The Newlands Festival of Trees

As my business, The Bride's Assistant, has grown over the past few years, I have expanded my services from beyond being a Wedding Coordinator to also include Special Event Planning.  It is in that capacity that I was asked to manage the Newland's Festival of Trees to benefit the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation this year.  

Over the past several weeks, I have been in contact with over 300 businesses in the Langley area in an effort to get new participation for this charitable event.  The purpose of the event is to help raise money for the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation, and to provided businesses with a fun and festive way to promote their business during the Christmas rush.  


Live Christmas trees were purchased by making a $200 tax-deductible donation to the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation.  Tonight, all of the participating business were invited to Newlands Golf and Country Club for a Decorating Reception.  The pre-purchased trees had been placed throughout the entryways of Newlands so that the teams of tree trimmers could immediately begin decorating upon their arrival this evening.  In all of my previous correspondence with each of the participating businesses, I had encouraged them to use their corporate colours or themes for their decor... for example a landscaping company could decorate their tree with miniature lawnmowers, rakes, gardening gloves, etc.  The teams truly outdid themselves in this effort, as the trees all looked amazing upon completion.   The festive event was a super fun, team-building experience for the participating companies, and it was a great way to kick off the holiday season.  Newlands was transformed into a Christmas forest!

Once the job of decorating was complete, it was time for the companies to vote for the tree of their choice in the following categories...  Best Corporate Tree, Most Enchanting Tree, Best Creative Use of Material, and Best Decorating Team Spirit. The only rule was that you couldn't vote for yourself!

The party was then moved into the grand Conservatory Ballroom for a social reception, complete with complimentary hors d'oeuvres, holiday treats, wine, and other refreshments.  I had invited the performance team from Langley Gymnastics to provide us with breathtaking, high flying entertainment, and the girls didn't disappoint!   The over 200 people in attendance were also charmed by the 60 members of the Langley First Capital Barber Shop Chorus, as they swooned us all with a selection of Christmas carols.  


We wrapped up the evening with the announcement of the winners in each of the categories, and on behalf of Newlands, I presented the winners with an array of prizes.  The biggest prize of all was the envelope that I presented to The Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation with $3950.39 of donations inside!  


I was very proud of the special helper that I had in attendance as well.  Reagan was happy to join me as my assistant, and as always, I was excited to have her with me at one of my events!

The Festival of Trees will continue until December 24th, and the thousands of guests that come to Newlands during the holiday season will be able to enjoy the Christmas forest.  Everyone is invited to cast their vote from now until December 24th for the tree that will be selected as the winner of the title of "Master Trimmer."