Arizona Bride Magazine recently honored Encore Creative with an award in their annual 'Best of ' list. The List is a who's who of Arizona wedding planners and specialists, and is worth a look; whether you're a prospective client, or an industry professional.
This award, in the category of  Best Talent Agency, comes as a great honor, and spotlights an area of expertise that some of our clients didn't know we were involved in. We are, in fact, involved in so many aspects of Wedding and Special Event Planning, that it can be a surprise to those who don't know us, but with 30 years in the business, and so many talented people on staff, we take a lot of pride in being able to tell our clients that "we'll handle it all."

Best Talent Agency
The finalists are: Encore! Creative, Krigsten Agency, and SRO Entertainment and Productions Ltd.
The winner is: Encore! Creative
Tempe & Tucson | 480.736.2800 | encorecreative.com
“Encore provided us with the help we needed to make our venue warm and welcoming. They handled everything from the basic tent structure to providing us with very useful ideas regarding decorations, lighting, etc. They also have a wonderful floral department [staff] who outdid themselves. We only have one daughter so this was our only opportunity to plan a wedding, and it truly turned out to be a great evening, helped in no small part by Encore.” - Beth Dorweiler, Scottsdale, mother of Lauren Dorweiler, married Nov. 14, 2009

 

The 4th Annual Zonies (Arizona Event Industry Awards) took place on May 14th, 2010, with Encore Creative selected as a finalist in the categories of Best Entertainment and Best Decor. Encore staffers, Michelle Magana and David Kellett, who put together the company's entries, were on hand for the awards dinner, which was held at Chase Field's Suite Lounge.

The evening's events commenced with a Networking/Cocktail Reception, during which time, guests were able to review all of the finalist's entries. Dinner was served during the awards ceremony, with a break at the mid-point for for some live entertainment from the local dance troupe Foot Klan.  A highlight of the evening was when guest were taken on a guided tour, down through the stadium's corridors, past the dugouts, and right onto the grass of Chase field!

Encore Creative congratulates all those who took home a Zonie award!

Recently, a client came in with a scrap of fabric,  that had a pattern on it, which they wanted to use as a motif in their wedding.

The plan was to order rolls of the fabric, to make our own custom linens and accents, but  a challenge arose, when it was discovered that the fabric in question had been discontinued.

Some would resign themselves to the fact that they would simply have to select a new fabric, but not us! Here's a great example of how our team and resources came together to pull off a seemingly impossible task.

First, we had our graphics department scan the client's fabric swatch. Then,  using a graphics program, we were able to create a tile of the pattern. This allowed us to recreate the pattern without any seams, on any sized surface, no matter what the width or length.

Using our large format printer, we printed the pattern out onto a special canvas, recreating the look and feel of the original fabric!

With a number of our bigger shows in the spotlight lately, I wanted to point out one of the key components to making these productions successful; the minutiae, and I don't just mean nice napkin rings, but awesome details. Here are a few examples:

Tracy O’Brien comes to us from an event management background – having started in the business as an intern for the United States Bobsled Team.  

While in Las Vegas, she worked for GES Events and worked on large sporting events that included:  Major League Baseball All*Star in Cleveland & Denver, National Football League Superbowl in New Orleans, Alpine Skiing Championships in Vail,  ESPN Extreme Sports in San Francisco, etc…

While at the Hard Rock Hotel she produced over 90 corporate events in seven months that included:  a large scale circus for Skechers, a huge tent concert for Steve Madden, a car show in the parking garage, a high-roller wedding with over 1000 guests, the 1200 guest extravagant Playboy Party with Hugh and the Bunnies, etc…

The last seven years, Tracy has been working in destination services, catering and sales for Scottsdale and Santa Fe resorts.  After returning to Arizona, Tracy chose to return to her crazyland love of events.

When one thinks of Wrestlemania, the last thing that comes to mind is an elegant formal affair, but if the team at Encore Creative is known for anything, it's taking charge of a space, and transforming it into something extraordinary!

In this instance, it was the ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, AZ. which is a beautiful, but nonetheless vast, sprawling, empty ballroom.

From the curbside dropoff, we rolled out the red carpet, which led up to a draped entry arch, adorned with a Wrestlemania sign we made in our print shop, and flanked by two gathered drape panels. This made for a very majestic, welcoming entry way.

Inside the lobby, we made sure that guests would have ample space for socializing and enjoying drinks before before heading into the ballroom for the main event. We equipped the lobby with a number of highboy tables and two bars, one on either side of the ballroom entry. The bars were custom branded by our graphics and print department, with big, bright Wrestlemania logos, and the logo was carried through in the form of a light projection, on one of the outer facets of the lobby's recessed ceiling.

While the curbside entry and the lobby were impressive on their own, the ballroom was nothing short of breathtaking. Our client wanted something special and we delivered.

This was a large space with lots of eye candy at every turn, but I think it's fair to say that the first thing everybody noticed upon entering, was the Glowing Ice Bar.  As a larger counterpart to the outside bars, it is similar in it's design, but was built in modular sections that can be arranged in circular and semicircular formations. They featured the same logo branding as the outside bars, and were lit to glow red from the inside.

If that wasn't impressive enough, our crew members constructed a truss over the width of the entire bar, essentially sectioning it into front and back halves. At the center of the truss, three glowing, triangular columns hung over the center of the circle. The columns were motorized, so as to rotate and display WWE logos on all sides. Extending outward from the triangles, to the edges of the truss columns, hung a spectacular sight, unlike anthing I'd ever seen before. If you can imagine an over-sized beaded curtain, but with softball sized blocks of ice hanging down in cabled strands… Words can't really do it justice, but fortunately plenty of photos were taken.

Another key element to ballroom decor was the wall treatment. Covering the 20' high walls of an enormous ballroom in white drape might seem a daunting task, but our on site sewing shop can put together anything we don't already have in our vast linens inventory, even in a short turnaround time.

The draped walls were lit for a dramatic effect, and a variety of seating vignettes were placed throughout the ballroom with potted plants, resulting in a comfortable, elegant space. Between the buffet tables, the bars and the viewing screens, there was plenty there to keeps guests occupied and entertained. With our touches the ballroom really came to life, and made for a memorable, long-lasting impression.

Every now and then we get awfully lucky and one of our great clients calls upon us to help create an event that's fun, interesting, challenging and makes it all worthwhile (albeit a bit on the nervewracking side).  At Encore Creative, any time a client needs a custom solution for a fun event, and is willing to let our team loose to find the answers to make an event a great one, the excitement starts to build.  Everyone from our CAD designers to our fabricators, seamstresses and our tech team is challenged to come up with something that is "out of the box" and really fun despite all of the challenges.  AZA Events is one of those clients….and their client, Honeywell is always up for something that involves their associates and families in an interactive and fun way. Below are a collection of videos (more to come, along with some great still photos) that just start to scratch the surface of the final phase of an event….the installation.  Anyone in the industry, especially in Arizona knows that this is where the rubber meets the road.  There is often a limited amount of time to achieve all of the "looks" and "effects", blistering daytime heat, absolutely NO rehearsal time (it has to be perfect the first time every time) and a host of unforeseen challenges. This is why Encore takes such great pride in its team members, from the salespeople (in this case Gary Walton) to the Operations Department (headed by Michael Saam), the Ops Manager (Georgia Varela-the best in the business) and the great crew…headed up by Todd Niklas and  Chad Holland with a lot of help from seamstress Kirsten Gilbert, lighting tech, Skip Carbis and about 20 of Phoenix's best install team. Check out the videos…they're in no particular order and we'll bring you a slicker package in just a few more days

Encore Creative -Harry Potter-style Event for Honeywell from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Encore Creative Install Video from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Encore Creative Honeywell Installation Video from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Check back soon for more video and photos of the actual event! Our thanks to AZA Events, Honeywell, and Marriott's Desert Ridge Resort and Spa.

Client Details Dan Quayle's Stars and Stripes Classic Hyatt Gainey Ranch, Scottsdale, AZ Supporting the troops and the families they left behind Raising money to support our troops and the families they left behind is the reason for Dan Quayle's Stars and Stripes Classic – an annual two-day event held in November. Decorated war heroes, Army generals, PGA golfers, sports celebrities, actors, musicians and other stars gathered in Scottsdale for a red, white and blue evening – A Salute to America's troops – a patriotic event that was televised to the troops in Iraq and featured on E! TV. To create the perfect red, white and blue evening for 500 guests, we set the scene with a simple, but elegant red-carpet entrance hung with bunting and flanked by two gold-edged flags. The entire design for the event was based around the American Flag. We designed the stage to reflect a more modern style of the American Flag. The screen surrounds were painted with an angled red and white design. We used white velour drape around the stage with blue and red uplighting and the room was decorated with large white stars. We used the FogScreen on one side of the stage to honor injured soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. As each name was announced, their face was shot onto the FogScreen – then they walked through it. Inside the ballroom, guests were seated at red, white and blue tables covered in spandex linens, and arrayed in front of a raised stage, a podium, and three large screens. To further the flag theme we set up the tables in a pattern to reflect the colors of the flag so that from a top perspective, it looked like a flag. To compliment the patriotic, military theme 10’x10’ banners of the official Military Mascots, donated by Mascot Licensing, surrounded the room. In addition, Mascot Licensing donated a special custom coin from the National Mint that was given out to every guest.