Planning the perfect party?
It’s never too late to start
Hosting a great holiday event takes work,
but help is available
by Kate Nichols


Have you left holiday planning until the last moment? Or has the boss waited until November to ask you to be in charge of the company holiday party this year?
“It is always worthwhile to call your favorite caterer,” said Maria Caceres-Bjorklund, Executive Chef at A Taste of Elegance. Unfortunately, many caterers and venues are already booked solid for the next two months. But many professionals have lots of ideas to help create a memorable holiday event, even at the last moment.
The holiday season is relatively short for Jessica Gillis, who owns Ciao Thyme Catering with her husband, Mataio. The season is compacted into working a crazy 16-18 day stretch starting the first of December. Some corporations booked their holiday party last year.
If December is full, Gillis suggests looking at November or January instead. January is an especially good month because a party can break up the “long stretch of winter,” and caterers have more time to prepare. She also suggests looking at mid-week dates rather than weekends.
Gillis works with clients to come up with the type of event that will serve their purpose and budget. During the holidays Gillis says her company caters some smaller events. She finds the “charm of the smaller dinner is that they can be attentive to details.” The staff brings a mobile kitchen to prepare and serve food on the premises. Gillis uses vibrant flower arrangements on the tables from Mokara Designs to coordinate with the client’s chosen décor.

Event planning 101
Emerald Bay Events offers a variety services from the initial planning of the party to posting the thank you notes. Micah LaNasa, a consultant at Emerald Bay, created a 32-page booklet to take a client step-by-step through planning an event. He suggests starting the planning by deciding the purpose of the party. Is it to reward the employees for their hard work, a celebration or a family get together?
The company can provide a choice of entertainment including clowns, magicians, karaoke or live music and has a warehouse full of props to suit most any theme.
Marcia Taylor of Nordic Tugs is planning the company’s annual holiday lunch party for 150 factory workers at their Burlington factory. Taylor and two co-workers organized the transition from factory to dining room. They ordered the tables and set up the room. The lunch is set for the last Thursday of the week before the Christmas break so employees can leave for the holidays immediately after lunch. The party’s purpose is to thank the employees, give attendance recognition and acknowledge the employee of the year. Taylor has varied party themes over the years. Emerald Bay caters the lunch, which includes their staff carving roast turkey and prime rib, and Taylor gets employees involved by asking them to bring potluck desserts. She brings a large cheesecake to make sure there is enough and buys a centerpiece to give away at a drawing.

Company parties
Kristi Birkeland and Wendy Keneipp plan events for The Unity Group. They keep a detailed event-planning book structured around the time that everything that needs to be done. Birkeland recommends forming a committee to help with the planning. She also reminds planners that a party is for everyone, not just the ones putting it on. With that thought in mind, she mixes up the event from year to year to catch everyone’s interests. One year it may be a sit down dinner, the next a social where people are up and mingling. The music is changed as well, from a DJ, to a quartet or a piano player. She said a party needs intrepid people to initiate dancing or a DJ can fall flat.
The Unity Group also throws a kids’ holiday party at the office where everyone gets a chance to make a gingerbread house, eat pizza and enjoy the holidays as a family on a Saturday afternoon. Birkeland added that this could be a company’s main event. In past years, employees have dressed up in formals and had fun bowling, gone ice skating at the Sportsplex in Bellingham or roller-skating in Burlington or Lynden.
Other activities that employees have enjoyed are auctions, including events where the management donates prizes such as rides in its boats or cocktail parties. Sometimes employees go in together and bid on the prize for their department. White elephant gifts exchanges are popular with games that scramble up who receives the gifts. Birkeland said they make sure no employee leaves empty handed. Sometimes ornaments or boxes of chocolate are given away.
At Mediterranean Specialties deli and restaurant, Nahla Gholam specializes in Lebanese foods. A special treat is the baklava that Gholam prepares with her sister, Dorine Boulos, family and friends. A bonus is that it comes in special boxes so it can be used as gifts for employees or guests.
This year The Unity Group will have its party catered by A Taste of Elegance at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. A Taste of Elegance is the in-house caterer for the Lairmont Manor in Bellingham. Head chef Maria Caceres-Bjorklund emphasizes how integral food is to people because it involves their sense of taste, touch, smell, and even sight in the presentation and color.
Caceres-Bjorklund has a hard time classifying the kind of food her kitchen prepares, but she enjoys making Classic French and Northern Italian cuisine made with the Northwest seasonal bounty. She collaborates with customers to come up with a menu that they will enjoy.

Venues
What does your home have in common with an old rock quarry, a barn and a manor house? They are all possible venues for a holiday party.
One of the most unique settings for a holiday party is The Quarry in La Conner. This venue is an opportunity to use the private residence of artist Joseph Kinnebrew. Kinnebrew designed the house and gardens to function as a gallery so private collectors and museum curators could see his art in situ.
It is possible to rent this space for a holiday event where guests can mingle among original art. The tastefully decorated guesthouse seats 45 people for a sit down dinner, but 60 can comfortably mingle. Kinnebrew promises to treat clients “with the same care and respect of our closest friends.” This winter Kinnebrew plans to design lighting for the gardens with the stone quarry walls as the background. This dramatic showing will benefit from Kinnebrew’s opera background and will provide a highlight for an event.
Another interesting venue is the Backdoor Kitchen in Friday Harbor. The brother/sister team of Lee and Sasha Hinderman will cater a party in their restaurant, which specializes in ethnic food. Mainlanders can start the party on the ferry ride over.
Jan Johnson, the proprietor of Larkspur Farm in Conway, is decorating her rustic barn for the holidays.
When Birkeland first started event planning she had trouble finding a venue, but she discovered that casinos were available. She also suggested limiting the number of people at an office party by holding it at work during the day like Nordic Tugs. It’s worth asking co-workers what type of party they would most enjoy. Many restaurants also offer special rooms and pricing for large groups.
Birkeland suggests if a small party is possible, it is nice to have it in someone’s home because it provides an intimate setting. If the suggestion of decorating your house for guests is overwhelming, a professional can help.
J. L. Turner, owner of Beck and Call Senior Concierge, will pull the ornaments and decorations out of the attic or garage and hang them. She will buy last minute gifts for employees and family and wrap them. Best of all, after Christmas she takes everything down and puts it back. No holiday clean up.

Still not sure what to do?
If time and energy are running out, simplifying the occasion helps. Instead of a sit down meal, Gillis recommends an evening event using platters of treats from Artesian Sweets. Owner Ashley Rodriguez trained at Spago’s in Beverly Hills and brought her unique delicacies to Bellingham. She can prepare seasonal citrus tarts, rich dark chocolate tarts, French macaroons, caramels and homemade truffles. She will work with a customer to come up with a special tray that they will enjoy serving their guests. Another name associated with desserts is Mt. Bakery Café owned by Olivier Vrambout. The bakers whip up delectable cakes, tarts and truffles. He also offers full-service catering with savory dishes such as crepes, soups, breads and sandwiches.
The cooks at A Taste of Elegance may be able to prepare appetizer trays at the last minute. Occasionally Ciao Thyme will drop off cheese trays, which don’t need immediate serving, but generally they only bring what they can serve fresh. Most neighborhood grocery stores like Food Pavilion make up cheese, vegetable and fruit trays and dessert platters with 24-hour notice.
Haggen’s Market Street Catering office in Sehome Village will deliver festive chef-prepared appetizer platters anywhere in Skagit and Whatcom counties, or a customer can pick up their order at any Haggen store. In addition to food, consultants can coordinate products from in-store departments such as, floral arrangements, wedding and specialty cakes, and your favorite wine. Catering specialties include salads, sandwiches or Breakfasts In A Box.
Gillis proposed that the host take a cooking class that teaches easy appetizers to prepare at home. Whatcom Community College in Bellingham and Gretchen’s Kitchen in Mount Vernon offer such classes. Or hire a chef to come to your home and cook for you and your guests. Chef Neal Foley from The Kitchen Garden Company will cook for you or custom design a cooking class for you and your guests.
Planning an event is hard work and Sue Bussinger, Catering General Manager at Haggen, suggests that if the host is exhausted from holidays, call Haggen for one of their holiday dinners for the family. This year’s special is local – Hempler’s spiral ham. Bussinger serves the dinners herself so she can ”spend the time with her family and not in the kitchen.”
Even at the last minute the possibilities for a holiday party are endless. Just pick up the phone and start calling. After the party is over, Birkeland suggests that the planners get feedback from the people who attended the party. Then pick up the phone and book a venue, a caterer, and the music for next year’s party before kicking back and relaxing.

Holiday contacts
Venues
Larkspur Farms, Jan Johnson, 360.445.2292, larkspurfarms.net
The Quarry, Peggy Flynn, info@atthequarry.com
Backdoor Kitchen, Lee and Sasha Hilderman, 360.378.9540, hilderman@rockisland.com

Caterers
Interview more than one caterer to get the one that matches your style. These caterers will do festive presentations and pride themselves on using fresh food.

A Taste of Elegance Traci Bjorklund, 360.671.1109 info@atasteofelegance.com
Ciao Thyme, Jessica Gillis, 360.733.1267, catering@ciaothyme.com
Haggen’s Market Street Catering, 866.912.2233
Emerald Bay Events, Micah LaNasa, 800.449.4393
Mediterranean Specialties, Nahla Gholam, 360.738.6895, 505-32nd St, Bellingham
Mt. Bakery Café, Olivier Vrambout, 360.715.2195, 3080 West Champion, Bellingham

Other holiday help
Gretchen’s Kitchen, 360.336.8747 or www.gretchenskitchen.com
Artesian Sweets, Ashley E. Rodriguez, 360.303.9124, sweeets@ashleyerodriguez.com
The Kitchen Garden Company, Chef Neal Foley, Shaw Island info@kitchengardenfoods.com
Beck and Call Senior Concierge, J.L. Turner, 360.421. 4325 or lyleturner03@hotmail.com

Emerald Bay Events specializes in hosting holiday parties for groups of varying sizes.




Ciao Thyme co-owner Mataio Gillis, left, serves Nicole Imthurn-Thorp and Andy Thorp at a reception. Photo by Michele M. Waite.