UNCOMMON'S INSTAFAM BASH!
If you know us at all, you know that these are a few of our very favorite things:
A deliciously styled tablescape photoshoot
Service for those in need
Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork
BINGO!
Some of our very favorite people, our Uncommon Creatives!
Aaaaand a little Chipotle doesn’t hurt
… And we got to combine them all into one amazing day!
This month, we’re here to tell you all about it! Because we love hosting and serving those we love, and we have a hunch that you do, too. So how do we go from idea to execution?!
Here’s how it all began:
CONCEPT
We wanted - no - NEEDED a way to give a serious thank you to our Uncommon Creatives. Because they freaking rock, you guys. Our objective was to give them a way to flex their creative muscles, serve others, and HAVE FUN!
We took inspiration from the way Chip & Jo Gaines host a Family Gathering for their incredible employees every year. We, too, just love our team, and we want to celebrate them the Uncommon way!
We called it Uncommon’s Instafam Bash! And we wanted the framework to look something like this:
Enjoy a meal together, styled on the spot by the team
Let everyone capture the moments they love in an Uncommon way
Serve others while having a blast!
For our color scheme, we wanted to keep the trademark Uncommon black, white, and green while adding other hues we love, like deep plum and dusty rose. Oh, and we love that gold is having a moment right now, so of course, we made it our metallic accent!
Here’s how we tackled it:
LOGISTICS
We focused on booking our service for the day first, knowing that we could schedule our styled meal around that!
SERVICE: The idea of serving local seniors just lights us up, so when Katie found The Trails of Orono Senior Living Community for Assisted Living and Memory Care, we knew we were in business! Here’s basically how the conversation went:
Katie: Hi! We have a team from a small business who would love to get together to serve in the community. What could you use help with?!
Jessica: Well, we could really use more hands to facilitate Bingo and an Ice Cream Social in the afternoon. Would that be something you’d be interested in?
Katie: (Silently fist-pumping) Oh my word, YES!! Give me all the details, and we will be there!
Done and DONE!
Now onto the creative and (ful)filling task of setting up our styled meal :)
TEAM MEAL:
We wanted to have the flexibility to play and create and make a bit of a mess while working, so we hosted at Katie’s home!
We decided on a Chipotle lunch, which was perfect for the dietary needs of our group. And it was absolutely delicious, as always!
Bad news: Katie’s home was outside of Chipotle’s delivery radius. GOOD NEWS: Papa Driver himself came to deliver our lunch for us!
Now that we had everything nailed down, we needed to spread the word!
Our invitations included graphics that looked a little something like this:
And we followed up with additional information via e-mail to keep communication quick and easy!
And here's how we really pulled it off:
TEAMWORK
Teamwork is super easy when you all love spending time together and have a clear creative objective!
THE MEAL
With our color scheme in mind, we prepped ahead of time by pulling out items from our rental inventory. Think: pink marble plates, brass candleholders, white ceramic bowls, and gold-rimmed glasses!
You can check out our Rentals page to spark some ideas of your own!
Then, we let everyone be creative!
Everyone got a chance to dabble with some floral. The day prior, we stopped at Trader Joe’s and picked up an assortment of floral, which our creatives used to beautifully style our centerpiece, bar, and table! Here are the floral types we used:
Silver Dollar Eucalyptus
Seeded Eucalyptus
Baby Blue Eucalyptus
Cocculus Greenery
Variegated Pittosporum
Lavender
Rosemary
The team members all created personalized name cards for their place setting, donned them with natural greenery like Rosemary wreaths, and added hand-written touches. Janie killed it! And we were so proud of what everyone came up with!!
We mixed virgin mojitos to make it a mocktail party, and everyone got to pick their own fixings! Here’s the basic recipe we used as a framework:
1/4 Cup Blueberries
1 Tablespoon Sugar
3 Mint Leaves
1 Lime Wedge
Crushed Ice
Ginger Ale or Club Soda
AND we encouraged everyone to capture the moments themselves, with Polaroids!
Then, our lovely and talented friend Alma Guzman helped us digitize the essence of the day by capturing those Polaroids for us!
SERVICE
We then took the team over to The Trails of Orono, where we met Jessica, who organizes regular events for residents!
We started it all off with Bingo! Jordan stepped up to the plate as our fearless Bingo caller, and the ladies all helped the residents keep track of their boards. Let me tell you, it was heated! We just might have had more fun than the residents :)
We played some card games with the residents while Jordan and Jasmine scooped and served ice cream! Then, we all listened to a guest pianist, who played show tunes for the residents! We’re not going to lie, we couldn’t identify many of them, but the seniors definitely enjoyed listening and even singing along!
All in all, it was such a fun and fulfilling day, and it’s one that we want to continue to provide to our team members for years to come! We hope this inspires you to think of ways YOU can serve those who are close to you, as well as those in the community. And if you ever need help pulling something like this off, you know where to find us!
With Love and Gratitude,
-The Uncommon Team
