Little Lamps

At banquetevent.com, we love fresh ideas and smart solutions, and this recent great find is so simple, yet so ingenious we just had to share it with you. Available at Wishing Fish, are a unique table top lamp design called Gorgeous Helen. Made of parchment, each set contains 3 different lamp shades with whimsical designs printed in a faint white. All you do is place a tea-candle inside a wine glass, place the lantern over the glass and voila! You'll have charming little lanterns for your tabletop design.


Set of three lanterns available for $18.

Learning to Give

We'd like to introduce you to a new option in charitable giving - and it involves teaching your children at an early age how to give as well. At your next child's birthday party, guests are invited to an ECHOage birthday party through an online invitation. Instead of bringing a wrapped and packaged present, guests simply RSVP and give a secure online gift of money. Payments are pooled for the purchase of ONE special gift for the birthday boy or girl and to support ONE meaningful cause.

On the ECHOage website, the host parent chooses an online invitation, picks a charity to support, and then emails the invitation to friends and family. The host parent receives funds from ECHOage in the mail for the purpose of purchasing the ONE meaningful gift for the birthday child. ECHOage also mails a portion of the donated funds to the charity chosen by the child, and the host parent receives an official tax receipt.

The organizations supported by ECHOage are as follows: EarthCorps, International Child Art Foundation, Girls Inc., & Nourish America.

Grand Opening Waterways Kirkland

Come celebrate the grand opening of Waterways Cruises Kirkland location at Carillon Point. Waterways Kirkland now offers regularly scheduled dining and sightseeing cruises as well as private events departing from Carillon Point. Waterways brings its expertise and service to the Eastside.

When: Wednesday, April 30
Time: 5-8 p.m.
Where: Pier-side at Carillon Point
RSVP HERE

Newbies at Banquetevent.com

We've had some new event vendor additions to banquetevent.com that you need to know about.

Destination Getaway!
Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center
Six West Rose Street
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Contact: Chris Coates
Phone: (509) 525-2200
Website: www.marcuswhitmanhotel.com


New Banquet Facility!
Piatti Ristorante & Bar
2695 NE Village Lane
Seattle WA 98105
Contact: Joe Bongiorno
Phone: (206) 524-9088
Website: www.piatti.com


Children's Equipment Rental!
Crybaby Comforts
Seattle, Washington
Contact: Lisa Cook
Phone: (425) 260-4788
Website: www.crybabycomforts.com

Got a Winning Recipe?

Do you have a great recipe using wine as a base? Participate in the latest Food Network Challenge in conjunction with Bobby Flay to submit a top notch and original recipe using a Columbia Crest wine and other fine ingredients fresh from Washington State.

Judges include Columbia Crest winemaker, Ray Einberger, Seattle Times restaurant critic Nancy Leson and celebrity chef Bobby Flay. The top finalists will fly to New York City to cook the winning dish with Bobby Flay and dine at one of Flay's top restaurants.

All entries are due by May 31.

Rules and entry directions available starting April 15 at foodnetwork.com/columbiacrest

21st Century Recycling At Its Most Innovative

It’s no secret that needless waste and heaps of scraps are part of the equation in today’s textile and garment manufacturing process. Granted there are some amazing results in terms of cutting edge fashion and eye-catching furniture designs, but this often comes at a huge cost in terms of the throw-away elements. The Cabbage Chair by Japanese designers, Nendo, defies this trend by taking waste paper from the pleated fabric industry and turning it into an organic marvel. The Cabbage Chair appears naturally as you peel away a roll of pleated fabric layer by layer. Naturally, due to the softness of the fabric, the chair is extremely comfortable and cozy. This recycled textile waste chair was designed for the XXIst Century Man exhibition curated by Issey Miyake. Nendo calls the chair a "primitive design [that] responds gently to fabrication and distribution costs and environmental concerns, the kinds of issues that face our 21st century selves."

So what do you think? Could you see having this chair in your living room or office?

One Person's Trash Is Another Person's Treasure

Hey all you party planners, we have a new on-the-go-planner for you to help you jot down important notes during all your busy meetings. Let us introduce you to the eco-friendly day planner from Nahui Ollin. Nahui Ollin is a collection of unique and fashionable accessories made from recycled materials. All merchandise is entirely hand-made by specially folding and weaving individual candy wrappers, gum wrappers and soda bottle labels--together to create the various beautiful shapes and sizes. That's right, these planners are made of recycled candy wrappers.

The wrappers are collected from manufacturers. The specific wrappers used are considered rejects by the manufacturer often because they have a small defect. What a creative way to practice recycling in an innovative and fresh way.

We hope this inspires you to be just as creative in the design of your next event.

Have you used someone's trash to create a treasure? Share it with us.