Sugar and Spice and Everything Was NICE!

Gabriella's Quincenera this past Saturday at the Tampa Garden Center was anything but a "traditional" celebration for her 15th birthday. Instead of time consuming choreographed dance sequences with her court, Gabriella and her mom, Rebecca, decided to celebrate with practicality and the 15-year old's focus on a vibrant multi-colored palette surrounding a candy theme.

Without the extravagant expenditure on fresh floral centerpieces, Rebecca saw the opportunity to fill our in-house clear glass vessels with an assortment of colorful candies guests could enjoy all night long. Alternating napkins, candy bags,  and chair ties in purple, hot pink, yellow, orange, and lime green, brought vibrance and texture to each of the 12 tables set for 10 guests simply set.

Mom also took cues from Gabriella on the type of foods incorporated into the four hour party. Instead of a stuffy sit down dinner, Gabriella opted for a combination of serving styles for her favorite foods. This included butlered mini hamburger sliders, grilled cheese triangles, and franks in pastry. Grabriella had attended another Quince where the featured food was a "make-your-own pasta station." While we, as a catering company, are not into having guests wait long for freshly prepared food, Chef Bob and Production Supervisor, Chris Hazel, easily mastered custom requests because of the casual format of the event.

A trio of pastas and sauces with added chicken, shrimp, sauteed peppers, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes, produced a lot of smiles from guests that ranged from 15-16 year old classmates to older siblings, friends, and family. 

No tiered birthday cake.  Gabriella chose a chocolate dipped lollipop assortment provided by Dip-It here in Tampa. The introductions of the birthday girl and her family were shortened to 10 minutes of a slide show and formal dance so that the FUN COULD BEGIN.

Gabriella chose a Strawberry Lemonade as her signature drink. It was used as her toasting beverage in our provided champagne glasses. She also requested a casual food station with an assortment of seasonal fruits, tortilla chips, and dips available all evening.

Congratulations for a really fun and memorable party put together by Gabriella and her mom Rebecca.

Here's some more pictures of the evening's fun emphasis: