Milestone birthdays are something worth celebrating. And when you steer a company that plans and caters parties for other people, you know how to celebrate in style. When L.A. Banquets’ CEO Vrej Sarkissian took over the Glenoaks Ballroom to host 200 people in honor of his 40th birthday, that style was hard to miss. Vrej’s wife Ani Keshishian transformed the already elegant ballroom to reflect the guest of honor’s personality, draping the walls and ceiling, and bringing in black carpets and a gleaming black dance floor. Ani created a lounge in half of the room, and placed five long rows of transparent Plexiglas tables and chairs to extend throughout the other half for seating reminiscent of a royal banquet.Red roses were everywhere: 4,000 of them massed in high and low arrangements down the centers of the tables. Candle light shone from floating votives in tall crystal holders and from pillars in suspended glass bubbles.The whole feel of the event was completely magical. For a remarkable 360-degree tour of the re-imagined ballroom, click here. A server dressed as a champagne table set the festive mood and welcomed guests as they entered. Inside the ballroom, the array of appetizers prepared by Anoush’s chefs was dizzying.Among the tray-passed specialties were lobster skewers with watermelon and feta cheese, tuna tartare with cucumber and sesame seeds, fig bouche with Gorgonzola mousse, beef sliders with sharp cheddar and onion jam on brioche, and ceviche toast points served with cucumber gazpacho shooters. Served table-side were risotto croquettes with saffron aioli, flank steak skewers with Peruvian chimichurri, chicken satay with coconut-peanut dipping sauce, and mini cheese beoreks. A magnificent display of European cheeses and charcuterie was surrounded by fresh fruits, nuts, and breads, and yet another display offered Mediterranean, French, Spanish, and California-style olives. As if those weren’t enough, there was also eggplant caviar, hummus, baba ghanouj, mouhammara, kimchee, and tzatziki. In the cocktail area, the stunning,mirrored bar featured flaming alcohol shots and a full selection of premium liquor, including Anoush Signature Cognac. Poster-size photographs of Vrej as a child lined the walls in mirrored frames. Every surface reflected light and added to the magical feel of the evening. And just when the guests thought there simply couldn’t be any more food in the Anoush kitchen, dinner was served:Waldorf salad with figs, green apples, goat cheese, candied pecans and balsamic vinaigrette, followed by lamb chops and kabobs of chicken, beef, shrimp, and vegetables. Then, an astonishing and strikingly decorated five-tier upside-down birthday cake was presented, and Vrej blew out the candles as family, friends, and the entire L.A. Banquets and Anoush Catering staff cheered. Renowned Armenian singer Tigan (Tiko) Asatryan entertained to accompaniment from his six-piece band as guests took to the dance floor under dramatic red laser lights.Everyone was having such a wonderful time that the party went on until the wee hours of the morning. It was an extraordinarily special night for Vrej because he and his beautiful wife Ani were married in the Glenoaks Ballroom in 2002, and it was also in that room that they celebrated the christenings of their children. We wish them many more joy-filled occasions to share. Check out this sensational time-lapse view of the party from start to finish: Venue: Glenoaks Ballroom by L.A. Banquets Catering: Anoush Catering Entertainment: TigranAsatryan, AraMartirosyan, Highclassdj Serge, SamvelSahakyan, Vic Antonyan Flowers: Petals LA Video & Photo: Jay Jay Productions Planner: Terri Castillo, Bellisimo Events Mixology: MasisMkrtchyan, Anoush Catering Signature Bar Cake: Ruben’s Cakes Rentals: White Night Rentals, CMC Rentals
By admin
October 13, 2014
by Vrej Sarkissian, CEO of LA Banquets What’s your definition of a large wedding? 100 guests? 200? How about 300 or 400? The most spacious of our LA Banquets venues easily accommodate 500 guests, and weddings that size are a weekly occurrence. When your guest list swells in size, it doesn’t mean you have to let go of the intimate wedding you always envisioned. Over the hundreds of weddings I’ve seen at our venues, here’s what I’ve learned about making large weddings feel intimate and fun. 1. Facetime: Meet and greet with your guests I can’t stress how important it is for the bride and groom to personally greet and talk to all of the guests. This is true for weddings of any size, but particularly so of large celebrations. Stop at each table during dinner or after the cake cutting and thank everyone for coming. Ask your photographer to come around to each table with you and take pictures with your guests. You might need to cut down on dancing time, but your family and friends will remember and appreciate your gesture. 2. Family Style Dining You can’t have a wedding without food, and for a large wedding don’t even think about a buffet. With a guest list in the hundreds, buffet lines will become unmanageably long leaving you with cranky, hungry guests. A timed and plated dinner service is also difficult to orchestrate for large weddings and can break up the natural rhythm of the event. One of the best ways to make a wedding feel more intimate is to serve dinner family style. With family style dining, you recreate the atmosphere of dinners at home with everyone sitting around the table, passing food and conversation around. Each table will feel like its own intimate dinner party. 3. A Separate Lounge With the music thumping on the dance floor, your guests may tire of yelling to each other across the table to have a conversation. But you don’t want to turn the music too far down either. A separated lounge area with comfortable seating will provide your guests (and you!) a place to get away from the main action for a bit. Guests can mingle in a quieter setting, catch up with far-flung relatives and relax for a few moments. If weather permits, consider an outdoor lounge area as well. 4. Photo Fun with Photo Booths Some of your friends and family may be shy about dancing, but they don’t need to miss out on all the fun. Photo booths are a great way for your guests to interact with each other and entertain themselves. And you’ll get likely a lovely scrapbook of all the silly photos. For large weddings, focus on creating a fun, inviting atmosphere and the intimacy will follow. Take time to meet with your guests and personally thank them for attending. Large weddings are all the more reason to celebrate! flickr credit: http://goo.gl/XuWJ0E http://goo.gl/W07Vsy http://goo.gl/kVcV8D http://goo.gl/11SIvU
Spring is in the air — and everyone feels like celebrating: • In Japan, the blooming cherry trees bring families together to picnic beneath the pink blossoms. Paper lanterns illuminate the celebrations into the night. • In Iran, the new calendar year begins with Spring and the two-week celebration Nowruz, which dates back 3000 years. Families visit each other and every home sets a table of seven items symbolizing life. • And in India, the Holi celebration breaks across social lines as rich and poor, young and old dress in white, dance in the streets, and literally paint each other. They fill the air with plumes of multicolored powders in a vivid celebration of the bright days ahead. Even here in Southern California, where the Winters feel like Spring, the new season finds everyone in a celebratory mood, with weddings and graduations, Easter and Passover, and other reasons to bring families and friends together. Of course, that means finding a place to celebrate can be a real challenge, particularly on weekends in April, May, and June. Fortunately, we still have a few dates open at our colorful locations: In our newly expanded Brandview location, we have these dates available: • April 6, 12, 28 • May 11, 12, 19 • June 9, 23 (you're in luck, June brides!) At Le Foyer, you can pick from any of these dates: • April 14, 28 • May 3, 5, 10, 17 Just three days at the Galleria: • May 17,18 • June 30 And at Glenoaks we have just two days available: • April 14 • May 12 So if you're looking to celebrate for any reason, please call us soon: 818-241-0888.
