Orchestrating Party Perfection
By Lois Alter Mark
Photos by Dan Scott

Dozens of perfectly lovely celebrations take place in San Diego every day, but only once in a while is there a knock-your-socks-off party that’s truly worthy of being called a special event. It’s a gala that guests can’t stop talking about, that outsiders wish they had been invited to, that hostesses wish they could claim as their own.

This past October, the San Diego Symphony held one of these rare events: a black-tie extravaganza which, four months later, still inspires effusive outpourings of adjectives from those who were lucky enough to be there. Although you might not be able to hold your next party in a downtown parking lot under a 500-seat canopy-turned-Indonesian-paradise or warm your guests with cinnamon and cardamom-spiked heating vents, the talented planners behind Opus 2004 all agree that, with impeccable organization and attention to detail, any event can become special.

“You want your guests to say, ‘wow,’ ” explains Steve Norton, president/CEO of RetroVision Productions, the Irvine-based event planning company that designed and produced the symphony gala, bringing chairperson Jennifer Greenfield’s unique vision to life. “You need to stimulate all five of their senses, and constantly introduce new things for them to look at, touch, and experience. At the same time, you need to stay true to your message.”

According to Norton, every event has a reason behind it, whether it’s announcing, thanking, fundraising, or celebrating. In the case of the symphony, the purpose was twofold: to raise money for the beloved San Diego institution and to introduce its new music director, Jahja Ling.

Planning for the big event began one year earlier, when Greenfield recruited a dozen committee members and hired Norton to oversee the entire production. “I wanted to do an Indonesian theme in honor of Jahja Ling,” she says, “but to make an impact, I knew it had to be elegant yet dramatically different from anything that had already been done.”

By placing the details in Norton’s capable hands, Greenfield and her committee were able to focus their attention on selling tickets and creating buzz. “We were so fortunate, because we knew Steve had everything handled, from the flowers and music to getting the permits and figuring out the progression of the evening’s events,” says Greenfield. “That gave us the freedom to concentrate on fundraising and getting the word out.”

Norton believes that’s one of the major reasons professional party planners should be called in to produce charity functions. “Committee members are recruited because of who they know,” he says, “and it makes more sense to have them out there nurturing those contacts and selling $10,000 tables than getting bogged down in the details of a centerpiece.”

Before the centerpieces were even conceived, though, the Opus 2004 planners established a timeline, which they stuck to religiously. The event committee met every other month for updates, and because everyone knew their specific responsibilities, there were few surprises.

For Norton, the tightly focused theme provided a solid foundation from which to create the decorations, the menu, the music, and even the invitation. “I was in India Ink, choosing save the date cards with Christine Deardorff, the symphony’s manager of individual giving, and I saw a journal for sale in these beautiful, rich colors — butter gold, moss green, a deep brick crimson — with a little embroidered leaf pattern,” he remembers. “I designed the whole event around that journal, and it inspired me to use raw materials and natural fibers for the invitation rather than shiny papers.”

Norton also used gorgeous fabrics and wood to create a cozy environment in the tent that housed the event. “Guests kept saying they couldn’t believe they were actually in a parking lot at 8th and B,” he laughs. “We brought in carpet and set up furniture vignettes, so there were lots of comfortable and intimate places for people to gather and talk.”

Because Norton believes it’s crucial to design for your specific space, he created dropped ceiling panels to make the massive tent seem more welcoming and set up kiosks of unique floral arrangements to draw in the eye. Most importantly, he used golden lighting to create a feeling of warmth. “Everyone looked fabulous,” Norton says. “Lighting can make or break an event, and I would always recommend that you cut back a little on the décor if you need to and put the money into lighting it well instead.”

Food is another element that can make the difference between sensational and so-so. According to Amy Butterfield, director of catering at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, the one mistake people make all the time is forcing their menu to fit the theme. “It’s great to tie the food in, but not to the point where it’s ridiculous,” she says. “For example, you don’t need to serve reindeer just because you’re doing a Scandinavian theme.”

For Opus 2004, Butterfield put together a simple yet sophisticated menu of Asian-inspired favorites like mandarin orange, avocado, and ancient chicken towers, as well as beef satay fillets on lemongrass skewers. As an interesting twist, a lazy susan centerpiece on each table presented tempting accompaniments, including toasted coconut, pineapple salad, and fried noodles. “The lazy susans were great conversation pieces,” says Norton. “They encouraged guests to interact, and although they featured beautiful gardenscapes, they were low enough for people to talk over.”

When it comes to food, Butterfield cautions, you have to know your audience. “You generally wouldn’t serve the same menu to a traditional meat and potatoes crowd as you would to a young, hip group who likes to eat everything out of a martini glass,” she points out, “although creative presentation can give you some leeway there.”

Butterfield and Norton both agree that a great party stimulates not just the tastebuds, but all the senses. “After attending so many black-tie galas, people can just get bored,” says Butterfield. To avoid this, Norton likes to make sure guests are constantly surprised and experiencing new sensations: delicious scents wafting through heating vents, different sections of the room opening up for various parts of the event, a variety of table shapes and sizes.

“I design events so guests don’t see everything at once,” says Norton. “That way, there’s an exciting sense of discovery as each new element is revealed.”

As the best event planners do, the talented team behind Opus 2004 made this hugely successful evening look easy. For them, though, the most difficult challenge may still lie ahead: How will they ever be able to top this event next year?