three ladies poured your hearts and souls into it. Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Blessings,
Sandi

The Stonybrook House said...

Gorgeous! I love a elegant centerpiece! You and your team did a fantastic job!Thanks for sharing at Dishing It & Digging It!

Unknown said...

Wow...this is so great! :) How neat!

Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!