Get an exclusive peek into the world of Patrick Properties — we share a few of our favorite moments from recent events and happenings.
As you well know the Keegan Filion Barn Raising event took place at Lowndes Grove on Sunday and it went swimmingly (yes, swimmingly)! Sure it was cold and a little gray, but that didn't stop some of Charleston's finest chefs and hundreds of guests from coming out to support the Keegan Filion rebuilding effort.
In case you missed it, check out these fantastic photos from Sunday! Thanks to Andrew Cebulka for these images!
Our wonderful, philanthropic and HUNGRY crowd!
Our lovely Ashley-River-side oyster roast!
Chef Jaques Larson of the Wild Olive making final preparations for his incredible lasagna!
Macintosh and Oak chef Jeremiah Bacon's pork belly dish. It was every bit as good as it looks (so... really, really good).
And finally a few of our truly amazing and generous chefs lined up for Randall Goldman's speech. We at PPHG are thrilled with the event and so touched by all who bought tickets and donated. Keegan Filion Farms will be back up and running before we know it!
So if you're a citizen of the digital universe, you've probably been hearing a lot about Pinterest lately. You might ask yourself such questions as: What is Pinterest? How do I get on it? What do I do with it once I'm on it?
Well good news: I'm here to answer all your Pinterest problems!
Pinterest is something of a modern onomatopoeia; it provides a place for you to "pin your interests." In otherwords, it's like a website where you can collect all your bookmarks or post fun/interesting/useful things you found online and may otherwise forget about. It's helpful, entertaining and super addictive.
So just follow the red arrows and you will soon be a Pinterest prodigy!
Step one:
This is what you will see when you first log on to Pinterest. It is the homepage where posts from "pinners" you follow will appear (Pinterest will assign you people to follow when you sign up based on your interest, you can accumulate more followers the more you pin). Follow that red arrow to travel to your own page.
Step two:
.jpg)
This is your page, filled with your pinboards. Pinboards are little pages within your page, organized by category, and populated by pictures you find on Pinterest, on the web or that you already have in your computer. Anyone on Pinterest has access to your pins and can choose to "follow" a specific board or all of your boards. If you follow the arrow, you can click on a specific board.
Step three:
Now we are in the Patrick Properties board, "Our Properties." These are the pins we have in there, they are pictures of either Lowndes Grove or the William Aiken House (so far, Fish and American Theatre to come...). Next step will be to look at a specific pin.
Step four:
That is our pin, a photo of a gorgeous, floating-lantern filled William Aiken wedding. Yes please...
Next we will return to the pinterest homepage to search for a new pin. Click on the Pinterest icon at the top of the page, click your heels together three times and whisper "there's no place like home," et voila!
Step five:
I saw this lovely, classic wedding dress and thought it would be perfect for our pinboard, "Classic Weddings." Click "Repin" on the top left...
Step six:
Select which board you want the photo to go to at the top of the little box, then click "Pin it."
And look at us! We just pinned a wedding dress. Now I can access it at any time and so can you. We are Pinterest pros!
So I know there’s been talk of sleeved wedding dresses for a little while now. And there was an explosion of sleeve-speak following April’s Royal Wedding.
Of course, we can’t all wed in an Alexander McQueen gown. But Kate was on to something, and it being the middle of winter (albeit a mild, Charleston winter), sleeves are rapidly become my best friend. So let’s investigate the ins and outs of sleeves, shall we?
Sleeve evolution
First there’s this Pinterest find: Looks like a long-ago wedding, but how fabulous is this bride? And how many components are back in style now? The lace, the long veil, the low updo… Kate and Alexander McQueen can’t take all the credit for our sleeve appreciation…
By contrast, this is Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding gown.
Also sleeved, but oh, so different. But let’s think about this folks: the ‘80s did everything bigger, right? Big hair, big shoulder pads, big puffy sleeves. With time we’ve grown sleeker and smoother in the fashion world – granted shoulder pads are desperately fighting for a full-on comeback.
So now we have the modern sleeve, for the bride who doesn’t have House of McQueen on speed dial but who, whether for the sake of climate, fashion or keepsake, is leaning toward a sleeved gown:
It’s simple and elegant but still makes a statement. And that statement is; “ I have sleeves and I’m here to stay.” So let’s embrace the winter weather and get on board with this long-emerging trend.
Images courtesy of:
A wedding, big or small, starts the same way. A boy and a girl, a ring, an engagement, and a dream venue! We pretty much all have that in common. What makes a wedding special, however, are the details! The attention to detail in the following wedding is truly amazing. Credit goes to W.E.D. and their amazing team, to the fantastically stylish bride and her Vera Wang gown and Christian Louboutin shoes (swoon!), and to Juliet Elizabeth for capturing these moments so brilliantly.
Let’s be honest, here. The wedding is a stunner! Everything is beautiful, everything is jaw dropping, everything is amazing. But the one thing that caught my eye and made me head for the blog was this picture of the linens! The linens! Who knew? The fact that the linens mirror the Vera takes my breath away. It’s just the most lovely detail that I’ve seen in a long time. Well played.
I also love this signage. Sweet, simple, southern and rustic. It’s a perfect entrance to this fabulous tent and it works perfectly at Lowndes Grove, methinks. It makes this magnificent tent approachable, and you definitely want your guests to feel welcome. Also, skillet cornbread sticks? Yes, please.
Lest you think my shoe crazy brain has left out this detail, check out these beauties. Yum!
Congratulations, Allison & Ben. Thank you for sharing your big day with us!
If you’ve eaten in a Charleston restaurant, chances are that you have tried something from Keegan-Filion farms. Purveyors and friends to numerous restaurants and hospitality professionals in our city, Annie and Marc Keegan were met with tragedy on Sunday, December 4, when a fire consumed one of their barns. The barn, built in the 1930’s by Annie’s grandfather, was only one of the losses. Also lost in the fire were over 100 birds, turkey and hog feed, and numerous farm tools.
.jpg)
Annie Filion
As word of this tragedy spread through Charleston, Patrick Properties Hospitality Group immediately decided to jump into action. In order to meet our fundraising goal of $20,000, PPHG enlisted the help of some of Charleston’s finest chefs. According to Randall Goldman, Chief Executive Officer of PPHG, “the beautiful part of this is that no solicitation was really involved. Once the ball started rolling, people just asked us where to show up. It really speaks of the generosity of the culinary community in Charleston that so many people are ready and willing to help out.”
The event will be held Sunday, January 22nd from 1-4PM at Lowndes Grove Plantation in downtown Charleston. We will have many of the areas best chefs on hand to cook and we will also have an oyster roast on the banks of the Ashley. The ticket price is $50 and that includes admission and food. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.
Participating chefs will be:
Nico Romo from Fish Restaurant
Sean Brock from McCrady’s and Husk
Ken Vedrinski from Trattoria Lucca
Marc Collins from Circa 1886
Fred Neuville from Fat Hen
Craig Deihl from Cypress
Sarah O’Kelley from Glass Onion
Matt Russell from EVO
Nathan Thurston from Stars
Jacques Larson from Wild Olive
Mike Lotz from Triangle Char and Bar
Frank Lee from SNOB
Mike Lata from FIG
Jeremiah Bacon from Macintosh
Ashley Swider from yesUmay cookies
To purchase tickets:
http://ldeicharleston.com/
For more information, please contact:
Angel Powell, Director of Public Relations
843-737-9253
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
If you have eclectic taste and a love of rustic décor, you might consider seeking wedding inspiration with a vintage flair.
The muted tones and silver-coated glassware of this centerpiece give the tables a feminine elegance. Mixing soft pink and cream colored flowers pull the gorgeous look together.
.bmp)
A tip for creating fabulous vintage chic is focusing on just one or two unique accents in an area. It is easy to be be tempted by piece after piece of must-have decorations. The hat photographed below is a fabulous example of how one statement piece can be enough to pull off the look.
Vintage inspired weddings allow for great creativity, highlighting personal aspects of who you are and the style you love.
Thank you to Style Me Pretty and Ruffled for the beautiful photos.
Hello! My name is Catherine Clifton and I am one of the fall interns at PPHG. I am a senior at the College of Charleston double majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and Hospitality and Tourism Management.
This past summer, I knew that I wanted to intern in the events management industry but I wanted to do something that I didn’t know as much about. When I stumbled upon PPHG’s intern posting, I was immediately intrigued. I knew that I would discover new abilities if I could secure one of their fall intern spots. I had never worked in the food and beverage industry nor had I given much thought to looking at the wedding and corporate events side of hospitality.
I prepared for my interview with Shannon Ilsley, senior event manager at PPHG, by gathering as much information about the company as I could via Internet and friends that previously worked or interned with PPHG. I learned of their four gorgeous properties that they own and maintain: William Aiken House, American Theatre, Lowndes Grove, and the River House. PPHG not only had these wonderful, historic properties but also were well seasoned in providing gourmet food that was French inspired with an Asian flair. The executive chef who creates these wonderful dishes, Nico Romo, runs FISH restaurant, which is located right next to the American Theatre and William Aiken House. When I saw the quality of events that PPHG did, I knew that this internship would help me in discovering if I was interested in this type of event management.
After two and a half months of one of the busiest wedding times of the year, I learned that I love this industry. Whether it was the superb, refined way that PPHG runs their events or the fact that I had discovered something new that I enjoyed, my internship was beyond what I expected. I have never loved going to work some much. When I would tell my fellow interns in the College of Charleston intern program about what I was doing, they would tell me that it sounded more like something fun than work. My question is why shouldn’t work be fun? There were times where events felt hectic but in the end no one would ever know that anything had occurred.
This internship with PPHG has taught me that staying poised and calm even during what seems to be the “do or die” situations is essential for making good decisions. I have enjoyed every moment with PPHG from the set-ups at the properties to being hostess at FISH to working the seemingly perfect events each weekend. I will miss the office staff once my internship is over because the event and sales managers at PPHG really make you feel like you’re family!
Sierranicole Butler: My experience with PPHG
When I applied for the event intern position with Patrick Properties Hospitality Group this past August, I had no idea what I was in for. Yes, there was an overview of requirements for the position and what would be expected of me, but there’s nothing like interacting and being hands on in the industry where you want to build your career.
As a senior at the College of Charleston, interning with PPHG has allowed me to gain real world experience before I enter the competitive event management industry. Seeing various dimensions of weddings from the start in the office to completion has been a very rewarding experience.
The best part of my internship is probably that nothing is ever the same. Each event is new and exciting; there’s always a coordinator who puts a different spin on the atmosphere, a different layout for plated events, and an interesting wedding party to get to know. Duties during an event ranged from bussing tables to carrying out beautiful plates of food to guests, to paying attention to the smallest details.
Each property is distinct and unique. While events at the William Aiken House can be enjoyed on the marvelous piazza which overlooks King Street, family and friends can feel the history of Lowndes Grove while admiring the Ashley River. Working long nights at these gorgeous properties always keeps me busy.
Mr. Goldman, CEO of PPHG always says that “Food is at the nucleus of any successful event.” Working at Fish restaurant—seating guests and prepping food in the kitchen—gave me a lot of insight into the heart of joyous occasions. The chefs crafted beautiful gourmet dishes and take their work very seriously. On my day in the kitchen, I went in knowing that cooking fried green tomatoes can be tedious. But once you slice, bread and batter enough for 350 guests, cooking takes on a whole new meaning! Creating a beautiful dinner is a lot of work, but when the perfect dish is delivered to an excited guest, it all seems worth it.
My time in a managerial role at PPHG is the experience which sticks out in my mind the most. Working as a banquet captain, I was the “middle man” for the event managers and servers. In this role I really learned that every detail counts from the presentation of food, management of servers, and making guests happy. All of these aspects are critical for an event to run smoothly.
I have learned a lot by working with PPHG this semester, about the event planning industry, myself, and life in general. It has taught me how to juggle my classes at the College of Charleston while seeing what the real world is like. Interning is the best thing that a college senior can do for him/herself. You learn what you like and what you don’t like, as well as your strengths and your weaknesses. I hope I will always be in contact with PPHG and the wonderful people who have helped me learn a great deal about event management. Thanks PPHG!
