- Hello, and welcome to Inspire.

Birthdays, graduations, weddings, retirements.

We all celebrate milestones and accomplishments with parties.

On today's show, the pros are here to help you plan the perfect event.

Coming up next on Inspire.

- Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation, and by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

- Hello and welcome to Inspire.

Today we are talking parties and this is perfect because we're always celebrating women here on Inspire.

- And now that vaccines are happening and homes and businesses are opening back up, party planning is back in full force.

- Yes it is.

And that's why we're here today to feature a couple of special ladies that will inspire you to plan that perfect gathering.

Joining us on today's Inspire, we feature Cheryl Clark, from Dare to Dream Event Planning and Abby Brown, from the Brownstone Wedding and Event Venue.

We are so glad to have both of you here.

You're both award-winning businesses, which is amazing.

Let's start by talking.

How do you get all of these ideas across in an event?

- Actually, I've been event planning for about 25 years before I've done it professionally, before doing it professionally and I'm just a creative kind of person.

So I just kinda go for what I think.

I mean, I have no rhyme or reason.

I have no formula.

Is just being creative.

- How many weddings and parties do you plan throughout the year?

- Well, since COVID has taken place, it hasn't slowed us down, though.

It actually picked up last year during COVID, which was, I was really shocked about it.

We just kinda did things a little bit different, as far as the numbers.

So I would say maybe this year, we're planning about 20 events.

- Nice.

- And so do you have to be rich to have a party planner and event planner?

- You do not.

You don't have to be rich.

You just have to understand what you want to spend.

So there's not a formula to that as far as how much you want to spend, it's what your budget is and what we can actually do it for.

- Okay.

- And Abby, you have the venue at the Brownstone, and for those who've not been there, it used to be something else entirely.

Will you explain what it was and where it is?

- Yeah.

So the history of the barn is pretty phenomenal.

It's been around since 1920.

So the original barn was built in 1920 and most recently when we purchased it, it was a bed and breakfast called the Brickyard Barn Inn.

So a lot of people who come know it as the, the Inn, And so people still ask us if there's catering or if they could stay there.

And we purchased it about five years ago and renovated it into the event hall that you see today.

But we really kept a lot of the original pieces.

So we still have the original bull pen downstairs and a whole history section.

Cause that's the really cool part about the barn and the venue and what makes it stand out.

And what people love about it is the history it has to Topeka in general.

- It's a gorgeous space.

Talk about some of the parties that you host there.

- So, we, if you want to celebrate, we want to have you at The Brownstone.

So we do everything from weddings to corporate events, to birthday parties, retirement parties.

And this last year, we really were able to expand what we celebrated.

We also did a celebration of life.

We did a fashion show, we've done an art exhibit.

Truly, if you're looking to get together with people, even in a unique way, The Brownstone is a great place to do it.

- And I'm sure you guys have worked together or will be working together.

But Cheryl, Dare to Dream.

I mean, this is just an exciting thing because every young girl, it seems, like, dreams of her wedding and grooms do too, at some point.

How do you, kind of, dissect it and, and, and just go with the flow?

What if they come in and they have no idea what they want.

- We kind of start off first is asking them exactly what is it do they think they want to have?

Sometimes they think they want yellow.

Then they decide, oh no, I want to wear black.

I mean, I want my event to be blue.

They have no idea.

So we kind of sit down and talk with them to dissect, exactly what are you looking for?

Exactly what do you want to accomplish here?

Some people say, I just want to get married.

Do you have an idea of where, you know, so we kind of start off with where, what do you want?

And then we kind of go with, where do you want to be at?

- You know, I've seen some of your pictures online of some of the events that you have done, anything from football celebrations to weddings.

I'm wondering, can I come to you?

Can anyone come to you and say, you know, I want to have a birthday party, but I have no idea what I want.

Can you dream something up?

- I do.

That happens all the time.

(women laughing) People think they know what they want or they don't know, or they just say, I want a party.

And with COVID, that's what people are doing because COVID is kind of behind us.

People want to get out with their families.

They want to just kind of be together again.

And so we've just kind of come up with little things that we can help them with, you know, to kinda pull their families back together.

- Now, I have an off the wall question.

Have you ever had to say we can't possibly do that?

You're smoking something because that idea is never going to happen.

Have you ever just had to be like, no, let's do this instead.

- Yes.

Now sometimes their ideals are bigger than what their budget is.

So we kind of scale things back to... - But you can make it work cause you have great ideas.

- We do, we do the best we can.

And people do let me, kind of, have full reign, those are my ideal clients too, you know, that they say, you know what?

I've seen your track record.

Your events have been extremely nice that we've seen.

So we, they just kinda let us have our way.

- So what is your favorite event that you've done?

- Well, I love a good wedding, but wedding, you know, weddings are seasonal usually.

But we've done quite a few weddings in the fall.

Fall brides love the, the leaves and, you know, that, that type of season, but one of my favorite events has been, let me see, I got so many of them.

I'm going to say one of my favorite events was when I had an opportunity to work with Washburn's Alumni, Cary Williams, he got inducted to the hall of fame.

And so he came back, he was an NFL player.

And then we went to Eddie V's, in Kansas City, to celebrate.

And I had an opportunity to direct, to decorate and put his reception together.

And so that was one of the, one of my favorite things.

Cause he was really low down.

I mean, not low down.

Down to earth and lowkey.

- He would love it.

Cause he's so, he's so gracious, but that brings up a great point.

You're not just in Topeka.

You can go anywhere.

- Yeah.

Yes.

We've had a wedding in Dallas.

We're going to Wichita next month.

We're going back to Dallas in May of 2022.

We've been in Kansas city, Missouri.

So we're getting around, getting around.

- And you mentioned fall with the, out there, at The Brownstone you can be inside or outside.

- Yeah.

That's one of the things that we really love about the space is the ability to utilize, not just the barn or the event space inside, but having multiple areas to have the ceremony, have multiple areas to have cocktail hour, and I'll just say that we've worked with Cheryl and she is phenomenal.

The value that she brings the, I mean, she is so great.

And so having somebody to partner with, the wonderful vendors in the Topeka community, and being able to have them bring in their vision, they transform the barn every single weekend.

It is amazing to me that I'm still seeing photos of the barn, and just today I pulled up a photo.

I was like, I have never seen it from that angle.

Like, we just have so many creatives in this community that really helped showcase the space.

So we're really lucky for that.

- Well obviously we can't do what you all do, but can you give us a few tips?

Like if we wanted to do something sedate or with a smaller budget that we could actually do and pull off.

- Yeah.

I mean, it happens all the time.

There's some clients that I've decided that they're not my client, that we can't work together.

Not because we don't have the same personalities, but what they're trying to achieve is not always cohesive with what we can do.

So I've given people advice all the time.

You can get this done if you go here.

Contact this person.

Try this, try that, you know?

So we're, we're an event management company, event planning and we do decor.

So we do the whole gamut.

So our connections are pretty broad.

So I don't have a problem with referring them out.

- I don't think people realize the details that you need to know, remember, list out, keep track of.

- The smallest of things.

- So, that brings me to the question when.

How is it that you guys work together then?

Is it that you just take care of the venue and then you do everything else?

- Pretty much.

- Yes.

So it's really interesting, the way that we've seen folks plan events.

And so, one of the things I think is really interesting is that a lot of people planning events have something really special to them, whether it's the food, whether it's the DJ, whether it's the flowers, and so different events have different areas that they want to spend that budget.

And so, and that has been really interesting in the fact when you bring in to the venue, we work with a ton of different vendors and every time it's different because different people want to spend the money or partner because their personality is a little bit different.

And so as a venue, we really focus on the space and hosting the guests and the vendors themselves.

And then the vendors are able to bring in their services and really do what they're best at and show their creativity and provide the, their premier service.

- Well, we're just getting warmed up because I have some questions about brides and groomzillas coming up in the next segment, but we're going to be back with more party planning tips with our pros, Cheryl and Abby.

So make sure you stay with us.

- And we're back with Cheryl and Abby.

Ladies, in our last segment, we discussed venues.

We discuss creativity.

Tell me now, when you think about events, what is the perfect price point that someone can spend when they're planning an event?

- It all depends on what they're doing.

I've had some clients say here's my budget.

I only have $5,000.

I've had other clients say my budget's 10.

I've had other say mine is two, some have said it's $600.

- Can you work with $600?

- Advice.

Free advice.

- Some Twinkies in the backyard.

- And I get free advice all the time, you know?

If you're not the client for me or we can't come to something, you know, an agreement that, that meets both of our needs, then I don't have a problem with giving advice.

- And that leads into bridezillas.

So let's talk about that, cause I have, I know that there is some high, strong people, especially the day of.

So, can you give us any stories about bridezillas?

And you said groomzillas, which I didn't think about, but I'm sure it's true.

- It is just a very high emotion situation.

There's a lot of pressure that comes with it.

And so I feel like the day of all of this, those emotions and those nerves all hit at once.

I've had some unique scenarios.

I did have a bride, just take a minute in the office, go under the table, just shed some tears, take a moment.

A lot of eyes are on this human being who is trying to have this special time.

And a lot of time, they haven't had those eyes on them before.

And so there's a lot of pressure.

So sometimes they just need to take a moment and then come back.

So I've definitely had some tears under a table, a time or two.

- But you've got an emergency kit.

We've got to talk about the emergency kit.

- Well we've got everything from paperclips to hairpins, tools.

I mean, decor things, flowers.

I mean, we've got everything that she would need.

- Smelling salts?

(women laughing) - So has anyone never shown up to a wedding?

Like maybe the groom has gotten cold feet and you've spent all of this money and time?

- Not for me.

- Not for me, but I have had, one of my favorite stories I like to tell is some, some people like to take center stage.

And so I had a officiant, who was a brother, who was also an Elvis impersonator, who in the middle of the ceremony, you know, the, he did his spiel and then the bride and groom came back and they were like, we're not, we're not married.

They never did the exchanging of rings.

- Oh my goodness!

- He was so in.

And of course I'm like, no problem.

We do this all the time at the toast.

Like we just like, we'll do a little thing, and we'll just, we'll just exchange rings at the toast, no big deal, and I was like, oh.

First time for everything.

But brother was happy.

He was going down the aisle, yeah.

No idea anything was wrong.

- And hat's one of the fun things that I've been seeing on like Facebook or Instagram is all of a sudden the bride and groom break out with this dance, this dance routine.

They get everybody.

Have, have you guys experienced that?

How does that come together?

Do you know?

- Yeah.

Actually, a lot of our brides want to dance down the aisle when it's over.

Sometimes their entire wedding party dances down the aisle.

So it's a big celebration.

And then once we get to the reception hall they dance in.

And so they just continue the party up until the real party starts.

- Is there so much about etiquette or is that, do you worry about it so much?

- That's out of the window.

People do what they want and we let them, you know, it's your day, you only get one shot at this with us, you know, we're hoping people continue to be married, but in my eyes you get one shot.

So we want to make it perfect.

So whatever it is you want to do, we try to accomplish it.

- Now, we're talking a whole lot about weddings, but what about little kids?

Cause I'm sure that you have kids parties and kids could be a little, you know, in their feelings sometimes.

So how do you get little Johnny to be okay?

And the parents were like, we spend a lot of money, smile, make sure that you enjoy this party, you know?

So how do you deal with that?

Cause bridezilla, groomzilla, maybe kidzilla.

- I've bribed kids with money and candy.

When you're an outsider, you, you can do pretty much what you want with other people's kids because you know, you're not their parents.

So they'll listen to you.

So I have brought children for weddings.

parties.

- And what's the youngest age that you've had a party for?

- One - My goodness.

- Yeah.

- What will they know at one?

- Actually, I know.

Actually my grandson.

We had a huge party.

We had Mickey and Minnie come and I mean, it was just huge.

And then we had a petting zoo, so it was thousands of dollars.

And people come to me and say, I want what you did.

And I was like, that was my grandson's party.

You know?

So that probably would never come to fruition unless you wanted to pay for that.

- Well, speaking of paying for, so, you know, who takes care of all of the vendors that you were talking about before, Abby?

How does that work?

Does the party planner do it?

How does that work?

- Actually, it can go both ways.

Some of my clients, I prefer them to pay their vendors directly and that keeps me out of the loop.

But I stay in contact with the vendors to solidify the times, what we're wanting, follow up, go over their contracts.

And that's a part of what we do in our packages.

So like for Abby's sake, like when we had a wedding over at The Brownstone, we would send our vendor over at this particular time, they would be there to meet them because we're doing something else.

So we coordinate everything and we're usually the point of contact for them.

- So is there like a run of show?

Like this is happening at one, this is happening at two?

- Yeah.

There is an itinerary, yes.

- And the bride and groom or the party people, they know about that?

- They do.

But Abby's team was really, really great with that.

They have an event planner onsite as well, and people can bring their own planner.

And that's what we did.

My bride brought me in and then I just kind of coordinated with their planner to solidify the timeline, the floor set, and all those kinds of things that need to be done.

So, you know, we're just kind of the point of contact as well.

- And didn't you love that bridal area?

Oh my gosh.

The mirrors, the lights.

- Its beautiful.

- I mean, if you don't feel it, feel special after that.

- Exactly.

- They've done a really great job.

I was extremely shocked because on the outside it's really nice.

But, and in your mind you're thinking it's a barn.

And then when you go in, you're like, oh, it's gorgeous in here.

And then when you put your touch on it, you're like, oh, we got magic, so yeah.

- Well both of you are magic.

I tell you, Cheryl and Abby, we thank you so much for being with us on Inspire.

And you know, we've learned a lot about party planning and what we want to do, don't you.

I, would've never thought about all that.

And we'll be featuring more discussion on this in just a moment.

Coming up next, though, we're going to feature more women making a difference in their community.

Stay right there.

- We sort of came up with this idea of commissioning local artists and having them choose one of their favorite parks and making a beautiful artwork out of it that was in the style of those WPA posters.

Because to me, those are just very majestic and inspiring and sort of encourage people to go visit.

And so why not take our local parks and do the same idea and get people outside, let people, remind people, you know, what wonderful spaces that we have just locally.

- What we're doing is giving our viewers Kansans and beyond a few of our parks that I hope will make them want to go there.

That was the intent of the WPA posters, to get people to visit, well that's what is, you know, we hope will happen here.

- Barbara, being our lead artists, got to have first pick and she chose the Kaw River State Park, which is just a beautiful, beautiful urban park.

It's the only urban state park in the state.

And she has a really great connection with the river and she loves the river.

And so that was immediately her selection, Brad LeDuc, who did Animaland.

He and his kids, you know, spent a lot of time climbing all over those concrete whales and octopus.

And so he definitely had a connection with that.

Becky Drager, who did the Shunga Trail, uses that wonderful trail all the time to bike and walk her dog.

Ye Wang, who did Iliff Commons, lives nearby and he and his daughter walk over there all the time.

So I think for each of the artists, there was also just this feeling, this sense of already having a, you know, a regard and a love for that particular space that comes through in their artwork, which was something that I think is important when you're doing this for myself, you know, it's called Skyline Park, but Burnett's Mound was always for me, a big part of the visual skyline in Topeka, where I lived over in the Southwest part of town.

So that's just something that I immediately thought of, when I thought of a park in Topeka that I had a connection with.

The Gage Park Train, that artist, Alex Olson is, actually, she lives in Lawrence now, but she grew up in Topeka and went to the summer camp in Gage Park every single summer, and just remembers that it was her second home all summer long.

And so she just was immediately wanting to be able to do something with Gage Park.

Doug Frye did McLennan and he does all these wonderful collage and cutouts.

He bikes there all the time.

Kelly Coleman did the Ted Ensley Garden.

She did this wonderful piece of the bridge and the tulips.

She did a great job and, and loves that garden and all the flowers that changed throughout the year.

Gwen McClain.

So she did Ward-Meade.

She lives nearby Ward-Meade, and they walk in that park all the time, and, so, for her, that was, it's just a wonderful, peaceful place that she loves, and she paints a lot of flowers as well, so.

Hi Stockwell did Dornwood Park, which I had never heard of.

It is a park that, before Lake Shawnee was built, there was a big park there that had, according to Hi, who, who was very interested in Topeka history, had a Ferris wheel and all sorts of things for the public to come and enjoy.

Pat Abellon is the artist who depicted Lake Shawnee, and he, that is another case of, that is a place he goes a lot with his family and it's just his kind of go-to place for peace and fishing.

And just, you know, feeling back into nature.

Jordan Brooks.

Jordan is a artist who has a studio in Noto, and, but he is also a teacher at Garfield School.

Garfield Park is nearby.

- We are extremely proud of our town.

So to be part of this project was an honor, was a privilege, to be able to communicate in a new way what, all we have here.

And I think the artists have done a phenomenal job of depicting those places and making them special, pulling out their majesty, their features, their welcoming qualities.

And Topeka is a beautiful place.

- Ladies, we learned a lot about planning that perfect party.

So now I want to know when can I expect my party invitations between the two of you.

I know something has got to be coming up.

- Well, we're thinking of that July 4th event.

- Hello, 4th of July.

You should.

And, you know, a lot of people go all out for it.

It's not just some, you know, wrinky dink plates anymore and coordinating tablecloths and all that.

People go all out for the fourth and all out for anything that they do nowadays.

- Well, and I see parents renting the big, not only the bouncy houses, but slippers slides and everything with water, you know, lots of features that's fun for kids.

- You know, I think now that the pandemic is over, it's going to be live.

- It is.

I mean, people are just going to lose it.

But you know, you know how the fireworks are so big here in Topeka.

I think we're going to see a lot more of that as well as other ways that people can send a message with their celebration.

- And, you know, Cheryl was saying with the $600, you asked about that, I think with her creativity, she could come up with something really unique for $600.

I mean, there's, there's some limits, but still.

- I'm sure she could.

I couldn't come up with $600 worth of anything.

I'd be like, here's some sandwiches from the grocery store.

Here's some Twinkies and here's some Kool-Aid.

Y'all go with God and be with it, okay?

Cause I mean, that would just be it.

It's like, what are you going to do with $600?

- Right, right.

But you can have fun, you know, make things, reuse things, have a crafting party.

I mean, there's a lot of.

just fun things that you could do like that.

- I remember growing up, we had the, McCall's make it book.

- Yes.

- And we would make all kinds of crafts.

So you're absolutely right.

We can make crafts and have a good old time.

So you don't need tons of money, just need great creativity.

And these ladies delved into their creativity and I think we could count on them to come up with something.

- I think we need a one-year party that they plan.

After we've been together a year, we should have some kind of big shindig.

Of course my 50th is coming up next year.

So maybe that's the next big shindig that we have.

So I only had my first party, like last year, my first birthday party that was thrown for me.

So again, never had one up until last year, so maybe I have to come up with a dream so we could dare to dream together, you know?

- Oh my gosh, maybe have it at The Brownstone.

- Wouldn't that be fun?

- And have Cheryl plan it.

- Yes.

I mean, it's an incredible space.

- It is.

-It is - You know, and I just felt like the whole idea of like you've said, people getting back out, wanting to do something, having fun, getting together.

And there's so many, just the, the ideas are endless.

- Yes.

Yes.

But you know, you try to make it your own because you don't want to be, you know, copying it off of somebody else.

You want to use your own creativity to come up with something that reflects your personal style and taste.

So, you know, maybe I need to start thinking about this now because it will be here and then we will be in the backyard with some Twinkies.

- Right.

- And sandwiches.

- And some sandwiches.

- I'm go get on Etsy and get some inspiration.

(women laughing) And I know a lot of us are trying to put together other things for, you have a little kid that you hang out with all the time.

- Yep.

My neighbor.

- You know, and so I'm sure that their folks always try to put something together for her to do, you know, a little celebration for her birthday or other events.

- And with girls, it's all pink and purple, which is very fun, and I've learned about pop its now, which I didn't know about before.

So you know.

- Don't know what a pop it is.

Cause when I think of pop it, I think about that plastic stuff that you can pop.

- Oh, yeah, yeah.

- Is this little rubber things that you can just pack in both sides.

- Okay.

- All right.

Learn something every day.

That's all the time we have for today.

As a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org.

- And if you're still inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what's coming up on future shows and get access to additional content.

Be sure to visit our website at www.ktwu.org/inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring you.

on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

- Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation, and by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.