Office Doors: A Day with George Abrams
Photo by Scott Foust Studios
6:30 A.M. >> PREPARING TO PLAN
The start of my day can include a 30-minute walk or drinking coffee while I go through emails and texts in preparation for the arrival of my two associates. We work from my house, and the flow of the 50-to-60-hour workweek for the team is Monday is a catch-up day, Tuesday is my personal day, Wednesday we meet with clients in the office, and Thursdays and Fridays are spent getting ready for client events.
9 A.M. >> QUESTIONS MAKE THE EVENT
We work with individuals and corporate and nonprofit clients and begin planning each event with an initial meeting or phone call during which a date is selected and many questions are asked. Clients want to know what we’ve seen or what we think would be fun this year. When planning for the holidays, we ask what they would like to focus on, which can range from “metropolitan” to “at-home Christmas,” where it’s homey versus big-city shiny, to a New Orleans-style holiday corporate event with dueling pianos. Do they want guests to dress in holiday attire or casually? Do they want the event to be interactive or a night for their guests to relax? Will there be speeches?
Once we have gathered the information from our client, we secure our entertainment and catering partners. I then work with my colleagues to put together a design board, which is our plan of attack on how to make our ideas come together for the event to stand out.
11:30 A.M. >> CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Most of our communication with vendors is done via phone and email, with in-person meetings at florists, looking at invitations and décor samples and tastings. We strive for the consistency of our crew and vendors to make our clients comfortable. Most of our clients have multiple events in a year and find it less stressful, especially during the holidays, knowing it’s the same person at each event.
1 P.M. >> BRINGING COMFORT AND JOY
When events came back post-COVID, they really came back. Because of supply chain challenges, limited hours and fewer people working in the service industry, we have to be flexible on the timing of vendor deliveries and accommodate everyone to get the product we want.
Our role is to be the main communicator and run interference with all of the vendors as needed throughout the event. I try to be behind the scenes so my clients can enjoy their party. I am not a guest, and it’s best that I am seen and not heard. I consider an event successful when a client is ready to start talking about their next party before the last guest has left.
2:30 P.M. >> THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE SPARKLY
Social media has been both good and bad for our profession. The good news is that it gives people ideas and experiences from all over the world. The bad news is that it gives people ideas from all over the world, and it can be hard to come up with something new.
It’s best not to try to “one-up” parties and instead do what you can and execute well. It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole. You may see a perfect picture of an envelope but don’t realize it took a person 45 minutes to address one envelope using calligraphy. A picture of a beautiful meal is presented, but you don’t know if that one plate can be served to 300 guests. It’s important to remember that real life is not Instagram, and my job is to manage expectations.
4 P.M. >> IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Entertaining is not for sissies; event planning is more than Pinterest and spitballing. It can be a physically demanding and all-consuming job. It’s not just ideas but executing and getting them to work. It’s knowing something that plays really well to one demographic will not work well with another.
Working with many people on different types of celebrations is what I love most about my job. I get a glimpse into different families, cultures and traditions, and then we get to put our spin on it. The best parties keep people around, and there’s always good energy.
Event planning and execution are my whole life, and I’m always working. I don’t think there’s much difference between George, the event planner, and George. I stay engaged by watching culture, whether it’s movies or magazines, and stay attuned to trends and fashion, art, decor and music to keep on top of the next look and theme.
To learn more, go to georgeabramsevents.com.
