Holiday Treats

With Halloween already here and the rest of the holidays on there way, we have been gearing up for them these past few weeks with our menus and discount deals. We cannot wait to make your holiday parties special this year!

Check out our menus here.

Moss Wedding

This is a wedding we did a few months ago! Enjoy and have a wonderful Halloween weekend!

Let's Talk Contracts

There is a lot of power in the details of your event contract.

1% of the world’s population likes reading the details on an event contract.  My tip is make sure you take the time to ensure what you want is what is on that contract.   

Here are my top 5 things I look for.

1.)  When are they delivering / when are they picking up

2.)  Time-line of all events/additional vendors

3.)  Number of staff and when are they arriving

4.)  Site map (where does everything go?)

5.)  Quantities of items agreed to with the terms of payment.(no one likes to be blindsided)

Most likely you won’t look but if you do you will be in much greater power position.

Tip By: Ryan Choura

Why a Sustainable Menu is better than driving a Prius…..

Sustainability is all about Stewardship. Words like simple, local, fresh, organic, “Gold Star” Certified, Long line caught Salmon, free trade coffee and composting are things that begin to tell the story of Sustainability. Today people are more concerned with how their choices influences the environment around them even if it costs a little more as doing the RIGHT thing is precedence. Recently Choura Events made a significant commitment to creating a CATERING MENU that lives up to concept of Sustainability.  I was asked if I was doing this for marketing reasons or for a personal belief in the environment. My answer is simple, “I want our menus to reflect our commitment to responsibly serving our guests.”  Take a look and let me know what you think!

Check out our menus here http://choura.us/catering/menus

For more info on Sustainability Take a look at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_food_system

Treasure Island Music Festival Part II

The Treasure Island Music Festival was a success last weekend! The event turned out great and it was so much fun. Enjoy the pictures below from the live event.

Have a great weekend and be sure to see a brand new food post on Monday!

Try Something “New” Like Going to a Silent Disco

Everyone likes doing something new. Events many times get stagnant and stick to the same strategies from years past.  I always appreciate seeing someone overcome barriers to pull something off.  Seeing a “Silent Disco” go down gave me the warm and fuzzies because I'm seeing that people are trying and doing new stuff.  

Check out the history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_disco

Cheese and Wine

Cheese and Wine…The peanut butter and chocolate of appetizers.

Nothing says welcome to my home like a glass of wine and a great looking cheese and fruit display. The proof is in the cheese…if you put it out they will come.

Treasure Island Music Festival

This weekend we are doing the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco and here are a few sneak peaks of it before all the people come. The festival is going to have bands such as Death Cab for Cutie all the way to Explosions in the Sky! You can check out the full line up here.

Enjoy the weekend!

Make Sure You Take Care of the Grass

Not sure how many of you have mowed a lawn, trimmed shrubs or had a fancy cactus garden.  Any time your setting up an event you have to care about your surroundings.  If not you cause a bunch damage and create a lot of turmoil between you and your client.

Here are my Top 3 recommendations on ensuring a healthy relationship with your grass/ client.

1.  During job walk discuss plan on how ALL vendors are going to load in/load out to ensure covered paths.

2.  Mark all water lines, gas lines and electrical lines.

3.  Bring in vendors that don’t drag, bang, bump or drop.

Late Night Snack

A wedding couple wanted to give their late night reception guests a little extra snack. Everyone who stayed the distance got to enjoy the slider bar.

Check these out; Mini beef sliders with applewood bacon, green zebra tomatoes, pickled onions on mini brioche. 

They were a hit!

White Light White Night

Have you ever seen a parking lot look so good?

We did a White Light White Night event this year benefiting Walk With Sally. These are the before and after pictures of how we turned a parking lot into an unreal concert venue.

Clean

Its pretty rare to see an event that is this aesthetically pleasing. Many people planning events slop together a smorgasbord of furniture, colors and other items with the  high hopes of creating something that is appealing.  I believe in creating spaces that feel clean and inviting.(No that doesn't mean modern) My good friend Priscilla said it this way.....don't make your space feel like Home Goods just rained on you. 

Keep it simple.  Style is a good word.

Comfort Infused Surf and Turf

Here is a nice break from the standard Filet and Halibut! We served Beef Short Rib and Chilean Sea Bass to 300 people.  It was so fork tender that no knife was needed.