As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this too rings true for twentyFINE. Cortni and I prepared and planned for months to bring this event to life. In fact, we conceived the idea well over a year before! Now that twentyFINE is over a month behind us, it’s time to look back at all the brainstorming, sweating, and tears (of laughter) that went into bringing twentyFINE from a dream to a destination.
We began our planning one January evening at Ravanelli’s, a once prominent Cutesville dining staple that specializes in Italian cuisine, that has since turned its back on my beloved community, but remains in Collinsville, another town near and dear to my heart. It was on this evening that we laid the groundwork for what would end up being my absolute favorite birthday party I’ve ever been to!
Since we were both turning 29, we figured a Roaring 20’s themed party was the best way to go, which meant the obvious place to hold our event was The Speakeasy in downtown Cutesville. We absolutely love this place already and knew it would really up the ante when it came to our theming and twentyFINE brand and that it did! Immediately I reached out to Brenda Whitaker, who runs this incredible establishment, and she put me in contact with Jeremy Johnson, who is a Jack of all Trades, and he ensured that every single thing went as smoothly as it did from moment one.
Come Super Bowl Sunday, Cortni, Melissa, and I went to Alton Square Mall to the JCPenney’s Portrait Studio where we had THE BEST photoshoot! Thankfully for us, it was the final workday for our photographer, so she really amplified our experience! We were told these photoshoots typically last no more than twenty minutes, ours was like two minutes shy of an hour. Normally you get about fifteen or twenty images from your shoot, we got thirty-seven. We had our photographer laughing so hard that she had to retake several shots because she couldn’t get the camera to focus because she was shaking so much from her own laughter. It really was THE BEST time and certainly provided us with the first impossible-to-forget moment that defined twentyFINE.
Here’s every photo of Cortni and I from that session’s gallery. We were also blessed with several solo shots of one another, but I opted to abstain from sharing those here. I’m certain though they’ll see the light of day eventually. Anyway, enjoy these instant classics…
Just a couple weeks beyond our JCPenney’s Portrait Studio photoshoot, Cortni and I met up at Steel City Cheesecakes to see if this was the right place to order the dessert we’d be serving our twentyFINE guests. Neither of us wanted cake and Melissa and I already did a Bobby’s Frozen Custard bar at our wedding, so this felt like a whole new world to explore! Well, if you attended twentyFINE then you know this was the direction we went in and it was honestly decided with the first bite of these delectable and delicious mini-cheesecakes! While this was the first time either of us had ever been, it was certainly not our last as we have both been back several times since. There’s a reason why this place became an instant favorite for us and if you haven’t been before, you need to go and discover just why that is!
Cortni curated a lovely digital photo album of past and present pictures, but sadly, that never got shown. Shamefully, I didn’t even realize this till after the fact, but hopefully we’ll get to see all these top notch photos one day!
I crafted the twentyFINE playlist that we all jammed to throughout the evening. I carefully selected a series of jams that best reflect mine and Cortni’s musical tastes to ensure that no one would be getting bored with these anthems bumping throughout the night. I loved seeing people dancing to our songs as intended, that’s when I knew I’d hit a musical home run.
We knew we wanted party favors, which is where the PLAYBILL’s came in. They weren’t cheap as the minimal number we were allowed to order was 125, but they came out so, so good! I took forever making them as I wanted to ensure they were absolutely perfect! Cortni wrote up the descriptions for all her people and I did mine and at the end of it all, it was simply the best! I figured I was really going to love these, but they turned out even better than anticipated! We do have several left over if you’re wanting a copy of this unique treasure!
Securing my friend, Reese, to be our photographer and discovering that we clearly needed a twentyFINE banner were simplistic in comparison to some of these aforementioned tasks, but all in all, everything pieced together like the perfect puzzle. I’d forgotten just how much I LOVE planning and preparing for grandiose events like this and am already contemplating when I can throw another celebration!
twentyFINE went off without a hitch and there’s not a single thing I would change if given the chance to go back and do so. It turned out absolutely perfectly, but so much of that perfection came down to our guests showing up in their best Jazz Age attire! Nearly everyone looked spot on a picture perfect that night and Cortni and I are both so thankful and blessed to have been surrounded by so many of our nearest and dearest! So really and truly, THANK YOU all for THE BEST party that there ever was for either of us!
Last, but certainly not least, a HUGE THANK YOU to Cortni! She was the reason behind twentyFINE! An incredible partner in crime and I couldn’t and ultimately, wouldn’t, have done this without her! So, thank you Cortni, you truly are simply the best!
As always, THANK YOU for viewing! I appreciate your support! Feel free to leave a comment below as I LOVE reading and responding to them! I’ll return soon with another all-new post, so until then, I wish you all, all the best!
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Those serious photos are the best! I laughed out loud!! It truly was a great party. 🎈
Thank you, thank you! That photoshoot was the most fun! Would absolutely do another!