Jove Meyer’sPlanners Dining Club events in NYC are always abuzz with energy and style, and this blue party edition lives up to that standard. A massive blue wave of greenery by Mimosa Floral Design greeted a roster of local event industry pros on arrival at new venue, Union Park as a cluster of Edison bulbs and candle light brought the rest of the mid-century inspired space to life for the event.
Unlike most of the PDC events, this occasion was a cocktail-style party rather than a formal sit-down dinner. The resulting look is more casual and gave guests a chance to mingle while enjoying watermelon radish tacos, cheese boards, Brazilian meats, and beautifully crafted cocktails from Elegant Affairs. We recently sat down with host Jove Meyer to get the whole story behind this blue-infused party.
Photography by Brklyn View
This event was a totally different style from previous dinners - what inspired the change-up?
Typically the dinners happen in a seated format, but the owner of Elegant Affairs, our catering partner, wanted to try something new with a cocktail style dinner. Since I am a big fan of trying new things we worked together to host our first ever Planners Dining Club cocktail style dinner. Elegant Affairs wanted to host as many planners as possible and the space we selected was perfect to host a cocktail style party, so we made it happen! 
Union Park is a new venue to us - why this venue? What was hosting an event here like?
Union Park is a brand new venue and we were so excited to partner with them for this dinner to showcase their space to our members. Originally, we were looking at another space but then Andrea, the owner of Elegant Affairs, mentioned there is a new space that was interested in hosting us so we went for a visit and fell in love. I am obsessed with the mid century vibes of the space, from the sputnik light fixtures to the tiles, everything is so great! Based on our excitement over Union Park, and their excitement to host we decided to have the dinner there, and it was amazing. Working with their team was great, they were super helpful and responsive. They have a lot of in house furniture so we used most of it. The bar is amazing and very large, so large that we used it for both food and drinks! Union Park is located very close to Union Square, so the location couldn’t be better. 
Time for the inside scoop on the details of this event!
For this event we wanted to make a splash and do something different! Once we knew we were not having a sit down dinner the design moved from dinner tables to the entire space. With a cocktail style party you have little surface to design on, as you do not have dinner seating for all guests, so we played with designing the entire space. The floral partner, Mimosa Floral Design, wanted to do something impactful and something that created a statement. She was struggling with inspiration so we met in the space and talked through some ideas, she kept starring at this big blank wall and decided she wanted to create an install there, a wave of greenery! I became obsessed with the blue and white tiles in the space (I have a thing with tiles, #jovesfeet) so I pitched the idea of a tonal design with all shades of blue! Since she was thinking of a wave design it worked out perfectly, and a wave she did make. Mimosa Floral Design created the most magical blue wave install, it was the center of the party and really brought life and energy to the party. It took her and her team three days and over 100 cans of spray paint to create, each of them had blue faces by the end!
Our stationery partner, Fourteen-Forty, wanted to elevate her design and work with acrylic. Once she got inspo drawings of the wave and the colors, she created beautiful hexagon menus that floated above the stations and the bar. Each area had 3 pieces of acrylic, each in a different shade of blue, suspended over head so guests could see their options in a fun and creative way that decorated the space and went with the overall design. When I visited the space the first time I was very into the oversized mirrors they had. Naturally, I asked if I could write on them and after they said "yes," I worked with Fourteen Forty to create custom decals with the two mirrors. One sign, above the bar, paid homage to Steel Magnolias with the quote “Drink your juice Shelby,” and the other standing mirror I wanted to be one of empowerment and inspiration so it said, “You do you boo!”
Party Rental LTD, our rental partner, sent over more than 200 blue candles which we filled the back bar with, to add some blue romance to the night! Overall we played with various textures and tones of blue to bring the party to life in a fun and fresh way.
What did the food and drink menu look like?
It was a cocktail style party and our catering partner Elegant Affairs knocked it out of the park with flavor and creativity in presentation! The Brazilian meat station was pretty amazing and quite the show stopper with the skewers, as was the mini cheese boards and the throwback ramen noodles in an old school styrofoam cup. Elegant affairs really went all out and impressed everyone with their food, flavors and creativity.
What was your favorite part of working on this event?
Creating something fun, fresh and uplifting to celebrate the creative partners and their strength was my favorite part. It also turned out that a legend in our industry, Harriette Rose Katz, passed away a few days before, so we took a moment to honor her for pioneering the way for all wedding planners. As hard as the loss was for the community, it was nice to be together and look around and pay homage to her at an event, as she would have wanted! 
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Credits
Founder & Host: Jove Meyer Events | Venue: Union Park Events | Catering + Bar: Elegant Affairs | Staffing: The Cutting Edge Elite | Stationery: Fourteen-Forty | Flowers: Mimosa Floral Design | Rentals: Party Rental LTD | Band: MMM... Bands | Photography: Brklyn View
