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One night last week, I had my book club over to dinner, something we each take turns doing once a year. For my turn, I selected Anna in the Tropics, the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Nilo Cruz. I live in an apartment, so getting my home in order shouldn't have been hard, but I found myself lying awake the night before, worrying.
Had I ordered enough Cuban sandwiches, did the Sangria need more fruit, did I make enough butterscotch Ting-a-Lings for dessert or did I need to make chocolate-covered strawberries, too?
The logistics were even more confounding. I've given my dining room table over to my computer, so trays of food would have to be confined to the buffet. Was there enough room? Were my hot-pink paper plates tacky?
Would too many candles make my living room look like a seance?
Would too many burning scents make my apartment smell like the perfume counter at Dillard's?
Would anyone even be able to eat?
Sleep didn't come easily that night, so I found myself flipping through a local socialite publication. Somewhere between the ubiquitous pictures of a beautiful, model-perfect Erika Wallace (bringing on more worries that I need to work out more) and pictures of beautiful model-perfect poodles (confirming those worries), I ran across an intriguing ad for "Soirees in Style."
The next day I went to visit the owners, Lynn Donohue and Lauren Berner. It was too late for them to give me any advice for my own mini-soiree, but I was extremely interested in what they're up to these days.
Donohue, 43, a longtime Tampa mega-event planner (she once completely transformed Tropicana Field for a private bar mitzvah), and Berner, 30, a former sales rep with a knack for throwing parties, just bought a 75-year-old house in Hyde Park.
The 2,900-square-foot home at 1101 W Swann Ave. sits behind an iron gate in the shade of a romantic, mossy-draped canopy of live oaks. Over the years, it's been home to a neighborhood piano teacher, a fraternity house and a law firm. Soon it will house an elegant showroom dedicated to the fine art of party throwing.
Prospective clients will be able to walk in and browse samples of everything needed to make a good party pop: photographers, cakes, pretty linens, glassware and invitations. Upstairs, a music room will offer a big-screen TV and sound system for sampling string quartets and jazz bands.
Donohue and Berner, who already maintain a prop warehouse for "theme" parties, say they will carry sophisticated accessories not available elsewhere in the Tampa Bay area. They'll offer favors, bridesmaid gifts and hand-assembled baskets for out-of-town guests.
They'll even design party "blueprints" for people like me who want to do all the work themselves.
"Even if all you can afford are cocktail napkins, we hope you'll come in. This place will be for everybody," says Donohue, who decided to create a party showroom after losing out on a party bid for a sports team.
The showroom is scheduled to open in October. For now Donohue and Berner are doing what they've always done: planning weddings and events all over town, including an upcoming fundraiser for Poodle Rescue.
"We can do everything from designing a table, to finding a chef to hiring service staff," says Donohue. "We think of every single thing."
Says Berner: "Down to the hand towels."
And little soaps.
So what's the most important element for a successful party, no matter how small?
"Individuality," says Donohue.
That's good, I think. It gives me hope that my party guests didn't mind sitting on the floor in a cloud of pink candle scent eating off paper plates.
I'll take it from two party girls who know.
- For more information on Soirees in Style, call (813) 253-6001.